Quakers

Kody Hersh  At our annual sessions in the spring of 2006, my yearly meeting, Southeastern, wrestled for the second year in a row with the issue of our membership in Friends United Meeting. The body of about 150 Friends who were gathered there labored late into the night on our last evening together, struggling for a unity that evaded us. As midnight approached, only a few Friends left to go to bed. Most stayed, yawning but intently focused. We are fierce, we SEYM Friends, and we are passionate. We have a burning thirst for justice, and a deep love and respect for our LGBTQ members. We also have a broad theological spectrum among us as individuals, and an equally deep love and respect for those-- mostly Christian-identified-- Friends who draw support, sustenance, and affirmation from our FUM affiliation.

 
    We finally crafted a minute that was cautiously and wearily approved in the wee hours of the morning. It stated that we would lay down our formal membership in Friends United Meeting for a discernment period of two years. At the end of those two years, if we did not find unity to rejoin, our affiliation would be permanently laid down. That was two years ago-- which means that at this April's annual sessions, we will revisit the issue once again, and presumably make a more-or-less-final decision.

 
    To say that this has been weighing on me doesn't quite communicate the extent of my preoccupation. I have been worried, frightened, frustrated, and deeply concerned about this issue for the entirety of the past two years. Then, last week, the presiding clerk of FUM's general board circulated a letter he had received from the superintendents of five large, fairly conservative FUM-affiliated yearly meetings in the United States, referring to "current undercurrents [in FUM] that erode unity and undercut important ministry" and requesting that the board form an immediate, specific plan for confronting those issues. Since reading that letter, I have all but stopped sleeping.

 
    When I lie awake at night-- thinking about this unsettlingly ambiguous letter, about my beloved yearly meeting, about Friends United Meeting as a whole-- I often find myself writing letters and scripting conversations in my mind. In these imaginary communications, I explain to Southeastern Yearly Meeting, my Quaker family, why I, a transgender, queer, unprogrammed young adult Friend who couldn't talk un-ironically about Jesus until I was almost out of high school, am aching for us to maintain our relationship with Friends United Meeting.

 
    First, let me say that this position is a huge transformation from what I originally felt and thought when our FUM membership became a live issue. As a queer person who has experienced a vocational call to religious service, FUM's personnel policy seemed to me not only wrong in a general, moral sense, but also personally painful. I didn't see much reason to stay in an organization with such a discriminatory policy-- particularly since, as far as I could see, we didn't have much of a relationship to begin with. Growing up in SEYM, I was unaware for years that such a thing as programmed Friends or Friends United Meeting existed-- despite the fact that they constitute the majority of Quakers in the world today. I was shocked when, probably in my mid-teens, I discovered that my ultra-liberal yearly meeting was actually a member of Friends United Meeting. It didn't make any sense to me, mostly because I was embedded in the "us and them" mentality of a culture, in Quakerism and beyond it, that sees Christianity as a monolithic entity of socially-conservative fundamentalism.

 
    The deconstruction of those us/them categories is one of the reasons I long for us to have a fully engaged relationship with Friends United Meeting. As long as we are members of FUM, they (Christians, programmed Friends-- whoever) cannot be "the other." If we begin to think of them that way, our illusion will be shattered by the individual relationships that are facilitated by institutional affiliation. I don't mean to say that our cultural and theological differences across branches are superficial; I believe them in most cases to be quite profound. But over the past few years, I have made some wonderful connections with Friends from solely-FUM-affiliated meetings, and I have seen that they are my spiritual kin. They are people like Terri, the wonderful, warm staff person whom FUM has sent to our annual sessions for the past three years, who has become a beloved part of our community. Or like my friend Cheryl, who is in a committed lesbian partnership and has labored for years with her FUM-affiliated yearly meeting to have them endorse the recording that her monthly meeting has given her as a minister. Or like my friend Betsy, who loves Jesus, preaches like wildfire, and just opened a store in her town dedicated to eco-friendly living. FUM, like Christianity as a whole, is far from being a monolith-- but we will never know that if we don't maintain meaningful individual and collective relationships within it.

