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I want to be a person of God. I want my faith community to aid me in becoming a person of God. I want, in my faith community, to be able to use the word “God” without someone immediately following up with a comment about how uncomfortable they are with that word. I do not like listing our testimonies as a way of defining ourselves. I don’t like the SPICE acronym. And I don’t like suggesting that what we strive for is personal integrity rather than Truth.

E.g.: What gifts do you recognize in the young people in your faith community? How do you name those gifts? How can the community as a whole receive these gifts?

I didn’t realize Beliefnet was back up for sale. GetReligion looks at the Murdoch/Fox era and wonders where it might go next:

This raises an interesting question for people who enjoy reading about religion news and trends. Who is the most logical marriage partner for Beliefnet.com? By this, I mean, who could afford to purchase that unique collection of blogs and faith-driven sites? If there is to be a marriage, and not a funeral, who is a logical partner?

For Friends like me who fall, more or less, into the Isolated Friend category, where one must lean more on the faith and less the practice of Friends, books like this are manna from Heaven….

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…

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…

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 “spiritual refugee”—running from a religious tradition—to being a “spiritual citizen”—consciously moving into, adopting, and integrating a new faith tradition for ourselves.

New Quaker Youth book off press. “Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices” celebrates, critiques, questions, and reflects on the Quaker faith experience.

I was, once again, reminded of the very real temptation to view a certain space as being more sacred, more full of God’s presence, than other spaces. But of course, we’re all good Quakers here and…

Recent visitor Faith Kelley writes about the value of reaching across the Friends spectrum over on the FGC Quaker Youth blog:

These stories are troubling in and of themselves, but the more disturbing thing is they point to a real barrier as Friends attempt to reach across the seemingly wide theological and cultural chasms between us.  Stories of wild behavior and harm inflicted seem to be the only things we know about each other, the only narrative we tell ourselves about those “other” Friends.  We don’t interact with each other often enough to have any other tales to tell.

If you’re of the right age, you can continue this conversation this summer at the YAF 2010 Gathering that Faith is co-organizing.

From GetReligion, which watches news coverage of religious issues.

Once again, we have the f-word [fundamentalist] used in a news report in a way that does nothing to add factual material to the story… Can we all agree that the subways in Moscow were not attacked by bands of very conservative Protestants who are willing to sign the Fundamentals of the Faith documents of the early 20th century? Note that the usage of the f-word in this story clouds another issue. What do the rebels actually want? Is a “fundamentalist Caucasus Emirate” the same thing as an Islamic republic? What kind? What form of government, rooted in what approach to Sharia?

Johan Mauer, in Quaker Life

Callid Keefe-Perry in Emergent Village

In part of which he and Faith comes to visit us (yea!):

The last month has been full of work and blessings, and there is much to report. After being able to spend some weeks at home in DC, travel has reemerged as a signature feature of my life and work. In the months ahead, my schedule looks to grow only more intense as I work to strengthen Friends throughout my region and in North America as a whole.

In the NYTimes:

Nowhere in the letter did Benedict address the responsibility of the Vatican itself. Many victims’ groups have criticized the Vatican for not recognizing the depth and scope of the abuse crisis sooner. Nor did he use the term punishment, or spell out any consequences for clergy or bishops who had not upheld canon or civil law. Indeed, he laid blame firmly with Irish Catholic leaders.

It’s hard to believe anyone’s sorry and anything’s changed while people like Boston’s former Cardinal Law are given cushy jobs in Rome. How many people have lost their faith? And how many churches have been sold off to cover the lawsuits and settlements? Hasn’t the Vatican learned anything?