Sorry for the strange double postings lately, especially of some older links. The semi automation that lets me easily share articles has started behaving particularly glitchy. I’ve adjusted some settings so that I will check posts manually before they actually go up.
Quaker Ranter
A Weekly Newsletter and Blog from Martin Kelley
Category Archives ⇒ Quaker
As the blog name implies, I am a member of the Religious Society of Friends, known colloquially as Quakers. Many of my blog posts deal with issues of our society and its interactions with the larger world. I generally only include my own posts in this list. I share many many Quaker links in my Links Blog category and on QuakerQuaker.
Important Posts:
The Lost Quaker Generation (2003)
Peace and Twenty-Somethings (2003)
We’re All Ranters Now (2003)
Passing the Faith, Planet of the Quaker Style (2004)
Quaker Testimonies (2004)
Hey, Who Am I To Decide Anything? (2007)
The Biggest Most Vibranty Most Outreachiest Program Ever (2010)
Getting a Horse to Drink (on Philadelphia YM) (2010)
Tell Them All This But Don’t Expect Them to Listen (2010)
Generational strategies for Quaker outreach
August 5, 2018
From Emily Provance:
An under-45 communications strategy, in contrast, would mostly involve social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, possibly Tumblr or Pinterest). Articles would be short and would contain mostly content directly relevant to the reader — or, if the content were not directly relevant, it would be single-story narratives with an emphasis on personal impact. Announcements would come out through messenger apps or text messages, with a strong element of user control about which announcements to receive and which not. Photos and videos would be used frequently.
I’m always a bit wary of generational determinism. I think generational ideas are more like underlying trends that get more or less traction over time. And Quaker digital outreach in particular has been a thing for a quarter century now. But the underlying message — that some people need to be reached digitally while others are still best served by print — is a sound one and I’m glad Emily’s bringing it up.
But it’s still kind of sad that we still need to make this kind of argument. I remember having these discussions around an FGC outreach committee table fifteen years ago: surely we’re all on board about the need for digital outreach in 2018?
A view of the Wilmington YM schism from the rising clerk
August 5, 2018
From JP Lund:
The Wilmington Yearly Meeting that emerges will be smaller. It will still be diverse, including a range of views on same gender marriage and Biblical authority. It will consist of meetings that have chosen Christian fellowship over dogma, the Gospel of Love over the letter of the law.
Earlham College seeks to roll back expense budget by a decade after president’s resignation
August 4, 2018
From Inside Higher Ed:
Worries mount that the college has strayed too far from its liberal arts core. Suspicions run high that college leaders reached recent important decisions without regard for one of the key governance principles rooted in its Quaker identity: consensus.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/01/earlham-college-seeks-roll-back-expense-budget-decade-after-presidents-resignation#.W2Ixczv6vJc.facebook
Seeking a People
August 2, 2018
If we are converging on history and practice, we are missing the point. If we are depending on institutions to create a new society or usher in the Kingdom, then we are deceived. These will not bring the radically egalitarian and Spirit-filled communities that God fostered among early Friends.
Wilmington Yearly Meeting splinters
August 1, 2018
Not a surprise: Wilmington Yearly Meeting (western Ohio and Tennessee) is splintering along familiar lines:
The separations stem from a disagreement over whether same-sex weddings are to be permitted in member churches, or as they are often called in the Quaker tradition, meetings. The churches leaving WYM regard same-sex marriage as against the will of God.
It looks like many of the more Evangelical churches are the ones pulling out of the yearly meeting. The lines of controversy are similar to recent separations in Indiana and North Carolina Yearly Meetings. The big-tent center of Midwestern FUM Friends seems to be pretty permanently fractured.
https://www.wnewsj.com/news/78939/several-churches-leave-wilmington-yearly-meeting-over-same-sex-marriage
Bathrooms as hospitality ministry
July 31, 2018
Mackenzie Morgan reminds us that some kinds of hospitality begin in our church bathrooms:
Now imagine a parent with a screaming baby suddenly realizing they forgot the diaper bag at home. Imagine it’s their first time at your meeting. Many people are self-conscious about their baby crying, especially with unprogrammed worship.
Membership — in a Yearly Meeting?
July 31, 2018
Steven Davison looks at a proposal to record members at the yearly meeting level:
without meaningful pastoral care, regular worship, spiritual nurture, and a fellowship that goes deeper than just three annual meetings could provide, what does “membership” mean? All that’s left is Quaker identity and a sense of belonging to the unique spiritual community that is New York Yearly Meeting. To me, that’s a half-baked Quaker life.