Quaker

An Introduction by Kody Hersh

In the first years of the Quaker movement, pairs of minister-evangelists set out from England to places around the world, crossing oceans and continents on trips that lasted months or years, to deliver the Quaker message as widely as they could. They crossed cultural and linguistic barriers apparently without hesitation, speaking the Truth that God gave them.... Read More

Faith Kelley

About a year after I started working among liberal unprogrammed Friends I went home to my Evangelical yearly meeting (Evangelical Friends Church- Eastern Region).  A lot of people there wanted to know what I was up to since graduating college and I would tell them about the inter-branch Quaker organizing I was doing in helping plan the 2008 Young Adult Friends' conference.  In one of these conversations, a pastor told me about how a friend of his had gone to an unprogrammed meeting and during worship a woman had lifted her shirt up and flashed the entire group, claiming that the Spirit had told her to. 

All that week, everyone seemed to have a story of a friend, or a friend of a friend, who had had some horrific experience with another branch of Quakerism that they felt compelled to share with me in response to my work.  In the same way, as I continue to work with liberal Friends and I tell them I am an Evangelical Friend often their first response is to tell me some story of when they’ve attended a programmed Quaker meeting and someone has told them they are going to hell or some related condemnation.
   
These stories are troubling in and of themselves, but the more disturbing thing is they point to a real barrier as Friends attempt to reach across the seemingly wide theological and cultural chasms between us.  Stories of wild behavior and harm inflicted seem to be the only things we know about each other, the only narrative we tell ourselves about those “other” Friends.  We don’t interact with each other often enough to have any other tales to tell.  We have nothing to balance the horror stories we all love to repeat.  And telling only these stories does preemptive damage when we try to have relationships across the branches.  We carry them inside us and they color our expectations before we even meet someone from a different branch of Quakerism.
   
This May 28-31 in Wichita, Kansas there will be an opportunity to create new stories together, to tell a different tale.  The 2010 Young Adult Friends Gathering will be an opportunity to come together with people 18-35 years-old from other places on the Quaker spectrum and get to know each other not by some rumor we’ve heard but as individuals who are also seeking to live a life led by the Spirit.  We will challenge the impressions we have of the other branches and see a more complete vision of the truth. 

This gathering will be a time to worship together, hear each other’s stories and learn about our faith together.  My hope for the conference is that we can each go home and add another piece to the narrative- a piece that makes the picture we have of the other branches of Friends more complete.  And even more than that, I hope we’ll be gathered together in God to know each other as brothers and sisters.

Registration for the 2010 YAF gathering is now open.  If you register before April 15, you save $30 off the registration fees.  You can find more information and register at: www.yaf2010.wordpress.com

Faith Kelley grew up in Marysville, Ohio at Shiloh Chapel Evangelical Friends Church, a part of Evangelical Friends Church- Eastern Region.  She helped plan the 2008 YAF Gathering in Richmond, Indiana and is currently helping plan the 2010 YAF Gathering in Wichita, Kansas.  She lives and works as the hospitality coordinator at the William Penn House in Washington, DC with her husband, Micah Bales.

(Joanna Hoyt, a member of Portland (Maine) Meeting, has worked and worshiped for the last eight years at St. Francis Farm, a community in upstate New York that practices an alternative to the consumer culture through prayer, sustainable agriculture/forestry, and presence and assistance to neighbors. These are excerpts from an article that appeared in the June 2009 special issue of FRIENDS JOURNAL on Marriage, Gender, and Relationships. ©2009 Friends Publishing Corporation. Reproduced with permission. www.friendsjournal.org)

As I understand it, the central Quaker commitment is to listen to the Spirit’s promptings and act faithfully in accordance with them, however difficult or unpopular they may be. This shared commitment allows people with different beliefs, gifts, and wounds to support one another, hold one another accountable, and find true unity. I have seen Friends unite in this way across differences of class, theology, politics, and vocation. This unity is more than mutual tolerance or even respect; it challenges, deepens, and transforms all who take part in it. I believe that we need this kind of healing and transformation as we struggle with our different understandings of sexuality and spirituality. . . .

