Weekly Reflections for Sunday Morning Worship Sharing
at the Meetinghouse and via Zoom
Reflection for Sunday December 15, 2024 Worship Sharing
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned…. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever….. Isaiah 9:2-7
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…. Live in harmony with one another…. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:14-18
Advent, a Season to Hope for Peace
The world in 2024 seems to be in the midst of many months and years which fit Isaiah’s depiction of “people walking in darkness.” Because of that, we have chosen to spend this Advent season encouraging one another to focus upon reasons to have hope despite the present “darkness,” and to act upon that hope every day as an investment in the future we wish to inhabit.
On the first Sunday of Advent, we gave consideration to hoping for the key which can unlock that more hopeful future of Light. It is hoping for a widespread new spiritual awakening (or reawakening) to the reality that God, the eternal Light of the world, is with us, and people can choose to walk in that Light even through the world’s darkness. Such an awakening will need to begin in each one of us individually, then spread to others through our grateful witness and authentically transformed living. On the second Sunday of Advent, we saw that if such a new spiritual awakening is genuine, it will of necessity lead to a hoped-for recovery and renewal of a deep sense of spiritual reverence for the Lord. That reverence arises naturally from an authentic realization of God’s identity as the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists. It is reverence not only for who he is, but also for his living Presence, for his limitless love, for everything he has already done, and for all he still promises and intends to do.
As this Advent season approached, I asked the members of our Ministry & Oversight (the church’s elders) to tell me what they were hoping for in the upcoming months and years. Nearly all of them who responded mentioned peace in its various expressions. They hope for opportunities for ministry that can help people find common ground rather than division, and for an increase of peace and respect in society and the world. One expressed hope for peace at all levels of relationships, from the interpersonal to the international. Others hope for an end to violent, disrespectful, dishonest discourse and for increased kindness, generosity, and empathy in both private and public spheres, in order to prepare a more peaceful world for upcoming generations to inhabit. It is quite clear that all of us in the M&O — and I’m fairly sure most in the church and the society around us — are hoping and longing for peace as we face the changes and challenges of a new year.
King on the Mountain During our years in Sudan and Uganda, Pam and I often witnessed goats fighting over which one got to stand atop a 4- or 5-foot tall mound of reddish clay that had been piled up by a colony of termites which lived beneath it. The goats would butt heads, charge at and wallop each other, gang up on the one holding the top spot, then do it all over again when a new goat had seized the “peak.” It was never clear what made that top spot worth fighting for – there was no food, water, or other reward up there, only a slightly elevated view of landscape that all looked the same anyway. I know nothing about goat psychology, but those fights sure seemed to be as much about pride and domination as they were about any tangible good – almost human-like.
For nearly all of our time in Africa, we lived in war zones. Although there were resources (land, water, minerals) being fought over, at their roots those deadly conflicts were primarily ethnic and tribal in nature — all about pride, and power over those resources. I remember thinking sometimes that God must see those wasteful, deadly human fights similarly to how we saw those goat battles for the top of the termite mound. Then in 1994, while we were in the US on home leave to visit our families, genocide broke out in Rwanda, right next door to Uganda. We remember sitting in the kitchen at my parents’ home two weeks later watching a news program about the horrific killing in Rwanda. A panel of world-renowned experts – including the US ambassador, a State Department official, and an NGO head with years of experience in the region – discussed the disaster for 45 minutes before agreeing as the show ended that they had no idea how to end the genocide and begin to reestablish peace. That sometimes sounds eerily similar to assessments of the current wars raging in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan. I can’t help wondering if it’s the way the Hebrew people felt at the time of Jesus’ birth, too.
For nearly all of our time in Africa, we lived in war zones. Although there were resources (land, water, minerals) being fought over, at their roots those deadly conflicts were primarily ethnic and tribal in nature — all about pride, and power over those resources. I remember thinking sometimes that God must see those wasteful, deadly human fights similarly to how we saw those goat battles for the top of the termite mound. Then in 1994, while we were in the US on home leave to visit our families, genocide broke out in Rwanda, right next door to Uganda. We remember sitting in the kitchen at my parents’ home two weeks later watching a news program about the horrific killing in Rwanda. A panel of world-renowned experts – including the US ambassador, a State Department official, and an NGO head with years of experience in the region – discussed the disaster for 45 minutes before agreeing as the show ended that they had no idea how to end the genocide and begin to reestablish peace. That sometimes sounds eerily similar to assessments of the current wars raging in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan. I can’t help wondering if it’s the way the Hebrew people felt at the time of Jesus’ birth, too.
