By Steve Olshewsky

Trusting the sense of the meeting to reveal the will of God is a rather breathtaking proposition and yet it happens on such a regular basis that our faith in the process is deepened over time. This basic practice of trust in God’s guidance is found throughout the history of every Quaker community seeking unity. Being bound together as individuals across geographical and ideological differences over so much time forms a unity comparable to God’s eternal nature.

Friends meetings generally desire that new attenders make themselves at home, join committees and engage in various meeting activities. There seems to be a natural unity in the spirit of a gathered meeting, a spirit aptly described by James Naylor as a feeling of being caught up in a net. In everything we do together, we want to find that of God at work, extending our worship experience to activities outside of worship. In this way, we experience being bound to each other and to Christ by threads of unity that connect us with every new activity we share. These threads eventually entwine and anchor us solidly to our spiritual bedrock as Gulliver was grounded by the Lilliputians.

Oddly, this solidity is often found in and enhanced by the preparation and clean up associated with the coffee and snacks, an activity informally known as the Quaker Eucharist of our second hours. Two women were once washing the dishes of their meeting’s fellowship time, wondering aloud where all the wise old Friends had gone and recounting all the times past when they found beside the sink weighty Friends who always seemed to handle things so expertly. They marveled at how the casual threshing of ideas and opinions and the deep listening skills of a devoted kitchen crew so quickly led to clearness.

Eventually the women looked at each other and realized that they were those resident sages. They had been seekers, they had come to share in the mentoring and had become themselves the chief dishwashers. Each generation of Friends finds its place in unity with those who have gone before and finds itself growing within the preservation of traditions that have molded the meeting, continuing to model the grace of God that holds a particular community of Friends together.

In the 15th chapter of John, Jesus provides a three-part model for the central principle of unity in decision making. John 15:14 states, “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” This gives us a base, a firm starting point. Law professors tell their students they are not in law school to learn the law, but rather to learn how to think like lawyers. Law school curriculum consists of history and rules, yet professors admonish that students are not to learn only the law but also how to think like lawyers. That instruction is designed to prepare future lawyers to be able to adjust to ever-changing legal environments. Similarly, though quoting our sainted forebearers and memorizing scriptures provide an important base, they do not completely equip us to unite
with the infinite potential of the future. Every kitchen has its rules that guide the work to be done.

John 15:15b quotes Jesus as saying, “I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” As we sit in open worship, waiting upon the Lord, listening for the revelations of the Inner Christ, how can we not appreciate all that is revealed in the company of God and these our Friends? Jesus has made us peers amongst ourselves by openly sharing all the personal feelings and thoughts of a divine heart and mind. This verse reminds us that what Jesus shares is what the Father made known to him. What a great pattern for us to follow when loving our neighbors and befriending our enemies by giving of ourselves to all and sundry (James 2:1-9). This is a pattern of invitation, just as the kitchen sages draw us to wisdom and clearness.

“I have chosen you,…that ye should go and bring forth fruit… that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). We have been recruited by Christ to take part in an ongoing adventure that promises great rewards. In the acceptance of such an invitation, we are assured of receiving everything we need if we remain actively engaged with our callings. This form of unity brings us into action as part of the flowing stream of continuing revelation and flourishing love. God’s kitchen is always open and there are always sufficient resources for the work to be done.

These three verses in John walk us through a unified plan for being faithfully involved with God’s intentions. Being obedient (v. 14) maintains a solid ground upon which we can build the next step. Sharing openly all that we are creates a true intimacy and bonding in friendships based upon the love and respect that sets the stage for a third step (v. 15). Daring to follow God’s leadings brings these deep relationships into the unfolding glory of the peaceable kingdom (v.16).

In unity with this pattern, we can be true to the spiritual callings that always bear fruit. As we develop our relationship with God through obedience, intimacy and action, we grow more confident in asking our Religious Society to support the ministries chosen for us. Over time, we learn our way around the kitchen until we are comfortable sharing in the preparation and clean-up duties. Eventually, those who taught us leave us able to teach those who follow. Much as God has chosen us to maintain the meetinghouse kitchen, others have chosen to eat there. If we were ever flattered by being asked to serve, how much more flattering must it be to feed others and magnify their services?

The lifeblood of our Religious Society is the unity we foster with the next generation of Friends, the future of our faith. Sitting in certainty about the way things are does not nurture the new ideas that keep us moving in the direction we have always enjoyed walking together. When new leadings are expressed, remember that “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You, too? I thought I was the only one’” (C.S. Lewis). Allowing room for new answers makes continuous growth possible and expands the reach of Christ in our world.

