FGC Adopts Minute of Purpose & Goals
October 31, 1996
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…
New Friends, New Meetings, New Challenges
September 22, 1996
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…
A Seeker Finds Welcome
September 22, 1996
by Vanesa Julye I have been a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (CPMM) for three years. When I walked into the Race Street Meetinghouse after a 15 year absence from Quaker worship, I felt as if I were returning home. I was warmly received and immediately comfortable. I chose to serve on the First…
Making the Stranger Welcome
September 22, 1996
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…
RE Institute: Focussed Conference, A Great Success!
August 19, 1996
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…