20th Triennial
22-30 July 2000
Geneva Point Center
New Hampshire, USA
FRIENDS: A People Called to Listen,
Gathered to Seek, Sent Forth to Serve
(Is 6:8, Jn 15:9-17; Is 1:18)
A study booklet in preparation for the 20th FWCC Triennial 22-30 July 2000
The Theme of the 20th Triennial, Friends: a people called to listen, gathered to seek, sent forth to serve, gives focus to three aspects of our relationship as a people to God. Aware of God's presence, we listen for the still small voice. Strengthened by community, we look for Divine guidance and we find and test the leadings to go into the world to be God's hands.
This booklet is intended for the use of Friends who plan to attend the Triennial, for the groups of Friends whom they represent, and for Friends in meetings and churches everywhere. It contains fourteen reflections on aspects of the theme by Friends from a variety of Quaker cultures. Each statement comes from the authentic experience of a member of our world-wide family of Friends, each listening, seeking and serving according to his or her own lights. FWCC triennials and world conferences provide precious opportunities for Friends from different cultures to meet face to face to worship together, listen to each other and share what it means to be a Friend. This booklet is a way to participate in that opportunity. As we learn about each other's experience of God, our task is not to judge, but rather to be open to truth as seen from the perspective of our sisters and brothers. Perhaps it will broaden our sense of what it means to be a Friend.
These essays are offered for reading and reflection on your own or in a group. We have asked Thomas Taylor (FWCC General Secretary, 1992-1997) to edit and arrange the contributions so they fit into this booklet and serve as a stimulus for sharing and open reflection. Questions, marked Q: and printed in italics, are provided at the end of each essay as an option to assist the consideration. We suggest that you choose at least one essay which reflects a Quaker tradition different from your own. By participating in these discussions, Friends can have a share in the Triennial and help their representatives to prepare for the experience. Worship Sharing Groups at the Triennial will be encouraged to spend some time working with the Triennial theme through the means of these essays and questions.
November 1999
International Planning Committee
Susan Smith (Ohio YM, Conservative)
If we are a people called to listen, we are also called to obedience to what God tells us. Jesus Himself pointed that out to His disciples: "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (John 15:14) Jesus calls all people to listen to and obey Him, not just Quakers. However, our heritage emphasizes listening to God directly for, as Fox proclaimed, "Christ has come to teach his people Himself." We are to learn from God and to act according to what we learn.
Jesus often used the figure of sheep to explain how faithful people are to act. "My sheep hear my words, and I know them, and they follow me, for they know my voice." (John 10: 27 and 4) Sheep that are used to their shepherd do know his voice and will respond correctly to his call. Often our human intelligence and human desires interfere with our ability to hear God among the many voices that clamor for our attention. We may be intent on our own goals. Distracted by our habit of analyzing situations, or by our expectation of the familiar, we may miss God's voice How do we know it is God's voice we hear, rather than our own desires or some ungodly temptation? First, there may be signs within us. Sometimes when I have been obedient, I have felt an exhilarating sense of joy and peace. I have a friend whose arm hairs stand on end when she senses God's Spirit with her, and another friend who often feels God as a tug in his stomach. (Both those Friends are gifted, recorded ministers, who have frequently demonstrated their ability to know and speak God's Word.)
In addition to personal signs, Friends test their leadings with sources outside themselves. The Bible provides one such check. Ideas that contradict biblical teaching are not likely to be from God. Friends also trust corporate discernment. If a whole meeting unites in understanding God's direction, they have probably heard correctly. Finally, understanding what God is telling us is often confirmed by what Friends call "the way opening." External arrangements often fall in place as we follow what God has told us to do.
Being a faithful follower of God is not always easy, even when we know what God wants us to do. We are called to give up selfishness, fear, hate, pride, sex outside marriage, most anger, and quite a lot more. (See also Galatians 5:15 - 26 and Ephesians 5: 1 - 13.) Most of us want to hang onto part of that list. However, Christ offers us not only guidance but also strength to keep His commandments. And, He promises, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ... that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." (John 15:10 - 11) There is no greater reward than joy in Jesus Christ. May we all be His Friends, find His love, and know that joy.
Q:
How do I "hear" God's voice?
How do I test my decisions?
Bruce Bishop (Northwest YM)
Friends have a powerful witness to share with the World: The incarnation of God continues today through individuals and communities, as we are willing to listen and obey. The pursuit of God is neither a study of history nor a hope for some future event. To be in relationship with God is to live in the present moment, impacting our world and human relationships in very real, very contemporary ways.
