Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

Information regarding the Feb 13-16, 2009 middle school retreat is available now.

A note from Shawn McConaughey, NWYM Associate Superintendent of Global Outreach and Pastoral Care:

Friends, as you well know, people in our world continue to be displaced, harmed, killed and oppressed. As Biblical people we recognize and affirm that violence, oppression, and war are not the answers that God calls us to.  We pray and strive to act in ways that we hope will help bring about peace.  We recognize that it is Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who is the source of true peace.  There are many conflicts that are raging in our world.  We have chosen to highlight two:  The conflicts in The Congo and the heightened conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.

We have chosen to make a list of resources that can be utilized by individuals and congregations to both gain understanding of the conflict and to offer aid.   We recognize that some of these organizations may represent political positions that may be different from your own.  We certainly don’t all agree on the politics, but we feel compelled to invite you to consider the needs of those who are in harm’s way, whether they be innocents or perpetrators.  The harm inflicted on them or by them does damage that is contrary to God’s intent for humankind.

These and other organizations all offer opportunities to donate as well as some information about the conflicts.  Use what is helpful and set the others aside.   We will try to update this list from time to time.  We do not intend to list every organization that is at work in these places, but hope to offer a variety of ways to give.  Watch for some other creative ways to help and for more information, as well as view our Active Peacemaking resources, that relate to the larger issues involved.

Shawn

Prayer for President Obama

Lord God, we pray for President Barack Obama.
We praise you for the gifts you have nurtured in him:
to think clearly, to speak eloquently, to interact effectively.
Guide him, God, to use these skills both wisely and well
as he leads our nation and serves our world.

Thank you for his bright summons to audacious hope.
May we citizens bracket that vision with faith and love,
so that civility and justice mark our nation’s journey
into an unknown and somewhat scary future.

May the glare of publicity never blind him to truth.
May political power never dull empathy with ordinary people.
May pride of position never corrode his conscience.
Warn him, Lord, when evils, disguised as good,
tempt him to stray from what is right and true.

Teach him to backtrack from wrong turns amiably,
but to follow right roads tenaciously.
Strengthen his commitment to servant leadership.
May neither acclaim nor criticism tarnish his congeniality.

Show him patterns of patience that tarry but do not dawdle.
When he is tired and stressed, refresh him, Lord,
in his body, in his mind, in his spirit.
When alone he wrestles over difficult ethical and policy issues
may this follower of Jesus heed his Master’s guiding voice.

Oh, and Lord, in busy times remind President Obama
of his heart-felt pledge and studied practice:
to be an attentive and loving husband and father.

Amen!

Arthur O. Roberts

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This prayer although not prompted by Phil Smith’s article in the January 2009 Connection, entitled “Prayerful Politics” fits well there as a companion piece, and comments can be left on that page.

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Lon Fendall, West Chehalem Friends in Newberg, is clerk of NWYM and has written two books on politics: Citizenship: A Christian Calling; and Stand Alone or Come Home: Mark Hatfield. Both are available at Barclay Press.

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Political campaigns are inherently divisive, not unifying. Candidates focus on the negative positions and qualities of their opponents, hoping to lure away some of their opponents’ supporters. Political parties take extreme positions, hoping to draw in those who resonate with the party’s core issues. Reporters look for controversies on political issues, expecting that their stories of conflict, anger and division will appeal to their readers more than reports of goodwill, cooperation and reconciliation.

One of our Friends queries asks if we are exercising our civic responsibilities. We might assume that means voting, praying for public officials, and sending letters and e-mails to officials about issues that move us deeply. But maybe there is something we can do beyond these “civic basics.”

Recently I was talking to a group who asked me to give them suggestions regarding their voting process. I began by saying I wasn’t going to tell them how to vote for the candidates and measures on their ballots. Instead I told them I would focus on what I consider to be more helpful—some principles that come from our understanding of Christian truth in the Bible, principles that can then be applied to each decision about a candidate and a ballot measure.

As I discussed these principles I expressed my hope that Christians were starting to come more closely together on political issues. To support this point I showed them two lists of Biblical principles on politics. One was from a group that would be called quite liberal and one from a group associated with political conservatism. Both were emphatically evangelical and Christ-centered. The interesting thing about the two lists was that they were almost identical. There are still plenty of strident, divisive voices in the Christian community, but I hope I’m right that there is a trend toward greater agreement and unity.

