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

 

Holly Baldwin

I wasn’t always a Quaker who paid attention to Quaker diversity.  But after a few years of seeking deeper connections among Friends in my meeting and yearly meeting, I found myself at the World Gathering of Young Friends in George Fox country in 2005, surrounded by other young adults who were seeking hard for connections with God and one another, and who envisioned an enlivened Society of Friends that has spiritual vitality and authenticity.  And we were finding what we were seeking in worship and fellowship with one another—young Friends from across the spectrum of Quakers.

 

My f/Friend Raul spoke in worship one day (I paraphrase): “At home, I knew that God was powerful beyond my imagination.  And yet, I thought I knew how he worked.  I put God in a box.  And now I can see that God has many ways that he works in the world.  How foolish of me—I knew better.”

 

To me, the beauty of inter-visitation among the diversity of Friends is the opportunity to stretch our understanding of God, to question each other’s (and our own) traditions to find the vitality, and find the weak spots, and

Emily Stewart

Last year representatives from Friends General Conference, Friends United Meeting and Evangelical Friends Church International were invited by the Young Quaker Christians Association (Africa) to attend the YQCA Triennial in Kenya. Holly Baldwin (from New England Yearly Meeting) and I were the representatives for Friends General Conference. There were over 75 young adult Friends at the conference from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa, England, the U.S. and the Netherlands.

 

While attending the Triennial, I participated in an interest group session focused on our future as young Quakers, where we discussed the struggles we all face in the Quaker church and how we can work together to address them. I was shocked that almost every issue raised by young adult Friends in Africa was true for young adult Friends in the US and Canada. We talked about how to help churches support Quaker leaders, how to exchange information with other monthly and yearly meetings, how to work with older Friends, how to address the issues that are arising in our own meetings, how to nominate Friends based on spiritual gifts, and ways of reaching out to the global community of young Friends. We are doing such similar work, and though we may have different worship styles or theology, we each have a piece of the truth to bring to the table.

 

I spoke to Friends about what young people in Kenya are asking for in the Quaker church. Since many young people are not given positions of leadership (aside from leading worship and praise songs), many go to other churches.  Some young Quakers are asking for a more Pentecostal style of worship, which includes altar calls (an opportunity to repent of your sins and make a new commitment to Jesus), and what is sometimes referred to as being “slain in the Spirit” (when you fall to the ground because the power of the Holy Spirit is upon you and you become cleansed of evil spirits). We were able to witness this type of experience at East Africa Yearly Meeting-North Youth Conference.  

 

 

 

 

It reminded me of what a lot of young Quakers in the U.S. are asking for: opportunities to have visceral experiences of God. Though many early Friends experienced this in meeting for worship, that depth of worship-where everyone is opening themselves to be a vessel for God to enter- is less common today. I think this yearning for visceral experiences of God are why so many young people attend the conferences for young adult Friends in the U.S. The worship at the YAF conferences in 2007 and 2008 went deeper than any of my other experiences in meeting for worship. Friends were transformed by the united feeling of God’s presence and love in the room.  We experienced God’s love by loving one another.  

 

Emily Stewart lives in Philadelphia and attends Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. She serves as the Youth Ministries Coordinator for Friends General Conference.To see more photos from her trip you can check out Emily’s Kenya photos.

Read the epistle from the YQCA-A Triennial.

If you are interested in hearing more about Friends’ experiences at the YQCA Triennial, Jez Smith, one of the international visitors to the conference, has published articles in The Friend on “We are family”, “Giving thanks to God on life’s highway”, and “Young Friends prepare for leadership”. 

How have you experienced an intersection between spirituality and sexuality in your life? What is your understanding of what faithful sexuality looks like? How do Quaker beliefs apply to our sexual identities and practices?