An Introduction
A core truth of Quaker theology and experience is the direct relationship of God with humanity. Whether as individual seekers or in the collective practice of worship, God can be experienced anywhere, at any time, and all people can be called on for the work of ministry. The experience of God is both sustaining and transformative, as the divine Seed in each person is met and searched and nourished directly by the Inward Light of God.  

The range of theological language and ideas at play within Quakerism, for various individuals and groups of Friends, has broadened considerably from the original Christian context of Quaker faith. What remains at the core is the intimate, know-able nature of spiritual reality, the mystical heart of faith experience.

This summary was written by Kody Hersh, who is a member of Miami Monthly Meeting and serves on the Youth Ministries Committee of FGC.

Jacob Stewart

Do I know God? Of course I know God. God whispers sweet words of silence in my heart when I am most still, as well as when I am not so still and need Her words the most. God is everywhere. I feel Her through others as well as through myself, when a tender worship is invoked from the center of my heart, while I am alone or among those whom I love, and I feel that this love from my heart is the purest form of worship.

God flows through rivers, and blossoms on trees. God is the words carried by wind, and the warmth of sunlight on all of our cheeks. God volunteers to serve food to hungry people in city soup kitchens, and God asks me for change on urban streets. She takes care of me when I’m sick, She holds me in the night, She loves me unconditionally. She is a lover, She is a mother, and She is a sister.

God is stillness and compassion, God is love and God is light, and God is life and God is death.

God is that which connects me to nothingness and to everything: a quiet dichotomy that is inherent among all people regardless of religion, race or romantic orientation. For me to name this God is to limit God, since God has many names and many occupations, for we are God and God is inside us all.

Jacob Stewart resides in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he actively pursues his studies both in and outside of his academic community. He is part of a neighborhood of active youths in the struggle to understand their existence and expresses his Quaker values in the form of simplicity, modest humility and thoughtful intent.

Liz Wine

My experience with God began at a young, tender age.  When I was growing up we spent countless hours on acreage in the country my parents owned.  It was in these moments when I encountered nature that I felt the presence of the divine--I knew something powerful and wonderful had to have orchestrated this beautiful land, from the cornstalks to the grasshoppers.  

I have always found along my journey that Quakerism emphasizes personal experience with God, the moments such as the above. This is how we learn and are spiritually shaped.  While I love to read books and feel I can relate to other's walks, there is no substitute for my own experience.

God came to me, in the form of a vision of his son, Jesus, while at the World Gathering of Young Friends in 2005. During the closing silent worship service I had a vision that Jesus came and sat in worship with me, which was a very special moment in my life.  I was speechless.  During this open worship, someone gave vocal ministry in a language I did not understand. I noticed Jesus was watching them intently. I asked him if he understand them and he replied, "Yes, I understand all languages, especially the language of the heart." This blew my mind, as the human heart can be so complicated! This was the first milestone of several journeys that led me to Christianity, which to me is a closer and deeper walk with God.

Along the way, he has graciously taught me about himself by showing he is patient with me when I am not patient with circumstances, and by showing he is graceful by loving me even with my human error! God has taught me who I am, as his creation--that even though I may not always feel like loving myself, He loves me and that is adequate.

There is no greater joy than knowing and living in the light of God's love for me!  I could never have gotten to this point if it were not for my openness to these journeys, such as my time at World Gathering and my subsequent experience at the Young Adult Friends Conference in 2007, at which I accepted Christ into my heart. It may be uncomfortable and unsettling at times, but the end result, the daily walk with God, is worth it.

Liz was raised in an FGC affiliated meeting and is now currently a member of University Friends Church in Wichita, KS.  Liz is preparing to go to Rwanda for 2 years with Evangelical Friends Mission, to teach missionaries children.


Nathan Sebens

When asked to blog about God, I must admit, I had no idea about how I should go about it. I knew right away that it would be a good exercise for me, but also, incredibly challenging. This is because, God to me is mystery. Rather than understanding, God is the lack of understanding. I have found this discovery to be both liberating and frustrating. And so I think I would like to talk about that.