Jim Wallis recently wrote a public letter to president-elect Barack Obama and spoke about a “two-way street” between Christians and the White House. Wallis said he hoped Christians would faithfully pray for the new president, even if they hadn’t voted for him. Wallis also spoke about the insights Christians might offer to the new administration from their work among the poor in the United States and around the world.

Wallis then expressed his hope that Christians could help “bring people together on the great moral issues of our time from across political dividing lines.” He said Christians had a “ministry of reconciliation” that should include helping people to unite on the kinds of questions that matter the most. He specified the issues of global and domestic poverty, hunger and disease, human rights, a consistent sacredness of life ethic, and the urgency of conflict resolution and peacemaking.

I’m afraid many Christians were so annoyed by the negative campaign propaganda this year that they will want to stay as far away as they can from political questions for the coming months and years. But maybe our efforts can lay the groundwork for greater convergence of ideas in future campaigns and more respectful rhetoric. Maybe instead of saying nothing about controversial issues because people seem to be hopelessly divided, we can become reconcilers, as Wallis has challenged us to do.

If I were to write a letter to our president-elect, I would direct him to the accounts in I Kings 3 and II Chronicles 1, in which the “king elect” of the Hebrews expressed how overwhelming his new job was. In his prayer, Solomon said it was essentially impossible for anyone to rule over the Hebrews because they were so many in number. But he might also have said it was because they were so divided, and so reluctant to follow the leader they had been given. Fortunately, Solomon made the right choice when God gave him the chance to choose something that might help him as king. Solomon asked God for wisdom in carrying out his duties and making tough decisions. He turned to God for help when it seemed hopeless to bring the people together.

Our yearly meeting query calls us to carry out our civic responsibilities. Let us by all means pray for our president. Let us become active reconcilers amid the many divisions in our society. We know our primary loyalty is to God’s Kingdom. But let us also renew our commitment to the biblical principles that should guide our president and our decision-makers at every level.

Questions for discussion:

1. How do you respond to the list of “issues that matter most” by Jim Wallis: global and domestic poverty, hunger and disease, human rights, a consistent sacredness of life ethic, and the urgency of conflict resolution and peacemaking?
2. How are you trying to be a reconciler in your own circle of influence?
3. How might we together, as a community of Christians, contribute to reconciliation?

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by Julie Prescott. Julie attends Whitney Friends Church, on the east side of Boise, Idaho. She works at the city library where she is in charge of teen programming. She also runs an online outreach/discipleship site called the Christian Order of Jedi Knights.

As Christians in America, how are we responsible to also be citizens in the Kingdom of God? And what exactly is the Kingdom of God, anyway? Is it something that we will experience when we die? Is it cherubim and seraphim and streets paved in gold? Or is it a child offering a cup of cold water to a sweaty sanitation worker on a hot day? Is it a Christian Peacemaker Team member escorting Palestinian children to school past an Israeli road block? Or someone like Tom Fox, a CPT member who was simply there as a friend and presence for peace – and was murdered for it?

Many Christians use scriptures like Titus 3:1-2, to demonstrate that we are not to speak evil about leaders we may not agree with: “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” But does this mean that we are never to question the policies or actions of our elected officials? One early believer went to prison and was killed for doing just that: John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded because he confronted Herod about his immorality. So what does this say about our responsibility as Christians when we have leaders who claim to be fellow believers?

When Paul wrote to Titus he was talking about rulers and authorities who were not believers. But if we have leaders who claim to be Christians it is our responsibility to pray that they will remember that they are accountable to God for their actions. We also need to remember the difference between following Jesus and following the Law. Jesus came to demonstrate that the Law must be tempered with compassion. We are to remember that anyone can be redeemed if we treat them with gentleness–as we would want to be treated. This is something we need to prayerfully consider when determining our responsibilities as voters and our response to all the issues that affect both our national and international communities, whether it is abortion, poverty, the environment, respect for diversity, health care, war, or our response to terrorism.

We need to remain mindful of God’s kingdom values when considering legislation about how our tax dollars will be spent. In a nation like the United States where we are blessed enough to have a say in how money “rendered unto Caesar” is spent, we should do so. Is our money being used to build up or to destroy? Is it being used to help those who can’t help themselves or to enrich those of us who already have more than we need?

Consider with me some principles that may allow us to be effective dual citizens of America and the Kingdom:

1. Christ knows no national boundaries or national preferences. The body of Christ is an international one, and the allegiance of Christians to Christ and His teachings must supersede all national identities.

