Companions Along the Way

Spiritual Formation Within the Quaker Tradition

A Resource for Adult Religious Education

Edited by Florence Ruth Kline with Marty Grundy

Workshops Part IIIa: Quaker History

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Fifteenth and Cherry Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102-1479 The publication of this book was made possible by grants from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Publications Granting Group, the Shoemaker Fund, and Friends General Conference.

We want to express our appreciation to Patricia Loring for permission to reprint excerpts from her book, Listening Spirituality, vol. 1, Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends, to the Family Relations Concerns Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for permission to reprint its Pastoral Care Newsletter and to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for permission to reprint excerpts from The Journal o f George Fox.

Please contact the following for permission to order or reprint their material: PYM Family Relations Concerns Group for its Pastoral Care Newsletter Renee-Noelle Felice for her workshop (copyright Renee-Noelle Felice)

All the other material in this publication may be reprinted without permission. We ask that you acknowledge the authors and not charge for the material.

A cataloging-in-publication record is available from the Library of Congress.

Copyright © 2000 by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Alison Anderson, Copy Editor Bruce McNeel, Layout and Cover Design Loma Kent, Cover Illustration J-A \ s Friends our way is to companion one another humbly, joyfully, and gratefully. We lived fully into this at the Companions Along the Way con­ ference; seasoned Friends felt privileged to be given the opportunity to pass on what they knew and those who received their teachings did so in the same spirit. There was the sense that we are making our spiritual journeys together and that ultimately we will all arrive at the same place. This kind of companioning hap­ pens when we, in turn, are companioned by God. The more that we are present to this Divine Companion, the more we are present to one another. It is in this spirit that this book is dedicated.

Dedicated to those Friends who teach Quakerism by the conduct of their lives Acknowledgments...... ix Preface...... xi Introduction...... 1

'/p, I * J ' ’4 W W ' m m - : ? Friday Night

Welcome, Introductions, and Queries...... 7 Why Have Quaker Adult Religious Education? Marty Grundy...... 9 Companions Across Generations Paul Anderson...... 12 Tripping Over the Rosary Beads William J. Kreidler...... 17

Saturday Night

Introductions and Q ueries...... 21 An Act of God? The Guidance of Quaker Religious Education Daniel A. Seeger...... 22 What Is Quaker Spirituality? Bill Taber...... 27 Prayer Margaret Benefiel...... 30

Part I: Teaching and Organizing Adult Religious Education Programs in the Monthly Meeting

Adult Religious Education in the Small Meeting Allen Oliver...... „...... 37 The Yin and Yang of Teaching Adult Religious Education Walter Hjelt Sullivan...... 44 Teaching Quakerism Paul Anderson...... 49 Organizing an Adult Religious Education Program in Your Meeting Shirley Dodson...... 52

Part II: Spiritual Formation

Centering Prayer Chris Ravndal...... 57 What is Spiritual Direction? Can Friends Benefit from It? Renee Crauder...... 60 The Spiritual Companions Group Nancy Bieber...... 64 What Do I Bring to the Religious Society of Friends? Deborah Saunders...... 73 Creativity and Spirit Sally Palmer...... 75 The Inner Teacher Marcelle Martin and Jorge Arduz ...... 78 The North Carolina Quaker Renewal Program Max L. Carter...... 84 Encouraging Spiritual Growth, Gifts, and Ministries in Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Spiritual Formation Program Virginia Schurman and Thomas Jeavons...... 87

Part III: Quaker History, Faith and Practice H istory

Using Quaker History to Deepen Quaker Spiritual Life Marty Grundy...... 93 Using Quaker Stories in an Intergenerational Quaker History Study Cathy Gaskill...... 113

Faith and Practice

Worship Sharing Patricia Loring ...... 115 Seeking Clarity Both Personally and Corporately Jan Hoffman...... 119 Spirit-Led Decision Making Margaret Benefiel...... 153

Part IV: Bible

Using the Bible for Spiritual Formation Paul Anderson...... 157 Friendly Bible Study Joanne and Larry Spears...... 162 Telling Bible Stories Renee-Noelle Felice...... 164

Part V: A Final Piece for Reflection

Learning as a Way of Being Kathryn Damiano...... 171

p § m m J m V

Sponsors of the Companions Conference...... 183

Combined Bibliography...... 186

Some Quaker Publishers and D istributors...... 192

Some Quaker Periodicals...... 193 Throughout the editing of this book, we experienced a deep sense of gratitude for being given the oppor­ tunity to work with the plenary presenters and workshop leaders from the Companions conference, Friends who are deeply committed to the adult religious education of Friends. We want to thank them for giving so graciously of their time and energy in adapting their conference presentations to the printed page. We also want to thank and mention by name the other contributors; without their input this book would not have come to fruition.

This publication would not have been possible without the Companions conference. Shirley Dodson, who was the staff person for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Adult Religious Education Program, discerned the need for the conference and then remained faithful to her leading by organizing it. Her organizing efforts were shared and supported by the Planning Committee; the Adult Religious Education Concerns Group of PYM; and the four sponsoring organizations: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, Pendle Hill, and School of the Spirit. Grants were received from the D’Olier Foundation, Kirk Plumsock Trust, and the Sara Bowers Fund.

Alison Anderson, a member of the PYM Adult Religious Education Concerns Group, was the copy editor. She functioned as a liaison between the editors and the layout artist, and also assembled the Combined Bibliography. She did an incredible amount of work, always in the spirit of generosity, even during those times when this editing became, in effect, a second job for her. The professional quality of this publication is due in large part to Alison.

Sara Palmer, a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, brought a much-needed clar­ ity to the organization of the workshops in the table of contents; her editorial suggestions for the indi­ vidual pieces themselves were also incorporated. Sara has a true gift for editing. Steve Gulick, interim staff for PYM’s Adult Religious Education Program, met with unceasing enthusiasm the various challenges that were sent his way, challenges such as organizing an up-to-date list of Quaker publishers and periodicals (see Resource section).

The PYM Publications Services Group and its clerk, Odie LeFever, took this publication under their wing. They emphasized quality over an earlier publishing date, directed us to apply to the PYM Publications Granting Group, and gave permission to reprint the first eleven pages of The Journal of George Fox.

Marilyn Trueblood, PYM comptroller, supported our intention to keep the selling price low, the motive being wide distribution; she also suggested that we lower the price further - which we did. We applied for grants on this basis, and were helped in this process by Carol Walz, PYM staff for grant requests. We received grants from the PYM Publications Granting Group, the Shoemaker Fund, and Friends General Conference. These grants, plus the resolve of the Worship and Care Standing Committee to help underwrite the publishing costs, made it possible to keep the selling price low. Bruce McNeel, the layout artist, had an especially challenging job, because the diverse materials in this publication required designing a wide range of formats. Bruce met this challenge with much creativity. The lay­ out not only supports the integrity of the authors, but it is visually appealing as well.

Loma Kent, a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, brought her background as Friend and artist to the cover illustration. It lovingly expresses the spirit and intention of this book.

Our work was made much easier knowing that at any time we could simply contact librarians Rita Varley, PYM Library, and Mary Ellen Chijioke, Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, for needed informa­ tion for the Resource section. They actually enjoyed responding to our calls for information.

Alyse Reid Smith, a member of the Worship and Care Standing Committee; Kingdon Swayne, a member of Newtown Monthly Meeting; and Alison Anderson, the copy editor, did the final proofreading. Proofreading is a job that requires keeping in mind a thousand and one things at the same time and only those who have attempt­ ed proofreading could begin to understand the courage it takes to volunteer for this task!

Again, our deep appreciation and thanks. It has been a joy and blessing to work with all of you.

Florence Ruth Kline, clerk PYM Adult Religious Education Concerns Group and Marty Grundy

Sixth Month, 2000

x There is more to Quakerism than the absence of outward rituals, creeds, and priests. It is a whole way of life predicated on listening to Divine Guidance on how to live so that we become ambassadors, as it were, for God’s way of Love. In former days, when most Friends grew up in tight-knit Quaker fam­ ilies and communities, Friends ways were “caught” rather than taught. But even then, it was discov­ ered that if conscious efforts were not made to teach the foundations of our faith in the Bible and our tradition, Friends tended not to know why Friends practices developed as they did, or how our faith informs our actions.

Because we have insisted on no creed or ritual to define us, and no priest to depend upon to teach us, we are each responsible for learning and teaching Quaker faith and practice. We have not abolished the priesthood, but the laity. Friends glory in the possibility of direct communion with the Divine without human intermediary, and we are all invited to develop our own relationship with God. “There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition,” is the legacy left to us by George Fox and the early Friends. Each of us is responsible for practicing the disciplines of study, reading, meditation, and prayer that develop our capacity to listen more intentionally to the Holy Spirit. We are each responsible for our own “inner work” - allowing the Light to show us those parts of our­ selves that are not in conformity with its Pure Love. Each of us, ultimately, must give up our self-will to follow God’s will.

But if each of us only practiced our own spiritual disciplines in solitude, we would not be Friends. Friends are called to be part of a faith community that listens, worships, and learns togeth­ er. Our meetings are groups in which each member is responsible for ministering to the others. The direct relationship with the Divine is wonderful. But it happens through grace, and is not under our control. Ministry is that human activity which makes more real the presence of God for another. Ministry is Divine Love mediated through words or actions. It is through learning how to live with and love each other - how to listen to the Inward Teacher instructing us in the art of Love - that we mature spiritually. Our relationship to one another is our ministry: “. . . we do not do ministry. We are ministers.” As Friends, we intend to live in such a way that our lives speak. Ministry, then, is “not primarily a task; it is a way of being in the world. It is living in relationship with God and being a wit­ ness to God. Ministry is being able to listen to the Word of God and thereby having a word of life to share with others.” (Sandra Cronk, PYM Faith and Practice, 1997, p. 106).

Quaker religious education is a subtle thing. The real teacher is the Inward Christ, the Spirit, God. But we humans can help one another through study and reflection. It is very helpful not only to be familiar with the Bible, but to understand Friends’ original approach to Bible study. It is help­ ful to be familiar with the Christian classics, and to be able to pick up Quakerly threads running through them. It is very helpful to be familiar with Quaker writers, especially journals and accounts of personal experience with God and the Society of Friends. It is helpful, then, once we thoroughly know our own, to become acquainted with other religious traditions. A study of Quakerism provides a framework for organizing and understanding our own experience of the Divine. When we engage in this study together, we develop a common language and understanding so that we are able to communicate more fully with each other. Group study pro­ vides both content and hands-on experience of sharing things we feel deeply about, and listening to one another with loving hearts.

Ideally, there is no sense of hierarchy in this faith community, although we are drawn to those who have perhaps responded more fully to God’s open invitation. Our relationship to one another is that of companions, rather than priest to parishioner. We are companions to one another as we help each other grow into a deepening understanding of the faith of Friends, and an increasing faithful­ ness to the practice to which God calls us. As London Yearly Meeting stated in 1986, “The purpose of all our ministry is to lead us and other people into closer communion with God and to enable us to carry out those tasks which the Spirit lays upon us.”

