Links to topics on the Yearly Meeting:

• Look over the photographs.
• "Convergent Friends," by C. Wess Daniels
• 2007 General Epistle (to Friends everywhere)
• 2007 Epistle to Iowa Yearly Meeting
• 2007 Epistle to North Carolina Yearly Meeting
• 2007 Yearly Meeting Agenda

Well, the 2007 Yearly Meeting is over, and everybody has had some time to decompress.  We had visitors from across the country, and from across the road.  As always, there were people who could stay for only a day or so, and there were people who managed to stay all week.  Some of us from Stillwater Monthly Meeting in Barnesville don’t have to travel at all--we live here, and we worship in the huge old Meeting House every week of the year.  For others, attending Yearly Meeting can mean a lot of travel.  For everybody it means new faces, and a chance to see some old ones that doesn't come often enough.

It was also a bit hurried for some of us, though not as much as in past years.  Yearly Meeting is the time when various committees meet who have members who live far apart.  Much of the discussion and discernment that goes on in evaluating the previous year’s activities and planning for the next takes place during Yearly Meeting.  For those members who are on multiple committees, it sometimes takes some schedule juggling to be on time everywhere.  Add in several worthwhile presentations to everybody's schedules, and there was a lot to take up our time.

One of the decisions proposed by the Agenda Committee this year was to start the 2008 Yearly Meeting a half-day earlier, to leave more room, for room.  Everybody agreed that it would be a good idea, so we’ll give it a try in 2008.

But the most important part about Yearly Meeting doesn’t have anything to do with committees, or presentations, and it sure doesn't have anything to do with hurry.  Yearly Meeting is a time to remember who we are, and who we belong to.  The purpose of the Religious Society of Friends is to serve God together as the Body of Christ, to love and serve Him, listen to His wishes, and to obey them sincerely and cheerfully.  Yearly Meeting presents us with the opportunity to do this in a time and place to which the entire Body is invited, and during which more of us in different conditions and from different directions can be brought together into the same Light.

The worship sessions of Yearly Meeting are the most important part of the experience.  If you didn’t make it this year, seriously think about trying to do so next year.  Or attend the next Ohio Yearly Meeting Gathering of Conservative Friends, on 22-24 June of 2008.  It also will be held in Barnesville, Ohio, USA this year.  Or do both.

In the meantime, we have assembled (and continue to assemble) a set of links to accounts of what happened during Yearly Meeting week.  Don’t forget to look at the photographs, and if you have taken some yourself, send them in to us.  We’ll put them up, too.  This was everybody’s party.

And come back to visit.  This section will be continuously under construction.  Keep checking back to see what we’ve added to it.

Links:

• Look over the photographs.
• "Convergent Friends," by C. Wess Daniels
• 2007 General Epistle (to Friends everywhere)
• 2007 Epistle to Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)
• 2007 Epistle to North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative)
• 2007 Yearly Meeting Agenda
  

C. Wess Daniels, Martin Kelley, and David Male spoke at Ohio Yearly Meeting about Convergent Friends.  This is an unauthorized theft from Wess's personal blog.  Go look at the real thing for more information than I have here:

From  http://gatheringinlight.com/2007/08/21/tradition-mission-and-innovation-oym/ , 21 August 2007

This past Friday Martin Kelley, David Male and I all talked about ‘ Convergent Friends: Seeking a Deeper Spiritual Experience Across the Branches of Friends’ at Ohio Yearly Meeting in Barnesville. David Male and Shawna Roberts, both from OYM, were the brains behind the Convergent Friends Workshop that Robin and I spoke at in March. Out of that presentation more interest was expressed for us to do the same type of thing for the Conservative Friends’ Yearly Meeting this August, David and Shawna again working to make it happen. While I was happy to accept the invitation, I find that traveling, speaking and meeting people is something I really enjoy, I have to say I was a bit nervous as well. Other than Shawna I’ve never met a Conservative Friend and didn’t know what to expect and I wondered whether we would be able to connect at all. I also wondered how they would feel about what we had to say, that is, I wondered if our message would be accepted or whether we’d be run out of town. I am here to report that the whole thing was a fantastic experience. Emily and I both felt extremely welcomed by all the Friends we met and really appreciated just how warmly they treated us. We left with the feeling that we would really enjoy being a part of their faith community, we also hope to be invited back sometime…

Besides the basic “we had a good time” reporting I thought I’d give a few brief thoughts on the presentation for those of you who weren’t able to join us for the fun. First David gave a brief intro and we had some silent worship, then he introduced me. The three of us were allotted 20 min to do whatever we wanted so I took the opportunity to tell everyone about our forthcoming daughter and just how excited I am about that and gave a little bit of a background on some of the things I’ve been doing as of late. Then I dived into the meat of my topic.