Steve Olshewsky is a tax professor and member of Swarthmore Friends Meeting who works for a Peace Tax Fund. This article benefited from comments in a writing class at the Earlham School of Religion for which the author is grateful.

Excerpts of the 2012 Western Yearly Meeting Quaker Lecture
By Sylvia Graves

What Does Jesus Say About Unity?

…You are familiar with the prayer in John 17 in which Jesus prays for not only his disciples, but all believers, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be
brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Referring to John 13:34 -35, Friends United Meeting General Board agreed to this statement in 1980:

The Church consists of those gathered by and in the power and presence of Christ and is a spiritual union with Christ and with one another in the covenant life of Christ. This visible unity of the church is found in the fellowship of those who love Christ and love each other. “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” In relation to the Church, Christ is Lord, Savior, Priest, Prophet, Teacher, and Comforter. Wherever these ministries of Christ are experienced in the presence of one another we have a true Christian fellowship.

I came across a paper written by Lorton Heusel when he was FUM’s General Secretary and which was presented to the Executive Council (what we now call the General Board) of Friends United Meeting in March of 1969. In reference to the 1887 conference, he wrote, “Recognizing the weakness caused by separatism, fragmentation and individualism, Friends nearly 75 years ago (now 125 year ago) were moved to strive for some measure of unity. While there was no desire to thwart personal freedom or individual responsibility, it was becoming clear that the work and calling of the Church must transcend local interests and personal preferences in an effort to try to weld them all together in a work of wider scope and united purpose. Without some common allegiance, we are not even
a branch of the church.”

The need was recognized for a coordinating center where Friends who share common interests could have the opportunity to work together to respond to God’s call to build his kingdom in ways we cannot manage on our own. While Lorton was describing the beginning of Friends United Meeting, it is a fitting description for how we come together in our local meetings for serving in our community. It also applies to our yearly meetings, especially if we can see the benefits of a wider fellowship and greater spiritual and educational resources than we can manage on our own.

In June of 2010, Jonathan Vogel-Borne wrote a piece on unity for SEEDS, a publication of the Good News Associates in Seattle. . . . following his 2010 visit to Nakuru, Kenya, as a member of the planning committee for the Friends World Committee on Consultation World Gathering that was held this spring. In it, he shares about the extreme contrast between the powerful singing, enthusiastic prayer, passionate preaching and shouting of praises he experienced in the Nakuru Friends Church compared to his deep roots in unprogrammed silent waiting during worship. Jonathan wrote, “I observed that if I am given the grace to encounter the same deep sense of God’s presence in the din of ‘praise worship’ as well as in silent waiting, it is there that I find unity. Anything less than that (measure of grace), I become judgmental, defensive, self-righteous and fearful — coming to the conclusion that these people can’t really be Quakers. Experiencing deep unity of Spirit, in the stillness of all hearts dwelling at God’s altar, is a wonderful gift, and a core mission of the World Conference.

Later in the article he adds, “Today, FUM and indeed all Quakers around the world, have an opportunity in this to move beyond our internal squabbles, to proclaim a powerful, life-changing message to the world, that Jesus Christ is here, now, available to us all. Rather than seeing our diversity as an impediment to this proclamation, we can remember our essential unity — a unity beyond any style of worship or outwardly defined theology — and see each facet of the various expressions of this message as a doorway into a revived, worldwide Quaker movement. Each local Friends’ group has its own special character and gift. Some are pastoral, some are wealthy, some are semi-programmed, some campaign for human rights and social justice, some are farm communities, some are emphatically Bible-based, some are working-class, some are unprogrammed, some are urban, some nurse religious refugees back to Christ. Our testimonies of simplicity, peace, equality, community, and integrity speak to a world hungering for an end to war, and an end to the polarized politics of our day, for the healing of our environment, and for the affirmation of a life lived with God at the center…

It seems to me that in the incidents of conflict that have occurred in our yearly meeting over the past decades, and not just recently, the tension has been wrought with fear, mistrust, insults, false assumptions, resentment, power struggles and even dirty tricks. We don’t seem to handle things with spiritually mature attitudes and with love in our hearts or actions. Now I wasn’t there in 1827 or in all those times of conflict and schism . . . , but I haven’t read much of anything in Quaker history that says, “And in a loving Spirit, feeling blessed by God, and with prayers of thanksgiving, Friends agreed to go their separate ways.” Instead it feels to me as if God must be weeping at our divisions.