Spirituality and Sexuality is the theme for our blog series this fall on Quakeryouth.org. We hope that many of you will blog or post your comments.  This is also an opportunity to talk about your meeting/church/spiritual community's understanding of what faithful sexuality looks like. Do you talk about it? Is it a source of conflict? If you are interested in contributing to the series, please email Emily at emilys@fgcquaker.org

 

An Introduction For its first three centuries, the Religious Society of Friends was straightforwardly aligned with broader Christian orthodoxy on sexual ethics questions. There were clear collective standards, and Friends could be (and were, in large numbers) disciplined for sexual offences like adultery and fornication...Read More

 

Becka Haines Rosenberg

Sexuality is a journey, just like spirituality is. We grow into it, the way we grow into the experience of waiting worship. It can be uncomfortable, even painful, but it can also be transformative.  I’ve been told that we should expect to be transformed every time we walk into meeting for worship, even though there are some days when it feels like no one’s talking to us at all, let alone God.  I think we have to approach our sexual experiences the same way.  Because sex is never simply biological.  We learn things through sex: sex by ourselves, sex with other people, sex we only have in our heads.  All of that is opportunity for transformation and growth, for insight into what makes us tick as human beings. It’s when we shut ourselves off to that opportunity, when we minimize it and say, “It’s just sex,” that we get into trouble.  We’ve been given bodies and minds to learn in, and discounting any part of that makes us less able to do the work God calls us to.

I can’t make choices about anyone else’s sexual expression for them, and no one else can make those choices for me.  But part of what living in spiritual community means is that I am surrounded by people who help me find my path.  When we speak with integrity about our own sexuality, we can’t even know who we’re reaching with our words.  I remember things people said at FGC Gathering ten years ago that helped me get where I needed to be then; I don’t remember their names, but I feel the influence they’ve had on how I live my life.  

I’m so grateful for the breadth of experience among Friends, for the wealth of perspectives on sexuality and spirituality I heard growing up.  I’m glad that there were Friends in my life called to a path of celibacy when I started to wonder what I was waiting for; that there were Friends in my life modeling Quaker marriage when I was overwhelmed by the idea of a lifelong partnership; and that there were Friends in my life sharing about other romantic and sexual relationships, long- and short-term, when I was trying to find how I fit in.  I still have plenty to learn.  Luckily, I still have plenty of people to learn from.  And maybe my own sharing will be what somebody else needs to hear one day.

Becka Haines Rosenberg is a member of Alexandria Monthly Meeting (Baltimore Yearly Meeting). She serves on the BYM's Youth Programs Committee and FGC's Advancement and Outreach Committee. She is happily unmarried and happily dating a wonderful woman named Lucy.

Kathleen Karhnak

When I learned about sexuality in religious ed during my teenage years, my teacher said, “Sexuality is a gift from God.” As a teenager, that concept was way too abstract for me. I just didn’t get it. In the ensuing years, I have come to a much richer, and still maturing, understanding of that phrase. As I consider the intersection of spirituality and sexuality – and as I consider the conspicuous absence of sexuality education from most Quaker First Day School programs – I find myself drawn back to that same message: Sexuality is a gift from God. What can we learn from that message and how can we share it among Quakers?

In what ways is sexuality a gift? For one, it’s fun! God could have given us any of a number of ways to procreate. There are animals for which sexual activity is perfunctory, or for which sexual activity is painful for at least one of the participants, usually the female. God didn't give us either of those options. Instead, God gave us sexuality that we can enjoy, and all of us have the capacity to enjoy it if we define sexuality broadly enough, and are kind and patient enough with ourselves and others. We can recall that joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and when the fruits of the Holy Spirit are present, that usually indicates we have been faithful in using our gifts. In other words, to misquote a saying which is often attributed to Ben Franklin (probably inaccurately), “Human sexuality is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

 

I seek to remain teachable. My ideas about sexuality have expanded as I have grown older and more secure in myself and my relationship with my wife, Carrie, and perhaps most significantly, as I’ve learned to take myself less seriously...

Micah Bales

"Sexuality" is a complicated word. For some, it might primarily be related to sexual acts. For others, it might refer to understandings of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Many understand sexuality as being linked with gender identity. Sexuality is such a complicated word because it is all of these things, and more. Sexuality, as I understand it, is shorthand for the way in which God created us to relate to other human beings on an intimate level. Sexuality does not necessarily involve having sex, but it always involves intimacy and vulnerability to another.

 

Sexuality is one of the most powerful forces in human existence, for good and for ill. People frequently have their lives made miserable by abuse of their sexuality - through jealousy and betrayal, exploitation and callousness. But our sexuality, when treated as a holy and precious part of our lives, is also one of the most important ways that humanity relates to God. Our nature as sexual beings has the potential to disrupt our relationship with God, or to bring us more completely into Communion...