Comments on: On Journal articles and youthe-full traveling

By: James

James — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:31:30 +0000

Hi,
Martin once recommended some collected essays by Lloyd Lee Wilson to me. The title is called “Quaker Vision of Gospel Order.” There’s a very detailed chapter on travelling ministry. I read it right before I met Chip Thomas for the first time, and it has been of great help to me.
And I agree with Liz in that the only thing the Minister should care is his/her own faithfulness. Be faithful that something divinely good is going to happen and your ministry will be a fruitful one (regardless of whether you speak in the meeting or not.)

By: Liz Opp

Liz Opp — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 19:50:16 +0000

How exciting! Hooray for 20-something Friends to be asking these questions, seeking the Spirit among one another, and so on. As for Amanda’s concern about not having a model for visiting with others, I wish to say: Be faithful. Seek only for the step that is directly in front of you and the rest will take care of itself. …If you feel led to go, go. If you feel led to speak, speak. If you feel led to listen, listen. All shall be well.
And, to echo some of what Martin speaks to, I am thrilled that FGC is beginning the work of discerning how to include the voices and ministry of young adult Friends.
Blessings,
Liz

By: Martin Kelley

Martin Kelley — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 10:13:22 +0000

Hi Jeffrey: yes, I've been glad to hear of your experience. There seems to be a growing awareness of twenty-something Friends--funny that it's in the role of Elder and not of Minister. I do hope the world soon gets to hear the ministry of both you and James too. There's a good chance that James will move to New England this fall (he's already corresponded with Jonathan Vogel-Borne) and I'd love to introduce you two. Amanda: that sounds like great work. Yes, sometimes just visiting and worshipping can be the most powerful preaching one can do! There are a lot of new traveling ministry resources. The FGC Traveling Ministries page has some good material and the FGC Quaker Library page on Ministry has even more. There's some older material on the Fostering Vital Friends Meetings resources. There's also a brand new book called Walk Worthy of Your Calling, which I haven't read yet but which has lots of interesting contributors. You can also come to the Gathering workshop of course! (There's various partial scholarships available to help defray the costs).

By: amanda

amanda — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 00:44:33 +0000

Martin, this is so inspiring.
There’s so much synchronicity. In the newly formed 15th Street YAF worship group, the one ministry our tiny gathering has felt uniformly called to is travelling and visiting. At last Quarterly meeting Ryan (http://snorkelinglight.com)and I were both moved by appeals from several of the smaller monthly meeintgs (some of them apparently down to three or four regular member/attenders) for fellowship and support. We have no model for what this might entail aside from going to them and worshiping with them, perhaps rotating between these meetings, one First Day out of each month. I have been looking for contemporary accounts of “travelling ministry” — what I have read on the subject is all historical perspective on the establishment of the Society. I certainly don’t feel called to travel and preach to them, nor have I been given any pressing message which I must deliver and share — we simply feel a unified call to be with them and show them some good ol’ Friendly Love.
Anyhow, I’m glad to hear of other youngling companions setting off on these sorts of mini-missions.

By: Jeffrey Hipp

Jeffrey Hipp — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 22:16:59 +0000

I’ve been asked, on a number of occasions, to travel in the ministry with the field secretary of our yearly meeting. It’s always been an intimidating offer for me to accept — after all, I’m a 20-something convinced Friend who considers this man to be MY elder, not the other way around.
On the surface level, it’s a bit awkward, especially because on the one occasion, I was asked to join him on the ‑facing bench- of a semi-programmed meeting. But the experience of holding him in prayer as he rose to speak was affirming, grounding, and incredibly invaluable for my own ministry.
[shameless plug] And by the way, he will be one of the plenary speakers for the FGC Gathering this summer — Jonathan Vogel-Borne. [/shameless plug]