'What empowered earlier Friends to witness and suffer with such audacity, and how might we encounter that same source of strength?' Photo: A section of Presence in the Midst, by James Doyle Penrose (1916)
On the move: Matt Rosen, Eleanor Beswick, Julia Dallaway & Katy Jenkinson plan an Oxford gathering
‘The Spirit is moving among young adult Friends.’
The Spirit is moving among young adult Friends. In new and exciting ways, we are being gathered, guided, and knit together by the divine hand. In response, a group of Oxford Friends are organising a Young Adult Quaker Gathering at Jordans Meeting House in August, bringing together an international group to explore how we are transformed and drawn into community by the Spirit.
The gathering will centre on ‘the presence in the midst’: the promise around which early Friends gathered, that ‘where two or three gather in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20). More than a century ago, James Doyle Penrose painted a now well-known image of this (above). It reflects the experience of early Friends, whose lives were changed by Jesus’s presence as guide, teacher, and shepherd.
Here is Penrose’s testimony about his experience of painting this image: ‘One beautiful summer day I went over to Jordans, and, quite alone, sat down in the seat from which the picture was painted… I seemed as I contemplated all those who had worshipped there in the past, to be surrounded by them in imagination as if they were gathered there. I pondered on what it was that gave them all their power; for they had power in those bygone times, and then I realized that it was the presence of Christ amongst them – “The Presence in the Midst”. And I felt there was a subject that I ought to paint; and I did feel that it was a very great undertaking. The sunlight streaming through the window threw the shadow of the casement mullion and transom on the wall, and… years afterwards, it was pointed out to me that this shadow was a cross – an empty cross. The work on the cross was a finished work of redemption, and now He, who once hung there, was the risen, living Christ whose presence may be relied upon where two or three are gathered together in His name.’
We are moved by Penrose’s reflection on ‘what it was that gave [early Friends] all their power’, and by his realisation that this was Christ’s living presence among them. We are sure that our gathering won’t look like his painting! But we want to explore what that Source of Light and Hope it captures might mean for us today. Is this just an old-fashioned image or does it have a connection to our lives? What would this experience of the living Christ among us be like today? What empowered earlier Friends to witness and suffer with such audacity, and how might we encounter that same source of strength?
We will have time for renewal, worship, fun, and exploration. But we need your help to make this happen: we need support to cover Youth Hostel fees, food and travel. Please consider supporting us.
Matt, Eleanor, Julia and Katy are from Oxford Meeting. Visit www.gofundme.com/f/yafgathering to help.
