Southeastern Yearly Meeting 2012

By Steve Angell

Friends at Southeastern Yearly Meeting gathered outside of Leesburg, Florida, on Easter weekend as has been their custom for many years. It was a tremendous pleasure for me to represent ESR at SEYM this year. Before I joined the faculty at ESR in 2001, SEYM was my yearly meeting. I was the Clerk of SEYM from 1999 to 2001.

The lead presenter at SEYM was Quaker songwriter Tom Neilson. He did a great job in getting everyone involved in the music making! The first evening (Wednesday, April 4) of the yearly meeting was a songwriting workshop. I ended up collaborating with a Young Friend on a song about a flying squirrel. We got to rehearse and perform our song the very next day! Tom gave a concert later on in the yearly meeting and performed a good number of his songs, most of which focus on social concerns and their connection to spirituality in a way that is close to many Friends hearts.

The spirit at Southeastern Yearly Meeting was wonderful, very close and very supportive. I would wish the same for all yearly meetings. I presented a workshop on the Quaker Theology of the Light, based on a chapter I have written for the Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies, edited by Ben Pink Dandelion and myself. Friends engaged in a terrific discussion on the Quaker theology of the Light, and its many varieties, focusing especially on the seventeenth century. I very much enjoyed attending a session of the Quaker Earthcare Witness and the workshop by Michael Wajda on Yielding: The Gifts of the Gathered Condition.

One rather unique feature of SEYM is Worship Sharing for Haircuts. Master barber and hair stylist Pam Haigh does not charge for her hair cuts, but she does accept donations for the longrunning project of SEYM, Pro-Nica, which sponsors a variety of exceptionally important development projects in Nicaragua. Lillian Hall in Managua, and various Friends in Florida, have been providing very capable leadership for Pro-Nica for many years.

Steve Angell is the Geraldine Leatherock Professor of Quaker Studies at Earlham School of Religion.

Cosmic Christ Consciousness

By H. Wayne Williams

I.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father, but through me." (John 14:6)

These words have bludgeoned worthy
souls with violence to exclude.
Jesus postures only Love and mercy;
God's eternal Wisdom ever flows to include.

The dying grandpa's Buddhist altar
is entrusted to his Christian heir.
"Ancestor worship's not in the Psalter!"
Invoke Wisdom, not spiritual warfare.

"The true light that illumines all
has come into the world!" (John 1:9)

Cosmic Christ redeems and rests
with Wisdom in the Father's breast.

Selah.

II.

When absolute egotism
violates interfaith discourse,
sexism, classism, and racism
are brutal powers errantly in force!

Christians seek converts around the globe.
The Hindus view this with disdain.
Apostle Paul was no xenophobe.
Wisdom is the sacred of the profane.

"Jesus, pure servility,
suffered for all humanity!" (Phil. 2:6-7)

Cosmic Christ redeems and rests
with Wisdom in the Father's breast.

Selah.

III.

Swear off confessional fascism!
God's truth speaks cross-culturally.
Embrace confessional universalism!
After all, Who reconciles the stars?

As Christians we profess through Him
to know the God of all genealogy,
not our neighbor's faith to bedim.
Enshrined theology is idolatry.

"The Logos truly lived among us.
We saw Wisdom's graceful glory as
the one and only Father's Son." (John 1:14)

Cosmic Christ redeems and rests
with Wisdom in the Father's breast.

Selah.

"God don't pick favorites; every reverent and righteous nation belongs." (Acts 10:34)

Wayne is a current MDiv student at Earlham School of Religion. He is a member of Brooklyn Monthly Meeting, New York Yearly Meeting.

Christ Destroys His Cross

By David Johns

I went to the Museo de Arte Moderno de Carrillo Gil in January with one goal in mind: to see the painting I had been thinking about for the past two years. Like the song you can’t quite get out of your head, this painting, Cristo destruye su cruz (Christ destroys his cross), has found its way into my conversations and into my classroom. I was in Mexico City again, so I took the Metrobús south along Insurgentes to the Altavista platform and walked about six blocks to the museum on Avenida Revolución.

It wasn’t there.

“It’s in the archives,” one of the staffers told me, and it wouldn’t be exhibited any time soon.

“A private exhibition, maybe?” I asked, thinking it couldn’t hurt.

Not likely; but she said I should send a letter stating why I needed to see the painting. So, I sent the letter. Then I sent another. After a few weeks they sent one to me.

