A beautiful meditation by Brian Drayton on Quakers softening on the ideas of times and seasons and how he (and I suspect many other Friends) have come to more fully embrace the seasons of both the wider Christian Church and also the natural seasons of the earth and cosmos.
Quaker Ranter
A Weekly Newsletter and Blog from Martin Kelley
Tag Archives ⇒ church
What is your Quaker meeting’s story?
August 16, 2024
I had a great video interview with Mike Huber on gaming and fun and community (I even got to bust out nineteenth century Books of Discipline to highlight past Quakers’ distrust of “gaming and diversions”). He has an article in the current FJ on Dungeons & Dragons and how his longtime play of it has shaped how he sees his Quaker communities.
One takeaway of our talk was the idea of a Quaker community as a kind of storytelling place. Do we have stories of who we are? Our they are stories or stories inherited from previous generations? Do we recognize our story arcs — the shifts, sometimes obvious and sometimes gradual — that change our character.
Mike pointed out that pastored meetings have rather obvious moments to stop and reflect on who we are and what we’re becoming, as a change in pastors requires an assessment as a new call for a pastor starts. In unprogrammed meetings, certainly generational changes creates story arcs, though perhaps not as consciously.
What is you meeting or church’s story?
youtube.comUK Quakers will not profit from the occupation of Palestine
November 20, 2018
British Friends become first church in UK to pull investments in companies profiting from the occupation of Palestine. From recording clerk Paul Parker:
As Quakers, we seek to live out our faith through everyday actions, including the choices we make about where to put our money. We believe strongly in the power of legitimate, nonviolent, democratic tools such as morally responsible investment to realise positive change in the world. We want to make sure our money and energies are instead put into places which support our commitments to peace, equality and justice.
As you’d might expect, there’s been backlash. The Board of Deputies of British Jews has condemned Britain Yearly Meeting’s decision as a “biased and petulant act.”.
Quakers 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.
Spirit-Led Evangelism
June 1, 2018
Adria Gulizia guest posting on Johan Maurer’s blog: It is hard to talk about God, Jesus and the spiritual life in this moment in American history. Many of our non-Christian neighbors find the little they know about Jesus to be attractive or intriguing, but they know enough about the failings of the church to have very negative opinions about actual Christians. If we do have non-Christian friends, it may be despite our Christian faith rather than because of it — we may be seen as the exception that proves the rule.
https://blog.canyoubelieve.me/2018/05/adria-gulizia-spirit-led-evangelism.html
Spirit-Led Evangelism
June 1, 2018
Adria Gulizia guest posting on Johan Maurer’s blog: It is hard to talk about God, Jesus and the spiritual life in this moment in American history. Many of our non-Christian neighbors find the little they know about Jesus to be attractive or intriguing, but they know enough about the failings of the church to have very negative opinions about actual Christians. If we do have non-Christian friends, it may be despite our Christian faith rather than because of it — we may be seen as the exception that proves the rule.
https://blog.canyoubelieve.me/2018/05/adria-gulizia-spirit-led-evangelism.html
Spirit-Led Evangelism
June 1, 2018
Adria Gulizia guest posting on Johan Maurer’s blog: It is hard to talk about God, Jesus and the spiritual life in this moment in American history. Many of our non-Christian neighbors find the little they know about Jesus to be attractive or intriguing, but they know enough about the failings of the church to have very negative opinions about actual Christians. If we do have non-Christian friends, it may be despite our Christian faith rather than because of it — we may be seen as the exception that proves the rule.
https://blog.canyoubelieve.me/2018/05/adria-gulizia-spirit-led-evangelism.html
Spirit-Led Evangelism
June 1, 2018
Adria Gulizia guest posting on Johan Maurer’s blog: It is hard to talk about God, Jesus and the spiritual life in this moment in American history. Many of our non-Christian neighbors find the little they know about Jesus to be attractive or intriguing, but they know enough about the failings of the church to have very negative opinions about actual Christians. If we do have non-Christian friends, it may be despite our Christian faith rather than because of it — we may be seen as the exception that proves the rule.
https://blog.canyoubelieve.me/2018/05/adria-gulizia-spirit-led-evangelism.html