The next Seekers Group Meeting is Weds. February 26, 2014 @ 7pm in the Community House.
At our January meeting, we had a wonderful conversation around vocal testimony in worship. We shared personal experiences of messages arising within and of trying to faithfully discern whether they are meant for us alone or to be spoken aloud. Some also honestly shared experiences – a few hours or days after speaking out of the silence – of clarity that the message we spoke was from us and not the Spirit. We agreed it can be spiritually painful when this happens but that we are all learning and striving to be faithful, and are always human – and sometimes make mistakes. We spoke about hearing beyond the spoken words of others, with compassion and mercy. Near the end of this fruitful discussion, a question arose regarding just where do these messages come from?
We agreed that our next conversation would begin here: What was early Friends’ understanding and experience of Christ, what is contemporary Friends’ spectrum of understanding and experience of Christ, and what is ours — personally?
Randy has provided a short reading from The Historical Dictionary of the Friends (Quakers), second edition, 2012, The Scarecrow Press, which offers a historical context of how Friends have grappled with the role of the Bible and Jesus in worship. Please be in touch with Gretchen if you would like a copy.
Friends might also find it helpful to look at chapter 26 of Britain Yearly Meeting’s Faith & Practice – particularly numbers 46-60 — for a broad range of contemporary connections to Jesus and Christ. The entire F&P is on line. Here’s the link to the chapter: http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/26/
The Seekers Group meets the last Wednesday of every month. All of us are seekers – all are welcome to join us. If you have questions or suggestions, please be in touch with Gretchen Baker-Smith, convener.