Of course, it’s really difficult to work for unity at times. William Penn is remembered for saying and living with this profound thought: “Let us see what Love can do.” I believe that Love sometimes has to come from the head and not necessarily from the heart. We may be called to select behaviors contrary to how we feel because we know they are the right things to do . . .
We are not alone in theses struggles. We are part of a very large population of people trying to be faithful to the will of God as struggle to find unity especially when we are bombarded with sexuality issues and authority issues. Many of us are afraid to bring up topics that cause conflict — afraid that our very faith foundation will be shaken and maybe even broken. We are afraid of hurting our relationships. We are afraid we might be separated from those we love. We are afraid and unsure of change. Our organizations are afraid of the effects in finances and program. I pray that God grants us wisdom, maturity, and the fruits of His Spirit as we seek unity in his work.

One Sunday (during the Christmas season) our children (during the children’s message) opened a colorfully wrapped box and found in it a candle for each person present. The children distributed the unlit candles to represent the gift of God’s Light, which is present in each of us and which he wants us not only to accept but to share. Each of us was invited to come to the manger that was on the center table to light our candle and then place it on the table surrounding the crèche. Later, out of the silence, Steve Mills shared that he had noticed that before we lit our candles, the ceiling fans were perfectly still, but after we all lit our candles, the one about the table began to more and it had stayed in motion as long as the candles stayed lit. He said, “Sometimes when we rely on our own light, not much moves, but when we put our Lights together, there is enough power to make things happen.”

That is what unity is all about; putting our spiritual, mental, physical, intellectual and emotional energy together in love to do the work of the church. George Fox had a vision for a people who, in seeking the will of Christ, we would be in unity. May God help us to patiently seek his Unity, forgive our selfish and untrusting motives, and empower his work through us all together.”

Queries for Discussion

1. In your experience with Friends, when were you a part of dissension? What were the points of the disagreement? How did in conclude?
2. If the above situation resulted in division, are the two sides now better off? In what ways has God’s peace prevailed?
3. In your experience with Friends, what is a time when you felt God’s unifying Spirit bring a fresh wind into the
situation? How can you testify to the Business process of Friends who seek God’s will together.
4. What are the hard things for you to talk about? How shall we as people of the church go about facing the hard conversations?
5. What are some lines that have been drawn that you are willing to explore from the other side’s point of view?
6. In the whole big picture, how important is it that we stay together as a monthly meeting, yearly meeting, Friends United Meeting, and as the universal church of Jesus Christ?
7. What can your yearly meeting do to help your meeting trust the Quaker business procedure the way George Fox envisioned it?

By Colin Saxton, FUM general secretary

I just returned from Kenya where we celebrated the addition of Chebeyusi Yearly Meeting as an associate member within Friends United Meeting. Do you know that there are now 31 yearly meetings in our global fellowship! This means, of course, there are thousands of local churches/meetings and hundreds of thousands of individuals who form this community. From Annapolis to Xenia, Jamaica to Ramallah, Nairobi to North Carolina, Cuba to California, and Toronto to Tongaren… FUM is a world-wide collection of Quakers being gathered in Christ, in community and for mission.

As I have said several times in my first year as general secretary, the global nature of FUM is both our greatest strength and our greatest challenge. The breadth and diversity among us can spark a deeper obedience and understanding of what it means to be the people of God — if we will let it. The same breadth and diversity can provide us an opportunity to impact the world together in incredibly significant ways — if we will seize it. But the very same opportunities also challenge us mightily as we struggle, at times, to understand one another, negotiate our differences, and humble ourselves long enough to discern Christ’s leading for the whole.

These challenges are very real. Though we don’t need to fear them, we do best when we are mindful of them and remain intentional about the way we nurture relationships and communicate with each other. Engaging one another and actively investing in one another around what we do have in common helps us handle the tensions and questions that might otherwise distract or divide us.

In his letter to the editor (see page 36) in this issue of Quaker Life, Phil Gulley raises the concern of marriage equality. Friend Phil asks, “Is our fear of dissension and division so great and our trust in one another so meager, we cannot discuss one of the more pressing moral issues of our day?” He goes on to say, “It is long past time we sat down and talked. That is what healthy families do.”

The reality, of course, is the conversation is already going on. Across FUM, local meetings/churches and yearly meetings are discussing this matter, sometimes in healthy ways other times not. Since the yearly meeting is the organizational level in which Friends make statements about their particular Faith and Practice, it is not surprising that across the broad span of 31 yearly meetings there is a wide range of perspectives on this (and other) topic.

FUM, as many of you know, is a lightening-rod for some people when it comes to same-sex issues. Our personnel policy has a section which affirms the civil rights of all people and does not limit employment on the basis of “sex, race, national origin, age, physical disability, or sexual orientation.” At the same time, the employment guidelines define appropriate sexual expression in the context of a heterosexual marriage in order to encourage fidelity, discourage polygamy (which is a real matter in a global community) and in recognition that the wider FUM community is not in unity around same-sex relationships.