We are called to be the new incarnation, to provide the Spirit of God with flesh and blood and intellect and creativity. In order for this to happen, for God's love and grace fully to be expressed through us to those around us, we must have an intimate friendship with the Present Christ ourselves. It is through our individual and corporate listening to the Spirit that our lives can be most effective.
The core of Christian Quakerism is an on-going, dynamic dialogue with the risen Christ, our Present Teacher. The sincere seeker engages in this dialogue with Christ, involving a give-and-take exchange of questions, ideas and inspirations. This is a dynamic relationship that daily breathes renewed life into the task of following Christ. The Spirit of Christ is alive and contemporary, and therefore can speak to contemporary issues. We are not bound into endless cycles of religious practice. Rather, we are part of a developing relationship that is vital and active.
Any sense of leadership, direction or ministry should flow from this foundation of listening and dialoguing with Christ. We can't expect to appropriately move or lead if we aren't grounded in this experience. Yet too often we try to move in our own power or under our own inspiration. Without relying exclusively on the Spirit of Christ, we fall prey to cultural trends and personal preferences. As Friends have splintered the message of the Gospel that empowered our spiritual ancestors, we have created opposing poles of evangelism and social justice that cannot stand separately with any sense of integrity. Such an artificial division of the character of God causes us to lose the charismatic power of Friends' witness. However, somehow, deep within me, I sense that God is not yet finished with Friends.
The process of spiritual dialogue, of contemplative evangelicalism, is the way the Church makes the intangible tangible; the way Friends bring the Light of Christ to our many cultures. We are to be in an intimate relationship with Christ, ministering by bringing his Light to the everyday situations we encounter, caring for the people and structures around us.
Out of our listening, may we recapture a sense of the fullness of God's character moving within us as individuals and as a community of faith.
Q:
How can Friends make whole & reclaim the power of our witness?
What work does God have for Friends to do?
Ronis Chapman (Australia YM)
Five years ago, my response to the Triennial theme would have been about my responsibility as a Friend to be involved in social action. Today my response is a very personal one. My belief in the importance of working for social justice has not diminished but I have learnt a lot about being led by the Spirit in dealing with difficult times.
I am the mother of three children. Today Emily is 17, Hannah is 12 and Dylan was born fifteen years ago and died in 1996 when he was twelve. He was a child of the meeting. We first took him to meeting for worship on December 25, 1983 when he was nine days old.
I chose to become a part of the world wide family of Friends because I wanted my children to belong to a spiritual community. When Dylan was diagnosed with cancer at the age of ten I had to listen: to Dylan, to the rest of my family, to the medical people, to my friends and to the still small voice of God. Times of quiet prayer became times to let go and also to gather my strength. I was so lucky Friends joined in my seeking and prayed with me. I was seeking a way to "be" during the most difficult time of my life.
Dylan was an ordinary kid. He and I argued often - a lot of this was about playing with toy guns. He would get cross with me, especially if he felt I was interfering too much. Dylan was upheld by all around him who cared for him and loved me. He had always lived life to the full and kept living each moment as vigorously as he could through the medical maze in which we found ourselves.
Q:
How has listening to the still small voice helped you gather
strength in times of difficulty?
How can our meeting communities listen and respond to the needs of
their members?
How can a meeting discern the limits of support it is able to
provide and communicate these limits in love?
Michael Larsen (Denmark YM)
'A people ...': Friends like to describe themselves thus, evoking visions of a tightly knit worldwide community. Still, peoplehood is not achieved by will or devout wishes, nor can it survive solely through a sense of sharing a history, a story. To lend us strength and sustenance, our peoplehood must be set up upon a rock of a shared purpose and future: it must spring from a genuine experience of being called - and responding - as a gathered body.
Listening for the voice of God and seeking His will is no mean task today: the abundance of other voices may drown the one we strain to hear. To get our priorities right, it could be a valuable exercise to revive the concept of being first and foremost bound by a compact with God. For Friends, it would be in the nature of such a compact that its contents must be continually listened for. Its particular demands cannot be fixed: we shall ever and again be led to seek new ways to address new concerns given to us. More challengingly, perhaps, the compact would also call for ready submission, however unpalatable this word may be to us moderns; the primary purpose of listening is not spiritual entertainment or private edification. We listen in vain if we do not listen with a will to obey: in our relationship with God, listening and obeying are synonymous.
