"Gospel order means we live as disciples and as a church with Jesus at the center, in a unity of faith and practice, in a unity of heaven and earth. It turns from theory to practice, not just when we look for accountability in conflict, but also in the very ways we organize ourselves, relate to civil authority, choose our leaders and deploy our missionaries."
From the “New Quaker” issue of Quaker Life:
The old kind of Quaker wants to make sure we pass on buildings, property and programs to the next generation. The new kind of Quaker wants to make sure we pass on a living faith, a demonstration of faithfulness and a heart of integrity to the next generation.
In Quaker Life:
I don’t hear anyone calling for the formation of new “convergent” institutions. I suspect we have become burdened by our inheritance of our spiritual grandparents’ treasures and their neuroses. Perhaps we need to break free of the weight of our inheritance, sort the treasures from the junk, and wait to see where God is leading us.
Part of my response in the comments:
I’m glad Scott’s piece was put up online since he had some good points about the organizational and institutional change-of-mind that a lot of us see happening. It reminds me of Robert Webber’s generational chart that I put at the bottom of my 2003 emergent church piece.
I wouldn’t say we’re just holding space for the future. We’re the present negotiating with the eternal, just as every generation is and will be. I too resonate with the pre-Fox Seekers of Northern England. I think the Quaker-leaning seekers movement is much larger than the current RSOF. At some point I decided to care more about those who would be Friends if they knew about us (and if we acted more in line with our principles) than those who actually were. It helps keep me from getting too bent out of shape over current internal controversies.
Early Quaker writings, filled as they are with Scripture, beckon us to read the Bible as early Friends did. How can we embrace their way of reading and make it our own? As I’ve tried to explore this way of reading, I have become persuaded that such reading was an exercise of attention, memory and openness to the presence of God.