The World Jesus Entered When Jesus was born in Bethlehem (believed to be in about 6 BC by today’s calendars), the Jewish people in Palestine were ruled by military governors of the Roman Empire. That was after roughly 150 years of exile and servitude at the hands of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires, then around 400 years of occupation and control by Greek and Roman armies who drove out the Persians. The prophets’ promises and hopes for the restoration of Jerusalem’s pre-Exile glory and power had not been realized. Instead, Judea had become a crossroads and battleground for global powers seeking control over ever-larger tracts of Europe, Africa, and the East. Periodically, groups of Palestinian insurgents formed to try driving out the occupiers, to no avail. Battles and troop movements did not happen as quickly as in warfare today, but the Hebrew people lived with the constant awareness that they were powerless subjects. There was no peace, and little hope that the prophets’ words would ever come true.
Peace From the Inside Out Earthly peacemaking is outside in. It usually involves restraining harmful behavior and negotiating compromises all parties can live with. That usually involves both armies and diplomats, and it lasts only so long as conditions are honored and no harmful behavior resumes. Paul wrote in Galatians 4:4-5 that to offer his people true peace, “in the fullness of time, God sent his Son.…” as a powerless infant born into a seemingly scandalous family situation, to be raised in relative poverty and obscurity. He was Emmanuel, God incarnate in human flesh. He was God whose very essence, according to I John 4:16, is agape, sacrificial, reconciling love. The peace he offers begins in one’s heart and soul, then works its way out into transformed behavior. Receiving Christ’s peace begins by allowing him to remove from us the reasons we resort to violence. It requires spiritual humility and devotion, not generals and diplomats, and it is eternal rather than temporary. Surely that is the reason Isaiah wrote that Messiah would be called the Prince of Peace, and the angels proclaimed “peace on earth” when they told the shepherds he had been born.
Jesus’ Mission of Peace As the Prince of Peace, one of Jesus’ roles was/is to represent the King by revealing to us the essence and nature of his love for us, and his gift of living at peace with God. Colossians 1:19-20 states that “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Numerous Old Testament passages describe God as “forgiving, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love” (Nehemiah 9:17), all traits of our Creator who longs to welcome us into a relationship of peace with himself, if only we will seek him.
The Prince of Peace also seeks to teach us to live at peace with ourselves. Those who have spiritually awakened to his love, and have begun to grow in reverence for the Lord, will begin to see themselves as God sees them, as his beloved child whom he loved enough to forgive and redeem through the cross. Jesus meant it when he told the disciples (and us through them), “I have called you friends….” (John 15:14-16). That is never an excuse for us to stop growing in faithful discipleship. It’s just an assurance of his Spirit’s help to us in that quest, and of the eternal value he places on our lives.
Another crucial part of Jesus’ mission is to teach us to live in peace with one another. Jesus made that a priority in his training of the disciples, reminding them often that they were to love one another just as he had loved them. He emphasized the importance of the Old Testament instruction to love their neighbor with the same commitment with which they loved themselves. When challenged on that, he told the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) to make sure they understood that “their neighbor” included even their supposed enemy. Paul emphasized that same point in Romans 12:9-21, quoting Proverbs 25’s instruction to provide food and drink even to one’s hungry and thirsty adversary. Seeing that of God even in enemies is again part of the spiritual vision of the pure in heart.
The Prince of Peace also seeks to teach us to live at peace with ourselves. Those who have spiritually awakened to his love, and have begun to grow in reverence for the Lord, will begin to see themselves as God sees them, as his beloved child whom he loved enough to forgive and redeem through the cross. Jesus meant it when he told the disciples (and us through them), “I have called you friends….” (John 15:14-16). That is never an excuse for us to stop growing in faithful discipleship. It’s just an assurance of his Spirit’s help to us in that quest, and of the eternal value he places on our lives.