 
    But wait-- we have lots of Christians in our yearly meeting! We can learn these lessons from them, right? Which brings me to my next point. I had no idea how theologically diverse my yearly meeting was, until we started talking about our relationship to Friends United Meeting. I don't think this is a coincidence. Our discernment process has asked deep questions: Who are we, in SEYM? What do we believe? What language do we/should we use? Is Christianity a part of our identity as Friends, and if not, what is our relationship to a Quaker movement that has seen itself through several centuries as primitive/restorationist Christianity? Simply having these questions posed, and held firmly in our collective consciousness, opened up space for Friends in our yearly meeting to speak their most authentic spiritual language. Suddenly we were talking about the Bible, asking each other about Jesus. I experienced a new depth and richness in our worship, as we became more comfortable hearing each other's truth spoken on its own terms. It was struggle that pushed us to be more honest with one another, and I fear that, should we decide to give up on the challenge of authentic relationship with FUM, we will slowly go back to the way things were. Our spiritual language will shrink back to a tight, sterilized collection of un-offensive words.

 
    So... what about the personnel policy? We were advised early on in our discernment process that we should not choose to remain affiliated with FUM in order to change the policy. To carry such an agenda would only frustrate us, and everyone else in the organization. The personnel policy is not changing anytime soon-- not with the level of divisiveness that this issue currently carries in U.S. yearly meetings, nor with long-overdue efforts to more fully include African Friends in FUM's governance structures. But I believe that it will change, sooner or later. Sooner, if the Friends serving on the general board are given opportunities for loving, non-confrontational fellowship and service with LGBTQ Friends and their allies. Later, if we all leave. Hearts and minds change through relationship, not rhetoric. No one will re-evaluate the personnel policy because we withdraw. They might re-evaluate the personnel policy because we stay, and appoint brave and faithful people to the general board who can be open about their identity as LGBTQ or allied while focusing their attention and energy on FUM's powerful service work (instead of pushing, or being perceived as pushing, an agenda that detracts from that work). There are already people doing this work of transformation-- serving openly on the board or in leadership positions in constituent yearly meetings, sometimes without ever mentioning the personnel policy directly.

 
    And the work of FUM is worth being involved in. Having heard from those who are serving as staff and volunteers of its various initiatives, I have come to believe that FUM is doing important, transformative, and faithful work in culturally sensitive ways, and that work needs to continue as long as we are clear that God is leading us to it and it has relevance for those served. From educational and medical initiatives like Kaimosi Hospital and Ramallah Friends' School, to support for Kenyan Friends' peace initiatives over the past year, the work that I see FUM engaged in is, I believe, part of what Friends are called to in the world. Unlike Friends General Conference, which understands its purpose as service to North American Quakerism, FUM is committed to manifesting Quaker faith through an embodied, outward-focused commitment to a transformed world. The work is powerful and precious.

 
    Finally, I hope you will forgive me if I pull a card (to use a rather un-Quakerly metaphor). It is the card of youth.

 
    There is a broad, and I think growing, movement of Friends who are drawn to, and deeply invested in, cross-branch relationship building. Much of this energy is centered in young adult Quaker communities. My generation-- or at least, a large and energized subset of it-- is not interested or invested in the kind of isolationism at best, spiritual one-upmanship at worst, that has characterized intra-faith Quaker relationships since we started splitting into factions in the first half of the nineteenth century. We have been holding conferences and gatherings that reach across theological, cultural, and organizational lines. We are also holding a question in our hearts: How is God going to use the Religious Society of Friends... the whole Religious Society of Friends? Is there some vision, some wholeness, to live into?

 
    Personally, I see each of the branches of Friends carrying a piece of the original message of the Quaker movement-- and a piece of Quakerism's potential for a spiritually vibrant future. I believe that everything we do to create and maintain authentic, deep relationships among the different branches of Friends is a step toward a more vital Quakerism. Because I carry this conviction, I am proud to be from a dually-affiliated yearly meeting-- and sad and scared that we may cease to be one, and others may follow in our wake. I wouldn't be so invested-- or experiencing such anxious insomnia-- if I didn't think this is a critical historical moment for Friends. What one yearly meeting does for unity or disunity in a single meeting for worship with attention to business can affect Quakerism for centuries to come-- just pick up a Quaker history book and trace the impact of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting annual sessions in 1827, the year of the Hicksite-Orthodox split.

 
    I want to live out the next 60-70 (God willing) years of my life in a Quakerism that is committed to deep seeking, to dialogue, to relationships that challenge the people who are in them. I want to give that to my children and grandchildren. Long after the personnel policy is a dead issue, the fruit of our commitment to dynamic engagement, fellowship, and spiritual bridge-building (or the absence of that commitment) will be manifesting in the quality and vibrancy of religious life in Quakerism. It is to that ultimate goal that I hope we will turn our attention and focused discernment.

Dear Young Adult Friends and Leaders of Young Adult Friends,

Do you want to intentionally create a local community structure for Young Adult or Student Friends in your area?

Do you wish there were more roles for leadership for the younger generations? In connection to that, do you wish there were more ways for younger generations to engage our elders and cherish their experience and wisdom?

