Comments on: The Lost Quaker Generation

By: Martin Kelley

Martin Kelley — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 12:16:40 +0000

Hi Larry, It's great to see someone finding this two year old post and (perhaps) reviving the conversation. You're very right of course about the tribal nature of many Friends groups. Our approach is not meaningful because we've named it, codified it, institutionalized it and set up a dozen committees to oversee it. The Quaker path of the Christian highway is meaningful only in the way it's a true way to God and that truth is truth only if it transcends us and our names for it. That said, it is the job of Friends to be true to ourselves and to God's call. We are the inheritors of a tradition that does have some important (if not unique) insights. I don't think God is done with us. Which means its our responsibility to keep this thing going once we're gone: to inspire, lift up and celebrate the ever-changing renewal and rebirth that is the next generation. Looking back at this after two year's time I think what I'm trying to say is that it's not just "those Quaker's" job to make sure we're following our path, it's "us Quaker's" job. Whenever we're gathered together, in whatever group we're in, it is us who are the Quakers and we are Quakers not because the sign outside says we are but because we are devoted to following the call of the inward Christ. There are times when we should stop thinking of ourselves as sojourners, to come out of the desert into the city, to share the good news we've been given and to polish up the outward temple so it shines forth anew. It will start getting smudgy right away but that's a lesson for us: we're all living in human time but as people of faith it's our job to point the way to God's eternal time. I'm simply one person lifting up one concern. The faithfulness lies in continuing in prayer for greater discernment, in waiting for those times when the Spirit indicates it is right to bring the concern to the larger body, in being patient even when the concern is not taken up (in the knowledge that a true concern won't die or go away), and in being bold when the time to speak has come.

By: larry

larry — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 17:14:22 +0000

People move on. What leads Quakers or any human group to suppose that they’re unique? I once led a small group of Quakers at a retreat in N.C. I asked them if anyone ever had a feeling that there might be something better than Quakers.
Most people were emphatic in their denial (ultra tribalistic?) One young lady nodded her head vigorously. She was looking!
Me too! I sojourn with Quakers because they’re the best (for me) available at the moment. But God has all kinds of surprises for us.
Many Quakers are supposed to join at 20, go somewhere else later. It’s a journey; it’s nothing like yours— or anybody elses for that matter.
Wake up! Realize that Quakers are not as different as they would like to be. Strengths? yes! weaknesses? yes! God has different things in mind of us, ole buddy. Maybe even for you.

By: Harold

Harold — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:51:02 +0000

I sympathise very much with Rita Tiefert--I find that I agree in theological matters with the early Quakers and that in turn leads to peace concerns, but these days so many Friends deny Christ his proper place as leader of the Society. If a person is not being led by Christ, what's the point in "fighting for peace", or for anything for that matter? The most important thing is the relationship with Jesus Christ and if that's not there to begin with, little else matters. One has to know why he or she is working for peace in the first place. It's sometimes difficult to remain respectful to the individual persons who call themselves liberal Quakers while at the same time letting the world know the proper place of Jesus Christ in our Society. Today it seems as though the very mention of the Lord's name is offensive to some Friends, and as though those of us who keep alive the love of Jesus Christ are looked upon as "misinformed" at best, and stupid or oldfashioned at worst. It's extremely disheartening and has caused many people who would otherwise be attracted to Quakerism to turn to more thoroughly Christian groups such as the Methodists and Episcopalians. So in short, I agree with Rita--there's little point in having a Quakerism without Christ. It's too easy to get lost if people don't even know who's leading them!

By: Rita Tiefert

Rita Tiefert — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:40:13 +0000

When I converted from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to Christ, I discovered that I seemed to have much in common with the early Quakers. I was reading various texts on Quakerism and was flabbergasted at some of the beliefs and experiences I had in common with the writers.
But modern Quakerism seems like a whole different story. I have encountered two modern Quaker groups and heard precious little from them about being led by the Holy Spirit or even about Christ. I admire several of modern Quakers’ activist efforts, but they’re just efforts if not led by the Power of God!
Not finding a Quaker congregation I felt comfortable with, I have become entrenched in my local Methodist congregation. They’re not perfect; no congregation is. But at least they know Who leads.

By: Chris Parker

Chris Parker — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 14:42:00 +0000

Well, I’m one of these thirty somethings that has drifted away. I’m sure each of us has our own story. I did try to help organize, but that turned out to be a bitter and unsuccessful experience. A long story for another time
There are a lot of different forces at work. Some of them a simply what happens when you gather humans together. Ever run across a book by Ken Wilbur, called Boomerites? It’s a lament over narcissm of the mid-life crowd. Thirty somethings are up against the cultural phenominon that is a lot bigger than Quakerism.
But the spirit flows in many directions and if the Quaker community has lost it’s vitality or doesn’t work for some people, there are other places there. Holding on too tightly to Quakerism is to hold on to a human creation.
I am now living and working at Kripalu yoga center, a place that many call a spiritual home. We have 60,000 people on our mailing list, of whom about 68% have come here as a guest. There are about 30,000 unprogrammed Quakers.

By: Kenneth Sutton

Kenneth Sutton — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 12:55:22 +0000

Hi Martin. Great post. I did dig in to a few of your points, however, in a post I made to my own blog! Not being too savvy yet about all the techie aspects of blogging, I’ve just found out how the trackback works–by ticking off that little box in my typepad posting window, and then seeing that it pings your site and shows up on your blog in the “trackback” section. Cool! Thanks for writing these thoughtful, challenging posts.
Kenneth