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Friends United Meeting |
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October 1998
"Revive Us Again": Jamaica Yearly Meeting, 1998
By Johan Maurer
This year, Jamaica Yearly Meeting assembled for its 57th annual sessions under a banner proclaiming the theme, "Revive us again." The sessions returned to one of the historic centers of Jamaican Friends, the town of Highgate. I was eager to attend this year to get caught up on conditions at the Swift Purscell Boys Home and Lyndale Girls Home (both in Highgate), which are the Yearly Meeting's ministries to children who are referred by courts and government agencies because of their behavior or home situations.
For years, and for a variety of reasons, these homes have not provided the quality of ministry which Jamaican Friends would like to provide. Two years ago, the Yearly Meeting appointed a Fact Finding Committee which included the late Kenneth Josephs. Kenneth was a strong advocate for improving the management of the homes. His death just after the end of the 1997 Yearly Meeting could have been a major setback, but his work (and that of the committee as a whole) was not in vain, as I saw during the 1998 sessions.
The homes have seen improvements under the leadership of Dorrell Blake (Lyndale) and Derrick Worrall (Swift Purscell). Among the gains at Swift Purscell is the improved diet resulting from the agricultural program coordinated by Mennonite Central Committee appointee John Vanderkruk. John and his family live in the younger boys' dormitory block, where an adult presence has been badly needed. Lyndale has benefitted from a rebuilding effort in which Christian Service International has played a major role.
The Fact Finding Committee has continued to address concerns about management of the homes and their assets, which are under the care of a corporation, Friends Educational Council, set up by the Yearly Meeting over 55 years ago. At the Yearly Meeting sessions, Marilyn Dunbar of Kingston Meeting, the clerk of the Fact Finding Committee, answered questions about its work and about an interim report from the Ernst and Young firm, which is carrying out a management audit of Friends Educational Council. During the final business session at Yearly Meeting, David Goode, pastor of Highgate Friends Church, directly addressed one of the personal conflicts which has complicated the situation at the homes, and challenged the two Friends involved to be reconciled. An unforgettable time of prayer and reconciliation followed.
The sessions were influenced by one of the important preparations for the Yearly Meeting: a retreat held at Highgate just before the sessions opened. The purpose of the retreat was to discuss a new Yearly Meeting mission statement and its implementation. The statement reads: "The Mission of Jamaica Yearly Meeting of Friends is to spread the Gospel of Christ, encourage spiritual growth and demonstrate the principles of Christianity as practiced by Quakers."
The Young Friends were not left out of the picture. By divine coincidence, their program for this year included an excellent training session on mediation led by a professional trainer. There were only nine Young Friends in regular attendance, out of a total attendance which varied from around 30-40 most days to 120 on Sunday. As word gets around about the good 1998 sessions, maybe more Young Friends will be attracted next year.
My address to the Yearly Meeting included my ideas for the areas of prayer which would be needed for a true revival, including greater intimacy with God and greater integrity with each other, to break out among Friends: In prayer, we need to be honest with God in the areas of repentance, healing, vision and commitment. This year's sessions of Jamaica Yearly Meeting saw breakthroughs in honest repentance and healing, and the beginnings of new attention to vision and commitment for Friends to cultivate between now and the 1999 sessions. May these gains be pleasing to God and a model for every yearly meeting in FUM.
Johan Maurer is general secretary of Friends United Meeting.
Copyright (c) 1998 Friends United Meeting
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