Spiritual Gifting and Moving Towards Community by Cathy Weesner King, Cherry Grove Friends
April-May 2013
NW YM connection
Vol. 6, Issue 2
We often think of our spiritual gifting on an individual level—what is my spiritual gifting? But what if we take it to another level—how can our spiritual gifting be used to create community? It seems in scripture that God has a bigger plan than just individual gifting; our gifts are to work together as the Body of Christ. Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4 all describe this. In The Message an excerpt from Romans 12 goes like this…“So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. If you preach, just preach God’s message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.” Spiritual gifts are just that, gifts from the Spirit to each of us. God has chosen a gift to give you but he has chosen a gift for the person next to you as well. It is God’s design to partner with us and that we partner with those around us, becoming a fully functioning body. Each of us comes as we are with our gifting; each of us an important part of the larger picture that God intends for us to be as a group. When we come together as a group we may not know what gifts others around us have. It is important to do the hard work of figuring this out, as each group of people will look and interact differently from another. Discovering and understanding our individual spiritual gifts is a wonderful way to better understand how God speaks to us and through us. Learning the gifts of those around us helps us build community with one another. As we understand each other’s gifting we better understand how to listen to one another, why tension may develop between certain individuals, and how to address it. As we learn how our gifts can complement one another, we can then do ministry together more easily and more successfully. So, what does this look like? What about the person gifted as a prophet who blurts out her message from God and unintentionally hurts people? The prophet becomes wounded in the backlash and withdraws to never bring another word from God. Wouldn’t it look Continued on page 2
Spiritual Gifting and Moving Towards Community (Continued from page 1)
Cathy is a veterinarian who lives in Battle Ground, WA with her husband of 30 years, Rob. Their grown daughters, Lindley and Robyn, both live in the Seattle area. Cathy and Rob attend Cherry Grove Friends Church where she is currently the clerk of elders; her spiritual gift cluster includes discernment, wisdom, alignment/ prophet, shepherding, and healing.
2
better if that prophet laid the message out before the group, another individual using his gifting helped clarify and interpret it, and the group moved together in God’s direction? Or how about the group that is very excited about a new project and someone stops the momentum by bringing up why it won’t work? Maybe, that person is a detail person but gets labeled as a nitpicker. Instead, with an understanding and appreciation for one another’s gifting, together they could sort through the small details and address concerns, bringing everyone to the same level so that the big picture can be accomplished. Or what about the kind, well-meaning individual who takes on the clerk position because no one else will do it but actually has no discernment gifting? He gets beat up and run over, the meeting cannot move forward, and people go off on rabbit trails doing their own thing. Instead, we should strive to place people in ministry positions where their own gifting can shine, individual confidence grows, and the group becomes healthier. In other words, when we are working together in community with an awareness of each person’s spiritual gifting, we learn to trust one another and the way God speaks to each of us individually and as a group. We learn how to present our gifts and how to accept others' gifts with gentleness and grace. With spiritual gifting as a focus, people are placed in positions where their giftedness thrives; we move together and become the group of people that God intended and desires for us to be. We will make mistakes along the way but we accept this as part of the process and offer grace where needed. If we don’t take the steps of finding our own giftedness and that of those around us, we will never know the plans that God has for us. When we use our spiritual gifts together, we can become a witness to those around us that God can take a group of people and make something out of them that no one else can. We become a true community of God.
www.nwfriends.org• Northwest • Northwest YearlyMeeting MeetingofofFriends Friends www.nwfriends.org Yearly
Bridging the Divide by Tim Henry, pastor, Sprague River Friends Sprague River is a place of divisions, and it has been for a very long time. It starts geographically. If you live east of the river you are in Sprague River, but if you travel one mile west and cross the bridge, you are in Chiloquin. That means different tax bases, and fire districts, emergency services, and even postal delivery. But that's just the beginning. The area has an extended history of conflicts that have arisen between different groups that have each sought and fought to protect their own interests. Native Americans and white settlers. Loggers and environmentalists. Mills and railroads. Ranchers and government agencies. Developers and protesters. Organizers and the fiercely independent. The young and the old. The working and the retired. The haves and the have nots. The political left and the political right. Survivalists, fugitives, drop ins, drop outs, and then, of course, the truly “one of a kind” loners. Then add to that a church split in the 1980s when the one larger congregation eventually became three, and even followers of Christ were worshiping on opposite sides of the street. But the separation goes beyond that. Sprague River, the town, is barely a wide spot in the road, but the “Sprague River Valley” covers far more than 100 square miles with few paved roads, and vast isolated stretches between homes. Many live “off the grid,” beyond the reach of power lines or even cell phone reception and a close neighbor might be “a couple miles” away. So with all this diversity, separation, and difference, how could people come together at all? For decades, much of this was equalized at the “cafe.” Located at the center of town for most of Sprague River's history, there was this little restaurant that at various times was combined with the post office and/or a store. It was the meeting place, the gathering place, the business place, and the eating place. A big, long table in the center of it all brought many different people together who could put aside the conflict of the moment and share a joke or a prayer or a cup of coffee together.
