Comments on: Emergent Church Movement: The Younger Evangelicals and Quaker Renewal

By: Martin Kelley

Martin Kelley — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 13:28:00 +0000

In reply to Kenneth G. Horne. Jesus makes weekly visits. Sometimes we may not notice him. He may be there in the back. We might be too busy recapping the morning's NPR commentary or getting lost in the weeds parsing out ancient Aramaic grammar that we think is supposed to mean something. But he's there. Sometimes he spends the whole hour quietly holding one of our grieving members. Sometimes he taps us on the shoulder to notice the sunlight on one another's faces. And sometimes he pushes one of us out of our seats to stand up and minister the good news in his name. It's all good. George Fox? Would he really be welcome anywhere? He was a rabble rouser. His job was to make us uncomfortable, to get us out of our languor and point to the presence, right here right now, of that one that can speak to our condition. I don't think he would ever be satisfied and for good reason. I'd love to see him stride in wearing his leather breeches but it would be pandemonium!

By: Kenneth G. Horne

Kenneth G. Horne — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 03:08:00 +0000

Would Jesus Christ or George Fox be welcome in your Meeting for Worship?

By: James Borton

James Borton — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:05:00 +0000

I am the last of an unbroken line of Quakers in America that goes back 350 years. My direct ancestors migrated West from New Jersey with the opening of the "wilderness" of North East Ohio. My ancestors remained followers of the Quaker Faith, but the Faith evolved during the rise of Mid-West Evangelicals. My Father graduated from Cleveland Bible College and spent his life as an Evangelical Pastor with various Friends churches in Ohio and Michigan. In spite of this background, I grew up having very little awareness of the roots of that faith. I saw very little difference between our Church and other Evangelical denominations and I grew to identify God as a very critical Father who handed out severe punishment but lacked an interest in nurturing such an imperfect soul such as I. Along with many other young people in the 60's, I left home to attend College and among other things, I left God back at home. I went through the phases that many Baby Boomer's were experiencing; trying to "find myself", looking for answers in New Age Religions and feeling spiritually lost. In the 80's I began to research the history of my Family and as a result I became exposed to the early teachings that my Ancestors brought with them from England. I came across Quaker writings, such as the journal of John Woolman, a distant relative, and I was thrilled and amazed at his moral strength and commitment to following the "inner light" with such consistency throughout his life. Even in those very early days of our Nation, they had a deep understanding of social and moral principles that are still out of reach of most of America. I have tried grasp a vision of a modern movement that would reflect the faith of the early Quakers, so I appreciate the challenges that your express relating to healing the various schisms and achieving this goal. It is encouraging that others are out there having these same thoughts and desires to build a legacy of Quaker ideals.

By: maita jones

maita jones — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:25:44 +0000

Hi Martin, Thanks for such a candid assessment of the Friends.My husband & I are very new to Quakerism.We both have been on staff at evang/charismatic church for 5 years and Christians for years, and it seems the Lord has turned us into Quakers :)We live in Southern CA,so we have had no exposure to Quakers at all or their beliefs (truly,the oatmeal box is about it.) We recently read a book by Frank Viola called "Reimagining Church" we loved it & my husband said "wait a second,this sounds like way the Quakers have been doing church for years!" We then have been hungerly eating up anything we can find on the Friends.I found the Conservative Quakers & what the Lord has shown us completely lines up in every way (Disaplines etc.)Which made us cry with joy to find like-minded folks out there.We have been having a group of 30 somethings and their kids for the last year in people's houses. My husband Joel has a huge passion for street evangelism & has been leading a homeless outreach.To us,Quakerism has it all,intimacy with Jesus,community,amazing works,beautiful history etc. & we want to share it! People in SoCal would be so open to it,if they just knew about it.Problem is,there are no Conservative Quakers anywhere near us.There's a big Evangelical Quaker church about 25 miles away,but we are convinced that evangelical/pastoral Quakerism is not us-we are coming out of that (the pastoral part for sure)How does one (or two)become a Quaker?We feel we ARE Quakers,but we haven't gone to a meeting.I've tried contacting the Ohio Yearly Meeting but I haven't heard anything back.We don't want to be "rebels" and buck the way things are done by Quakers,but my sense is to be a part of it we may get bogged down by some of the stuff you wrote about.Our experiences in our church have definitely drilled those points home.We could be folks who "scuba-dive" underneath all of that stuff,but we would like to be affiliated somehow.Sorry this is such a crazy-long email! You just seem like someone who can help us in some way.We feel such a fire for what God wants to do here we don't want to get discouraged by folks that would think we were out there :) Thanks so much for listening & for sharing what you see. Maita & Joel Jones (& our 4 kiddos)