During my studies at seminary, my eyes have truly been opened to many aspects of my own faith. Perhaps one of the most amazing experiences came through my study of the Hebrew Scriptures. There is a great tradition of mystery in the Hebrew canon. So much so, that it is often considered taboo (if not blasphemous) to say the name of God. So now, when many Jewish people talk about God, or translate the original Hebrew, they use words like Adonai (Lord), or Hashem (literally, the name). In scholastic discussions, the name of God is referred to as the tetragrammaton (or 4-letter word). In modern times, people also will write G-d in the place of the word God. For me, the substitution of words seems a little out of place, because everyone knows what you really mean, but I think there is something to being intentional about not pretending to know too much about God.

This opening of the Divine Mystery has truly changed my views on God. Though I may find words helpful in describing my experience of God, I know that they in no way can define who God is to me, much less the world. God is both the Mother/Father/Brother/Sister/Son/Daughter/Friend/ Aunt/Uncle etc., and also is none of these things. God is simply God. God is the God of Moses and the God of Jesus. Despite the apparent discrepancies between this God of Military leader, and the God of the one who came telling us to love our enemies. God is the God of Mother Theresa, and the God of Jimmy Carter. Despite the differences between a man who served in the highest governmental position in the world, and a woman who chose to live among the “least of these”. The contradictions are rampant, and yet when you open your eyes to the darkness, when you live into the mystery, they seem to disappear.

When asked who God is to me, I think it is useful to refer to God how God answered Moses when he asked who he should tell the people had sent him. God said, in a very Popeyeish way “I am who I am”. And so, when asked what or who God is, I think from now on I will say only, “God is!”    

Nathan Sebens lives in Richmond, Indiana where he is a Masters of Divinity student at the Earlham School of Religion. Nathan enjoys volunteering at the Richmond Civic Theatre and directing the choir at West Richmond Friends.



What is Quaker Quest?
Quaker Quest is based on the idea that Quakerism is a spiritual path for our time that is simple, radical, and contemporary. Quaker Quest offers Friends an opportunity to articulate their faith, deepen relationships within their meeting/church, and share their spiritual stories with the larger community.

The public Quaker Quest sessions are structured gatherings for people interested in learning about Quakerism.  As part of the public Quaker Quest sessions, three people from the Quaker meeting share from the heart about their experiences on a particular topic.  These presentations are prepared in advance and include brief quotes from Faith and Practice or other resources.  Presenters mostly share stories that illuminate their journeys around the topic.   

How the blog series works
Each month from March until June, three Quakers will write 2-3 paragraphs on a certain topic from their experience as a Friend. I hope that the posts will spark a conversation that can continue online through people commenting on the blog posts.  Please email Emily at emilys@fgcquaker.org if you are interested in writing on one of the topics.

Schedule of topics
February- An introduction to Quaker Quest
March-Quakers and Equality
April- Quakers and God
May- Quakers and Pacifism
June- Quakers and Worship

For information on Quaker Quest, email quakerquest@fgcquaker.org or call 215-561-1700. Quaker Quest in the US and Canada is a project of Friends General Conference http://www.fgcquaker.org/quakerquest/organizers.

Dear Friends,

I am conducting research for the final paper I am writing in my Archives Seminar class this semester at the iSchool at the University of Maryland, College Park. The paper is about the importance of Quaker journals, letters, and blogs to the spiritual guidance and nurture of Quakers both historically and today.

I am hoping to get input from Quakers of all ages regarding their interest and involvement of Quaker journals and blogs during the course of their spiritual journey with Quakerism. I have complied a set of questions that I am hoping you will be able to fill out for me.

Learn more about the survey 

In Light,

Mary Crauderueff mcrauder@umd.edu

What is Quaker Quest?
Quaker Quest is based on the idea that Quakerism is a spiritual path for our time that is simple, radical, and contemporary. Quaker Quest offers Friends an opportunity to articulate their faith, deepen relationships within their meeting/church, and share their spiritual stories with the larger community.

