Eye - 23 and 30 December 2022
From Power and purpose to George Fox’s big idea
Power and purpose
It’s been wonderful to see contributions coming in from you Friends! It has been a particular treat to see how you are sharing and building community with each other.
Antonia Swinson, of Richmond Meeting, got in touch to tell Eye about a wide-ranging Meeting for Learning they recently held. It was focussed on ‘the power and purpose of spoken ministry’ and proved to be ‘surprisingly revealing’.
‘Firstly, we agreed the most powerful spoken ministry came from deep within, giving rise to sweaty palms and a feeling of lost control.
‘We discussed the term “weighty Friends” and whether such Friends could unintentionally shift a Meeting’s direction and culture, just because they were good at public speaking.
‘Next came the killer question: had we ever been told “Our Friend has been heard!”? Despite one or two close shaves, luckily none of us had.
‘Finally, we chose our Richmond Meeting number one greatest hit in spoken ministry. This was, unanimously, an elderly Friend’s brilliant ministry on equality – the Sunday after the queen’s funeral. Who says Surrey folk don’t know how to live adventurously?’
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