AN EXCITING NEW DIRECTION FOR CONVOCATIONS

The coronavirus crisis means we will not be able to gather for weekly Convocations in Marwick this fall. The Convocation Committee sees this not as a disaster, but as an opportunity to reinvent our weekly programs. Here are the highlights of our plan .

• We see the triple crises of the pandemic, economic dislocation, and heightened awareness of racism (B!ack Lives Matter) calling for rethinking the direction of our local and global community, so our theme for the fall wiil be LIVING INTO HOPE.

• Since we cannot physically gather in one place, we will connect with each other through Zoom presentations of programs on our computers at 4 PM each Thursday. Next month directions will be given as to how this will work.

• This means our audience can include many more people, because we are not limited to one place - e.g. those in churches throughout the state or country, relatives and friends in distant places, possible new residents at MVGH, potential donors to MVGH, and many others who can join us on their computers.

• We can have programs and speakers from different parts of the country and the world.

  This fall we will have speakers from Tokyo (October 1) and New Zealand (October 15)

• Because we will be recording Convocations, if you cannot watch a program on a Thursday at 4 PM, you can see it later or DVDs can be made available .

• Through programs based on our theme, LIVING INTO HOPE, we will be part of the exciting and inspirational response to the pandemic that is emerging here at Monte Vista Grove and throughout the world.

In our first program in the fall, on September 10 at 4 PM, Jim Symons will say why we chose LIVING INTO HOPE as our theme, followed by a panel including Karen Berns, Lynn Cheney, and Tom Erickson who will speak on how they see hope arising in the midst of our present crises. Convocations this fall promise to be an exciting new chapter in our personal growth. social awareness and spiritual insight.

-Jim Symons