Press Adds New Digital Titles
Friends United Meeting is excited to announce that twenty-three Friends United Press books are now available in e-book format. FUM is thrilled to make these e-books available through the FUM Bookstore (https://bookstore.friendsunitedmeeting.org/collections/e-books) and they can also be found on Barnes & Noble. Eventually, on Amazon’s timetable, the Kindle versions will become available on Amazon.com.
This accomplishment fulfills a Communications Department goal set five years ago, when FUM called Dan Kasztelan as its first communications director. Earlier this year, through the efforts of Publications Manager Shari Veach, Friends United Press entered into a new relationship with our printer/distributor that gave us a window of opportunity to convert print book files to e-book format at greatly-reduced cost. Dan and Shari worked together on a strategy for converting our Howard Thurman titles, as well as many of our Quaker “classics,” to e-book format. The conversion process took several months to accomplish, but we were finally able to make the digital versions available through our online bookstore last week, and have already fulfilled a dozen digital sales of the Phillips Moulton edition of The Journal of John Woolman.
 The Communications staff are grateful for the opportunity to see this goal come to fruition, thankful for support from FUM General Secretary Kelly Kellum for time to do this work, and especially appreciative of Friends who undergird FUM’s communications ministry through donations and purchases.
The Communications staff juggle many planned projects as well as projects that are more responsive in nature — helping to spread the word about the work and ministries of FUM people around the world. This vital work is funded through the general fund, which is partly funded by book sales.
If you haven’t yet shopped the online FUM Bookstore, or if it has been a while since you visited virtually, please check it out. New products are added regularly.
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FWCC, FUM Partner
for Communications Training
This September, the Africa Section of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC–AS), in collaboration with the Africa Ministries Office of Friends United Meeting, has been conducting communications training among Yearly Meetings leaders in Kenya, with the aim of improving online communication through the use of internet services.
This training emphasizes the importance of using internet services for communication—a “new norm” in Africa, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. During the training, Yearly Meetings are encouraged to embrace online communication channels such as Zoom, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and others. With the introduction of these new technologies, African communication is becoming dynamic and diverse. Through social media platforms, churches can connect with their members as well as people who may not attend church. They will also be able to schedule meetings online through Zoom, and have the opportunity to listen to sermons from other churches across the board, despite geographical location.
In his presentation, FWCC–AS Clerk Bainito Khayongo emphasized that social media is especially effective for keeping youth aware of and involved in church events. Attending an online church and Zoom meetings are likely to expose congregants, as well as Yearly Meeting leaders, to a greater diversity of people, cultures, and opinions than you would normally be exposed to at your local church.
Presenter Kate Gunza, communications staff for the FUM Africa Ministries Office, encouraged Yearly Meetings to have functional email addresses. Also, platforms like Facebook offer a free, easy way to promote church events and strengthen the community outside of Sunday services. Community is one of Quakerism’s core values, and is not defined by the building where people meet. In today’s technological age, worshipping digitally has become a legitimate way to express your religion and build community bonds. Through Zoom meetings and online platforms we go beyond our comfort zones and get to interact with different people far beyond our church walls.
Technology is changing people, and not only to fit into the church—online churches are changing church to fit the needs of the people. Over the past two years we have not been able to have face-to-face meetings, annual conferences, triennials, etc., due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been difficult for the elderly, or people with underlying health conditions, to attend church services, or travel. Many people have been homebound; the ability to attend church services digitally matters. Digital services are a meaningful alternative that can be just as fulfilling, enlightening, and beautiful as an in-person service.
To equip Yearly Meetings for digital services, FWCC–AS will be providing internet access technology to Yearly Meetings that qualify, based on an assessment that will be conducted in collaboration with the FUM Africa Ministries Office communications staff. Both organizations hope that this will improve Quaker digital literacy in Kenya, and in East Africa at large.
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Ministry of Sustainability:
New Ways to Energize and Equip Friends
Since June of 2019, the Friends United Meeting General Board has been engaged in an effort to support the financial sustainability of our project partners and ministries. At that time, the board adopted a policy that all current and future FUM ministries should move toward the goal of being self-sustaining. The mission of Friends United Meeting calls us to “energize and equip” Friends; the board recognized that paternal missional systems that create financial dependency do not “energize and equip” the communities we serve. Therefore, the FUM board committed itself to come alongside ministry leaders and boards to develop sustainability plans that will result in long-term financial stability. “This absolutely does not imply a diminishing of our commitment and spiritual partnership with any given ministry,” the board reported. “Rather, we believe that genuine spiritual partnership is one in which no one is indefinitely dependent on the other.” Because FUM serves many vulnerable and under-resourced communities, the board expects that the ministry of “energizing and equipping” will be a long-term commitment.
