March 2005 Archives

Thank you to everyone who refrained from commenting after 9pm last night. I finally slogged through the work of putting the FGC Gathering program online in my role as FGC webmaster. Whoo-whee! For those who don't know, the Gathering is a week-long conference held at different locations each summer: this year's takes place Seventh Month 2-9 in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Now I guess it's time to think about workshops. Zach Moon and I are offering up one called Strangers to the Covenant but then you know that already. Liz Oppenheimer aka the The Good Raised Up is leading one called Quaker Identity: Yearning, Forming, Deepening that I suspect will be informed by her own experience of stepping into a Quaker identity. There's also an exciting history workshop being led by Betsy Cazden, Dilemmas from Our Quaker Past (I have to admit when I saw the listing I wondered if I should Zach up and assure him he'd be fine doing the Strangers workshop on his own so I could take Betsy's). Other mentions: Julie really liked the Lynn Fitz-Hugh workshop she took a few years ago.

As always there are workshops whose leaders I know to be more solid and grounded than the workshop they're proposing; conversely, there are workshops that sound more interesting than I know their leader to be. Like always there are plenty whose appeal and/or relevance to Quakerism I just don't comprehend at all, but that's the Gathering.

Any recommendations from the peanut gallery? I should say that I'd like to refrain from ridiculing all of the workshops that beg to be made fun of. It feels as if this would edge too close to detraction. We will only get to Kingdom by modeling Christian charity and wearing our love on our sleeves.

I like to rant. I like to break down Quaker sociology. But often I'm quiet about simply testifying to how Christ's love comforts me, guides me, elders me.

Here's an email from Danny, a new friend who I met at last week's FGC-sponsored "Youth Ministries Consultation." I liked his observations and asked if I could share this on the blog. I'm glad he said yes, since it's a good perspective on where one convinced 19 year old Friend is at.

Update: Here's Danny's new blog, Riding the Whale

One has to applaud the sheer honesty of the group of leading Quakers who have recently proposed turning the grounds of Philadelphia's historic Arch Street Meetinghouse into a retirement home. It makes perfect sense. Arch Street is the host for our annual sessions, where the average age is surely over 70. Why not institutionalize the yearly meeting reality?

The Jordans Meetinghouse in England suffered a terrible fire a few days ago. Friends don't make icons of meetinghouses but if we did Jordans would be high on the list. Friends started meeting there in 1659. Isaac Penington, James Nayler, and Thomas Ellwood lived neighborhood; Penington is buried out front, as is William Penn. As if this isn't enough, the barn is said to be made from the timbers of the Mayflower--yes, that Mayflower: it was apparently common to recycle ships into buildings after a few trans-Atlantic trips (news reports don't mention the barn). Here are pictures from Bill Samuel's trip a few years ago, a thread on his discussion board and photos that someone took from a youth hostel retreat last week before the fire. One of the wardens (caretakers) of the meetinghouse was burned trying to put out the fire but later reports make it sound like he wasn't too badly hurt, thank God.

Update: the Guardian did a piece on the fire

This past weekend I took part in a "Youth Ministries Consultation" sponsored by Friends General Conference. Thirty Friends, most under the age of 35, came together to talk about their experience of Quakerism.

Liz Oppenheimer has posted an extraordinary account of how Friends transmitted Quakerism to her over time. I find myself at a loss of words to sum it up--you have to read it for yourself and I strongly recommend you do. Here's just the merest snippet:

It took me years to understand that there was much, much more to Quakerism than just meeting for worship... I had yet to understand the concepts of corporate discernment or Gospel Order or waiting on the Spirit for guidance. None of my peers or spiritual friends at the time were talking with me about this stuff; and I have no recollection of anyone making the Quaker decision-making process more explicit at the time.

Liz will be offering a workshop at this year's FGC Gathering. The description sounded great but if this post is anything like the sharing that will go on in that workshop, then you'll want to be there.

In a similar vein, the Contrarian Quaker explains I'm not here to be seen by men. I'm here to worship God; "New people, as they walk in, are met with smiles and introductions but by their second or third visit they end up standing in the midst of a gabbing throng completely ignored after meeting for worship... I simply decided that I was here to worship God."

The War Resisters League is part of a National Call for Nonviolent Resistance, though this is the first we at Nonviolence.org have heard of it (lucky we surfed by this morning, does the peace movement take pride in its insularity?). See the iraq Pledge of Resistance for more info. Unfortunately with this little advance notice, we won't be going to DC's events this weekend. If any Nonviolence.org readers do we'd love a report.

