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Responses
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Friends respond to the General Queries each year, on a schedule which extends from one Yearly Meeting to the next. The General Queries are listed just below. Click on the links following them to navigate to the responses formulated by Crossroads Friends Meeting (CFWG). At the end of each response is a link which will return you to the next General Query. |
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Ohio Yearly Meeting General Queries First Query: Are meetings for worship well and punctually attended? Is our behavior conducive to meditation and communion with God? Do we maintain a waiting spiritual worship and a free gospel ministry? Do we welcome others to share this fellowship with us? [CFWG] Second Query: Do we cherish a forgiving spirit, and strive to “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us”? Is each one of us careful for the reputation of others? Are we ever mindful to love our neighbor as ourselves? If differences threaten to disrupt the Christian harmony between the members, is prompt action taken? [CFWG] Third Query: Are our homes places of peace, joy, and contentment? Are they an influence for good in the neighborhood, community and country? Do we set a good Christian example for our children to follow? Are Friends careful that their children realize that our loving Savior will faithfully guide them through life, as they are willing to accept and obey Him? Do we help our children to read and appreciate the Bible? [CFWG] Fourth Query: Believing our bodies to be the temple of God, are we concerned to attain a high level of physical and mental health? To this end are our lives examples of temperance in all things? Do we avoid and discourage the use and handling of intoxicants, tobacco, and improper use of drugs? [CFWG] Fifth Query: Are we sensitive to the needs of those around us who may be in less fortunate circumstances? Do we prayerfully consider how we can share one another's burdens when the need arises? Do we counsel lovingly and prayerfully with those members whose actions in any phase of life give us grounds for concern? [CFWG] Sixth Query: Do we live in the life and power which takes away the occasion of all wars? Do we, on Christian principles, refuse to participate in or to cooperate with the military effort? Do we work actively for peace and the removal of the causes of war? Do we endeavor to cultivate good will, mutual understanding, and equal opportunities for all people? [CFWG] Seventh Query: Do we observe simplicity in our manner of living, sincerity in speech, and modesty in apparel? Do we guard against involving ourselves in temporal affairs to the hindrance of spiritual growth? Are we just in our dealings and careful to fulfill our promises? Do we seek to make our Christian faith a part of our daily work? [CFWG] Eighth Query: Are we faithful to Christ's command to avoid swearing oaths? Are we watchful for and faithful to Christ's promptings to share with others our testimony against the use of oaths? Do we avoid gambling and speculation based on the principles of chance? [CFWG] Ninth Query: Are we sensitive to the problems of family living? Do we offer counseling to couples both before and after marriage? How are we helping individuals, married couples and family units to strengthen and enrich their lives? [CFWG] |
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Crossroads Friends Meeting Responses 2010 First Query: Meetings for worship are well attended by our resident Friends and attenders. We have improved our punctuality, and Friends are typically on time or even early now. A number of us travel for an hour or more to attend. We maintain good order during meetings for worship, and our behavior is conducive to meditation and deep, inward communion with God. The several children among us likewise maintain good order, and children as young as five remain in meeting for the entire hour. Our meetings for worship are often largely silent; at other times we are richly blessed with messages from the Holy Spirit and by vocal prayer. We are uplifted and encouraged by meetings for worship in either case, and are blessed by a deep sense of inner peace during and after worship. We maintain a waiting spiritual worship and a free gospel ministry, and we encourage one another to be faithful in delivering messages we may receive from the Holy Spirit, and in offering vocal prayer as we are led. Friends report striving to discern which messages are true and should be delivered, and which are for the individual, or are our own thoughts rather than true messages. We believe most of the vocal ministry in our meetings is true and inspired. We welcome others to join us in fellowship and worship. We respond promptly and with welcome to personal, telephone, mail and thee-mail contacts, and readily add inquirers to our mailing list or theemail list. We maintain a website which is still growing and developing, and which some users have found helpful. We are under a concern to engage in intervisitation, and at times, our entire group visits another body of Friends for worship. [return to General Queries]
2010 Second Query:
We cherish a forgiving spirit, and strive to be forgiving in our
daily lives, with family, friends and coworkers, as well as those at
greater remove from our lives. At times it seems easier to be
forgiving to those close to us, though at other times that closeness
makes forgiveness more difficult, because of our higher expectations
for those we love. We hope to “walk in love as Christ also hath
loved us,” though His perfect and all-encompassing love is on a
scale difficult for our created minds to grasp, far less to emulate.
