May 2010
Tyler Hampton: Finding Yourself in Leadership →
The Lord made it clear to me that what I needed to do was to simply start living the transformed life… The New City Friends worship group was born out of this. Our Christian foundation,…
Ashley W: Spiritual nurture of young Friends... →
As a young person who travels in the ministry, I found it was easy for me to get traveling minutes, and not very difficult to get money, but it was harder to find spiritual nurture. So I decided to…
Red Electric: Convergence and intervisitation →
In a discussion that followed our worship, some of us shared that we had feared what might become of exploring our views and beliefs. So far, our fears have proven groundless. Instead, we have found…
Rosemary Zimmerman: Christ Stopped Me on the... →
I don’t understand being saved in the usual sense, and I don’t really believe in heaven and hell. But I do believe in redemption—my own redemption above all. And this is how I understand it. I was…
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Press of Atlantic City covers local farm stands &... →
It is still too early to harvest berries, but DiMeo Blueberry Farms has been selling grow-your-own blueberry, raspberry, aronia black chokeberry and teaberry plants. Owner Anthony DiMeo III said the fourth-generation Hammonton farm opened for the season in April, and he has seen a lot of traffic from people who are interested in these high antioxidant fruits, as well as purchasing honey and...
Arlen Specter's Last Campaign - Metropolis →
By Tom Ferrick:
Regardless of the season and regardless of the race, it was always all about Arlen. Maybe the egomania was a defense mechanism. How else could a Jewish kid from Kansas go on to get elected in a state that didn’t particularly like outsiders or Jews? You either had to be more likeable than any else or more relentless. Arlen didn’t do likeable, but he was relentless.
Johan M: Happy birthday, charismatics →
Interesting piece by Johan on the continued influences of the charismatic movement. Includes some references to Friends, but not quite enough for me to pop it up to QuakerQuaker. Still well worth a read to religion geeks.
Watch“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer (via Johan M). Scruff it up and switch to lofi for your favorite alterna-church.
Chronicler's Landscape Part 4: Deportment of... →
Ministers today need to model the Christian life. Those around us need models. Most people who are called “role models” today are not living lives that we should follow. American culture values…
Friend Heather: What If It's All True? →
Suddenly, I was deeply afraid. What if it’s all true? What if the Holy Spirit does work through me? What if I have received certain gifts and I am called to use them? Can I be completely sane, to…
Earthfreak Pam: Wondering about Christians →
A LOT of what I run into, in my own dancing around with this in my head, is a sense that my best sense of Jesus (both what feels truest, for the most part, and what feels more likable) is of a man…
Mark Wutka: Exhort One Another Daily →
What is it that keeps us from doing this? Are we shy? Are we culturally conditioned to keep such matters to ourselves? I want a spiritual community where this kind of thing is welcomed!
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“It’s hard for them to share each others’ views on what’s going on. These older...”
– Demographer William H. Frey, in A Generation Gap Over Immigration (NYTimes).
The article talks about how generations have had different exposures to immigrants. In 1970 only 4.7 percent of the country was foreign born and many grew up in segregated suburbs. Immigration is now at the level it was...