Another crucial part of Jesus’ mission is to teach us to live in peace with one another. Jesus made that a priority in his training of the disciples, reminding them often that they were to love one another just as he had loved them. He emphasized the importance of the Old Testament instruction to love their neighbor with the same commitment with which they loved themselves. When challenged on that, he told the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) to make sure they understood that “their neighbor” included even their supposed enemy. Paul emphasized that same point in Romans 12:9-21, quoting Proverbs 25’s instruction to provide food and drink even to one’s hungry and thirsty adversary. Seeing that of God even in enemies is again part of the spiritual vision of the pure in heart.
Our Mission of Peace Jesus’ seventh Beatitude states “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). That is a call to help others to be reconciled with God and with themselves so they can begin living in peace with one another. Jesus came to earth as the Prince of Peace, and he sends his followers out as his sisters and brothers to carry on that ministry in his name and in his love. Only those who have truly awakened spiritually, and have reverently welcomed his Spirit to fill their lives, will be equipped to effectively express his love – his sacrificial, merciful, truthful and graceful, unconditional, compassionate agape — into the world’s polarized shooting wars, shouting wars, and culture wars in the months and years ahead. If we observe this Advent season hoping for peace in the world, it is incumbent upon us also to work for peace in the world. We can do that together by heeding George Fox’s 1651 challenge of “living in the virtue of that Life and power that takes away the occasion for all war.” We can heed Peter’s advice to “turn from evil and do good….and seek peace and pursue it” (I Peter 3:11). We can tell others of God’s desire for them to be reconciled with him, and live in ways that help them find that peace. Let’s all be his ambassadors.
–Ron Ferguson, 15 December 2024
Queries for Worship-Sharing and Reflection
1) What is the work for peace which we should be doing as 2025 begins? How can peace be pursued (in Peter’s words)?
2) What are your greatest concerns regarding the lack of peace in our society? In the world?
3) What hopeful signs of peace and God’s love have you observed around you lately?
4) Are Paul’s instructions and expectations in Romans 12:9-21 realistic, or even humanly possible? Why, or why not?
5) What is it about Christ’s presence that facilitates peace? What is it about his perceived absence that enables chaos?
Reflection for Sunday October 6 , 2024 Worship Sharing
World Quaker Day and 2024 State of Society Report
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8
Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:15-18
How Have You Seen the Lord Lately?
Winchester Friends’ State of Society / Annual Report for 2023-2024
Winchester Friends’ State of Society / Annual Report for 2023-2024
Today is World Quaker Day, an annual occasion sponsored by Friends World Committee for Consultation to remember and pray for members of the Religious Society of Friends who will gather for worship, fellowship, and spiritual equipping in most of the time zones on earth. We are joined together by our dedication to Christ as our Savior, teacher, Lord, and friend, and by commitment to live and proclaim his eternal Truth. FWCC’s emphasis for this year’s observance is drawn from their 2024 World Plenary gathering’s closing epistle in which the phrase “We are still here – God is with us” is repeated multiple times. Winchester Friends’ Ministry & Oversight sees significant agreement between that emphasis and our own State of Society report for the ’23-’24 church year. We offer it here for your reflection and response during worship-sharing on this World Quaker Day.
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When the Ministry & Oversight met for their April 2024 meeting, one of the items on the agenda was to begin thinking about the overall spiritual condition of Winchester Friends as we approached the end of the church year and prepared for a new one. The story of Easter was still fresh in our minds. Mary’s joyful declaration about having seen the risen Lord in the aftermath of the crucifixion seemed like a good challenge to M&O members to identify the ways we have seen God at work in our midst over the past year. Time was spent reflecting upon and sharing insights to that question in the group’s April and May meetings. The following are their observations and offerings.
The Lord is my strength and my shield….. (Psalm 28:7) As that conversation got underway, the first witness of God’s presence and help that was noted was his protection of the members of our Meeting and community through the trauma of the March 14 tornado that severely damaged parts of Winchester and the surrounding area. At least 48 houses were totally destroyed, another 50 or more sustained major damage, and another 100 had damage requiring repair. At least ten of our Friends’ residences were damaged. Despite all that destruction, miraculously no one died here that night from injuries caused by the tornado. One M&O member noted that responding to this disaster together has provided a positive opportunity for our community to cooperate, be more aware of ministry opportunities, and grow closer together. The Lord surely has watched over us.
