05.08.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:13 pm by admin
At the 2010 Women’s Conference, a card for Betty Swain (who, in 1990, wrote the Women’s Conference Herstory) was signed by many of those who attended. Claudia Genung recently received the following message from Betty,
“I can barely express the joy that filled my heart when I opened the greeting from the 2010 Women’s Conference that Hazel and Bob Terhune mailed to me the other day. The memories of perhaps the most wonderful and deeply impressionable times of my life in Japan just flooded my soul. It thrills me that so many women are still finding such a time together and apart from daily cares and concerns enriching and helpful. Thank you all for carrying the spirit and love embodied in our intentions on to future generations. With much love and a grateful heart, Betty”
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02.09.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:32 pm by admin
Fifty one women attended the 2010 Women’s Conference in January at Amagi Sanso, and if the evaluation sheets are anything to go by, it was a greatly enjoyed. Thanks for sending me your photos from the Conference. The album is now up on picturetrail. Please email me at amagi2010@gmail.com for the password. Please let me know without delay if you would like any photos removed from the album!
Here are some thoughts from, Teresa Sherrill, the chair of the 2010 Conference, “Although preparing for the conference was a joy …… I enjoyed the opportunity to BE with a fabulous bunch of diverse women and enjoy experiencing God’s voice being spoken through them and in them. The atmosphere of the conference was very warm - right down to the fireside room, the lovely tea prepared by Alison and the ‘intimate’ onsen. Diana’s talks were engaging and invigorating, drawing us to walk the Jesus way in each of our own journeys. The workshops gave a taste of heaven as we heard and were able to participate in the experiences of our dear sisters in Christ. The worship gave us an opportunity to share deeply in communion and be encouraged richly through the liturgy, song and word. And the lovely snacks - yummy again this year. The only thing really to say is ‘can’t wait to laugh and BE with everyone next year…’”
Planning for the 2011 Women’s Conference has already started. It will take place 21-23 January 2011 at Amagi Sanso and will embrace the themes of Health and Healing. Please watch this website for more details to come after the summer. We hope you will plan to join us!
Finally, some movie news…
In “My Darling Gaijin”, based on the well known manga, “Watashi no Darling wa Gaikokujin,” Jill Ito, a Women’s Conference participant originally from the UK, plays the “gaijin’s” mother-in-law. To play this part she flew to the USA and adopted an American accent.
Another Women’s Conference regular participant, Carol Sack, is in a movie called “Ototo” (review) with a very well known Japanese actress ( Sayuri Yoshinaga - the “Japanese Aubrey Hepburn”). It comes out in early Spring and is about a woman whose younger brother becomes homeless. The movie is filmed in part at Kibo No Ie (the homeless hospice where Carol works). Carol plays a Canadian missionary and plays the harp for the homeless. Carol does not have any speaking parts but plays the harp which is wonderful. Carol can also be seen in a new Japanese documentary movie called “Mother Teresa” which is showing in Ebisu. Kibo No Ie is featured in it along with ministries that were influenced by Mother Teresa in Japan. This is the 100th years since Mother Teresa’s birth so this film was made in honor of her work.
Best wishes for 2010.
jules (Women’s Conference website-updater)
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12.01.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:14 pm by admin
Diana Butler Bass will be the featured speaker at the 2010 Japan Women’s Conference in Amagi, Sanso January 22-24, 2010. The Women’s Conference began as a gathering of wives of missionaries in 1957 and has grown to embrace all women who want to share in it and its roots in the teachings of Jesus the Christ. Dr. Bass’ presentations as well as workshops will be organized around the theme, “Following the Jesus Way: Living the Call to loving God and neighbor.” Register here today!
Diana Butler Bass writes, teaches and preaches at conferences and seminars; in real world as well as online forums; and in several award -winning books on religious studies. These include USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, CNN, FOX, PBS, and NPR. In the religious press she has written for Christian Century, Clergy Journal and Congregations. She is also a contributing editor to Sojourners magazine (US) print and online versions.
Dr. Bass is the author of seven books including her current work: A People’s History of Christianity: the Other Side of the Story (HarperOne, 2009).
Her best-selling book Christianity for the Rest of Us (2006) was named as one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly and Christian Century, won the Book of the Year Award from the Academy of Parish Clergy, and was featured in a cover story in USA TODAY.
Diana Butler Bass holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University. She has taught at Westmont College, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Macalester College, Rhodes College, and the Virginia Theological Seminary.
Dr. Bass describes herself as “…a person of faith, a Christian, who attempts to live the generative, inviting, inclusive, and transforming practices at the heart of Christianity that can heal the world”.
For more information about Dr. Diana Butler Bass and continuing updates on her current projects please visit:
http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/
from the 2010 Women’s Conference planning committee
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11.15.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:43 pm by admin
Dear Everyone,
Thanks to those who have already registered for the 2010 Women’s Conference at Amagi Sanso. We look forward to seeing you in January. For others, there is still time to catch the early bird rate, which is valid until the end of this month. See below for full details on the different rates, including the special bring-your-daughter rate.
