Living Fire: Epistle from Oxford young adult Friends

‘The Fire has not gone out.’

Oxford young adult Friends gathered at Wallingford Meeting House in March to listen together to our Guide. In times of worship, conversation, rest, and discernment, we felt a new willingness to be led, to name and exercise our gifts, and to support each other to live faithfully. Our hearts were softened, our ears were opened to our Teacher, and our eyes were made more able to see God’s loving hand.

As the early spring sunshine streamed in through the windows, the sweet power of the Spirit helped us come into the slower rhythms of grace, where we can hear and rely on the Guide’s voice. We heard a call to the peace of abiding in the Vine, the source of our faithful work in the world. We must allow ourselves to be pruned so that we can bear the fruit we are called to bear. We are called, not to lives of busyness, but to give over our own willing and running; resting in the Presence, the tasks that are truly ours come into view, and as God has God’s way with us, we find that our lives are given new depth and new meaning. 

We reflected on where we see the gifts and leadings of the Spirit in our lives. We considered how we can encourage each other to sing, in our own ways, the song we hear God singing. We were reminded of the value of friendships in which we can ask each other how God is working in our lives. We felt the need to nurture each other into nurturing each other. There are many gifts in our community, and by appreciating the gifts God is giving us, we can become more willing to live adventurously. 

In a living Meeting, we need elders: spiritual midwives with a sensitivity to the conditions of Friends and Meetings. We need gospel ministers willing to bravely and vulnerably speak the words they are given. We need the gift of care that enables us to see more in others than they see in themselves. These gifts are given for the good of our community, so it is our responsibility to help each other deepen in them. We feel a concern to invite Friends into this deepening work.

We are comforted to know there is a lasting Power that can join us to each other, whoever we are. We heard a call to offer fellowship to those who may not yet know our ways, whom we may not yet know, but who are reached by the love we feel for each other. Can we challenge ourselves to open our doors and hearts more widely, allowing ourselves to be helped and changed by this? Are we listening for the new life the Living Teacher is calling us into? 

We have strengthened our bonds of friendship. We will carry from this place the love we have for each other. We have felt close to many who were with us in spirit, aware that our Precious Friend rejoices in our unity.

As we have encountered the Presence in this Meeting house, like many Friends before us we have witnessed the thread of Living Fire that runs from the prophets to Pentecost to the early Friends. That Fire has not gone out. It will not go out. We seek to know this Fire for ourselves, in our time. We have found it roaring here. This gives us hope for the future of our Religious Society. We have gathered around this Fire in worship, and we plan to leave it burning. 

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Comments

This epistle has been abbreviated by the Friend’s editorial team. For those who would like to see the full epistle, as agreed by Oxford young adult Friends, please visit https://fwcc.world/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Oxford-Young-Adult-Friends-Epistle-3-25.pdf.

By Matt Rosen on 3rd April 2025 - 15:10

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