Do you want to engage and work with the wider Faith-based community on issues of social justice, community-cohesion, and peacemaking?

Do you wish to do more to share Quakerism with the world, and to strengthen your own Quaker identity?

Do you wish there were a network that would help you communicate among Friends of your generation to assert your collective voice and take collective action?

The letter below goes into detail about an opportunity to pursue an engagement with the WSCF, the oldest international student/young adult organization in the world. It is an opportunity to start something for Young Adult and Student Friends that could be considered a Quaker Student Movement. If people were inspired to try and build this among our generation, community by community, it has the possibility to address the concerns raised by the questions above.

WHO I AMStephen Dotson
My name is Stephen and all I want is to present this idea to Friends and see where it goes. I am a convinced Friend since 1997, a member of Goose Creek Friends Meeting of Baltimore Yearly Meeting (FGC & FUM) and a 2006 graduate from Guilford College and the QLSP program. Through my time there I became familiar with the rich history of the Religious Society of Friends and the practices of early Friends. Also at Guilford, I grew appreciative of the diversity among Friends and the building energy among younger generations to work across this diversity. We are eager to see it as a Blessing and not a burden, and found there are just as many older Friends who share that Spirit and energy.

After graduating from Guilford I became fascinated with how Young Adult Friends are asserting their Quaker principles, processes, and vocabulary to manage the challenges that the transition out of college brings. The last year and half I've been researching and interviewing YAFs to better understand and Witness to their journeys into adulthood. Through this endeavor and my attendance at the North American YAF gathering and QUIP's (Quakers United in Publication) annual gathering, I became aware of the vibrant welling-up of Spirit and Ministry that Friends of younger generations possess. By this work I have also intentionally built a large personal network of YAFs and people who work closely with YAFs.

Just after returning from the North American YAF conference in Richmond, Indiana I received an email from a Friend suggesting that I apply to be a Steward to the World Student Christian Federation's Global Assembly. I knew nothing of this organization and neither did any of my friends and mentors. After researching and deciding it was congruent with my values, I wrote an application fueled by the eager Spirit that was abound at the North American YAF gathering. I felt I had no chance at obtaining one of the few spots they offer, so I also felt I had nothing to lose and really put my heart into it. In June, I received an email congratulating me on my acceptance to the Global Assembly as a Steward. I was shocked, and unsure of what that would mean, what exactly this organization was, etc., but with the aid of my monthly meeting I went and found out.

Now I find myself in a position of being a connector. I have seen the tools that the WSCF offers, I am aware of the opportunities my generation is seeking, and I have clear access to the networks on both sides of this possible relationship. I have never had such a clear and sobering Leading as to write the following piece.

We have witnessed a hunger in this rising generation. We have witnessed a willingness to worship and work together amidst difficulties, and despite differences. In my peers and in myself, I see an eagerness to serve Love, Faith, and Community that has few avenues for full expression. We have witnessed an eagerness to speak Truth to power. We have witnessed a desire to build intergenerational connections, but few opportunities. We are interested in these relationships because we're aware of the truth: we can't know where we're going if we don't know where we have been. We have also seen how Quakerism's insular nature can produce in-fighting, and perhaps more seriously, often fails to engage the larger community of Faith and share the gems and tools that our Faith has produced. We are a shrinking tradition because of these boundaries, but we are a vibrant and inspired generation.

I am writing this letter today because I have found something that I hold to be a vital opportunity for the rising generations of Quakers, a tool that could help address those needs and concerns.

My aim is not to take credit for anything that comes out of this, but to be a catalyst, a spark. I am Called to equip Friends with more tools for deepening their relationship with each other, the world, and God. We have all seen instances where Friends turn their deeds, words, gifts, and leadership into badges that adorn their pride and ego, but I want to be explicit in asking you all to hold me and each other accountable to serving Spirit as we approach leadership within the Religious Society of Friends.

Below there are sections entitled:
-WHAT IT IS
-HOW IT MAY SPEAK TO OUR CONDITION
-HOW WE MIGHT MOVE FORWARD

WHAT IT IS
This August I spent 3 weeks of my summer in Montreal working with the World Student Christian Federation at their global assembly. Briefly stated, the organization is an ecumenical, grassroots-based organization of different student/young adult communities enacting their beliefs around social justice, humanitarian, and peace issues from the basis of Christian-rooted Faith. It emphasizes local community engagement with a perspective for global concerns. They believe in putting faith in to action in the context of autonomous community-based groups that communicate and congregate occasionally in national, regional, and global gatherings. Not all members are Christians, and not all members are still students, but the name remains.

