The Gospel According to John (1:1-9)

1. The Gospel According to John (1:1-9) In the beginning was the Word:the Word was with Godand the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things came into being,not one thing came into being except through him.What has come into being in him was life,life that was the light of men;and light shines in darkness,and darkness could not overpower it. A man came, sent by God.His name was John.He came as a witness,to bear witness to the light,so that everyone might believe through him.He was not the light,he was to bear witness to the light. The Word was the real lightthat gives light to everyone;he was coming into the world. The New Jerusalem Bible, New York: Doubleday, 1985.

2. The Religious Society of Friends(The Quakers)THEO 323Andy Leet and Laura Stierman “Presence in the Midst” by J. Doyle Penrose (1916)

3. History: The Roots of Quakerism The Quakers trace their roots back to mid-17th century England and the Puritan Commonwealth, a time of radical religious and political thinking tinged with a sense of apocalyptic urgency. George Fox (1624-1691), inspired by the belief that anyone could be a minister and that God dwelt in people’s hearts rather than in temples, founded the movement circa 1650 after a few years of wandering and seeking spiritual guidance into practices of true worship in northwest England. Fox—inspired by John 1:1-14—believed that all people had within them the Inward or Inner Light. The Inner Light was “that of God in each [person]”. He also argued that it was possible for anyone to experience immediate revelation, (i.e. God speaking directly to humanity without any intermediary), a shocking idea for the time. According to his Journal, many of his ideas were personally inspired by revelation.

4. Fox further argued that the same Spirit which had inspired the writers of the Bible was still available to humans, and that past written work of the Spirit, while it should be valued, should not be placed above the actual Spirit itself. Various names were given to members of his movement: Children of the Light, People of God, Royal Seed of God, and Friends of the Truth, which later became the official name: Religious Society of Friends. The name Quaker derives from an event in 1650, when Fox was in court facing charges of blasphemy. Fox (perhaps unwisely!) told the judge to “tremble in fear of the Lord,” and the judge responded with “And quake, though quaker, before the majesty of the law,” likely referring to how members of the movement often shook with emotion when speaking. The Friends movement spread throughout England, often presented as the “Day of Visitation” by the Lord to each town or region. Newly transformed Friends fervently spoke in markets and parish churches despite mobbing, arrests, and considerable hostility. By 1660, there were approximately 50,000 Friends spread throughout England and Wales. Painting by Violet Oakley

5. In 1660, King Charles II was restored to the English throne, and those associated with religious dissent or political subversion were dealt with by the royalists. The Quaker Act of 1662 outlawed all gatherings of Friends. Quakers refused to pay the taxes that were taken in support of the Church of England, and many thousands were jailed or fined. To prove that they weren’t subversives, Fox and other leading Friends issued a long letter which later became known as their Peace Testimony: “All bloody principles and practices…we…do utterly deny, with all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretense whatsoever”. By the mid-1660’s, the Quaker movement settles down and solidifies. An organizational system that formed monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings was established. At the monthly and quarterly meeting levels there were separate meetings of men and women, each for the management and affairs of their own sex. This arrangement was perhaps partially due to the influence of Margaret Fell (pictured left), often called the Mother of Quakerism. She opened her home, Swarthmore Hall, to early Quakers and favored the equality of men and women’s ministry. She later married George Fox.

6. In 1655, Elizabeth Harris arrives as the first Friend in North America; other Friends soon follow, though the Puritans—who view the Quakers as a blasphemous people—make life difficult for them. In England, Robert Barclay publishes an influential statement on early Quaker faith titled An Apology for the True Christian Divinity (1676). William Penn is given a royal grant to found Pennsylvania in 1681. He founds the colony according to Quaker principles and hopes that its primary settlement, Philadelphia—”The City of Brotherly Love”—will become a model for the rest of the world. Unlike many of the other colonies, Pennsylvania does not provide governmental support for any church, opposition to oaths are provided for, and there is no militia or military establishment. Although still closely tied to London yearly meeting, the first sessions of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting are held in 1681. Penn instructs commissioners to obtain title to Indian land at fair value.

