Missionary Work Abroad: Iowa Yearly Meeting (FUM)

My summer has, as you know from previous posts, included time in Kenya and Rwanda.  Perhaps because of this, at Indiana Yearly Meeting I found myself more aware of the reports of FUM ministries abroad.  This was even more the case at Iowa Yearly Meeting (FUM) this past weekend.  Perhaps my time in Africa is continuing to echo through my experience and drawing my attention to the international work of Friends.

Iowa Yearly Meeting is a group of programmed meetings in Iowa and Wisconsin.  Iowa YM's worship has an evangelical bent to it (in the choices of music, for example), and I am reminded of the great range of diversity within FUM.  This was underscored by their keynote speaker, Ron Stansell, who is from Evangelical Friends Mission.  Candi Young, who teaches at Belize Friends (Boys) School, spoke about her work there.  John Moru was visiting Iowa YM from the Turkana Friends Mission.  Two Iowa YM members(Nathan and Brianna Martin), home from being missionaries in Cambodia to have a baby, also spoke.



Belize Friends Boys School



Candi Young spoke about her desire to expand Friends (Boys) School in Belize, and her joy at the enthusiam of her students to learn.  (I put "boys" in paraentheses because she showed us pictures of the first girls to attend the school!)  I was reminded again of how much of a difference a little money can make.  USFW donates the money to give each child there a snack: a banana, an orange, and a biscuit.  For most of the children, this is all they will eat each day, and the cost is so small.

John Moru, testing water (FUM website)

John Moru had several opportunities to speak, and was very engaging.  FUM General Secretary Sylvia Graves, who was also visiting Iowa YM, spoke about Turkana Friends Mission being a "Kenyan" mission.  Kenyan Quakers, having been evangelized by missionaries a century ago, are now traveling out to build missions themselves.  Ron Stansell pointed out that FUM is not a white organization anymore, and Quakerism is not a white denomination.  African and South American Quakers will take control of their own institutions, and take responsibility for missions in their area, in an increasing way.  John Moru feels a particular calling to plant churches in Sudan, having been there as a child.  With the majority-Christian southern part of Sudan separating off from the northern part on July 9th, he feels that his way will soon be clear.

 

ESR's registrar, April, presenting a workshop in Kenya



I have been thinking lately about missionary work.  Many Christians do "mission trips" within the US or to other countries, which seem to be a valuable tool for increasing cultural awareness and forming connections on both sides, as well as sometimes getting some practical work done!  Our trip to Kenya and Africa was, in some sense, similar.  The intetion was to develop our awareness of African Friends and to offer some workshops and presentations.  I do, however, wonder about long-term church-planting.  Some point to the great commision given in Matthew 28:19-20 ("Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.")  Some believe that non-Christians will go to hell and conversion is an imperative.  Others see this conversion as colonialism, or unnecessary given strong religion traditions across the world and point more to interfaith dialog. 

I wonder what it would be like to go plant a church in a place with a strong religious culture.  How does a missionary in Cambodia or Thailand view Buddhism?  What would it mean to be a Christian missionary in Saudi Arabia?  Can one be a long-term Christian missionary and respect the validity of other religions?  Can one take a "come and see" attitude (John 1:46), offering what Quakers have available while respecting the existing religious and denominational forces in a particularly area?

Just some thoughts on my mind this morning!  It was lovely to visit with Friends in Iowa YM and I enjoyed worshipping with them very much.

Valerie Hurwitz is Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Earlham School of Religion. She lives in Richmond, Indiana and serves as choir director at West Richmond Friends Meeting.

Postlude: Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting

Gara, from Wilmington College

I posted about Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting last Friday, but realized that I wanted to news of a particular event.  On Saturday, Larry Gara and his wife Lenna Mae spoke in a session titled "Simply Speaking."  Larry is a retired Wilmington College professor and editor of a recently published book A Few Small Candles: War Resistors of World War I Tell Their Stories.  Living in Richmond, I have met several people who were contentious objectors during World War II or the Vietnam War. 