Over on AlterNet, Normon Solomon is asking why the internet progressive group MoveOn has dropped iraq from it's agenda: "When a large progressive organization takes the easy way and makes peace with war, the abdication of responsibility creates a vacuum. Ironically, a group that became an internet phenom by recognizing and filling a void is now creating one."

The New York Times is reporting that "at least 26 prisoners have died in American custody in iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 in what Army and Navy investigators have concluded or suspect were acts of criminal homicide, according to military officials."

By QuaCarol

Sometimes I have to lift up comments and make them their own posts. Here's one of QuaCarol's reply to Uh-Oh: Beppe's Doubts: "I see this community of bloggers, reaching out to each other and connecting, when meetings (and here I venture to say “all”) are focused on keeping their pamphlet racks filled, rather than posting URLs on their bulletin boards or creating a newcomer’s URL handout."

I've occasionally thought of Beppeblog's Joe Guada as my blogging Quaker doppleganger. More than once he's written the post I was about to write. And more than one important article of mine started as commentary to one of his insightful articles.

So I'm worried that he's written the first of a multipart article asking Is it time to leave Quakerism. I'm worried not just that Quakerism would lose a bright Light, etc., etc, but because I know that now I'm going to have to publicly mull over the question that's a constant background hum that I try not to think about.

Your retroactive prayers are in order. Julie, “Theo”:www.nonviolence.org/theo and my mother just came to visit me in the fgc office on our way to see the Philadelphia Flower Show. When they were walking out of the “PATCO”:http://www.drpa.org/patco/ train, the doors closed on Theo’s stroller, pinning his arms.

President Bush has nominated a foe of the United Nations to be its U.S. ambassador. Ten years ago he declared: "There's no such thing as the United Nations," and went on to say "If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." This is a fellow who called his role in withdrawling the U.S. signature on the treaty ratifying the International Criminal Court the happiest moment of my government service. The Guardian reports that fought arms control agreements, a strengthening of the biological weapons convention and the comprehensive test ban treaty. With his nomination, the Bush Administration continues its course of unilaterialism and open contempt for the world community. Not a good way to build a last peace.

• Simple Church asks why we don’t remember the future like we do the past. "What we need to recognize and own for ourselves is our future in Christ and eternity largely depends on our ability to remember the 'Future..."
• On the same morning I took a three hour bike-train-train-car commute to visit Middletown Meeting, Kwakersaur wrote an ode to sleeping in: "This fine First-Day morning I will practice that most ancient of spiritual practices: nesting."
• The New York Times reports on a growing number of religion-oriented blogs, many of them irreverent and contrarian. Irreverent? Contrarian? We here at Quaker Ranter haven't seen any irreverent religions blogs
• Quaker Dharma shares a true story: "A man walks into his church. In the course of conversation with his pastor, he shares that his son has become Quaker. His pastor smiles broadly and retorts, 'What committee is he on?'" (The post that follows is even better, so click that link!)
• Update: Rich the Brooklyn Quaker has a great-looking post on prophetic ministry that I can't wait to read!

The resignation of the government is Lebanon is being hailed as a "boost for democracy" Reports describe Beirut as a sea of excitement. ABC News and others are reporting that Syria is about to announce its withdrawl from Lebanon. How wonderful it would be if Beirut could emerge from its thirty years of chaos with the start of the 1975 civil war.

Even good change can cause turmoil. David Hirst, writing in the guardian, wonders whether the upheaval threatends to destabilize Syria and turn it into another iraq: "After the example of elections, however flawed, in occupied iraq and Palestine, has come this new, unscheduled outbreak of popular self-assertion in a country [Lebanon] where a sister Arab state, not an alien occupier, is in charge."

For the latest news, you can turn to the Guardian's special report on Syria and iraq. To jump in the fray, you can turn to the Nonviolence Board's thread on the resignation of the Lebanese government

A guest piece from Rob of Consider the Lillies

Rob describes himself: "I’m a twenty-something gay Mid-western expatriate living in Boston. I was inspired to begin a blog based on the writings of other urban Quaker bloggers as they reflect and discuss their inward faith and outward experiences. When I’m not reading or writing, I’m usually with my friends, traveling about, and/or generally making an arse of myself."

Just stumbled on the website of the National Study of Youth and Religion.