Click Rik: Quaker Values: Worship →
When I first started going to Quaker Meeting, I found the silence very intimidating and difficult. This was largely because I didn’t know what I was doing. Unlike other meditative faiths, Quakers…
Raised Anna: The Strength to Go Into the... →
I have often found that we want to hear praise and only praise about our meetings and the Religious Society of Friends because we are afraid of what might happen if we begin to take criticism…
LizOpp: Small openings lead to larger ones →
Quakers often talk and write about how, when we are faithful in following the small nudges we are given, we are being prepared to follow the larger, more burdensome leadings down the road. This feels…
Micah B: Young Adult Gathering the most... →
This gathering may prove to be the most diverse cross-branch event for Young Adult Friends since at least the 1960s. To date, we have at least two registrations in from nearly every Yearly Meeting in…
Joanna Hoyt: Practices for a Common Revolution →
Taxation, financial and environmental regulation, immigration, war and other issues of public policy, are hugely important. But they are only part of the picture. Real reform or revolution will also…
Chronicler continues with principles of practical... →
Part two of “The Landscape of Ministry” series shares advice on spoken ministry. “It is easy to say that these things about elocution are not important, and to a degree that is true. However, reading…
Robin M: What do you want out of First Day School? →
So I’ve been thinking again, what do I want my children (or all children) to get out of First Day School? I want them to learn how to be a Quaker. What do Quakers do in meeting for worship and why do…
Chronicler begins a four part series, The... →
This series on the landscape of Friends ministry provides a context for an evaluation of one’s own ministry / discernment (with the Lord’s assistance) as well as some aids for Elders to perform their…
Brent Bill: As Way Opens →
The heart of discovering God’s direction is contained in the wisdom of the Quaker saying “as way opens.” It’s become almost a Quaker cliché. But, as with all clichés, there’s powerful truth lurking…
Jess Easter: Going Plain as a Young Adult Friend →
During my time at Pendle Hill, I considered taking on some form of plain dress but dismissed it as my vain attempt at showing how “different” I truly was from the rest of the world. One year later, I…
mil gracias: Disembodied Quakers? →
I’m reminding myself that face to face encounter doesn’t necessarily guarantee knowing another person. Sometimes the virtual exchange is better, for example, in the case of quiet people like me. But…
Hammonton Youth Soccer →
Two editors of Spirit Rising talk about Quaker... →
We have learned what it means to have relationships across a wide spectrum of cultural and spiritual beliefs. We’ve learned how to discuss the hard issues while holding others in love and acceptance….
Cream in My Coffee talks about Jon Watts' Quaker... →
The video itself is like a family movie. Every single archetype that defines our modern “Quaker experience” is there— older ponytail dude, graying bob haircut eyeglasses no makeup woman… The…
Valiant Micah visits an emergent church gathering →
I am in awe of how I see God at work in the wider Church, despite our failure to fully embrace the Spirit’s work in our midst. I feel grateful for the connections that I have made this weekend with…
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Church of the New York Times? →
From GetReligion, The Church of the New York Times:
There are two kinds of people in the U.S. zip codes that really matter. There are people get up on Sunday morning and head off to church. Then there are people who arise and settle down to consume a different sacrament — a cup of coffee (or two) and the Sunday New York Times. Yes, there are people who do both. But, even then, which sacred rite...
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LizOpp offers a workshop on dirty words in... →
The challenge for me as the facilitator was to create a process that would allow participants to reflect on why certain Quaker terms, concepts, or practices left a bad taste in their mouth and then move them towards considering those same things in a new light. In turn, that led to a short conversation about our spiritual development as Friends and how many of us are moving from being a...
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Passionate Ashley reflects on mentors, elders and... →
The first time I heard Quakers use the word “elder,” I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew it sounded like a bad thing. These Friends were discussing someone’s inappropriate behavior in meeting and having to “elder” that person. Since then, I have learned a more positive definition of elder: someone who names and nurtures the spiritual gifts of people in a meeting and cares for the spiritual...
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Peggy Parsons prepares for her first stop in... →
I do not know what my purpose being there will be. But I feel like I am completing my call by showing up. I will bring with me the spirituality of generous orthodoxy and Christ-centered inclusion that we have found at Freedom Friends Church. I am sure that I will have many interesting conversations, with sisters from Africa and America. We will sing together study together and worship together. I...
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Gulf Coast Towns Brace as Huge Oil Slick Nears... →
Sounds like the oil could do more damage than Katrina. Is the Mississippi Delta doomed? Just a few days ago I was reading quotes from experts were saying that oil rig disasters are rare. But like nuclear accidents, just one “rare” accident can create catastrophic effects.
The imperiled marshes that buffer New Orleans and the rest of the state from the worst storm surges are facing a...