The public Quaker Quest sessions are structured gatherings for people interested in learning about Quakerism.  As part of the public Quaker Quest sessions, three people from the Quaker meeting share from the heart about their experiences on a particular topic.  These presentations are prepared in advance and include brief quotes from Faith and Practice or other resources.  Presenters mostly share stories that illuminate their journeys around the topic.  

How the blog series works
Each month from March until June, three Quakers will write 2-3 paragraphs on a certain topic from their experience as a Friend. I hope that the posts will spark a conversation that can continue online through people commenting on the blog posts.  Please email Emily at emilys@fgcquaker.org if you are interested in writing on one of the topics.

Schedule of topics
February- An introduction to Quaker Quest
March-Quakers and Equality
April- Quakers and God
May- Quakers and Pacifism
June- Quakers and Worship


For information on Quaker Quest, email quakerquest@fgcquaker.org or call 215-561-1700. Quaker Quest in the US and Canada is a project of Friends General Conference http://www.fgcquaker.org/quakerquest/organizers.


Typically we will have three people write on a specific topic in order to illustrate the diversity of beliefs among Quakers. However, in February we are featuring an example of one Friend’s experience participating in a model Quaker Quest session. Christina Repoley was one of three presenters at a workshop on Quaker Quest that took place at the FGC Gathering in 2008. Along with the two other presenters, she wrote up her presentation, which was then published in the December ’08 issue of Friends Journal.


My Experience with Quaker Quest by Christina RepoleyChristina Repoley presenting at the FGC Gathering

I was introduced to Quaker Quest before the 2008 FGC Gathering when I was invited to be part of a Quaker Quest workshop, which simulated what a Quaker Quest session might be like in a local meeting. I was invited to share on the topic of "Quakers and Jesus." For me, it was a wonderful way of having the time to think intentionally about a specific aspect of my faith and what I would want to share with people new to Quakerism about it. It also gave me the chance to get to know other Friends and hear about their beliefs in a fuller way. I learned more about what these Friends think and believe about Jesus than what I know about most of the other members of my own meeting. Quaker Quest provides a wonderful model for open and deep sharing with newcomers as well as those already part of a meeting.

This is an excerpt from Christina’s presentation on Quakers and Jesus at the 2008 FGC Gathering, which was printed in the December issue of Friends Journal.

Hi folks. I have to say that Jesus did not play a very big part of my spiritual life when I grew up in my Quaker Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. Growing up, we just didn’t talk about Jesus very much, if at all. I learned a lot about other faith traditions and I learned some really important lessons about community, peace, and justice, but very little about Jesus and radical Christianity.

So, because of the religious education approach of the adults in my home meeting, I grew up feeling pretty ambivalent, not having very strong feelings one way or the other about Jesus. The only time I really remember studying the Bible was when the kids in the Meeting went to see the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Seriously. I remember sitting there with a tape recorder, listening to the soundtrack, stopping it and flipping to the Bible story that that song corresponded with. And that was really the entirety of my exposure to the Bible within my Quaker meeting. This is not true of all Quaker meetings, and it is not even true of that meeting today, but it was true at the time.

My view of Quakerism changed when I was eighteen years old and went on a Quaker Youth Pilgrimage, which brought together young Quakers from all over the world, representing the whole spectrum of belief among Friends.  We spent a month together, primarily in the area of northwest England where Quakerism began in the 1650s. This was really the first time that I encountered Quakers with a strong Christian identity who took the Bible very seriously. It was also the first time I really studied Quaker history and learned about the deep Christian roots of my faith.

We had regular Bible study and we talked openly about our own spiritual journeys. I loved it! I remember being so intrigued to study the life of Jesus and see how these ancient stories could have so much power and relevance for us today. I wondered why I had never learned this kind of thing before. It was exciting to me and I began to crave more of this kind of knowledge and experience.

Shortly after that I started at Guilford College, a Quaker school, where I was part of the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program, again bringing together Quakers from many different backgrounds and experiences. I continued to find a lot of inspiration from Scripture study and in discovering more about who Jesus was and is.