2008 WSCF Stewards

The WSCF is the oldest international student organization in the world and was the starting point of the World Council of Churches. It has been a critical link between people of Faith, all over the world for over 100 years. It was one of the last channels of communication between war-torn Germany and America during WWII, used by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to inform his colleagues at Union Theological Seminary in New York of the full extent of Nazi atrocities. It has been the facilitating organization for countless dialogues of cease-fire, peace-making, and relief work on the local level. On the global level it's international office in is Geneva and it consults with the U.N. and various global aid organizations. Here are some useful links to familiarize yourself with the organization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Student_Christian_Federation
http://www.wscfglobal.org/news.php
http://www.wscfglobal.org/wscfInAction.php

Not many people have heard of this organization because the WSCF hasn't been around in North America for the last 40 years. In 1968, the members that made up the North American region were convinced that by participating in "the institution" of the WSCF they were part of the problem (remember, 1968 = hippies). They proceeded to vote themselves out of existence, and in the 40-year absence of an organization for progressive Christian/spiritual young people, the "religious right" (I use this term for lack of a better one) has super-organized and re-shaped Christianity in America.

In 2005 the North American Region was restarted and the Canadian Student Christian Movement was formed. Luciano Kovacs was made Secretary of the region at that time and describes the region as follows:

Members of the WSCF-North America (WSCF-NA) are called together in a common cause of ending injustice and oppression through grassroots and student-led activism. We seek to live out the vision of our Christian faith while supporting ecumenism and diversity in spiritual practices. The North American Region is set to re-emerge as a vibrant, functioning entity of the WSCF and to take its place in the continuing struggle for liberation and justice for all peoples. We are non-dogmatic and are accepting of diverse spiritual backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual and gender identities and economic situations.

The weekend of January 30th, 2009 there will be a conference in San Francisco to discuss how movements will be started and organized in the United States. If Friends are so moved as to become involved, this is the event that you should attend. At this event we could determine how we would want the (hypothetical) Quaker Student Movement to be structured, we would bring our concerns and our leadings from our home Meetings (yearly and monthly). This would be the beginning of intentionally structuring communities and local leadership among Young Quakers that could span the branches, and involve Quakers in the re-invention of a United States coalition of progressive Christian/spiritual young people. Simply put: it is all up for discussion, and we can’t have a voice if we don’t come to the table.

HOW THIS MAY SPEAK TO OUR CONDITION
This organization could provide us with a framework to intentionally develop Young Adult Friends and Quaker Student communities on the local level, and network them with other local YAF and QS communities across the nation. There would be leadership opportunities widely available for those so Moved as to try and organize their community. These are just my own ideas, others are welcomed.

With these leadership positions for our generation would come opportunities to engage the wisdom of our elders and ask for their complementary support. It is my sense that an endeavor such as this can only be successful if it is supported on the local community level by our elders. By this I mean that any organizer/clerk of a local unit of the (hypothetical) Quaker Student Movement would be asked to have a support committee of elders AND one particular Mentoring Friend. Moreover, there would be no threat to the current leaders in our communities (who are now living and staying in positions of leadership longer than ever before) because this organization is somewhat outside the structures of the yearly meetings, conferences, etc. In my eyes, this is a huge asset as it provides us the opportunity and flexibility to do things and exercise voice in a way that those other organizations can't, to work together in spite of differences that have pushed those organizations apart, and both challenge the larger community and be tempered by its wisdom.

Also, already existing in the WSCF is a body of older (mostly former-WSCF members) who are referred to as "senior friends"! They range from 35 to 100 years of age and have their own conferences and assemblies to complement the work of the WSCF with their wisdom, networking, and fundraising. They draw tremendous energy from bearing witness to the work of young adults and staying current with the pressing needs of their communities and the world.

In this way it could help us tie Young Adult communities closer to the existing Friends meetings and churches in their locality, which all too often lack roles or relevance for Young Adult Friends. Lastly, as a student organization, high-school students (Young Friends) can participate also, which helps increase the participation and engagement between generations and ensures the continuation of the community structure. Newell Pledger-Shinn put it very aptly when he told me that, "The last thing we need is an isolated young adult ghetto that fails to draw youth up as teens or fails to look both backwards and forwards, as people age but don't change in their essential thirsts and hungers for spiritual food."

If Young Adult Friends became involved in this organization, we could have a structure for upcoming generations to assert collective voice for common causes and values that transcend the differences among Friends. We could have a network to communicate between different local Young Adult and Student communities around the United States. It would also help us engage the wider ecumenical community and provide opportunities to Witness to the power of Quaker principles and processes. Undoubtedly, we would attract some new people to Quakerism through such Witness.