George Fox admonished Friends to mind the unity and to keep low and humble. How far do his words apply to us to-day? We could begin by asking ourselves whether our hope to be 'gathered' is consistent with celebrating our precious diversity: whether Friends' 'peoplehood' may be foundering as we, too, adapt to the dominant Western culture of individualistic seeking and self-fulfilment. To serve God, must we not see ourselves as tools? As the means, not the end?
The Nazarene's commandment to serve is in the plural: it was given to a gathered community. His metaphor about the vine and its branches holds good for communities of any size: even minimally interpreted as vigilant caring, compassion and respect, love demands that we recognize our responsibilities to each other and our neighbours. If we do not keep up our end of the compact, nothing may be spoken to us and no call forthcoming: we shall not be sent. Today, there is a great need to let Love speak Truth to Indifference; let us not, like Jonah, look for a ship to Tarshish.
Q:
What is the community's responsibility in a compact with God?
What good is listening if I don't want to obey?
Have Friends lost sight of Fox's admonition to "mind the unity and
to keep low and humble"?
Can I be God's tool - "a means, not the end"?
Ann Stever (North Pacific YM)
Friends in North Pacific Yearly Meeting were called in 1998 to listen to a concern about racism, to gather together and seek what actions we should take. The group known as the Aryan Nations had planned a march celebrating their values of white supremacy. The march was scheduled during the time of our annual session, just half an hour away. We first were called to listen by an individual Friend, who lived close to the Aryan Nations compound in Northern Idaho. Testing her concern in Monthly, then Quarterly, then Yearly Meeting, we explored what we could say about this issue. Together, we affirmed our belief in the value of diversity while we expressed our abhorrence of any racist philosophy. We struggled not to ostracize members of the Aryan Nations, feeling that would only continue the cycle of hatred and violence. We prayed that we all learn to listen to one another with love, with respect for the Divine within us all, and with compassion for the humanity we share.
At annual session, we heard speakers from the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment. One young man shared his experience as an ex-member of the Aryan Nations. He emphasized the appeal of white supremacy to angry, disaffected young people. We heard from one another, especially our young people, how they confronted and challenged racism in their lives at home and at school. We were deeply moved as we listened to our Friend in Residence, Duduzile Mtshazo, as she spoke about her spiritual journey in South Africa, while confronting the institutional racism of that country and the personal racism, which had developed within herself.
We gathered to seek how we were called to serve. We knew that there was not just one way, but we wanted to be knowledgeable and supportive of one another, respecting our different courses of action and discerning what united us. Actions included a nonviolent witness at the march, participation in a rally celebrating diversity, and prayer, holding all in the Light. This process required us to listen to God's calling, demanding that we stand against injustice. It required us to gather together to listen to one another, to share concerns and to celebrate the richness of our insights and understandings. It finally required us to act, individually and corporately, to confront racism and take steps that might lead to healing and a celebration of diversity, of that of God in each person.
Q:
What do you feel and think about this experience?
Describe a time your meeting or community needed to find the right way to
witness. What was learned?
from a workshop of Friends Pastors in Honduras
The Committee of Latin American Friends (COAL) is holding a series of workshops for pastors and leaders of yearly meetings in Latin America to deepen their understanding of Quaker faith and tradition. The first workshop took place in Honduras in July 1999 and considered the Quaker approach to sacraments, as expressed by Robert Barclay in his An Apology for the True Christian Divinity (1678). The following is excerpted from a report by Ken Jacobsen (Ohio YM, Conservative), one of the facilitators.
Intense discussion was held on the question of whether Christ can reach us even it we have not heard the Scriptures. Barclay says he can, but there were doubts, especially when evangelicals from neighboring churches are saying "no way". So in the evening a woman pastor gave her testimony: "Absolutely! Christ can find us as he did me in a vision - I who knew not a word of Scripture at that time. He simply looked into my eyes and said 'search for me'. I found the Friends Church and a whole new life."
Another intense discussion was on the meaning of the baptism of Christ as opposed to the (water) baptism of John. "We cannot be saved without water baptism," the neighbors say. Friends, they claim, are the church of Satan because they deny water baptism. So in another evening testimony, a man spoke who had lived a life every bit as demeaning as the Prodigal, gathering refuse from the market each day to eat, nearly drinking himself to death. At that dark point, something like a fire seized him, saying, "I love you, you are destined for another life". He was saved not by water, but by Christ directly. He too found Friends and is now a church leader.
