Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Margaret Bienert on 2nd mo. 4, 2011 at 7:25am

Amy,  I am about in the exact position you are, with this being one of my main dilemmas these days.    Thank you for posting this!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AMY ADAMS SQUIRE on 2nd mo. 4, 2011 at 10:19am

Margaret: what faith traditions do you espoise? Personally, I don't really see engaging in both practices as a dilemma. At this point I don't feel called to choose one over the other, but I was wondering how Quakers (and Episcopalians) perceived my situation.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Margaret Bienert on 2nd mo. 4, 2011 at 6:10pm

Amy, -- 

 

 I am Anglican (Canadian version of Episcopal!) and worship with the Anglicans most frequently,  while feeling more and more drawn to the Friends.  My arguments with the Anglican church, if you could call them that, include difficulties with the heirarchy,  and with tacit support of the military.   Still, the hymns and prayers of the Anglican church are very meaningful, as is their understanding of the sacraments.

 

I am glad that you say that it does not have to be a dilemma, as. like you. I do not feel called to immediately leave my own faith tradition for the local community of Friends.   The fact the Friends are a "religious society' helps here, as it feels as though it can include many varieties of faith and witness.

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AMY ADAMS SQUIRE on 2nd mo. 5, 2011 at 2:22am

Friend Margaret: thank you for this insight. I believe we are kindred spirits. I, too, am having increasing difficulty with the Church's tacit support of the military-industrial complex. Our Lord commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and I wouldn't drop a drone bomb on Seattle, so why would I agree to drop one on Kabul? Let us keep searching for and speaking the Truth. Blessings.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AMY ADAMS SQUIRE on 2nd mo. 5, 2011 at 11:12am

"There is that of God in every person, George Fox taught, and this central Quaker belief dictates that Quakers do not discriminate against, cheat, harm, or kill anyone, even in the interest of defending their country." --Robert Lawrence Smith, A QUAKER BOOK OF WISDOM

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AMY ADAMS SQUIRE on 2nd mo. 5, 2011 at 2:12pm

Friend Paul. Thank you for your research and words of affirmation. While the public position of the Episcopal church is pro-peace, individual parishes have the latutude to make up their own minds, which happens to be one of the things I admire about it's structure. Peace is not always chosen as a path to be embraced unreservedly. FRIEND AMY

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Helen Gibbs on 2nd mo. 7, 2011 at 5:58pm

Hey, we have quanglicans, quethodists and quatholics in the Quaker tradition in NZ.

 

I am still technically an Anglican.  I still know the liturgy well enough to be able to have a good debate on it with my brother. I love hymns, but freak out at evangelical songs...especially the badly written ones.

 

My favourite services of the year, where I go to a programmed tradition are midnight mass for Christmas and Rememberance Day.  If I am visiting with one of my lovely Quaker friends up north, we go to Evensong at the local monastry, which is sung in Latin.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AMY ADAMS SQUIRE on 2nd mo. 7, 2011 at 6:15pm

HOW VERY DELIGHTFUL, FRIEND HELEN. THANK YOU.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stephanie Stuckwisch on 2nd mo. 11, 2011 at 10:42pm

I attended a meeting in the 1980s along with a couple who held membership in both the Friends' meeting and the Episcopal Church. The woman was our clerk. Years later, she became an Episcopal deacon.

So, yes, it's possible. It does take a consistently discerning priorities and energies.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AMY ADAMS SQUIRE on 2nd mo. 11, 2011 at 10:53pm

Thank thee, Stephanie! Then a Quiscopalian I shall be. :-)
Blessings.

FRIENDSAM

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion