Christina Repoley

308 Friends from 41 countries, representing many Friends traditions, gathered in Ireland from the 11-19 of August 2007 to fellowship, do business, and consider the theme “Finding the Prophetic Voice for Our Time.” It was a full and rich gathering. In our daily worship we heard messages from seven Friends on this theme. We were presented with the concept of prophecy from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament and early Friends. We wrestled with examples of contemporary prophetic witness and saw that our understanding of the call to prophetic ministry differs nearly as much as our practices and theologies differ. We had interest groups, working groups, singing, worship sharing groups, excursions, and conversations deep into the night.

I felt blessed and challenged by all of the speakers on the theme of prophetic ministry. A few thoughts on the theme that stick with me from the talk by Marion McNaughton of Britain Yearly Meeting:

One does not choose to be a prophetic, it is a calling from God, and often one that is resisted and unwelcome;
Prophecy is rooted in the religious values of the community, it reveals where the community has been faithful and where it has failed to be faithful.

It both affirms and criticizes, and it always challenging.
It calls for the turning away from the world and towards God

One of the most significant aspects of the Triennial for me was the wonderful Young Adult group and the work we did together. The group of young adults had representation from every FWCC Section and we met together almost every night to discern what we were being led to do as international young adult Friends. By the end of the week we had discerned to propose to the FWCC governing body the creation of a Young Adult Friends Committee with the following mission statement:

“The Young Adult Friends Committee will provide structure, support, and coordination within the current generation of Young Adult Friends. The committee will be made up of representatives from each FWCC section. It will network, listen and facilitate according to discerned leadings of the Spirit within the global YAF community and reach out to those not affiliated with FWCC.

This committee will enable the continuation of the mission of the 2005 World Gathering of Young Friends, including the strengthening of the spiritual lives of YAFs through sharing our various expressions of faith, learning from our Quaker heritage and continued discernment as to how we are being led. This committee will also advocate for the full inclusion of YAFs and YAF concerns within FWCC as a whole.”

One striking thing about this process for me was that though we were YAFs from all over the world—Kenya, Australia, England, Ireland, the US, Mexico, El Salvador, the Philippines—the things we were asking for and yearning for were very similar to the things the FGC Youth Ministries Committee has been working on for the past few years. So it’s exciting to realize that young Friends all over the world are wrestling with many of the same things, though in contexts that are very different from one another. And there is a great desire for more connection, intervisitation, and more opportunities to share our faith journeys with each other.

For a much more detailed account of every aspect of the Triennial, including photos, video clips, and transcripts of the talks, please see http://www.fwccworld.blogspot.com/.

-Christina Repoley