Quaker Renewal

Author's Note: This particular piece is about Quaker Renewal and is aimed at suggesting improvements for the organization of Friends worship. For those looking for a piece on personal practice or a personal expression of devotion like some other pieces I've written-- check back later. I'm getting there. I promise.

“If you continue to do what you've always done, you will continue to get what you've always gotten.”
-proverb- author unknown to me

I have been traveling for almost four months through the American West and now I find myself home in New Mexico with some time to reflect.

Much of my travels had nothing overtly to do with Quakerism, but there were significant moments that did. What I gleaned from these encounters is that Quakerism is alive and well, there are many extraordinary people that practice the Quaker way, and there is also a deep need for Quaker renewal. I also repeatedly encountered, as has been my past experience, people who thought Quakerism was the same as being Amish, people who exclaimed “I thought Quakers died out with the Shakers?” and my favorite for the befuddled expression that usually accompanies the question “What's a Quaker?”

In particular, I encountered people who had very specific criticisms of Quakerism as currently practiced and I think much of it should be looked at closely. I also wish to offer some ideas to address some of this criticism.

One young man I met was an incredibly devout and dynamic person raised in the Quaker tradition. He believes that Quakerism through its history and tools of practice has the opportunity to speak deeply to people looking for a community of belief. Of course, we got along really well. However, he said that he was often dismayed by the lack of dynamism in his own meeting and other local meetings. In fact, he felt that many Quakers were afraid to discuss issues of theology because they might find that their meeting had no cohesion and could not continue as a whole. Some people might find that they are not Quakers and that somehow because Quakers have come to value tolerance and unquestioning acceptance over all else, even the tools of practice and the spiritual intentions that created them, that Quakers have created many lifeless meetings. As he talked, I kept having an image in my head of a bowl of cold oatmeal. He also spoke of his desire to do outreach to non-quakers, especially to young people, but added something to the effect of “...But what happens when they come to meeting for the first time and find that they aren't particularly welcome and that the practice is watered down?”

On another occasion I had the good fortune to spend time with another incredibly dynamic person who once walked devotedly with Quakers in her twenties. This person is now conventionally protestant- which is wonderful and I bless whatever path gets people where they are going- but her reasons for becoming protestant are what strike me. Quaker theory was great to her, but the practice of decision making wasn't simply difficult or lengthy- it was sometimes abusive or tragic. She talked of how one person could lay over decisions and how frequently this happened on important matters that damaged people's careers, their livelihoods, and sometimes caused them to leave the community. She gave very specific examples that deeply troubled her and related how democracy can be the tyranny of the majority over the minority, but how the consensus process can become the tyranny of one over all. She also talked of how many Quakers wouldn't talk about Quakerism and how this made it difficult for her to feel she was progressing on her path.

In another instance I came across someone who related how the Quaker process of decision making and discernment (and I'm quoting roughly from memory), “grinds your dreams into dust.” Quakers sometimes are more concerned with being patient and being in process than actually allowing a flash of discernment to spontaneously occur and acting decisively on it.

Lastly, as an illustration, I came across a lifelong Quaker who has worked for Quaker organizations who is, like the person above, critical of the decision making process. I talked about the frustrations I had encountered among many Quakers concerning consensus, but I then offered that a friend once reminded me that, “Yes, it took Quakers one hundred years to unite against slavery, but once they did they were a force to be reckoned with.” She replied that arguments like this are often trotted out to defend the glacial pace of decision making, but her feeling was that during the hundred years how many millions of God's children died in slavery and today how many suffer while Quakers take decades to come to consensus on gays, AIDS, outreach and other issues. Further, she asserted that there is a debilitating attitude in some meetings that unless the meeting has come to consensus on what you personally are working for, you should keep the fact that your Quaker to yourself. That you feel spiritually led to do your work is not to be discussed in public while you fight your battle.

