It has been nearly a year since I left Indiana Yearly Meeting to come to Virginia and thus North Carolina Yearly Meeting (FUM), but the Quaker world isn't any bigger now than it was then and news from IYM still flutters in to my little corner of Virginia.
Several years ago, the last time IYM held their general session at Earlham College, one relatively new pastor to the yearly meeting posed a question from the floor to Nelson Bingham, then the acting president of Earlham College. I won't be able to quote this Friend Exactly but the question was to the effect of "What can we do in order to encourage Earlham to become a Biblically based institution". Nelson gave a very thoughtful answer which I, likewise, cannot quote exactly. The gist of it was that Earlham was not going to make an institutional move like that. However, there are student groups who shared this pastors view and opinions as well as other forums for discussions available, and that Earlham would welcome this pastor and others to contact these groups and use these forums to make sure that their viewpoint and opinions were not absent from the campus.
That was over three years ago, and to my knowledge neither this pastor nor anybody murmering in agreement with him has taken Nelson's advice. I wonder if this guy could even name the Christian organizations on the Earlham campus nearly as quickly or completely as he can name the ones he doesn't like. Has he or his meeting doen anything to assist Christian groups on campus? For example. Earlham is home to a chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (My personal favorite among the national campus ministry organizations). IVCF staffworkers recieve training and program support from the national organization. However, like missionaries, they must raise the funds that support their position themselves. Very very very (did I say very?) few of the meetings in IYM are contributing to this fund.
No, it seems instead of attempting to actually do something productive, this pastor (who BTW came to IYM from Evangelical Friends International Eastern Region). would rather just sit around and whine and complain. Instead of trying to build something positive, he would rather destroy a relationship that has endured well over a century.
His latest problems are with a brochure he saw about a writers conference at my alma mater Earlham School of Religion for which he saw a brochure. In one of the tiny blurbs for one of several workshops, he found one clause which he has interpreted to mean that ESR is teaching religions other than Christianity. However his biggest problem is with Earlham's annual production of the Vagina Monologues which he bought a ticket and attended. Now let me be clear, this production isn't done outside on chase stage where somebody could just walk by and have it inflicted upon them. In order to be offended by it one must buy a ticket and go in to the auditorium and sit through it. Now why, instead of putting effort in to getting offended on purpose doesn't he just put the effort in to following (then) President Bingham's advice?
As it stands now two things are true. Indiana Yearly Meeting has almost no ability to influence anything at Earlham and Indiana Yearly Meeting is a more or less rapidly dying organization in which much of the leadership has spent the bulk of the last five years fighting about ephemeral things, calling eachother names, telling lies about each other and otherwise being downright un-Christian to each other. Which is probably why so many IYM pastors have moved to other yearly meetings and why meeting attendence is so low.
If IYM were to sever ties with Earlham they would then, necessarily, loose any chance they ever had of influencing anything there ever again. Additionally, If I were Earlham College, I'd be very happy to see them go. Who wants to be tied to an organization as non-functional, un-plesant and near death as IYM.
Several years ago, the last time IYM held their general session at Earlham College, one relatively new pastor to the yearly meeting posed a question from the floor to Nelson Bingham, then the acting president of Earlham College. I won't be able to quote this Friend Exactly but the question was to the effect of "What can we do in order to encourage Earlham to become a Biblically based institution". Nelson gave a very thoughtful answer which I, likewise, cannot quote exactly. The gist of it was that Earlham was not going to make an institutional move like that. However, there are student groups who shared this pastors view and opinions as well as other forums for discussions available, and that Earlham would welcome this pastor and others to contact these groups and use these forums to make sure that their viewpoint and opinions were not absent from the campus.
That was over three years ago, and to my knowledge neither this pastor nor anybody murmering in agreement with him has taken Nelson's advice. I wonder if this guy could even name the Christian organizations on the Earlham campus nearly as quickly or completely as he can name the ones he doesn't like. Has he or his meeting doen anything to assist Christian groups on campus? For example. Earlham is home to a chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (My personal favorite among the national campus ministry organizations). IVCF staffworkers recieve training and program support from the national organization. However, like missionaries, they must raise the funds that support their position themselves. Very very very (did I say very?) few of the meetings in IYM are contributing to this fund.
No, it seems instead of attempting to actually do something productive, this pastor (who BTW came to IYM from Evangelical Friends International Eastern Region). would rather just sit around and whine and complain. Instead of trying to build something positive, he would rather destroy a relationship that has endured well over a century.
His latest problems are with a brochure he saw about a writers conference at my alma mater Earlham School of Religion for which he saw a brochure. In one of the tiny blurbs for one of several workshops, he found one clause which he has interpreted to mean that ESR is teaching religions other than Christianity. However his biggest problem is with Earlham's annual production of the Vagina Monologues which he bought a ticket and attended. Now let me be clear, this production isn't done outside on chase stage where somebody could just walk by and have it inflicted upon them. In order to be offended by it one must buy a ticket and go in to the auditorium and sit through it. Now why, instead of putting effort in to getting offended on purpose doesn't he just put the effort in to following (then) President Bingham's advice?
As it stands now two things are true. Indiana Yearly Meeting has almost no ability to influence anything at Earlham and Indiana Yearly Meeting is a more or less rapidly dying organization in which much of the leadership has spent the bulk of the last five years fighting about ephemeral things, calling eachother names, telling lies about each other and otherwise being downright un-Christian to each other. Which is probably why so many IYM pastors have moved to other yearly meetings and why meeting attendence is so low.
If IYM were to sever ties with Earlham they would then, necessarily, loose any chance they ever had of influencing anything there ever again. Additionally, If I were Earlham College, I'd be very happy to see them go. Who wants to be tied to an organization as non-functional, un-plesant and near death as IYM.
3 comments:
Hi Jeff, gosh what a shame. I totally completely understand the pastor's concern that the liberalness of Quaker schools like Earlham are taking them ever further from his conception of Quakerism (mine too in many respects). It's easier to grandstand to an audience than to do the hard and often frustrating work of day-to-day on-the-ground missionary work of winning hearts and minds for Christ. But really, isn't that our work? Jesus only had his dozen disciples. Surely there are a dozen people on Earlham's campus that could preach the kind of good news message the pastor you referred to wanted.
This isn't just an evangelical phenomenon of course. Liberal Friends love their grandstanding too. I can think of more than a few egos in the East Coast liberal Quaker bureaucracy whose causes (mainly political in our case) are less about communication or affecting real change than they are about hearing their own voice and ennobling themselves as a chosen elite. How do we find the reserves of humility to allow us to state our case but then move on and serve Him toward a better world?
Martin @ Quaker Ranter
To an extent I can understand his frustration, except that unlike him I went to school there. I didn't just go to the campus in order to get offended.
The thing is that the Christian groups at EC, at least the ones I encountered and worked with, produce good disciples for Jesus who become more than just Sunday or C&E Christians. In these discussions, they are getting absolutely NO press.
Not only are there more than 12 people who can share the Gospel, it is easier at Earlham. Everybody is so in to being radical that once they realize that real Christianity is probably the most counter-cultural radical choice you can make they're totally in to it.
What a sad but true state of affairs. Now, even ESR is having problems with students leaving because the school is losing its Christian identity and bickering among the administration. Sadly, the last time I attended first day services at the Earlham campus there were less than ten people in attendance.
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