Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

In the spring of 2009 the Board of Youth and Young Adults made the decision to give the current NWYM Friends Youth Exec. (FYE) program a sabbatical year to evaluate the goals of leadership development and programming for NWYM youth.  After many months and lots of hard work the board has approved a new structure for our YAF Leadership Development Team (YAF LDT).  (A new name was chosen to reflect the significant changes from the previous structure.)

YAF LDT offers four leadership opportunities: Volleyball Tournament, MidWinter, Youth Challenged to Expand their Worldview (YCEW), and Youth Challenged through Local Service (YCLS). Each leadership opportunity allows for two positions to be filled (8 total YAF members).  Positions would be open to Quaker young adults who have graduated from high school through 24 years of age. Read more and download an application

Anthem Friends is one of our newest church plants, springing out of a group that has been running “Boarders for Christ” (BFC) for a number of years. BFC is a ministry to skate and snowboarders that began in Couer d’Alene, Idaho and spread to several chapters nationally. As the leadership desired a greater sense of worship and stability for their growing families, a worship group formed and they connected with NWYM, planting Anthem Friends.

Currently meeting in the Hayden Lake Friends Church facility, Anthem is growing and ministering to a divers group of people: skaters, boarders, homeless, young families, disenfranchised, business folk… the whole gamut.

Gar Mickelson, NWYM’s Associate Superintendent of Local Outreach and Pastoral Care, reports:

Anthem Friends had over 140 people last Sunday evening (2/21/10), including 30 who hadn’t attended before. Here is a comment from one of the Anthem leaders Kameron Shadrick:
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2nd Street Community Church, a ministry of Friends in Newberg, has an opening for a full-time Student Ministries Director. Supervision would be by Gregg Lamm, lead pastor-teacher. The 2nd Street Community Church Student Ministries Director will be a passionate, visible, authentic follower of Jesus Christ whose vision for the Student Ministries Ministry Plan flows out of their “first-love relationship” with Jesus Christ.

To receive a full APPLICATION PACKET via email, contact Sue Pruitt, Office Manager, at sue@2ndstreet.org.

Our goal is to interview candidates and eventually hire someone currently living in the Pacific NW.  The Pacific NW is a very distinct place in terms of culture, vibe, and ethos.  Our vision is to hire someone for this position who won’t need to learn these Pacific NW distinctives from the ground up.  There is no relocation  budget for this position.

Here are full details of the job description and benefits package.

A one-day workshop for clerks or people considering being clerks, to provide training and support to help you fulfill this task with an eye on how God is stirring and moving your community.

We believe joy and energy can flow from helping people sense the movement of God. Your role as clerk can become one of joyfully and confidently facilitating this process. Join us as we talk about these elements and provide some concrete training. Specific details will be discussed relating to setting an agenda, working through conflict or dissent, hearing the voice of God in the community, presenting the issue and facilitating the discernment process.






Tuesday, May 18

George Fox University, Hoover 102

• 9:00-9:30 Worship
• 9:45-11:45 Adventure of Group Discernment Process, Part I
  • Lon Fendall—Good News Associates
  • Jan Wood—Good News Associates
• 11:45-1:30  Lunch together (included in the registration fee)
• 1:30-3:45 pm  Adventure of Group Discernment Process, Part II
  • Lon Fendall & Jan Wood
• 4:00-5:15 pm  Conflict Resolution through Group Discernment
  • Lon Fendall
• 4:00-6 00 pm  Clerking with Joy
  • Debrief and Discussion with Colin Saxton and Bruce Bishop

Price: $30, includes lunch

Home stays can be arranged, for those of you traveling from a distance.

Register HERE

This workshop is part of a larger “Leadership Institute for Group Discernment.”
You are welcome to come to the entire three-day institute if you desire.  Full details for the institute are available at www.goodnewsassoc.org/leadershipinstitute

Shawn Leonard participated in the Mountain Ministry
and now is on staff, helping others. He attends
Rose Valley Friends church.

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to the former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it’s deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. NIV

Mountain Ministries, located just outside of Kelso, WA., is a one-year discipleship program designed to lead a person from a life of drugs and alcohol to a life committed to serving Jesus Christ. With a 70% success rate, Mountain Ministries shows that Jesus Christ is the answer to drugs, alcohol, and other forms of addiction. Gary and Fay Miller, the executive directors, have dedicated their home, property, money and time to “the Mountain” because of the call God put on their lives. There are two sides to the Mountain: The Women of Faith (along with their children), and the Mountain Men. Between the women, children, men and staff, we number around 100 people. The staff are full-time volunteers. God provides for the Mountain through many small donations every day. God pays the bills and feeds everyone. God is a very good provider; if you’ve ever tried to out-give God, it’s the best losing game around. The Mountain has a high level of accountability and a very structured environment which includes worship, Bible teaching, prayer, and counseling. Jim and Jeanne Leonard, my parents, are retired pastors from South Salem Friends Church. They provide the Mountain with counseling and some of the teaching.
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Celebrate Recovery, a ministry born at Saddleback Church in California, is a Christ-centered program based on the Biblical principles of recovery given by Christ at the very beginning of in his most famous message, the Sermon on the Mount.

