Under the Care

One phrase that has deep meaning in the Quaker community is, “under the care.” Friends often employ this term in sentences such as, “Sarah’s ministry is under the care of Ministry and Oversight,” or, “James and Rachel’s marriage is under the care of the Meeting.” Most commonly, when Friends speak of something being under the …

Lone Ranger Culture and Growing the Body of Christ

I recently received an email from an American Quaker who had read my recent post, Freelance Ministry or the Body of Christ? They wrote:“I am totally in agreement with what you advocate — and my behaviors as minister among Friends are strictly Lone Ranger-mode.  It’s not only my culture, it’s how I survived childhood.  Those …

Routine and Remembrance

One of the most obvious features of the early Quaker movement was its emphasis on the spiritual reality of the Holy Spirit, preferring it to outward forms and holidays that the Church had long observed to call attention to these spiritual realities. In seventeenth-century England, these forms were abused horrendously, with the state church demanding …

Freelance Ministry or the Body of Christ?

Now you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27 Since becoming a Christian in the Quaker tradition, I have witnessed the wide range of character of many different congregations. There are the obvious differences, like attendance, geography and theology. There are differences in class background, age and the …