FGC Good News Bulletin, December 2004

FGC’s Traveling Ministries Program Brings Good News

The FGC Traveling Ministries Program sponsored its third consultation on ministry for its affiliated yearly meetings and associations from November 12-14, 2004 at the Gilmary Diocesan Center in Coraolopis, PA. Twelve (out of fourteen) yearly meetings sent one or two representatives. Linda Chidsey and Ernie Buscemi, both of New York Yearly Meeting, were evening presenters and workshop leaders for the weekend. Both challenged Friends to “engage and be engaged by the Spirit.”

Representatives received queries prior to the consultation that they were asked to answer and return to the planning committee. There was an opportunity to read the answers of all other yearly meetings and respond to them. Friends found this very helpful. The answers affirmed that our meetings have similar spiritual concerns. At times one meeting's experience spoke to similar experiences of other meetings, and at other times Friends found that what worked for one meeting might not for another because of the size, location, or spiritual state of the meeting involved.

The questions included:

• How do F/friends learn to recognize a message when it arises in meeting for worship?
• How do our monthly meetings or yearly meetings deal with inappropriate messages given during meeting for worship?
• What do our monthly or yearly meetings do to encourage and nurture faithful ministry?
• How do we make sure we are truly listening to God during yearly meeting annual sessions or monthly meetings with a concern for business?
• What are our yearly meetings doing to help Friends and attenders do this at the local level and at the yearly meeting level?

Overall, Friends found the opportunity to worship together face to face, discuss concerns, and discern together various ways forward to be a very positive experience. They recommended that the Traveling Ministries Committee host another such event again in two years.