Tim Henry is the pastor at Sprague River Friends. He is also a writer and social commentator, part-time market researcher, librarian, advocate of voluntary simplicity, teacher. chief cook and bottle washer, as well as father and husband. The Henrys live "off the grid" in the forest of Southern Oregon.
Continued on page 13
•April–May December 2010 2011 Connection ••July/August 2013
33
Christ's Vision for the Church by Rob Willoughby, youth pastor, Metolius Friends Over the years local pastors from different denominations have met weekly for prayer and monthly for business. Out of these times together has come a desire to be part of a bigger picture, to work more closely to be united in Christ’s vision for the Church. One of our first expressions of this is called “Our Community in the Park.” This event is a beautiful example of Christ’s Body at work. We gather at a large, central park and provide various things for our local community, all for free, all with zero strings attached, and zero preaching involved. This is a time for our churches to just gather and love our city. Each year we offer free family portraits, mending services, clothing, cleanup crews, car washes, dental care, medical care, eye care, haircuts, lunch, prayer booths, small children’s carnivals, and car maintenance and inspections, among Rob Willoughby has other things. There are no church banners, nothing to distinguish been doing youth ministry for almost ten people from certain churches. It’s just one Body, working together years, with a little over under the vision of our King. It’s an amazing day. six of those years being at Metolius Friends Last year, joining together and working with Madras Gospel Community Church. He Mission (a local discipleship, emergency shelter, soup kitchen minlives in and explores istry), our churches have moved ministries and programming from Central Oregon with his wife, Jenny, and their their local bodies to MGM’s Community Center. At this neutral two children, Judah and place, ministry can happen that is in the name of Christ instead Bethel. of a certain church. Our pastor, Ron Mulkey, has a desire to see people freed from the burden of debt. He has led numerous Financial Peace classes both at our congregation and at other churches. He brought this much-needed class as one of our church’s contributions. Other churches brought various discipling classes, child care, Bible studies, and parenting classes as well as combining the different Celebrate Recovery ministries under one roof. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. We share joint youth ministry summer activities, an all-church 4th of July worship celebration where different congregations take on different roles in the service, an all-church Thanksgiving service. Moments like these remind me of Christ’s vision that we be united under our Lord as Shepherd. In these moments we also discover that our local body is missing vital parts that only being united as the larger Church can fulfill. Jesus prayed, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:20-23).
4
www.nwfriends.org www.nwfriends.org • Northwest • Northwest Yearly YearlyMeeting MeetingofofFriends Friends
Community, Christ, and Christian Credibility By Cassie Hwa, Eugene Friends Supporting, helping, learning, teaching, rejoicing, healing, loving, and forgiving; these are all characteristics of a healthy church community. I wish I could attest to these qualities residing in myself and in my relationship with others, but to do so would be lying and would not make these qualities appear. All too often we as Christians trick ourselves into believing we are superior because we go to church and read the Bible; similar to how IQ Tests decide exactly how smart we are. Stereotypical assumptions often cause people to stay away from the church. In talking to peers and through personal expeCassie Hwa is a junior at South Eugene High School. She currently attends Eugene Friends rience, I have found that the church does not Church. Cassie enjoys cheerleading for her school always feel safe, but harsh, accusatory and and hopes to attend George Fox in 2014. judgmental. We preach love and kindness, but practice damnation. How then, do we prove to society that this is not our intention? One of the reasons I am proud to be a Quaker is that we believe God speaks to the individual, and that it is no one else’s job to decide who is and is not condemned. But Quakers are not perfect. The only way to break out of these stereotypes is to add “welcoming” to our vocabulary. Not simply, “welcome to our church,” but offering sincere hospitality and love. As written in Matthew, chapter 9 when Jesus is asked why he eats with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). Every person needs to be treated equally and with as much love and respect as everyone else. Jesus calls us to love one another and lift each other up. No matter who shows up on the church steps, we need to welcome them into fellowship, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals of fulfilling the kingdom of God. Let’s take “hate the sin, love the sinner” a step further: hate your sins, love all sinners.