(Conv)ergent: Tradition and Mission

• 1) I discussed the word (conv)ergent. After talking briefly about Robin and her role as a convergent Friend I explained my take on the (conv) part of the word. That is I stated, in not so subtle terms, that convergent is rooted within a conservative Friends narrative. This means that it accepts the importance of tradition and its authority within the life of a believer. It seeks to embody the rich account of Quakerism through not only its practices but also through the understanding of its virtues. That is to say that (conv) ultimately understands that the metanarrative of Quakerism is Christianity from which it derives its telos, language, virtues and practices.
• 2) I then explained the ‘ergent’ part of convergent through talking about the emerging church as a form of post-modern radical reformation faith. Giving the nine practices of the emerging church:

Emerging churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures…[thus] Emerging churches (1) identify with the life of Jesus, (2) transform the secular realm, (3) live highly communal lives. Because of these three activities, they (4) welcome the stranger, (5) serve with generosity, (6) participate as producers, (7) create as created beings, (8) lead as a body, and (9) take part in spiritual activities (Bolger and Gibbs 2005:44-45

The basic point here was to express how many of these Quaker-like practices are being picked up and used in a very different context and very different ways. However, while they are different in many ways they also share the same goals for faith.

Jesus and The Dance Club

This led to a discussion on how these churches view mission in the West, and how mission has shifted in the last 20-30 years. I talked about how as the church we often times turn to Paul for our missionary training, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, we should see Jesus as our primary model for how we are to be missionaries. The incarnation is mission par excellence. This has implications on a number of different levels. First, we look to Jesus for how we interact with our culture, it’s not that we are called to be counter-cultural or against everything “worldly,” which is understood to be people doing less-than-Christian things, but instead, if we are to be like Christ, we are to in yet not conformed by culture (While recognizing this is only possible inasmuch as we know where we are being conformed by culture). We also need to redefine “worldly” in order to think of it in terms of the fallen “principalities and powers.” Secondly, we realize that there cannot be a “one size fits all” approach to mission. The church’s mission is context dependent. The example I used was that Conservative Friends may want to decide not to have as their top outreach option visiting dance clubs (it’s a very tempting option I know!), not because they don’t dance but because at least in Barnesville a “club” is almost non-existent. So those churches that meet in clubs in LA, London and elsewhere may work great for their context, but won’t in others. Third, because of #2 we, the church, must become like anthropologists and make listening our primary focus for understanding how God wishes for us to interact with our neighborhoods, cities and our world.

Why Conservatives Need to Innovate

Finally, I discussed the role of translating our conservative/old tradition in a postmodern world.

I gave three views on tradition and innovation:

• Tradition Hinders Innovation (Get rid of tradition when it no longer works for us)
• Tradition is opposed to Innovation (To remain static is to be faithful)
• Tradition is the only grounds for Innovation (Tradition is an indispensable guide for leading us into the future)

Advocating the third option I discussed what it might mean to “translate” the faith into a new culture as missionaries of a particular tradition. This conversation inevitably leads to the questions about how much and to what extent we need to change? It is here that we must stress the value and importance of a community of discernment. I know there are some Friends who believe that no change is necessary, that to become conservative Friends is all we really need. Others think change is always good. And there are other Friends, such as myself, that see each Quaker group as needing to change in particular ways and understandings that there is no pure Quaker faith to return or cling to. I believe that there are things that we can do differently, perhaps better, and more contextualized for today’s world that are not only faithful to our tradition but also to our Christian metanarrative. Maybe these changes will be for the good, maybe they will strengthen our numbers or give us a longer life-span of faithfulness and maybe they will fail. But I am not content to believe that what we currently have is the best of what God is calling us to and I will continue to try and help there be creative and faithful voices within our church. If the Spirit of God is living and creating today the church should be doing the same.