2. Christ is the Prince of Peace. For the first three hundred years of its existence its members lived peaceably with all. Early Christians simply followed the teaching of Christ by serving and not judging those who weren’t believers.

3. Christ commands us that we must remove the beam from our own eye before we can remove the splinter from the eye of our brother. To recognize the evil that is behind terrorist attacks is good theology, but to claim that “they are evil and we are good” is bad theology. The United States has its own record of terrorist activity over the past fifty years. We shouldn’t be so quick to claim that God is on our side. Very few armies have ever gone into battle who didn’t believe God was guiding them.

4. Christ instructs us to love our enemies, pray for those who abuse us, turn the other cheek, and forgive–not just seven times, but seventy times seven. He says nothing about threatening or coercing them, and certainly nothing about killing or torturing them. They are to be treated respectfully as human being created in the image of God. They are potential brothers and sisters in Christ.

5. Christ calls us to confession and humility. If we are honest with ourselves this is something we need to do many times every day. Constantly, in fact. In my own life I ask God for two things – to remind me when I think or do something I shouldn’t, and to let me see through the eyes of Jesus. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months on my knees in tears. The challenge for each of us is to treat each other with less judgment and more mercy.

With these values in mind, we can be active agents of peace, reconciliation, and leadership, in our families, town, states, nation, and world.

Dialogue Questions:

1. What values would you add?
2. How have you worked to express these or other Kingdom values in your own life?
3. Where do you see signs of  hope?
4. Where have you most experienced the conflict in your “dual citizenship”?

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by Phil Smith, professor of philosophy at George Fox University, and member at Newberg Friends Church.

The Bible tells us to pray for kings and other people in authority. Okay, so we’re supposed to do it. But how?
I remember, as a child, hearing elders in our church ask God to give the president wisdom. Sometimes other political leaders were mentioned. We thanked God for the freedom of worship enjoyed in this country and asked that God continue to bless us.

Now, my memories are undoubtedly incomplete, but that’s about all I remember. Somehow, I don’t think it was, or is, enough.
I don’t suggest that we start offering politically partisan prayers: “Dear Lord, please help us defeat the ungodly (insert political enemy here)….” We can start by remembering that every person in authority is a human being, subject to fears and temptations, like all of us, and placed in a position of stress and responsibility.

Take our new president, as an example. We should certainly ask God to bless him with wisdom. We should also pray for his health. (I read that Michelle asked Barack to quit smoking. Pray that he succeeds!) We should pray for his family, that they have times of quiet and rest. Pray for his little girls. Pray for good working relationships among the White House staff. Pray for Obama’s informal advisors (every president has some), that they help him stay spiritually grounded.

And so on. Once we remember that a politician is also a person, it becomes easy to pray for him or her. Let’s make a habit of praying for people in authority.

Questions for Discussion:

1. How have you been led to pray for Obama or other governmental leaders?
2. What aspects of Obama’s humanity stand out to you? Have these led you to be more prayerful? Or disdaining?

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by Colin Saxton, NWYM Superintendent

For all of the talk about hope and change over the past many months leading up to the presidential election, I am now hearing a lot of fear and doubt about the future. As the economy continues to go sideways and we are staring into the prospect of more—rather than diminished—global tension, my sense is there is increased doubt about change we can believe in and diminished hope in what new political leadership can really accomplish, at least in the short-run.

Maybe this more realistic assessment is a good thing. Instead of pinning all of our hope for a new world on one man, maybe there is much more hope in, and possibility for, change in the prospect of us all working together to address the problems that plague our nation and the world. Instead of looking for a quick fix to help us go back to our comfortable-but-dysfunctional ways, maybe the current social-political climate will require us to really see and act in new ways that are healthy and sustainable. I hope that is the case. And to the extent that I am able, I will even work at being part of the change process.

I know, however, that my real hope for lasting change does not ultimately lie in the recovery of the global economy. Neither does it lie in signed treaties or legislation that is passed. It most certainly does not rest in the hands of an elected official or on the whims of either a benevolent or tyrannical dictator. My hope and belief in change will not be decided by a terrorist threat—be it real or only imagined.