7. By 1700, the Quakers were more introspective, silent, and eager to empty their minds of all distractions; more focused on the maintenance of good internal order through the development of the role of elders, or Friends who were charged with nurturing ministers and silencing those whose speaking in meeting was not edifying; and less interested in proselytizing or making converts. During this “quiet” period, Friends came to see the Inward Light as a seed—if they were obedient to its guidance, the seed would grow and flourish, guiding and eventually taking control of their lives. Thus nurtured, it led believers into an experience of holiness or sanctification which they believed would lead to salvation. Even as they began to give up political power in Pennsylvania and elsewhere due to the French & Indian War and the Revolutionary War, they continued to interest themselves in protecting Indians and crusading against slavery. John Woolman’s (1720-1772) little book Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes and the posthumous publication of his Journal in 1774 greatly impacted Quakers and non-Quakers alike. By 1784, all American yearly meetings ruled that members who owned slaves must make arrangements to free them or lose their membership. However, this did not necessarily imply a commitment to racial equality or immunity to racist beliefs. By 1800, six yearly meetings existed in the United States. The Friends found themselves a united group with a common heritage, common rules and values, and a common theology. Unfortunately, all of that would change in the next century.

8. Summary of Early Quaker Beliefs • No priests or official pastors, as all Christians were ministers • No predetermined liturgy (unprogrammed); Friends gathered and waited in silence • Sacraments were purely spiritual. True communion (rather than a physical communion of wine and bread) was the fellowship of believers in the presence of Christ in a gathered meeting for worship. True baptism was achieved only through the Holy Spirit, rather than with water. • Believed in spiritual equality and opposed the displays and manifestations of social deference. Titles were not used; “thee” and “thou” were often used instead. • Quaker clothing was plain and unornamented. • Jesus’ injunction in Matthew, “Swear not at all,” was taken literally. Quakers refused to take any kind of judicial or legal oath because they viewed it as a double-standard—Christians should speak the truth at all times. • Fox and others read the New Testament as forbidding Christians to fight. Instead, Quakers would fight “the Lamb’s War” (Rev 19:11-15) using nonviolent tactics, disrupting the devil’s distraction of death and destruction. Thus, pacifism was entrenched early in Quakerism, though not all Quakers were necessarily pacifists.

9. FIRST-DAY THOUGHTS In calm and cool and silence, once againI find my old accustomed place amongMy brethren, here, perchance, no human tongueShall utter words; where never hymn is sung,Nor deep-toned organ blown, nor censer swung Nor dim light falling through the pictured pane!There, syllabled by silence, let me hearThe still small voice which reached the prophets ear;Read in my heart a still diviner lawThan Israel's leader on his tables saw!here let me strive with each besetting sin,Recall my wandering fancies, and restrainthe sore disquiet of a restless brain;And, as the path of duty is made plain,May grace be given that I may walk therein,Not like the hireling, for his selfish gain,With backward glanced and reluctant tread,Making a merit of his coward dread,But, Cheerful, in the light around me thrown,Walking as one to pleasant service led;Doing God's will as if it were my own,Yet trusting not in mine, but in His strength alone! --John Greenleaf Whittier, Quaker poet (1807-1892)

10. History, Part II: Fragmentation, Division, and Reaffirmation (1800-Present) Change and growth challenged the Quakers during the 19th century. Prosperity and growing ties with evangelical Protestants in business, philanthropic societies, and Bible and missionary societies meant that Quaker ideas were being diluted. Plainness was fading and there were new views on the nature of Christ and the authority of the Bible, thanks to the growing popularity of American religious revivals and awakenings. Elias Hicks (1748-1830), a quietist Quaker farmer from New York, decided to resist the evangelical movement by arguing that Jesus was not born as the Christ, but became the Christ because He had been the only human being ever to live in perfect obedience to the Divine Light that was within Him. He also rejected the claim that the Bible was the sole authority for Christians, since God had given humans reason to use in their religious growth and that revelation continued through the leadings of the Holy Spirit and through the Inward Light. Elias Hicks