What I didn't know was that there were some who went one step beyond and refused to register for the draft as contentious objectors and were sent to prison for "non-registration."  Larry Gara was himself a war resistor and spent three years in a federal prison.  Once released, he was re-arrested for continuing to refuse to register.  Finally, while teaching at Bluffton University, he spoke with a student who had already refused to sign up for the draft and encouraged him, leading to another arrest, trial, and 18-month prison term.

Gara spoke about his time in prison, his trials, his decision not to sign up for the draft, working towards racial reconciliation, and the evolution of laws regarding draft resistance.  It's well worth your time to read the Wilmington College press release about the honorary PhD they awarded him from a few years back, and to learn a little more about this topic.

Valerie Hurwitz is Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Earlham School of Religion. She lives in Richmond, Indiana and serves as choir director at West Richmond Friends Meeting.

Epistle from North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) annual sessions

A note from Valerie: Andrew Wright, an ESR Access student and member of North Carolina YM (Conservative) attended yearly meeting.  I asked Andrew if he could share his reflections on the annual sessions, and he asked if we could share the epistle, feeling that to be a good reflection of the annual sessions.  Micah Bales also shared his thoughts on attending this yearly meeting a few weeks ago.  I found these words to be lovely and poetic, and (with the permission of Andrew and the Clerk of the meeting) am glad to share them here.

 

To Friends Everywhere –

How can we become the blessed community that we aspire to be? In these 314^th Yearly Meeting sessions we have lived into some of the answers to this question which has been our theme.  In our query responses, state of the meeting reports, and times of worship we  have shared experiences of all the facets and phases of life. We have held each other as we have mourned, struggled, and grieved together. We have celebrated new life, rejoiced in success, renewed old friendships and discovered ever growing love among us.  We have found ourselves held in the hands of God, protecting us, healing us, and knitting us together into the blessed community. 

 

We have learned from our children as they are tender with each other, as they enjoy and play well with each other. We watch as our children rejoice in the mystery and wonder of the present moment. Playing at the beach with Young Friends is like swimming in an ocean of light. One Friend noticed that even the salt in the water works to lift us up together. The elements have conspired, along with the laughter and play of our children, to lead us toward the blessed community.

 

We are aware of our dependence upon God’s support, because we see evil around and within us. We are mired in it up to our ears. We have witnessed decades of war, and we see violence in our communities – and we feel the effects of both in our own lives. We watch with sadness as our way of producing, consuming, and working destroys the life giving capacity of our earth. Our economy is driving greater and greater inequality between the richest and poorest people of our world community. These things stand against our deeply held beliefs, and yet we find them both within us and infused in our way of living.  What little we do to change the world often seems small and ineffectual, and we sometimes feel paralyzed by discouragement. We recognize that this discouragement itself is a symptom and part of the evil we oppose. At times the effort to sustain our belief in God’s power for good is the largest part of our struggle.  Yet God is with us, even in these troubled times. We remember that Friends in our history faced systems of enslavement and an economy of radical inequality that seemed just as intractable as our present systems of domination.  In their simple and peaceful ways, these Friends found new ways of being in the world that moved beyond what seemed impossible.

In our Bible studies this week we have been reminded that there is still good soil for God’s seed, and that seed can yield a hundred-fold harvest.  God is very much with us, caring for our welfare and intervening on behalf of the widow, orphan and alien in a strange land.  The women of the Exodus story – Shiphrah and Puah, Moses’ mother and sister, and even Pharaoh’s daughter – model for us the courage to risk faithful acts in dark times.  Over and over, we see that God gives us the tools, the strength, and the courage, at the right time, to do what must be done to advance the Kingdom of God in the face of the evil that opposes it.  And so we send you, dear Friends, a message of hope in these dark times. The Kingdom is here – already here among us.

 

On behalf of the yearly meeting,
Richard Miller, Clerk

North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative)

Indiana Yearly Meeting, July 21-24, 2011

This past weekend, I had the joy of attending Indiana Yearly Meeting at Quaker Haven Camp near Syracuse, IN. Indiana Yearly Meeting consists of pastoral meetings in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Indiana and Western yearly meetings share Quaker Haven, the lovely 160-acre camp and retreat center on a lake, and summer sessions include campers from both yearly meetings.