Consider it pure joy…. that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2,3) With the widespread use of COVID-19 vaccines, the past church year was one of slow, careful emergence from the previous three years’ restrictions of the pandemic. It was a year of gradually more fellowship meals, in-person gatherings, and increasing choir activity. It has also meant some streamlining of the church’s committee structure for efficiency’s sake, given the reality of fewer people, programs, and activities than we had before the pandemic. There has not been a rush — as seen in many organizations in the past year — to return to doing everything that was being done before 2020. The sense of the Meeting has been to wait for leading, and to do fewer things well than to do many things exhaustingly or haphazardly. That process continues as we ponder how to add programs for Christian education for more people. Friends also have been faithful in financial support of the Meeting’s ministries, despite the challenges of the times. God has helped us persevere.
From Christ the whole Body…grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16) The importance of every Friend doing their part to help the Meeting accomplish its work grows more obvious as we all grow older. The past year has posed significant health challenges to several in the Meeting, at times limiting their ability to do what they have previously done for the church. We thankfully have seen the Lord help many Friends regain good health in those situations, and we also have seen him work through others in the fellowship to make certain that needed ministries get carried out. God’s faithfulness through this time gives us hope and confidence that he will provide the people, energy, and leadership needed for our future.
Be very careful how you live….making the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:15,16) One M&O member spoke of seeing God’s hand in new opportunities for fellowship and ministry with people who had not previously indicated much spiritual interest. It is a reminder to us all to live with keen awareness that God is always at work in lives around us.
We always thank God for all of you…. (I Thessalonians 1:2) The M&O members concur that the consistent, active participation of distant Friends and friends who have worshiped with us by Zoom in the past four years has been a clear and encouraging sign of God’s presence and work in our midst. They have enriched our lives and our meetings by sharing what the Lord has taught, or is teaching, them. Whatever we might have sacrificed from the “former way” to incorporate online participation in our meetings, God’s gift of their input into our meetings has been worth far more.
God’s presence and work in these ways also has nudged us all back towards Friends’ understanding of worship as listening first, before we speak or do anything else. We give thanks for all this evidence that God is indeed at work in us.
Winchester Friends Ministry & Oversight, June 2024: Cleo McFarland, clerk; Linda Groth; Sharon Reynard; Marsha Kritsch; Kathy Simmons; Dave Longnecker; Doug Baker; Ellen Craig; Brian Lilly; Pam Ferguson, ex officio; Ron Ferguson, ex officio
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Working on the State of Society report reminded me frequently of the article published several years ago by our friend and Friend Colin Saxton, the former general secretary of Friends United Meeting. In that piece, he encouraged Friends to prepare for discipleship and ministry in a rapidly-changing world by regularly asking and answering the questions journalists use to get accurate information for a story – but from a spiritual perspective.
Who are we? It is my prayer that we are people who believe Jesus’ Gospel message of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, and have experienced true relationship and cooperative friendship with Christ’s Spirit who “has come to teach his people himself.” We must acknowledge that we are mostly an aging fellowship who long to share his love with others but find it increasingly challenging to reach young people and young families. We seek the Lord’s help with that.
What are we (called to do)? We are called, just as the earliest Friends were, to “walk cheerfully over the earth, answering that of God in every person.” Jesus calls us to proclaim eternal Truth as he did, and to demonstrate that Truth’s life-giving impact on us through lives of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and service. We are called to let Christ live through us his life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-discipline.
When are we? We are in a unique moment in history, one of widespread self-focus, growing secularization, and resistance to the Gospel. It is a moment of widely-shared belief that technology, science, and wealth will solve all human problems, eliminating our need for God. It is a moment crying out for authentic witness of inward spiritual transformation that results in power over sinful, destructive selfishness, in lives of meaning and purpose, and in spiritually obedient, loving use of all of God’s gifts.
Where are we? We are in the wealthiest, most advanced nation in the world’s history. We are in a conservative region of that nation, a region historically called the Bible Belt. Some researchers suggest that that “adjacent familiarity” has led to a kind of immunity to Jesus’ call to deep discipleship. Perhaps because of that, the Christianity around us sometimes seems to be the inherited, social type rather than the “inner life, friendship with the Living Christ” type.
Why are we? We are who and what we are because Christ’s life and love within us compels us to share his Good News with any and all who will listen. He helps us to see that just as he told his first disciples, “the harvest” is as great or greater than it ever has been, but “the workers” are as few or fewer than they ever have been. People of every generation are called to be bearers and reflectors of his spiritual Light to those who walk in the darkness of not knowing him. It is my prayer that we disciples at Winchester Friends truly mean the words we sing in the hymn “To Be God’s People”:
Almighty Father, give us a vision of a dying world that needs Your love and care.
