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Friends United Meeting |
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April 1998
Five Years
By Johan Maurer
Yesterday I had one of those days. I was running around the whole day but only got past the first layer of papers on my desk. I left at the end of the day feeling lonely (Judy is still in Cuba) and sorry for myself.
That evening, I took out my journal and wrote the date, and it hit me: I've been at Friends United Meeting exactly five years. Suddenly a different perspective opened up, bigger than one day's discouragement. Many good things have happened in the last five years, and an anniversary like this is a good time to review.
It was actually six years ago that the "Clearness Minute" was adopted by the Friends United Meeting Board and Commissions, ending the realignment controversy that threatened to split FUM and authoritatively reaffirming FUM's identity as "Orthodox" Friends. Since then, nobody on the Board or in the constituency has seriously suggested that FUM should compromise its commitment to biblical Christianity.
In March 1993, the General Board adopted the Purpose Statement that now appears in every issue of Quaker Life. Result: Out of all the things we might do, we were committed to realizing a vision of FUM Friends reaching out and evangelizing. Most of our programming decisions express this vision: in Meeting Ministries, "energizing and equipping" is reflected in curriculum, in conference themes, in two new working groups (New Meetings Committee and Pastoral Leadership Task Group) and in the programs offered through the "Revitalization Toolkit." In World Ministries, we have increased the number of field staff, have worked with each "field" to consider how the work there relates to the Purpose Statement, and are exploring three new fields. Friends United Press is selecting writers and manuscripts that will "energize and equip" Friends. All of this has brought a new excitement to Quaker Hill.
All of these developments involved the good work of leaders such as Bill Wagoner and Mary Glenn Hadley (both of whom were here before me) and, more recently, Retha McCutchen. My own contributions have been much more prosaic: I have worked hard to build relationships of trust between the various subgroups within FUM-between the staff and the Board, between FUM leadership and constituency, between FUM and donors, between the older FUM yearly meetings and those which originated as missions.
To build trust, FUM has made several changes: We instituted complete annual audits for the first time in years; we tightened our restricted-gifts procedures to be sure donors' wishes are carried out exactly; we reoriented Quaker Life from a journal of spirituality to a magazine of news and discipleship resources with the purpose of "informing and equipping Friends"; we are planning a program of "random visits" to gather feedback at the local meeting level. Most importantly of all, we have strengthened the role of prayer in the life of our staff and of the local meeting.
We have plenty still to do. For example, last year's cash deficit, over $40,000 in unaudited figures, is not what we would like to see. But it is not insurmountable: if each member of FUM gave an additional 30 U.S. cents or 18 Kenyan shillings, that would wipe out last year's deficit.
As I thought about the many faithful people who worked hard to build a more faithful, forward-looking FUM, one name stood out: the late Harold Smuck. Despite being unjustly pressured to leave the staff in 1981, he continued to love and pray for FUM. At a crucial point in the realignment controversy, he suggested that FUM lay aside normal governance business and seek God's will. God honored that openness and the rest is history, including Harold's timely return to FUM as interim general secretary, and later (right up to his death) as presiding clerk.
It has been a joyful and humbling experience to see God at work in FUM,
but it sometimes takes an occasional discouragement to help me appreciate
the joy.
Johan Maurer is editor of Quaker Life and general secretary of Friends United Meeting.
Copyright (c) 1998 Friends United Meeting
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