Leaving Barnesville Friday evening left me with a feeling of great hope and joy for the future. Not only do I think there is life and vitality within these Friends’ faith, but they appear to be ready to take it to the streets in some very creative ways.

Ohio Yearly Meeting maintains the old Quaker practice of correspondence with specific Friends' Yearly Meetings through formal letters composed and approved annually at Yearly Meeting.  We compose a "General Epistle," which is sent around the world to various Friends Meetings, and two specific epistles, one  each to Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative), and another to North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative).  We reproduce the 2007 General Epistle below, in its entirety.

OHIO YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS
61830 Sandy Ridge Rd/
Barnesville, OH 43713

Eighth Month 18, 2007

From Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative)

To Friends Everywhere:

Dear Friends,

  “Jesus saith unto her:  ‘Said not I to thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?’”

Ohio Yearly Meeting Friends gathered for sessions of the 195th Ohio Yearly Meeting at Stillwater Meetinghouse Eighth Month 14th through 18th.  During the week we were reminded of the need to wait prayerfully to discern what work the Lord would have us do.

We have experienced God’s presence as we worked through our corporate business; His assistance was clear, especially as we labored from different viewpoints to unity, trying to know His will for us.  Early each day some shared in bible reading, prayer time, or a discussion of our testimonies.  The many experiences besides business—dining, times of fellowship and the speakers at the evening sessions—once again offer much for us to contemplate during the ensuing year.  Yearly Meeting has been a time of blessing as we have encountered familiar faces and made new friendships under the headship of our Teacher, Christ Jesus.

Friends in Ohio Yearly Meeting are grateful for God’s care and His encouragement to our youngest members during the Christian Education Camp in Sixth Month.  The camp enables younger Friends and others to learn more about Christ and also continues to be an opportunity for them to comprehend His working in the lives of those Young Friends who serve as camp counselors.  We are enriched by those adults who do the planning and organize the activities for the camp.  A concern was expressed on the floor about our mission to the youngest members during Yearly Meeting week, and some felt a need to encourage OYM members to pray that way might open to reveal those who might have gifts to assist in this very essential ministry.

 Since 1944, Ohio Yearly Meeting Friends have supported spiritually and financially the Walton Retirement Home as a ministry, even though few OYM members reside in the facility today.  God’s continuing blessing of this venture is demonstrated not only by the excellent care given residents by the compassionate staff, but also in the involvement of many non-Friends in the greater Barnesville community who have joined in making the end of life for residents of the Walton as pleasant as possible.

Ohio Yearly Meeting has been graced for several years with inquiries from Seekers across the globe, resulting in many affiliate members joining our Monthly Meetings.  Because God has seen fit to direct those individuals to us for their spiritual care, we are just beginning to realize the ramifications involved in a global Yearly Meeting ministry.  If the spiritual direction of these inquirers has been given to us, then Ohio Yearly Meeting must make provision to deal with the issues arising from this situation.  A small beginning this year occurred when the Nominating Committee made use of conference calls in addition to its regular meetings in order to complete its work in a timely fashion.  With the advent of members abroad, we need to prayerfully seek God’s direction of our future action in this sphere.

The Ohio Yearly Meeting’s Friends Center has planned three diverse weekend activities for the coming year.  In Tenth Month, Chris Ravndal will lead a Centering Prayer Workshop; while in Third Month Brian Drayton will lead one on Talking about Christ in Liberal Friends Meetings.  In Fourth Month the Friends Center will offer its second Structured Sojourn, in which folks interested in learning how spiritual formation grows from the manner and life of Conservative Friends will spend a weekend in the homes of Ohio Yearly Meeting families.

In Christ’s love,

Seth B. Hinshaw, Clerk

                                         

Ohio Yearly Meeting maintains the old Quaker practice of correspondence with specific Friends' Yearly Meetings through formal letters composed and approved annually at Yearly Meeting.  We compose a "General Epistle," which is sent around the world to various Friends Meetings, and two specific epistles, one  each to Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative), and another to North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative).  We reproduce the 2007 Epistle to Iowa Yearly Meeting below, in its entirety.