We see the need, the yearning for a Savior; in Jesus’ name grant this our prayer.
We see the need, the yearning for a Savior; in Jesus’ name grant this our prayer.
To be God’s people in this place, live His goodness, share His grace
Proclaim God’s mercy through His Son, share His love with everyone.
Proclaim God’s mercy through His Son, share His love with everyone.
And when we falter, be Thou our comfort, guide us as Your children that our lives may be
A beacon in this darkness that surrounds us, a Light that others then may see.
A beacon in this darkness that surrounds us, a Light that others then may see.
Lord, let this be true in our lives and faith community, and in all the Friends everywhere who worship you this day. Amen!
–Ron Ferguson, 6 October 2024
Queries for Worship-Sharing and Reflection
1) How have you sensed God’s presence and seen the Lord at work in your life, in our midst, and/or in the world lately?
2) In Matthew 5:8, what do you think is the connection between having a pure heart and spiritual vision for seeing God?
3) How has the fellowship and ministry of your Quaker Meeting and Friends been a help and blessing to you this year?
4) In your experience, how has Zoom participation enhanced and enriched our worship and life together for us all?
Sermon on the Mount Series Links
Sermon on the Mount Series #1 – Diamonds Aren’t Forever
Sermon on the Mount Series #2 – Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Sermon on the Mount Series #3 – Blessed are the Meek
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May 7, 2023
150th Celebration
April 30, 2023 150th Celebration with Jay Marshall, speaker
Winchester Friends Meeting, est. 1873
Celebrating 150 Years of Ministry
Meeting for Worship April 30, 2023
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Celebrating 150 Years of Ministry
Meeting for Worship April 30, 2023
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With Guest Speaker Jay Marshall
Friends Minister, Author, Seminary Dean (ret.)
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Friends Minister, Author, Seminary Dean (ret.)
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When the Spirit Calls
I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.
Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.
This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.”
Habakkuk 2:1-4, New Living Translation
I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.
Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.
This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.”
Habakkuk 2:1-4, New Living Translation
Queries for Reflection and Response
1. What is the call or sense of mission that motivates you personally? What motivates the Meeting?
2. What are some of the ways you have learned to discern what is from God and what is simply chatter?
3. What made the memorable occasions that have shaped your understanding of faith and ministry?
4. If you are a reflection of the five closest people in your life, what are you reflecting?
5. Imagine for a moment that you have climbed a watchtower in downtown Winchester. Where could the Meeting’s gifts bring hope and healing to the community?
If You Could See What I See
All of my life I have dreamed that somehow love would find me
Now I can’t believe you’re standing here
If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder
then I wish you could see the love for you that lives in me
Now I can’t believe you’re standing here
If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder
then I wish you could see the love for you that lives in me
And you would know you have my heart, if you could see, what I see
That a treasure’s what you are, if you could see, what I see
Created to be the perfect one for me, if you could see, what I see
That a treasure’s what you are, if you could see, what I see
Created to be the perfect one for me, if you could see, what I see
I know there are days when you feel so much less than ideal
Wondering what I see in you
It’s all of the light and the grace your belief in me drives me to say
That I promise you a faithful love, forever true
Wondering what I see in you
It’s all of the light and the grace your belief in me drives me to say
That I promise you a faithful love, forever true
If you could see then you’d understand why I fall down to my knees
And I pray my love will be worthy of the One who gave his life
so our love could be, if you could see what I see
And I pray my love will be worthy of the One who gave his life
so our love could be, if you could see what I see
You’re created to be the perfect one for me, if you could see what I see
If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder,
then I am beholding… true beauty
If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder,
then I am beholding… true beauty
–Geoff Moore (CCLI 649965), sung by Judi Marshall
We Are Called
Come, live in the light! Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord! We are called to be light for the Kingdom, to live in the freedom of the city of God.
We are called to act with justice; we are called to love tenderly. We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.
Come, open your heart! Show your mercy to all those in fear. We are called to be hope for the hopeless so hatred and violence will be no more…..
Sing! Sing a new song. Sing of that great day when all will be one. God will reign, and we’ll walk with each other as sisters and brothers united in love…. We’ll walk humbly with God…..
