09 Sep 2018

During August, Pádraig and Glenn joined the teaching faculty at Holden Village in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State in the USA. Over the course of more than 50 years, Holden Village has been transformed from a copper mining town into a vibrant place of education, programming, and worship. Getting there is a challenge in itself since no roads lead to the village and so most villagers arrive there by boat, though some hike in from the Pacific Crest Trail.

During their time in the village Pádraig and Glenn led conversations on borders and belonging based round the Corrymeela materials on the book of Ruth. Pádraig also explored the key themes through the medium of poetry. It was encouraging to see rooms filled with conversation partners, some arriving 45 minutes early to get a seat, but also to see how relevant the material proved to be for this cultural and political moment in the US.

Overall it has persuaded us that the Ruth material is not limited to discussions about Brexit and the borders on our own island. There is considerable scope eventually to use the ideas to develop more generic work which will contribute to good and healthy conversations around difficult and divisive issues.

Our material on Brexit and the Book of Ruth is available for download HERE.