Q:
Describe how you have felt Christ or God reaching toward you.
What does it mean to be "baptized by Christ"?
How do we explain our religious practices and beliefs to our
neighbors who think differently than we?
Jane Orion Smith (Canadian YM)
"Whom shall I send?" asks the Lord. "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And Isaiah responded, "Here am I, send me" (Isaiah 6:8). This theme cuts to the core of Quaker faith and practice. Who will agree to serve God, what qualities must they possess for this, and whom will God send?
Having contemplated these questions for myself and my community, I find one common answer: they are people who have confronted and admitted their separation from God ("sin"), sought reconciliation with God ("repented"), and have been spiritually cleansed and re-united with God ("redeemed"). The ones who are most likely to serve God's purposes best are those whose lives are centred in God, in the spiritual life, and who have, as a result of this, received a call by the Spirit, or became aware of a leading. These are not holier-than-thou "saints", but are simply faithful people.
To serve God, outward qualifications may be helpful - indeed, necessary - but it is the inward Truth and preparedness that seems most essential. Does God call those who feel totally ill equipped and unsuited to the task at hand (to themselves, others or both)? Of course! In fact, He seems to prefer them. God has prepared shepherds and slaves, uneducated women and fishermen, carpenters and children to serve high purposes. We can all be inspired and heartened by this: we need only be faithful to be called and of great purpose to God. Money, higher education, and social status will not prepare us in God's eyes. These things can become cumber to recognizing and responding to a call. The less one has, the less one has to lose by taking a risk. The greatest riches are spiritual. It is through God-centred living that we can help bring about the kingdom of God, a land of justice and peace, where all will have what they need.
Q:
How spiritually prepared are we, as Friends, to hear and respond to
God's calls and leadings?
How well do we help prepare each other to listen to God; to be re-centred
and re-formed by God's Love?
Do I trust and abide in God's love? Am I willing to reason, argue and
wrestle with God, to be cleansed and blessed?
Do I know when I am ready to say, "Here I am, send me"?
Christopher Wabuula (Uganda YM)
"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not." (Isaiah 6:8-10)
God was sending Isaiah into a difficult situation - to speak to an obstinate people who needed to hear a clear message. The focus is on the hardhearted recipients - the entire people of Israel. It is amazing that God still had interest in them. This applies to the Quaker church today as well - to find the simplest way to get the people to listen to God's message. Isaiah was fully involved in his role as messenger. He had openly declared his weakness and sins to God and so was prepared to take on the challenge.
In John 15: 9-15, Jesus is now in the role of messenger. The people have now split into various factions such as Pharisees and Sadducees, Jew and Gentile. The message was now clear: "that you love one another as I have loved you". This required the people to demonstrate this God given love, to overcome their schisms, to unite and gather as a community with a common goal. This love is the key to salvation, individual and communal, binding and protecting the people of God. However, it requires personal involvement - love needs to be reflected by each individual, you and I. Thus develops a tied relationship, a covenant, between the community (Christians and particularly Quakers) and God.
Q:
In what ways are Friends' hearts hardened against the will of God?
What are some of our common goals as a people of God?
Josefina Peña Leal (Mexico GM)
(translated from her original Spanish)
Many of us, I believe, have a profound concern about the things that happen day by day in our community, in our country, in our world. More often than not we ask ourselves, "Is there actually anything that can be done to affect events?" As our thinking proceeds, we reach the conclusion that there is little or nothing we can do in the face of reality. We defeat ourselves before we begin any action. We overwhelm ourselves with all the possible obstacles, which prevent us doing anything. We forget that as Friends we have a mission in these times in which it is our lot to live.
Think a minute - are you and I not like so many men and women in Biblical times and in our own century, who, by being faithful to their calling, were able to transform what appeared impossible? So what is stopping us today? We too have this great challenge, just as much as any - to be receptive to the vision of what we should do, ready no matter how or when it comes, in the confidence that God will be with us, giving us the courage and strength we need.
If we as Friends can listen constantly to the voice of God and do His will cheerfully, trusting in His guidance, we can share his love with others, we can be doers of His word, and we can do good, seek peace and pursue it. Is it so difficult to answer the call?