Although many paths may lead to God, and many, many faith traditions have value, not all of them are Quaker. By joining the Religious Society of Friends we have agreed that the Quaker path is the one we choose to follow. Adult religious education helps us to understand that Quakerism is not a series of doctrinal statements to be memorized, nor rituals in which to participate, but rather it is a specific orientation, a lifestyle based on inward listening to God as part of a group of Friends who are similarly engaged - a listening that is done individually and corporately. Quakerism is rooted in the biblical and Christian tradition as experienced immediately and inwardly. Friends who have gone before us have left guideposts through their words and actions. We need to know their stories, how they listened to God, when they were faithful and when they slipped, how God helped them get back on the path. If we consciously think of the whole fabric making up our Religious Society, we are less likely to assimilate habits of behavior and thought that are alien to our tradition.

Today, when the majority of Friends are convinced, we participate in a community of com­ panions who learn from one another just like Friends have always done. But are we learning Quakerism these days? In our desire to be tolerant we have become hesitant to “impose” our tradi­ tion and beliefs on new Friends. Consequently they assume that their perceptions of the Society of Friends, which often include a gentle anarchism and a stubborn individualism, are correct. They become, in turn, models for newer Friends, and Friends faith and practice become further diluted or distorted. Perhaps now is the time to ask ourselves if Quakerism is worth perpetuating. If the answer is “yes,” then we need consciously and purposefully to develop adult religious education programs that focus on transmitting our Quakerism - without apology. As religious educators our work is to provide opportunities for this education to happen in ways that engage the heart, mind, and soul of “teacher” and “student,” walking together as companions on the spiritual way.

Marty Grundy During the initial stages of planning for the Companions Along the Way conference, it became clear that the conference was not meant to be an end in itself, but one of many steps in undergirding the Society of Friends through a strong adult religious education program. We were soon led to know a second step: a publication of the presentations from Companions. While this book takes a different form than the con­ ference, its purpose is the same - to support Friends involved in adult religious education by: • providing practical workshops • acquainting them with Friends who are especially knowledgeable about Quaker spirituality • raising questions • providing a sense of community and ongoing network • inspiring and encouraging • providing an experience which exemplifies Friends spirituality Therefore, our hope is that this book will serve as both a record of the spirit of the conference and an ongoing resource. Most of the editorial decisions were based on the assumption that many of the users of this publica­ tion will be new to Quakerism and/or teaching and organizing adult religious education. Therefore, a spe­ cial effort was made to ensure that the workshops are clearly organized, that there is a good resource sec­ tion, and that the plenary and workshop presenters are available for questions via the contact information included in their biographies. At the same time, the experienced and seasoned Friend/teacher will find much enrichment. The authors bring new insights and spiritual and intellectual depth and do not hesitate to take Friends to those places where difficult and growth-provoking questions are asked. In addition to supporting Friends who identify themselves as adult religious educators, this publica­ tion could also be very useful in educating Friends for committee work, especially those committees which provide pastoral and spiritual care - such as Ministry and Counsel, Overseers, and Worship and Ministry.

Organization There are three sections: the Plenaries, the Workshops, and the Resources. Plenaries At the Companions conference the plenary speakers invited us in. They set the tone. They inspired and gath­ ered us as they responded to queries such as, “Why is adult religious education especially important for Friends?” “Is it important that there be a Quaker spirituality?” “How can adult religious education and spiritual formation be rooted in Quaker spirituality and tradition, while drawing on resources from other traditions?” The plenaries set the tone in this publication as well, and our suggestion is that they be considered before moving on to the workshops. An adult religious education committee might want to use the ple­ nary presentations and queries as a basis for a retreat to plan or evaluate their meeting’s program. The ple­ naries could also be considered by the entire meeting.

W orkshops While all of the workshops support spiritual formation, they do so from different perspectives. In this book they are divided into five sections: Teaching and Organizing Adult Religious Education Programs in the Monthly Meeting; Spiritual Formation; Quaker History, Faith and Practice; Bible; and A Final

1 Piece for Reflection. As you will discover, even these divisions are not “neat,” because more than one workshop fits under several headings.

I. Teaching and Organizing Adult Religious Education Programs in the Monthly Meeting These workshops have been placed first because they are basic. They are extremely supportive; with much sensitivity they demystify the components of teaching and organizing adult religious education. The Tin and Yang of Teaching Adult Religious Education by Walter Hjelt Sullivan focuses on teaching while Organizing an Adult Religious Education Program in Your Meeting by Shirley Dodson focuses on the organ­ ization. Adult Religious Education in the Small Meeting by Allen Oliver and Teaching Quakerism by Paul Anderson address both teaching and organization. II. Spiritual Formation These workshops address the nurturing of our spirituality in a wide variety of solitary and corporate settings. Individual spiritual practices are addressed through Centering Prayer by Chris Ravndal and What is Spiritual Direction? Can Friends Benefit from It? by Renee Crauder. Spiritual formation within the monthly meeting is addressed through an ongoing support group, The Spiritual Companions Group by Nancy Bieber, and two workshops, What Do I Bring to the Religious Society of Friends? by Deborah Saunders and Creativity and Spirit by Sally Palmer. Spiritual formation on a yearly meeting level is addressed through The North Carolina Quaker Renewal Program by Max L. Carter. Two of the workshops offer multiple settings. The Inner Teacher by Marcelle Martin and Jorge Arauz is a weekend retreat which can be used by a monthly meeting or yearly meeting. Encouraging Spiritual Growth, Gifts, and Ministries in Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Spiritual Formation Program by Virginia Schurman and Thomas Jeavons provides opportunities for spiritual work on the individual, monthly meeting, and yearly meeting levels.

III. Quaker History, Faith and Practice In the process of studying Quaker history, our Quaker ancestors can become our spiritual companions; we learn about their humanity while they inspire and challenge us. Two innovative approaches to studying Quaker history are included: Using Quaker History to Deepen Quaker Spiritual Life (with sample lessons on George Fox and James Nayler) by Marty Grundy and Using Quaker Stories in an lntergenerational Quaker History Study by Cathy Gaskill. Our Quaker practices have sprung from our faith. “To seek to know one another in that which is eter­ nal,” is explored in Patricia Loring’s Worship Sharing. The expectation that we will be divinely led if we are open has resulted in specific Quaker practices of discernment. Seeking Clarity Both Personally and Corporately by Jan Hoffman addresses a variety of contexts while Spirit-Led Decision Making by Margaret Benefiel focus­ es on the meeting for business.

IV. Bible These workshops are presented by Friends who love the Bible and offer creative and tender ways to approach it. Paul Anderson’s Using the Bible for Spiritual Formation approaches Bible study by reminding us that: “The same spirit who inspired the writings of the Bible also speaks to us as we read them.” Joanne and Larry Spears’ Friendly Bible Study uses a method similar to worship sharing; in this context, a primary focus is using our personal experiences to bring meaning to Biblical passages. Telling Bible Stories by Renee- Noelle Felice is a playful approach that makes full use of the imagination.

2 V. A Final Piece for Reflection The plenaries and Kathryn Damiano’s piece, Learning as a Way of Being, are very similar in intention. They affirm the unique place of Quaker spirituality and encourage us to immerse ourselves in our past as prepa­ ration for understanding how God is calling us now. A basic difference, however, is that Damiano’s work­ shop is very intensive and directed more toward the experienced and seasoned teacher/Friend. This is not an easy workshop; it is intellectually and spiritually challenging.

R esources Sponsors of the Companions Conference includes a description of the work of each organization as well as contact information.

The Combined Bibliography includes all the references mentioned in the plenaries and workshops. The Quaker Publishers and Periodicals lists are up-to-date.

No printed material serves its purpose if it remains on the shelf. We invite you to invite others in your Meeting to join with you and embark on the great adventure of learning and living ever more deeply into the Quaker Experience of a life centered on God.

Florence Ruth Kline

note: for updates on the contact information in the biographies please call PYM Adult Religious Education staff at 215-241-7182

3 Part III:

Quaker History, Faith and Practice History to Deepen Quaker Spiritual Life Marty Grundy

“Adult religious education discussion groups based on the study of Quaker history have as their ultimate goal nothing less than the spiritual formation of the participants. They do so by offering content about our faith and practice as well as our story - how we do things. They also furnish the imagination with scenarios for dealing with difficult situations and people in loving, creative, God-centered ways. ”

Marty Grundy has been drawn by her interest in history to examine more deeply the faith and practice of earlier Friends. She sees Quaker history as a duet between past and present. Our current experiences of living in a Friends meet­ ing can shed light on the dry historical facts we read, while the experiences of past Friends can illuminate our present sit­ uation. Marty has been a warm adovcate of the use of small groups to nurture spiritual growth within meetings. She cur- rendy serves as clerk of the oversight committee of the Travelling Ministry Program of Friends General Conference. Marty Grundy can be contacted at 216-932-2144 and [email protected].

This selection is divided into four parts: “Quaker history” is understood to include a very • Introduction and method broad range of topics, because nearly every topic can be looked at with the historian’s eye. The most com­ • Suggested topics and texts for a Quaker adult mon approach to Quaker history would be a chrono­ rehgious education program logical one. This would mean starting with the reh­ • Sample lesson: The James Nayler Incident gious upheavals of mid-seventeenth-century England • Sample lesson: The Journal of George Fox and George Fox (or, even better, begin with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Studies Program units on the Bible and Christian Thought) and moving methodically down through the decades, examining the major people and issues as they arose. The purpose of studying Quaker history in the context Another approach might be to take an issue, say of adult religious education is to acquire knowledge of worship and prayer, or meeting for business, or racism the developing experience of Friends (that is, over time), within the Society, and look at how it developed. W hat knowledge that provides a framework or skeleton onto did early Friends think they were doing that was new? which our own individual and corporate relationship Or was it not so new? Then follow it down through the with God can develop the muscles and flesh of a living years as the larger culture changed and Friends faith. In order to enter into this dialogue with our own increasingly assimilated into a far different, modem rich tradition we need both to be familiar with it and to world. For example, in what ways have our worship be actively engaged in our own spiritual journey. and prayer or our meetings for business changed over Adult religious education discussion groups or the years? In what ways have we grappled with, classes based on the study of Quaker history have as ignored, or overcome racism? their ultimate goal nothing less than the spiritual for­ However, this is not adult rehgious education mation of the participants. Facilitators of these classes yet. Providing the facts with which we interact is only need to keep this purpose in mind so as to guard the beginning. The important education involves against 1) an intellectual study that does not engage the pondering, individually and as a group, how these hearts and souls of its participants and 2) a wide-rang­ various facts resonate with our experience, our hopes ing exploration of generic spirituality that is not root­ or fears, the reality of our own meeting situation, and ed in the Quaker tradition. our experience of the Divine. As we hold these “facts,”