11. Certain groups of Quakers, especially in Philadelphia, the intellectual and spiritual center of American Quakerism, sought to silence Hicks. These groups, which became known as Orthodox Friends, shared the sentiments of many other Protestant groups by believing that Christ was conceived and born as the Savior, the Son of God, for the purpose of redeeming humanity. While they agreed with Hicks’ view of the Bible, they feared that his statements went too far and diminished its unique inspiration. Ultimately, a split between the rural Hicksites and the Orthodox Friends occurred in 1827, and the Hicksites left Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and set up their own “reformed” yearly meeting. The separation left about 60% of American Friends with the Orthodox and 40% with the Hicksites. Although a radical segment—heavily focused on traditional Quaker issues of antislavery, women’s rights, and nonresistance—broke off from the Hicksites in 1841 and formed new associations called Congregational or Progressive Friends, most had returned to the main body by 1860. Sarah and Angelina Grimke and Lucretia Mott were all members of this segment. It should also be noted that Mott’s home was also a stop on the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves. Lucretia Mott

12. Hicksites had traditionally been suspicious of colleges, yet in 1860 they began discussions that would lead to Swarthmore College four years later. By the 1880’s, the Hicksites saw themselves as liberal Quakers: committed to toleration of dissent and freedom of thought, devotion to the Inner Light as the source of religious authority (above the Bible or written doctrinal statements), rejection of the idea of Atonement through the blood of Christ, and belief in progressive revelation. In 1859, a First Day School (Sunday School) was established, and by the 1880’s, First Day Schools were part of every Hicksite meeting. In 1893, the Hicksite yearly meetings held a conference to exchange views on strengthening their meetings. In 1900, these efforts were joined under one organization, known as Friends General Conference (FGC), which thereafter held gatherings to bring together Hicksite Friends from around North America. By 1900, the Hicksites retained unprogrammed worship and a non-ministry, but most had stopped wearing the plain dress or speaking the plain language outside of their families.

13. In 1845, the Orthodox Friends broke into two groups, the Gurneyites and the Wilburites. The Gurneyites were influenced by Joseph John Gurney (1788-1847), who believed that his ancestor Robert Barclay had erred on certain points of Quaker theology. One was the doctrine of Inward Light, which Gurney argued could not compete with the Light imparted by the Bible. Gurney also argued that justification (acceptance by God) and sanctification (the achievement of holiness) were separate experiences; justification came first, as an instantaneous experience through faith in the power of the Atonement of Christ, followed by sanctification as a gradual experience. Finally, while Friends should retain their commitments to unprogrammed worship, simplicity, the ministry of women, and pacifism, they shouldn’t fear to work with evangelical Protestants in good causes. The Wilburites, influenced by the Rhode Island minister John Wilbur (1774-1856) resented Gurney’s criticism of the writings of early Friends and disagreed with his view on the authority of Scripture over the continuing role of the Spirit. They also found Gurney’s separation of justification and sanctification as an easy way to heaven; for them, salvation should typically be achieved after a long, tried process.

14. For years, Gurneyite Friends had formed ties with evangelical Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists in various good works and reforms. They also shared with non-Quaker evangelicals a common vision of how to achieve salvation in an instantaneous conversion experience. They proposed to renew Quakerism by banishing old-fashioned ideas, such as the prejudice against higher education and the rules against marrying non-Quakers. In the 1870’s, a group of young Quakers (David B. Updegraff, John Henry Douglas, and Esther Fram, to name a few) introduced new teachings. They argued that all Christians should have two experiences: conversion (or “born again”), and sanctification, in which all tendencies to succumb to the temptation of sin would be eradicated through faith and the Holy Spirit. Convinced that the techniques of Protestant revivalism were the most effective in producing conversions and sanctifications, these young Quakers brought altar calls, mourners’ benches, hymn singing, prayers for the conversion of specific individuals, and outbursts of devout emotion into Friends meetings. Thousands of converts were brought in, which produced a growing demand for pastoral care and regular preaching, and by 1890, many Gurneyite meetings were calling for ministers to serve as pastors. Thus began programmed worship, with only short periods of silence and a schedule of prayers, hymns (accompanied by musical instruments), and a sermon. Many Friends meetings adopted the name “Friends Church,” discarded plain dress and plain language, and some even allowed water baptism.

