Travelling in ministry: Love, authority and power
Thomas Swain, in the last of his series on travelling in ministry, asks: Do British Friends know their authority and power?
When a Friend travels in ministry to visit a Meeting they bring new eyes in seeing that Quaker community. When is it appropriate to share this? Is it appropriate for Meeting for Worship? Sometimes it is important for the visiting Friend to hold these newly seen things in his or her heart for further seasoning and understanding. Sometimes a written letter to the Meeting, or an article to the Friend, speaking to it in a general way might be helpful.
The larger picture I have of British Friends is that they are faithful people desiring goodness. They know love and they love. Love arises from the Spirit within themselves and in the worshipping community. British Friends show an abiding passion for the immediate world around them and for events in other continents. They desire a centred and sturdy worshipping experience. There is a longing to go deeper and to be more faithful.
There seems, however, to be a lack of understanding in how this might be done. I wonder, sometimes, whether they fear becoming powerful Quakers? Why can’t Friends nurture and strengthen their authority and power? I detect that there is a yearning among British Friends for authentic religious experience – the kind of experience that has the power to convince, to influence and to make things whole again.
The Kindlers are a small group of Friends who are ministering to this need. They offer, at minimal cost, classes to Friends and Meetings. Their aim is to bring the worshipping community to an awareness of that power and truth within us that lifts us up and empowers us. They want to build that stable confidence that Friends are a gathered people and that their work is to change or restore the world and enable wholeness. From my privileged association with the Kindlers team they are making an impact upon British Friends. Is it enough? Maybe the Kindlers ‘Visioning New Fire’ conference in October might give direction for this.
Friends search for authority. They know its authenticity. Yet, they keep themselves sheltered from it. Is this because they do not understand it? Do they carry irrational fears – that someone might gain authority over them and that they might be forced to do something they are not ready to do? It is good to be wary of this kind of authority. Is my perception of British Friends correct?
The sociologist Max Weber talked about ‘charismatic authority’ that comes from grace. This is the kind of authority that originally gave Friends their legitimacy.
Are there Friends today who have an abiding love for the Religious Society of Friends, who would travel among our Meetings with a constant message that ‘there is One who can speak to our condition’? Are there Friends today who might travel among us and encourage us to enter into the grace of authority and use that power to heal ourselves? Might some British Friends rise up to visit Meetings and speak about the Guidance that has authority over our lives – that longs to address the wrongs in our world?
Do we have the faith that Rachel Wilson, an eighteenth century travelling British minister, pointed to when she wrote of the source that ‘is abundantly able to support [us] through every trial’?
In an earlier article (7 June) I noted the blossoming promises that are evident among British Friends today. How more abundant might the entire membership be if we were united in our intent to nurture our faith and support travelling ministry in Britain Yearly Meeting. Might this unleash an open throttle of love, authority and power?