93 these “stories” of our spiritual predecessors in our as I am using the term here, is spiritual formation. By hearts, we open ourselves to the Inward Teacher. Then that I mean the “conversion of manners” by which the real religious education can happen. one’s lifestyle becomes conformed to the simplicity and The questions that Joanne and Larry Spears transparency of a holy life. I mean spiritually maturing, have developed for Friendly Bible Study and the Friendly bringing more and more areas of one’s life into align­ Faith and Practice Study Guide are good to keep in mind, ment with God’s will, living increasingly intentionally although they certainly don’t need to be followed in the Presence of the present moment, being trans­ formally. Modified to deal with Quaker history, basic formed into the image of Christ. questions might include: In this regard, religious education is not a series of facts that class leaders impart. It is patient assistance • What was happening in the incident or story we’re looking at? in preparing the soul to be open to promptings and teachings of the Spirit. It is looking for and encourag­ • Does the author have an agenda separate from what ing small sproutings of these Seeds of Life springing might have been the agenda of the actors? up in each other. It is bringing the shadow parts of our­ • What might God be teaching Friends in this story - selves into the Light for acknowledging, opening to then? now? God’s grace, and healing. It is realizing that these dis­ parate people making up my Meeting are the class­ • Does it ring true with my/our experience? room in which the Spirit teaches us how to love; • What new insight do I get from this telling or retell­ together we are learning how to embody what God has ing of the story? taught Friends (our testimonies) and continues to teach us in our specific circumstances. • What problems or difficulties do I have with it? If Quakerism offers a counter-cultural, revolution­ there is a lot of resistance to a given story, we might ask, “In what way might we understand this story so ary, alternative that involves an inward shift that is so that it could be seen as true?” upsetting and radical that Friends have struggled to find words to describe it: conviction as in a court of • What essence of the Quaker message is in this story? law, being bom all over again anew, a paradigm shift. If I take this story seriously, in what ways would I have This is the work of God. But in my experience it most to change my current practice or lifestyle? often happens in souls that are prepared. So one job of Like Bible stories, Quaker history can be under­ adult religious education is to prepare souls. stood at multiple levels. These Quaker stories, too, are How does the study of Quaker history help prepare about real humans with foibles and frailties, who tried, souls? with varying degrees of success, to be faithful to what 1. It offers content and information about our faith and they understood God was asking of them. As our spir­ practice, our story, the way we do things. It offers sce­ itual experience deepens we can return to these stories narios for dealing with difficult situations and people again and again, finding new meanings. These earlier in loving, creative, God-centered ways. It offers a Friends can become our mentors and companions who “language” for describing and understanding our own have been on the path ahead of us. Through their jour­ experiences of the Divine. nals, letters, other writings, and the stories of their lives they share their wisdom and experience with us. 2. It offers an interactive medium for exploring our But if we do not examine our own thoughts, motives, own (individual and corporate) faith and practice, experience, and inner shadows in the light of their response to irritants, inward stirrings, opportunities, experience and teaching, it will remain mere educa­ challenges, visions, and experiences. We can engage in tion, and not religious education. It won’t help deepen a dialogue between past and present, between earlier and inform our spiritual life. Friends and us. They can teach us; our growing To reiterate, the purpose of religious education, experience helps us understand them.

94 Method: Some ground rules/suggestions for using some space between comments, and discourage people Quaker history for adult spiritual formation from interrupting each other. Unhke worship sharing, I think it is acceptable in this forum to question each 1. Let the group decide how frequently it wants to other’s assumptions and statements, as long as it is meet, and how much reading or other preparation it is done in love. willing to do between sessions. My own preference is to meet weekly, and have participants read the equiva­ 7. The facilitator (or someone else) needs to pay atten­ lent of a chapter each week, and if possible do some tion to the underlying dynamic of the group process, so journaling, take time to meditate daily, or find some that a few do not dominate; so that the shy ones have other spiritual practice that helps them become more space to speak but are not pressured to do so; so that the intentional about their spiritual life. The more one temptation to spin off into interesting sideroads is puts in, the more one is likely to receive. But if Friends curbed and the group brought back to its purpose and are unable to do this much, it is better to be realistic topic; so that the discussion ends at the appointed time, and honest about our mutual expectations. with sufficient time for closing worship; so that when necessary Friends are reminded to speak of their own 2. Start each session with worship; invite the Holy experience and how their hearts resonate with the par­ Spirit’s presence to be felt. Invite the group to center ticular incident or story being studied, rather than down to a deeper place where each participant is open launching into an explanation of something they read to being taught whatever God wants to teach now. that brings the group to a more surface, intellectual level. 3. There are at least two ways of knowing: one is the 8. Close with worship. If it has been a particularly good usual intellectual way but the other is a more intuitive session, with deep sharing or visible moments of inward way that is the method God more often uses to growth or grace, see if vocal prayer might arise, communicate with us. Adult religious education needs expressing gratitude. Name what has happened, as part to be open to both. The discussion needs to involve the of learning to recognize God’s graceful work among us. intellect in order to grasp the concepts and sift the evi­ dence; it also needs to involve the heart in order to test All this can be applied to the sample lessons on how the incident or story confirms or challenges one’s James Nayler, pp. 100-3 and George Fox’s Journal, pp. own experience. 104-12. 4. Possible discussion questions are suggested above. The purpose is to engage those deeper places within each person where growth can happen. The hope is to continually offer an invitation to be open to a larger relationship with Divine Love, through a deeper understanding of our tradition. 5. When there are opportunities for role-play, such as These use Quaker history as the framework for deepen­ the Wilkinson-Story controversy or the Nayler-Fox ing our spiritual life through a better understanding of disagreement, this helps make the arguments more real Friends faith and practice. and connected with ongoing issues within the Religious There are enough topics here for a multi-year pro­ Society of Friends. Time needs to be allowed for discus­ gram. It is not my intent that they all be used! Pick and sion afterward, to share emotions as well as arguments, choose what seems most useful for your specific group and to make connections with our own situation. and meshes with the gifts of the facilitator. The pur­ 6. Some of the usual ground rules of worship sharing pose is to counter the impulse to “dress up” in a few are important. Confidentiality should be respected. selected Quaker phrases or practices, thinking that What is spoken in the group should not go outside thereby we have donned the richness and depth of without the permission of the speaker. Try to leave Quaker faith. We “put on” faith and its transformation

95 of our lives through inward surrender to Divine Love. was it like? were there mentors? how did the person The hope is that by studying Quaker history we might demonstrate conviction/convincement? what was the be more open to this surrender and transformation and cost? Lifestyle changes - what form did they take? what that we will understand more fully our specific Friends were the clues that the person was listening to God, path. and trying to obey God? what constituted a faithful If at ah possible, it is good to begin with the life, then and now? The role of other Friends - what Bible and Christian Thought segments of Philadelphia was the role of the worshipping group for the new Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Studies Program. (These are Friend? of early Quaker leaders? If there are con­ the curricula Finding Our Way in the Bible and Christian tentious issues in your present group, are there reso­ Thought; the latter is out of print, but may be borrowed nances of similar issues in any of these biographies? from another meeting or Friends library. Both can be Scour your meeting, public, or university library enlarged and augmented if the group is willing and or used book store for journals, most of which are out able to spend more time in their company.) They of print. There are collections of stories such as Elfrida familiarize the group with biblical and Christian stories, Vipont Foulds’ George Fox and the Valiant Sixty, Daisy vocabulary, and major themes in which the Rehgious Newman’s Procession of Friends, or Violet Hodgkin’s Book Society of Friends is rooted. of Quaker Saints (check the historical notes at the back The eight starred topics in the following hst to sort fact from fiction). You will find that first person focus on a basic understanding of Quaker faith and narratives and journals are better than biographies practice through studying historical texts and events. (even if the syntax is more difficult) because they tend (Complete biographical information for the texts hsted to be more honest about the struggles than later biog­ can be found in the Combined Bibliography at the raphies, some of which have a specific doctrinal agenda. back of this book.) For the most part materials are * Robert Barclay, Barclay’s Apology in Modem English. readily available for group reading. The remaining edited by Dean Freiday. This was understood by topics can enrich and supplement this basic under­ Friends until well into the nineteenth century to be the standing of Friends. Gathering source material for clearest description of the reasons for our pecuhar faith these topics may take more effort, but the rewards can and practice. Do we still find that it states the basis for be substantial. Care must be taken to keep the focus on our coming together as a faith community? Where do our own spiritual growth - to interact with the materi­ we differ? al, and not let this become a college course in Quaker history and sociology. James Nayler. See sample lesson on pp. 100-103. In addition to exploring the implications of his ride into Seventeenth Century: The Foundation Bristol, the group can read some of his writings, which The Protestant Reformation and English Civil War are excellent examples of early Friends faith. W here did Quakers fit into the mix? The standard Isaac Penington, The Light Within and Selected Writings. reference is William Braithwaite’s The Beginnings of This is especially appreciated if you are inspired by Quakerism. There are a number of excellent scholarly earher Christian mystics. Here is one of our own. studies. Wilkinson-Story controversy. The incident of this clash * The Journal of George Fox, or at least the first 160 between individual and corporate discernment and pages or so (the Nickalls edition is most definitive). authority is described in William Braithwaite’s The See sample lesson on pp. 104-12 for one way to ap­ Second Period of Quakerism, chapter 11. Kate Kerman proach the Journal. developed a role-play on this incident; she can be * Stories of early Friends. One way to approach this is to reached at bababear@galaxy_g.mv.com. Friends con­ have each person in the group read a journal or story tinue to wresde with the issues raised by Nayler, of one of the early Friends and report to the group, Perrot, Wilkinson, Story, and others. What can we looking for common themes. Convincement - what learn from them?