I hear about this personnel policy a lot in my role as general secretary. I hear from local meetings and churches who have labored hard and long to find unity within their small community. Friends write to let me know they either stand with or oppose the FUM personnel policy and to offer prayers for the larger community, that one day we will be united around this and other concerns. Alongside these tender letters, I also hear threats about what groups may do if FUM does or does not change the employment policy.

In each case, I try to respond and remind Friends that FUM is a big, global community. The organization, and the personnel policy, is governed by a board which has representatives from all of our yearly meetings. In addition, I share how impressed I have been with the FUM board since I began serving here. They have labored hard and long around this topic. I have seen tears shed over the concern. Above all, I have watched people of differing opinions seek to listen deeply to each other and to Christ, seeking to do what is faithful for the whole of FUM. I’ve also heard and seen their commitment to keep listening to one another and to God.

In this issue of Quaker Life, we are focusing on “unity.” Originally four articles were submitted that addressed the process of achieving unity concerning the IYM reconfiguration and/or the question of same-sex relationships. As we considered these articles we decided to follow Phil’s advice and offer the medium to hold a conversation. Therefore, you will find only quotes from these articles and links to a conversation you can join online if you are interested.

Our hope, especially as we move into the future, is that Quaker Life will be a source of inspiration and information for you. In addition, I think you will see an increased focus on the magazine being a practical resource for individuals and local communities.

Part of the work still needing to be done within FUM is nurturing and intentionally building relationships across the broad spectrum. We need to learn one another’s language, practice listening deeply, and understanding another’s point of view and experience. Without this active effort, it is my experience that Friends are quick to walk away from each other when conflict arises or differences are exposed.

At the same time, Phil Gulley’s concern is real. We do need avenues to talk together about important issues. We should not let our fear of dissension or division hinder us from addressing issues that may be central to our sense of knowing and following Christ.

What I sometimes wonder about us, however, is whether or not we are the kind of “healthy family” Phil Gulley also describes? Are we committed enough to the family to stay engaged through conflict? Will I be as committed to the well-being of all the members, as I am to my own needs and desires? I think these are important questions, because how we answer them tell us something about how ready we will are for these conversations.

With the four articles, we elected to put them online and create an avenue for discussion. For those not interested in or ready to engage this conversation with others in FUM, let me encourage you to simply pray for those who are. Ask Jesus to help Friends find “light” rather than just generate more unnecessary “heat” around this topic. For those interested in reading further, check out the links and participate as you feel called and are able to be helpful.

My hope is the conversation will be redemptive rather than destructive; that it will cause Friends to move toward one another and Christ rather than move away from one another; and that it will be one that adds life and vitality to the work and witness we are called to do within Friends United Meeting.

By Daphne Clement

Recently, just prior to rise of meeting, our congregation sang Bob Frank’s hymn, “Hallelujah, the Great Storm is Over,” and I found myself singing it again and again all the rest of that week. I realized, though, that “the great storm” is unfortunately not over. Far too many people who have lost everything to hurricane Sandy still struggle to cope with conditions reminiscent of 19th Century urban experience: living in crowded situations lacking adequate sanitation and power.

I have heard this storm, the effects of which linger, referred to as an act of God. The insurance industry relies on that terminology, and many people think of major disasters as such. Hoping to interpret God’s intention, some individuals have suggested that as the topic had been so glaringly absent from campaign rhetoric, God sought to inject the environment into politics. A number of pastors proclaimed the great storm to be God’s vengeance upon us in response to gay marriage. Humans have long viewed natural disasters as evidence that God’s intentions align with one ideology or another.

Friends, however, have tended to consider it not to be God’s practice to wreak vengeance, to be close only when we are perfect or to become distant when we are not. God is here with us whoever, wherever and whatever we are. God’s presence is ours for the asking, without question, always.

But even among Friends this deep, abiding presence may be missed. Childhood fear of a vengeful God or fear of a great storm attributed to this vengeance, can lead some to reject the idea of a manifest God. Others may simply forget, the presence of God being so close, always with us, at hand in the events of our daily lives. Thus, God can be overlooked.

Varied perspectives driving the varied patterns of modern Friends can impair the capacity to appreciate God’s presence. A member of my meeting, Becky, recently made a wonderful statement suggesting this truth. Reminiscing about a conversation in which she participated with the General Secretary of Friends United Meeting (FUM) and a Friend affiliated with Friends General Conference (FGC), she said, “The reason I sojourn between FUM and FGC is that in the FGC mission statement there is no mention of Christ, and in the FUM mission statement there is no mention of God.”

Why is this significant? If we leave the latter out, we may miss God’s deep abiding presence; if we leave Christ out, we may fail to experience the living power, the healing potential of the Light within, the Light that is here for us. We can easily fall into the trap of turning God or God’s physical manifestation, Christ Jesus, into a mere idol or theory. We can fail to understand our relationship with the presence, the power. Importantly, we may miss the message that the Word, the Logos, is right here among us, right now. We are the Word made flesh; that is what George Fox meant when he spoke of, “ …that of God in everyone.”

So, here we are now, and though we have been singing, “Hallelujah, the great storm is over,” in truth, it is not. Our time, our place, our context is calling us to be the Word, the Logos, and to become healers of our own moment — NOW.

Daphne Clement, Pastor, Durham Friends Meeting, Durham, Maine, carries a Minute of Endorsement for Ministry from the Atlanta Friends Meeting where she worshiped while completing her Doctorate of Ministry degree at Columbia Theological Seminary. She acted as the Coordinator of Spiritual Care at Hospice Atlanta for a number of years before coming to pastor the semi-programed Meeting in Durham. She is the author of the Pendle Hill Pamphlet “Group Spiritual Nurture: The Wisdom of Spiritual Listening.”

By Stephen Angell

The Cuban Quaker Institute for Peace (in Spanish, Instituto Cubano Cuáquero de Paz, or ICCP) held its inaugural session in January. An interesting array of classes was offered: Benigno Sanchez-Eppler introduced Cuban Friends to John Woolman’s “Journal,” which he and others had translated into Spanish for the first time; Kirenia Criado, pastor of the Havana programmed Quaker meeting and a staff person at the Center for Martin Luther King, also in Havana, presented the course, “Conflict Transformation”; two colleagues presented a group process course and I presented courses on
Quaker history and literature and Quaker process.

These classes were very well attended. Nearly all of the Cuban Quaker pastors and missionaries were in attendance. Even retired pastor Heredio Santos took the classes! Many students took all five classes offered in the two week session.

Their thirst for knowledge was remarkable. There is much less literature about Quakerism in Spanish, so any new information is eagerly devoured. The students enjoyed weighing the pros and cons of Quietism and Revivalism. They debated whether Quaker origins owe more to Puritans or to Spiritualists.

Another session of the institute is scheduled for May. At that time my colleague David Johns is scheduled to present one course on doing theology in a Quaker manner and another considering the similarities between Quakers, Pentecostals and Charismatic Christians. Ramon Gonzalez Longoria Escalona, director of the institute, may teach a course on the history of Quakers in Cuba since their founding in 1900. It is a fascinating story, and Ramon is well equipped to tell it.

Cuban Quakers plan to make these courses available to many other Cubans, whether Quaker or not, and to other persons throughout Latin America, indeed to anyone interested in knowing more about Quakerism and peace studies. In nearby Holguin a building to house the institute is almost complete. Cuban Friends are currently conducting a fundraising campaign. They can make donation dollars go a long way.

Jorge Luis Peña Reyes, director of the institute’s executive council, stated in an eloquent speech given at the Institute’s inaugural ceremony that three goals of the institute are “identity, information and inclusion.”

“Without identity,” he stated, “we would be talking puppets in a dark corner of a theatre; without information, we would be broken vessels, unable to hold or give water, useless vessels in spite of the place we might occupy; without inclusion in society, we would suffer the confusion of those who tried to build the tower of Babel. In a blind intention to reach God, we would forget the neighbors with whom barriers to communication had been formed.”

Both a definable identity and inclusion have been crucial for the success of the Quaker church in Cuba, Reyes continued, pointing out that, “With its beginnings in England in the seventeenth century, with recognizable marks of the culture of the US, and with a message which was brought to Cuba in the beginning of the twentieth century along with the well-known relations between a
colony and an imperial power, the Quaker church creates and recreates an identity beginning from this mixture and takes on common elements of the evangelical tradition with its doctrine, music,
and customs. With concrete efforts for unity, and a clear distinction between union and blending, the Friends move forward with the motive of contributing from an inclusive perspective, which this church has discerned as its mission.”

Urging his audience to be “worthy of the Rabbi of Galilee,” Reyes observed that “Jesus brought the law of love, all the information humanity needs.” He also reminded us that Jesus calls us all to be peacemakers: “Jesus invites us to another way to sow peace, not the way the world gives it. ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.’” (John 14:27)

It is truly to be celebrated that Quakers have brought another nursery for loving peacemakers into the world. Pray for a long, rich, and useful life for the Cuban Quaker Institute for Peace.