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Friends United Meeting |
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November 2002
News from Friends United Meeting
2002 FUM Triennial Keynote Message:
Quakerism Must Be Synonymous with Integrity
By Retha McCutchen
The theme for Friends United Meeting's 2002 Triennial is "...so now, finish the work," taken from 2 Corinthians 8:5-15. The Apostle Paul's instruction in this passage is about giving money, not about receiving money. But, giving is not the place to start. All giving must come out of an inner commitment to God, grounded in faith. The first action of the Corinthian church was to commit themselves to God and ask for direction. The giving was an obedient response to GodŐs leading.
This teaching is equally relevant today. The most important aspect of our lives is our relationship with God. Out of that centered communion, we give and serve with joy.
Those present tonight represent a wide economic diversity. There are some who would be considered wealthy by worldwide standards and some living in poverty. Most fall in between these two extremes. Paul the Apostle was talking to every one of us. Giving is judged by attitude, not amount.
Paul was very careful with language. He said clearly, this is not a command; your model is Jesus Christ who gave up a special relationship to God to assume human form (become poor)...to suffer and die so that humanity (that's us) might be transformed into God's new people (become rich).
We're not talking about rich in the terms we understand it today. This is not about money. It is about Christ being willing to give up a special relationship with God to assume human form (become poor). Giving is a privilege. Giving brings joy.
Giving is also a command to Christians. But cheerful giving is not accomplished by an order from someone you respect. Paul was smart enough not to require giving. However, he did use the standard of the giving of others to show that this group did not measure up. He went so far as to compare generosity with love for others.
A theme for this chapter might be: the duty of giving liberally to assist the poor, and the motives by which such giving should be done.
Giving brings unity and shows the power of God's love at work in our lives.
As Friends celebrating 100 years of service through Five Years Meeting, now Friends United Meeting, and celebrating 100 years of Quaker ministry in Kenya, making a commitment to "finish the work" is a serious responsibility — and it is the responsibility of every person in this room. This commitment is not words alone; it requires action. Such cooperative action will bring a unity that breaks down the barriers of language and cultural differences because the love of God is more important than personal ideas or preference. This is good news for Friends United Meeting worldwide.
God has set before Friends an open door...
One of the saddest stories in the New Testament is also about giving.
It is the account of the lives of Ananias and Sapphira, recorded in Acts,
Chapter 5 — a story about greed and lying to look important to other
people.
Greed is at the root of sin. Money and material possessions are not the only thing Christians are tempted to covet or desire — position, titles, praise, another person's spouse, to name only a few. Jesus said: No person can serve two masters: for either he or she will hate the one, and love the other; or else will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24)
Paul did not pronounce judgment on Ananias and Sapphira. He just asked the questions. Ananias and Sapphira died and the church interpreted it as God's judgment. Perhaps they died of shock at being discovered in the lie.
The point is, they thought they could deceive the Apostles. Sometimes we can deceive one another, but the Holy Spirit cannot be deceived.
The sin was not in keeping the money. The money was their personal property. Scripture is clear that the Christian community was giving what each decided, not that every person gave everything he or she owned. This problem was an attempt to lie and deceive in order to look more committed than they actually were.
The church of 2002 has the same problems. Human nature is the same today as it was in the first century. These temptations also cross cultural boundaries.
Wherever we go and whatever we do, Quakerism must be synonymous with integrity.
Does your meeting/church make parking lot (tea time) decisions? That's my description of people who sit through Monthly Meeting without speaking and then on the way home begin telling people what was wrong with the decision taken. Friends, such behavior is wrong. Quakers believe in consensus decision-making because we believe that corporate leading of the Spirit of God leads to Godly decisions. Not one of us is qualified spiritually, mentally or any other way to make solitary decisions for the Church.
The person or persons who control the discussion by talking too much or intimidating others; those who make decisions without bringing them to the Monthly Meeting and those who sit quietly idle in the business meeting but gossip negatively about the decisions later — all hinder the work God has called us to finish.
Problems in the meeting/church are universal. An important aspect of this story is that Paul did not ignore the problem nor did he gossip about Ananias and Sapphira. In what appears to be a quiet way, Paul asked a direct question and revealed the deception.
The outcome in this story is rather extreme. My experience has not included people dropping dead for lying. The point for us today is that God does not tolerate lying, greed or hypocrisy among believers. There are a variety of contemporary ways these behaviors affect our lives and the life of the church.
If we as Friends United Meeting desire God to pour out spiritual blessings and allow our work to have a positive impact on people, we must live lives of individual and corporate integrity before God. I am not talking about the theory that says a Christian will never sin. We all sin — regularly, I imagine. Purity before God is only possible because of grace — the undeserved forgiveness freely given by God through Christ.
