New England Yearly Meeting‘s sessions were held virtually this year, as were most yearly meetings (and, of course, most other events…). NEYM Friends asked me to be their Bible Half-Hour speaker, and so I gave five half-hour talks on the topic of: “A Quaker Ecology: Meditations on the Future of Friends.” I truly wish I could have spent time with these Friends in person! They are doing some incredible work together, and it was sad to not be immersed in the week together in a shared space. The sessions felt very Spirit-led anyway, which came as somewhat of a surprise to me. I was a little bit worried I would feel disconnected, and that maybe the virtual format would be an insurmountable barrier for spiritual transformation and community building. I was happy to be wrong! The Spirit knit together what the yearly meeting is working on in their business sessions, the opening message by NEYM secretary Noah Merrill, what the plenary speaker, Dr. Amanda Kemp, shared on Sunday, and the leadings I received regarding what to speak about. It all felt very gathered and connected. I was so grateful to be able to journey with NEYM Friends this week.
The Bible Half Hours were recorded, so you can view them below, or you can go to the NEYM site and also view Dr. Kemp’s plenary and other information about NEYM.
Session 1: “21st Century Quaker Faithfulness: an Eco-Reformation”
Session 2: “Incarnation and a Quaker Ecotheology of Light”
Session 3: “Quaker Watershed Discipleship: Repentance, Re-membering, and Reinhabiting”
Session 4: “‘I Can’t Breathe’: Ruach, a Pandemic, and Environmental Justice”
Session 5: “A Quaker Ecology: Our Bodies as Fractals of Hope”
Cherice Bock 