Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Micah Bales on 1st mo. 13, 2011 at 6:37pm

Hi Karen!

 

It's always tricky to talk about the differences between the three remaining Conservative Yearly Meetings, since most everyone has a bias and we tend to look at things from our own vantage point - whether as an outsider, or as a member of one of these Yearly Meetings. I myself am a member of Rockingham Monthly Meeting, Ohio Yearly Meeting, and I think it would be best for me to share about my experience of Ohio Yearly Meeting, rather than attempting to comment on other Friends.

 

Ohio Yearly Meeting is a motley crew of very diverse, very earnest Friends who have gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ. It feels like we are in the midst of a major transition as a Yearly Meeting: It appears that the older, more family-based parts of the Yearly Meeting are largely declining and dying off, while there is a new wave of members who are convinced Friends and who have very high hopes for a revitalization of Christian witness in the Quaker tradition. 

 

There are many schools of thought within OYM - some of us are more evangelical; others more quietistic; still others lean charismatic; and some feel a great deal of commonality with the wider body of unprogrammed Friends. What we have in common is, most fundamentally, our shared faith in Jesus Christ as our present Lord and Savior. Our unity goes beyond that sure foundation, of course. We are also united in our understanding of Friends theology (still mostly in line with Barclay's Apology) and our practice as Meetings (we follow perhaps the most traditionalist model of business and use of advices and queries of any existing Yearly Meeting). 

 

I would be very interested in talking with you more about your journey as a Quaker Christian. Please feel welcome to contact me. There are other Friends of like mind in Ontario, and I hope that we can see a revitalization of Christianity in the Quaker tradition in Canada.

 

Your friend in Christ Jesus,

 

Micah Bales

The Lamb's War

Capitol Hill Friends

Permalink Reply by Faye M. Chapman on 1st mo. 14, 2011 at 7:27am

Dear Karen,

Micah has covered OYM well, I think. Most of our monthly meetings project their own personality, I think, and it is useful to know that we are Christian Friends looking to let Him "draw" us to Him and to His work where we are. We are very human folks, though and I hope that is somewhat appealing to most.  I hope thee will be able to hear from some Iowa and North Carolina Friends as well. ...And do continue to correspond with Micah as way opens. If I can be of further help from one of those "older" Friends, let me know.

Faye Chapman

Permalink Reply by Richard B. Miller on 1st mo. 14, 2011 at 10:39am

I suppose a simplistic way of putting it is that many people feel that Ohio is the most conservative, Iowa the most liberal and North Carolina right in the middle.  I've heard people say things like that and there a grain of truth to it but it is too simple really. There are differences but they are best experienced rather than talked about.  I'd recommend you check out the websites of the three conservative meetings.   I'd like to invite you to come to our annual sessions which will be held in Wilmington, NC in Seventh Month this year.   Come and see.

Permalink Reply by William F Rushby on 1st mo. 14, 2011 at 12:17pm

Please note that there are several adherents of the Conservative Quaker faith tradition who are unaffiliated and/or inactive in any of the three existing yearly meetings. The people I am referring to are not newcomers, but were either born into Conservative families or have been connected with Conservative Friends for many years.  Generally, these people are disaffected from the existing yearly meetings and more conservative in theology and, frequently, in lifestyle.   Most of these persons are fellowshipping with Anabaptist, evangelical or charismatic groups.  Some of us look forward to a time when a new fellowship will emerge to represent these unaffiliated Conservative Friends.

Permalink Reply by Richard B. Miller on 1st mo. 14, 2011 at 1:52pm

Do you have any thoughts on concrete steps we might take to provide community support for unaffiliated Conservative Friends?

Permalink Reply by William F Rushby on 1st mo. 14, 2011 at 4:07pm

I don't know if Richard Miller's question is directed at me or not, but I am going to venture a response in case it is!

 

One problem some unaffiliated Conservative Friends see is that Ohio Yearly Meeting (I am not qualified by experience to comment on the other two YMs) is dominated by a relatively small "inner circle" of Friends who occupy key decision-making roles and impose their own control over yearly meeting activities.  Actually, there may be more than one of these "elite" groups, and they do not always act in concert.  This relatively invisible but powerful hierarchy violates the spirit of the Quaker faith, and inhibits widespread participation in decision-making.

 

Minimizing formal structure and emphasizing "ground up" rather than "top down" decision-making and planning seem like good ways to give ordinary Friends a greater voice in their religious life.  I believe that occasional weekend conferences, or "meet ups" as they are called on QuakerQuaker, would be a good way to foster spiritual renewal and to enhance missionary outreach, without filtering everything through a formal leadership structure which is often self-serving and preoccupied with control issues.

 

In my experience the "institutions" of Conservative Quakerism, including its elaborate structure of meetings, committees and organizational rituals, often work against vital spiritual life and the "kindling" of spiritual renewal.

 

The holding of "Bible conferences" is a good example of the kind of problem I am talking about.  Ohio Yearly Meeting, to the best of my knowledge, has held only one (yes, I mean ONE) Bible conference.  It was initiated by the members of a somewhat obscure committee, bypassing the top leadership of the yearly meeting.  If we had asked the "elite" if a Bible conference could be held, they would have turned us down; none has ever been held since.  The Bible conference was very well attended, but only one or two of the "yearly meeting leaders" were there!  I know from having attended a Baltimore Yearly Meeting Bible conference that such events can be extremely popular and generate lots of enthusiastic participation.  The Baltimore events suffered a somewhat similar fate, and are no longer held.  Many unprogrammed Friends are hungry for Bible-centered events of this kind, but they make the  leadership hierarchy very nervous.

