#MonthOfMinistry Day 10
I don’t belong to a “church”, but I guess our Quaker Meeting is the nearest equivalent. If you’re used to going to church, it might be a little different to what you expect – there’s no priest or minister standing at the front taking charge and telling us what to believe, we don’t sing hymns, or say prayers. Instead we come in and try to settle quietly in our seats, then everyone sits in silence for a while.
After a while, a Friend (as we call Quakers) might feel that they are moved to speak, so they stand up and speak, about – anything. Anyone can speak, but the suggestion is that it should be something helpful and relevant to the meeting as a whole, not just a speech I feel like making. It’s supposed to be a spontaneous “ministry”, not something you’ve planned in advance. They sit down and the silence resumes. After a while, another Friend might stand up and speak. A theme might develop, but it’s not supposed to be a discussion.
Sometimes a whole hour goes by in silence, with nobody speaking at all.
We had quite a lot of vocal ministry at yesterday’s meeting. One Friend stood and asked us (with some tears) to think of a family they were close to whose 4 year old child was dying. Another Friend read a short passage from the Journal of George Fox (one of the early 17th century founders of Quakerism):
I was under great temptations sometimes, and my inward sufferings were heavy; but I could find none to open my condition to but the Lord alone, unto whom I cried night and day. And I went back into Nottinghamshire, and there the Lord shewed me that the natures of those things which were hurtful without, were within in the hearts and minds of wicked men… And I cried to the Lord, saying, ‘Why should I be thus, seeing I was never addicted to commit those evils?’ And the Lord answered that it was needful I should have a sense of all conditions, how else should I speak to all conditions; and in this I saw the infinite love of God. I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness. And in that also I saw the infinite love of God; and I had great openings.
Another Friend asked where God is when terrible things happen (wars on a global scale, or personal tragedies like a child dying). They suggested that God isn’t to be seen as a chess player or a dungeon-master, directing events, but more as the spirit of love that guides our acts of care to one another. (If the “God” word isn’t meaningful to you, by the way, it’s OK to reinterpret that in other terms, or simply continue to uphold this Friend in silence.)
After an hour, we shook hands (the traditional way to indicate the end of meeting), listened to some notices, and had coffee and biscuits.
If you’ve never been to Quaker meeting, I’d encourage you to give it a try some time. Everyone is welcome, and you can read more about what we do on the Quakers in Britain website and find your nearest meeting.