Still, I get that one of the gifts of my experience growing up, without much theological formation, was that when I did finally encounter the Bible I was able to come to it without any baggage. I did not have a previous negative experience that I had to overcome, like so many of my friends. I got to start fresh. So the perspectives I got through study and dialogue with others was the basis of my understanding of and experience with Jesus, and it was energizing and inspiring. I particularly focused on Liberation Theology and Feminist Theology, and was continually amazed, challenged and inspired by Jesus, this radical teacher who has guided so many in struggles for justice and liberation.

I began to feel that following him, trying to live my life in some small way as a disciple of Jesus, was what I was being called to do. This is not just a rational conviction. I’ve come to love Jesus and feel him move in my life and heart.

As I became more personally interested in scripture and exploring who Jesus was, I focused a lot on the historical Jesus, on learning as much as I could about the context in which he lived. I also learned that most of what the Bible says really doesn’t make much sense without some level of understanding about what was going on historically, what cultural assumptions and practices were, and how Jesus' actions and teachings were interpreted in that context.

And the more I understood this, the more I believed that he was truly a nonviolent radical revolutionary. So I got the political messages, but I was still unclear as to what I thought about Jesus being the "Son of God," or even whether or not he was divine, or just a person like you or me. I was sure that I loved him, admired him, and wanted to follow him, but I was not sure if I believed in him, at least not in the way that it seemed like a whole lot of other Christians did.

Then I took a workshop on the early Quakers and Jesus. That really changed things for me. We were talking about language, and how the Biblical text has gone through so many translations. I knew about the ways in which translators of the Bible had used their power to utilize language that would favor their interpretations and their own theologies of power and privilege.

What was new for me though, was how certain seemingly insignificant words could have been translated in more ways than one. For example, we were told that the word in Greek that usually gets translated as "in" could just as easily have been translated as "of." Ok, seems like not a big deal, right? But think about how many times the Bible tells us to have faith in Jesus. What if we were instead advised to have the faith of Jesus. To be faithful to God in the way that Jesus was. This changed everything for me!

I now understand Jesus to be an example of what we might all be capable of if we were so radically faithful, so open to and in touch with God's spirit and movement in our lives.  This also helped me understand the meaning of the Kingdom of God, or the Beloved Community of God. I believe that Jesus calls us to lives of faithfulness and communion with God and others. The Kingdom of God that Jesus teaches us about is always present and always available, if we open ourselves up to participation in it.

When Jesus tells the rich young man that he will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven, that’s not because rich people can't get in. No, it’s simply because when we live in material affluence that deprives other of their basic needs, while deadening us to the interconnectedness of life, we simply do not participate in the Beloved Community. It’s our choice and we can always choose differently.

I see examples of these choices in my own life and in the lives of many Friends. I lived in Philadelphia for a few years after college, and while I was there my car was stolen. Now I wish I could say that I chose to stop driving my car for moral or environmental reasons, but this was simply a “choice” that chose me. What it meant, though, was that instead of getting in my car and driving to work, I walked more, I talked to my neighbors more, I had interesting interactions with people on busses, trolleys, and subways, and in short I was a more fully alive participant in my community.

This choice could be seen as a sacrifice. But, in reality, it is a choice that allowed me to participate more fully in the Beloved Community of God. I remember one day in particular during this time when, as I walked the streets of the city and as I interacted with people in the subway, I felt a deep knowing and recognition. I can only describe it as an intense opening of love and joyfulness. It felt like I saw and recognized Jesus in each person I encountered. It was an ecstatic and exhilarating experience, and it lasted all day long.

How amazing is it that this is the kind of community and life that Jesus calls us to? For me, this is what Jesus means. For me, Jesus shows me a way to live that is radical, nonviolent, challenging, and ultimately life-giving. He helps us to more courageously open the doors of our hearts and minds to the beautiful and joy-filled world of love that is always present, always available, if we but have eyes to see and ears to hear. And if we strive to lead faithful lives, the kind of faith that Jesus practiced.

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts about this piece by clicking the "add new comment" button below. 