During his recent trip to Kenya, FUM General Secretary Kelly Kellum worked with African Ministries Director John Muhanji and FUM Assistant Presiding Clerk Richard Sitati to identify potential priorities and African nominees for the Board’s new Sustainability standing committee. This is a global committee that will be composed of four members from the African region and four members from the North American/Caribbean region. The three leaders visited with entrepreneurial-minded African Quakers who have experience and expertise in finance, business planning, and community development, with an interest in developing alternative ways to financially support the programs of FUM and to empower ministry partners.
 They visited several properties in Kisumu, Lodwar, and Kaimosi to explore potential capital development projects. They envisioned the possibility of African Friends establishing an endowment fund for the long-term support of Friends Theological College. Kelly visited the new fish farm being developed by Lugari Yearly Meeting. This project is designed by a Kenyan Quaker who received a doctorate in aquaculture from a university in Israel. During their visit to Nairobi, John and Kelly discussed several partnership opportunities with the Quaker Investment Company, the business arm of Nairobi Yearly Meeting. (At left, Kelly and Lugari Yearly Meeting Clerk Rogers Wambia view the site of the Yearly Meeting's fish farm in development.)
Nominees for the new Sustainability Committee will be presented to the General Board in the upcoming meeting on September 30–October 2. This committee will work with specific project partners and FUM ministries in the development and implementation of financial sustainability plans that are economically and culturally appropriate. The committee will challenge members of FUM to envision new ways to support the work we care about. It may even provide new investment or giving opportunities for Friends. And it will provide another way for FUM to fulfill its mission to “energize and equip” Friends.
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Next International Prayer Gathering
on 17 September
Each month Friends United Meeting continues to invite the global community of Friends to unite in prayer. This invitation was first issued at the start of the Covid pandemic as travel became restricted, in-person gatherings were prohibited, schools closed, and churches and Meetings adopted new ways to gather for worship. While Friends around the world continue to struggle with the pandemic, Friends are also eager for a return to normalcy. Whatever the new normal will be, we are committed to continuing to call Friends to pray.
The next International Prayer Gathering is scheduled for Friday, September 17, at the following times:
- 9:00 am – Pacific US
- 10:00 am – Belize
- 11:00 am – Jamaica/Central US
- Noon – Cuba/Eastern US
- 7:00 pm – Palestine/East Africa
Join us on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81401601535
Meeting ID: 814 0160 1535
- +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
- +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keFj4O5vCO
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September Prayer Focus:
Tanzania Missions and the Ministry of Nicholas and Dorcas Otieno
Friends have been in Tanzania since 1952, when Kenyan Quakers and Western missionaries crossed the border to begin work in the Serengeti region, near the town of Mugumu. There they established a school, a medical dispensary, and churches. During the time of Kenyan and Tanzanian independence, most Western missionaries left the region, and the work in Tanzania faltered. In 1980, Tanzania Yearly Meeting was established to coordinate the ministries of the seven Monthly Meetings in the country. In 2007, through an internet search, several newly-formed churches in southern Tanzania discovered Friends. Through the coordination of FUM, these churches soon joined Tanzania Yearly Meeting.
God is doing something new in Tanzania. The Friends church is growing, and today there are over thirty new churches in the country, several Tanzanian pastors are being trained at Friends Theological College, and an expansive vision is developing of new Friends churches and ministries emerging in five regions.
 When Nicholas and Dorcas Otieno, Friends from Kenya, learned of the great need and the new things happening in the country, they responded to God’s call to relocate to Tanzania. For the past four years, with support of Indiana Yearly Meeting and the FUM office, the Otienos have been released to serve as Living Letter Missionaries. They work closely with Tanzania Yearly Meeting to mentor church leaders, equip new pastors, coordinate outreach and evangelism programs, and nurture the growth and development of new churches.
One of the significant challenges Nicholas and Dorcas face is the vast distance between churches in the country. Each year the Otienos travel thousands of kilometers from their home in Mwanza to visit newly-established churches in Dar es Salaam, Mugumu, Arusha, Mbeya, and other places. The outreach of the Friends in southern Tanzania is now crossing over to northern Zambia and Malawi, where Friends churches are sprouting.
