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Friends United Meeting |
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July/August 2003
News from Friends United Meeting
Commitments
By Retha McCutchen
Vacation was wonderful! I accompanied my son, John and family (Rhonda, Aidan and Kai) to Hawaii, Rhonda's birthplace and home for growing up.
Kai is four. His name means "salt water" in Hawaiian and Kai's name was everywhere. He saw his name on billboards, street signs and hotel names. It was exciting — he was pretty visible.
Kai's reaction caused me to reflect on Biblical times when names were given (or changed) for a purpose. A name given was often a revelation of the character or work on the person named — to communicate identity.
As she breathed her last, for she was dying, Rachel named her son Ben-Omi (son of my trouble). But his father named him Benjamin (son of my right hand). Genesis 35:18
In the case of Solomon, his parents had one idea and God another. II Samuel says:
Bathsheba gave birth to a son and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (loved by God).
Sometimes a name was changed later in life to reflect a particular function or characteristic of an individual. God changed Abram's name to Abraham (father of many) to signify a covenant.
My favorite name change is recorded in Acts 4:36 — Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, who the apostles called Barnabas (which means son of Encouragement). What a compliment for those you live and worship with to offer such a name change!
As we live our lives in the 21st century, Scripture instructs us to call upon the name of the Lord. This is the only way to survive the confusing messages challenging us at every turn. In order to call upon the name of the Lord our God, we must know who God is. God's revelation to Israel in the name Yahweh (I AM, meaning to be) began the unfolding of an understanding of God's redemptive nature. Through God's name, Israel saw God as existing and active in the here and now.
Centuries have not changed the nature of God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of today — existing and active in the here and now.
Friends, let's join hands and call upon the name of the Lord our God for our personal lives, the direction of our churches, yearly meetings and Friends United Meeting.
A Closer Look at Margaret Fell
By Barbara Mays
Just in time for yearly meeting book tables, Undaunted Zeal: The Letters of Margaret Fell, reveals Margaret Fell's passion for Christ, peace and justice. Letter by letter, Margaret Fell emerges as a woman of unwavering courage and energy as she speaks and lives out her faith without regard for personal consequence. Edited and introduced by Elsa F. Glines, Margaret Fell's letters document much of the first fifty years of Quaker ministry and social witness.
"A volume for which the time has surely come," writes Emma Lapsansky, curator of Special Collections and professor of history at Haverford College. "Both scholars and casual readers will find here a graceful, engaging and informative entry to the mind and personality of this most influential First Woman among Friends."
Also at book tables for the first time this year will be Imagination and Spirit: A Contemporary Quaker Reader edited and introduced by J. Brent Bill. This anthology features excerpts from the "best of the best" of 20th and 21st century Quaker writers.
"This reader has a comfortable breadth, inclusive without sprawling," writes Merle Harton Jr. in his newsletter, Quaker Books for Friends. "The real undercurrent of [Brent Bill's] choice is a commitment to the Christian faith — and this itself helps to makes the book a standout among other collections of Quaker literature." (Read the full review at www.newquaker.com)
FUM Holds Peace Consultation
An unusual Peace Consultation of FUM's North American yearly meetings took place at Quaker Hill from May 2 through May 4, in Richmond, Indiana. The consultation was funded by interest from the FUM Peace Tax Escrow Account, an innovative use of that income. Nine yearly meetings (New England, New York, Baltimore, North Carolina, Wilmington, Indiana, Iowa, Southeastern and Western) sent as many as three representatives from their Peace and Social Action committees and up to two representatives from Ministry and Worship. Observers from FCNL and AFSC were also invited. (Canada Yearly Meeting was able to send a report, but no delegates.) The result was that a unique mix of about 40 activist and contemplative Friends gathered on Friday evening to share news of the peace efforts undertaken recently in each yearly meeting and to consider how truth was prospering among us in our faithfulness to our Peace Testimony. There was a wide diversity of Friends' views represented. There was also a wide age range represented. But we need to confess that there was only one race present. We came together to listen to each other and to the leadings of the Holy Spirit.
One representative confessed that she is guilty of relentless optimism. Another leader lifted up the reality of the Spirit working from the inside out. Others spoke of the low condition of the Peace Testimony among Friends in their regions. A yearly meeting that had, for years, been tormented with conflict and tragedy, could now testify to the blessing of the Holy Spirit that is empowering both strong action and deep worship.
The consultation was intensive. We spent about 24 out of the 42 hours in discussion, along with time for worship, meals, rest and brief moments for visiting. It was helpful to hear from many representatives who have long backgrounds in peacemaking efforts. In addition to plenary sessions, panel presentations, reports and displays from each yearly meeting, we gathered in small groups to consider two queries: "How can we energize and support Monthly Meetings in keeping the peace testimony central to our Christian faith?" and, "How can we energize and support Monthly Meetings in keeping the peace testimony central to our Christian witness?" There was an open and candid discussion. It was apparent there was respect for different viewpoints.
The consultation concluded on Sunday morning with a sense of agreement that we are Christ-centered and Biblically based in our Peace Testimony. We challenged ourselves by asking: "If we cannot embrace each other as Friends, what have we to say to the world?" We affirmed we have more in common than we have differences and we need to build community among ourselves through inter-visitation. We agreed we need to keep focused on the activities of Monthly Meetings and we need to share with each other tools for peacemaking we have found to be effective, such as the Alternatives to Violence Project. We agreed to develop a bibliography of resource materials that are currently available for use in monthly and yearly meetings. Most precious of all, we agreed that we hoped to come together again in a year — "bound together and finely woven."
Carol Holmes
New York Yearly Meeting
Hugh Spaulding
North Carolina Yearly Meeting
Quaker Cookbook Deadline Approaching
Quaker Life and Friends United Press are joining together to publish a new cookbook, Plain and Plenty: A Quaker Cookbook. The core of the book is taken from a Quaker Life column written by Avis Rees in the 1980s. Included in each column were recipes from a local meeting/church, a picture of the meetinghouse and a short history of the congregation.
Guidelines for other meetings to contribute to this new cookbook are:
- 1 long or 2 short recipes, especially focusing on more healthy guidelines;
- a picture or photo of the meetinghouse which will be returned;
- a short history of the meeting of no more than 200 words.
Also wanted are short quotations by Quakers that could be inserted as fillers thoughout the cookbook.
Send contributions to: Quaker Life, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374. For more information, contact Trish Edwards-Konic at (765) 962-7573 or email: quakerlife@fum.org. Deadline for all contributions has been extended to July 31, 2003.
Copyright (c) 2003 Friends United Meeting
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