15. Needless to say, some Gurneyites didn’t like all of these changes, so they split off and formed a new group called Conservative Friends, which gradually formed ties with some of the Wilburites, who still wished to preserve 18th century Quaker practices. Other Gurneyites attempted to blunt some of the revivalist methods by meeting to discuss halting the drift towards the toleration of water baptism. The Richmond(Indiana) Declaration of Faith, the product of this meeting, reaffirmed evangelical orthodoxy in 1887, especially in areas concerning the divinity of Christ and the authority of Scripture. In an attempt to unify the Gurneyites, a central organization was formed in 1902, dubbed the Five Years Meeting. One of the major figures of the Five Years Meeting was Rufus M. Jones, who made it his mission to unite all Quakers. He reaffirmed continuing and direct revelation by arguing that modern scholarship which challenged traditional understandings of the Bible followed Quaker traditional beliefs. He endorsed the Social Gospel movement of the early 20th century, which sought to reform American society by applying Christian principles, and finally, he recalled Quaker belief in the Inward or Inner Light. Rufus M. Jones

16. Jones also took a leading role in founding the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Originally intended to help Quaker conscientious objectors find alternative service opportunities during World War I, it expanded its mission in the 1920’s to spread Quaker humanitarian and peace ideals abroad. Opposed to the viewpoints expressed by Jones was J. Walter Malone, a fundamentalist-leaning Friend. Malone feared that questioning the inerrancy of Scripture threatened the authority of the Bible. Furthermore, Jones’ emphasis on the Inner Light seemed to minimize the need for definite experiences of conversion and sanctification. Finally, stressing social service and reform seemed to suggest that humans could save the world, rather than look to the Second Coming of Christ. In 1947, Malone and other similarly thinking Friends held the first in a series of conferences which would eventual lead to the founding of a new organization in 1963, the Evangelical Friends Alliance (EFA). Thus, a fourth strain of American Quakerism, parallel to the Friends General Conference, the Five Years Meeting (known as Friends United Meeting after 1965), and the Conservative yearly meetings, was institutionalized. Between 1945-1970, there was a growing interest among Quakers to heal old wounds. Some Hicksite and Orthodox Friends began worshipping together, and by the late 1960’s, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore yearly meetings of both groups reunited with each other. Ideas were also exchanged by Quakers at the Quaker study center at Pendle Hill (PA), created in 1930. J. Walter Malone

17. The Four Major Branches of U.S. Quakers • Friends General Conference (FGC) • Unprogrammed tradition; liberal Friends who place emphasis on authority of the Inward Light; favor diversity in religious views; universalists; 14 yearly meetings encompassing 30,000 Friends • Friends United Meeting (FUM) • Combination of programmed worship with some unprogrammed elements; pastoral Friends; wide range of belief and practice; fellowship commitment to Jesus Christ; 50,000 U.S. Friends with several missions abroad • Conservative Friends • Maintain unprogrammed worship; acknowledge authority of Christ Within and also of Christian Scripture; some still use plain language and plain dress; 1600 members, mainly in rural areas • Evangelical Friends International (EFI) • mission-oriented; strong scriptural base; usually programmed worship with some unprogrammed worship; 35,000 in U.S. Source: http://www.quaker.org

18. Source: Hamm, The Quakers in America

19. World Distribution of Quakers, 2000 Europe/Middle East 19,324 (6%) U.K 16,729 USA 92,996 Asia/West Pacific 12,076 (4%) Guatamala 20,630 Kenya 130,241 Burundi 12,000 Americas 154,291 (45%) Bolivia 30,300 Africa 154,188 (45%) Source: Friends World Committee for Consultation via Quakerinfo.com

20. A poster from the Twin Cities Friends Meeting meetinghouse

21. A Brief Local History of the Friends The William Wales family is credited with being the first Quaker group to arrive in the St. Anthony area in 1851, and they were soon followed by other Quakers from New Hampshire, the East Coast, and North Carolina. The first religious meetings held "according to the order of Friends" occurred in 1854. Regular weekly meetings for worship were instituted at the home of a Friend in 1855, and a standard meeting house was built in 1860 on the corner of 8th and Hennepin. However, it was not until 1863 that Minneapolis Monthly Meeting was organized, under the care of Red Cedar Quarterly Meeting of Iowa and Iowa Yearly Meeting. The first Friends Meeting House in Minneapolis, built in 1860.