96 * Quaker organization. The Friends movement crystal­ own hfestyles and see if we have in them the seeds of lized into monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings for war or injustice. He challenges us to look at the inter­ men and for women, with “select meetings” for minis­ connections of economic activities with social, politi­ ters and elders. What was the purpose as well as the cal, and justice issues, and all of these with our spiritu­ impact or effect of this structure? What is the theory al hfe. Above all he challenges us to trust Divine Love underlying Quaker decision making and corporate dis­ to show each of us our own part in witnessing against cernment? What have we discarded or changed, and systemic wrongs. why? The history of the formation of the structure is The reform movement of the mid-HOOs. This might in Braithwaite’s The Beginnings of Quakerism, chapter 8, include looking at the motivation for an increased and in The Second Period of Quakerism, chapters 9, 10, focus on books of discipline and the use of queries; and 12. For an exploration of where we are today, see ministers, elders, and overseers; proper marriage pro­ Patricia Loring’s Listening Spirituality, vol. 2, chapters cedure; plain dress and speech; Quaker lifestyle; the 5 and 6. importance of family; “guarded education” and the Eighteenth Century: Time of Consolidation, “hedge.” Rebecca Larson’s Daughters of Light, chapter Stress, and Change 5, illustrates the concerns of Friends ministers of the time. The scholarly study of the reform is Jack The ideals and realities of Pennsylvania. William Penn’s Marietta, The Reformation of American Quakerism, but “Holy Experiment” bumped up against the realities of care must be taken not to slip into an intellectual dis­ frontier spaciousness and anti-authoritarianism; rela­ cussion of the material. You might study this in con­ tions among Quakers, the natives, other settlers, and junction with John Woolman’s Journal. slaves; problems of increasing wealth; and holding political power in an imperialist world. There are a The abolition of slaveholding among Friends. Jean number of good books on these topics, but few ask the Soderlund’s Quakers and Slavery is a good study for reader to ponder the spiritual questions and implica­ background and raises some interesting points for tions, or the resonances for our own lives. Friends to wrestle with - if we can avoid running off into scholarly discussions. It is important for Friends Quietism. I am not satisfied that there is a good, single today to see how controversial anti-slavery was, how study of Quietism that gives credit to its positive values long it took to come into unity that slaveholding was and its distillation of earlier Quakerism into a culture incompatible with the way God was asking Friends to rooted in the family and meeting. Quietism mostly hve, and how Friends managed to accomplish it. When gets a bad press among today’s Friends for its later Friends finally understood what God required of them, excesses and dryness. Fenelon’s A Guide to True Peace is those who were not in unity were disowned. How do a good way to get inside of what Quietism was about; we understand the desire for a witness that is made by a study of the Bible and Christian thought will help all Friends, and the discipline required to ensure it? To Friends to be familiar with the Christian language of what new understanding might God be calling us today? this little book that was much beloved by earlier Friends. William Taber’s history of Ohio Yearly Friends Peace Testimony. The Revolutionary War was Meeting (Conservative), Eye ofFaith, also gives insights the last time all Friends consistently upheld the peace into later Quietism. testimony. Look at the political actions, war tax issues, and disownments, and ponder how they resonate - or * John Woolman, The Journal and Major Essays of John not - with our more recent experience. See pamphlets Woolman (Moulton edition). Pay attention to his from War Tax Concerns Committee, P.O. box 6441, understated descriptions of how he dealt with difficult Washington, D.C. 20009. See also Sandra Cronk’s people, submitted to the discernment of his meeting, pamphlet, Peace Be with You: A Study of the Spiritual Basis and modified his economic and social life to be at the of the Friends Peace Testimony. Questions might be raised service of God. Woolman challenges us to look at our around the concept that as a people gathered by God to

97 demonstrate God’s realm, only those who were living Ingle’s The Hicksite Reformation. Thomas Hamm’s The this way could be “owned” as Friends. Transformation ofAmerican Quakerism is excellent back­ ground reading for how American Orthodox Friends Quaker quietism gone to seed. What caused meetings to separated into Gumeyites and then became today’s become somnolent and spiritually dry? Friends reacted Friends United Meeting and Evangelical Friends by reaching for spiritual food from outside Quakerism, International branches. Bill Taber’s Eye of Faith gives such as camp meeting revivals and New England an insight into the Wilburite branch. What’s it all unitarianism. What are the parallels with today as about? Which pieces of the original Quaker charism Friends seek spiritual nurture in other traditions? does each branch have? Which pieces are we missing? There were differing Quaker ideas about how to Are we still fighting the same old battles? How do we encourage a renewal that most Friends agreed was handle differences today? What is the relative impor­ needed. British traveling ministers, with firm ideas tance of personality, power/control, and theology in about how to proceed, had a big impact on Friends in our divisions and differences? What - if anything - is the USA. Do we need some sort of renewal today? worth separating over? How might we describe what is needed, and how might it be encouraged? Reform movements. Friends are famous for their support of abolition, women’s rights, temperance, missionary French Revolution. This topic is included not to exam­ efforts, education for African-Americans as well as ine French history, but to look at the ideals the French their own children, prison reform, peace, and so on. Revolution stirred up and the subsequent reaction The actions of a few Friends did not necessarily speak against radicalism, deism, and “infidelity.” Quakers for the inactive majority. Is that the case today? What were caught up in these controversies, and in some wasn’t addressed? Which of these causes do we still regards have never resolved them. Here might be support and which have we dropped? Why? What seen the seeds of the current extremes within the were the motivations for nineteenth-century Quaker Religious Society of Friends of rational, secular reformers? Are they the same as our motives today? humanism, and fundamentalist evangelicalism. Evangelical Quakerism. Caroline Emelia Stephen’s Nineteenth Century: Separation Quaker Strongholds and Hannah Whitall Smith’s The and Accommodation Christian's Secret of a Happy Life give the flavor of evan­ New economics. The rise of market capitalism brought gelical Quakerism. new opportunities, upheavals, and distress. Explore the Twentieth Century: Each Branch Assimilates intersection of Quaker spiritual values and ethics with into a Different Sub-culture market capitalism - then and now. The following books cover a long period of time, but point to the Erosion of the “hedge. ” Friends assimilated into varying ambiguities of Friends who “did well” by “doing good.” strands of the dominant culture. The Manchester Frederick B. Tolies, Meeting House and Counting House: Conference of 1895 signalled rapid changes within The Quaker Merchants in Colonial Philadelphia, 1682- London Yearly Meeting. Rufus Jones - what was his 1783; John Sykes, The Quakers: A New Look at Their message? how did it change our interpretation of ear­ Place in Society, and Philip S. Benjamin, The Philadelphia lier Friends understanding? what is his legacy? How Quakers in the Industrial Age, 1865-1920. Douglas Gwyn, did we drop our older testimonies against such things The Covenant Crucified, looks at the conflict between as alcohol or divorce, so that most moral choices today covenant relationships and commercial contracts. are seen as personal rather than something one does as part of the larger group’s witness? * Separations. Development of Hicksite, Orthodox, Gumeyite, Wilburite, Beanite, Updegraffite, and other Effort to make the peace testimony the vehicle for twentieth- branches of Friends (Geoffrey Kaiser’s wall chart of the century Quaker renewal. What got left out? Look at Quaker separations makes it graphic). See Larry AFSC, CPS, Vietnam: the division between social

98 action for peace and justice and inward transformation. Faithful Church Community; Lewis Benson, Catholic See Allen Smith, “The Renewal Movement: The Peace Quakerism-, John Punshon, Testimony and Tradition: Testimony and Modem Quakerism” and Sandra Cronk, Some Aspects of Quaker Spirituality. Peace Be with You.. Current divisive issues Friends face. Theology, gender Friends General Conference. What is the function of this relations, assimilation, syncretism, individualism: non-hierarchical body? Reunification of some divided where is God in these struggles? Are the answers we yearly meetings at mid-century: did anything get lost? seek individual or corporate? What does past Quaker what stresses remain? wisdom say about these things? What inward work is required for us to be open to whatever God is teaching Other branches. What’s going on among Friends in us now regarding these - or any - issues? Conservative (Eye of Faith, William Taber’s history of Ohio Yearly Meeting, Conservative, and Wilmer * Current Quaker insights into spiritual formation. Cooper’s Growing Up Plain), Friends United Meeting, Patricia Loring, Listening Spirituality, vol. 1, Personal and Evangelical Friends International branches? Has Spiritual Practices Among Friends is helpful, as are John anyone had experience with the Friends World Com­ Punshon, Encounter with Silence and Thomas Kelly, A mittee for Consultation and various world gatherings? Testament of Devotion. Why do we reach out to dialogue with Friends from History ofyour monthly meeting and yearly meeting. W hat other branches? What might our local meetings do in were past issues? are they still around? W hen were this regard? there times of grace? W hen was the group faithfully * Absorbing the Zeitgeist. In the second half of the twen­ listening and obeying? when not? What fruits are visi­ tieth century so-called “liberal” Friends absorbed the ble from a time of humble obedience to God, and a various attitudes that were currently popular. These time of forging ahead under human power? What are included increasing secularization in the 1960s and your touchstone corporate experiences of covered 1970s, and new interest in spirituality in the 1980s and meetings for worship or coming into unity in God’s 1990s, especially in non-Christian traditions. How do presence on a difficult issue in meeting for business? If we ascertain what is “Quaker” and what is not? Does your meeting has not experienced either of these it matter? The following might help focus discussions recently, what might you do, individually and as a on where Friends are today in regard to our tradition, group, to be more open to the possibility of such grace? or parts thereof: Lloyd Lee Wilson, Essays on the Quaker Vision of Gospel Order, Patricia Loring, Listening Spir­ ituality, vol. 2, Corporate Spiritual Practice Among Friends-, All the resources mentioned above are included in the Sandra Cronk, Gospel Order: A Quaker Understanding of Combined Bibliography on pages 186 to 191.

99 Samp>le 1.essein fo r !Studying the lames5 Nayler Inicident ' ■ ^ ' . vk,’ •, ■ ' • Marty Grundy

• Piggyback on it. People “out there” have respect for our Introduction tradition of good works and race relations; we can ride that reputation to forward current projects and to secure The purpose of studying Quaker history in the context of resources. We don’t want to look too carefully at the real­ deepening our spiritual life is to acquire knowledge of the ity of the past, just use its patina for current purposes. We developing experience of Friends, in order for it to provide aren’t sure we agree with all they said and did and a framework or skeleton on which our own individual and believed back then anyway. corporate relationship with God can develop the muscles • Recall it often. Reflect on it again and again; use it to leam. and flesh of a living faith. In order to enter a dialogue with What was the original vision that fired us? Where did we our own rich tradition, we need (1) to be familiar with it, almost lose it? Where did we lose it? Where did Grace and (2) to be actively engaged in our own spiritual journey. flow? Where did God break in to keep us from losing it? Adult religious education discussion groups based What, in retrospect, was crucial for the next step forward? on the study of Quaker history have as their ultimate goal What is the nature of the “goose that lays the golden nothing less than spiritual formation of the participants. eggs”? How do we nurture the “goose”? Facilitators of these classes need to keep this purpose in Friends history is not just a series of glorious sto­ mind so as to guard against (1) an intellectual study that ries in which we “got it right.” It is also the account of our does not engage the hearts and souls of its participants, or human frailties, our bumbling and cowardice, our egos (2) a widely-ranging exploration of generic spirituality that is and power struggles. To taste the richness of our tradi­ not rooted in the Quaker tradition. tion, we need to know the times of grace and faithfulness So, What Does Quaker History Have To Do with and the times of missing the mark. And, we need to know Spiritual Formation? what happened next. How did we get back on track? What were the results of missteps? Reflecting on our own 1. It offers content and information about our faith and experience, we may come to reassess which times and practice, our story, the way we do things. It furnishes the individuals were faithful and which missed the mark. imagination with scenarios for dealing with difficult situ­ James Nayler offers such an opportunity for reflec­ ations and people in loving, creative, God-centered, self- tion because his is such a multi-leveled story. It has been (ego)-sacrificing ways. It offers a “language” for describ­ interpreted and reinterpreted according to the experience ing and understanding our own experiences of the divine. and times of the teller. Our purpose is not so much to 2. It offers an interactive medium for exploring our own arrive at a definitive understanding of Nayler, but to see (individual and corporate) faith and practice, our response in what ways he and the other participants in those events to irritants, opportunities, challenges, and experiences. open our understanding of such timeless issues as dis­ What we are looking for is a dialogue between past and cernment, ego, lack of centeredness, prejudice, grace, present, between earlier Friends and us. They can teach symbolic actions to make a point, forgiveness, accounta­ us; our growing experience helps us understand them. bility to the group, and love. Their experience informs our own. We become rooted and connected in our own tradition. James Nayle Gordon Cosby of the Church of the Savior in Washington, Background Informatio D.C. suggests there are three ways we can use our history: • Chuck it. Times have changed; we can’t and don’t James Nayler was eight years older than George Fox and want to be seventeenth-century people; we’re tired of had risen to the rank of quartermaster in Cromwell’s New hearing about the past. Model Army, but then settled into farming near