Connection • December Connection April–May 2011 2013
5
Community Involvement by Luke Ankeny, pastor, Homedale Friends
Luke Ankeny is married to Heidi, and they have three sons—Samuel, Jacob, and Braden. They live in Homedale, Idaho, where Luke ministers alongside the people of Homedale Friends Community Church as pastor. This winter Luke developed relationshps in the community by coaching the freshman boys basketball team at Homedale High School. His team finished the season by winning the district championship game.
6
One of the many things I appreciate about the people I church with here in Homedale is how well connected they are in our community. Driving through town the other day I caught myself thinking about how many of the organizations or institutions the people I church with are involved in. This thought brought a smile to my face, a warming in my heart, and a prayer of thanks to my lips. The people who make up our church are involved in the schools as paid staff and as volunteers, and a large number of our people are involved in Homedale Youth Sports Inc. as coaches or because of their children’s participation. We have people involved in the Chamber of Commerce, Masons, Lions Club, Owyhee County Fair and Rodeo, Txoko Ono Basque Club, and the summer softball tournament which is one of the largest co-ed softball tournaments in the Northwest. A group from our church solicits the help of the community every spring to raise money for a child and family in need of money to help cover medical expenses through Angel Walk (http://homedaleangelwalk.blogspot.com). (I may have unintentionally left out some of the ways we are involved with people in Homedale, but I hope this gives a quick snapshot of how well connected we are in our community.) As a church we are involved in our community for several good reasons, and some of those reasons may even be biblical. We are involved in Homedale in these ways because we care about the community in which we live and its continued ability to be a good place to live and raise a family. We have an understanding that relationships are very important, and through those relationships life can be and is shared in meaningful and significant ways. And, as life is shared, there are often great unobtrusive opportunities to talk about spiritual things. We are involved in our community in so many ways because we know we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. In order to do that we need to be in contact with our neighbors. As a church we are becoming more aware that being like Jesus means we need to be involved in reaching out to those around us. By being involved in community organizations we are able to help others and develop relationships with people at the same time. There are some important things we are learning about being involved in and developing relationships in the community. We are learning that relationships take time to develop and that often God is simply calling us to be present in people’s lives. We are www.nwfriends.org• Northwest • Northwest YearlyMeeting MeetingofofFriends Friends www.nwfriends.org Yearly
learning that through our community involvement we also have opportunities to connect with the people we church with away from the church building. We are learning to be intentional about connecting with people without having any expectations about where God should take those relationships. We are learning to be intentional in our teaching about and modeling of connecting with people, without placing unnecessary expectations on how the members of our church involve themselves. We are comfortable with them being involved as the Holy Spirit leads and directs them. We are learning to be okay when folks miss Meeting for Worship because they are involved in something in the community. Instead of wishing they were with us, we recognize their opportunity to minister and build relationships where they are and we pray for them. We are learning that we Luke and the freshman basketball team. need to continually pray for the community in which we live and for how God wants us to be involved in it. We are learning to use our passions, hobbies, and interests to connect with people. The Bible instructs us to “go and make disciples” and as a church we feel like this command is more easily accomplished through our established relationships—relationships in which we are simply trying to love others the way Jesus encourages us to do. We don’t have it all figured out, but I can tell you that we enjoy and do cherish the opportunity to assist God in the work of the Kingdom by being involved in people’s lives.
•April–May December 2010 2011 Connection ••July/August 2013
7
KEEPING CURRENT WITH LOCAL AND GLOBAL OUTRE ACH
Updates from Around the Globe During the middle of February all of these NWYM Friends were serving throughout the world.
(Above) Ed and Marie Cammack worshipping with Puno (Peru) Friends Church. The congregation is made up of adults and university students. Noe Alanguia is the pastor. Their church will celebrate their 2nd anniversary in July.
