Self-reinforcing Cycles

September 28, 2018
· Martin Kelley

Gregg Koskela, the lead pas­tor of New­berg (Ore.) Friends Church until last year, has a heart-felt piece about learn­ing how to lis­ten to abuse stories:

For us who’ve walked this road (our­selves or with oth­ers), it all fits with the world we now live in, the one where our eyes have been opened and our hearts are filled at times with despair. This is the world where abuse hap­pens, where per­pe­tra­tors so often get away with it, where it’s so hard to risk reveal­ing it, where we see with crys­tal clar­i­ty that if you do dis­close, the ques­tions and doubts and the char­ac­ter assas­si­na­tion will overwhelm. 

https://​greg​gkoskela​.org/​2​0​1​8​/​0​9​/​2​7​/​s​e​l​f​-​r​e​i​n​f​o​r​c​i​n​g​-​c​y​c​l​es/

Ben Woods; Liberal Quakerism and the Need for Roots

September 21, 2018
· Martin Kelley

On our rela­tion­ship with Christianity:

In this vein, for ear­ly Friends, ‘being a Chris­t­ian‘, was more than sim­ply assent­ing to the­o­log­i­cal abstracts. To live as a ‘Friend of the Truth’ was to expe­ri­ence direct­ly the claim that God loves the uni­verse per­pet­u­al­ly in Christ. In this respect, ‘Quak­er’ Chris­tian­i­ty is more than a the­o­ry or phi­los­o­phy of things, but a prac­ti­cal rela­tion­ship with a liv­ing per­son. To walk with Jesus of Nazareth meant to live with the same man­tle upon one’s shoul­ders, to teach, to heal, and to restore. 

Reflec­tions on Lib­er­al Quak­erism and the Need for Roots

Friendly Fire: The Making of a Charismatic Quaker

September 19, 2018
· Martin Kelley

A look at the Vine­yard Move­men­t’s Quak­er roots:

When it comes to Spirit-attentive wor­ship and min­istry, the Vine­yard man­i­fests Quak­er spir­i­tu­al­i­ty in a way that is faith­ful to the Evan­gel­i­cal tra­di­tion, but tru­ly mys­ti­cal, and of course deeply Quak­er. They live out a Quak­erism many of today’s Amer­i­can Quak­ers, both Lib­er­al and Ortho­dox, would find laugh­able, back­wards. George Fox, on the oth­er hand, may get it.

The Mak­ing of a Charis­mat­ic Quaker

Steven Davison: Prophecy and Continuing Revelation

September 19, 2018
· Martin Kelley

Where does new min­istry come from?

It is through prophe­cy, through con­tin­u­ing rev­e­la­tion, that the Reli­gious Soci­ety of Friends moves for­ward into God’s next work for us. And we very often get our first inkling of that new truth from someone’s vocal min­istry, in a meet­ing for wor­ship, or a meet­ing for wor­ship with atten­tion to the life of the meet­ing, or in a con­sul­ta­tion or Tri­en­ni­al or world gath­er­ing or FGC Gathering,

The Impor­tance of Vocal Min­istry: Prophe­cy and Con­tin­u­ing Revelation

Regina Baird Haag on the sharing of vocal ministry

September 19, 2018
· Martin Kelley

Study turns to some­thing more spon­ta­neous after a failed com­put­er save:

Since that Sun­day wor­ship, I have found myself more inclined and respon­sive to lead­ings to share vocal min­istry out of Silence. While I still pre­pare dili­gent­ly when occa­sions to plan to preach arise, meld­ing schol­ar­ship, dai­ly life, and spir­it over time, I am more sen­si­tive and respon­sive to those inner lead­ings and the Spir­it, from which ALL vocal and non-verbal min­istry are born and enlivened.

http://​www​.nyym​.org/​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​m​y​-​e​x​p​e​r​i​e​n​c​e​-​s​h​a​r​i​n​g​-​v​o​c​a​l​-​m​i​n​i​s​try

Patricia Dallmann’s observations of Matthew 17

September 18, 2018
· Martin Kelley

A fishy story:

This isn’t your ordi­nary fish sto­ry, though it is incred­i­ble. Nev­er­the­less, there’s a les­son about real­i­ty being taught here, a les­son to be con­firmed by expe­ri­ence alone. For the expe­ri­ence goes well beyond that which we have learned is pos­si­ble in nature, just like the sto­ry itself. 

http://​www​.quak​erquak​er​.org/​x​n​/​d​e​t​a​i​l​/​2​3​6​0​6​8​5​:​B​l​o​g​P​o​s​t​:​1​6​1​406

What is “Clerking Consciousness”?

September 18, 2018
· Martin Kelley

From the new clerk of New York Year­ly Meeting:

If all the world inter­act­ed on the basis of con­sen­sus, the world would be a far bet­ter place. But if all the world func­tioned on the basis of sense of the meet­ing, as Friends do, the world would be a very dif­fer­ent place alto­geth­er. Every­one would have full respon­si­bil­i­ty to find the best way for­ward for everyone. 

http://​www​.nyym​.org/​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​w​h​a​t​-​i​s​-​c​l​e​r​k​i​n​g​-​c​o​n​s​c​i​o​u​s​n​ess

Spirit-led Structures for Quaker Meetings

September 18, 2018
· Martin Kelley

Steven Davi­son urges us to rethink annover-reliance on committees:

This dynam­ic tends to quench the spir­it behind new lead­ings. All of our tes­ti­monies, and con­tin­u­ing rev­e­la­tion in gen­er­al, start out as new — that is, prophet­ic; that is, Spirit-led — con­cerns and lead­ings. They deserve Spirit-led atten­tion and elder­ship, not a buck­et of cold water. 

http://​www​.nyym​.org/​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​s​p​i​r​i​t​-​l​e​d​-​s​t​r​u​c​t​u​r​e​s​-​q​u​a​k​e​r​-​m​e​e​t​i​ngs