Here is this month’s update from the planning committee:
The Conference at Amagi Sanso on the Izu Penisula, 22-24 January 2010, will feature speaker, Dr. Diana Butler Bass and is being organized around the theme of ‘Following the Jesus Way: Living the Call to loving God and neighbor, as seen in early, medieval and modern Christianity.” Our aim is to have a reflective retreat-like gathering, where we can contemplate the Great Command (Matthew 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) emphasizing the experience of Christian women and explore the ways in which Christians lived in the Early, Medieval and Modern eras. We will ask ourselves, how do we then embrace this call and lead a life that reflects the Way of the Great Command in our own time. More information about Diana can be had at http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/
We also hope to have opportunities to share our experiences of our own calling through the lectures, discussion, the Labyrinth, workshops as well as good times of fellowship and fun throughout the weekend!
This conference’s workshop offerings thus far include, Workshop on liturgical dance - Stephanie Bartsch; Workshop on fair trade - Alison Gray; Our foremothers: workshop on family history, genealogy - Gloria Bauer Ishida; Kalakasan: Migrant Women’s Empowerment Center - Leny Tolentino; Sudan: cultural workshop, styles of workship - Elizabeth Wondu; Harp ministry - Carol Sack; Hula workshop - Claudia Genung Yamamoto; Walk to onsen - Mary Beyler. We would like to take advantage of the diversity of our group by combining our many backgrounds and styles of worship and sharing them with each other, so if you would like to offer a workshop or other activity, please contact us at amagi2010@gmail.com.
Publicity is also starting to gain momentum. If you have a suggestion for a place to advertise (email contact, phone number or address) please contact Teresa at <journey@sherrill.com>. The most effective way of spreading the news of The Women’s Conference is through word of mouth, and we appreciate what each of you can do. Flyers and brochures are available for download. Please feel free to print as many as you like and spread the good news about this conference. For more information about the conference, including details of how to register, please visit our website at http://wocon.net or email amagi2010@gmail.com. We operate a limited scholarship scheme, offering a reduced conference fee for those in Christian work in Japan who would not otherwise be able to attend. Please email for details. The language of the Conference is English only.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION & CONFERENCE COSTS
This fee covers lodging, six meals, conference program, and free onsen admission. Please register as soon as possible.
EARLY BIRD (if paid before Dec 1)
Y23,000 – shared Japanese style room
Y29,000 - Western style room for 2 with bath
REGULAR (if paid by January 10)
Y25,000 – shared Japanese style room
Y31,000 – Western style room for 2 with bath
LATE (after January 10 – include copy of payment)
Y29,000 – shared Japanese style room
Y35,000 – Western style room for 2 with bath
Bring your daughter at a cheap rate (Age 14+)
Y15,000 – shared Japanese style room
Y21,000 – Western style room for 2 with bath
We look forward to seeing you there!
Teresa Sherrill
For the 2010 planning committee
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10.15.09
Posted in General info at 9:05 pm by admin
Hope this finds you having a delicious and refreshing fall! The 2010 Women’s Conference, “Following the Jesus Way”, would like to announce with joy that registration is now open. It is possible to register online here. We look forward to hearing from you!
Brochures and registration forms will be sent out by post by the end of October. Please feel free to forward this email or share a flyer with any friends you think would be interested. You can download the advertising materials here. If you do not wish to be mailed a brochure or registration form (for reasons of saving trees, postage etc) please email us at amagi2010@gmail.com with this request. More information about our speaker, Dr. Diana Butler Bass is available at http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/. Publicity is also starting to gain momentum. If you have a suggestion for a place to advertise (email contact, phone number or address) please contact Teresa at journey@sherrill.com. The most effective way of spreading the news of the Women’s Conference is through word of mouth, and we appreciate what each of you can do.
Please consider this request from the Workshop Coordinator, Winnie,
“Greetings! We are looking for people interested in doing workshops for the 2010 Women’s Conference in Amagi. We want to take advantage of the diversity of our group this year by combining our many backgrounds and styles of worship and sharing them with each other. This can include craft expression, writing, song, dance, hiking, discussion, movement, storytelling, scripture readings in different languages and more. Please let me know if you are interested. If you are thinking of some ideas for a workshop but not sure what to do, feel free to contact me and I can try to assist you in designing a workshop.
Winnie (amagi2010@gmail.com).”
Blessings on each of your days and we are looking forward to seeing you at Amagi Sanso in January!
Teresa Sherrill for the 2010 Women’s Conference committee
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08.11.09
Posted in General info at 10:06 pm by admin
The JAPAN WOMEN’S CONFERENCE at AMAGI SANSO, JANUARY 22-24, 2010
Following the Jesus Way
The 2010 Women’s Conference and Retreat in Izu will be on the 4th weekend which is Friday the 22nd, Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th of January.* The Conference and Retreat will feature speaker, Dr. Diana Butler Bass and is being organized around the theme of ‘Following the Jesus Way: Living the Call to loving God and neighbor, as seen in early, medieval and modern Christianity.” Our aim is to have a reflective retreat-like gathering, where we can contemplate the Great Command (Matthew 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) emphasizing the experience of Christian women and explore the ways in which Christians lived in the Early, Medieval and Modern eras. We will ask ourselves, how do we then embrace this call and lead a life that reflects the Way of the Great Command in our own time. We also hope to have opportunities to share our experiences of our own calling through the lectures, the Labyrinth and workshops in textiles, painting, walking, writing, dance and storytelling as well as have good times of fellowship and fun throughout!
We look forward to welcoming you to what we hope will be a wonderful meeting. We will have as our facilitator, Dr. Diana Butler Bass. From her website, “I am a teacher and speaker working to educate both people of faith and the general public about the importance, the depth, and the complexity of religion and spirituality in history, culture, and political life. I am a person of faith, a Christian, who attempts to live the generative, inviting, inclusive, and transforming practices at the heart of Christianity that can heal the world.”
http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/
Check out her robust site for podcasts, interviews, links and more!
It is the women who attend this conference who make it such a wonderful and cherished event in our calendars. We hope you will be able to join us.
With blessings and prayers for (another) great conference.
Teresa Sherrill
On behalf of the 2009 Women’s Conference Organizing Committee
(*Please note that this is NOT the last weekend but the second to last weekend of January.)
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02.14.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:53 pm by admin
Thanks to all who sent photos from this year’s Women’s Conference. I have made an album and put it on the web.
It is semi-private in that you need a Username and Password to access the page. I thought it best to do it this way in case some people didn’t want their photos loose on the interweb. Please email me (amagi2009@gmail.com) for those details.
The address of the album is: http://gallery.me.com/jdannan#100076
Be patient and let the album load into your web browser - there are quite a few photos (127). If everyone tries to look all at once it might get really slow so please try again later if it seems too slow. Once you have entered the username and password you should be able to view all three pages of pictures, download them individually or download the entire album. I recommend only downloading individual pictures (click on the picture then when it appears, choose the download option) unless you have fast internet connection.
If anyone wants to add any more photos, just send them to me.
On the other hand, if you absolutely hate some picture of you in the album and want me to take it down, let me know the name of the photo and I’ll see what I can do! 
Here are a few teasers:
Hope to see you all next year!
jules
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12.01.08
Posted in General info at 8:09 pm by jules
The provisional schedule for the conference is now online, and we have a page describing the workshops and other activities. You may notice one or two slight differences in the schedule from previous years. The most important to note is that we found out that a significant number of people would prefer a slower end to the conference rather than rush for the bus at 11:15am. Don’t worry - the bus-rush will still be available for those who need to get home, but we hope to have a second option for those who do not wish to leave right away, of staying on for lunch at Amagi Sanso. Lunch will be followed by a quiet Japanese tea ceremony offering by Maya Nagaoka from West Tokyo Union Church. We expect that the later bus will depart Amagi Sanso around 14:15 (in time to catch the later express to the Tokyo region). It is not a commitment but it will help us greatly if, after you register, you would indicate which departure option you will most likely take when our treasurer Sarah Oba emails you to ask.
We are very much looking forward to seeing you all at Amagi Sanso in January and to you all contributing your own stories to the conference. We are very grateful for all the support and offers of help that so many of you have already given us this year.
By the way - I put the “herstory” of the conference on the website too.
Best Wishes,
Julia Hargreaves
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10.06.08
Posted in General info at 8:17 pm by jules
Registration is now open for the Women’s Conference at Amagi Sanso 23-25 January 2009
Navigate the menu on the right of this page to read about the conference and register or read about this year’s conference here, and click here to go to the registration page.
Please feel free to download the flyer or the brochure and print them out and advertise the conference to all your female friends and relations.
See you at Amagi Sanso in January!
Julia Hargreaves amagi2009@gmail.com
(2009 Women’s Conference committee)
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05.31.08
Posted in General info at 7:49 pm by jules
The 2009 Women’s Conference and Retreat in Izu will be going ahead! It will be on the 4th weekend which is Friday the 23rd, Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th of January. Please note that this is NOT the last weekend but the second last weekend of January.
The Conference and Retreat is being organised around the theme of ‘Storytelling: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’. Our aim is to have a more reflective retreat-like gathering, where we can contemplate our ideas of home, journey and exile, with opportunities to share our experiences through drama, painting, ritual, dance and even storytelling.
The focus of our storymaking will be the Exodus from the Jewish Testament. In this story we see a people struggling in exile in a foreign land as slaves; we see them as free people struggling with homelessness and hunger; we see them facing life in the promised land, facing the challenge to do God’s will and live by the promises they have made. Where are you in your life? We hope that the Exodus story can provide us with a metaphor to reflect on our own stories as we struggle with the highs and lows of who we are and what we mean by home.
We look forward to welcoming you to what we hope will be a wonderful meeting. We will have as our facilitator, Megan McKenna who is the author of more than 30 books, many focusing on the stories of women from the Bible. Megan has specialised in leading weekends and is a renouned storyteller. Please see her website for some ideas of who she is; http://www.meganmckenna.org
As speakers or listeners, it is the women who attend this conference who make it such a wonderful and cherished event in our calendars. We hope you will be able to join us.
With blessings and prayers for ( another ) great conference.
Nancy Nakaoka
On behalf of the 2009 Women’s Conference Organising Committee
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