plain speaking and deep listening

BEST- This Quaker thing is sometimes hard for me: to know when to speak, how to trust the Spirit at work, waiting for all to discern the sense of the meeting. Saturday, I eldered a mini-retreat on deepening worship. There was a strong sense of a gathered meeting during the expectant worship at the end, and we finished with four sung vocal ministries that, frankly, had me weeping as I sat and held the community and the facilitator in the Light. It was my first eldering gig since my surgery and it felt good and well led.

Last night, we met as a meeting to discuss the direction and vitality concerns for our monthly spiritual nurture Wednesday night group. Our meeting is small, most groups or committee essentially function as a committee of the whole. We have been a meeting without a vibrant or functional Ministry and Council since before I came to Friends. Last nominating committee, I was put forth as clerk of M&C, with the charge of bringing it back to vibrancy and impact. There has been a bit of resistance. I have felt led to tread faithfully and gently.

One of my concerns is adult Quaker education. When I came to our meeting, we had many weighty Friends who grounded the meeting. That is still true, but now we have more attenders who are new to Quakerism, and drawn for various reasons. One of the misconceptions that newcomers seem to bring is that Quakerism is a faith expression where anything goes. I think we dilute the beauty of Friends when we acquiesce to that mindset. Friends is an experiential faith journey, an a journey where all are invited to come where they are, and it is a journey that has deep roots and strong ways. When we ignore the roots and the ways, we lose. Listening to the Spirit as individuals and as community is not an automatic response for most of us. It is a learned behavior. Where do we practice this? And how do we grow in Friends ways if we are not learning from seasoned Friends?

So my concern is the spiritual vibrancy of our meeting, and the deepening of our Quaker identity. How do we facilitate time and space to experience this as a community, and to learn how others have experienced it?

Last night, the idea of Quaker education came up. There was a certain exuberance about it. Not wanting to be territorial, knowing the resistance that I have felt in our meeting to placing nurture of our community under the care of M&C, I listened. Finally, I expressed my concern, that as clerk of M&C, Quaker adult education is best under the care of M&C. There was silence, and in a moment, the member of the community I have felt the most resistance from stated “Yes, that makes sense.”

I am learning to plain speak ( the circuitous speaking of Friends drives me nuts) and learning to temper it with waiting for openings. I left the meeting grateful for Friends ways of listening for the Spirit together.

 

 

Comments

[Allison/Soo Eun]

"One of the misconceptions that newcomers seem to bring is that Quakerism is a faith expression where anything goes."

I find this accurate on the religious belief aspect - another young Friend and I don't even know if we are actually Friends!

On the other hand, there seems to be a very firm culture surrounding the religion of Friends and this is where I think the flexibility part ought to come in. A person need not be white, middle-class, college educated and bookish in order to be a Friend.

[anj]

Allison - I couldn't agree more with you! Being a Friend is not about any of those characteristics you mentioned. At the same time, I think we do ourselves a disservice if we don't explore together what being 'convinced' means. To me the flexibility is in listening and following the Spirit. Who is definitely not white, middle-class, college educated and bookish.

[Mia]

Anj: Thank you very much for this. It's more than I can go into in a comment, but your words here (and those of others recently) have really been speaking to my condition lately, and I am very grateful. I hope you are well, and that we can connect in person sometime soon.

Best,

Mia (from the meeting next door to you! ;-))

[anj]

Mia - hello! I would love to see you in person sometime soon. And thanks for letting me know the Spirit is speaking to your condition.

[Sherrill W]

Ang,

Adult education falls under M&C in my Meeting, which I think is probably best, but sometimes the members of M&C are not particularly interested in adult education but have other priorities for the year. Two years ago, however, M&C held an eight wk. class called Quakerism: Experience It!, and to me it was the best thing our meeting has done along those lines in the eight years I’ve been an attender, then member of this particular meeting. The course originated in Philadelphia Yearly Mtg. and is obtainable through Quaker Books of Friends General Conference (it’s in loose-leaf binder form). We had some 35 people sign up and stay with it for the full 8 wks. There was extensive reading, but a lot of small group activity, which greatly increased our sense of community. Both long-time “seasoned” members and many who had been attending for four to five years participated, and it was a very rich experience. You might check out the QuakerBooks online site, www.QuakerBooks.org [Adult Religious Education: Quakerism Studies]. Their catalog briefly describes the course as “Eight sessions with sections on George Fox, the Inner Light, meeting for worship, gospel order, testimonies, Quaker history, and Quaker diversity. More in-depth than Quakerism 101.”

Sherrill W

[anj]

Sherrill = Thanks for this information. That is exactly what we were looking for. You have made my day!

[Liz Opp]

Hey, Anj--

Thanks so much for sharing this experience. It very much mirrors my own journey within the monthly meeting here. ...All of it, from the waiting prayerfully, to the speaking into the silence when there seems to be an opening, to the resistance seemingly melt away, in a moment of grace...

Blessings,
Liz Opp, The Good Raised Up