Now that we have the opportunity to come together at the 20th FWCC Triennial, let us keep ever present the thought that as a people we are called to listen, gathered to seek, but above all sent out to serve. Let us make this call a reality in the life of each one of us. Meanwhile, let us lift up our hearts and pray that God will inspire us to find that vision.
Q:
What are the obstacles that may be preventing me from action?
What place does prayer play in my life?
Vanessa Julye (Philadelphia YM)
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." (Isaiah 6:8)
One afternoon as I was walking along the streets of Philadelphia, I noticed two young males standing next to each other with their backpacks placed on the ground. A man walked past them, they said to him: "Jesus is still calling you," as though this was a continuation of a previous conversation. The man walked past them without responding or acknowledging their presence. They continued speaking to him saying, "And you may die tomorrow and be damned to hell."
I watched this and thought to myself, my God is a loving one. I experience God as affirming my spirit, conveying redemptive Love and teaching continuing revelation and direction. I began thinking of the messages God has given me and the patience God has displayed waiting for me to respond to them. I continually find myself in places where God has asked me to spread his love.
God has sent me to witness for the Religious Society of Friends. The practices and beliefs of Quakers give a wonderful testimony to the world. We seek clearness of God's will through worshiping together. Our practice, as Friends, of speaking truth to each other through love is such a powerful and positive manner. Friends can help the world become a better place for everyone if each of us teaches a non-Quaker to practice our deepest beliefs.
I am often put in situations where I am telling strangers about Quakerism and inviting them to attend worship. I encounter many of these people at a point in their lives when they are looking for a new spiritual home. They know little about the Religious Society of Friends and eagerly listen to my words. I have witnessed several of these people come and visit my meeting, my house of worship.
I also find myself serving God as a bridge among Friends. Helping the Religious Society of Friends become a more welcoming and inclusive community for people of color. I find this work challenging and at times painful, but it is what I have been called to do. Everyday, I carefully listen for the words of God. I hear them in so many different ways, through people, nature, a look, a touch, questions and statements. God is always available to me. I do my best to seek carefully discerning what God is telling me to do. There have been many times when I have heard God's words and my reaction was, "I am not doing that!" mainly because of my own fear. Then after a period of time find myself doing what God asked.
Q:
How do I spread God's love?
How can Friends become a more inclusive, affirming community?
David Hobson (North Carolina YM, FUM)
Dr. Winston Trevor, a retired United Methodist minister in Pennsylvania, told of an experience he had while on a walk with his grandson. These are his words:
The grey bird was very excited. We had been imitating his call so well that he sensed the presence of a competitor with whom he was ready to do battle. We whistled with as much excitement as he did. He flitted from tree to bush and passed us time and again, a picture of bird frustration. Testing our bird whistling skill, we rose and walked slowly to a nearby lake, all the time whistling a clear three-note call. The bird followed, keeping us under watch. Finally grandson Robert asked the ultimate question, "I wonder what we are saying to that bird."
George Robinson reminds us that this is a good question for the Christian to ask: "What am I saying to the world around me?" Because, you see, we speak our deepest feelings, attitudes and values as we relate to the people around us. We may sometimes hide what we do, but it is almost impossible to conceal who we are. Our sincerity, the genuineness of our concern, the depth of our compassion and sensitivity are constantly reflected as we relate to the other driver out on the road, the clerk in the store, the teachers of our children, the difficult neighbor child and even the poor soul who confronts us asking for a handout.
Without ever saying a word about our personal religious faith, we communicate to others by our daily behavior the bedrock values on which we stand in this life. Our understanding of who we are and to whom we belong determines whether or not we truly care about the people around us. Jesus said: "By this shall all people know that you are my disciples, that you love one another."
Reflect on the words of Bryan Jeffrey Leech (Words and music © 1976 Fred Bock Music Co.):
We are God's loved ones, the Bride of Christ our Lord,God be with you.
for we have known it, the love of God outpoured;
now let us learn how to return the gift of love once given:
O let us share each joy and care,
and live with a zeal that pleases Heaven.
We are a temple, the Spirit's dwelling place,
formed in great weakness, a cup to hold God's grace;
we die alone, for on its own each ember loses fire:
yet joined in one the flame burns on to give
warmth and light, and to inspire.
Q:
What is my life communicating?
What do our actions say to each other? Give some real life examples.
Kamala Kanswar (General Conference of Friends in India)
Friends believe that the records of God's dealings with humans were not finished with the Bible but that God continues to speak to seeking minds. Just as He called Abraham, Jacob, Moses and many other prophets to speak, He also called George Fox, Woolman, Penn, Barclay etc. to speak and today He can still speak through any who will listen and be an open channel.
We rejoice to be called Friends. John 15:15 reports Christ's words: "Ye are my friends...." If we do what He commands, we are chosen to be friends of Christ and friends of men. He specifies in John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you." What a privileged people we are! Then comes His command to love one another. When we obey Him there is a promise for us sinners. Isaiah 1:18: "...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Christ suffered and died, making "one sacrifice for sins once for all". In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul explains, "There remaineth therefore no more sacrifice for sins forever." And thus we have been cleansed and made holy to be able to commune with the holiest of the holy in what Thomas Kelly calls the "inner sanctuary of the soul, the holy place, the divine centre, the speaking voice deep within us all, the slumbering Christ." Personal transformation starts when we worship God "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
Let us seek continually this communion with God, our Parent, by waiting upon Him at regular times alone and also with others. Meeting for worship must remain central in Quaker life. It was when Isaiah came to worship in the temple and was cleansed by the burning coal that he experienced a sudden extraordinary vision of God sitting on a throne. When the Lord asked who would be His messenger Isaiah without a moment's hesitation volunteered. "Here am I, send me" (Isaiah 6:8). And God accepted the offer.
In the same way dear Friends we should take heed to ourselves and to all among whom we have been called to labour and faithfully fulfill our appointed service as messengers of Truth. Let us be free to give our best to the service to which God calls us, wherever that service may lead us.
Q:
What does "sacrifice for sins" signify to you?
By what process may Friends confess, cleanse and renew?
Do we feel the need to do so?
To what service am I called?
Alfred Lugalia (Nairobi YM)
When Jesus went to the synagogue in his home town, Nazareth, he was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling it He found the place where it is written: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." This was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. (Luke 4:18-21)
Following Jesus, early Quakers were willing to be sent and serve in every hard condition in order to meet the cries of God's downtrodden people. The first missionaries who came to East Africa in 1902, Willies, Chilson and Edgar, left everything because they wanted to serve the children of God who were suffering. They left their parents and friends to come and serve God's people in a hard situation, people who didn't have enough clothes, money or medicine and had not heard the good news of a loving God. There were many wild animals, which could have rudely prevented them from serving God, but these brave Friends persevered.
When God wants to send His people to serve Him, He makes sure the appointment is completed in spite of difficulties and resistance. He called Samuel, but at first, Samuel did not respond. He called him a second time and a third time until finally, he started to serve. (I Samuel 3:1-21)
Q:
If George Fox were alive today, what challenges might he be taking
on, encouraging us by his pattern to join?
What can you say about the sending of Quaker missionaries in the
past and today?
Do Quakers today fulfill what is written in Luke 4:18-21?
Christine Davis (Britain YM)
For me, the most important things about Friends are summed up in two words which we use all the time: Friends and Meeting.
We have the audacity to call ourselves Friends. Jesus said that his disciples would be called his friends when they did his will. The name Friends demands of us both discipleship and obedience and at the same time creates an expectation that we act as the everyday world expects someone who is our friend to act - in love and support of those around us and in neither opposition nor enmity. We all value our friends; and we know what a friend means to us. A true friend is a treasure. Do we as Friends act as if we were the friend of each person we meet as if we wished her or him to remain our friend? As a result of my strong sense of the challenge of being a friend, I regret our use of the nickname "Quaker", for it can take us away from this very ordinary yet very demanding word FRIEND.
Friends come together in MEETINGS for worship, for church affairs, to see each other face to face. In our meetings we come to know each other in the things that are eternal and in the everyday. We meet to worship God, to listen for guidance, to test concerns and seek the way forward. We are not isolated people working in our own strength and for our own ends. Rather, we are a people who meet as a gathered community with God and each other to discover the loving purposes of the Divine in our midst.
Q:
Do my actions demonstrate that I treasure my friends?
Do I find the strength in my meeting, which empowers me to go out
to meet others in the world as friends?
How can we tell if a Friends' community is "gathered"?
Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
And I said, "Here am I. Send me."
I have called you friends.
Come now, let us reason together.
Duncan Vinson, LDV@brown.edu, maintains this website. Please write him only with inquiries about the website itself. For general inquiries about the Triennial, write the FWCC World Office at fwccworldofficelond on@compuserve.com.