The newest Friends Jour­nal issue is out, look­ing at how we use mon­ey. It’s per­haps not the sex­i­est top­ic but it speaks to what we val­ue as a body of believ­ers. Are we focused on our inter­nal group or on the world out­side our walls? Some­times the dis­cus­sions around mon­ey are tedious and our deci­sions self-evident. I think it’s pos­si­ble for a meet­ing to spend too much time focused on its own self-management. But there are times when dis­cus­sions of resource use brings out sur­pris­ing inspiration.

First up in our fea­tures is Joann Neu­roth’s “Putting Our Mon­ey Where Our Hearts Are,” a look at how her meet­ing in Lans­ing, Michi­gan, took seem­ing­ly tiny steps that have grown into sig­nifi­ant com­mu­ni­ty out­reach and investment.

When we catch our breath to add it all up, we real­ize that the vol­un­teers who “feed the pantry” dai­ly have put $11,000 of food in that box each year. It feels a bit like loaves and fish­es! Where did it come from, one gro­cery bag at a time? We are pret­ty sure any­one propos­ing an $11,000 pro­gram back in 2020 would have been quick­ly set straight about lim­its to our capac­i­ty. But one can of soup at a time, we have tru­ly sur­prised ourselves.

Just a moment… 

www​.friend​sjour​nal​.org