This past weekend the Vassalboro Quarterly Meeting of Maine held their annual “Fall Gathering” at Friends Camp in China, Maine. The day was centered around Luke 8: 5-8, considering how Friends in Maine are tending to good soil in order to welcome the seeds of the Holy Sower—especially in relationships with Native Wabanaki peoples and building bridges of healing in Maine.
Read MoreFriends United Meeting General Secretary Kelly Kellum spent this past week in Belize City, Belize, visiting the ongoing ministries of FUM-Belize. The purpose of his trip was to accomplish two important events. One was to host a dinner in honor of Frank Tench, who retired as principal of Belize Friends School this summer. The other was to be present as the new principal, Antoliana Budna, began her tenure with the school. At the dinner, Kelly Kellum presented a gift to Mr. Tench acknowledging the invaluable contribution Mr. Tench has made to the ministry of Belize Friends School. A recreational woodworker, Kelly hand turns pen bodies on a lathe. The pen he presented to Mr. Tench was made from a North Carolina tree that came down in a storm. As a meteorologist and a collector of pens, Mr. Tench was touched by the significant personal connection of the gift. The next evening the Belize Friends School board met for the first time this school year. With Kelly present in Belize, it served as an opportunity to provide a formal welcome to the newly reconvened school board and give support for the introduction of the new principal.
Read MoreTurkana Friends Mission, which was founded fifty years ago this year, continues to plant new churches. There are now thirty churches within Turkana, five of which have grown up in the past three years. Many of these Meetings arise from new or existing relationships—through family members and friends, or through an introduction to Friends by way of Friends' schools, health care, water ministry, or relief work.
Read MoreHow are we called to be Christ-like in our daily lives as human beings? How can we model Christ; where can we get started in our journey to love and aid in the restitution of others? These are some of the questions posed in Nicole Johnson and Michael Snarr’s Faithful Witness in a Fractured World. By amplifying the life and example of faithful Christians in the author's lives, Snarr and Johnson skillfully portray Christ-like individuals who can also serve readers as inspiration for their own journey.
Read MoreThroughout our history, the people known as Friends (or Quakers) keep rediscovering an essential and enduring truth: There is one who speaks to our most basic needs and most significant hopes—Christ Jesus the Lord. Both individually and communally, we are learning to know and follow the Voice that guides us in the way we should go. Together, we seek to understand and obey that truth which sets us free. As a people, we share in the experience of that powerful life which makes all things new. Maybe you are searching for an authentic and transforming faith and community to call home—if so, come in and join us as we seek to know and follow Christ.
Friends United Meeting commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord.