Touched by God in Quaker Meeting

by Kenneth Carroll

Overview

It has been said that a good meeting for worship comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. It may do even more than these two things as, in the living silence or through the vocal ministry we experience a sense of direction or redirection, feel our consciences awakened or made more sensitive, or find within us a yearning for the triumph of God's will in our own lives and in the world around us.

It is part of the spiritual experience of Friends that we, both individually and collectively have found inspiration and guidance coming to us through our meetings for worship. Drawing upon my own half-century or more of experience and discovery, I now share with you accounts of some of the meetings for worship where I am convinced that we were truly touched by God – occasions where as we reached out to God we experienced God also reaching out to us, so that we were brought together in a way I have never forgotten.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940151417198
Publisher:	Pendle Hill Publications
Publication date:	05/19/2015
Series:	Pendle Hill Pamphlets , #338
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	97 KB

About the Author

Kenneth L. Carroll, a native of Easton, Maryland, was educated at Duke University. He taught both New Testament and Church History classes at Southern Methodist University for 34 years, retiring in 1986 with the rank of Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies. While at S.M.U. he was chosen both “Outstanding Professor” and “Friendliest Professor” on several occasions. He has published widely in both New Testament and Quaker studies (books, chapters in festschriften, and articles), in both America and Europe. Ken was drawn to Quakerism in 1946, becoming a convinced Friend in Durham, N.C. He then helped start a Friends Meeting in Dallas in the fall of 1952. He has served as Clerk of the Dallas Monthly Meeting and South Central Yearly Meeting and is presently clerk of Third Haven Friends Meeting in Easton, Maryland. In addition to serving as president of the Friends Historical Association (USA) and as a former president of the Friends Historical Society (U.K.), Ken has been active in the work of the FWCC, AFSC, FGC, and Pendle Hill. Pendle Hill has a scholarship which bear’s Ken’s name (designed to support a student enrolled in Quakerism and Bible courses). He has traveled widely among Friends on five continents, with 45 visits to Ireland and England in the last 39 years.
This pamphlet grew out of a talk given to Leinster Quarterly Meeting in Enniscorthy, Ireland on June 28, 1997. He had been asked to speak on either a New Testament or early Quaker history subject, unless he had something else “burning” to be said. Prayerful wrestling led him to talk on “God Spoke to Us in Quaker Meeting.” On March 15, 1998, he gave much the same talk at Third Haven Meeting under the title “Touched by God in Quaker Meeting.” This Pendle Hill pamphlet is an expanded version of those two talks. He was encouraged by Irish friends and Friends (especially Patrick Nolan of Ballitore Meeting and Helen and Joe Haughton of Churchtown Meeting) to submit it for publication.