Making Space for New Life
Nurturing Ministry & Spiritual Life: An Experiment
How do—and how can—Quakers in New England support the thriving of ministry and spiritual life in our local meetings?
Friends across New England are engaged in an ongoing experiment in faithfulness, seeking to make space for new life and growth in the Spirit. This page offers background and updates on this unfolding journey. We hope you will join us!
Some brief history: A short-term working group to examine Yearly Meeting Support for Ministry and Spiritual Life was created by the Permanent Board at the direction of the Yearly Meeting in Annual Sessions (2019-46) to explore the Yearly Meeting's support for ministry and spiritual life and offer recommendations for structures, practices and leadership roles that would best serve the current needs of Friends. Its recommendations were approved by the Permanent Board in fall 2020.
Since then, a group of Friends with diverse gifts have been working to "set the table" for a series of seasonal, daylong gatherings to nurture ministry and eldership in our local meetings.
Updates on this experiment, a video of the working group's report and recommendations, and more are available below. Keep scrolling down for more.
Background and Recommendations: The Journey So Far
A recording of the report and recommendations from the Yearly Meeting's Working Group on Supporting Ministry & Spiritual Life presented in Fall 2020. The Working Group's approved recommendations formed the basis for new experiments with seasonal gatherings exploring support for ministry and eldership in Friends meetings in New England.
File Downloads
Letter to local meetings with news about supporting ministry & spiritual life
A letter to Clerks and Ministry & Counsel of local Friends meetings, from the clerks of Permanent Board and Ministry & Counsel of the Yearly Meeting
Slideshow: Presentation of the working group to the Permanent Board
A PDF version of the slides for the working group's presentation. A video version, with narration and further context, is also available.
Background Working Paper: Ministry & Spiritual Life
A paper presented as further background to the Nov 2020 presentation and recommendations of the Working Group on Ministry & Spiritual Life.
Graphic: Current and Proposed Support for Ministry & Spiritual Life
A graphic presenting how the Yearly Meeting currently supports ministry and spiritual life among New England Friends, and how the proposed seasonal gatherings fit with—and are intended to augment—that work
Charge for the Ministry & Spiritual Life working group
What the working group was asked to do, and how they were asked to do it
Progress report and approved next steps for YM support of ministry & spiritual life
A document submitted to Annual Sessions 2022, containing recommendations approved to guide Yearly Meeting support for ministry, eldership, and the spiritual life of local meetings.
Interested in learning more about this work?
Send a message to the clerk of the hosts for gatherings on spiritual life and ministry