Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

Colin Saxton, general superintendent for NWYM, attends North Valley, and just graduated one daughter from college and one from high school. His son is a junior.





One of the encouraging signs of growth I have witnessed in the church over the past several decades has been a shift in the way many local churches and even denominations relate to one another. Rather than being so focused on competition there is a much greater spirit of cooperation, as we work together in Kingdom ministry.

In many communities, different local churches partner together in prayer and action that demonstrates and proclaims the gospel to the people around them. More and more, different denominations are finding common ground concerns that demonstrate we really can function together as the body of Christ! To me, this is a sign that God is truly active among us.

When the spirit of competition arises, it shows the ugly side of denominationalism. We get petty, self-focused, judgmental, and defensive.

But when the spirit of cooperation flourishes, the unique perspectives of various denominations add to the breadth and depth of the church’s impact in the world. It is what Ephesians 4 suggests the church can become when, “Under his leadership all the rest of the body is coordinated and neatly fitted together with the necessary parts, each functioning in its own way so as to give a lovely symmetry to the whole body.” Different parts work together to accomplish a greater good.

United in Christ and in our common commitment to the core gospel, the different tribes within Christianity are also finding something good and powerful about having their own unique expression of faith. People are looking for a spiritual family that has a clear identity lived out with integrity. In their own pursuit of God, people want to find a home that fits their longing for something real—something authentic.

Few people care about what we believe on paper. They want to see faith in action—demonstrated in the worship, ministry, and shared life of the people who are the church. They want to see how faith connects to life—how the values and ethics of a spiritual tradition reshape the life of its people and in the way we attempt to make a difference in the world.

Among Friends, I often hear (and have said myself) that God has given us an important life and message to share with a watching world. Some of us have gone so far as to say the current cultural context is uniquely readied for Friends to impact—if only we will have the integrity, courage, and creativity to rise to the challenge.

One of the compelling questions is, “What does it mean to be the Friends of Jesus in the 21st century?” That is, how do we live out our unique self-understanding of what it means to know and follow Christ in this day and age? The world we live in now is very different than the one Fox, Fell, Fry and F….uh…Woolman were in, so how will the same dynamic life and power that energized and directed them get fleshed out through us in our time? We’ll wrestle with this a bit in the next several issues of Connection.

Friends are often hesitant to talk about a communal spirituality. Historically, we’re nervous about too much emphasis on what we believe together and how we are to live together. When we’re concrete at all about our faith life, we tend to be much more comfortable focusing on what individuals believe and how I/you are being called to act.

There is, of course, great value and truth in this approach. At some point, when it comes to genuine matters of faith, it is not enough to recite a creed or summarize your favorite theologian, or even quote a Bible verse. The ultimate question is “what can you say?” in the sense of what you know to be true in your own experience with Christ the Word. This does not mean you or I decide what is ultimately true…but rather it signals whether the truth is really abiding in us.

I offer, however, that this emphasis on individual experience never precludes our work to be the people of God, as well. As well as being individual disciples of Jesus Christ, we are joined in a common bond and fellowship. We are to be a new community that reflects the glory of God together. We are one in Christ, a formerly alienated people who have found a unity that transcends (rather than eradicates) our diversity. Notice there is no illusion of (or even desire for) uniformity here. Rather, we are a gathered people, drawn together in Christ and working to express the gospel in ways that remain appropriate to our context and call.

It has been fun, over the past year or two, to see a renewed interest in the question of who we are called to be as Friends. I am excited that it gets asked in a variety of ways in many of our local churches. It is built into camps and retreats hosted in our area. Many of our boards and sub-committees wrestle with this on a regular basis, as they dream and pray and plan and implement their ministry plans. It is a good question, one I believe is important to our future.

My prayer is that we will be some of the first people to join hands with other Christians in the common work of sharing the good news and seeking the Kingdom. I also hope we will continue to work at being a people of integrity, committed to faithfully living out the particular call God has given us as Friends. Blessings!

Queries:

• How do you respond to this call to be 21st Century Friends?
• How do you think that might look?
• What examples do you see of Friends already living this out?





Quaker Religious Thought is a twice-yearly publication that tackles different theological issues of importance to Friends. QRT 114 is an issue that relates to Colin’s discussion above, and is available here as a PDF.

You can also order a printed copy, or subscribe to regular home delivery for $16/year, by contacting Phil Smith.