José Clemente Orozco was a contemporary of Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros, the paint-splattered trio of muralists who gave visual expression to a new vision of Mexico emerging from the Revolution. Orozco blew off his left hand as a child while playing with fireworks so he never had to “let his right hand know what his left was doing,” he could simply be free; and that’s what he was as an artist.

He painted the theme, Cristo destruye su cruz, three times in his life, twice as murals—one of which still survives at Darmouth College—and once on a 4’ x 3’ canvas. The third he painted in 1943 in a studio at 132 Ignacio Mariscal in Mexico City, where today a Friends meeting gathers each Sunday.

“Parece como si fuera un leñador,” I told someone who asked how Jesus was portrayed in the painting; he looks like a lumberjack. After being crucified—that is obvious from his disfigured foot—Jesus swings a wooden handled ax and chops down the cross.

I can imagine him shouting with each impact of the blade: “Ya basta! Enough!” Or, as the biblical writers captured it: “It is finished!” To the violence that destroys and oppresses, to all the laws and institutions that diminish humanity under their power—enough. Orozco paints the cross not as wood, except for one small section that looks like a wooden stake, but as marble stone, the same material forming the crumbled ruins (a temple? a government palace?) behind the Jesus figure.

Taking down the cross is not enough. If one lives in the life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars, as Fox declared, more than war needs to go. Orozco’s Jesus is surrounded by symbols of those things that lead to crucifixions, Jesus’ as well as the crucifixion of countless, faceless others who are sacrificed in world where power crushes the vulnerable.

I returned to the museum and sat in the chief curator’s office for an hour talking about Mexican art, Orozco’s politics, creativity, and liberation theology. She was curious what a theologian from Indiana saw in this work. Then she led me into the archives, a small warehouse-like area where the work of masters was tucked away waiting their turn to breathe again in the galleries.

Cristo destruye su cruz was propped up against some shelving. I spent an hour with Orozco’s ax-swinging Jesus, on my hands and knees, examining color, lines, images, and the little things that aren’t so little when in the hands of a great artist.

For three hours in the museum’s research library I read everything the director placed in front of me—exhibition catalogues, biographies, reviews.

I was invited one last time to sit with Orozco’s canvas. Deeply grateful, I offered the curator a gift. She declined.

“I see something new in this work,” she said. “When Christ destroys his cross it’s not an act of revenge.”

It’s an act of hope for all creation.

David Johns is Associate Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. He is an Associate Editor of Quaker Religious Thought, a member of First Friends Meeting, Richmond, and a proud member of the Associación Teológica Ecuménica Mexicana.

Peace is the Way

By Anna Woofenden

“There is no way to peace, peace is the way.” 

I’d heard the phrase many times, spoken it even, but it was not until this past Thursday at Peace Forum that I leaned it’s source. The Rev. Abraham Johannes (A. J.) Muste, a leader in the pacifist movement, labor movement and civil rights movement in the early 20th century. I learned this gem from graduating Masters of Arts student Jeff Myers as he presented excerpts from his thesis: The Way of Love, the Way of the Cross: A.J. Muste’s Theology of Pacifism.

Jeff began by sharing a glimpse of his own journey as an evangelical Christian who was exposed to theories of non-violence and pacifism through the legacies of people such as Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Dr. King while he was in undergrad at Hope College. He found a collection of essays by A. J. Muste and shared that  until that point he had, “never been so powerfully struck by the written word.” Muste brought to light the depth that his Christian faith informed his pacifism and how at heart, Muste was a theologian and from his teaching one could make the argument that “Christianity is pacifism.”

Muste’s theological basis for pacifism, Jeff presented, can be summed up in the value of each individual person, the command to love the neighbor and the life of Jesus Christ, especially as it culminated on the cross. Muste presents a way of pacifism that is far from passive. He presents an active and powerful way of life, claiming that God is love, love is active, love is the most powerful force and that it is this love we need to embody. Muste proclaims the ineffectiveness of meeting violence with violence and reminds us to look to the way of Jesus. Jesus did not respond to violence with violence, culminating in his crucifixion when he proclaimed forgiveness for those that were killing him.

