Martin Kelley › Comments

"The simplest way to say it is we feel very strongly and very clearly led that in the present time we simply cannot continue to participate in what we believe to be an unjust and inconsistent with our religious testimonies legal marriage procedure," Landskroener said. - Martin Kelley

“The less form in religion the better, since God is a Spirit; … the more silent, the more suitable to the language of a Spirit.” That’s what William Penn said over 300 years ago, urging Christians to embrace silence as a way to encounter God. Taking time to think about using silence as a religious practice extends Penn’s invitation to us today. That’s because Penn wasn’t talking not about stillness, as such, but rather about encountering God in a living and vital holy hush. - Martin Kelley

"I think Fox and Smith were talking about the inward life: those who have been spiritually baptized by the Present Christ. Smith was referring to that part of the Society of Friends that was following the Methodist lead into missions and conversion work. Smith was suggesting that the special work of Friends is to gather together those that have already been through that process. The modern cliche that newcomers often feel they have been Friends for years without knowing it seems to me a sign of the post-conversion joining. It makes a big difference to outreach whether we agree with Smith or not. If we focus on the "foundational" work we'll tone down our message & open coffeehouses and mom support groups in our meetings where if we focus on the "superstructure" we'll live the most committed/true lives we can without undo worry about seeming weird. I myself think there's an in-between, that's it's fine to be a little weird as long as we talk & blog (!) about it enough that curious people..." - Martin Kelley

we wear plain clothing, and engage in an alternative economy as much as we can, in order to promote what we believe are the values that best reflect the character of Jesus and early Christ-centered communities. It is a voluntary public witness to our Quaker testimonies. We hope not to inspire others to dress plain, but to think seriously about the world around them, and develop their own community driven public witness to peace, justice, and the salvific character of Jesus the messiah. - Martin Kelley

Although I, like many of my generation, was raised with a reluctance to talk openly about my religious experience, I made the decision early in my parenting life that I needed to overcome this. The fear that I continued to carry about forcing my own spirituality on my children or turning them off by being “too religious” gave way as I saw how they responded to honesty about my beliefs and experiences. - Martin Kelley

A few days ago, I tackled Leviticus. I have a lot of history with Leviticus, most of it bad. When I first read Leviticus in high school, I started joking that maybe it should just be tossed out of the Bible. In recent years, my perception of Leviticus has been tainted by those who use it to deny rights, respect, love to anyone who’s not straight. “Abomination!” pretty much summed up what I thought Leviticus was about and how I, in turn, felt about Leviticus. But hidden amongst the messages about what’s clean or unclean are glowing bits of Light that shone through and reminded me, surprisingly, of Jesus. - Martin Kelley

They are probably right to raise concerns about a ‘demographic time bomb’, not least because our current way of doing business at a national and local level relies on a strong group of active 60-80-year-olds, who have no obvious replacements.Though I recognise this danger, my own view is that the ‘number of Quakers’ concern is wrapped up in the question of identity. It looks like the obvious route to increasing (or maintaining) our membership is to be clearer about who we are and what we believe. - Martin Kelley

The youth culture of our liberal Friends really has little to do with much of anything else. It's segregated and it's not even slightly religious. It can be wonderful and close and nurturing. It can teach good values and be accepting. It can provide a refuge for kids having trouble elsewhere. Those are all good things. But it does not prepare our kids to be part of the Religious Society of Friends. It doesn't prepare them to be people of faith. Not really. What it does is produce really nice young folks who have little interest in being Quaker (or any other faith). - Martin Kelley

In Quakerism, the one voice we need to hear and the one to whom we want to be obedient is that of the Holy Spirit. Our problem, and what makes us look like a democracy, is that we don‟t know who among us is the vehicle through whom the Holy Spirit may speak . That‟s why it is important for us to prayerfully listen to each and every person, not necessarily the smartest, most articulate, most enthusiastic or most experienced among us. - Martin Kelley

I think it’s great for continuing discussion about the tension Dallas Willard names in The Divine Conspiracy between traditional and progressive Christians, the former of whom worship Jesus for what he does, the latter of whom follow him for the example he sets. Taken as a koan, imagine this song as singing one half of this ‘battle rap’ and live into the tension. - Martin Kelley

I take the Quaker Gospel to be Fox's statement that "Christ [sometimes he said God] has come to teach His people Himself." When Christ/God is among us, as in the painting "The Presence in the Midst," and guiding us, we are in the kingdom. This is the gathered meeting, and a spirit led business meeting. When we are guided by our own egos and desires we are in the world; when Christ/ the Spirit of God is acknowledged as Lord we are in the kingdom. - Martin Kelley

Our (Western) tendency is to think of forgiveness in terms of personal wrongdoings, forgiveness is an individual action. But in the [Lord's/Disciple's] prayer Jesus clearly draws on a Jewish understand of Jubilee with his selection of the word translated “debts. As we approach Black Friday, and Christmas, which has been swallowed up by over-consumption and credit-card debt, maybe this is the good news we all need to hear this year. - Martin Kelley

I ended up with a chart that summarizes my own take on how the Convergent conversation addresses certain topics. - Martin Kelley

Many Quaker Meetings around the country are involved in their local City of Sanctuary groups, and we are keen to encourage new initiatives in towns and cities all over the UK. - Martin Kelley