 

I could address other issues, but this seems like enough for now.

 

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Christine Manville Greenland on 1st mo. 14, 2011 at 7:01pm

When I came to Friends, it was in an unaffiliated meeting in a university town; they had just built a meetinghouse (previously, meeting met in my undergraduate advisor's home.) Although by now, many Friends would consider the meeting "liberal", we had no yearly meeting, though there was loving discipline. I was at the time wounded by the misuse of Christian language, and pretty resistant to listening to those using it. However, one late Friend commented that I needed "to get to know the variety possible among Friends" before I even thought of seeking membership. "Then," she noted, "see if you can still stand us!" Good advice. I later learned -- after attending Ohio Yearly Meeting -- that she also felt drawn into fellowship in Ohio.

 

About a decade later, I found myself in Toronto Meeting. The resident Friend at the time had attended Friends Boarding School (now Olney). He was the soul of integrity, as were his cousins, the Pollards; another Friend I met was Elma Starr. This was 20 years after all of the branches of the Canadian Quaker tree had re-united, and the Conservative roots were deep.

 

These Friends guided my journey in loving ways. I eventually became a member of Toronto Meeting, transferring after moving to Pennsylvania. Because of my training by these Friends, I've never quite fit in with the more liberal tradition, and also feel spiritually at home with Anabaptists and Pietists.

 

At the moment, I'm exploring what "yieldedness" (Gelassenheit) or submission would look like for modern Friends. Have we gone too far into corporate self-will to really discern Divine Guidance that is there for the listening? Are we each too full of self?

 

I resonate with Bill Rushby's comments, and not just from the Conservative point of view, but Friends across the spectrum.

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Faye M. Chapman on 1st mo. 15, 2011 at 6:08am

Christine has asked some good questions about us all. I have carried the verse from Isaiah for several years as applying to many of us as Friends: "All we have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6. Have we, in fact, lost "yieldness" to individualism and intellectual arrogance or the gathering of diverse cult like groups? If so, I expect that we must die out.

Permalink Reply by Liz Opp on 1st mo. 15, 2011 at 9:08am

I'm with Richard on this one, Karen.  Just as I imagine that your understanding of Friends has changed as you've read about Quakerism as compared to when you've worship with us, so too my understanding of Conservative Friends--and of the whole RSoF--was changed when I visited Conservative Friends... though I haven't been able to attend Ohio YM or any of its monthly meetings yet. 

Since traveling among Friends isn't always logistically or financially feasible, the next best thing for me has been to read MANY Quaker blogs over MUCH time.  This has been an extraordinary way for me to get a grasp of what contemporary Quakerism looks like, especially in the US.

I hope you'll check back with us, Karen, and let us know how you're doing and how we might continue to be of help. 

Blessings,
Liz Opp, The Good Raised Up

Permalink Reply by Richard B. Miller on 1st mo. 15, 2011 at 10:21am

My comment was open-ended.  I was inviting anyone with a leading about how Conservative Friends who are part of YMs can reach out to conservatively minded Friends who are unaffiliated.

 

I'm from North Carolina YM not Ohio.  I've only had limited contact with Ohio Conservatives so I can't speak to any problems they may have with excluding people.  I would ask Friends who know us to tell us if they think we have this problem too.  If we do, I don't see it.

The constructive suggestion  you make is that we (and now I'm taking this to be NCYM-C) could organize "meet-ups" especially perhaps a Bible conference.   I'll talk this idea up around our YM and see if it resonates with Friends.   Sounds good to me.

 

Permalink Reply by William F Rushby on 1st mo. 15, 2011 at 5:22pm

Thanks for your reply, Richard.  I would like to meet you sometime!

 

Actually, I think a Bible conference would be best run without yearly meeting sponsorship.  Something like the Bible Association of Friends would probably be a better choice, if they would be willing.

 

Sheila Bach, now Director of the Friends Wilderness Center, organized the Baltimore YM Bible conferences.  They were extremely successful, triggering opposition from opponents.  She would be a good one to ask for advice.

 

Of course, we could have some good weekend gatherings with other themes as well.  Let's give it some more thought.  In my opinion, something for Conservative Friends (not restricted to one yearly meeting) modeled on the "Friends General Conference Gathering" formula is long overdue.  If another group is doing it better, I am all in favor of borrowing their ideas and strategies!

 

Anyway, thanks for your encouragement.

Permalink Reply by Isabel Penraeth on 1st mo. 15, 2011 at 7:17pm

No one seems to have mentioned that Ohio Yearly Meeting has an affiliate membership program that is (as far as I have been able to tell) unique in that it allows like-minded Friends to join even if they do not live in close proximity to a monthly meeting and are unable to regularly attend meetings.

While I am sure Bill Rushby is accurately describing his own experience, my experience as a non-member has been rather the opposite: Ohio Yearly has been where I have found spiritual nurture, sustenance and an understanding of my spiritual experiences. Many kind and generous members of OYM have given me time and attention when they had no obligation to do so. I think that OYM's affiliate membership option is a powerful outreach tool and a right-hearted attempt to offer solace and some sort of fellowship to isolated Friends who are in unity with OYM.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page