In August, the FUM-appointed Mission Committee (Friends African Board of Missions) met in Eldoret to develop a strategy for promoting and supporting this mission. Today, Kenyan Yearly Meetings are being challenged to come alongside Nicholas and Dorcas for financial and prayerful support. The African Board of Missions and FUM-AMO directorJohn Muhanji are now working to raise 1.2 million KSH to secure support for the Tanzanian mission for 2022. Kenyan Friends are invited to send funds to FUM Mpesa PAYBILL# 514608, Note: “Otieno Support.” Friends can also give online at www.friendsunitedmeeting.org/giving/otieno. Currently, they are looking for eighty-eight donors (individuals, churches, Yearly Meetings) to secure the funding needed. Will you be one of eighty-eight?
It is FUM’s ongoing prayer that new Kenyan missionaries will respond to the call to go to Tanzania.
Please pray for…
- the leaders of Tanzania Yearly Meeting.
- Nicholas and Dorcas as they seek to be faithful to their missionary calling.
- the Otienos’ family and children, who are living in Kenya.
- the Otienos’ health as they are serving vulnerable communities during the pandemic.
- the Otienos’ safety as they travel many kilometers over dangerous roads.
- the new church plants in Tanzania.
- that the new church in Dar es Salaam will find a place to worship.
- the Tanzanian pastors who are being trained at Friends Theological College.
- Kenyan Friends as they raise funds and support for the Tanzania Mission.
- the new work of the Friends African Board of Missions.
- new Kenyan missionaries to serve in Tanzania.
Give thanks for…
- new Christians.
- new Friends.
- new Churches.
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Letter from Ramallah
From Ramallah Friends School, Rania Maayeh writes:
As I look through my office window, I can finally see students, faculty, staff, and parents walking across our beautiful campus. Their presence reflects the usual energy our campus emits after a prolonged hiatus due to the summer holiday and in-person school closures due to Covid-19.
For the first time in nearly two years, all of our 1569 students and 184-strong faculty and staff body were present on campus. Despite the serendipitous energy of a return to in-person on-campus learning, this transition did not come without challenges. We are still operating with Covid-19 measures and guidelines in place to help reduce community spread, and the threat of another school closure still looms large.
A school-wide mask mandate hides the beautiful smiles of our students, but helps ensure we remain in-person for as long as possible. We still await vaccines to be approved for those who are under twelve years old...
Read more here.
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The Kenyan Quaker Church’s
Call for Missions
by John Muhanji
Since 1902, the Kenyan Friends Church has been a recipient of missions from Western Friends. Many years have passed, and the same story repeats itself—even after Quaker missionaries left the country in 1964 and left the Church under Kenyans’ management. The church has remained a recipient of missions, and this has led to the understanding among Kenyan Quakers that missions are a preserve of the West—especially funding the mission work as a local church. Many Kenyan Quakers are willing and ready to go to the mission field, but expect the Western churches, under Friends United Meeting, to fund them. This has affected the ability of the Quaker Church in Kenya to carry out missions work.
The Friends Africa Board of Missions pauses for a picture during their recent retreat in Eldoret.
During the first retreat of the FUM African Mission Committee or Friends Africa Board of Missions (FABOM), held at Noble Hotel in Eldoret in August, the Board explored what they need to do to make mission a part of the work of the African Church. During the retreat in Eldoret, it was clear that the committee needed to develop a mission, vision, and strategy for African missions. The purpose of the Friends Africa Board of Missions (FABOM) is to fuel the engagement of African Friends in fulfillment of the Great Commission across the world. The mission statement developed at the retreat directs FABOM to energize, equip, and send African Friends to mission fields to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This marks a new beginning for African Friends, the sleeping giants in missions mobilization in Africa. It is now the time for African Friends to engage in the mobilization of all God’s people into meaningful involvement in the world Christian movement, and for local churches to become genuinely missional. This is in line with fulfilling God’s mission agenda for the world and his agenda for his church. No longer can the Quaker church in Africa see FUM missions as the going church, the receiving church, or the recipient church. For we are a missional community, and all Friends are being called to go, receive, and give for the sake of Christ’s missions to the world.
This new development marks a paradigm shift from the model established by Western missionaries in the early 1900s, when they started training pastors for churches in Kenya. At that time, all pastors whom the Bible Training Institute trained were made teachers and sent to various parts of the country where the Quaker churches had been established and schools opened. The missionaries paid the pastors as teachers—but not as pastors. Teachers performed their pastoral duties as volunteers, because they received their salaries for teaching. Thus, the local churches understood pastoral work as volunteer work. Local churches were never encouraged to give offerings or donations to support their pastor, up to the time in 1964 when the missionaries left without committing the local churches to take responsibility for their pastors.
This system has continued to the present day, and most pastors in the Quaker church in Kenya struggle to make ends meet. Most Yearly Meetings have not even developed any terms and conditions for their pastors, and so each pastor depends on what the local meeting will give to them at the end of each month. It is not very encouraging for new, young pastors to join the Quaker pastoral ministry. They do not see a promising future, but what keeps them engaged is serving God faithfully. Nairobi Yearly Meeting is the only Meeting with reasonable terms and conditions of service for pastors.
The lack of a pastoral structure in our Kenyan Yearly Meetings has affected the growth of mission work in the region. There are many with a call to mission, but the support systems are not yet in place. We still expect to receive funds from the West to support our missionaries within Kenya. In this regard, the paradigm shift by the Friends Africa Board of Missions is working to arouse the sleeping Kenya Quaker church as a giant in sending and supporting missions.
This is part one of a two-part article on the paradigm shift in African missions, which will continue in the e-news next week.
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A Word from Howard Thurman
Close present Father, it is comforting and frightening to expose our impulses, our desires, and our thoughts to Thy scrutiny. At last, to be utterly ourselves. What a relief to lift the burden of pretensions. Weakness and strength, joy and sorrow, sickness and health, pride and humility, hate and love shimmer in the light of Thy countenance.
Forgive us for deliberate sin in which sometimes we take a sneaky pride, in which at other times our shame breaks the heart and our tears flow without hindrance. Forgive us for the moments when in perverse self-defense our hearts have hardened, and with our own hands we have closed the doors of our spirits against the agony of our fellows.
O God, without whom life is void of all meaning and in whom there is all that is, share the tenderness of Thy strength so pervasively within us that no one will be turned empty from our door and no voice that cries for help will go unheeded. Teach us how to respond to the needs of Thy children in ways that do not undermine the self, but inspire and enliven the spirit! And perhaps, just perhaps, it is not too much to hope that in us Thou wilt rejoice and take delight!
—Excerpt from The Centering Moment, "The Burden of Pretensions," by Howard Thurman.
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Assistant Superintendent, Indiana Yearly Meeting
IYM Purpose Statement: Creating environments that empower churches and individuals to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Indiana Yearly Meeting is seeking to call a full-time Assistant Superintendent to work out of the IYM office in Muncie, Indiana, with responsibilities in Youth/Camping, Missions, etc. IYM has been in existence for more than 200 years, with a rich history in work with young people at Quaker Haven Camp, in IYM churches, and in other capacities. IYM has also been a leader among Friends in mission work around the world. The main purpose for this position is to team with the General Superintendent in fulfilling the IYM statement (listed above), with specific responsibilities in youth/camping and mission work. A full job description is available by clicking HERE or by contacting the IYM office.
Interested candidates can send a cover letter and resume by October 15 to IYM General Superintendent Pat Byers at pat@iym.org.
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Children, Youth, and Young Adult Community Director, New York Yearly Meeting
The New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is looking for an empathetic self-starter to curate and manage implementation of programming for children, teens (and the families of children and teens), and young adults (ages 18-35) among Quaker Meetings in New York, Northern New Jersey, and Western Connecticut. The Director will interact with Quaker Meetings and Friends to build enriching cross generational relationships that deepen the spiritual life of our community.
Learn more. Applications due by September 30, 2021.
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Meeting Planner, FCNL
The Friends Committee on National Legislation seeks a full-time Meeting Planner who is responsible for the planning, production, and execution of FCNL public conferences and events. The position reports to the Director of Quaker Leadership and works closely with staff at all levels and in all departments of the organization.
The Meeting Planner oversees all aspects of FCNL’s major conferences to support participants’ experience of FCNL, a Quaker, values-based organization. Successful events will be well-attended, well-organized, within budget, and strengthen participants’ connection to FCNL and to each other.
The Meeting Planner will also develop and implement processes to ensure consistency and learning in all organizational events, whether experienced in person or virtually. A particular focus for this role will be to build organizational capacity for high-quality hybrid events.
Learn more.
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