By: Martin Kelley

Martin Kelley — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:50:24 +0000

Hi Ron: the most startling observation in all of this blogging has been just how unexpectedly similar many of these issues are across the Quaker boundaries. Here I am, an East Coast liberal Quaker (even if not exactly a mainstream one) talking about the issues I’m seeing and you’re reading it as an superintendent of Midwestern Friends Churches and thinking it sounds familiar. This irony is part of the reason some of us have been banding together under the “Convergent Friends” label. This four-year-old essay can be seen as an early post in that movement. My latest thoughts “are here”:https://www.quakerranter.org/convergent_friends_a_long_definition.php
Check out “ConvergentFriends.org”:www.convergentfriends.org (from a EFI seminary student) and collected “Convergent post”:http://quakerquaker.org/convergent_quakers/ at QuakerQuaker for more. Also: I returned to this essay in an article in the October 2006 issue of _Friends Journal_ focusing on the future of Friends. If you have a copy around you’ll see an updated version of these ideas.
I really don’t know how to resolve the real issues involved in the dual affiliation debate. I do know that Christian love, tenderness and patience need to be part of the solution. The integrity through which we move through this thicket is perhaps more important than the places we all end up. I had the luck to attend Great Plains Yearly Meeting last year, a body that almost shouldn’t exist given it’s differences and found it fascinating and instructive to see how they held together, giving and bending much like a family, motivated by some clear desire to move forward together as a body despite the personal costs.
The only other thing I’d say is that I know a lot of younger Friends who are excited about inter-visitation, delving into Quaker roots and seriously engaging with other types of Friends. Johan Maurer “recently likened them”:http://johanpdx.blogspot.com/2007/07/fum-retreat-what-did-we-accomplish.html (us) to scuba divers passing quietly underneath the establishment structures. While general board meetings fuss and fight the old battles over turf, the more interesting story is playing out over dinner tables, blogs and visits. Some of the young Friends have moved out and are gone for good (I’ve called it “the Lost Quaker Generation”:https://www.quakerranter.org/the_lost_quaker_generation.php) but others are there, keeping in touch, waiting and watching.
Thanks for posting here, Ron. I’ve been happy and grateful to see you engaging with blogs.
Your Friend, Martin

By: Ron Bryan

Ron Bryan — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:29:54 +0000

I am the General Superintendent of Iowa Yearly Meeting. This website just landed on my computer today, the day before my annual address for the Yearly Meeting session. I don’t believe it was an accident. Much of the words, phrases and ideas speak to the frustrations that I sense and see in our Friends Churches. I just returned from four intensive days at FUM General Board Meetings. We did not seem to reach any helpful conclusions and we remain divided on certain issues with FGC/FUM dually affiliated Yearly Meetings. While we debate, argue, cry and attempt to coerce, the young people move on and out. It is phenomenonaly draining, spiritually, physcially and emotionally. Feed me some more info, I am obviously needing to tap into a new source of information.

By: billoharris

billoharris — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:01:04 +0000

I’m just an attender with an eclectic background. I came to Friends because I believe Jesus was a mortal man, still son of God and Messiah. I think the theology arising from this pre-Nicene doctrine holds the key to peace in Palestine, and therefore in this series of US wars. But no one will listen. Got any ideas?

By: Robin M.

Robin M. — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 00:40:37 +0000

Hey Martin,
I want to say thank you for your amazing set of links. Comments like the above, along with the new column on the Ranter home page, continue to amaze and enlighten me. Here I am slogging away in my own little Meeting, with little glimpses here and there of what “this old tired religion” could really be and then you come along and broaden my horizons. What’s a girl to do? Sometimes I feel like I will never be able to keep up with the gale force winds of the Spirit and the great people to be gathered and sometimes I feel just clear enough to keep my eyes on the prize and hold on. Just to mix a few metaphors.
Anyway, keep up the good work.