There were other people who voiced similar concerns. I do not write any of this as evidence that Quakerism is failing as a life path. If it was, I wouldn't self identify as Quaker or expend so much effort in trying to create dialog between Quakers and to also reach out to non-Quakers. However, as with any human organization, we have some problems. The question is what do we choose to do about them. What I offer next comes out of my own experiences within Quakerism, allied to my years of searching that led me through Buddhism and other forms of practice.

First, I want to start again with one of my favorite sayings that simply asserts that George Fox loved God not process. This is a touchstone for me. Sometimes I think Quaker processes are synonymous with the Quaker identity. There are not. They are tools. As tools the only question that should relate to them is do they serve us to experience God, to create community, to transform us personally and to provide us with a foundation that allows us to walk in the image of Christ, Buddha, Mother Theresa or whomever is a pattern for you of God's love on earth. As such, everything is on the table. Dissect it all. The silence. Discernment. Decision-making. Put it under the microscope. See what works. See what doesn't. One of the foundations of Quakerism is that revelation is on-going. God speaks to us in the here and now. This is not 17th century England. It's not the same historical circumstances. It's not the same culture. God, the universal force, is the only constant. We should not worship the tools of worship. If the tools speak to us in so much as we can feel the presence and advance our practice, this is what we should do.

Next, Quakers are very concerned with schisms. Many of you reading this will know the history and we don't need to go into it. As a result, Quakers will often fail to assert any beliefs to other Quakers for fear of making others inside the group uncomfortable. The intention is commendable, the outcome is tragic. We sometimes end up with cold oatmeal. There is another way to frame this entire discussion. Within Buddhism there are many paths. The idea is that many people have had different experiences and one teaching can not speak adequately to everyone. In fact, Buddha was reputed to have stressed and taught different things to different people. It makes sense. Within Quakerism we already do this. There are different organizational bodies within Quakerism. We recognize our common origins and our shared beliefs. Some emphasize a cristo-centric approach. Others emphasize a more universalist approach. This arose out of a heated schism which was seen as very bad at the time. I think it's time to call it good. It's good that FUM, EFI, and FGC all exist. Different people need different things- but we're bound together in the light. As long as we keep the love of God in our hearts and are determined- as Quakers have always been- to express God's love through action in the world- we will forever be bound together.

Now, I wish to take the idea a step further. If it is good that FUM, EFI and FGC all exist then perhaps its also good to create highly defined paths of study within Quakerism to serve the needs of particular practitioners. As always, the starting point of this is that many paths lead to God. The point of creating one or many defined paths within Quakerism is not to create “The” Quaker path or to attempt to define what Quakerism really is, but instead to create a dynamic way for people to experience Quakerism, or a form or expression of it, through a shared community where hard things can be spoken, theology can be explored, and people can actually challenge each other on issues of practice. In other words, a place to really, really practice. People who engage in these practice paths are part of the larger Quaker community, but will have the opportunity to experience a certain amount of intensity and directness that may not be available through the local meeting.

How to do this? The solution actually lies in Quaker history. In the 1930's AFSC created the Friends Fellowship Council. At the time, Quakerism, an always evolving religion, was experiencing a renewal movement. The renewal was coming from liberal friends who wished to reinvigorate the peace testimony. Not receiving a great amount of support from the larger Quaker community they created the Friends Fellowship Council as a way to organize new worship groups and meetings that reflected the values and interests of the FFC. During two decades of action, over sixty independent meetings were founded through the work of FFC before it was merged into the Friends World Committee in 1954.

I want to be clear that I am not suggestion the replacement of existing Quaker organizing bodies, but I do believe there is a need for one or more organizations that are dedicated to conducting outreach and providing a dynamic Quaker experience to newcomers and current Quakers alike. By forming an organization outside of current organizations it may also be possible to formulate a direct path through the consensus of a small body of people so that a clearly defined way can evolve and be offered, based on Quaker principles, in a short period of time. This new dynamism could be critical to what is most important of all, not the propagation of Quakerism, but equipping people with tools and experiences that transform them and make them able to express through their actions the ideals of love, forgiveness, solidarity, etc in the world that have always been the hallmarks of the Quaker way.

Comments are appreciated.