April 2009 Connection

Cultivating Our Awareness of God

by Joseph Thouvenel, Program Director at Twin Rocks Friends Camp

Have you ever noticed how many books have been written throughout the years on the topic of prayer? It amazes me just how diverse the opinions and perspectives on prayer have become. It’s pretty easy to talk about prayer in ways that make one sound well-versed on the subject. (In a way, that is what I am doing right now!) It’s even easier to tell people, “I’ll be praying for you.” However, there’s a mystery to prayer that makes it challenging to encompass through reading, writing, or talking about it. I’m learning that it is only through practicing prayer (or the practice of prayer) that I can begin to understand it more fully.

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Prayer: A Precious Habitation

by Howard Macy, Professor of Religion, George Fox University

“The place of prayer is a precious habitation,” said John Woolman, early American Quaker and activist for justice. It is a precious place. A safe, inward, quiet place in the face of “great stirrings and commotions in the world.” Sure, it lacks the pizzazz of book titles like Seven Snappy Steps to Power in Prayer. But in the face of stirrings and commotions, it might catch your eye, hook your heart. “Snappy Steps” praying is about doing business with God. It’s about bargaining, badgering, pleading, selling, finding the right words in the right order to make a good case for our lists and desired outcomes. It is transactional.

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Out of My Mind – Leadership Among Friends

by Colin Saxton, NWYM Superintendent

Last month, 25 of us gathered on the Portland campus of George Fox University for a weekend course on “Pastors and Elders Working Together.” This was a seminary version of a course we will be offering at regional gatherings and local churches in an effort to better equip our elders in their ministries and encourage positive working relationships with our Friends pastors. One of the most interesting conversations during the class occurred as we discussed the subject of “leadership” among Friends. Read on for an excerpt from the newly updated Elders’ Handbook on this topic, and part of our conversation.

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Keeping Current with Local Outreach ~ Silverton Friends Offer Financial Skills to the Community

by Bernie Bosnjak, Board of Local Outreach

“What are we, as Friends churches and individuals, called to do among ourselves and in the community, during this economic crisis?”

What a complex query! Under guidance from the Spirit, NWYM representatives spent a long special session brainstorming and sharing solutions about this topic at mid-year board meetings in February. Silverton Friends Church, outside Salem, Oregon, has begun a program which highlights some of the values and concerns shared among the representatives.

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Keeping Current with Global Outreach – Examining Our Prayer Practice

by Betty Kelley, NWYM Friend Working Abroad in North Africa

Everyone prays, whether it is words spoken into the wind, like no one is there, a call for help at a time of crisis, or praise for something good that has happened. It could be prayers to Allah five times a day on a regular basis, repeating the same words over and over again, with or without a seeking heart. It could be going to church each week or regularly praying with others. In Jeremiah, God says that if we seek him with all our hearts he will find us. This includes everyone: good, bad, poor, rich…God loves us each just the same. Is each one of us seeking him with all our heart?

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Spacious and Participatory Worship

by Josh Reid, youth pastor at Newberg Friends Church and Surfside co-director

There are a handful of things that set Twin Rock’s high school camp, Surfside, apart from most high school summer camps. The thing most obvious to newcomers is our evening worship gathering. While many camps seek to attract young people with volume and guitar distortion (“not that there’s anything wrong with that”) Surfside has historically sought to facilitate a spacious and participatory worship gathering where our attention is drawn to the Present Teacher.