Worship was spirited and Jan Crouch, from Bear Creek Meeting, provided music at the piano. Jan Wood, Director of Good News Associates, spoke about reconciliation among Friends with differing theologies. The attendees met in small groups to discuss the theme, “God has a dream”, in reference to the book God Has a Dream: a Vision for Our Time by Desmond Tutu. We discussed our dreams and God’s dreams for ourselves, our meetings, and the yearly meeting. Threading these discussions was the theme of discerning between our own impulses and God’s will.

The yearly meeting heard reports on new ministry among Hispanics in Indianapolis and two monthly meetings that joined Indiana Yearly Meeting. Visitors from several organizations came to speak, including Friends Fellowship in Richmond and Friends United Meeting. FUM brought several Kenyan Friends as visitors and there time in a separate session to ask them questions and hear about the work FUM is doing in Kenya. There was a particular awareness of the famine in Somalia, as there are now many refuges in northern Kenya. Kenyan Friends see the refugee camps as an opportunity for humanitarian work.

A major business item at the yearly meeting was related to conflict over West Richmond Friends's welcoming and affirming minute. IYM has a 1982 minute condemning homosexuality as a sin. A later 1994 minute acknowledges a broad spectrum of opinion among Friends on this issue, but affirms the 1982 minute. A few years ago, after a long process of study and discernment, West Richmond Friends approved a welcoming and affirming minute. Some other monthly meetings and individuals fear that WRF’s minute will be seen as speaking for all Quakers or for all of IYM. These members see IYM as having authority over monthly meetings to create unity on certain issues. Alternately, others claim that monthly meetings may have a “prophetic witness” to the yearly meeting (a term drawn from Faith and Practice), and have a policy in contrast with IYM.

This has, you might imagine, led to continued tension in the Yearly Meeting and this spring a task force began exploring options to move forward. IYM and the task force acknowledged that things cannot continue as they are. Last weekend the task force presented their report and laid out four models for the future of IYM. They were honest in saying that each has advantages and dis-advantages. The first is to move to a more Congregationalist structure, where the yearly meeting speaks to, but not for, individual meetings. The second is to apply Faith and Practice consistently on this issue and others. The third is disciplinary action against West Richmond, although not necessarily requiring the meeting to withdraw its minute. Finally, the task force recommended splitting the yearly meeting intentionally, giving meetings the opportunity to choose between different ecclesiastic or theological options. The task force recommended model 4. Individuals of the task force agreed that this was the only viable way forward that they see, but seem to disagree about whether this is the best option. To quote a task force member, “We brought [the recommendation] to the yearly meeting trusting that wisdom would prevail.”

The discussions sidetracked into scriptural debates, and the clerk wisely re-focused the meeting on the central issue: We know that we have differences in theology and scriptural interpretation.What do we think about the options the task force has laid out for us? I scribbled down some quotes as people spoke passionately on the issue. Several people expressed a desire to remain in fellowship with WRF (“As a family, divorce is the last resort”, “If we split, how are we going to minister to those we think are in need?”, “I feel as though we’re deciding whether to cut off our left foot, or our right foot.”) They acknowledged that their own meetings had diverse opinions on this issue, or explained that they felt the yearly meeting benefited from diversity. Others insisted that West Richmond is going a different way than their meetings and that they wished to part (and remain) F/friends (“sometimes in love, you need to draw lines”, “you’re going in another direction, and I can’t go with you”). One begged WRF to withdraw the minute in hopes that this would quiet tensions. The monthly meetings will be discussing this in the next few months and there will be a fall meeting to make a decision about the way forward.

Skirting along the edge of the scriptural issues here (and I recognize that these are not in the least bit small, but are simply not resolvable in a blog format, or in fact possibly at all), what are your thoughts about the possible ways forward? Do you see any other creative options? What is a good balance of diversity and commonality in a yearly meeting? What is the purpose of a yearly meeting? What, if anything, does this say about the larger project of forming connections across branches of Friends? Is splitting a way to remain F/friends and possibly even strengthen connections? If a split occurs, what will happen to meetings within IYM where there is a diversity of opinions about homosexuality?

Please take a moment and pray for Indiana Yearly Meeting, that they may be able to corporately discern the best way forward for them. 

Valerie Hurwitz is Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Earlham School of Religion. She lives in Richmond, Indiana and serves as choir director at West Richmond Friends Meeting.