Kelly wants neither the escapism of other-worldly piety nor the obsession with here-and-now effectiveness of church-as-social-agency. It is the constant awareness (fading inevitably from foreground to background, and back again) of Divine Presence that gives us both endurance and perspective. As I contemplate how life is not a chess game where we have unlimited time to construct a perfect strategy, it's a great comfort to me to consider that my only real task at any given moment is to remain in that Presence. - Martin Kelley

"@Joel: I'd imagine you'd have the mirrored problem. The divisions have created such an odd situation. Some places you have to go explain why Friends should be Christian and others why Christians should be Friends. I wonder if you've used Samuel Bownas's book, "Descriptions of the Qualifications Necessary for a Gospel Minister," combined with his journal. First published in 1750, "Descriptions" is a good description of Quaker ministry but it's steeped in Biblical references--which the current edition has very helpfully labeled. Bownas is also pretty down-to-earth and practical. There are some good stories which can help humanize him. He's always going off on evangelizing trips and will occasionally throw out funny stories about the state of the Religious Society of Friends in various places--he busts on Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on one trip!" - Martin Kelley

"@Stephen: interesting perspective, I'm emailing you to see if we can get this out wider." - Martin Kelley

"@Jaime: It'd be fascinating to hear what the resistance points are for George Fox students--what can you put in their hands that will elicit the responses "I've never held one of these!" and "why do we have to look at this?"" - Martin Kelley

"@Jaime: It'd be fascinating to hear what the resistance points are for George Fox students--what can you put in their hands that will elicit the responses "I've never held one of these!" and "why do we have to look at this?"" - Martin Kelley

While I was researching for a recent sermon I came across some great quotes on poverty from 18th Century Quakers. One thing I loved was that the section on plainness and living an unfettered life is right next to the section about caring for the poor. These two things, how we live and what we produce and consume, and interrelated to whether others have enough or not. - Martin Kelley

"Good question. A few years ago an older (though not ancient) Friend told me that they were still using Barclay's Catechism in his Philadelphia Hicksite (!) meeting when he was growing up. I too would be curious to know how it's been used." - Martin Kelley

I often receive emails from friends, or see Facebook postings, which contain patently false information. The content has usually been copied & pasted or forwarded from elsewhere and is usually from a Conservative perspective. What particularly troubles me about these messages is that they almost always come from people who profess to be Christians. I've developed a standard reply to them, which is to point out the falsehood along with a reminder that Christians are supposed to be people of the Truth, not people of half-truths and Internet rumors. - Martin Kelley

The question of whether it is ever right for Friends to support (or appear to support) one side over another in a conflict is not new. There is a difference between conscientious neutrality, confirmed by a searching process of prayer and study, and the neutrality that is adopted from indifference or fear. Friends may at times be as likely as other groups to find reasons for avoiding the costly implications of our Christian faith. Does ignorance, fear or apathy play a role in Friends' decisions concerning advocacy for Israel or Palestine? - Martin Kelley

Not only is the online community of Quaker bloggers and blog-readers missing out on the voices and perspectives of those long-time established Friends--whether "institutional" or not--but as the number of Quaker blogs grows, it seems that we, as Quaker bloggers, have been falling away from what had been a bit of online etiquette--that of using our name when first introducing the blog or when leaving a comment. - Martin Kelley

It was a contrast to Stillwater, where the demographic skews much older and where a sense of sacred quietness prevails. My first thought : East Richland seems more "alive,"more a-crackle with energy, and I pondered, longingly, how can we capture this vitality and export it to our silent meetings? - Martin Kelley

When people start to gossip, tell them you would rather not have this information, I say. Even if it's about you, trust me, you don't want to know it. In AA they have a saying, "what other people think about me is none of my business." It's true, and it is good advice - Martin Kelley

"Wow, that's a pretty bad situation. For what it's worth, Jesus is pretty clear that we will be both mis-understood and intentionally mis-characterized. Sometimes the best we can do is to just hold as close as we can to charity and to do our best to keep ourselves (and our supporters) from getting caught up in the drama. Part of the spiral is reacting to this kind of overt provocation. We need to be brave enough to be meek." - Martin Kelley

Lots of thoughtful articles by in this issue of New York Yearly Meeting's magazine. - Martin Kelley

I've been alarmed by some of the posts that I've found on sites like wikipedia and expert.com that stated that Friends follow individualistic spiritual paths. This is a gross misstatement of our manner of being. While Friends may welcome others, wherever they are on their spiritual path, the path is neither an individualistic or solitary one. For the path of being a Quaker is one that can not be defined in a vacuum; it must be experienced as a part of the whole. - Martin Kelley

While church-focused Facebook applications have been around for years, now real-life churches across the country are spreading their messages online, giving more people access to worship services and helping the churches reach a broader number of people. - Martin Kelley

Factionalism, favoritism, in-groups and gossip do immense, and I would say, often unacknowledged, damage to Quaker institutions and meetings, as well as in the wider world. I've seen the "mischief making" and I've seen people more often than I'd like to have leave meetings because of it. Mostly, they don't care about the quarrel, whatever it may be, but they do care about the way people act and they are appalled at what they see. - Martin Kelley