As Way Opens
I have become quite taken with a woman named Elizabeth Bathurst that lived between 1655-1685. She was one of the female leaders of the early Quaker movement. I learned about her and read her Quaker treatise in the wonderful book called Hidden in Plain Sight Quaker Women’s Writings 1650-1700. This book, published in 1996 by editors Mary Garman, Judith Applegate, Margaret Benefiel and Dortha Meredith identified a number of these women that wrote extensively and had a huge impact our our Quaker faith and yet these women have been ignored and forgotten until the last 25 years.
Elizabeth Bathurst was born in 1655 and raised an English protestant. She was a sickly child and therefore spent much of her youth alone reading the Bible and other pious books. She was very intelligent, and her writings show her level of intellect. Originally, she believed the accusations of the detractors against the Children of the Light, but her whole family became convinced Friends in 1678. Elizabeth experienced the same repudiation that many other Quaker men and women experienced by their churches of origin as she spoke out about this new way of experiencing God’s presence within each person When she went to Samul Ansley’s Presbyterian church where she was a member to preach against predestination and for universal redemption, the congregation violently rejected her ministry and rejected her. It seems like her writings on behalf of Quakers are what got her into trouble. She traveled to Bristol and faced persecution there. She was imprisoned in Marshalsea and with her weak body it was a very difficult experience, but she wrote that God renewed her spirit there. She died at 30 years old only seven years after her convincement.
During her life she wrote Truth’s Vindication, An Expostulatory Appeal to the Professors and The Sayings of Women. I studied Truth’s Vindication and this treatise came out a few years after Robert Barclay’s Apology and has similarities in providing a systematic approach to the faith and beliefs of Quakers. It is interesting that we all know about Barclay’s Apology and yet we have never heard about Elizabeth’s document.
Elizabeth organized the document into three parts; a defense of the points that detractors of Quakers were bringing forward, the principles of Truth and a confutation of people’s false opinions. In her defense of the accusations against Quakers, she covered their beliefs on Scripture, the humanity of Christ, the Resurrection of the body of Christ and of the Saints, the sacraments, original sin, free will, inherent righteousness, the possibility of a total fall from true grace, perfection, and infallibility.
Elizabeth took each of these points and wrote persuasively to declare the Children of the Light beliefs. I was amazed at the extensive use of book, chapter and verse from the Bible that she identified throughout the document. There were hundreds of references so her knowledge of the Scriptures must have been immense. She forcefully declared of the Quakers “they do believe all things that are written in the Law and the Prophets.” The detractors argued that the Quakers believe in the Bible in their own way and while they may believe there is Truth in the Scripture “they do not believe they are the Word of God and the Rule of Faith Life.” She answers quite eloquently saying that Quakers “believe the Scriptures so far as Scripture itself requires Faith in itself: that is, they are able to make wise unto Salvation, through Faith, which is in Christ Jesus, being given Inspiration of God, according to that of the Apostle, 2 Tim 3:15-16.”
Elizabeth took on the second part of the criticism that Quakers don’t honor the Scripture as a way of faith and life. She stated that Scriptures are important for doctrine, for reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness and an example for living in good works. But the faith of our Life must be the direct Word, Jesus Christ that lives in our conscience and is our Inspiration. Galatians 2:20 says that the Life that I now live in the Flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. John 14:6 says that he is the Way, the Truth and Life; no man cometh to the Father but by him. John 16:13 says his Spirit that leads into all Truth. Therefore, the Scriptures are important and point us to a more perfect life, yet we should model our faith and practice after the one True Spirit, God and Jesus Christ the Word that was here in the beginning, here now and here for all time.
Elizabeth Bathurst, through her experience of God’s power and her deep convictions resulting from that experience, spoke out in ways which broke down the gender barriers and expectations of their time and culture. She utilized the Bible to make her points yet continually emphasized the direct experience of God and our continued revelation. As we reflect on 100 years of a woman’s right to vote, I know Elizabeth broke significant grounds for us and I am thankful for women like Elizabeth that were courageous and inspiring.
Beth
Quaker-Affiliated Organizations
To the Women of Western Yearly Meeting
From Lynn Peery Mills, Presiding Clerk of USFW-Western (lynnpmills@gmail.com)
The Pandemic we’re experiencing is giving us opportunities to evaluate the ways we’ve done things in the past and to envision how we might want to do them differently in the future. As some of you know, what we call the United Society of Friends Women (USFW) began here in Western Yearly Meeting in the 1850’s because sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide was becoming more important to Christians everywhere than it had been previously and Quakers had no formal way for that to happen. Quaker women were joining missions groups from other denominations in order to meet this need. A woman from White Lick Meeting (Mooresville, Indiana), Eliza Armstrong Cox, decided that Friends needed their own group, so she founded what we know as USFW. Our mothers and grandmothers attended USFW meetings regularly and raised money for the places around the world that Quakers felt called to go to share the Gospel.