Greetings from SAYMA by Sandy Tracy

Friends from across the Southeast held their 40th yearly meeting in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains where Warren Wilson College nestles into the hill just outside of Asheville, North Carolina at SAYMA.  This beautiful liberal arts college, along the banks of the Swannanoa River, is known for its programs in environmental sciences and sustainable agriculture as well as its celebrated MFA program.  


Weather relief: Although storms raged across the US and tornados and floods in the southeast this year, Friends enjoyed cool, beautiful weather during the SAYMA weekend. SAYMA’s daily activities included Meeting for Worship, Worship Sharing with specific Queries, choices of workshops ranging from Interplay (dance) to piano playing. Attendees also enjoyed plenary sessions on FWCC and Quaker Quest, a Talent Show and a Folk Dance. SAYMA Business Meetings were also held daily as well as excellent children’s programs.  


ESR, Earlham and SAYMA: I met two or three folks who had graduated from Earlham and ESR and many were quite interested in hearing about the Access Program. Most Quakers are involved in social justice programs now, but a growing number of Quakers are interested in taking social justice into the workplace.

Blessings and Light,   
Sandy Tracy

Sandy Tracy is in the ESR Access M.Div. program with focuses on pastoral care and spirituality and prayer. She is currently working with women and the homeless during her Supervised Ministry year. Sandy is sexton of the Burial Committee and member of the Religious Education Committee at West Knoxville Friends Meeting, and member of the Outreach Committee for SAYMA. She works full-time in Home Care.

Traveling Among Friends by Mac Lemann

            Traveling to my yearly meeting for the first time in 2009 set me on an unexpected path. Growing up in New Orleans, the eastern-most meeting in South Central YM, I had never attended yearly meeting before. Having recently graduated from ESR, I supposed it was time. When I arrived in Bruceville, TX I was greeted by a newly forming group of Adult Young Friends. Talking with them I realized that we had  a common question: What does it mean to be a Quaker today? It seemed that young people in our Religious Society were disappointed with their understanding of Quakerism and were hungering to learn more about the roots of their faith and its practice. I returned home and asked the question in my monthly meeting. They replied; “if you figure it out, let us know.”

I resolved to travel to Pendle Hill. I expected to stay for only one term, but after that term was over I knew that there was still more for me. Living at Pendle Hill gave me a terrific opportunity to meet with Friends from across the country, and indeed the world. Listening to them over meals and in worship I realized that many Quakers were asking the same question: what does it mean to be a Quaker today? I began to tell a story to the Friends that I met. I told them that in the 20th century many people came into Quakerism because of the Religious Society’s stance on equality and peace. It was a very violent century and so it makes sense that the testimony of pacifism was held up above the other testimonies. Many people I met agreed with me.

I also the chance to travel to Guilford College that year as well as Ben Lomond Quaker center for small gatherings focused around “Convergent Friends,” an emerging group within Quakerism that I believed might be addressing the question that seemed to be burning among us. The power of these experiences was not in the answers that arose but in the opportunity to connect with other Quakers in worship, joining together to seek communion and Truth. I came to believe that when we travel to Quaker events we need to have less time in workshops and more time in worship, that our spiritual practice must be the ground of our life as Friends.

I was once in a very powerful worship with several young Friends and Deborah Shaw. None of us felt able to break the silence and close the meeting. Finally, Deborah said, “we separate in body Friends, but not in Spirit,” and we were released. Being in a place like Pendle Hill with many traveling Quakers, and traveling myself across the United States, I and realized that though we are not physically present with one another we are bound together in God when we practice. We can sense the common Truth of our experience as we seek the answer to the perpetual question of what we are, and how we are, as Friends today. Many revelations came to me during that year and continue to follow me since returning home to New Orleans. When I travel to South Central Yearly meeting, to Kansas last Fall, to ESR for the Leadership Conferences, being in worship and meeting with Friends brings a continual unfolding of my sense of where Friends are and what we could be. 

 
Mac Lemann, ESR '07, is the clerk of the Friends Meeting of New Orleans, Board Chair of the New Orleans Food Cooperative, and is renovating property damaged by the failure of the flood-walls after hurricane Katrina.