–David Haas, based on Micah 6:8; arr. Mark Hayes (CCLI 649965)
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Winchester Friends Ministry & Oversight
State of Society Report – Annual Report for 2020-2021
June 2021/ October 3, 2021
State of Society Report – Annual Report for 2020-2021
June 2021/ October 3, 2021
Lives That Speak
Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone…. –Friends founder George Fox
Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone…. –Friends founder George Fox
As the Ministry & Oversight began discussing the state of spiritual life at Winchester Friends at the close of the 2020-2021 church year, it was nearly impossible to think about the past twelve months in any framing other than that of the changes caused and necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each M&O member offered reflections on what they have observed and sensed about our life together in the past year, and their hopes for the days yet to come. The following is a summary of their thoughts.
Trials of 2020-2021 For all of us, the past year was one of significant losses and profound sorrow. At least fifteen participants in our faith community tested positive for coronavirus infection and experienced various degrees of illness. A number of our Friends lost close or extended family members to COVID or other causes during the year and often did not have the comfort of gathering to mourn together. Added to that was the sadness of watching the number of pandemic deaths in the US steadily climb past half a million. It was a year of lost chances for close fellowship, handshakes and hugs, a long period of isolation and loneliness. One M&O member compared it to the pupae stage of a butterfly’s life when the caterpillar “shelters in place” inside the chrysalis to await favorable conditions outside. It was a year without the encouragement of singing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together” (Colossians 3:16). Many ministry activities had to be suspended, meaning lost inertia and momentum. In some cases, people who may have had only minimal interest in participating in the Meeting simply withdrew and have not reappeared. Because the pandemic changed so many things in our lives, we all were required to expend large amounts of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy to accomplish in different ways what used to be fairly simple, routine tasks. Work, school, social, travel, and meeting schedules were disrupted, with resumption in many cases still uncertain, making planning very difficult. In the community and society beyond the Meeting (and potentially within as well), economic stress and civil unrest have led to fraying of the social fabric in ways that make many relationships tenuous.
Encouraging Surprises of 2020-2021 The M&O clerk pointed out that none of us should be surprised that the pandemic has not changed God. For those who have remained engaged and have continued seeking the Lord, the pandemic has provided a new or renewed sense of God’s identity and character. Technology was adopted and adapted to our Meeting’s unique needs in a way that has allowed us to maintain relationships and a surprisingly deepened sense of community. In the butterfly analogy, meeting by Zoom has helped break open the isolation of the chrysalis stage to make new life possible. The shift to a worship-sharing format on Sunday mornings has found encouraging success in nudging Friends to be participators rather than spectators, and it has taught us to listen more carefully for “that of God in others.” Meeting via Zoom has made it possible to welcome local newcomers, distant former Friends and family members, and other faraway friends into our fellowship in meaningful, delightful ways that none of us had imagined before the pandemic necessitated these changes. Despite the financial uncertainties and hardships that the pandemic has imposed on so many people and organizations, the Meeting’s finances have remained healthy due to the faithful generosity of so many of our Friends. That consistent support has given us confidence to continue sharing resources from the Best Trust to help “make Christ’s love tangible and visible” in the community and world around us.
Outcomes of 2020-2021 The past year has given us – and all in the Meeting, we hope – a deepened sense of Christ’s faithful presence with us and care for us, no matter how dire our circumstances might get. Worship in a more semi-programmed manner than before has shown many Friends the importance of giving verbal witness of God’s love and Truth within our fellowship when the Spirit prompts them. That hopefully has strengthened and improved their ability to do the same in their relationships beyond the Meeting. Our meetings for worship online have shown the importance of engaged participation by everyone, whether verbal or not – the things said by many Friends on Sunday mornings are most meaningful when heard and absorbed by everyone. Hopefully we will move into 2021-2022 with a new realization of the importance of showing up consistently, whether we end up sharing what we have learned, or we listen deeply to the helpful words of other Friends. Each of us has learned many things about ourselves and our calling to daily ministry during the “inactivity” of the pandemic months. If we’ll let it, that knowledge should equip us for effectiveness in the new environment of the upcoming church year. Returning to the butterfly analogy, the caterpillar-transformed-into-
Hope for 2021-2022 The Ministry & Oversight members are determined to learn and grow from the hard lessons of 2020-2021, and not to squander the unexpected blessings and opportunities that have come out of the unprecedented church year just completed. We desire to remain highly attentive to the Lord’s constant, consistent presence. We acknowledge that although we do not yet know everything we will need to understand for effective ministry in the post-pandemic world, we know we cannot just go back to what was “normal” before. We acknowledge that it will require the input and participation of every Friend in the Meeting if we are to successfully fulfill the Lord’s desires for our faith community. We gratefully recognize that the blessings we have enjoyed during the difficult past year are due in large part to a core of Friends who have remained committed to the Meeting and its ministries. They have done so because of their love for the Lord who has saved us, their love for one another in this community of believers, and their dedication to our shared spiritual life. Moving forward, we hope to find relevant new ways of letting Christ’s timeless light of love and Truth shine through us. We long to help the minimally involved to renew their seeking. We desire to welcome the uninvolved to discover the benefits of living by faith – especially young adults and families in this overly secular era for whom the pandemic has been a rude awakening to human frailties and mortality. Like the butterfly that has been protected and nurtured inside the chrysalis, we know we must in faith release our grip on the refuge of “what has been” and fly into the unknown future in order to fulfill God’s calling and purpose for us.