Please don’t get me wrong. I think all of these issues are important. I think Christians ought to be engaged in their culture. We ought to pray that God’s work in the world will be so profound that even the nations begin to align their values with the ways of the Kingdom. In a culture like ours where we have a political voice and a vote to cast, we ought to use both prayerfully. In our history, Friends have worked together on legislation to advance justice. We have been actively involved in social activities leading to reconciliation and peace. Many of our people, sensing a call to political involvement have served in leadership with integrity. This is a part of our Christian witness to the world that I hope we will engage in all the more…rather than any less.

But my hope and my source for change is not in democracy or capitalism. I know it is not in improved weaponry or a better defense system. It isn’t even in the Friends church (much as I love it). And, it certainly does not arise out of my own ability or knowledge. Rather, hope and change come from knowing Jesus.

Jesus is our living hope! Through him we are offered the grace and forgiveness to know God and to experience the power and wisdom that actually makes us new! In Christ is the hope that God really is at work in the world reconciling all things to himself. At the same time, he gives us the spiritual insight and courage to live each and every moment on earth as it is in heaven. In Christ, we have the hope of eternity—that this life is not all that there is. More than a time and place, eternity also includes a sense of belonging. Now we are part of a people, one that is already being gathered from every tribe, tongue and nation. Yes, as sisters and brothers in Christ, we are part of God’s beloved community in which we are being changed into a people who actually know how to love, forgive and share as God intended from creation.

Our hope, of course, is greater than the few things I have mentioned. Similarly, God is at work transforming us in more complete ways than I have noted. To me, this is what makes being the church such a wonderful adventure. In Christ, we are being remade into a people who serve as a city of light, set on a hill, for all the world to see.

Philippians 3:20 describes us as “a colony of heaven.” The Greek word for colony is politeuma. It speaks to the idea of a political reality—not in the form of a human government—but as a community in which relationships are being changed because of Christ and where a distinctive way of life is being nurtured. In the creation of these kingdom people—who now live under the reign of Jesus rather than Caesar—the world is offered a window into heaven.

That is who we are called to be, Friends, a window into Heaven. May it be so in us this year for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the world!

Queries:

1. Where do you see signs of hope and change in the world? How might God be at work in those places?
2. Are there things going on in your world that are causing you to fear or despair? How might they be released to Christ?
3. How is your local church serving as a “window to heaven” for those around you?

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Moms Reaching Out in Mutual Support

Amanda Schull (left photo) and her mother Laurie Christenson (below), followed a nudge by Christ. It resulted in an outreach ministry to mothers through Hillsboro Friends Church.

Last year Bernie Bosnjak, pastor at Hillsboro Friends, chatted with a young mother in her neighborhood. The woman, like many in our community, was busy with work, an active family and her home. While there are lots of programs for teen moms, and play-groups for the children of moms who have money and time to spend, this woman shared her own sense of call around helping average moms with little time, money or energy. As they talked, they envisioned a place for such mothers–a quiet, safe haven to share ideas, cry a little, laugh a lot and refocus on the core issues of their lives; a place to learn how to stay healthy and strong in order to guide and love their families while thriving themselves.

The idea for a young moms’ group was born. Hillsboro Friends determined to hold the ministry lightly, to let the Spirit lead the group’s development, and to encourage the moms themselves to act as group leaders.

Two of the young women share duties of organizing the group with posters, fliers, e-mail addresses, a phone list and mapping out what they hope to achieve. The following statement was developed: Continue reading …

Latin American Civil Responsibility

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by Hal Thomas, North Valley Friends Church, Newberg. Hal and Nancy are currently serving with the Latin American Leadership Development Program (“PRODOLA” in Spanish). Most recently, they were in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and experienced the unrest there firsthand.

Wednesday, September 10, while Nancy and I were walking downtown in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, we became aware of increasing disruption around us.  A few minutes before entering the plaza I had observed threatening activity centering around a school on Beni Street.  I thought that maybe some university students had begun a demonstration. Now police officers began running towards us from an adjacent street. Powerful triple shot rockets that sounded like gunshots were exploding in the street behind them. We walked on to the opposite side of the plaza and entered another busy street where we finished our purchases. Before flagging a taxi to return home, we even bought strawberry and papaya floats. Everything still seemed relatively normal.