Eighth Month 18, 2007

To Friends of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative):

Dear Friends,

“Jesus saith unto her:  ‘Said not I to thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?’”

Once again Ohio Yearly Meeting Friends are gathered for our annual sessions amid the beautiful hills of southeastern Ohio.  We are glad to be joined by visitors from other Yearly Meetings and by some who want to learn what concerns and motivates Conservative Friends.  All are welcome, and we are strengthened by their friendship and their sharing with us.  It is a special blessing to have Roy and Martha Hampton from your Yearly Meeting among these visitors.

Our Yearly Meeting continues to be small in numbers.  We are sensing a growing desire to make our business sessions more significant as a part of our worship and service to God.

 In this age of technical advances, we are unable to be isolated from what is happening around us.  We are glad for the reminders to be in the world but not of the world.  Some of our young people are showing that living in a tradition is not enough and are pressing to know the truth and reality of a relationship with the Lord.  We might credit some of this desire as an outgrowth from the Christian Education Camp held in Sixth Month each year.  And we do know that by example, with trust and prayer, the Lord does work in our midst.  His is the power, and His is the glory.

We have been enjoying evening programs of ministry and information.  Some who have shared with us have been members of Ohio Yearly Meeting, and others are from distant places.

Some of our adult members have been working all week with Junior Yearly Meeting Young Friends.  They crown the week’s endeavors with a presentation on Seventh Day evening.  We always count on this time as a special blessing.

Our newest Monthly Meeting in Stillwater Quarter, Keystone Fellowship Monthly Meeting, is located in the eastern Pennsylvania area.  They hosted a spiritually rich Conservative Friends Worship Gathering in Sixth Month.  It should be noted that the Wider Fellowship of Conservative Friends plans for another Gathering at Stillwater in Sixth Month of 2008.

In Christ’s love,

Seth Hinshaw, Clerk

                                             

Eighth Month 18, 2007

To Friends of North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative):

Dear Friends,

“Jesus saith unto her:  ‘Said not I to thee, that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?’”

We are pleased to have Nancy Craft with us again as she has so often been in years past, recalling to us treasured ties of shared faith and practice.  We ask her to convey our love and greetings to you.

We have gathered once again for the refreshment of spirit that the Lord pours out upon us so abundantly as we seek Him together in precious times of worship and fellowship.

We are having a deepening assurance that God is calling us to changes.  The changes that may need to take place leave some feeling like we approach shaky ground while others look forward to a special refreshing.  In our committee work, we find that a very few workers are carrying the major load of our Yearly Meeting.  In one committee meeting this week a vision was given of the present structure of our Yearly Meeting as a large square, heavy building sagging under its own weight.  A stream flowed nearby and lying across this stream were unsteady stepping stones.  Across the stream was a beautiful meadow with lush tufts here and there that did the work of maintaining God’s meadow.  We are being asked if we are ready to step out on those unsteady stepping stones in trust of our dear Lord and have us come into His fresh provision and calling with new vision.  There is a deep longing for restructure and asking Father God what He would have done under the umbrella of Ohio Yearly Meeting in the immediate year ahead.  Most long for more times of teaching, worship, fellowship, and reaching out to others.  Times of sharing what God is doing in our lives, now, would be faith building and encouraging as we continue to seek and walk with our Lord on a daily basis.  It seems good that this new vision is expanding our Yearly Meeting borders to include many from around the world.
  
     It is exciting to see how the Lord is working in the lives of our young people.  One young prayer-warrior was noted as she walked the aisles of the meetinghouse, praying for the Lord’s presence and that His will might be accomplished in our sessions and beyond.  Later in the week we will be hearing about a mission trip in which some of young people took part.  After much seeking the will of the Lord for their mission trip, their desire to minister in Alaska was realized.  Several of our meetings helped make this trip possible with much prayer and financial support.

We have had reports of great blessings as Christian Education Camp took place once again in Sixth Month on the campus of Olney Friends School.  The leaders for this Christian Camp, as well as those who faithfully serve our youth during Yearly Meeting, are such treasures to our hearts, and we ask the Lord to bless them in this mission to the next generation.

Dear Friends, we are living in a time of God’s favor, and it is time we proclaim “FAVOR” over every aspect of our individual lives and the life of our meetings.  We pray that God will minister blessings to your every need, and that as we share in the future we may know of his faithful work among you.  Let us pray for and look toward, with excitement and longing, His return.

In the love of Christ,
Seth B. Hinshaw, Clerk   

AGENDA FOR THE 2007

YEARLY MEETING OF

OHIO YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS

PLEASE send reservations early, and register in the Front Office in the Main Building at Olney Friends School as soon as you arrive. Reservations and inquiries should be sent to:
Secretary, Olney Friends School, 61830 Sandy Ridge Rd, Barnesville, OH 43713.   Phone: 740 425-3655   800-303-4291
 
There are rooms available in the Olney School dormitories and guest house.  Olney linen is optional in the dorms, but is NOT optional in the guest house, which has rooms, most for two people each, with shared bath facilities. If you bring your own linen to the dorm rooms, be sure to include a pillow, towel and washcloth. We suggest that you bring coat hangers, fan, reading lamp, soap, and paper cups for your room.  Campers and RVs will be located near Stillwater Meeting House; showers and toilet facilities are available nearby.

The fellowship of eating together is an important part of Yearly Meeting. Everybody is welcome to join the fellowship in the dining room. Please indicate your plans to take meals on the enclosed form. As some may not be able to meet the cost of these meals, donations by those who are able to help can be given to the Secretary at Olney.

Telephones are located in both dormitories, in Olney’s Main Hall, and in the Meeting House Kitchen.
Recreational facilities of the school are available as is equipment for softball, volleyball, and basketball.  Tennis courts are available.  Any use of the lake should be cleared with Olney personnel. Swimming in the lake is not recommended.

	ADULT	UNDER 12
Breakfast	$4.00	$2.50
Lunch	$6.00	$4.00
Supper	$6.00	$4.00

	ADULT	UNDER 12
Dorms (per bed)	$ 9.00	Free
Linen Charge  (one time only)	$ 5.00	$ 5.00
Sleeping bag on floor in the dorms	$ 5.00	Free
Tent Camping	$ 4.50 per site
R.V., no water & power	$ 6.00 per site
R.V., water & power	$ 8.00  per site

We welcome visitors among us at all our sessions and at all our meals. Please see the Olney Secretary to pay. We ask that people who are not members of OYM observe the practice of leaving speaking on business matters to members during Business Sessions.

YOUNG FRIENDS (Grades 7 - 12) Gather with adults for first part of each business session; then meet in Room 1, second floor, Olney Main Bldg.

In the Olney Main Building:
Lower level:	Dining Room, Math Classroom, Biology Room
First floor:	Main Office, Collection Room, Parlor, & Seminar Room

The Chestnut Ridge Meeting House is a few miles south of Barnesville off Rt. 800.  Ask for directions.

Each of these sessions, led by Thomas Swain the clerk of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, will focus on how one of our Testimonies is expressed in our daily lives.

COMMITTEE OR OTHER GROUP	MEETING	REPORTING TO YEARLY MTG
Book and Children’s Lit.	5th Day, 6:30 (Seminar Room)	6th Day afternoon
Coordinate & Support Outreach Committee	3rd Day, 6:30 (Morlan)	6th Day morning
Document Committee	3rd Day, 12:30  (Biology Room)	4th Day morning
Epistle Committee	4th Day, 12:45 (Biology Room)	6th Day afternoon
Financing Educ. Concerns	5th Day, 6:30 (Math Classroom)	6th Day morning
Friends Center Comm.	3rd Day, 4:00  (Morlan)	5th Day afternoon
Memorial Committee	3rd Day, 4:00  (Olney Parlor)	5th Day morning
Ministry & Oversight	3rd Day, 1:30 (South Mtg Room) 5th Day, 8:00 am (South Mtg  )	6th Day afternoon
Nominating Committee	3rd Day, at rise of 1:30 pm M&O (Meetinghouse Kitchen)	6th Day morning
OYM Property Trustees	3rd Day, 12:30 (Kitchen)	4th Day morning
Peace and Human Relations Committee	4th Day, 1:00 pm (Math Classroom)	5th Day afternoon
Quarterly Meeting Reps	4th Day, 6:40 pm (Olney Parlor)	7th Day morning
Wider Fellowship of Cons. Friends Committee	4th Day, 1:00 (Seminar Room)	6th Day morning

TUESDAY, 14 AUGUST
12:00 pm	Lunch
12:30 pm	Document Committee (Biology Room)	OYM Property Trustees  (Meetinghouse Kitchen)
1:30 pm	Ministry & Oversight (South Meeting Room). At rise of M&O - Nominating Comm. (Mtghouse Kitchen)
4:00 pm	Friends Center Com (Morlan)	Memorial Com  (Parlor)
6:00 pm	Supper
6:30 pm	Coordinate & Support Outreach Committee (Morlan)
7:30 pm	An open Meeting for Worship  (Meeting House)

WEDNESDAY, 15 AUGUST
7:30 am	Breakfast
8:00 am to 8:40 am	Bible reading   (Collection Room)
8:45 am to 9:30 am	Sharing on our Testimony of Simplicity   (Seminar Room)	Gather for Prayer        (Olney Parlor)
7:30 am	Breakfast
8:00 am to 8:40 am	Bible reading   (Collection Room)
8:45 am to 9:30 am	Sharing on our Testimony of Simplicity   (Seminar Room)	Gather for Prayer        (Olney Parlor)
10:00 am	Young Friends & Jr. Yearly Meeting gather with adults at first part of business session.   (Meeting House)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm	OPENING SESSION OF OHIO YEARLY MEETING: Meeting for Worship    Opening Minute Report from each Quarterly Meeting Welcome to visitors Treasurer’s Report Appointment of Auditing & Budget Committee OYM Property Trustees Report Document Committee Report Summary answers to Queries
12:15 pm	Lunch
12:45 - 1:00	Epistle Committee: get organized  (Biology Room)
1:00 pm	Peace & Human Relations Com.   (Math Classroom)	Wider Fellowship of Cons. Frnds Com   (Seminar Room)
2:00 pm	Young Friends & Jr. Yearly Meeting gather with adults at first part of the Business Session.    (Meeting House)
2:00 pm	BUSINESS SESSION OF OHIO YEARLY MEETING: Meeting for Worship  Walton Home Report Walton Home Corporation Meeting, open house (Dining Rm, Walton Home). All OYM members should participate.
6:00 pm	Supper
6:40 pm	Quarterly Meeting Representatives to Yearly Mtg.   (Parlor)
7:30 pm	Living in the World. James H. Drummond.  Jim is a member of Stillwater Monthly Meeting, attends Crossroads Worship Group, and is a retired educator.  He and his wife, also an educator, have six adult children and live in Flint, Michigan.    ( Collection Room)

THURSDAY,  16 AUGUST
7:30 am	Breakfast
8:00 – 9:30	Ministry and Oversight   (Meeting House, South Meeting Rm)
8:00 – 8:40	Bible reading   (Collection Room)
8:45-9:30	Sharing on our Testimony of Integrity   (Seminar Room)	Gather for Prayer          (Olney Parlor)
10:00 am	Young Friends & Jr. Yearly Meeting gather with adults at first part of  the Business Session.  (Meeting House)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm	BUSINESS SESSION OF OHIO YEARLY MEETING: Meeting for Worship Membership Report Travel Fund Report Memorial Committee Report Summaries to Queries (cont.)
12:15 pm	Lunch
2:00 pm	Young Friends & Jr. Yearly Meeting gather with adults at first part of the Business Session.  (Meeting House)
2:00 pm to 4:30 pm	BUSINESS SESSION OF OHIO YEARLY MEETING: Meeting for Worship Christian Education Camp Report Friends Center Committee Report Peace and Human Relations Committee Report Associated Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs Report Historical Committee Report Summaries to Queries (cont.) Summary answers to Administrative Queries
4:45 pm to 5:45 pm