tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post1726577660778338838..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: The Quaker movement: decline and persistenceJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-34590737934398600492018-02-24T06:17:12.630-08:002018-02-24T06:17:12.630-08:00I am so delighted to hear someone remembering Debo...I am so delighted to hear someone remembering Deborah Haight with fondness. I only met her a few times but she left a lasting impression on me.David McKaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-993239551329378372018-02-24T02:35:34.648-08:002018-02-24T02:35:34.648-08:00Hello, Bruce! Although I've read Lloyd Lee Wil...Hello, Bruce! Although I've read Lloyd Lee Wilson's book (and remember him personally), I'm sorry that I've not had nearly as much contact with North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) as I've had with Ohio Yearly Meeting. I've never been to a monthly or yearly meeting, for example, although I count a couple of your members as dear friends. I also treasure memories of Louise Wilson as a retreat leader.<br /><br />My impressions of Conservative Friends generally are along the lines of William Rushby's words, "Sometimes, it seems that the Conservative Quaker tradition is a vision in search of a people!" Why is it that such an attractive combination of grace and simplicity cannot attract more actual practitioners!? In my first years as a Friend, my mentor was a woman, Deborah Haight, who grew up in Canada (Conservative) Yearly Meeting, and now that segment of Canadian Quakerism is nearly extinct, despite its extraordinary history. Even so, I remain incredibly grateful for her influence, and her tradition's influence, on me.<br /><br />When the Quaker US-USSR Committee began publishing Friends literature in Russian, one of their first pamphlets came from the Conservative world: William Taber's <i>The Prophetic Stream</i>. I remember a former clerk of Moscow Meeting saying to me that he thought the Conservative heritage might be more helpful to Russian Friends than some of the other quakerly models vying for influence in Russia at the time.<br /><br />You are quite right to say that North Carolina presents a Friendly way that is different from the broad-brush categorizations in my post. Potentially it does offer that direct and honest Christian invitation that seems to me to be so more classically Quaker than the compromises that I usually see. How will you break out of that sectarian specialness and become scalable? Should we be asking each other for help?Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-89083353379284891772018-02-23T18:21:46.879-08:002018-02-23T18:21:46.879-08:00Johan, I wish you could come send some time with N...Johan, I wish you could come send some time with North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative.) In the terms that you have set in your article, between the politically liberal, individualistic, not-scripturally-centered "boutique" style of Quakerism vs the evangelical, typically pastoral type, we are an anomaly. Or a paradox. Not sure which. We are scripturally based, we are not the kind of Quakers who reprimand people for speaking about Christ, and yet we are socially progressive and practice obedient waiting on the Lord in the tradition of early Friends (so-called "silent meeting.") Most importantly, we are not individualistic; we are members of a body, in the fullest sense, and this has significant outcomes for our faith and practice. You could read Lloyd Lee Wilson's book on Gospel Order to get a taste of it. Not the whole story, but a good take.Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16628371309663728125noreply@blogger.com