 January/February 2000 (XXXVIII 1) |
Editor's Note: On September 27, 1999, the Courier-Post of Camden County, New Jersey, published an article titled "Quakers concerned about future of religion." It referred to declining membership at Friends Meetings in New Jersey. Quaker Information Center Director Peggy Morscheck, who was interviewed for the article, was disappointed that it did not convey the positive activities of Friends which she had communicated to the reporter. In response, Peggy sent out a message encouraging action by Friends. This excerpt is published with her permission.
know we Friends are far healthier and more vibrant as a corporate body than the article conveyed. I am sure that religious seekers deserve better than to be told that Quakerism in this part of the country is "becoming a museum" and may be dying. Let us not dismiss this article as one more aggravating interaction with the press, but rather embrace it as a wonderful opportunity for us to witness publicly to the light and meaning of our faith, as it works in our daily lives, as it is felt in our meetings for worship, and as it is manifested by the myriad organizations and institutions we have initiated and continue to run.
We Friends need to become more active in telling our own story. To do so, let us resolve that:
Every single time any Meeting or committee or concerns group develops a wonderful program about a Quaker resource or belief or concern, we make sure to inform and invite the public through press releases and announcements sent to media calendar-of-events editors. It seems to me that we all too often put a great deal of time, energy, and money into developing excellent programs, only to end up publicizing them among Friends, exclusively.
Every single time we have cause to celebrate an accomplishment by a Meeting, committee, concern group, staff or Meeting member, let us inform the rest of the world by sending out appropriate media announcements/invitations.
When our Meetings or PYM's Interim Meeting or PYM's Yearly Meeting or institutions develop a response to an event (like the Kosovo bombing) or issue (like hate crimes against individuals), we shall inform not only other Friends and the appropriate government officials, but also the public via the media.
We will respond to news articles about Quakers and Quakerism via letters to editors with as much alacrity as we respond to articles about peace and social justice issues — not out of a sense of defensiveness or anger or frustration but from a recognition of an opening to bear witness to the spiritual nurturing our faith has provided to us and from a desire to share that joy with others.
I do not see these steps as either outreach or proselytizing: merely good manners, common sense, and a willingness to be visible and accessible to those who might be interested.
Although I believe that some of the decline in the numbers of Friends has to do with how very different many of our beliefs and practices are from the popular culture in the United States at this time — (It is not, after all, typical for Americans to be pacifists, nor to be comfortable with silence, nor to be restrained in their consumerism, nor to welcome the exercise of spiritual self-restraint or spiritual self-discipline in both worship and the matters of daily living.) — there are some lessons we can take from this article, I believe. They may be stated as queries.
How much does each of us know of our faith -- its history(ies), its branches, its various manifestations within the U.S. and abroad, its relationship to Christianity, its current beliefs? In a religion with no central authority and where local interpretation can diverge considerably, how much effort have we spent to keep in touch with one another via, for instance, active intervisitation between Meetings within our own Yearly Meeting and between Meetings in PYM and other Yearly Meetings? Do we encourage members of all ages to travel to other parts of the country and out of the country to see, first hand, what other Friends believe and have accomplished? Have we as individuals or as Meetings investigated the idea of joining Friends United Meeting through participation in the Western Association of Friends? Or through the United Society of Friends Women International? Have we initiated field trips to North Carolina or Iowa to visit the richly diverse manifestations of Quakerism in those states, or Evangelical Friends in northeastern Ohio or Kansas or southern California? Have we developed a PYM branch of the FUM-affiliated Friends Disaster Service so that we might serve (in groups) to provide Quaker relief in the United States when disaster strikes? In other words, how are we handling the patent need for the Quaker spiritual equivalent of professional in-service training?
Do our Meetings periodically address themselves to their own spiritual integrity or do we let them drift for decades into a state where any belief is okay? Do we articulate what it means to be a Friend?
How well have we conveyed our beliefs to inquirers/seekers? How welcoming have we been to visitors/newcomers? Are we, daily and weekly, cultivating Quaker spiritual hospitality, based upon well-informed and welcoming attitudes? What steps are we taking to educate attenders and new members about the richness of Quaker history, belief, practices, testimonies, and endeavors? What steps are we taking to include them into the workings of our Meeting communities? (The Quaker spiritual equivalent to colleges' concerns for admission and retention.)
Reactions? Comments? Convictions?
Peggy Morscheck
Central Philadelphia Meeting
Director of Quaker Information Center
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia PA 19102
(215) 241-7024
quakerinfo@afsc.org
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM