Aj Schwanz

From the March 2005 Northwest Yearly Meeting Connection

Itís Sunday morning, and a young woman arrives to worship earlier than usual. Opening a case, she pulls out her instrument to warm up with the other worship leaders. She attends a progressive, nondenominational church in an urban area.

Elsewhere a person briskly walks down the cold Midwest streets to unlock a studio. She turns on the heat, pulls out mats, and plays calming music just as her first student arrives. She leads a weekly yoga class to pay her way through graduate school.

In another part of the world a young man and his bride wake up to the sounds of the open market bustling outside of their window. They rise, quickly eat a simple breakfast, and begin again their quest to find local jobs. They head up a nondenominational missions outreach, working and living asìlocalsî rather than being supported as missionaries.

What do these folks have in common? Ten years ago they attended the high school level of Samuel School, a retreat opportunity for youth who have been noted by their local meeting to have leadership potential. Some Samuel School attenders worship at a Friends meeting; these individuals do not. Has that training, the investment of the Friends church, gone to waste?

What if the worship leader introduces quiet, introspective songs learned at Youth Yearly Meeting?

What if the yoga leader voices the idea of making room for Christ during the meditative times rather than emptying the mind?

What if the young man ministers by practicing the Quaker values of gender equality and social justice as he works in his tentmaker occupation? These individuals are Christian Quaker leaders: they may not look like pastors/teachers, and it may not be at a Friends meeting, but they daily live out Christ-centered Quaker values they hold so dear.

These leaders moved to where they heard a need. Have you, as a local meeting, voiced your needs in a way that challenges such leaders to hear and respond according to their unique talents and worldview?