100 Wakefield in the north of England. He met George Fox Fox, languishing in Launceston Casde prison, was in 1651. While plowing one day Nayler heard a voice trying to guide the Quaker movement. Larry Ingle sees his telling him to leave his father’s land (and his wife and conflict with Nayler as a struggle for power. Although the family). He became a gifted preacher among the Children men preached similar things, they differed in 1655 on how of Light. In early July 1655 he arrived in London and was adamant one must be in outwardly upholding the various recognized as a leader, skilled at debating with non- testimonies. Fox was more concerned with the necessity to Friends, more sophisticated than the sometimes jarring harness individualism for the movement’s good. Nayler Fox. Nayler was quick and intelligent; his writing was was more concerned about an individual’s faithfulness to polished and incisive; he attracted enthusiastic followers, what he or she discerned within. Fox was also attempting among them some very devoted women and men. Fox and to coordinate a public relations campaign to convince hos­ Nayler, often considered the top Quaker leaders, worked in tile magistrates of the peaceful intentions of Friends. harmony, along with others in the growing movement. Friends urged Nayler to go to Bristol, where a gath­ ering of 5,000 Friends was addressed by Burrough and Growing Dissension Among Friends Howgill, among others. Nayler’s followers, especially In the fall of 1655 Fox left London; he was arrested in Timothy Wedlock and Martha Simmonds, disrupted and Cornwall in January 1656. Seasoned Friends Edward unsettled the gathering. Wedlock removed his hat in Burrough and Francis Howgill had also left London. Nayler’s presence, implying the divinity of Nayler. Nayler When they returned nine months later, in April 1656, set off to meet with Fox in Launceston, but was arrested in they found great changes. A small group surrounded early August and imprisoned in Exeter. Nayler with adulation for his charisma and “Christ-like” Meanwhile Simmonds and Stranger had visited Fox bearing. They included Martha Simmonds and her hus­ in Launceston Casde and rebuked him for acting as if he band Thomas and brother Giles Calvert (the two major “was Lord and king.” Simmonds taunted Fox that he would Quaker publishers), Hannah Stranger and her husband be replaced by Nayler as leader of the Friends. John, Dorcas Erbury (daughter of William Erbury), and In September 1656 Nayler was beginning to several others. In the tension and stress of spreading the emerge from his depression and Fox was released from word, making its witness, meeting violent persecution and gaol. But instead of going immediately to Exeter, Fox harassment, and gathering converts, dissension had devel­ held a series of general meetings. While he was thus occu­ oped within the movement. pied, Simmonds arrived in Exeter and once more Nayler Not unlike the situation among early Christians in became unable to function. When Fox finally visited Corinth, there were those who were for Nayler and oth­ Nayler in late September, their meetings were unsatisfac­ ers who were for Howgill and Burrough. An underlying tory. Nayler’s followers did not remove their hats when dynamic identified by Christine Trevett was the strain Fox prayed at the meeting for worship in the gaol, imply­ between Martha Simmonds and male ministers who ing that his words were not true prayer. In private meet­ attempted to discipline her extravagant and disruptive ings the two men expressed tenderness and love for each preaching and behavior. Trevett sees this as patriarchy other, but full reconciliation eluded them. attempting to define female ministers as hysterical and The final meeting between Naylor and Fox was manipulative and thus control them. Martha appealed to bizarre: Nayler, on his bed in a lower recess, gripped Fox’s Nayler, who first tried to admonish her. She wept bitter­ hand, and asked permission to kiss him. Fox tried to raise ly and reproached him, and Nayler seems to have been Nayler to his level, but could not. Fox refused to move immobilized, caught in some great internal struggle, out­ lower to Nayler. He held out his hand for Nayler to kiss, wardly in deep depression. and Nayler refused. Fox then thrust out his foot to be By mid-summer Simmonds and Stranger were chal­ kissed. This also was refused. So the men parted. There lenging Burrough and Howgill regularly at meetings. was never, however, any public denunciation or break Simmonds and Nayler seemed to have had a strong attrac­ between the two men. tion for each other, although there is no evidence they were sexually involved. Pressure mounted on Nayler to con­ Enacting Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem demn Simmonds or publicly support her. But he was too ill. In early October Nayler and his followers were released

101 and began moving toward Bristol. The language of his Saviour.” She claimed Nayler had raised her from the followers became explicitly messianic. Nayler may have dead. Her damaging testimony was exploited to the full. been struggling to discern a leading to present himself as Parliament was united in condemning Nayler but divided a “sign” that would make clear the Quaker vision as well on naming the offense and determining the sentence. as his own authority. Nayler had said his punishment would be a part of the In Glastonbury and Wells they reenacted Christ’s sign, and Parliament played its role. It declared Nayler entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. They arrived in guilty of “horrid blasphemy” and for being a “grand Bristol on a rainy Friday afternoon, October 24. Nayler impostor and a great seducer of the people” (see Mark 14: sat slumped on his horse in a seeming daze, led by the bri­ 64 and Luke 23: 2, 14). dle held by Martha Simmonds and Hannah Stranger. In the end Nayler was sentenced to be pilloried and John Stranger and Timothy Wedlock took turns walking whipped through the streets of London, then pilloried in front, while Dorcas Erbury and a man mounted on a again and have his forehead branded with a B and his single horse, and several others, followed. They slogged tongue bored through with a hot iron. Then he would be through ankle-deep mud, singing “Hosanna” and “Holy, indefinitely imprisoned. Nayler responded, “God has holy, holy, Lord God of Israel” in a sort of humming given me a body; he shall, I hope, give me a spirit to singsong. Curious townspeople gaped at them. They endure it. The Lord lay not these things to your charge. I passed through the center of town to an almshouse on the pray heartily that he may not.” The first round saw Nayler far side. There they were arrested that evening. Having so badly injured from 310 lashes that petitions were pre­ been warned by Fox and others, Bristol Friends were con­ sented to postpone the second round. At his second pillo­ spicuously absent. rying the three women grouped themselves around him, evoking the three Marys at the cross. Robert Rich kissed Nayler’s Trial Before Parliament his branded forehead. Bristol authorities saw that the incident could provide an Ramifications of the Nayler Incident excuse for maximum political action against the Quaker movement and might be used to create a popular backlash One immediate result was an increase in perse­ against Friends. The letter from Fox condemning Nayler, cution of Friends. A longer term result was added impe­ found in his pocket, was not used in the ensuing trial. The tus to establishing a firmer institutional framework meld­ case was tried in Parliament, despite its lack of legal juris­ ing individual inspiration and the discipline of the group, diction. Nayler’s trial dominated the sessions. Nayler tes­ and providing a forum (the parallel structure of women’s tified that: meetings) through which women’s gifts could be exer­ cised. Another result was Nayler’s final statement. After I do abhor that any honors due God should be given to his release from prison in 1659 he resumed preaching in me as I am a creature, but it pleased the Lord to set me London. He sought Fox’s forgiveness. When he finally up as a sign of the coming of the righteous one.. . . I was met Fox, he knelt in front of him, implicitly asking Fox’s commanded by the power of the Lord to suffer it to be blessing. But Fox was apparently never really able to for­ done to the outward man as a sign, but I abhor any give him. In October 1660 Nayler headed north to visit honor as a creature. his wife and family. On the way he was beaten and robbed (Douglas A. Gwyn, The Covenant Crucified, p. 167) and left along the road. He was found and taken to the Nayler’s testimony was acknowledged as very home of a local Friend where he died two days later. His acceptable by Friends, as he insisted, “There was never final words were quoted as: anything since I was bom so much against my will and mind as this thing, to be set as a sign in my going into There is a Spirit that I feel, that delights to do no Evil, these towns, for I knew that I should lay down my life for nor to revenge any Wrong, but delights to endure all it.” His followers, however, showed real confusion things, in Hope to enjoy its own in the end; its hope is to between the sign and the person of James Nayler. Dorcas out-live all Wrath, and Contention, and to weary out Erbury testified that Nayler was “the only begotten Son of all Exaltation and Cruelty, or whatsoever is ofa Nature God” and she knew “no other Jesus” and “no other contrary to itself. .. it sees to the end of all Temptations,

102 as it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in a difference? How do we seek discernment and grounding thoughts to any other, For its ground and spring is the when dealing with people who are teetering on the thin edge Mercies and forgiveness of God;. . . between great spiritual gifts and “madness”? (Gwyn, The Covenant Crucified, p. 161) 3. How do we deal with a conflict between an individual Continuing Efforts to Understand the Incident leading and the group’s sense that this is not a true lead­ ing? How does the vision of “Gospel Order” suggest a way Ever since Nayler, Friends have wrestled with the inci­ forward in such a conflict? What has been our experience? dent. Most explain it as the gifted Nayler becoming over­ wrought from the strain of work and fasting, succumbing 4. How do we understand Nayler’s radical call to be a to the flattery and excesses of his mosdy female followers, “sign”? A sign of what? What is the deeper spiritual and allowing himself to be used by them. Some point to meaning of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, his passion and the power struggles within the movement, between the resurrection? Of Nayler’s enactment of it? Of its reso­ women and male authorities (although Margaret Fell nances in our own experience? consistendy opposed Simmonds’ faction and some men 5. How do we understand early Friends’ radical vision agreed with her), or between Fox and Nayler. Emilia that combined “personal salvation” with transformation Fogelklou Norlind writes of the organization of meetings of the socio-economic and political order through what as Fox’s atonement for his part in the power struggle with Gwyn calls the “spirituality of desolation” (continually Nayler. coming into obedience to God’s will, losing one’s Hfe in Douglas Gwyn has perhaps the most comprehen­ order to find it; daily subjection of one’s own self-will)? sive explanation. He sees the Nayler incident as the turn­ ing point for the Quaker movement and its radical chal­ lenge to the powers. Occurring just as Parliament was considering making the Protectorship hereditary, Nayler’s act offered a different way of seeing authority, of God come in the flesh of common people - “Christ is Virtually all histories of early Friends contain an account of come to teach his people himself.” the Nayler episode. Here are some works that treat it at Gwyn suggests that both Jesus and Nayler were greater length or offer a different interpretation. offering a radical choice that would bring about a great shift in popular consciousness that would create a William G. Bittle, James Nayler, 1618-1660: The Quaker reordering of the whole socio-economic-political system, Indicted by Parliament. or else provoke a decisive political backlash that would William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism. likely crush the revolutionary movement. In either case they expected to pay the full price with their own bodies. Leopold Damrosch, The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus: James Nayler and the Puritan Crackdown on the Free Spirit. 7-J' Some Questions from wv - ' • Maria Feola-Castelucci, ‘“Warringe with ye worlde’: the Nayler Episode Thait Fox’s Relationship with Nayler.” Still Resonate for Us Douglas A. Gwyn, The Covenant Crucified: Quakers and the Rise of Capitalism. 1. What is our experience with misplaced adulation? How do we remain connected with God, humbly obedient to H. Larry Ingle, First Among Friends: George Fox and the the Inward Teacher, when there are people acclaiming us Creation of Quakerism. as spiritual heroes? How do we help Friends caught up in Emilia Fogelklou Norlind, The Atonement of George Fox. either of these roles to get back in alignment with God? Geoffrey F. Nuttall, Studies in Christian Enthusiasm. 2. What is our experience with women or men who seem to be “hysterical” or “out of control,” to be talking extrav- Christine 'Trevett, Women and Quakerism in the 17th Century. agandy and/or sowing dissension? Does their gender make

