@Joel: I’d imagine you’d have the mirrored problem. The divisions have created such an odd situation. Some places you have to go explain why Friends should be Christian and others why Christians should be Friends. I wonder if you’ve used Samuel Bownas’s book, “Descriptions of the Qualifications Necessary for a Gospel Minister,” combined with his journal. First published in 1750, “Descriptions” is a good description of Quaker ministry but it’s steeped in Biblical references–which the current edition has very helpfully labeled. Bownas is also pretty down-to-earth and practical. There are some good stories which can help humanize him. He’s always going off on evangelizing trips and will occasionally throw out funny stories about the state of the Religious Society of Friends in various places–he busts on Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on one trip!

@Stephen: interesting perspective, I’m emailing you to see if we can get this out wider.

I think the most clear way to spread this kind of work is to create/support similar programs at other institutions of higher education. Haverford has recently revived a Quaker community on its campus (yay!), and the Friends Leadership Program at George Fox sounds like another prime example. I also know that the QLSP program at Guilford is really operating at maximum capacity and those staffing it have a hard time avoiding burn-out. How could Friends support these programs better and ensure that they are effective, responsible, and sustainable?

Personally, the hardest thing I have dealt with, post-QLSP, is being more deeply and broadly versed in the Biblical foundations and early Quaker traditions and practices than the majority of people in my monthly meeting!

Beyond opening young’ns upto our rich roots, I think there is a very important question of: What then? Often times, I feel like my faith community doesn’t know what to do with me and can’t relate to the experience I’ve had through Max’s work and my time in QLSP. I can think of a number of other Friends who have had a similar experience and feel as though their energies and interests in pursuing ministry and a radically faithful life cannot find a proper container in their monthly meetings. My classmate Jon Watts comes to mind. It’s great to open us up, but ultimately, who is responsible to steward the young energy that arises after such folks have been exposed to the power and zeal of early Quakers’ witness and their foundational Biblical roots?

Also, if we want to bring contemporary Young Adult Friend perspectives and energies together in a fruitful way, I would suggest we move away from the model of having an occasional YAF gathering every two years or so. My experience with these is that, yes they are powerful, sometimes positive ways, and also sometimes in negative ways, but they are always inherently confrontational. Each person brings their perspective, their baggage, and their ministry into 72 hours of intense interaction, and quite often it’s hard to balance the ability to give and the ability to receive in such a short period of time. It creates a feeling in some that they have not been heard, and makes “Weighty” Friends/Quaker Celebrities out of others. Instead, why not establish a formal network for on-going, genuine relationships that facilitate real opportunities for deeper listening, slower learning, etc.? I’m sure there would be events that would come out of this, but they would be the culmination of a larger work, and not the beginning and the end of a work in one massively over-programmed weekend.

Lastly, this kind of network would also allow us, as Young Adult Friends, to formally participate in networks like the New Fire Movement of the National Council of Churches and the World Student Christian Federation. As someone who doesn’t feel understood or challenged in his home Meeting, and as someone interested in engaging the richness of the broader Christian and Quaker communities, these are the networks that I’ve ended up in, but I participate unofficially because Quakers lack a formal structure for their young people to formally engage. We used to have Young Friends of North America, but alas, no more…

@Jaime: It’d be fascinating to hear what the resistance points are for George Fox students–what can you put in their hands that will elicit the responses “I’ve never held one of these!” and “why do we have to look at this?”

Thanks for this post! As the Director of the newly implemented Friends Leadership Program at George Fox, which draws Quakers who are Bible literate and lean more towards evangelical theology than those in Max’s group, this is still a fascinating topic to mull over. I was just at the Friends Center for a FAHE Quaker college fair, and after a brief presentation to everyone there about financial aid, was able to have some good conversations with folks about what it means to be a Christ-centered Quaker college. I imagine a class that was made up of students from the GF program and the Guilford program would be fascinating! Thus, one impetus for the CF flourishing. Anyway, just some thoughts. Thanks!