22. In addition, another meeting was organized in Minneapolis: Lake Street, on Stevens Avenue near Lake Street, opened in 1886 to accommodate Friends in that part of the city but again merged with Minneapolis Meeting in 1895, which had recently moved to a new meeting house on First Ave. S. and 14th Street. This Greek revival style building was sold in 1950 and the community moved to York Ave. and 44th Street (formerly the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, and before that, St. Thomas the Apostle (RC)), where it remains today. Second Friends Meeting House, 1895-1950 Third Friends Meeting House, 1950-Present

23. Twin Cities Friends Meeting (TCFM) was established in 1944-1945 by those who were pacifists or who had made a “witness of conscience” during World War II. Established as University (of Minnesota) Friends in 1949, it later moved to the University YMCA and changed its name to “Church Street Meeting/Preparative”. In 1956, it joined the Illinois, rather than Iowa, Yearly Meeting, thus severing official relationship with Minneapolis Meeting -- though the two groups still co-operate in projects of common Friendly concern. In 1960, it changed its name to TCFM and opened a local office for American Friends Service Committee. From 1969 to 1984, it was housed at 295 Summit Ave. It withdrew from Illinois Yearly meeting in 1971 and participated in the growth and establishment of Northern Yearly Meeting (MN, WI, ND, SD), founded in 1975. In 1987, it purchased a home at 1725 Grand Ave. A new meetinghouse addition behind the home was finished in 1994.

24. Part III: Meeting for Worship • Unprogrammed—The Meetinghouse • Howard Brinton, a famous Friends historian, describes an unprogrammed meetinghouse as follows: • “At first sight, it might appear that the meeting can only be described by negatives—there is no altar, no liturgy, no pulpit, no sermon, no organ, no choir, no sacrament, and no person in authority.” • There are no stained glass windows and there is no ornamentation of any kind, such as crosses, images of saints, etc. The space is simple and plain. • Older meetinghouses might still have benches lining opposite sides of the worship space, with men on one side and women on the other. However, most current unprogrammed meetinghouses usually arrange benches or chairs around an open center area • There is no baptismal font or anything associated with sacraments

25. Interior & Exterior Examples of an Unprogrammed Meetinghouse Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting interior

26. Unprogrammed—The Meeting • Dress is typically casual • Although there is no minister, one member typically volunteers to “head” the meeting, meaning that they have agreed to verbally signal when the meeting time is expired or is ready to be “broken”. The meeting itself is silent, as members “center” and allow themselves to listen for the Inner Light in the hope that its inspiration will provide for “vocal ministry”. Below are three descriptions of centering from various Friends, taken from Thomas D. Hamm’s The Quakers in America: • ----a suspension of “analysis and judgment” • ---- “Words, from whatever source, are human and are inevitably adulterated by our worldly ways. Silence, on the other hand, is a reflection of purity…In worship, it means that we wait, expectantly and patiently, for what God has to say to us” • ---- “…it is not sufficient, for creative silence, merely to abstain from words. We must also…abstain from all of our own thoughts, imaginations, and desires.” (D. Elton Trueblood, Quaker philosopher)