In 2005 2nd Street Community Church, a ministry of Friends in Newberg, OR, launched Celebrate Recovery and soon outgrew its facility. After talking with Newberg pastors, asking them to join us, Northside Community Church offered their building, several other churches offered resources, and in November 2008, we changed our name to “Newberg Community Celebrate Recovery”. Currently 15 area churches are involved in this cooperative program of healing discipleship.

If you joined us on Monday nights you’d find a gathering of people who know they are loved and accepted by Jesus Christ. As we worship, it’s clear we know what we’ve been set free from! Most will be happy to tell you their story; how they came to the end of themselves, how they surrendered to God, and how Christ stepped into their darkness and offered hope to begin their journey of change.

We are a mixed group of people: We are co-dependents, struggling with setting healthy boundaries in relationships; food addicts with lifelong struggles with unhealthy food choices; abuse survivors wounded in childhood, acting out of our pain and loss of self; sex addicts working on sexual purity and the core issues of why we use pornography; workaholics; alcoholics; drugs addicts… and the list continues as people understand they cannot change in isolation and that God, not time, is the healer of all wounds.

We are followers of Jesus Christ who have found a safe place to take off our masks and take the first step to change – surrendering our lives and wills to our true Higher Power, Jesus Christ!

For information on this program, or how to begin your own, contact 2nd Street’s Celebration Recovery ministry director, Becky Emmons. You can reach her at 503/538-9761 or at rebeccalynnemmons @ gmail.com.

We asked Doug Wedin, pastor, and Carole Spencer, director of the Friends Center at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, to provide short essays on “disciplining the mind and body as servants of the Lord,” Query 18.

by Doug Wedin, pictured here with his wife Debby. Doug and Debby provide leadership at Valley Friends meeting in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Organic farming and foster childcare are aspects of their ministry.

“No one stops to think…”  God commented through Isaiah. (44:9-20 NIV)

What’s he mean? Well, it seems we have trouble connecting the dots of belief and practice. Apparently, we don’t understand implications very well, like how instinct and impulse regularly shape our worship. He wants us to personally examine ourselves, raid our religiosity and confront our character. And, that is not easily done.

Why don’t we stop to think? The typical answer is we’re too busy, though we’re never too busy to dwell on what worries us. We’re chronically distracted by our old nature as it bullies us into concentrating on gnats, and so, we swallow camels. Honest evaluation always threatens the status quo and tends to reveal our posturing. Critique takes painful effort. Interestingly, our old nature doesn’t care what we believe as long as we act with self-interest. It allows us to pursue faith, as long as our faith is predominately sensual and sensational. So, confronting our character becomes as rare as repentance.
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By Patrick N., Friend Serving Abroad in the Middle East, shown here with his family, all flashing their new passports!

With every ending comes a new beginning. At no other time is this more pronounced than at the end of a calendar year. Not long ago, we said, “Goodbye” to 2009 and “Hello” to 2010. Some welcomed in the New Year with great anticipation of good things to come. Others may have done so with fear and trepidation, sure that some sort of doom and gloom lie ahead. I think for me it’s a mix.

As we approach the end of the year, we often reflect upon the events of the previous twelve months, especially those things that are enjoyable to recall. Maybe we are reminded of those rare moments spent with family and friends. Perhaps we remember a special occasion or milestone like a wedding, graduation or the birth of a baby. One of the big thrills of the year for our family was how God provided us with visas to live in Israel, this after hearing of so many people who were denied this privilege.

Of course, God’s people don’t only encounter favorable circumstances. Undoubtedly, there are some whose year was marked by grave difficulties or even unspeakable tragedy. I’m sure many have faced financial challenges of some sort due to the lagging economy or the loss of a job or retirement funds. Others may be grieving the loss of a loved one or struggling through a painful divorce. I pray these times of trial will pass quickly.

Through all of my experiences of 2009, either positive or negative, I saw God at work in my life, always for my betterment. Everything that has happened to me throughout my life, good and bad, was an opportunity for personal growth. I know God is concerned about my character more than he is about my comfort. That gives me great hope for the coming calendar year and beyond. I encourage you to carefully consider your life to discover the many ways in which God has worked and in which he is working even today. I believe without a doubt that you will find him faithful.

by Penny Krueger, Lynwood Friends Church

Friends Community Playgroup has two goals, increase learning and provide support. For the children I plan learning activities in math, literacy, social and physical skills, and every mother stays with her child the entire time. As mothers watch they learn how to better help their children at home.
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Each September several churches in Newberg partner together to put on an event called “Serve and Celebrate.” The fair-like event reaches out to members of the local community, providing a festival atmosphere with free food, music and on- and off-site services, such as haircuts, family photos, bike repair, house cleaning, etc. One of the services available this year, spearheaded by members of Newberg Friends Church, was assistance with passport applications for children. A number of bilingual volunteers from George Fox University, Newberg Friends, Iglesia Evangelica Los Amigos and several other local churches passed out applications and provided assistance with filling them out. Continue reading …