A few weeks back I was invited to talk with some college-age Friends during a weekend retreat. It was my first visit to Plainfield, Indiana and I had a nice time meeting these students and their adult leaders from Western Yearly Meeting. I was invited to sit on a panel with three other people to answer "What is a Quaker?" And later in the day, I led a workshop on "How Quakers Might Worship." My take on the first question was to look at what Quakerism might become in our hands rather than offer a historical or objective set of practices that determine whether we are Quakers or not. Here are some of the thoughts I shared:

• This question, what is a Quaker, is an open-ended question and needs to be treated that way. There is no longer any "right" answer to this question, at least not in the sense that one can offer some clearly argued historical or theological point and persuade all his or her hearers of that truth. But there are some who offer better answers then others. Some versions of what it means to be a Quaker today are far more compelling and make better sense of what we know than other versions. What makes something compelling is not simply its logic, but how well it works on the ground. We are most convinced of the truth of something when we see it worked out in real life. This is no less true of the Christian faith.


• Because we ask the question, "What is a Quaker?" we are alerted to the fact that the Quaker tradition is in crisis. Things aren't what they used to be, times have changed and things we were certain about are no longer easily assumed within our culture. It's not unlike the kind of crisis a lover has who finds out that his beloved is no longer in love with him and has found another. Quakerism awaits to be remade/reborn in our hands, this will happen through the work and guidance of the Holy Spirit and Inward Light of Christ.


• Quakers are a part of the Christian Church. A Quaker is (usually) a Christian with a particular family