(Above) “Among the challenging and interesting things I worked on for the three weeks I was in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi was the ongoing planning of the Rwanda Friends Theological College. The leaders in the accompanying photo went over the proposed catalog, the list of courses, the budget, and the process of recruiting students for this new version. They are moving ahead in faith that the building will be completed and students recruited in time to begin classes in February, 2014.” – Lon Fendall, EFM GLLT Rwanda
(Left) “At church with our friend Josephine and her son Chris. Josephine sells fabric at Kimironko Market in Kigali and is known for taking study abroad students, like myself, under her wing, calling us her American daughters. Chris is 4 1/2, full of energy, and wants to be a pastor one day, or a kung fu fighter.” – Rachel Clarkson, GFU Semester Abroad
(Above) Janelle Ralph and Marilyn Harmon, eating street food in Wuhan, China.
(Right) Dan Cammack and Crisanto De la Cruz getting ready to go down the zipline on the Island of Palawan in the Philippines. Cris is the Executive Pastor for the yearly meeting in the Philippines. – Dan Cammack, EFM executive director
8
www.nwfriends.org • Northwest YearlyMeeting MeetingofofFriends Friends www.nwfriends.org • Northwest Yearly
(Above) “The beauty of La Paz (Bolivia) and the Andes: I never get tired of it. We had a marvelous view of the city and surrounding mountains from the roof of our hostel, right in the heart of it all.” – Nancy and Hal Thomas, Friends Serving Abroad
(Above) Ron and Carolyn Stansell spent seven days in Abeka, Congo, along the western shore of Lake Tanganyika. Ron held consultations with leaders of the yearly meeting and the theological training school along with teaching a short course on leadership. Carolyn led a Bible study for the regional women's meeting. The kitchen crew did a wonderful job of preparing tasty meals for us and keeping us healthy. – Ron and Carolyn Stansell, EFM GLLT Burundi, Congo
(Above) The Teaching Abroad (TA) team at High Rock Christian Center in Hong Kong where they had a retreat.
Being Friends in the Middle East NWYM is seeking a team to work through existing organizations, focus on education, and discern NW Friends’ outreach in Ramallah, six miles north of Jerusalem, where Friends have been involved since 1869. Approved to begin: Elizabeth Todd NW Friend Serving Abroad Leaves fall 2013, with the support of Friends Your sustained prayer and support make sustained ministry possible. Designated giving is an essential part of sending Friends abroad. Elizabeth looks forward to sharing this calling with you, with small groups, and with churches this spring and summer. To learn more, enter the conversation, participate in discernment, and support this global outreach effort, contact Elizabeth Todd at detodd10@gmail.com or Shawn McConaughey at smcconaughey@nwfriends.org at the yearly meeting office. Information can also be found online: nwfriends.org/fsa-me
2010 Connection ••July/August April–May 2013
9
On Our Way Rejoicing by Becky Ankeny, NWYM superintendent Jesus said to his followers, “You know that the leaders of the nations use power to dominate their people, that those of high status pull rank on those of lower status to tell them what to do. But this is not the relationship between my followers. Whoever wants to be high in rank should wait on the bidding of others, and whoever wants to be top boss must be devoted to everyone else’s interests, a slave. Be just like me: God sent me not to receive service, but to render service and to give my life to buy everyone else out of slavery and into freedom” (Matthew 20:25-28, paraphrased).
Becky Ankeny
I spoke to the folks who came to midyear board meetings about the ideas of Robert Greenleaf on servant leaders. These ideas are clearly derived from the directions of Jesus quoted above, and they apply not just to boards and representatives, but to all who follow Jesus. Jesus envisioned followers who were, in fact, leaders following the example of leadership that Jesus set. There are at least two requirements for leadership: leaders show up and leaders step up. Oddly, these are also requirements for servanthood: servants show up and servants step up. In his writings, Robert Greenleaf had some thoughts on how to assess the results of our service and our leadership: •• Do those served grow as persons? •• Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more likely themselves to become servants? •• What is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived? Greenleaf also hoped people would become more autonomous. They don’t just go off in their own direction and leave others behind, but instead learn to listen to God themselves and act intentionally out of obedience to God. Listening to God is so crucial that I want to add one further item to the requirements for leaders and for servants. They take time to shut up. So it looks something like this: show up, shut up, step up. Repeat. It’s easy to see an application to our denomination—a denomination of servant leadership. We can ask the questions of ourselves. •• Do those NWYM serves in our congregations and outreach ministries grow as persons?
10 10
www.nwfriends.org • Northwest YearlyMeeting MeetingofofFriends Friends www.nwfriends.org • Northwest Yearly
•• Do they, while we serve them, become healthier—more whole, more resilient? •• Do they become wiser—more discerning, more self-aware? •• Do they become more autonomous—more tuned in themselves to the voice of Jesus, rather than Jesus only as mediated by someone else? •• Do they become servants themselves? Do they show up and step up? •• And what is the effect on the least privileged in society because NWYM is here? Do we benefit them? Do we help them at the very least not to slide even further into deprivation? Greenleaf describes the characteristics of servant leaders: They listen actively to others, noticing what remains unspoken. They understand and empathize with others, respecting and appreciating them. They work to heal themselves and others, solve problems, resolve conflicts. They are aware of self as well as others. They persuade rather than coerce. They think beyond day to day, reflecting on the meaning of life. They think about likely outcomes of present actions. They hold their responsibilities in trust for the greater good and commit to growth in others. They build community. Are these the characteristics of our home churches, of our denomination? Do we listen well to others, empathize with them, respect and appreciate them? Do we commit ourselves to our own healing and growth and to healing and growth in others? Do we persuade well? Do we think with insight about the meaning of life and foresight about the consequences of our present actions? Do we commit ourselves to the greater good of our world? So next year at this time, let’s ask: Are we a better denomination than last year?
2010 Connection ••July/August April–May 2013
11 11
Christian Education Corner By Jim Teeters, East Hill Friends
Jim is a retired social worker and recorded Friends minister. He served as pastor for seven years in the NWYM, serves on the Board of Christian Education and Discipleship and attends East Hill Friends in Kent, Washington, with his wife Rebecca.
12 12
My Call to Ministry—Memoir We were attending Medford Friends Church in the 1970s—I was a kind of hippie, long-haired social worker type and more prone to independence and liberalism than the typical evangelical Quaker. It was a time when an associate pastor was needed. Pastor Clynton Crisman needed help. I was interested in the quest for someone to fill the role and took part in the deliberations. I was certainly not the type to fill the role, and it never occurred to me to even consider the possibility. I was supporting our family of six as a trainer for Children’s Services—lots on my plate. My job as trainer involved traveling, planning conferences, and administrative meetings. Partying, drinking, and dancing were just part of the job back then. Not the kind of gifts needed by our church body. My job took me to the Southern Oregon coast—my favorite was the beach at Bandon. I would walk out on the beach, visit caves, and talk to God as I enjoyed the wind and waves. One day, I walked through a tunnel in the rocks and faced the great Pacific ocean and heard a voice (audible or in my head? not sure), “You will be the associate pastor.” “What? You’ve got to be kidding. Me? No way; is that you, God?” “Yes.” “Well, this is crazy. Ok, but only if it is confirmed by someone bringing it up—not one word from me!” Silence. Then I screamed, “Nooooooooo…,” out into the wind and waves. But soon I realized that there was no way anyone would ever, in their wildest imagination, see me as a pastor. I laughed and felt relaxed on the way back to my motel room and my bottle of wine. At our next meeting, Pastor Clynton Crisman looked directly at me and said, “Jim, how about you being my associate pastor?”
www.nwfriends.org• Northwest • Northwest YearlyMeeting MeetingofofFriends Friends www.nwfriends.org Yearly
Bridging the Divide (Continued from page 3) Was it always perfect, was there never a fight? No. But often it served as neutral ground, a place of compromise, and healing. It was a safe place where people felt welcome. But then in 2008, the cafe closed. The building would eventually be sold to the county, which converted it to a branch library. But there would be no pancakes or burgers served there anymore. No big table. No neutral ground. No safe place to go. Suddenly there was this huge and essential need in the community, and suddenly the Friends Church was a restaurant. From 2008 to 2011 we served upwards of 24 meals a month: breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. It was a lot of work and took a lot effort and resources. We had no plan or agenda, just God putting this thing in front of us that we stepped into. Within weeks, the big table was filled again; people were laughing and debating, and conducting the town's business. There were no mandatory Bible lessons or sermons. There was no church membership required. Just good food served together at big tables, by friendly welcoming people who cared. And although in recent months the pace has slowed to 2-4 meals a month, the meals still serve the same purpose: they continue to be a safe place for people to put down differences and share a table and a meal together. When Jesus fed the people (including the loaves and fishes!), he didn't say “feed the fisherman, but let the soldiers fend for themselves.” He didn't say “make sure there are no Sadducees or tax collectors here. They will just fight.” He didn't check to see if people were really needy because he knew everyone was needy. He didn't divide the people, or separate them, instead he brought them together and in his eyes they were all the same. It's a great model, and one we try to continue to keep in mind. So if you are ever in Sprague River, we hope you will join us sometime as we continue to open the doors to welcome all who would come and share the feast.