To use one's business position or position as an officer of the church for financial or positional gains is serious business. Lying about it only compounds the sin. Such acts are not a game of fooling our friends; it's a lie to God. We must not — dare not — take lightly spiritual commitments or responsibilities.
For God to bless our monthly and yearly meetings, the internal problems of dishonesty and immorality must be faced and changed. It is the responsibility of the Church of God to confront such behaviors and also to provide the accountability and counsel for forgiveness and healing to take place.
In my experience some leaders confronted were repentant. They were removed from leadership for a minimum period of five years as they strengthened their personal spiritual life under the guidance of the Meeting. Today several of these people are again in leadership positions of the church. Failure is not final because of God's grace and forgiveness.
Those leaders who denied wrongdoing were not struck dead on the spot. But now they are bitter individuals no longer involved in church leadership. As difficult as it may appear, it is the responsibility of the church to remove from leadership all leaders without integrity.
A caution here: The discipline and accountability of leaders is never the responsibility or at the opinion of one or two individuals. The appointed group within your church or yearly meeting must prayerfully consider these matters. These are not matters to be done in haste, but with much prayer and consideration of the issues involved. But the church community must address them if Friends are to have integrity.
All of the above examples and other behaviors of this type cause division and disunity in the church. This is not new in 2002. When the Apostle Paul challenged the Corinthian church to finish the work, it was because the original collection had been interrupted by arguments in the church and criticism about Paul's message.
Does that sound familiar? Paul calls them back to unity of faith in order to complete the task.
Unity arises out of a shared sense of vision, a shared mission. That takes a lot of work.
God is not impressed by our arguments, divisions or by leaders willing to misuse ministry funds.
God blesses the Church when it takes care of the widows and orphans, when we love our neighbor as ourselves, when we feed and clothe the poor. God loves the cheerful giver.
Unity arises from each person giving from what he or she has, not based on the amount. Some may be unable to give money but can give time. Others may share produce of their farms or shambas. All are equal in God's sight.
This scripture has another dimension. The Corinthian church were gentiles, giving to Jews who at that time were prejudiced against them. Through Paul's leadership this act would establish cooperation between cultures in order to spread the Gospel.
There are good things in every culture. One culture is no better than another — just different. However, there are things in every culture that are harmful. Excusing behavior because "it's part of the culture" is not consistent with Scripture or experience.
Jesus spoke against culture. Take Zachaeus as an example. Tax collectors earned their salary by overcharging people. If one was good at intimidation and could force people to pay more, he made more money. Today, police officers or church members collecting more than the required amount is no different.
Paul spoke against culture when he challenged a gentile group to give to Jewish Christians. Loving your enemies is as relevant today as in Paul's lifetime.
Quakers spoke against culture in 17th Century England in challenging the social systems of their country and later in America when they refused to own slaves.
Are we Quakers willing to acknowledge the harmful, dishonest practices of our culture and live lives of integrity before God?
God has set before Friends an open door.... Walking through that door into future ministry depends upon our personal and corporate commitment to integrity. Wherever we go and whatever we do, Quakerism must be synonymous with integrity.
FUM Triennial News
Give thanks for the success of the FUM Triennial sessions in Nairobi last July. God's Spirit was present in the joyful fellowship and the lively worship. During the business sessions six Kenyan yearly meetings were welcomed into FUM and an important statement on the Middle East was minuted. Praise God for bringing to fruition the work of the Kenya Host Committee (clerk, Serah Lukalo) and the FUM Program Committee (clerk, Marian Baker). Praise God also for the successful completion of the FUM work camps preceding the Triennial (Jens Braun, leader) and the North Carolina work team (Walter Shore, leader). Lives were changed! Thanks for traveling mercies for all. The FUM Nominating Committee submitted the following names which were approved at the 2002 Triennial Sessions. These positions will be for the 2002-2005 Triennium:
Presiding Clerk — Brent McKinney, North Carolina YM
Assistant Presiding Clerk — Susan Kirkpatrick, Indiana YM
Recording Clerk — Wanda Coffin-Baker, Western YM
Assistant Recording Clerk — Margaret Stoltzfus, Iowa YM
Reading Clerk — Ederia Nyjun, Nairobi YM
Assistant Reading Clerk — Susan Terrell, Wilmington YM
Treasurer — Don Garner, Indiana YM
Message Committee Clerk — Gary Farlow, Wilmington YM
Trustees — Norman Connell, Western YM; Richard Liversidge, Baltimore
YM; Janie Grantham, North Carolina YM
(YM—Yearly Meeting)
John and Marjorie Scott Go to Ramallah
FUM is pleased to announce the volunteer service by John and Marjorie Scott as Friends in Residence in Ramallah beginning in October of this year.