This way of reading the gospels and looking at the life of Christ through the lens of pacifism came to Jeff through his reading of Muste. He shared, “I am a pacifist because of A. J. Muste. He showed me that the Bible speaks to pacifism.” As someone with evangelical roots, Jeff is passionate about how to have the conversation about pacifism with a variety of Christian modalities. He shared, “If you’re talking to an evangelical about pacifism, do not talk about the secular arguments, talk about the Bible”, as that’s what is held as the authority.

Jeff presented a vision, which he is actively engaged in, of growing conversations of pacifism from the Biblical conversation and lives engaged in being peaceful, loving and powerful beings in our communities. I know I, for one, was changed by Jeff’s presentation and urged more deeply into my own exploration of what it means to follow Christ and how the actions and principles of pacifism are part of this journey.

Anna Woofenden is a MDiv student at Earlham School of Religion and the Swedenborgian House of studies. She blogs at http://annawoofenden.wordpress.com 

Raising Up A New Generation of Quaker Leaders

By Anna Woofenden

Questions around engaging young people in the life of faith are being asked across denominations, as faith communities notice that many children who came faithfully to church with their parents as children are no longer involved as young adults   Within the scope of the Religious Society of Friends this question is being raised and addressed in various venues. One that may be of particular interest to the readers of this blog is work that is being done by the Newlin Center for Quaker Thought and Practice on Earlham College campus.

Emma Churchman and Trish Eckert spoke at Earlham School of Religion’s Common Meal and shared stories of the work they are doing to create spaces to raise up Young Friends through the Newlin Center. “The Newlin Center aims to identify young Quaker leaders, nurture Quaker scholarship and dialogue on campus, and provide members of the Earlham and wider communities with information about the Religious Society of Friends and Earlham's living Quaker character. More broadly, the Center aims to promote conversation and cooperation among Friends, and to provide a gathering place for Friends of all sorts.”

Trish, an ESR alum and Emma, an ESR current student both bring an infectious and deeply thoughtful energy to the topic of Young Adult Friends. Trish, who has been working at the Newlin Center for three years, started there as a project for her supervised ministry in her final year at ESR. On a search to discover her calling and passions, she began working with college students and discovered her ministry niche. She shared the joy she finds in the connections she has with the Young Friends she has on Earlham campus as she meets with groups weekly for fellowship and mentoring and provides spaces for Young Friends to gather and grow together.

Emma describes herself as a “visionary” and came into the Newlin Center overflowing with new ideas and ways to grow community and leadership among Young Friends.  Building on her experience of working with young adults at Pendle Hill she dove right into create programs, most notably the Quaker Fellows @ Earlham College program which works with Earlham College students to offer a transformative college experience.

“(The) Quaker Fellows echoes Earlham’s core values. Utilizing Quaker faith and practice, the program engages the whole person and prepares students to be agents of change in the world. Quaker Fellows includes three formation cores: spirituality, community and leadership development. The program is designed for young adults who are serious about serving as leaders in their communities, developing tools for social transformation, and living a life grounded in the Spirit.”

The ESR Community engaged in a thoughtful discussion with Trish and Emma, examining some of the questions that come up working with Young Adults and expressing a desire to support this important work.  If you are interested in spaces that nurture and develop Young Adult Friends, check out The Newlin Center and see how you can contribute to raising up the next generation of leaders.

Anna Woofenden is a MDiv student at Earlham School of Religion and the Swedenborgian House of studies. She blogs at http://annawoofenden.wordpress.com 

Bread for the World

By Valerie Hurwitz

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” FDR, second inaugural speech 1937

ESR MDiv student Anna Woofenden spoke at Peace Forum on Thursday, March 29 about the summer she spent interning at Bread for the World in Washington DC. She brought with her Matt Gross, a Bread for the World organizer who is based in the Chicago area. Bread for the World is unique in that it does advocacy for hunger-related issues but not direct food aid.

Matt pointed out that most Christian organizations focus on direct aid; a food pantry, a soup kitchen, etc. 96% of food aid in this country is delivered by the federal government, mostly in the form of SNAP (food stamps), WIC (for pregnant women and mothers with children under 2), and free lunches. What churches and other non-profits do is very small in comparison with these programs, and changes in the federal and state funding of these programs could easily wipe out all the good that NGOs do in this country. Thus, to have a food ministry of direct aid without looking at systemic issues is a losing proposition.

A recent Bread for the World blog post discussed the dangers the Paul Ryan budget poses to these programs. Eligible women and children could be turned away from these programs if indeed their funding is limited.