•April–May December July/August 2010 2011 2010 Connection ••July/August 2013
13 13
Updates, News & Announcements Looking back •• Bible Quiz Tournament Results: We had a great season for Bible Quizzing! Thanks to all of our volunteers and quizzers! For the overall season Sherwood took first for the high school team score, Greenleaf took first for middle school team score, and Matthew Staples and Anne Rolfe from Newberg Friends took first for high school and middle school individual scores (respectively).
Looking ahead •• Pastors Conference: April 15-18, 2013. We invite you to a time of rest, renewal and play. Enjoy the company of other sisters and brothers who serve and struggle to honor Jesus and his people. This is a time to renew the joy of seeking and following Christ, to reconnect and make new friends, and to walk the beach and enjoy God’s creation. The food is pretty wonderful as well! More information and registration can be found at nwfriends.org/pastorsconference. •• Peru Trip Team: A team of young adults and young family types are preparing to spend some time in Peru, May 4-24. The purpose of the trip is to form stronger relationships between Friends in North America and Friends in Peru, especially among the younger generations. Those going on the trip are Joy Lujan (Caldwell Friends), Russell and Sarah Badgley (Greenleaf Friends), Lauren Wells (Barclay College), Dannica Thornton (West Chehalem Friends and GFU student), Mareesa Fawver (Newberg Friends and GFU student), Rebekah Cammack (Tigard Friends and GFU student), and Dan Cammack (Tigard Friends and Director of Evangelical Friends Mission). Rebekah is Dan's daughter, and their family served as missionaries in Peru under NWYM for 15 years. Dan and Rebekah are leading the trip. This is a short-term service trip sponsored by the Board of Global Outreach and its Bolivia/Peru Subcommittee.
Pastoral/NWYM Staff transitions •• Brendon Connelly: For the past four years Brendon Connelly has been our Director of Finance and Development. On April 12, 2013, he will be heading to a new job elsewhere. We have appreciated his work and presence at the office, and throughout NWYM.
14
www.nwfriends.org • Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends
Calendar of Events
April
12-13 Volleyball Tournament – George Fox University 15-18 Pastors Conference – Twin Rocks Friends Camp
May 24-26 Samuel School II – Quaker Hill Camp 8-13 Twin Lakes Jr. Boys Camp 17-30 YCLS – Portland and North Idaho 24-29 Twin Lakes Jr. High Camp June 29 – July 3 Quaker Hill Kids Camp June 30 – July 5 Twin Rocks Girls Camp 3-8 Quaker Hill Sr. & Jr. High Camps 7-13 Twin Rocks Tween Camp 15-19 Twin Lakes Day Camp 14-19 Twin Rocks Boys Camp 21-25 Yearly Meeting Sessions 21-23 Twin Lakes Backpack Trip 22-27 Twin Lakes Girls Camp 4-10 Twin Rocks Surfside Camp
July/August 2010 Connection • •April–May 2013
June
JULY
August
15 15
John 15:14 niv
“You are my friends if you do what I command.”
Member of Evangelic al Friends church North Americ a
A publication of the NWYM Board of Communication. Joel Bock, editor
tel 503.538.9419 www.nwfriends.org
Calendar of Events......................................15
Updates, News & Announcements.......... 14
Bridging the Divide continued...................13
Christian Education Corner....................... 12
On Our Way Rejoicing...........................10-11
Being Friends in the Middle East................9
Updates from Around the Globe............ 8-9
Community Involvement..........................6-7
Community, Christ, and Christian.............. 5
Christ's Vision for the Church.....................4
Bridging the Divide...................................... 3
Spiritual Gifting and Moving Towards.... 1–2
Inside this issue…
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
200 N Meridian St. Newberg, OR 97132
Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit No. 98