We began to feel the impact personally on Thursday morning.  Nancy and I were scheduled to go with Sergio, a doctoral candidate in PRODOLA, the Latin American Leadership Development Program, to Buenas Nuevas Christian high school.  Just as we arrived at the school an eleven-year-old daughter student came running down the street, sobbing. She had seen the car in front of her taxi attacked, the people pulled out and beaten, and the car destroyed.  The taxi driver was able to escape.  But just after she left the taxi to walk around the corner to the school, an older teenager attacked her and took her cell phone.  She was in shock.  That afternoon the school itself was threatened.  The administration and teachers were able to load computers and files on a truck and remove them to safer places.  They were also able to safely dismiss the hundreds of students to return to their homes.  We also received instructions to be ready to evacuate our own university offices if mobs began to develop in our section of the city.

The story behind these incidents is complex and, while not the subject of this article, it continues to affect the lives of thousands. Social injustice, violence and conflictive political agendas are part of life in Latin America. In this social context evangelical Christians make up a significant percentage of the population. Bolivia, like various other countries, is now 15-20% evangelical Christian. And the question arises as to what difference it has made, or is making.

How do the Christians we know respond? Many are concerned that so little public influence is coming from evangelical Christians, pressing toward national ethics, morality and innovative creativity. Others note, more critically, that twentieth century evangelical Protestant missions called people to conversion but muted communication of their civic responsibility. But I am impressed with how the evangelical leaders we work with in Latin America are responding.

David and Arminda Tintaya, pastors of a Friends church in Santa Cruz, asked how they could help a widow with dependent children who had become a part of their congregation.  The church purchased a couple of large aluminum kettles, a wheelbarrow, a gas bottle, a burner, and a large spoon, ladle and cups to set her up in business to make and sell hot fruit drinks in a market.  It was what was possible for the congregation and became a lifeline for the woman, making it possible for her to support her family.

Hugo Pérez, a Baptist leader and our student in the Bolivian Evangelical University, is writing a master’s thesis on the successes and failures of evangelical leaders in Bolivian public service since 1950.  He considers that public service and political leadership is a point of mission that evangelicals cannot ignore.

Jorge Lolín, a PRODOLA doctoral student, pastor of a large Christian and Missionary Alliance congregation and seminary professor in Quito headed evangelical participation in the rewriting of the Constitution of Ecuador this fall.  He wrote, “as Protestant Evangelicals we have come together to present our proposals to the nation and to (the) … congress ….  Among our proposals are: 1. that the name of God should remain in the constitution;  2. that the state assure and guarantee the value of human life from conception to death: 3. that the state recognize and protect the family and marriage. . . and promote healthy, viable families; 4. that the state recognize interculturality and the multi-ethnicity of our peoples….The President of Ecuador has invited leaders of the Protestant Evangelical churches to a breakfast (to talk about these issues).”

How are we as evangelical Friends in Oregon, Washington and Idaho responding? Our present Quaker Queries evidence both historical and contemporary concern for the expression of personal transformation and social responsibility. They build from a foundation of personal encounter with God and call us to respond personally to civic responsibility, and as the people of God, to work for social justice, responsible stewardship of the earth, and reconciliation and peace between persons and social groups. That’s quite inclusive. We cannot diminish our emphasis on encounter with God. But we do need to further recover and flesh out the Reformation and Quaker emphasis on vocation which is biblically both prior to and redeemed by, the doctrine of reconciliation of creature and creation with their Creator.

Although the circumstances may differ, like our Latin American brothers and sisters, we face the same challenges of responding as responsible Christians to our social context.

Questions for discussion:

1. What do you think?! How are Evangelical Friends responding? Do you have suggestions or questions?
2. How can we “further recover the Quaker emphasis on biblical vocation?

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A goal of the NWYM Global Outreach Board is to highlight NWYM folks who serve with other mission or relief agencies.

~ Linda Byrd, Member at Newberg Friends

What type of ministry is the most effective means for reaching the most receptive hearts? Christian camping!

I can still smell the pitch and feel the autumn sunshine of a redwood grove, where years ago I attended a seminar taught by one of the Christian Camping International (CCI) founding fathers. The Lord called me into camp ministry then and I’ve been blessed to serve in a variety of capacities including several years on staff at Tilikum, a ministry of George Fox University.

Over the past four years this call has led to international camp ministry opportunities in Jamaica and Latin America. The setting and approach may differ, but the vision of Christian camping as a tool to reach children, youth, and adults is universal. Every year, Christian camps around the world impact millions of lives. While currently working for CCI in Panama, I would welcome your prayers as I seek the Lord’s direction for the next place of service He has for this lifelong camper.