27. Sometimes, “vocal ministry” will not occur during a particular meeting. • When one is moved to be “an instrument of the divine,” he or she will stand up and vocalize the message. In the past, it was common for meetings to “record ministers” (note those who have spoken), but this is seldom done now. • Sometimes, messages from various vocal ministers will build on each other in a process known as “clustering”. At other times, there are “popcorn meetings,” in which Friends rise rapidly to speak, one after the other, leaving no time to consider what has been said (this type of meeting is usually frowned upon). • Some meetings have a piano in the worship room if someone feels moved to play instead of vocalize. • There is no real way to test whether a “leading to speak” is real or a delusion, which could leave the meeting open to vulnerability (or those who come to the meeting with an agenda). • At the end of a meeting, those present will shake hands and greet each other. An unprogrammed meeting Description of one who experienced a “leading to speak” from The Quakers in America: “The first time I ever felt moved to speak, I thought something was physically wrong with me. The meeting was very deep, by which I mean that I was aware simultaneously of both an intensity of attention in myself and a sense of being at rest…After a time, the thoughts and images which had come into my mind, modified, clarified and intensified by what others had said and by the silence in which we met, began to take on new patterns. Phrases and images arranged themselves, first in clusters, then in loose sequence. They began to take shape as a message, a brief set of words I felt I should share.”

28. Programmed: The Meetinghouse/Church • Pews or seats usually face the front, focused on a pulpit • There is usually space for a choir; organs and pianos are common features. • Stained glass is common, and although there may be some decoration inside the sanctuary (term used by many pastoral Friends), there usually isn’t any. Crosses may be found on the outside. • There is no altar or baptismal font or anything associated with sacraments • Flowers are often displayed Exterior and interior sketches of Yorba Linda Friends Church, California

29. Programmed—The Meeting • Some programmed worship is filled with sound and music, intended to convert unbelievers and strengthen believers with every tool that modern psychology, technology, and communications offer. Others have periods of silent, or “open worship,” though this can vary from five to thirty minutes. • Pastoral friends feel that one’s relationship with God should be the focus of worship and that worship should be evangelical, proclaiming salvation through Christ. They believe that structure does not preclude Spirit-led worship; in fact, it may even increase it. • In most cases, the service will begin with a musical prelude, though this is often a time of visiting in many places. Announcements or expressions of prayer concerns may be read at this time. • Concerning music, some pastoral meetings use the FGC hymnal, Worship in Song, which was designed specifically for Quakers. Worship in Song modifies or avoids altogether “militaristic images, black or dark as negative images, and ‘man’ as referring to humankind”. Hence, hymns such as “Onward Christian Soldiers” will not be found here. Other Friends use hymnals from non-Quaker sources. Churches that are part of EFI have moved away from traditional hymns toward simple choruses, often projected on a screen at the front of the sanctuary, and some even have Christian rock.

30. The service will usually open with some sort of invocation and Bible reading, usually from the pastor or an associate pastor. • The focus of the service is the pastor’s sermon, which should have clear applicability to the lives of Friends, have a scriptural basis, and be relatively short. Many sermons work almost entirely with New Testament texts. A programmed meeting Table of Contents from Worship in Song

31. Unprogrammed: Ministers • All Friends are called upon to be ministers. • Robert Barclay says the following: “We do believe and affirm, that some are more particularly called to the Work of Ministry; and therefore are fitted of the Lord for that purpose: whose whole work is to instruct, exhort, admonish, oversee, and watch over their Brethren…That which we oppose, is, the distinction of Laity and Clergy (which in the Scripture is not to be found) whereby none are admitted unto the work of the Ministry, but such as are Educated at Schools on purpose.” • Monthly meetings usually have committees on worship and ministry, whose responsibility is to not only ensure the quality of worship, but to also help individual Friends develop their ministry gifts. • Pastoral care is also important • Pastors should give evidence of a divine call to ministry. Many are graduates of Quaker colleges who then attended Hartford Seminary, while others have attended Quaker Bible colleges. Programmed: Ministers

32. Unprogrammed and Programmed Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business • Formerly called the Meeting for Discipline, this is where business decisions that affect the community are made. • Decisions are made by seeking spiritual consensus or unity. • Discussions begin with a recommendation from a committee or Friends who express a concern, or a “leading”. • A clerk listens to those attending and may direct discussion if a theme seems to arise. When the clerk senses that unity on a topic is near, he or she may propose a “minute,” or summary embracing “the sense of the meeting.” If Friends indicate their assent, then the decision is accepted. If one Friend strongly objects to the minute, that can be enough to require the meeting to stop or to reconsider a proposed action. • Attendance at these meetings is usually poor; typically, only about 10% or less of the membership is present.