103 Sample Lesson for Studying George Fox's Journal • ■* ' ' ' i Marty Grundy

that over time you interpret past events in your life Introduction differently. The same things are true with history. People tend to interpret past events in the light of This is a suggested way to do a series of classes on present circumstances and understandings. This is Quaker history using the first eleven pages of The good in that it makes the lessons of history usable. It is Journal of George Fox (Nickalls edition). Keep in mind not so good if past events are distorted to fit current that the purpose of studying Quaker history in the biases or agendas. context of adult religious education is to acquire The interpretation of Quaker history has shift­ knowledge of the developing experience of Friends, ed several times over the past century. An excellent knowledge that provides a framework or skeleton on synopsis can be found in Douglas Gwyn’s Introduction which our own individual and corporate relationship to Apocalypse of the Word (pp. xiii-xxiii). Probably not with God can develop the muscles and flesh of a living everyone in a class wants to delve into the twists and faith. George Fox’s writings provide today’s Friends turns of interpretation. It is helpful if one or more in with some of the language and images that he used to the group, however, are at least aware of these shifts. describe his experience. These descriptions have been One reason to prefer primary materials is to avoid the formative for shaping the Religious Society of Friends. biases of secondary interpreters. On the other hand, For a study of Fox’s Journal, Friends need suffi­ some journals and tracts use language or images that cient background to have some understanding of what are unfamiliar or confusing to today’s readers, so some was happening at the time of the first Quakers. This interpretation is very helpful, especially as back­ lesson includes a paragraph which sketches the setting. ground reading. It is good to be aware of possible It is not the purpose to provide a scholarly class, but biases and theological or institutional agendas. anyone who is interested in additional study will find In the context of historiography, why use Fox’s materials easily available, the standard being William Journal, with its difficult syntax and great length, Braithwaite’s The Beginnings of Quakerism. rather than Larry Ingle’s fast-paced, detailed biogra­ The material is not broken up into distinct class phy, First Among Friends? The answer is summed up segments and how much is covered in any given class well in John Punshon’s book review in Quaker Religious will depend on the length of each class and the interest Thought, and goes to the heart of the purpose of using in any particular part of the story. Quaker history as a tool for adult spiritual formation. Ingle treats Fox as a psychological-political-economic- Historiography social person rather than one whose major motivation People may be unaware that historians often argue was spiritual. So Ingle’s book provides good back­ over the best way to interpret their subjects. What sort ground to set the scene and understand what was hap­ of information they should gather, how it should be pening in England at the time. It underplays Fox’s organized, and above all, how it should be interpreted major theological contributions to Christianity as well or explained, are all matters of debate. These issues are as the reahty of the experience of Christ that trans­ the subject of historiography - the study of how histo­ formed women and men, enabling them to challenge ry is studied and presented. If you try to recall inci­ the dominant culture of their day by living an alterna­ dents from your own life, it soon becomes clear that tive, God-centered, corporate life. Ingle is a good anti­ your memory isn’t perfect, that it is very difficult not dote to any who want to idolize Fox. He is a less help­ to slant memories to suit a desired interpretation, and ful guide to someone who wants to understand Fox’s

104 spiritual life. For the latter it is useful to look at Alan devotional reading. So, let’s begin, keeping in mind Kolp’s Fresh Winds of the Spirit. For a deeper under­ that spiritual formation within the Quaker tradition is standing of the major theological openings of Fox and the purpose of this study. early Friends, see Lewis Benson’s work- Chapter one, pages 1-11 Procedure That all may know the dealings of the Lord with me, and the various exercises, trials, and troubles through which he led me in order to prepare and fit Begin each class session with worship. me for the work unto which he had appointed me, This helps Friends to move out of the busyness of daily and may thereby be drawn to admire and glorify activities, and to open consciously to the movement of his infinite wisdom and goodness, I think fit (before the Spirit. I proceed to set forth my public travels in the serv­ ice of Truth), briefly to mention how it was with me Follow with the historical background. in my youth, and how the work of the Lord was Sketch the setting, particularly in terms of the begun and gradually carried on in me, even from Protestant Reformation and English Civil War. Most my childhood. histories of Quakerism do this adequately. In some ways our closest analogy to the ferment of the 1640s is This opening statement has remained the major the mood of the late 1960s - except that in England it motive for Quaker journals ever since. They are not was actual civil war, not just a call to “question author­ diaries as much as later reflections intended as teaching ity.” Individuals and groups in the 1960s challenged devices. The purpose is to show how God works - not authority on many fronts, although they enjoyed the a history of the foundation of the Religious Society of protection of law and civil tolerance their 1640s and Friends, or a personal autobiography. Other points: 1650s counterparts were often denied. But the basic 1. God leads one through exercises, trials, and troubles feeling that the system, in all its permutations, was off as preparation for the work to which God appoints track in one way or another pervaded large segments of one. Have you found this to be so? Can you describe society. The loosening of censorship and legal, gov­ how you have been prepared, and for what? ernmental, and social controls provided a space in 2. God works on us, even in our youth (what does this say which Quakerism could grow and become rooted to those who are parents or First Day School teachers?). before this window of freedom/anarchy was closed 3. Have you felt moved to start writing an account of with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Setting the scene can be done in more detail, or as briefly as how God has dealt with you? reading this paragraph. I was bom in the month called July in the year 1624, at Drayton-in-the-Clay in Leicestershire. Select your material. My father’s name was Christopher Fox; he was by Depending on how much time the group wants to profession a weaver, an honest man, and there was devote to Fox’s Journal, and in how much detail, you a Seed of God in him. The neighbors called him may pick and choose what to include and what to skip “Righteous Christer. ” My mother was an upright over. It will be the rare group, indeed, that uses all the woman; her maiden name was Mary Lago, of the material provided below. family of the Lagos and of the stock of the martyrs.

Read and respond to the material. There has been a great deal of research on Fox’s fami­ I have offered questions for almost every paragraph in ly, its social standing, his father’s participation in the order to give a feel for how to develop your own ques­ local church, and so on. Ingle sees Christopher as tions based on this, or any other Quaker journal or domineering; a stuffed shirt.

105 1. Why do you think Fox stressed these aspects of his 3. Already at age 11 Fox had a practice about telling the parents? truth that later became the testimony about oaths. 2. If you were to describe the influence of your parents 4. Compare with the Quaker practice, especially in the on your subsequent spiritual hfe, which one or two eighteenth century, of making one’s words “few and aspects would you mention? savoury”; how does this resonate today? Have you tried to talk less, and to be mindful of everything you actu­ In my very young years I had a gravity and stayed­ ally say? W hat happened? Have we assimilated careless ness of mind and spirit not usual in children, inso­ talk with an over use of military, sports and accounting much that, when I have seen old men carry them­ metaphors? Do we indulge in exaggeration? gossip? selves lightly and wantonly towards each other, I have had a dislike thereof risen in my heart, and 5. Fox describes eating and drinking only for health, using creation as it is meant to be used by the creator, have said within myself, “'If ever I come to be a thus having unity with nature. How do you understand man, surely I should not do so nor be so wanton. ” Fox’s assertion of “using the creatures in their service, When I came to eleven years of age, I knew pure­ as servants in their places, to the glory of him that hath ness and righteousness; for while I was a child I was created them” - how might you word it? taught how to walk to be kept pure. The Lord taught me to be faithful in all things, and to act 6. W hat did Fox mean by the covenant? W hat is our faithfully two ways, viz. inwardly to God and out­ understanding, in our present condition? If this is too wardly to man, and to keep to “yea” and “nay” in puzzling now, put it aside until there is greater famil­ all things. For the Lord showed me that though the iarity with Fox’s understanding and use of the Biblical people of the world have mouths full of deceit and metaphors of Adam and Eve, the fall, covenant, the changeable words, yet I was to keep to “yea” and flaming sword, etc. Gwyn’s Apocalypse of the Word or “nay ” in all things; and that my words should be few Pickvance’s Readers’ Companion are helpful resources. and savoury, seasoned with grace; and that I might 7. How might we understand Fox’s division into the not eat and drink to make myself wanton but for way he was to behave, “in purity,” and the rest of the health, using the creatures in their service, as ser­ people, in “wanton filthiness,” in hght of our shibbo­ vants in their places, to the glory of him that hath leth, “that of God in everyone”? What words do you created them; they being in their covenant, and I use to explain the hfestyles of people who seem to have being brought up into the covenant and sanctified by very different ethics? the Word which was in the beginning, by which all things are upheld; wherein is unity with the cre­ Afterwards, as I grew up, my relations thought to ation. But people being strangers to the covenant of have me a priest, but others persuaded to the con­ life with God, they eat and drink to make them­ trary; whereupon I was put to a man, a shoemaker selves wanton with the creatures, devouring them by trade, and that dealt in wool, and used grazing, upon their own lusts, and living in all filthiness, and sold cattle; and a great deal went through my loving foul ways and devouring the creation; and all hands. While I was with him, he was blessed; but this in the world, in the pollutions thereof, without after I left him he broke, and came to nothing. I God; and therefore I was to shun all such. never wronged man or woman in all that time, for the Lord’s power was with me and over me, to pre­ 1. What have we absorbed from the dominant secular serve me. While I was in that service, I used in my culture that makes us find Fox’s youthful innocence dealings the word “verily, ” and it was a common and idealism distasteful? Ingle calls it “priggishness.” saying among people that knew me, “If George says Can you recall times of “purity” in your childhood? Verily’ there is no altering him.” When boys and 2. Fox says the Lord taught him - what about his par­ rude people would laugh at me, I let them alone ents? Have you learned anything, inwardly, that wasn’t and went my way, but people had generally a love taught to you by a human adult? to me for my innocency and honesty.

