The Festival has a long, strange history. It began
with the Concord, California, USA chapter of FUNDAMENTALISTS ANONYMOUS
(FA) (19911993), which provided a space where folks of all
ages could came together to share their pain and healing around
issues of spiritual abuse. Here we learned that no matter what
religious background we were from (Baptist, Catholic, Hare Krishna,
Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.) we all had nearly identical experiences
of spiritual coercion and psychological abuse, and our pain was
reflected in others' stories. To see an article on our FA group,
click here.
.
After much healing had been accomplished, a handful
of us from the FA group felt we were ready to try to experience
what a "healthy" spiritual community might feel like.
Joining together with some students of Creation Spirituality,
our mostly-Xer group formed the BERKELEY CELEBRATION CIRCLE (19941996).
We made our decisions by consensus, using Matthew Fox's Original
Blessing as a "lectionary," and wrote our own rituals.
The group provided a forum for self-revelation, expressions of
acceptance, and opportunities for growth. To see an article on
the Celebration Circle, click here. To
read a poem about the Celebration Circle, click
here.
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After two years, some of us felt we had healed enough
to take on Christianity again. Thus, THE FESTIVAL OF THE HOLY
NAMES (19961999) was formed, and continuing in the consensus
model we had been using, we re-wrote the Mass. Taking each part
of the Eucharistic liturgy individually, we asked, "What
was this section intended to convey, and why doesn't it mean that
for us anymore? And how can we make it meaningful again?"
Each word in our liturgies was argued over at planning meetings,
and our worship times were punctuated with plenty of skepticism
toward tradition and scripture, not to mention frequent expletives.
In the Festival of the Holy Names we tried to create a space where
we were free to ask all the hard questions, and slowly, healing
happened. Many who attended found they could even call ourselves
"Christians"; a feat impossible for most when we began.
To see the website we had up during this time (including our many
innovative liturgies), click here.
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In 1998, we discerned that we no longer needed to
be a eucharistic community, yet we still wanted to meet regularly
for spiritual exploration. We shortened our name to The Festival,
and began meeting in homes. Since abandoning liturgical practice
(many of us go to our own churches on Sunday mornings, anyway),
we have become a more welcoming group for people of diverse spiritual
traditions. If you would like to see what we're doing now, click here.
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