We are careful of the reputations of others, avoiding gossip and
careless discussion of others. In this age of electronic
communication, we are troubled by the ease with which false and
distorted communications are disseminated, and the damage which may
result to others’ reputations. We attempt to be discerning in
passing on such communications to others, lest we find ourselves
engaged in an electronic form of gossip. We try to love our
neighbors as ourselves. At times, we are overwhelmed by the concept
of our neighbors, understanding that this concept embraces the world
and all humankind. We are acutely aware of the voices of hatred
which are so pervasive in the political dialogue and in the culture
of the world, and we strive to filter news and reports to discern
truth and cast away untruth and disinformation. We have
attempted, without compromising Friends’ Testimonies, to resolve
such differences as arise, and have some success with smaller
differences. In all matters, we strive to remain ever open to our
Inner Guide, and to maintain Christian harmony within the meeting.
2010 Third Query: Our homes are usually places of peace, joy and contentment. We have times of stress and difficulty, but we are generally free of significant conflicts within our homes and families, and this degree of unity supports an atmosphere of peace, joy and contentment. We believe our homes are an influence for good. However, we are sadly aware of the comparative isolation of urban dwellers in our culture, and realize that not many in our communities visit or have knowledge of our homes and our witness. We strive to set a good Christian example for our children and grandchildren, and to assist their awakening to Christ as Savior and Guide. Some of our children are now adults, and our influence on them may be diminished. We attempt to give Christian counsel when an opportunity presents, and we hope that our own lives continue to serve as examples. We cherish our grandchildren and work to assist in their upbringing in the faith and love of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Though the appeal of the world is strong for them, we have done our best to assure that they know our Lord and trust in His guidance. We have assured that our children know the Bible and have ready access to it. We guided them in younger years in the reading and study of the Bible. One family reports daily Bible study at home as part of their home school curriculum in addition to the meeting’s Bible study on First Day. [return to General Queries] 2009 Fourth Query: We believe our bodies to be the temple of God. We are concerned to attain a high level of physical and mental health, but some of us find that we have fallen short of this goal. Some of us find that we experience a range of chronic and lifestyle health problems, and we have undertaken plans involving nutritional practices, exercise, and stress reduction in the effort to ameliorate these problems. We are too often inconsistent in follow thru with such plans. We attempt to maintain right balance in all things, but note that especially with regard to food, we are still intemperate at times. We avoid and discourage the use and handling of tobacco, and the improper use of drugs, while acknowledging our need for properly used prescription drugs and supplements in our attempts to attain a high level of physical and mental health. With regard to intoxicants, we are clear of the handling of such things, but some among us use alcohol in moderation, though we are unaware of any of our number using alcohol to excess. [return to General Queries] 2010 Fifth Query: We are sensitive to the needs of those in less fortunate circumstances. Ironically, modern communications often assure that we are more aware of the needs of people on the other side of the world than of those quite nearby. We support charities near at hand and with global reach. One of us serves on the board of a Christian community center which provides many programs and assistance to those in need. One of us serves on the board of the Walton Home. We support charities like the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, the Heifer Project, the Salvation Army, the Walton Home and others. This year, some of us have been led to focus our efforts on charities nearby, to help alleviate the suffering produced by high unemployment and poor economic conditions in the Flint area. We recognize that, due to the state of the economy, some of us are able to do less than in past years, and less that we would wish to do. Still, we maintain an effort. We do what we can to share the known burdens of those close to us, including neighbors, friends, and relatives who may be in varying degrees of need. We seek guidance through prayer on how best to assist those in need, how we may counsel with those near to us whose actions give cause for concern, and how we may support their return to the Way - the love of Christ Jesus - which opens before us all. [return to General Queries]
2010 Sixth Query:
We live in the life and power which takes away the occasion of
all wars. We are clear of direct participation in the war system.
One of us present is a conscientious objector and performed
alternative, civilian service. Only one of us has served in the
military (as a cadet, not active duty). However, we are troubled by
friends and relatives who have participated directly in the
military, and by those who participate at one remove, working in
defense related industries. We are also painfully aware that in
paying our taxes, we all passively participate in the war system
(about half of federal income taxes go for current and past military
expenditures). With this in mind, the group has united in supporting
the Peace Tax Fund bill, which would provide for conscientious
objection to payment None of us are currently actively involved in peace work per se, but we are all involved in work which seeks to remove the causes of war, and which contributes to the effort to cultivate good will, mutual understanding, and equal opportunities. One Friend, a retiree, serves long hours without compensation for community nonprofits. Some Friends have participated in peaceful demonstrations against war and in support of peace. We have made Friends aware of the need to make a record of their peace convictions and opposition to war, and have placed the suggested form on our website. We have begun to participate in FCNL’s priorities process, with an emphasis on peace issues. Friends have for several years contributed to the Heifer Project, individually and collectively, and now to Haitian Earthquake Relief, and this year Friends have given particular support to the Food Bank for Eastern Michigan, attempting to help meet the needs of those among our neighbors who suffer as a result of the depressed economy and lack of jobs in this area. We seek thereby to cultivate good will, mutual understanding, and equal opportunities for all people. We also exercise great care in selecting investments and products, to assure that our dollars do not support the military or defense industries. [return to General Queries] 2010 Seventh Query: We are acutely aware that by the standards of most of the world, we live in great luxury. By the standards of early Twenty-First Century middle America, we have made some modest progress toward simplicity in our manner of living. We are sincere in our speech, striving to speak truth at all times, and let our yea be yea, and our nay be nay in all cases. We are modest in apparel; about 75 percent of our group are plain in dress, and the others dress modestly. We guard against involvement in temporal affairs to the detriment of spiritual growth, but we recognize that we may not always be successful. Work, family, community, and political and legislative matters all make demands on our time and attention, and the presence of telephones, radios, televisions, and computers in our homes and lives creates many interruptions and distractions, consuming time which would be far better spent on study of scripture and Friends’ writings, and on the Lord’s work. At the same time, we are mindful of Thomas Kelly’s observation, “We are not called to die on every cross.” Many admirable and worthy causes beckon, and seek our time, energy and resources. We practice discernment, individually and corporately, to identify the causes and projects to which we are truly led by our Inner Guide, and the degree of involvement to which we are led. We are just in our dealings and careful to fulfill our promises, in personal and in business matters. We seek to make our Christian faith a part of our daily work, and have found varying opportunities to do so. One of our number, a retiree, devotes significant portions of his time and energy to a Christian center in his community. Others find occasion to witness to and counsel with coworkers, and to work toward the greater good of the community in cooperation with coworkers. [return to General Queries] 2010 Eighth Query: We are free of the use of the oath, and when we rarely have occasion, we use the affirmation. We have been less careful regarding signatures on forms and legal documents which utilize other turns of phrase such as “under penalty of perjury.” We note that the increasing use of electronic filing limits the ability to manually modify the words or phrases chosen in the fine print of tax and similar documents. We give witness to Christ’s command that we swear not at all, and that we speak truth at all times. We avoid gambling and speculation based on chance. Those of our number who have investments avoid speculation based on chance, and also avoid investments which support the war system or are otherwise morally objectionable. [return to General Queries] 2010 Ninth Query: We are sensitive to the problems of family living. We have two young families in our group, but some Friends are at a stage in life wherein we have adult children and grandchildren of varying ages, from infants to teenagers. The problems of family living in our homes range from child-rearing and home schooling to issues of health and the necessity of balancing employment with family life and spiritual life. We offer good counsel to parents of young children and to our adult children, when opportunity and need coincide, and to be supportive to them in dealing with the problems of their family lives. We have been additionally supportive of a young family undergoing financial stress, providing supplies of foodstuffs, and funding their travel and involvement in Conservative Friends events. We are currently considering the possibility of assisting another young family in need of transportation. Since we became a monthly meeting, we have not had occasion to take a marriage under the care of the group. We thus have not offered formal counseling before marriage, but do counsel informally with friends, coworkers, and adult children with regard to marriage and the problems of family living. Our attempts to help individuals, married couples and family units strengthen and enrich their lives consist largely in our Bible study in preparation and to meeting for worship and in assisting Friends in attending Conservative Friends events. On the whole, our adult (and young adult) children and grandchildren are not active as Friends. We support them in their own spiritual journeys and hold them in prayer, sharing our beliefs and practices as way opens, and often giving as gifts Bibles and Christian Friends’ writings which we have found deeply meaningful. |