It can strengthen our sense of identity as Quakers by living our Quakerism out in the larger context of the faith-based world. By my experience in the General Assembly I became more and more aware of what unique empowerment Quakerism offers and better understood how to be Quaker "in the world" and the ways it guides me to not be "of the world". It helped me further understand and own my Quaker identity and unique approach to the God/Christian gospel, by exposing me to what else is out there.

I'm sure the emphasis on Christian identity may challenge some of my fellow FGCers and non-theist Friends, but I would point out that this organization understands how complex and personal our relationships with God are in this day and age. Quakers are welcome to participate in this organization because we are a tradition that has grown forth from Christian roots, not because all Quakers are Christian, or use Christian language. This organization is about empowering young people to live out what they believe not telling them what to believe. The diversity of people I encountered there at the general assembly reflected a spectrum of belief and spiritual vocabulary just as diverse as that of Quakerism. It's not a place where people are saying: "wow isn't it great that we're all Christians and good people and can get along in spite of our differences", it's a place where people were saying: "Look how differently we interpret and live out our communion with God revelations! Let's see how our diverse sets of tools from differing interpretations of this relationship with (Christ, Light, God, Spirit, Creator, Liberator, etc.) might better the world in fundamental and profound ways."

HOW WE MIGHT MOVE FORWARD
As I mentioned earlier, there is a conference that will be the jumpstart of the United States region in San Francisco the weekend of Jan. 30th. If Friends feel a Leading to start and organize a local community unit of Quaker Students/Young Adults in their area, then I would suggest they come to this conference, contact me for more information (swil..reveal email..@gmail.com).

I have also thought that it might be helpful for Friends to seek the embrace of their monthly meeting to attend the conference, and this would come in the form of a travelling minute. Any other thoughts are encouraged and welcomed.

Short of coming to the conference, if Friends wanted to support the concept and birth of this structure, I think the first step would be to put the word out in your monthly meeting, in your circles of Friends (both digital and analog) expressing a desire for something like this to be made real. If you can't go, encourage someone in your meeting that might be able to and whom you could envision taking on the role of organizer and servant leader for your community. Perhaps, encourage your meeting to help by financing someone to go.

Thank you for listening. And please help spread the word!

Hey Friends,

Some of you may have heard about this book that's coming out soon, but if not, check out the info below for ways to get involved. Peace, Emily

The new Moral Economy Project website explains its history and Quaker connections. Our book, written by an international Quaker team, Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy (forthcoming 2009) suggests a number of global governance measures to meet the threat of climate change, as well as a radical revisioning of economics to make it serve humanit and the biosphere. But it is an invitation to dialogue rather than a prescription handed down by aging white experts from the developed countries. We deem it essential to listen -- to what youth, women, aboriginal peoples and the cultures/faiths of the entire world need to tell us.

We invite YF and YAF to make suggestions for a worldwide environmental/peace/sustainable development network, and to exchange information about community projects and local actions. An online forum for these exchanges, with possibility for many languages, has been created at http://groups.takingitglobal.org/TMEE. Once you register with this site, you will not only have access to the forum, but also to many other youth groups worldwide (online, face-to-face, local and regional) with similar aims.

Many of you have internet skills. If you have suggestions for improving our networking, using other internet resources, and making the voices of the world heard, please post them on the TMEE forum. We will be delighted to work with you.

You may also contribute to our blog Towards a Moral Economy and to the wiki Building a Culture of Peace. Though intended for Friends, these are open to all people of goodwill.

If you have any further questions or suggestions, please contact Grace at Gra..reveal email..@moraleconomy.org

Andrew Esser-HainesThe below is a part of a letter sent during my work in La Paz Bolivia, it references my experiences in an evangelical Quaker Church in the city of La Paz in which I was asked to share a personal testimonial in preparation to preach to the congregation.

Fourth month twenty fifth day two thousand and second year.

...As for this past Sunday and giving my testimonial in church there is much that I could say. What feels most present is to say that I felt like I was giving a performance (which is basically what I was asked to do). It was not giving a message, and I hope that when I do get the opportunity to serve as pastor it will be more spirit led. That said, it felt really good to share openly about my spiritual journey. I have found that one of the great things here is that I do not feel any need of being accepted and for that reason I feel much more comfortable going ahead and laying out ALL of my belief system, talking about Jesus and about social work, about following God and about interpreting scripture. I feel like most times in the US I hold back some pieces because I am worried of what people might think.