Friends Summit 2014:Becky AnkenyI had the privilege of joining the gathering at Friends Summit 2014. Three other superintendents were there also, and we hosted several sessions where attenders could ask anything. These were good sessions.

There were two particular moments I found encouraging. First, Jesse Penna of Mid-America Yearly Meeting started us off by saying, “The Kingdom of God is not in trouble.” This was a refreshing message, and several others mentioned their appreciation for such a hopeful approach.

Second, I was challenged by words from one of the speakers, Tommy Nixon. He is a graduate of Hope International University, 2001, and executive director of Solidarity Rising, a ministry in the barrios of Fullerton, CA. What caught me in his speaking was that God invites us into ministry so that we will be with God. God wants us to take our challenges essentially as excuses to be with God. This changes our focus from being on success and outcomes to spending time in relationship with God. Tommy talked about the value of being “in over our heads” in ministry--the value is that we just have to turn to God and take time with God, which is why God called us into ministry in the first place. This was a freeing and hopeful message to me, and I noted that the young folks from NWYM found it very meaningful also.

Thank you all for the ways you supported young adults and their mentor/advocates to attend Summit. We were able to use money raised through Sowers Fund for a call to ministry conference for transportation, and several churches subsidized or funded the attendance of their people. This is a long-term investment in the future of the part of God’s church we call Evangelical Friends.

Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends

February 2015

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My time at Summit was largely about my identity as a Quaker and challenging how I perceived the whole idea of following Jesus. I was surprised to feel like a minority at the conference. Never before had I realized how unique NWYM was among Evangelical Friends. At the beginning of the conference, I felt uncomfortable with the differences I was seeing and began removing myself as somehow a better Quaker among regions I was marking as sellouts to the Quaker tradition. I felt as though I was encounter-ing evangelicals but not Quakers, but by day two my convictions were turning inward to my pride and the barriers I had spent the last day building. It became clear that I was not handling the sit-uation well from my high horse. These things disabled my ability to interact and come to know people’s stories. I wondered if I was like Jonah, far removed, looking out over a city I disapproved of and totally missing the point. With these realizations came new motives to engage with others in the conference and an apprecia-tion for the community that is NWYM.

The second challenge of my time spent at Summit came in the words of one speaker in particular who spoke about how an almighty God didn’t need us to fix the world for Him, but rather that following Jesus meant that He was inviting us to join in with what He was already doing. Why? Because He wants to spend time with us. Those words struck a note. I realized that for a long time now I had been racking my brain trying to figure out what I could do for God. How could I use my gifts? What even were my gifts? There was something very overwhelming about this outlook. I was drowning in worry about how to steer my life in the right direction, all the while not really spending much time with the One I wanted to be like. The words I heard at Summit from speakers in workshops and general sessions pointed my thinking in a different direction, one that brought peace to my soul, one that whispered to me: Don’t worry, spend time with Me, open your eyes to what I am doing. I’m grateful for the trip and the opportunities to be stretched and refreshed. Perhaps the best words to describe my experience were penned by a nineteenth century lawyer, “It is well with my soul.”

Friends Summit 2014:Will Cammack

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I really like us. Northwest Quakers, I mean. I like us a lot. I don’t always like what we do, or what we choose together, but I like us. Who we are. What we are together.

Who we are is a lot more obvious when we’re in the presence of people who are not us. People who are like us, but not in every way. People who know our language, have a gist of our back-ground, but aren’t…us. This impression was given powerfully to me at Summit. Northwest Yearly Meeting is distinct amongst the North American evangelical yearly meetings; we are something different.

We’re less into loud music; light shows are a distraction to us; we are less prone to handraising and swaying back and forth; we pause at song lyrics; we ask questions of presenters; we ask each other “did you feel that too?”; we wonder.

We care deeply that our worship comes from a place of integrity. We desire for any folk to feel welcomed by our language and our tone. We have a need for communal silence, for space.

We are bad at aesthetics. We suffer a lack of celebration together. We have little, if any, worshipful abandon. We overthink things. We hesitate.

We are not even all the same! We differ in opinion, and often. We differ in belief and conviction and calling, and often. We may not assume much about one another, for our body is diverse and strange. We come from varying geographical cultures, we do not live the same liturgy.

In this, in our collective identity, in our differences united, we be-come ourselves. And we must be ourselves. Our place at Summit, amongst evangelical yearly meetings, is essential. Friends, we are so, so, so different from our Evangelical Friends. We frustrate them with our questions, they frustrate us with their brevity. We give them freedom to rest, they give us energy to do. We ask them to delve deeper; they ask us to bring knowledge into actuality. A great deal of diversity amongst Evangelical Friends comes from us. A great deal of solidarity comes to us from our Evangelical Friends community. We need them.

We can learn much from their ability to rest their minds. We can glean a great peace by following their example of communal trust. We can let go of our long-held need be right, and accept

Friends Summit 2014:J Rourke

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our need to be together. And friends, they need us too. They have forgotten the value of wonder. They have lost all but the mini-mum silence. They have exchanged gentle integrity for energetic performance. Without each other, we have a great lack.

It is mutuality that defines us as a yearly meeting, and mutuality that brings such deep value to Summit. My lesson from Summit is a larger scale lesson about us in the Northwest. If I can see so clearly that my brothers and sisters from other evangelical yearly meetings are of immense value and importance to me and my learning, how much more so my brothers and sisters in my own region. If I have discovered the value of Friends across the nation with diverse backgrounds and cultures and ideas, how much more so my Friends next door.

J Rourke - Cont.

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Friends Summit 2014:Denae Warren

Greetings from Idaho!I was so delighted to attend this young adult conference for Evangelical Friends! Big thanks to Rachelle Staley and the Call to Ministry money given through Sowers Fund for making this possible for me and others!

Wow! Friends Summit! Wonderful speakers were chosen throughout the conference. Different communication styles appeal to different folks, and I loved the diversity of storytelling, teaching, preaching, lecturing and evangelism those on the platform offered. I also enjoyed the range in ages of presenters and those leading discussions. I was blown away by the professionalism and planning that went into this event. God engages us differently, which was made evident during the week through different styles of worship, communication, and socialization. I really enjoyed the worship led by other young adults from different yearly meetings. I particularly appreciated NWYM’s worship style—of course, I am unbiased!

I loved the speakers Tommy Nixon and Jon Huckins in particular. Our Southern Idaho Young Adult group is starting a study called Thin Places, which Jon Huckins co-authored about missional community. A quote from Jon that really hit home for me: “Christianity is less about raising our hands during worship and more about washing each other’s feet.” YES!

From my perspective the workshops were extremely relevant and the conference was very content-driven. For people like me (total extrovert) this was excellent. I noticed some of my introverted counterparts feeling like there was too much content to absorb throughout the day. I understand that this conference happens every four years and that may account for the maximum content throughout the day.

I attended every Superintendent Session, “Why Women Can Lead”, “How to Discern the Holy Spirit”, “Multiplication Epidurals: How to Make Disciples Without Pain”, “Women in Ministry”, “Fish Bowl for Young Adult Ministry in the Church”. I attended classes regarding young adults and the church, women in ministry, and discernment workshops in order to see what God has next for my life. I so appreciated the conversations with many NWYM people and others in this area. Leadership made themselves available for lunches and dinners, and I just loved getting to know people who I didn’t know that well much better.

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Access to Evangelical Friends leadership was especially nice, and I appreciated the time and space dedicated to this. I observed NWYM young adults particularly capitalizing on this time (Superintendent Workshops) and they participated in these sessions to a great extent. The only drawback to some of the workshops happened when some of the older adults dominated conversations that were perhaps meant for young adults to engage in. I observed this several times throughout the six different workshops I attended. Some churches don’t always create space for young adults to share, and/or young adults may not be comfortable sharing in group settings, so it was a reminder for me to purposefully let other young adults speak/lead.

I learned a lot during our mentor/advocate sessions and especially enjoyed this time. However, I would have liked to mix with some of the other yearly meetings just to gain a different perspective. Sometimes when I am out of my comfort zone, I really benefit relationally, and this might have been an opportunity missed by me in that area.

In all seriousness, I did not know of some of the differences between NWYM and some of the other yearly meetings across the country. This is hard and beautiful all at the same time. I walked away with a great sense of hope for the future, a boundless sense of pride in Evangelical Friends young adults, and a covenant of unity in some very central areas with my fellow Friends. There are things that the Northwest does really well, and things that other yearly meetings do really well. What an opportunity to learn and grow!

Denae Warren - Cont.

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Last December five white church vans, filled with great people, sharing amazing thoughts and ideas, made their way down I-5 to southern California to attend Summit 2014, a national Evangelical Friends conference for young adults. Seventy people from twenty-one different NWYM churches joined 420 attendees from all over Evangelical Friends Church-North America (EFC-NA) in La Jolla, California. This was a beautiful mix of young people partnered with mentors having access to all different types of Friends ministries and leaders from all over the world.

Here are some reflections from NWYM people who attended:

Matt Staples (Newberg Friends) – Our Yearly Meeting put us in mentor/advocate groups, which I think encouraged richer and more diverse conversations. The groups gave us the opportunity to hear more diverse thoughts on the things we are struggling with, and gives a great opportunity to find common ground and strengthen relationships.

Erinn Baker (North Valley) – My mentor helped me learn something really important about myself, and my journey with God. He also helped me work through my feelings. I think this relationship is very important, and I know I will keep in contact with my mentor after Summit.

Vicki Stave/Youth Advocate (Eugene Friends) –While listening to Tommy Nixon I realized I’m taking the easy route and not spending much time walking with the “least of those.” I know a homeless man who does not have a birth certificate and lives outside at age 67. That evening session convinced me that I’m not stopping until I solve this problem.

Forrest Cammack (Tigard Friends) – There were a myriad of small moments, where people listened and showed that they care.

There were so many people who gave of time, prayer, vehicles and financial resources to make Summit 2014 a success.Thank You!

Friends Summit 2014:Rachelle Staley

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Calendar of Events

16 - 19 Sabbath by the Sea Week 6 - Twin Rocks

APRIL

13 - 16 Pastors Conference - Twin Rocks

18 High School Volleyball Tournament - Newberg, OR

10-11 Making Ordinary Saints - Newberg, OR

2 Friends Leadership Presentations - George Fox Univ.3-4 Youth Yearly Meeting Officer Training - Newberg, OR

MARCH7 Bible Quiz Meet - Boise Friends

MAY22 - 25 Samuel School II - Quaker Hill

Save the DateJul 19-23 Yearly Meeting sessions - George Fox University

Leslie Murray joins the NWYM staff as Friends Student Recruiter

Sammy Sanders is now Youth Pastor at NetartsShawn Leonard is now Pastor at CrossroadsJesse Davis is now Pastor at Medford

PASTORAL AND STAFF TRANSITIONSUpdates, News & Announcements