FGC Connections

by Marty Grundy Friends in Cleveland Meeting are learning how to nurture ministry by beginning to recognize it when we see it happening among us. In the last few years, some Friends have begun to notice God-given gifts in themselves. With this awareness has come great joy but also the heavy responsibility of using these…

From the Milwaukee Friends Meeting’s newsletter comes the following lighter but instructive sign of hope: Dear Ms. Mindful: I have a strange and embarrassing question about what makes a “gathered meeting.” You are the only one I dare turn to. My question is this: if my stomach grumbles during meeting for worship, and then the…

in Downers Grove Friends Meeting, Illinois Donna Bisset, Clerk, writes: in Beacon Hill Meeting, Massachusetts, Margaret Carpenter writes: Recognizing the centrality of the meeting for worship in the individual and corporate lives of Friends and attenders, our Ministry and Worship Committee wanted to increase its quality and strength by encouraging more vocal ministry, prompt arrival…

The title Worship in Song was revealed to the Hymnal Oversight Committee as it considered the purpose of this hymnal. For many Friends, music is an important component of individual and corporate worship. Here are some suggestions to make Worship in Song a valuable part of your spiritual life: We hope that Friends will find many opportunities for deepening…

In the context of worship and after a two year discernment process, FGC’s Central Committee (our “board of directors”) adopted the following “Minute of Purpose” and four major goals at its October, 1995, meeting. Minute of Purpose Friends General Conference is a Quaker organization in the unprogrammed tradition of the Religious Society of Friends which…

by Bruce Birchard Thousands of people are attending and joining unprogrammed Quaker meetings across North America, fueling growth in the number of meetings and worship groups. In 1956 the Friends World Committee for Consultation’s Directory listed approximately 400 unprogrammed meetings in North America (not including Conservative Friends’ meetings.) By 1996 that number had almost doubled…

by Liz Yeats When Friends across the continent look back on the 1990’s will they say, “We were blessed with an influx of newcomers, seekers from other traditions, who found an openness in Quaker worship and a faith community in Friends meetings, both small and large?” Or will they say, “we had many visitors, but…

By Liz Yeats It was a dark and stormy night when Friends arrived at the FGC Religious Educators’ Institute. From August 15-18, 1996 one hundred adults and thirty children gathered in western Pennsylvania for FGC’s first focused small conference, “Teaching as a Religious Experience.” We attended workshops, heard two fine speakers, worshipped in family cluster…