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Friends United
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March/April 2009
Sacred Moments by Sylvia Graves, FUM General Secretary
Quaker Men Fundraising Success: A New Truck for John Muhanji
FEET: The Power of ALL
Releasing our Pastors: One Yearly Meeting's Efforts
New Hire: Ministerial Advocate (IYM)
Yearly Meeting Receives Grant to Address Economic Challenges of Pastors
Belize Friends Worship Group: A Vision
Sacred
Moments
By Sylvia Graves, General Secretary
Many years ago, West Newton Friends Meeting had a pastor who ministered to our congregation in a rather unusual way. He was experiencing a recurrence of intestinal cancer and, as the cancer progressed, he seemed to sense that it was difficult for us to ask questions about how he was doing. So, he’d begin conversations with us by saying things like, “Let me tell you what the doctor said when I saw him yesterday.” Our pastor demonstrated not only a positive attitude about his illness, but he was also forthright in telling us how things stood and what he was doing about it. Then he’d move the conversation away from himself to other business or interests. Yes, there were times when he shared his fears with us, too, so we’d know how to pray. He also told us how much of his pastoral role he could manage and which parts he needed help doing. He allowed his congregation to minister to him and coached us in how to do so effectively. How Aldene Pitts handled his illness was a gift to all who knew him during that time.
During one particularly rough week for Aldene, an informal phone tree was established that made sure we all had daily reports on his progress. That Friday, when my husband, Dale, came home from work, he asked if I’d heard a report that day. I hadn’t. To my great surprise, Dale announced we should go immediately to the hospital to find out for ourselves. I was surprised because Dale had always had an aversion to hospitals and avoided going at all cost. I had already decided that when my time came I might as well just ride off into the woods — like I’d read some Native Americans used to do — because I didn’t believe Dale would visit me in the hospital.
Anyway, we went. When we asked where to find our pastor’s room, the lady at the desk asked if we were family. We responded that Aldene had no family close by and that we were members of the church where he was serving as pastor. The lady said, “I’m so glad you are here. Aldene passed away a few minutes ago, and his wife needs someone to be with her and take her home. She’s having a difficult time of it.” Of course I then understood why Dale acted so untypically. We’ll be forever grateful that we responded to that leading. We stayed with Aldene’s wife into the next day, helping with phone calls and making plans for the funeral.
We will also be forever grateful that Aldene shared the gift of teaching us to minister to him. Our pastors since Aldene may not have consciously noticed, but Aldene helped our meeting members be more aware that our pastors often need ministry from us as much as we need ministry from them. A pastor who not only admits her/his vulnerability but models what it is like to be on the receiving end of ministry does a great deed. We all need ministering to at times, and if we humble ourselves to receive it, we will be more effective in our own ministry as we empower others in theirs. Thank you, God, for Aldene.
Quaker
Men Fundraising Success: A New Truck for John Muhanji
By Dale Graves
When John Muhanji joined the FUM staff as director of Africa Ministries, he got an old 1984 Toyota Land Rover from a retiring missionary. John works to extend the ministries of FUM in Kenya and has worked with Quakers in Uganda, the Congo and Tanzania. John made that old truck work for years, getting to know its quirks and doing everything he could to keep it running. There are many great stories of God’s protection over John while he was driving that old truck.
There is the story of using tape from a medical kit to repair the radiator hose, of parking on a hill so the car could be rolled to get it started when the starter no longer worked and the time that John was in a very dangerous part of the country when the truck quit running. John could not get the truck started so he decided to pray for protection and went to sleep. When he awoke in the morning, the truck was surrounded by men who explained, “This is a very bad place to be stranded. We were worried about you so we came out to make sure no one would harm you.”
A year ago, I traveled in Kenya at the time of the FUM Africa General Board meetings. I had a chance to ride in the old Toyota and was concerned that the situation had become desperate. John needed a new truck, and he needed it now. Upon arriving home, I contacted Phil Baisley, president of Quaker Men International, and asked if this was a project that could be undertaken by Quaker Men. Upon reaching agreement, the announcement was made at FUM triennials.
Cost, of course, was our major concern. To figure the cost of a vehicle in Kenya you begin by finding out what it would cost in the U.S. and double it. In Nairobi we priced a new Nissan at $40,000. (Toyota is considered a better truck, but the cost would be $50,000.)
Money began to come in but not very quickly. We soon learned that John’s old truck had gone into the shop where they told him it could no longer be repaired. It was too old and they were no longer able to get parts. News went out and the response was terrific.