Times have changed. Many of us still feel that keeping the connections we have with Quakers around the world is vital and many of them still can benefit from our financial contributions. However, we can easily see needs nearer to home that cry out for our attention. Also, many of our mothers and grandmothers did not work outside of the home so they found the meetings of USFW to be enjoyable times of fellowship. Most of us, however, do work outside the home, or did before we retired, and we have found other places to meet our fellowship needs. Another change that I see is that we feel pulled in so many directions that we need ways to meet our own spiritual needs rather than being asked to do something more. Hence, attendance at USFW events and general interest in the work of USFW has dwindled considerably.
As I think about life after the Pandemic subsides, I wonder what you women of Western Yearly Meeting (WYM) would find beneficial? How can we combine keeping in touch with Quakers in other countries, addressing needs in our own communities, and meeting our needs for spiritual renewal and fellowship? I would enjoy hearing from you about things you are doing to meet needs in your communities, ways you are keeping in touch with Quakers around the world, and suggestions for WYM women to deepen our spiritual life together. As you can see, my email address is at the top of this letter.
As have many groups during the Pandemic, the WYM women’s group has been pretty dormant this year. We are, however, having our Fall Conference via Zoom on September 22nd from 9:00 a.m. to noon. We will hear Betty Heshelman, from Mooresville Meeting, share about the trip she and her husband, John, took to Ramallah, Palestine, in 2019 to visit the Quaker schools there, and we’ll be hearing from Crystal Vance, a devotional speaker and writer from Plainfield, sharing with us words of encouragement for challenging times. I hope you will consider joining us that morning. More details will be forthcoming in early September, both about the conference and about using Zoom, in case you aren’t familiar with it.
Women of First Friends, we encourage you to ponder this and give your feedback to Lynn at the email address above!
WYM and FUM 2020 Mission Projects: Each year Western Yearly Meeting (“WYM”) and Friends United Meeting (“FUM”) designate mission projects for us to consider and help. WYM is a Quaker organization of which First Friends is a member and consists of approximately 32 monthly meetings located in Indiana and Illinois. FUM is a Quaker international organization based in Richmond, Indiana and consists of a number of yearly meetings around the world. These mission projects are the primary way that folks at First Friends can assist Quakers in parts of the world that can use our help.
The WYM project for 2020 is for the benefit of the Belize Friends School. The school needs financial assistance for its operating expenses and the WYM goal is to raise $15,000. You might recall that in 2017 WYM also designated Belize as its project but monies raised at that time were designated for re-locating the school and expanded ministries including community services and the starting of a Friends meeting. Many of you knew Dale Graves, a member of Mooresville’s West Newton Friends, who poured his heart and soul into the Belize school and surrounding area and was the driving force that enabled the Belize school and Friends meeting to become what it is today. While Dale is no longer with us, there is no doubt that Dale would be very proud of the ongoing efforts to improve the Belize school and Belize Friends meeting.
The FUM project is to assist the Friends in Turkana who are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Turkana Friends Mission. Turkana Friends was founded in 1970 in Kalokol, Kenya. It began as a project of East Africa Yearly Meeting and FUM. Turkana Friends Mission has grown from one location to a vibrant multi-site Quaker community that, among other things, oversees six nursery schools and six primary schools. The number of meetings in Turkana Friends Mission has increased dramatically in the past few decades from seven village meetings in 2002 to twenty-five meetings in 2019.
We at First Friends Indianapolis seem far removed from our fellow Quakers around the world and FUM and WYM are organizations that help connect us through worthy projects each year. Please help these Quakers in Belize and Turkana as you are led. Checks should be made to First Friends with a notation as to whether the monies should go to (WYM) Belize, (FUM) Turkana, or split between these projects. Thank you.
Joys & Concerns
Let’s give a big thanks to our Mid-North Food Pantry volunteers: Phil G, David B, Kathy and Bill F, Virginia and Derek S, Linda L, Christie M, and Jim D. These volunteers were kept busy as 70 families were served. Also thanks to Ruth K, Lena K and Elena H who deliver food from the community garden plot to the food pantry. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers!
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Silent Meetings for Worship on Zoom!
Starting September 13th at 9 am, we will be gathering for Meeting for Silent Worship each Sunday
(There will be NO MEETING on Labor Day) Join us the following Mondays for Meditation at 11:15 am
Wednesday Unprogrammed Worship meets every Wednesday at 7 pm.
