I saw also that there was an ocean
of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed
over the ocean of darkness. And in that also I saw the infinite love of God;
and I had great openings.
George Fox, Journal, 1647
These are some of my experiences during and after the "reconfiguration" of Indiana Yearly Meeting. I wrote this article after I attended the 2012 annual sessions of Indiana Yearly Meeting.
A CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE July 29, 2012
On my way from Northern Michigan to the
Indiana Yearly Meeting sessions at Quaker Haven Camp, I took a detour near
Michigan’s border with Indiana. In 1832 Pennsylvania Friends arrived in
what became Cass County, and called their settlement Penn Township. They were joined by Friends from Indiana, and by 1836 they were worshiping in the home of
Stephen Bogue, who had moved there from Wayne County, Indiana. The following
year the meeting moved to a log cabin in the corner of the Prairie Grove
cemetery at Birch Lake, five miles south of Penn Township. Birch Lake Friends
became a monthly meeting in 1841.
These Friends would have worn plain
dress, used plain speech, and sought marriage partners for their children
within the faith. Their distinctive ways provided a barrier from the world,
which they saw as inherently hostile to the growth of godliness. With
hearts and minds prepared by regular prayer, Bible study and inspirational
reading, it was understood that true baptism and communion took place during
the silence of Meeting for Worship, with no outward symbols necessary. While
silence was the medium of this deep communion, some Friends might be led to
offer a brief message or vocal prayer, but only if they were truly convinced
that the words were coming from God.
While Friends were separate from ‘the
world’ in the way they led their daily lives, they felt a duty to contribute to
what they believed was God’s will for the world, and used their understanding
of scripture in carrying this out.
While Friends agreed that it was sinful
to own another human being, a major conflict developed in the early 19th
century in parts of the USA as to whether it was enough for Friends not to own
slaves and to distance themselves from the products of slave labor, or whether
they should be more active in terms of shaping public policy and assisting
those who had been enslaved to escape. This conflict was at the heart of Quaker
identity. Were they to remain a quietist sect, separate from “the world?’ Or
were they to join with other like-minded Christians in advocacy and direct
action?
Indiana Yearly Meeting split over the
issue in 1843, when supporters of Levi Coffin, who had been expelled by
the yearly meeting for his activism, met to reorganize Indiana Yearly Meeting
on “true principles.” The Indiana Yearly Meeting of Anti-Slavery Friends
claimed 2,000 of the 25,000 members and many meetings divided on the issue.
Stephen and Hannah Bogue, in whose home
Birch Grove Meeting in Michigan had started, were at the heart of the
controversy. For a decade their home was a station on the Underground Railroad,
as were those of their daughter Sarah and son in law James Bonine, and William
Jones. Charles Osborn, who had been read out of meeting in Wayne County for his
abolitionist activities, moved there to be near his abolitionist son Josiah.
Not all the Friends were comfortable with
the nonviolent direct action, the engagement with non-Friends and the necessity
for secrecy that was involved in this form of activism, and it is easy to see
how tensions formed in Birch Lake Meeting. In 1843 it divided and the activists
formed Young’s Prairie Anti Slavery Friends Meeting, on Quaker Street, Penn
Township.
This schism was about many things: What
did it mean to be a Friend? What was God calling Friends to do? But a major
issue was one of conscience. The Anti-Slavery Friends could do no other than to
witness in the way they did. And those who opposed them could not be persuaded
of their sense that it was not in right ordering, however tempting it might be.
The outcome, the schism, freed the Anti-Slavery Friends to do what they felt
called to do. It freed those whose conscience would not permit that activity,
but who were still committed to the ending of the system of slavery, to
worship, pray, and do as their consciences dictated.
Just nine years after the conference that
set off the Anti-Slavery yearly meeting, Indiana Yearly Meeting re-united, with
no requirement for apology on either side.
The Bonine house, a station on the Underground Railroad; Calvin Center Road and Penn Road, Cass County, Michigan |
And here we are, in 2012 in a different
crisis. While many issues – the interpretation and role of scripture,
organizational polity and authority, the nature of sin, God’s will and so on,
have arisen, at the heart of it is an issue – the potential violation of
conscience – that, it seems, cannot be accommodated. Some things can be worked
through by compromise, by giving up a cherished tradition in order to keep the
peace and stay together. But for one group of Friends to take a course of
action, or withdraw from a course of action that they, in conscience, after
deep prayer, cannot do, is a different matter.
This is what Yearly Meeting
Superintendent Doug Shoemaker said yesterday, and I was not the only one in the
room who experienced it as true vocal ministry:
"I have a vision of yearly meetings that
are united in vision; united in Christ; and are liberated to do the work of the
Kingdom as they are led without denominational distractions.
What kind of future do you long for? We
are at a crossroad, and I am grateful to be part of a yearly meeting that dares
to name our differences and seek ways to foster spiritual unity while
respecting the consciences of one another."
Penn Township, Cass County, Michigan |
No comments:
Post a Comment