In December, we were notified by Eden Grace that John had been working with a broker in Nairobi who dealt in used cars directly from Japan. They had found a used Toyota that met the specifications set by John and Eden. (For you who care about such things, it is a 2002 Toyota double-cab Hilux, 4WD, manual transmission, 3.0 L diesel EFI engine, new high-density shocks, 88,000 kilometers — that’s 55,000 miles to Americans — with an auction grade of 4.0. 4.0 is the highest possible grade, meaning that it is in perfect mechanical condition.) The new truck would cost $14,900. What rejoicing! The fact that shipping costs and duties would raise the cost to $20,200 only slightly dampened the enthusiasm.
Quaker Men had not yet raised enough money, but an individual came forward with a mature certificate of deposit and offered it as an interest-free loan, enabling us to reach our goal. Quaker Men had raised $20,200, and the purchase of a “new” truck for John Muhanji could be completed.
FEET:
The Power of ALL
By Kim Newlin, FUM Development Officer
Many of us have experienced some burden as a result of the changes in our national economy. In these trying times we come together as families, Friends and communities, drawing together our resources and sharing our fortune as we find it. Where EACH of us may not have the strength or resources to accomplish a great task, ALL of us can make it happen together.
Friends United Meeting is ALL of us and EACH of us, working together toward a common goal: the goal of Friends Energizing and Equipping Together. Together we are God’s FEET in the world, bringing a message of love and compassion to all those we serve. Partnering with Friends in Kenya, Ramallah and Belize may not be something one of us could accomplish alone, but ALL of us working together can truly transform lives in all of these places.
In 2009, Friends United Meeting faces many challenges, but we also will come face-to-face with many opportunities to share the Good News. We will reap the rewards of participating in partnerships with persons with whom we have many commonalities and with whom we have many differences. And, we will EACH be an integral part of the ALL of Friends United Meeting.
Friends United Meeting is grateful for each of you. New opportunities to serve will only come to fruition when the EACH of us become the ALL of FUM. Thank you for your faithful giving and your constant prayers. When we ALL come together, the work will continue.
To explore ways you can support the work of Friends United Meeting, please e-mail Kim Newlin or call (765) 962-7573. ALL of us are needed to do the work that EACH cannot do alone.
Releasing
our Pastors: One Yearly Meeting's Efforts
By Doug Shoemaker, Indiana Yearly Meeting Superintendent
Friends often don’t know what to do with our pastors. We expect leadership from them, yet grow nervous when it feels as though they may have authority. For over 200 years Friends got along without paid pastors. Now that the pastoral system has been adopted by many Friends for well over a century, we still struggle with it. Early Friends recoiled from what they called a “hireling ministry,” where the pastoral role was often viewed as just another vocation instead of a calling from God. It has often been suggested that Friends today have replaced the idea of “hireling” or “paid ministry” with the equally troubling concept of “poorly paid ministry.”
In one of George Fox’s epistles, he advised, “That care be taken from time to time, as Friends are moved thereunto, for relieving faithful Friends’ necessities, and for other services of truth … that ministering Friends may not be cumbered with outward things, but kept out of them” (Collected Works – epistle 264). The concept of meeting the needs of ministers so that they can be freed, or “released,” to minister is not just a Quaker concept, but a New Testament principle.
Prompted by a grant initiative from the Lilly Endowment, Indiana Yearly Meeting has been taking a close look at the economic challenges facing our pastors. We have discovered that many who are providing valued pastoral leadership do so at great personal sacrifice. While some congregations are able to offer a generous compensation package to their pastors, most do not. It has been learned that educational debt is a heavy burden carried by many of the newest pastors while retirement planning has often been non-existent for seasoned pastoral leaders. The need for adequate and affordable health insurance seems to be a challenge for all. Financial incentives to serve as a pastor among Friends are rare, and several pastors have succumbed to the pressure to leave public ministry altogether in order to provide for the financial needs of their families.
A survey of Friends pastors uncovered a plethora of personal economic challenges, but few complaints! Most pastors sympathetically acknowledged that their congregations were doing the best they could, that many small meetings simply do not have the financial resources to provide adequate compensation packages. Many meetings, however, could do better in this matter. Pervasive attitudes of financial fear and scarcity motivate many congregations to scrimp on matters of pastoral compensation and most pastors find it awkward to address such issues without appearing to be self-serving. This is why Indiana Yearly Meeting, assisted by a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, has created a new staff position, the “Ministerial Advocate.”
The goal for this staff position is to focus on a broad Ministerial Excellence Initiative. It seems logical that pastors who are not operating under severe economic burdens will be more fully released to serve their congregations and communities without distraction. This initiative includes several components, including: (1) making financial counseling available to pastors, (2) providing training to help congregations understand unique economic challenges and opportunities faced by pastors and (3) a Ministerial Excellence Fund — a source of financial assistance to alleviate specific economic burdens. It is expected, however, that for this initiative to be truly successful it must go beyond addressing specific financial problems and address the congregational cultures that create them.