John and Marjorie are members of Britain Yearly Meeting and Acomb Preparative Meeting of York Monthly Meeting. John and Marjorie became Friends in the early 1970s and since that time have been active in Quaker concerns and in their local meeting. John is an elder of York Monthly Meeting and he and Marjorie have served on numerous committees. After a Woodbrooke College study tour to the Holy Land in 1983, they became interested in the Middle East and then served as QPS teachers at the Friends Schools in Ramallah. They've returned to Ramallah several times since then and feel called at this time to go once again as servants to the Palestinian people in their time of need.
As Friends in Residence, John and Marjorie will lend support to FUM field staff Colin and Kathy South, assist as needed at the schools, and will help raise awareness of Quaker values within the community. Their initial term of service will be for six months. They are volunteering their time and skills and FUM has agreed to help fund their expenses. If you would like to donate to their ministry you can send your gift to FUM and note that it is for expenses for the Ramallah Friends in Residence.
We are delighted to have the spiritual maturity and wisdom that John and Marjorie have to offer as Friends in Residence, and look forward to them being a blessing to the schools and the community.
World Ministries Office Changes
With deep appreciation we recognize the careers of two long-term employees who have been called to other work. Nancy Maeder resigned in September to take a position with the Center for Quaker Thought and Practice at Earlham College, and Kristi Nicholson will be leaving in November to get an early start for her new work as a mother (expected to arrive in January). Both of these women have long-standing loyal and devoted service with FUM and their presence will be missed. We wish them God's blessings in their new endeavors.
Music Knows No Checkpoints!
Israeli citizen Daniel Barenboim, 59, internationally known pianist, conductor and composer came to play at Ramallah Friends School on September 10. To people who asked why he made the special effort to come to Ramallah, his answer was simple:
"I'm not a politician," he said. "I don't have a plan to end the conflict. But I think the lesson we have to learn from the 20th century is that every human being — small, young as you or older like I — has to think of his responsibility as a human being and not always depend on the politicians and the governments."
He was happy to be able to speak Hebrew in Ramallah without feeling uncomfortable and to demonstrate there are different kinds of Israelis. "The worst that could happen today is that they didn't like the way I played," he said.
Barenboim insisted he was not sending a political message but rather "a very private message" to appeal for reason from both sides in the conflict. The Friends School audience was shushed into silence with the idea that a foreigner — a famous one at that — thought the problems in Ramallah were important enough to take notice.
"It's extremely important to have him here," said Colin South, Friends School director. "Anybody of this caliber who can come to the West Bank and play for us right now is incredibly encouraging. We're very grateful for him being here."
Three students played for Barenboim. The following account is written by 15-year-old Nadia T. Arouri, one of the selected three:
On Tuesday, September 10, 2002, Daniel Barenboim arrived at our school. At the beginning it was a mystery how he made it; in March he tried to come but couldn't due to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) closure around our hometown of Ramallah. The Palestinian territories are considered closed military areas, and therefore the IDF can ban the entry of anyone carrying an Israeli ID. For us having such an important Israeli figure, a former soldier who is not holding a gun, is a novelty.
He went up onto our stage, and without saying a word, started playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. His playing was incredible. I observed his sensational playing which added something special to his music. When he was done, and the applause subsided, he addressed us, the students, asking, "Do you speak English?"
"Yes!" we yelled.
He saluted us in Arabic. Then he continued in English about his purpose and why he defied the Israeli travel ban. He said something I'll never forget, "I think each one of us has a responsibility to do what we think is right and not wait for our governments to do it. My way is music. What I can do is play music, play music for you, and maybe this way, in a very small way for these few moments, we are able to break down the hatred that is so much in the region."
After his brief speech, Barenboim invited students to come sit next to him and play. I, Nadia Arouri, was one of three students who arose and played for him. I sat next to him; never in my life have I felt such nervousness. But I kept a grip on my nerves, took a deep breath, and although I couldn't really stop my shivering hands, I started playing anyway. I am really glad I knew every single detail of the piece by heart because, throughout my playing, the only thing I could think about was that such a great pianist was sitting next to me! I was really overwhelmed when later on a reporter asked him, "How did she play?" and he answered, "She played excellently. She will continue playing better because she will continue practicing."
I played Barcarolle by Mendelssohn, a piece associated with gondoliers in Venice because of its steady rhythm. It is like a gently rocking boat. I played this piece because this is the way I hope our life would be, smooth and easygoing, not a life full of bumps, tanks, and overnight shelling!
I am an ambitious Palestinian teenager, living under occupation, or rather living through occupation along with my entire nation. And till an end is marked to this story, I shall go on practicing the piano...
Copyright (c) 2002 Friends United Meeting
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