After Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative sessions

Seventh Month 2005

I feel refreshed by the Spirit that lives among this group of Friends, though I cannot point to any other time when I have sat still for so long over many days--

in Meeting for Worship;
in Meeting for Worship for Business;
in holding presenters in prayer.

How is it that I am refreshed after four days of this routine, with 12 hours of worship, neither drained nor eager to return home?

I can attribute it to the movement of the Spirit; the discipline and gift of IYMC's clerk; the discipline of the body of Friends gathered. Even in response to the longest of reports, only a very small number of Friends spoke to its wordy knots. It seemed to take a few minutes to loosen the knots and then move on.

During MfW for Business, Friends seemed to speak to the heart or the kernel of what their message was. It was enough to say, "It is a joy to have the young Friends of junior yearly meeting among us," without having to add why the Friend felt that way.

The clerk recorded the sense of the Spirit among us, rather than the who-said-what-and-then-what-happened details that often lead to long corrections and wordsmithing from the floor by more than the clerks' team.

Each committee's report seemed to be received as a whole, as a mini-gestalt, rather than as a list of items that had to be scrutinized, challenged, edited, and threshed by the gathered assembly. Explicit approval of minutes was seldom sought. Silence or the occasional "Good minute" were enough.

The lack of suggestions and the absence of impromptu brainstorming that met each report sent me a nonverbal message of the level of trust in the work of the committees these Friends had, as well as being another signal that these Friends, for the most part, share in the discipline of seeking out committee clerks away from the floor of business session in order to share ideas, ask questions, and offer revisions.

Spiritual hospitality also seemed to be a gift that is part and parcel to the life of this yearly meeting. I was welcomed warmly--perhaps because of the travel letter that accompanied me--but my sense is there is a deeper, quieter joy in many of these Friends that is embodied by genuine welcome and care for visitors and first-timers.

The love of God that these Friends experience in their daily lives is clear. And it is made manifest by the words they speak and by the deeds they do.

I was invited to sit in on a care-and-accountability committee, as well as be part of two other hold-in-prayer opportunities for speakers and the clerk; and I was asked to participate in the variety show, despite my newness to the yearly meeting.

As the week progressed, I was told that the clerk felt that these Opportunities would give me the experience of being among Conservative Friends in a variety of settings, rather than solely looking at MfW for Business and MfW.

I was particularly moved by the epistle that will be sent to Friends Everywhere (as compared to the epistles that will be sent to Iowa Conservative's sister meetings, Ohio Yearly Meeting and North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative), which mentions the presence of Friends from Yahara Preparative Meeting and the as-yet-unnamed Conservative-leaning worship group; and that by having us among the yearly meeting, Friends are having to consider the question, "What makes us Conservative Friends?"

Other observations and perceptions include:
1. A good deal of Conservative Friends exchange greetings and news with one another via letters rather than emails.
2. Cell phones ring less frequently but are just as annoying when they do ring.
3. Bible verses, selected by the speakers, were read at the start of each plenary session.
4. Friends were easy with "God language" and with "Jesus (Christ) language."

Overall, I sensed the shared desire and concern for faithfulness and obedience to the leadings of the Spirit; that individual Friends as well as the corporate body be discerning and attentive to the Will of God as it is made known; and that such faithfulness is encouraged.

Blessings,
Liz

This post is an adaptation of a journal entry.

UPDATE, Eighth Month 2006: Here is the first of two posts I wrote after having attended the 2006 annual sessions of Iowa Conservative Friends.