Friends in their earliest days could probably be described as “missional.” The culture of early Friends was driven by a vision that resulted in exponential growth and unmistakable impact. In recent days many Friends meetings could be described as “attractional,” going to great lengths to provide programming and worship experiences that are attractive to would-be Friends. Sadly, though, many Friends meetings today are neither missional nor attractional. Instead they are focused on surviving, and such a maintenance-oriented culture can be a toxic environment for pastors who, like George Fox, carry a vision of a great people to be gathered.
As Indiana Yearly Meeting began researching the challenges facing our pastors and developing strategies for addressing them, one Friend helpfully cautioned that we need to not simply use money to prop up a system that may not be working. It hasn’t been concluded that the pastoral system isn’t working, but it seems obvious that it could be improved. Culture shifts do not come easily, but it is clearly time to take a good look at the prevailing mindsets represented in our meetings and consider how these impact congregational expectations and support of pastors. We may not always know what to do with our pastors, but it’s time we learned.
New
Hire: Ministerial Advocate
By Matt Hisrich
When I learned of Indiana Yearly Meeting’s (IYM) interest in developing a Ministerial Excellence Initiative and hiring a ministerial advocate to oversee the project, I was very excited. I believe that through this initiative, IYM has the potential to foster a culture of ministry that is sustainable over the long term.
My background with Friends includes a wide variety of experience. I grew up attending First Friends in Canton, Ohio. My parents still attend this large, evangelical meeting. After college I attended North Columbus Friends Meeting — a small, unprogrammed meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Since moving to Richmond, Indiana, in 2005 to attend the Earlham School of Religion, my wife and I have become members at First Friends Meeting in Richmond.
My experience with a variety of different meeting types leaves me hopeful that dialogue between Friends of differing backgrounds can improve the faith lives of all involved. To some extent, IYM is a microcosm of the diversity within Friends. From conservative to liberal, small to large, rural to urban, the challenges and opportunities facing member meetings vary significantly. But one aspect that binds us together is our commitment to pastoral ministry in the Quaker tradition.
That commitment is central to the priorities set forth by IYM. With this initiative, IYM is targeting those priorities through financial education for pastors and meetings, financial aid through grants and debt retirement and the facilitation of discussion about how meetings can best achieve the hopes and desires they have for effective ministry.
My education and work experience are well-suited to this position. I attended Hillsdale College in Michigan where I majored in political economy. Upon graduation I worked for several years in public policy. During that time, I felt a calling to attend seminary and enrolled at ESR. While there, I found ways to integrate my interests in economics and finance with my spiritual and theological training through work on public policy issues and socially responsible investing.
The ministerial advocate position is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue to explore the intersection of faith and finances. I greatly look forward to the conversations I will be having throughout the yearly meeting about what we can accomplish together through the Ministerial Excellence Initiative.
Yearly
Meeting Receives Grant to Address Economic Challenges of Pastors
By Marlene Pedigo, Western Yearly Meeting Superintendent
Western Yearly Meeting (WYM) of Friends Church is pleased to announce the receipt of their second grant from the Lilly Endowment “Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Indiana Pastors.” During the next four years, the pastor of a local WYM church may apply for financial grants from Western Yearly Meeting’s Pastoral Ministry Excellence Fund in three areas: health savings account contributions, retirement contributions and educational reimbursement for WYM Continuing Education and Training and Recording class expenses. Annual training will be provided in the areas of personal financial management skills, stewardship, retirement options, health savings accounts and “best practices” of tax preparation for pastors. A special thank-you goes to all who prayed for and participated in the surveys, focus groups, conferences and business sessions which focused on this concern.
Belize
Friends Worship Group: A Vision
By Sam Barber, FUM field staff to Belize
Becky and I have a vision. Our vision is to have a worship group established in Belize. Since going to Belize last summer, we have felt that it would be wonderful to have a thriving Friends worship group at the boys’ school. But how can we do that and administrate the Friends Boys School at the same time? It’s simple. Step up the fundraising in order to arrive in Belize before the interim director, Pat Shrock, leaves. Pat’s assistance will allow us time to get to know how the school operates and the chance to start building bridges. Once we can communicate with the boys and their families, if it be God’s will, we can start a worship group. We would want to begin the worship group on site at the Friends Boys School. It is a good location that we already have. I would like to start with the students and their families, then branch out by inviting neighbors and community people we come in contact with. “The field is ripe but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37 We are your workers at the Friends Boys School. This venture is of God. But we cannot go unless our financial goals are met. Can we count on your prayer and financial support?