• In 2011, 45 million Americans received SNAP (14%)
• In 2011, 9 million women and children received WIC

Bread for the World engages churches in letter-writing campaigns and other advocacy. This summer, Anna worked on a resource called “Bread for the Preacher.” This provides information to pastors who want to discuss hunger in their sermons. Selections are available online.

OK, so here’s my dilemma. Obviously the amount of money the US spends on aid programs is a lot (Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare, SNAP, WIC, etc.) although military spending is certainly the bigger elephant  in the room. Social Security, I always point out, is not charity. I pay into social security and have since my first paycheck at 15 (which is something I always point out when Republican presidential candidates say, “Oh, social security won’t change for those over 50. You’ll be able to count on the money you paid into it.” What am I? Chopped liver?)

But, the reality is that SNAP and WIC are welfare. (I would also argue that the government creates the need for SNAP and WIC to a certain extent through its own policies.) Some folks argue that the government should not give aid of this sort. Indeed, they argue that the Christian mandate to care for the poor should be done privately, not through governmental organizations. This seems like a good theory to
me, but bad practice. If the government simply taxed us all less, would we really give all that money to organizations that directly aid the poor? If private organizations are currently responsible for 4% of direct aid, would we really contribute 25 times as much? Additionally, the federal and state governments recognize that they have a stake in the health and welfare of their citizens and that caring for them now means greater
productivity and fewer costs later. Thus, aid ultimately makes sense from an economic standpoint.

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.

Howard Macy: Friend in Residence

Howard Macy, ESR alumnus from 1970, visited ESR the week of March 26th. As the press release describes him:

Howard Macy is a Friends educator, minister, and author from Northwest Yearly Meeting. He has recently retired as Professor Emeritus at George Fox University and has taught previously at Friends University and Earlham College. Howard has served as a released minister in Northwest, Indiana, and New England Yearly Meetings and has traveled widely among Friends as an itinerant minister. His books include Rhythms of the Inner Life, Laughing Pilgrims, and Stepping in the Light, and he has published regularly in Quaker Life, Quaker Religious Thought, and other periodicals.
Among Howard’s special interests in teaching and writing are the Old Testament (especially the Psalms and the Prophets), spiritual formation, and humor in the Bible and Christian living. Privileged to live in Oregon, Howard particularly enjoys traveling in the wonders of nature, photography, and playing and singing in music ensembles.

The teaching faculty sat down with Howard for lunch on the 28th and immediately delved into questions of the church. Howard had commented at Common Meal the day before that church ministers are sometimes unfairly maligned and Jay’s first question was about the vitality of church institutions. The conversation turned to the “privatized” nature of church, where people go “church-shopping” for something that pleases them. Younger Christians/Quakers vacillate between leaving and living in the midst of the chaos. At the same time the “emergent” church and other movements are in the process of changing the face of Christianity . . . but into what? Nancy pointed out that many older members of the church are not so much afraid of change as they are that the church might change into something that is no longer comforting to them. “I love Jesus, but hate the church.” “I’m spiritual but not religious.” These phrases are common and only the type of the iceberg. Lonnie pointed out that part of the problem might be all the confusing and contradictory things that are going on in the name of Christ in the public arena.

The discussion turned to education within the church. Jay said that if churches are interested in only their own preservation, they will fail. Carole Spencer commented that education can easily become indoctrination, not formation. Nancy Bowen gave her common complaint that so many people in her Old Testament course know only a little about its contents and yet have pre-judged what they will find. “Why do you have to go to seminary to learn this stuff?” I’ve heard her ask more than once. We discussed the preparation of Sunday School teachers and formation among adults. Jim pointed out that most people who go into ministry are “people-pleasers” and are afraid to really delve into tough passages in the Bible or go beyond the lectionary. Howard others noted, however, that when people are given the opportunity to discuss issues like theodicy and suffering and really ask questions, they are glad to have an open forum.

The conversation was rich and Howard did not speak a great deal. He did, however, tell us that he was soaking us all up and his presence encouraged the faculty to deeper discussion. There were no conclusions, but we knocked off a number of sandwiches and a few packages of cookies and had a good time.

• How do you view the church? Does it speak to your condition?
• If you could envision the ideal church, what would that look like?
• What is the balance between maintaining institutions and allowing them to grow and change with their constituencies?
• How do you find a way to encourage formation without indoctrination?

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.