©2008 Friends Publishing Corporation.  Reprinted with permission.  To subscribe: www.friendsjournal.org

Friends between the ages of 15-35 (approx) are invited/reminded to submit their creative nonfiction writing and visual art to the Quaker Youth Book Project (see www.quakeryouth.org/quipbook) by Febuary 28th, 2009! The QYBP is an anthology of creative work by teenage and young adult Friends from all around the world and across the theological branches of the Religious Society of Friends.

Friends may submit up to 5 (five!) pieces of writing and/or art, and should include their name, age, postal address, e-mail, telephone number, and Friends affiliation with each piece.

Possible submissions include...

NONFICTION WRITING - prose, poetry, essays, personal stories, vignettes, treatise, statements of faith, blog posts, articles, lyrics, sermons, mini-essays, etc etc. Written pieces should be 200 - 2000 words or 4 typed pages. Poems should be no more than 100 lines.

VISUAL ART - paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, collages, etc., or good photos of sculpture and other three dimensional work. Digital images should be a minimum of 300 dots per inch (dpi).

Submissions can be e-mailed to Quip.see.email.@gmail.com or send them to 1216 Arch Street #2, Philadelphia PA 19107.

This Project is dedicated to lifting up the voices of young Friends for broader consideration by Friends young and old, to fostering cross-branch dialogue among Friends and, most importantly, to empowering the next generation of Quaker writers, artists, ministers and leaders. QUIP envisions a book that will spark discussion and dialogue, speak to and lift up a growing youth movement in Quakerism, and act as a catalyst for growth and renewal within the Religious Society of Friends.

Sound like something you might want to be involved in?
Read the Call for Submissions (www.quakeryouth.org/quipbook), send your writing or art today (or at least before February 29th, 2009) and encourage other young Friends you know to submit their work!
--
Angelina Conti
Project Coordinator
Quaker Youth Book Project of
Quakers Uniting in Publications (QUIP)

QUIP.see.email.@gmail.com
www.quakeryouth.org/quipbook

Hello Friends,Canadian Young Friends

Please check out the new Fall 2008 Sporadical Edition! It is the first online edition of the Sporadical and, wow, is it a magnificent one!! I hope you enjoy it! It may take a long time to download if you have a dial-up connection. If you would like one that can be printed out into a beautiful little zine, you can soon go to www.yf.quaker.ca to download a copy. You can print it out double- sided, and read it on the bus, show it to your friends, etc.

The Sporadical is a publication sprouting out of the rich community of the Canadian Yearly Meeting of Young Friends. The very first Quaker periodical in Canada was the Young Friends' Review, which was published from 1886 by Coldstream Young Friends, 18 years before The Canadian Friend. This summer I was honoured to be nominated as the co- editor of the Sporadical along with Grace and Brigid Egan-Pimblett and to help continue this long-established tradition.

At the beginning of November, I gave a talk after Meeting at the Yonge Street Meeting House. It was called “Communication within the Society of Friends: Intra-Faith dialogue”. I called it this because I was able to talk about visiting with Friends in Guatemala, the May 2008 Young Adult Friend (YAF) gathering in Richmond, IN, as well as my work at Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) gathering reviewing CYM’s participation, relevance, and affiliation with Friends United Meeting. Much of my diverse work amongst Friends these days seems to be about making personal connections across the wide spectrum of the Society of Friends, and realizing that despite our ideas and stereotypes about different ‘types’ of Quakers, no one fits neatly into a box and in every interaction and connection there is much to be learned. I believe that the Sporadical can be a place for Quakers across the 9.9 million square kilometers that make up Canada to find connections. I hope this little zine provides a conduit for laughter, for learning, and for love. I hope it is a place to listen deeply and build relationships among Canadian Young (Adult) Friends.

If you have something to say to Canadian YF/YAFs, there is another edition coming out in January. We'd love to have your photos, drawings, articles, poems, etc. Deadline: December 20th 2008. See www.yf.quaker.ca/ for further details about submissions, or email me at: rebe.see.email.@gmail.com

Much Love to all,

Rebecca Ivanoff,
Yonge Street MM