106 1. Was Fox such a difficult boy that his parents didn’t and lifestyle to be totally congruent. See Wilmer know quite what to do with him? Cooper’s Pendle Hill pamphlet on integrity, which 2. Does he seem a bit smug in his reporting of the later Cooper sees as the quintessential Quaker testimony. Is failure of his master? This may be a foretaste of his there any resonance of this incident with your own keeping records of the bad ends which came to those experience? who persecuted Friends. 2. When have you bucked the social norm? or con­ 3. Fox clearly was a very capable young man, honest, formed to social expectations against an inner voice? stubbornly insistent on maintaining his own integrity. 3. This seems to be the first example of Fox being let Are there any resonances with your own youthful ide­ down by humans whom he thought were “Godly.” It alism? Is this stubborn integrity something we can began the process of weaning him from human guides, teach or inculcate in our children, or is it a gift? How to his eventual dependence on Christ. Where have you would you react if Fox were your son? a child in your turned when disappointed by a human you expected First Day School? your neighbor? more of?

When I came towards nineteen years ofage, I being Then, at the command of God, on the 9th day of the upon business at a fair.; one of my cousins, whose Seventh Month [September], 1643,1 left my rela­ name was Bradford, being a professor and having tions and brake off all familiarity or fellowship another professor with him, came to me and asked with young or old. And I passed to Lutterworth, me to drink part of a ju g of beer with them, and 7, where I stayed some time; and from thence I went being thirsty, went in with them, for I loved any to Northampton, where also I made some stay, then that had a sense of good, or that did seek after the passed thence to Newport Pagnall in Buckingham­ Lord. And when we had drunk a glass apiece, they shire, where, after I had stayed awhile, I went unto began to drink healths and called for more drink, Barnet, and came thither in the Fourth Month, agreeing together that he that would not drink called June, in the year 1644. And as I thus trav­ should pay all. I was grieved that any that made elled through the countries, professors took notice of profession of religion should offer to do so. They me and sought to be acquainted with me, but I was grieved me very much, having never had such a afraid of them for I was sensible they did not possess thing put to me before by any sort ofpeople; where­ what they professed. Now during the time that I upon I rose up to be gone, and putting my hand was at Barnet a strong temptation to despair came unto my pocket I took out a groat and laid it down upon me. And then I saw how Christ was tempted, upon the table before them and said, “If it be so, Til and mighty troubles I was in. And sometimes I kept leave you. ” So I went away; and when I had done myself retired in my chamber, and often walked what business I had to do, I returned home, but did solitary in the Chase there, to wait upon the Lord. not go to bed that night, nor could not sleep, but And I wondered why these things should come to sometimes walked up and down, and sometimes me; and I looked upon myselfand said, “Was I ever prayed and cried to the Lord, who said unto me, so before?'” Then I thought, because I had forsaken “Thou seest how young people go together into van­ my relations I had done amiss against them; so I ity and old people into the earth; and thou must for­ was brought to call to mind all my time that I had sake all, both young and old, and keep out of all, spent and to consider whether I had wronged any. and be as a stranger unto all. ” But temptations grew more and more and I was 1. “Professor” was Fox’s term for one who made a pro­ tempted almost to despair, and when Satan could fession of religious faith. Later he used the term to not effect his design upon me that way, then he laid imply that they did not “possess” it, they only talked snares for me and baits to draw me to commit some about it; they didn’t walk the talk. Note Fox’s youthful sin, whereby he might take advantage of me to idealism, his growing sense of the necessity for words despair. I was about twenty years of age when these

107 exercises came upon me, and some years I continued priest in high account. And he would needs give me in that condition, in great trouble; and fain I would some physic and I was to have been let blood, but have put it from me. And I went to many a priest they could not get one drop of blood from me, either to look for comfort but found no comfort from them. in arms or head, though they endeavoured it, my body, being as it were, dried up with sorrow, grief, 1. What is the difference between “depression” and the and troubles. despair of a “dark night of the soul” (see Sandra Cronk, Dark Night Journey)? The treatment differs with the 1. Compare with today’s responses (through pop psy­ diagnosis. The next selection gives examples of poor chology, advertising, and the media) to what we label counsel, how ministers and spiritual companions depression: get a grip, get a life; get into a relationship, should not behave. have sex, get married; join the army and be all that you 2. Note how, when Fox is “down,” he examines his past can be; try alcohol or drugs of one sort or another; cure behavior for broken relationships that ought to be your medical “problem” with therapy or medication. made right. What has been your experience in this 2. Note Fox’s reference to “miserable comforters,” regard? Are there broken relationships now that need which echoes Job. This is an example of his being attention? steeped in the Bible’s language, stories, and imagery.

. . . my relations would have had me married, but 3. Have you asked for spiritual counsel and received I told them I was but a lad, and I must get wisdom. inadequate help? Others would have had me into the auxiliary band 4. Have you been asked for help and found your own among the soldiery, but I refused;. . . Nathaniel response inadequate? Stephens . . . asked me a question, . . . And the priest said it was a very good, full answer, . . . and And when the time called Christmas came, while what I said in discourse to him on the weekdays that others were feasting and sporting themselves, I he would preach of on the First-days, for which I would have gone and looked out poor widows from did not like him . . . another ancient priest at house to house, and have given them some money. Mancetter . . . was ignorant of my condition; and And when I was invited to marriages, as I some­ he bid me take tobacco and sing psalms. Tobacco was times was, I would go to none at all, but the next a thing I did not love and psalms I was not in an day, or soon after, I would go and visit them, and if estate to sing; I could not sing . . . he told my trou­ they were poor, I gave them some money; for I had bles and sorrows and griefs to his servants, so that wherewith both to keep myself from being charge­ it got among the milklasses, which grieved me that able to others, and to administer something to the I should open my mind to such an one. I saw they necessities of others. were all miserable comforters; and this brought my troubles more upon me. 1. Here is a paragraph that is often overlooked. What Then I heard of a priest living about can we glean from it? Given the rowdiness of seven­ Tamworth, . . . but I found him but like an empty, teenth-century Christmas celebrations, Fox’s reaction hollow cask. Then I heard of one called Doctor is not surprising. The same, to a degree, with wed­ Cradock, of Coventry, and I went to him . . . Now, dings. So Fox picked up on his sense of where his as we were walking together in his garden, the alley responsibility lay at such times, to share his financial being narrow, I chanced, in turning, to set my foot resources. Friends have an ambivalent relationship to on the side of a bed, at which the man was in such money. At times we can be very generous. But far too a rage as if his house had been on fire. And thus all often we are really cheapskates. What is your experi­ our discourse was lost, and I went away in sorrow, ence with giving, or receiving, money? other kinds of worse than I was when I came. gifts or assistance? After this I went to another, one Macham, a 2. Later we’ll need to look at the way early Friends

108 supported those who traveled in the ministry. Today experience with Stephens, as he was becoming clear FGC-affiliated Friends are often reluctant to share that Stephens was indeed no minister of Christ? their financial resources with a Friend called to minis­ 2. Do we get larger insights from the specific incidents ter. Is this our fear of a “hireling ministry”? are we in our lives? The larger implication is that education being stingy? do we resent someone having a spiritual and outward credentials do not “qualify” (to use gift for ministry we may not have? (This is an example Samuel Bownas’ term) a minister. What about semi­ of moving from a theme offered in the text and apply­ naries and programs today such as Earlham School of ing it to a current issue.) Religion, the School of the Spirit, or Pendle Hill that give Friends knowledge of the Bible, opportunities to About the beginning of the year 1646, as I was experience the spirituality of Christianity and other going to Coventry, and entering towards the gate, traditions, methods of pastoral counseling, and other a consideration arose in me, how it was said that all Christians are believers, both Protestants and tools? How do they mesh with Fox’s seventeenth-cen­ Papists; and the Lord opened to me that, if all were tury experience and opening? What does “fit” some­ believers, then they were all bom of God and passed one to be a minister? from death to life, and that none were true believ­ But my relations were much troubled that I would ers but such; and though others said they were not go with them to hear the priest, for I would get believers, yet they were not. into the orchard or the fields, with my Bible by myself. And I told them, Did not the apostle say to 1.How does this resonate with our sense of who believers that they needed no man to teach them, Friends are, and of how God works? but as the anointing teacheth them?” And though 2. What is your experience of being “bom of God” and they knew this was Scripture and that it was true, “passing from death to life”? If we have not experienced yet they would be grieved because I could not be sub­ anything that we can conceive of in these words, do we ject in this matter to go to hear the priest with think we are missing something? or is Fox mistaken? them. For I saw that a true believer was another 3. How do we deal with this passage? How might we thing than they looked upon it to be. . . . So neither understand it so that it is truthful? W hat are the impli­ them nor any of the Dissenting people could 1 join cations for our own lives, for our fellow Friends and with, but was as a stranger to all, relying wholly our meetings? upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

A t another time, as I was walking in a field on a 1. How would you deal with the last seven or twelve First-day morning, the Lord opened unto me that words? What questions would you ask? Do the words being bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not enough resonate with our experience or do we resist them? to fit and qualify men to be ministers of Christ; and What in it challenges us? I stranged at it because it was the common belief of 2. Would you just skip over it? Why? people. But I saw clearly, as the Lord opened it to me, and was satisfied, and admired the goodness of And removing again to another place, I came the Lord who had opened this thing unto me that among a people that relied much on dreams. And I morning, which struck at Priest Stephens'1 ministry, told them, except they could distinguish between namely, that to be bred at Oxford or Cambridge was dream and dream, they would mash or confound all not enough to make a man fit to be a minister of together; for there were three sorts of dreams; for Christ. So that which opened in me, I saw, struck multitude of business sometimes caused dreams; and at the priest’s ministry. (“Stranged at it” means there were whisperings of Satan in man in the “thought it strange.”) night-season; and there were speakings of God to man in dreams. But these people came out of these 1. Is this a very human Fox reacting to his negative things, and at last became Friends.