Courtyard Friends: Weather permitting, join us as we meet in person simultaneously with our Zoom Friends on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays in the courtyard (6 feet away) at the Meeting House. Wear a mask, bring a chair, and a tablet or phone if you’d like to personally sign onto the Zoom link from the courtyard. Restrooms are available. Please contact the office for any or all of the above Zoom links.
Voter Information for the General Election ~ Are you determined to vote in the general election this fall, but a little confused (or nervous!) about what the pandemic might mean for Indiana's election process? Vote.org is a reliable, easy to use, non-partisan voter information resource that can be used to check deadline dates, confirm your voter registration status, find out the location of your polling place, and/or apply for an absentee ballot if you want to vote by mail. Vote.org is national in scope, with links to individual states. Just follow the link to Indiana, which will lead you through the process on the IN.gov website for registering or for making an application to get an absentee ballot. There are strict time deadlines, and the volume of voting by mail this election is forecast to be very high, so it would be best to act soon! Thank you for voting this year.
Covid Brings Out Nostalgia and Old-Time Recipes
Let’s go back in time or out to the countryside. Covid has me waxing nostalgic. Last year at this time, groups of First Friends volunteers had finished our stint at the Indiana State Fair Dairy Bar—a fun fundraiser where we were dipping ice cream, grabbing sandwiches and ringing up purchases for gay (in the old sense of the word)and hungry State Fair customers. I miss the smiles, laughter, tastes, sights and scents.
Marigolds and sunflower.
Thinking of the Fair reminds me of my Hoosier people, the ones who raised me, taught me their values and modeled ways to navigate life. They often had blue ribbon entries in the fair from canned and baked goods to handiwork to grand prize livestock including sheep, bulls and dairy cattle. My cousin rode western and dressage in the horse shows. Most of my family had spent portions of their lives raising cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens and crops even as we were easing out of an agricultural age and taking on city jobs and careers. Sometimes we would buy produce and eggs from roadside stands if we weren’t raising or producing our own. That would include my immediate family since I was raised a city girl.
I miss the family reunions on Mom’s side where we had those prize-winning cooks and plenty of fresh farm food--tomatoes, corn, green and other types of beans, beets, onions, radishes, squash, melons, pickles, cabbage, greens, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, chicken and dumplings, casseroles with fresh herbs, ham, puddings, cakes, and pies. We liked lip-smacking grilled-in-the-husk corn and meat and potatoes cooked outdoors. Sweet iced tea too! Ok, I didn’t like that so much! We played in barns, played hide-and-seek in cornfields, swam, boated, watched football, and played badminton and croquet. We washed and dried dishes as we caught up on family and everyday news. Even my Dad’s side would sometimes attend Mom’s side’s reunions. How I would love to relive those times and run up and hug all those beautiful family members! (I even dream about hugs in these no-hugging-allowed days of Covid.)
Those relatives no longer with us live on in my heart. In homage to them and to the earth’s bounty I am sharing some of their old-time recipes. Ingredients like lard and sugar were balanced out with lots of exercise and an abundance of veggies. Of course my relatives had a practical side too and would use grocery goods when fresh and canned supplies were no longer available. Frying wasn’t recognized as an unhealthy practice then. I picked some family recipes with ingredients and methods used less often today. Even language and equipment have changed somewhat. I inserted bracketed information to add clarity.
Third-Great Grandmother Hudson’s Sorghum Cookies
The community garden at sunset.
1 cup sorghum
1 cup sugar
1 cup lard
1 Tablespoon soda dissolved in ½ cup boiling water
1 beaten egg
1 Tablespoon ginger (or use part allspice and cloves)
½ teaspoon salt
Add enough flour to make soft dough that can be rolled. Roll about ¼ inch thick—cutout.
Bake on greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees—but do not overbake. Will keep well.
Great Aunt Nira’s Skillet Cabbage
4 cups chopped cabbage
2 cups celery--sliced thin
1 small mango—finely chopped [green pepper]
1 onion—finely chopped
1 large tomato—cut up—(or use canned tomatoes)
¼ cup bacon fryings
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste.
Method
First fry celery slowly in bacon fat—about 15 minutes. Then pour all other ingredients in skillet with celery, and cook 10 minutes only. Stir occasionally. Good warmed over, but don’t over-cook. Use half the recipe for two people. Serve with cornbread.
Sam weeds hope plot.
Great Aunt Eva’s Black Walnut Pudding [Definitely different than English walnuts]
Put following in baking dish, set over slow fire to simmer while preparing other ingredients.
1 ½ cup light brown sugar
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
3 cups boiling water
1 stick butter
½ teaspoon salt
The Batter
½ cup brown sugar & 3 tablespoons butter creamed together
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder sifted together
1 cup sweet milk [white]
½ teaspoon salt
Chop 1 cup black walnut meats medium fine. Dredge this in part of the flour, then add to other mixture. Drop this batter a spoonful at a time in the simmering sauce above. Bake at 300 degrees until brown.
I don’t have all the recipes anymore, but I have many fine memories. Family reunions and meals around the table used to be times for conversation and bonding. They are wonderful traditions to continue or revive. I hope this article helps you recall some of your fond memories and the people who love and loved you. If so, share those memories, recipes and dishes with those you love. Get out the old photo albums, slides, movies, letters and recordings. (Maybe it’s time to take steps to preserve them.) Let me know if this article helped you remember past and present blessings in your life. ~Nancy
Send us your pictures! Because we still can’t be together in person, we are asking people and their families to dress in their favorite sports apparel, take a photo, and send your photos to the office so we can include them in the Sunday service on September 20th, which will be our Sunday School kickoff. Please submit to office@indyfriends.org before Wednesday, September 16!! We can’t wait to see you and your family!
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live by Rob Dunn Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us -- prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.(goodreads.com) Terry T will be leading the discussion in via Zoom starting at 7 pm on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. Please contact the office at office@indyfrineds.org for the Zoom meeting information.
Our Library is Available through Mail! With the wonderful work done by the Library committee, we are happy to announce that you can now request library books to be mailed to your home! To see what books are available, simply search the online catalog here: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/john.moorma. When you’ve found a book you’d like to check out, contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485 and we will mail the book out the following Wednesday. Mail or bring the book back when you’re done!
Perhaps you’d like to check out one of these NEW additions to our library, all centered on race, a very pertinent topic in our country today.
Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
So You Want to talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The New Jim Crow; Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness by Michelle Alexander
Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
We are excited to begin offering Sunday School again this year—this time, virtually! Sunday School will officially kick off on Sunday, September 20. Our Seeking Friends class will meet via Zoom at 9am, and will be continuing their Rob Bell book. We will also have Sunday school classes for kids. The younger kids will meet on Zoom at 9am for a half hour, and older kids will meet via Zoom at noon for a half hour. All these classes will be offered at the same time each Sunday. Be on the lookout soon for Zoom links and information.
What Will You be Doing on Election Day? ~ One of the many challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic in an election year is that elections officials foresee a shortage of poll workers. Typically, the majority of poll workers are over the age of 61, and over a quarter of them are over 70. Because they are the most susceptible to the virus, many of these seniors have indicated they will not work the polls this November.
Where does that leave us on Election Day?
One solution is for younger Americans to step up.
Did you know that in Indiana, high school students as young as 16-18 can serve as poll workers? And that Indiana law treats this service as an excused absence from school? Requirements vary depending on what county you live in, but the non-partisan WorkElections project has gathered all the information you need to apply, wherever you live (https://www.workelections.com/). For all ages, if you want to be a poll worker, some training is required and (unless you're in high school) you must be a registered voter in your county of residence to work at one of its polling places. See the WorkElections website for specific county-by-county requirements.
At a pivotal moment in American history, when many of our most pressing problems can seem insurmountable and it's hard to know just how to help, you can act. You can enable others to perform one of the most sacred of civic duties: voting on Election Day. By serving as a poll worker, you will be doing something non-partisan, a matter of civics, not politics. And in the 2020 Elections, you can claim to have helped your neighbor--and defended democracy.
For more information, see or share a flyer here: https://bit.ly/2PCBUvs
Are you ready to help people in need? The First Friends Meal Ministry is happy to provide meals to those in need of a bit of help, such as while recovering from surgery or going through a difficult time. This ministry is such an important and tangible ministry in our Meeting that connects and supports all of us. We need more folks to join us in this ministry- we can add your email to our ministry group and you can decide if the request for a meal is something you can do at the time. Lynda Sherer and Vicki Wertz lead this ministry and we have an app that allows for easy sign up for a meal. Will you join us in this important ministry? If you’re interested, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
Queries for the Week
(From online service)
Who is the Gerasene in you?
Where does your story intersect with his?
In what ways have I been ‘“living in the tombs”?
How can I embrace God’s healing for me?
(From self-led guide)
How do I respond to opportunities to establish personal and professional relationships with people whose backgrounds differ from mine, whether across class, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or ability?
In what ways do I work to change society so that everyone has equal opportunities?
How can I speak up and take action in a loving way when I see and hear injustices?
How do I “speak truth to power” in ways that honor the human dignity of people on all sides of an issue?