We invite every Friend in the church to join us in that journey. Like Paul appealing to the Corinthians (I Cor. 2:1), we cannot depend on eloquent words or superior human knowledge (or slicker technology and flashy entertainment). We welcome you just to let your daily lives speak, both in words and actions, of God’s love, Truth, and presence. As George Fox discovered, it’s the way God enables us to “walk cheerfully” throughout our lives, and to forge rich connections with others who desire to know and live for the Lord. In the world’s present turmoil, he needs every one of us to get involved. Thank you for letting your lives speak in ministry through Winchester Friends.
Winchester Friends Ministry & Oversight, June 2021: Cleo McFarland, clerk; Sharon Reynard; Dave Longnecker; Linda Groth; Doug Baker; Ellen Craig; Marsha Kritsch, ex officio; Pam Ferguson, ex officio; Ron Ferguson, ex officio
Lives That Speak — Lives of Resilience and Hope
The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery (of the king’s dream).” –Daniel 2:47
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” –Daniel 3:28
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” –Daniel 3:28
Let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
–Jesus, Matthew 5:16
–Jesus, Matthew 5:16
Today is World Quaker Day, an initiative of the Friends World Committee for Consultation to remind Friends that in every time zone around the world on the first Sunday of October, Quakers will gather in the presence of the Spirit of Christ. We meet to worship the Lord who unites us in a global community of faith, and to pray for one another’s effective witness in the challenges and opportunities we face. Clearly with the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises in mind, FWCC selected “Resilience and Hope: Drawing Strength from our Faith” as the theme for World Quaker Day 2021. As in the past several years, Winchester Friends’ Ministry & Oversight has chosen to present their State of Society Report for the recently-completed church year during worship on World Quaker Day. The theme of their report (“Lives That Speak”) turned out to dovetail almost seamlessly with FWCC’s focus, and with the past week’s Through the Bible chapters centered in the Book of Daniel.
Daniel was one of Judah’s young “best and brightest.” He and hundreds of other skilled and educated Hebrews were exiled to Babylon in 605 BC after the Babylonian army forced the surrender of Jerusalem, helped themselves to Judah’s treasures, and turned Judea into a client state. Part of Nebuchadnezzar’s strategy for keeping conquered nations weak was to deplete their human capital as well as their treasury. Daniel and three other young Hebrews featured in the first half of the Book of Daniel – Hananiah (Babylonian name Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego) – were chosen to undergo three years of language and other training to become servants in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace (Dan. 1:3,4). As part of that assignment, they were fed rich food and wine from the king’s own table, food that had been offered to idols and included things that violated the dietary instructions of Moses’ Law. Rather than follow orders and spiritually defile himself, Daniel resolved to obey God and requested permission from their Babylonian boss to eat only vegetables and drink only water. The Babylonian feared he would be blamed for underfeeding the Hebrews, but he reluctantly agreed to a test. After ten days, the Judeans looked and performed better than their counterparts who ate the rich food. Their diet was switched, and at the end of their training years the king found them superior to all his other wise men and advisors. Their lives spoke.