109 It might be too easy to get sidetracked into a lengthy the times of the first workings of the Lord in” him. discussion of dreams, psychology, and what Fox might Why is the early spiritual dynamic often like this? have been referring to by “whisperings of Satan in man W hat was going on? in the night-season.” I think it is interesting that he 2. What has been your experience? essentially had it right, that there are various kinds of dreams, only one of which consists of messages or inti­ Now during all this time I was neverjoined in pro­ mations from God. You might ask if anyone would be fession of religion with any, but gave up myself to willing to tell of a dream they’ve had that was a “speak­ the Lord, having forsaken all evil company, and ing of God,” and what were its results or fruit. taken leave offather and mother and all relations, and travelled up and down as a stranger in the Now though I had great openings, yet great trouble earth, which way the Lord inclined my heart, . . I and temptation came many times upon me, so that kept myself as a stranger, seeking heavenly wisdom when it was day I wished for night, and when it and getting knowledge from the Lord, and was was night I wished for day; and by reason of the brought offfrom outward things to rely wholly on openings I had in my troubles, I could say as David the Lord alone. And though my exercises and trou­ said, “Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto bles were very great, yet they were not so continual night showeth knowledge. ” And when I had open­ but that I had srnie intermissions, and was some­ ings, they answered one another and answered the times brought into such an heavenly joy that I Scriptures, for I had great openings of the thought I had been in Abraham’s bosom. As I can­ Scriptures; and when I was in troubles, one trouble not declare the misery I was in, it was so great and also answered to another. heavy upon me, so neither can I set forth the mer­ cies of God unto me in all my misery. Oh, the ever­ Answered” means something like “corresponds to,” lasting love of God to my soul when I was in great matches, or fits - like a key “answers” the lock. It is rel­ distress! When my troubles and torments were atively clear what Fox meant by his different openings great, then was his love exceedingly great. “answering” one another. 1. How might Fox have explained the basis of his 1. What do you think he meant that his troubles also misery? How would you explain it? answered one another? 2. W hat, if any, is the connection between great spiri­ 2. Check the reference in Psalm 19:2. Is this just a tual suffering and a powerful experience of the reality phrase that fits Fox’s sentence, or are there resonances of God’s love? W hat is your experience? with the context of the psalm that he refers to? O Lord of glory! The knowledge of thee in the spir­ And travelling on through some parts of it is life, but that knowledge which is fleshly works Leicestershire and into Nottinghamshire, there I death. And while there is this knowledge in the met with a tender people, and a very tender woman flesh, deceit and self-will conform to anything, and whose name was Elizabeth Hooton; and with these will say, “Yes, yes, ” to that it doth not know. The I had some meetings and discourses. But my troubles knowledge which the world hath of what the continued, and I was often under great temptations; prophets and apostles spake is a fleshly knowledge; and I fasted much, and walked abroad in solitary places many days, and often took my Bible and went and the apostates from the life in which the prophets and apostles were, have gotten their words, and sat in hollow trees and lonesome places till night came on; andfrequently in the night walked mourn­ the Holy Scriptures, in a form, but not in their life fully about by myself, for I was a man ofsorrows in nor spirit that gave them forth. And so they all lie the times of the first workings of the Lord in me. in confusion and are making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, but not to fulfil the law 1. Note Fox’s experience of being “a man of sorrows in and command of Christ in his power and spirit;...

110 1. This is one of Fox’s ongoing themes, but because of 3. Fox clearly assigns the power to Jesus Christ, who, his language it is hard for us to grasp. How would you Fox says, enlightens and gives grace, and faith. In light translate your sense of what he is trying to say, into of many Friends’ reluctance to acknowledge Christ as modem language? a part of their faith, what do we do with this statement 2. Having grappled to translate it, can we acknowledge by Fox? How do we understand the spiritual dynamic its truth? If we have trouble with Fox’s seeming dual­ that transformed and empowered earlier Friends? Do ism, is there any way in which we can find truth in his we yearn for that same inward healing and power? words? How do we think it “happens”?

Now after I had received that opening from the My desires after the Lord grew stronger, and zeal Lord that to be bred at Oxford or Cambridge was in the pure knowledge of God and of Christ alone, not sufficient to fit a man to be a minister of Christ, without the help of any man, book, or writing. For I regarded the priests less, and looked more after the though I read the Scriptures that spoke of Christ dissenting people. And among them I saw there was and of God, yet I knew him not but by revelation, some tenderness, and many of them came after­ as he who hath the key did open, and as the Father wards to be convinced, for they had some openings. oflife drew me to his Son by his spirit. And then the But as I had forsaken all the priests, so I left the Lord did gently lead me along, and did let me see separate preachers also, and those called the most his love, which was endless and eternal, and sur­ experienced people; for I saw there was none among passed all the knorwledge that men have in the nat­ them all that could speak to my condition. And ural state, or can get by history or books;. . . when all my hopes in them and in all men were Fox seems to be saying that a relationship with Christ gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, cannot be forced, or brought into being by human per­ nor could tell what to do, then, Oh then, I heard a suasion or intellectual argument. It happens through voice which said, “There is one, even Christ Jesus, grace, through God drawing one to Christ, through his that can speak to thy condition, ” and when I heard Spirit. It is outside of human control. So why do we insist it my heart did leap for joy. Then the Lord did let that people either embrace Christ or not embrace him? The me see why there was none upon the earth that “desire after the Lord” is God’s work; our part is to be could speak to my condition, namely, that I might open to whatever ways Divine Love reveals itself to us. give him all the glory; for all are concluded under We need to encourage, affirm, and be companions to sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been, that each other on the way. Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence, who Now that you have tried this method for eleven enlightens, and gives grace, and faith, and power. pages, feel encouraged to continue with at least the Thus, when God doth work who shall let [hinder or next hundred pages or the first 5 or 6 chapters. You can prevent] it? And this I knew experimentally. move more quickly through the Journal if the group chooses to do so. You probably want to at least read 1. Does reading this famous quotation in its context through Fox’s experience on Pendle Hill (pp. 103-4), alter your understanding of it? Would you feel more the convincement of Margaret Fell (pp. 113-14, 118), comfortable if Fox had said “there is one, even the and the first statement of a peace testimony (p. 65). But ground of thy being, that can speak to thy condition”? it is not necessary to go through the entire Journal, as Why? or why not? after a while it becomes more an account of Fox’s trav­ 2. Notice that God spoke to him only after Fox had els than of his spiritual openings and experiences. given up hope of finding the answer for himself through other people. Have you experienced a letting go, a giving up, that created the space in which God could move?

I l l '1 R esources

Basic Text:

George Fox, The Journal of George Fox, ed. John L. H. Larry Ingle, First Among Friends: George Fox and the Nickalls. Creation of Quakerism. Alan Kolp, Fresh Winds of the Spirit. Helpful for additional background understanding: Lewis Benson, Catholic Quakerism. T. Joseph Pickvance, A Reader’s Companion to George Fox’s Journal. Wilmer A. Cooper, The Testimony of Integrity in the Religious Society of Friends. John Punshon, review of Ingle, First Among Friends.

Douglas A. Gwyn, Apocalypse of the Word: The life and Message of George Fox, including his Introduction Text from The Journal of George Fox is reprinted (pp. xiii-xxiii). by permission from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

112 Using Quaker Stories in an Intergenerational er History Study Cathy Gaskill

Teaching Quaker history can be especially challenging in the adult religious education class. How do we present our precious Quaker heritage as relevant to our lives today? As an oral storyteller, Cathy Gaskill has found that storytelling is a natural way to make this connection. Because her presentation is for an intergenerational group, her approach to a serious matter is given a light (but no less effective) touch.

Cathy Gaskill is a Southeastern USA oral storyteller and published author who tells mostly true original stories of Quakers and Quaker testimonies, her most well known story being The True Story ofBetsy Ross. Quaker adventures in the Great Westward Migration, the Quaker roots of Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone and other contributors to the America we know today - from William Penn to Miriam Levering - come to life in Cathy’s stories. Her first published book, Ruth's Gift, is about Quaker migration. It was chosen by the Quaker Hill Book Club for its January 1999 selection and by the United Society of Friends Women for its 1999 reading list. Some of her family roots are in the old Philadelphia of the Revolution. Cathy lives with her husband, Roger, in Cisney House which is next door to Orlando Friends Meeting. Cathy Gaskill can be contacted at [email protected].

Recently, I did an experiment to hang the stories on the framework of Quaker history. Our Meetings With the recent focus on Quaker values, I have been are small, so all ages were welcome, although the mate­ considering how these become part of our fives, then rial was aimed at our adult members. are passed on to others. I feel that they have developed in the Quaker community. There was and is a Quaker The Experiment culture. This culture helps us to build our sense of identity and figure out our place in the world, to par­ There were eight sessions, each two hours long. Therefore, aphrase Barbara Wheeler, president of Auburn Quaker history was divided into eight periods: Theological Seminary. My yearly meeting is made up mostly of small, comparatively isolated meetings with 1. Beginnings of Quakerism. many convinced Friends. I have considered for many 2. Faithfulness and martyrdom. years how to encourage a sense of community in the 3. The use of the Bible. individual meetings. Passing on the stories about 4. “In the world but not of it” - Quaker lives. Quakers that I had heard and read as a child in 5. Our Quaker heritage divided. Friendly Story Caravan and other Quaker books was one path I took. 6. Quaker testimonies personified. 7. Quaker alphabet soup - our organizations and Over the years some of the Quaker stories I have institutions. developed relate to those testimonies of ours which are most important to me: equality, cherishing our earth, 8. The future of the Religious Society of Friends. Friends who followed leadings, and Quaker work for We began the series by sharing and writing on the persecuted groups. The listener sometimes heard these board our expectations of the course. Before planning as isolated stories with little connection, due to time each session, I, as facilitator, referred back to that sheet. restraints. I realized there could be a cohesiveness to these stories, by arranging them around one of these Then at each of the following sessions I told a testimonies. litde history and then a story related to that part of our 113 history. I posted two or three queries on the board but from Candles in the Dark and Lucretia Mott and Her made no attempt to discuss them unless a participant Mother Anna Coffin, a story developed from the excel­ requested it. I put out on the table books from the lent biography of Lucretia Mott by Margaret Hope meeting library that may be relevant to the history Bacon. period of that session. One of my foibles is that I like In session seven we called out the letters of all the handouts. I had three or four at each session. These Quaker organizations and institutions we could think dealt with much broader areas than we could have cov­ of and then went down the list telling what the letters ered in two hours. stood for and what the organization did. For AFSC, I My special interest in Mary Fisher meant that told the story of Henry Cadbury’s “new” tuxedo that the first session on the beginnings of Quakers was illus­ he wore to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. trated with how Mary became a Quaker, her prison 4ft, experiences, her travels and subsequent notoriety, her Sum m ary family life, her later life, her caring for Jonathan Dickinson and William Barow, and her death. The Redeveloping and nurturing our Quaker culture in our story ends with the Mary Fisher Memorial Parking meeting communities will take a conscious effort Garage in Charleston, South Carolina! based on the process of educating ourselves about our In our fourth session, we played the card games, precious heritage. As we tell those Quaker stories we “Quakers” and “Quaker Quotes” with Friends keeping know, to each other, we help to crystallize our thoughts notes of questions that these games raised. In the last and beliefs about how we want to live out our faith as part of this session, we pooled our knowledge and we face our constant challenges both now and in the were able to answer most of the questions, hopefully future. stimulating outside reading.

Sprinkled throughout this skimming of Quaker history are personal memories of Quaker lives that spoke to me. The story of my great-great-great grand­ father arguing theology with Elias Hicks helped with the understanding of the separation issues in session five. Margaret Hope Bacon, Valiant Friend: The Life of In session six, I told some of the series of Lucretia Mott. Underground Railroad stories I have developed, while Anna Pettit Broomell, Friendly Story Caravan. pointing out that many Quakers did not participate in that dangerous escapade. I hung the pictures of Margaret Cooper Brinton, Mary Esther McWhirter, Elizabeth Fry and Lucretia Mott on the meetinghouse and Janet Schroeder, comp., Candles in the Dark. wall for this session and told Elizabeth Fry and the Boot [1992 edition entitled Lighting Candles in the Dark]

114