33. Quaker Testimonies or Beliefs (as expressed by TCFM) • Equality: Respect for the dignity of all people. Although Friends are typically on the forefront of diversity issues, only 1% or less of U.S. Friends membership comes from African-Americans or other minority groups; the majority of members are white and middle class. Outside the U.S., people of color represent the majority of members. Gender inequities are still present to a limited degree, especially in regards to leadership positions—U.S. social structures have historically reinforced patriarchy. • Integrity: Commitment to truth-telling at all times • Community: Caring relationships that support us in speaking truth • Peace: Nurturing peace by seeking justice in its deepest meanings. Almost every yearly meeting’s record of meeting, known as Faith and Practice, has a statement about pacifism and peace activism, though how those terms are defined is up to the individual meeting or individual members. Although they support peace initiatives, pastoral/evangelical Friends put their energy into missions, believing that preaching the gospel will cure world problems. • Simplicity: Living lives which hold us in balance with our principles.

34. A poster from the Twin Cities Friends Meeting meetinghouse

35. Part IV: Our Experience The Twin Cities Friends Meeting House

40. MeetingsUnprogrammed ~ “Meeting terminology” -First day -Quote for the eleventh month ~ Meeting attendance is optional ~ Quiet reverence ~ Ontologically rooted in hospitality ~ For: • Meeting for Worship • Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

41. The newcomer approaches the Religious Society of Friends with hopes and trepidation. Friends present some interesting contradictions for the newcomer. The visitor to a meeting is often attracted to the elements of Quakerism that celebrate freedom. They admire the historical activism of Friends in the name of the downtrodden and dispossessed. They are captivated by the idea of “that of God in everyone. ” They are attracted to the celebration of the seeker and lack of dogma. However, upon regular attendance, the new Quaker discovers a more complicated reality. • Although Friends are loath to admit that theirs is a society wedded to ritual, the newcomer discovers early that Quakerism involves some very ritualistic activities and a specific lexicon. The novice notes the steady progression from “good morning” to joys and sorrows, to announcements. She learns to say “meeting” for church and wrestles with the differences between worship sharing and meeting for worship. • As a newcomer becomes an attender and, perhaps, a member, she enters into a society that for over three hundred years has maintained a careful balance between individual freedom and group cohesion. Faith, consistently, is the essential element of this balance. The navigation of this new world can be fruitful and spiritually fulfilling.

42. Leaders at Meeting ~ everyone can “lead” ~ everyone can feel that the spirit moves them to vocal ministry ~ single person “closes” the meeting

43. Experience of an 8:30am Meeting For Worship ~ Extraordinarily welcoming; little Lucy ~ Quiet meditation for 45 minutes ~ Call for Vocal Ministry ~ Introductions ~ Announcements ~ Final “Good morning”

44. Experience of an 11am Meeting for Worship -Inviting -First 15 minutes: many children *parents embrace children *children leave for instruction -Vocal Ministry during mediation -Introductions -Announcements -Final ”Good morning”

45. Initiation Ceremonies ~ Welcoming: *formal into “meeting community” -through formal process with Ministry and Council Committee (clearness committee) -discernment/assistance *informal at meeting -personal introductions during announcements (8:30am) -after meeting has ended

46. “Baptism” ~ No formal ceremony ~ Welcoming ceremony if desired

47. “Marriage” Assent needed by Ministry and Counsel Committee (clearness committee) ~ couple meets with committee members ~ not limited to a man and woman ~ not civil in nature ~ support in married life through community

48. Healing ~ hold them in the light “Several members and attenders have ongoing prayer concerns and wish that you continue to hold them in the light.”

49. FuneralMeeting for Worship in Thanksgiving for the Grace of God in, as shown in the life of … ~ a remembrance of a life ~ no clear view of soul or afterlife ~ do not wear black

50. Children ~ Friends School ~ First Day school; 11:00am Meeting * teenagers meet at coffee shop * standard curriculum ~peace and justice