When I was around five years old, I watched “Popeye the Sailor Man” cartoons on TV each Saturday morning. My brother and I became convinced that if we ate enough canned spinach, we too could get strong enough to rip the top off a can and eat the contents like a beverage. We got our mother to fix us some spinach. After I had choked down a couple of spoonsful, I went outdoors to play and saw our neighbor Mr. Carmichael working on his lawn mower in his driveway. I ran over and told him I had eaten some spinach and was now as strong as Popeye. I asked him if he wanted to see. He didn’t reply right away, so I flexed my skinny biceps for him, then slugged him on the shoulder. I was only five, but I’d bet it hurt a little. I am horrified every time I remember that incident. It makes me wonder how many parents persuaded little kids to eat canned spinach by telling them they’d be strong like Popeye. They probably should have told us more about the virtues of Olive Oil. I’m pretty sure that my siblings and I were told the Bible story of Daniel and his friends a few times, too, to persuade us to eat our vegetables and stay away from wine.
Daniel 2 tells the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling dream, and his demand that his advisors tell him both what he had dreamed and what it meant. When the advisors had no idea what the dream had been, the king ordered them all killed (including Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). Daniel was given a chance to plead his case with the king and was allowed time to seek the Lord. After the Hebrews prayed, the Lord revealed the complicated dream and its meaning to Daniel. When he laid that all out to Nebuchadnezzar, the king acknowledged the sovereignty of Yahweh (Dan. 2:47, above) and spared the lives of his wise men. Daniel 3 tells us of Daniel’s three friends’ courageous refusal to bow in worship to a statue of Nebuchadnezzar, even on the threat of death. After the Lord miraculously accompanied them through the fiery furnace and enabled them to emerge unscathed, the king again praised Yahweh’s omnipotence (3:28, above). Several years later, following the Medo-Persian conquest of Babylon, their ruler Darius made Daniel one of the most powerful administrators in his kingdom (Daniel 6). Other officials, jealous of Daniel’s power and friendship with Darius, fooled the king into signing a decree sentencing to death in a lions’ den anyone who prayed to any deity other than Darius. Daniel’s life had spoken. They knew he prayed three times daily towards Jerusalem — the City of Zion where the presence of Yahweh dwelt — and would not cease doing so. He was arrested and thrown into the lion’s den, but God “sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions.” Darius witnessed Daniel’s miraculous survival and issued a decree praising Yahweh as the one true God (6:26,27).
In young adulthood, Daniel and his three friends were forced into a horrible situation they never would have chosen. Rather than giving in to Babylonian cultural religion and surrendering their deepest identity as children of the Living God, they held tenaciously to their faith and made the best of their difficult circumstances. They were resilient. In faith, they never gave up hope that God would allow the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem and Judea, and would help them live more faithfully than the people had whose disobedience and idolatry led to Israel’s captivity. Their determination to obey the Lord in all things first, then deal with whatever consequences resulted, spoke volumes about God and about themselves to anyone who was paying attention.
We in 2021 face a combination of challenges – pandemic, climate crisis, economic upheaval and disparity, armed conflict, social and racial injustice — that may add up to nearly equal those which faced the Hebrew exiles. And due to modern communications technology, a lot more people are now paying attention. The Lord’s message to us today through Daniel’s examples is that the resilience, hope, and resolve to “seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness” which they displayed 2600 years ago are still available to all who wish to live lives that speak to others of God’s holiness, loving compassion, and eternal promise. All he needs is our invitation to allow his Spirit to live fully in us. Let’s help one another to let our lives speak for God in all we are, in everything we do.
–Ron Ferguson 3 October 2021
Queries for Worship-Sharing and Reflection
1) What have been your greatest trials or discouragements of the past 18 months? How has God helped you with them?
2) What do you think “spiritual resilience” and “spiritual hope” will look like in 2021 and beyond?
3) What encouraging surprises or positive changes have you experienced in the last 18 difficult months?
4) Why is it important to consider what others will conclude about God and faithful living when they watch how I live?
5) What are your most fervent hopes as the world and our community slowly emerge from these months of pandemic?
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Winchester Friends Church 765-584-8276
124 E. Washington St. Winchester, IN 47394
www.winchesterfriendschurch.
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Winchester Friends Church 765-584-8276
124 E. Washington St. Winchester, IN 47394
www.winchesterfriendschurch.
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QUAKER QUERIES
February 16, 2020
February 23, 2020
March 8, 2020
March 15, 2020