By Lianne Card
Our National Congress felt like a family reunion where about 200 people gathered in person for the first time since the pandemic. Held in Washington, DC from September 7th thru 11th, it was also a business congress where new officers were elected by delegates from across the country. Finally, we had a chance to tour the Subud WSA archives housed in the Amani Center and experience the new combined campus of the Amani Center and new Twin Oaks property.
The setting for the congress was the Crowne Plaza Hotel, a former Marriott hotel. The property is located in College Park, not far from the University of Maryland campus and 3 ½ miles from the Amani Center. The Crowne Plaza provided all the spaces we needed—grand ballrooms for the three latihans a day, break out rooms for testing, and a dining room that served great food. You could see clusters of Subud members in every corner of the hotel, deep in conversation. Looking down from our rooms, we could notice the first trees in the park-like setting begin to show their famous East Coast colors. The changing season also provided a sampler of weather with high 90’s heat at the beginning, two nights of thunder and lightning, then actual rain on Saturday when we were bused to and from the Amani Center events.
Some members from the MidWest and even farther regions combined a “great American road trip” with traveling to D.C. Some enjoyed tourist time in the Capital and quaint towns Not since the 2014 Sofitel Congress in Redwood City were so many members in the mood to attend a national gathering.
We hosted international visitors. These included Suyano Sumohadiwidjojo, WSA Executive and Nahum Harlap, the WSA Chair, plus Hannah de Roo, Zone Representative from Zone 3. Mathew Moir of the WSA Archives came to confer with the Subud USA Archive team. Rashidah Pope from Canberra, Australia attended so she could use our Archives to complete writing Volume 3 of The History of Subud. She is finishing Harlinah Longcroft’s lifetime project after Harlinah’s passing.
Suyono expressed confidence that the Kalimantan Congress date is firm: July 18-28, 2024. Permissions have been obtained from the Indonesian authorities to proceed with our international gathering during a year of Indonesian elections.
With meticulous attention to detail by the Congress team (especially Philip Lindstrom and Alexandra ter Horst, our Operations Manager), everything that needed to happen unfolded seemingly effortlessly. The National Helpers supported the entire event with marathon testing for officers and many roles as well as offering personal testing. During the opening ceremony, the National Helpers and Committee greeted members with a rendition of “Here Comes the Sun.” to signal that our “long cold lonely winter” was over!
A new National Committee was selected by testing and voting. Philip Lindstrom continues as chair for a new two-year term. (He previously completed Lucas Boladian’s term when Lucas moved on to the Amani Center project.) His new Vice-Chair is Simon Curran of the Midwest region. John Tjia of New York takes over as treasurer from Rafiq Dosani who heroically steered us through the past eight complex years. The new national secretary is Rifka Several. Alexandra Boyer will continue in the Committee Councilor position until the next World Congress. During this interim period, Sonia Shooshan will “shadow” Alejandra’s activity as “Committee Councilor in Waiting” and begin her full term in 2024 after Kalimantan.
For the first time in five years, we finally have Subud Youth Association (SYA) Chairs: Grace Zieman and Valentia Pollard. Rosetta Narvaez will serve as SES Chair. Fauziah Ishak will continue as Chair of Susila Dharma for another three-year term. Rosanna Schutte continues as SICA Chair. In summary, for the first time in many years we have a full slate of officers! And all our Wings have leadership!
Rosetta Narvaez and Lucian Parshall served as Business Congress Chairs. They led the deliberations and discussion with 47 delegates representing all regions of Subud USA. (The number of delegates is established by the annual census.) This year, we even exceeded the number of delegates required for a quorum. The delegates were diligent, focused and serious making decisions about all resolutions from previous congresses and current recommendations.
Several longer-term efforts were launched. Rosetta Narvaez will be the point person for a reconsideration of our Governance documents including Bylaws, the Policy and Procedures Manual (PPM) and training materials for incoming committee members. Rosetta Narvaez will lead a standing Ad Hoc committee to revise these documents over the next two years. Lucian Parshall will be the point person for a team of financial experts who will revise our current policy for the Subud USA Endowment.
In other presentations of note, Rifka Several presented the proposal by Subud Canada and Subud USA for hosting the 2028 Congress. Two sites being considered are Calgary and Montreal. Elaina Dodson provided an update on MSM and Susila Dharma held a well-attended annual meeting with a video presentation about the projects being supported this year. Michael Barber as Vice-Chair led the meeting because SD Chair Fauziah Ishak could not attend. Another highlight of the Congress was the In Memoriam slide show that honored so many of our brothers and sisters who passed in the last three years. The show elicited grief and tears but also sweet memories.
At Sunday night’s “Entertainment & Beyond”, we celebrated with Halimah Collingwood as impresario and MC. Highlights included a participatory opening number by a Sundanese Angklung group who use traditional wood instruments from West Java. Four out of nine Subud members from the Washington area are members of this ensemble. They use hand-held bamboo instruments that are each tuned to one note on the scale. When members of the ensemble distributed instruments to everyone we became an instant orchestra. The director Ari taught us to respond to her hand signals as we played first “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star“ and then miraculously, Elvis Presley’s hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The exercise was an ice breaker that made us feel united and thrilled to be together. Angklung orchestras are still a vital and fascinating part of Indonesian culture.
Multiple Subud members performed original and remembered music, and poetry. Maia Chisholm on the harp accompanied Halimah Polk reciting a poem. New and veteran performers reminded us how the latihan can bring out our unique talents if we have the courage to share them. The evening was anchored by seasoned musicians Eli Dokson and Halimah Collingwood, and concluded with another participatory exercise, a “goodbye dance” led by Kristiana Kalab.
We are still processing our rich experience together.
The next National Congress will be a “kejiwaan” congress, likely to be held on the West Coast in 2024. Stay tuned !