QuakerQuaker

Primitive Christianity Revived, Again

Any other Liberal,Christian, Quakers?

So I found this quote on the michiganquakers.org...We differ from
“liberal” Friends in many ways: many liberal meetings have ceased to
be Christian, and have become at best ecumenical, permitting and
even embracing the beliefs and practices of other, non-Christian and
even pagan faiths... "and "ouch" was my first reaction.

I do agree with most of it, but the first description "many liberal
meetings have ceased to be Christian..."hurt me a bit. Can someone help
me? What liberal meetings are un-chrisitan. I consider myself a
liberal (convergent) Quaker and although I agree that there are a
variety of beliefs (and non-belief) in our meetings, I believe that
this is possible because we also believe that God/Love can live in the
hearts of every one.

I became a liberal Quaker because 1) it was geographically available.
2)I believe in the Continuing Revelation 3) as a heterosexual I support
the union and lives of the LBGT community.

So, I guess my question is, how does a liberal meeting get labled
"non-Christian?" does ministry and council make a statement or does the
meeting reveal itself to be so.

I hope I am not being niave...any comments would be helpful.

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Comment by Bill Samuel on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 9:13am: See Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting (Ohio YM) at www.keystonefellowship.org_html/Welcome.html" target="_blank">http://www.keystonefellowship.org/www.keystonefellowship.org_html/Welcome.html They meet in various locations, probably mostly somewhat east of you but perhaps not too far to visit occasionally.

Comment by Christine Manville Greenland on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 11:03am: Check out Keystone Fellowship Meeting... It's on the Ohio YM web site.

Comment by Isabel Penraeth on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 11:30am: Keystone Fellowship Friends Meeting of Ohio Yearly Meeting holds worship in Lancaster, PA and Bird-in-Hand . . .

www.keystonefellowship.org_html/Calendar.html" target="_blank">http://www.keystonefellowship.org/www.keystonefellowship.org_html/Calendar.html

Comment by Isabel Penraeth on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 11:35am: Not to be a scold, but I would caution Friends to be sure they are being guided by the Spirit to attend other meetings, and to be in the Spirit when they go, or more harm than good will result.

Comment by Isabel Penraeth on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 11:42am: I've wondered about initiating some sort of online Meeting for Sufferings (for those Friends unfamiliar with the tradition of Meetings for Sufferings, see: wikipedia/Meeting for Sufferings.) where people can just get out of their system the hurts they have received, not just from other Friends, but from anyone . . . any time a Friend "suffered" for their faith. I have heard more than once from Friends of different branches that gatherings are sometimes marred by extensive and painful sessions of sharing these hurts. Wouldn't it be nice if we could already by clear before we get together, so that a gathering could be more Spirit-filled and less hurt-filled.

Comment by Micah Bales on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 12:28pm: @Paula - A little bit further away, but perhaps worth the journey, is Capitol Hill Friends in Washington, DC. We are a Conservative worship group that is gay-friendly. We meet on second and fourth Wednesday nights for dinner; Scripture-reading and discussion; and unprogrammed worship. We would love to have you join us, and we could host you overnight if that would be helpful.

Check out our website at: http://capitolhillfriends.wordpress.com

In Christ's love,

Micah

Comment by Martin Kelley on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 12:48pm: Hi Paula: on the site you'll see Keystone is hosting quarterly meeting this weekend. It might be a good opportunity, as there will be many traveling Friends around. I hope to be joining them for worship Sunday morning at 10am (by chance we scheduled a family weekend getaway nearby). It's in Bird-in-Hand, PA, which Google Maps puts at 1:36 hr from you. In general they meet in different places, mostly around Lancaster County, rotating to members' homes. Details on the "Calendar" page of the website Bill listed above.

Comment by Javaughn Fernanders on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 1:07pm: OK. never-ever-EVER thought I'd say this, but
maybe a blog should be started (not by me ) called Liberal Christian Quakers or as Isabel suggested, Sufferings. I have been blessed beyond belief by all the post re: how or if a meeting is Christian or not and have my questions answered. But that's only me. Many others (37 comments worth) may have more questions, and comments about Liberal Christian Friends, Conservatives and any clashed between them. I can't answer them all. And I'd like my blog to reflect more issues like...(see newest post)

Comment by Rosemary Gould on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 1:15pm: I love the idea of an online meeting for sufferings. It wouldn't have to be limited to Liberal Christian Quakers, but I think it would have to be moderated. It's too bad there's no way to bring everyone with these kinds of hurts in the Quaker world together for a weekend retreat. We had a "meeting for healing" which helped me, but it mattered that we were together and there was silence.

Comment by Tom Smith on 7th mo. 6, 2010 at 2:27pm: I am not clear on the "Meeting for Suffering." I understood and, unless I missed something, the wikipedia article seems to say that the Meeting for Sufferings was not attended by the ones suffering but was a Meeting established to consider the needs of those who were suffering and how to alleviate the suffering. Thus it would seem that the meeting was composed of and held by Friends who were "not" suffering. The modern meaning has come to include all the concerns of the Yearly Meeting.

I also believe that some of the concerns over who was a member or not a member came into pay when the "sufferings" became great enough that a Meeting, Monthly or Quarterly, felt that it did not have the resources to meet all of the needs brought before it. Thus membership became a basis for "rationing" resources as determined by the Meeting for Sufferings.

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