I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness. And in that also I saw the infinite love of God; and I had great openings. These are some of my experiences during and after the "reconfiguration" of Indiana Yearly Meeting. In February 2012 I began a blog called Yearly Meeting A, since the original intention was that the yearly meeting would lay itself down, and two new bodies, called, temporarily, Yearly Meeting A and Yearly Meeting B would be formed.
That quickly became history. The yearly meeting found it would be expensive and complicated to lay itself down, so instead it proposed remaining in existence and "setting off" those meetings that could not submit to its authority or agree to its doctrinal statements. Also, the description of meetings that might fit into "Yearly Meeting A" turned out to be more of a caricature than reality. It was not a grouping of progressive congregations, though some of them might feel comfortable with that label. In fact, those meetings that wanted to leave Indiana ranged across the spectrum of theology and culture.
I have wondered what it was that caused meetings to leave Indiana Yearly Meeting and step out into a new, but uncertain, future, since we cover the spectrum of theologies, cultures and beliefs. Maybe that will become clearer with time. For now, this is a collection of my writings about the events as they unfolded.
I had been a member of West Richmond Friends Meeting from 1993-1995, and had then moved away for sixteen years to serve two different Quaker organizations in Pennsylvania. I moved to Northern Michigan in 2011 and looked forward to picking up my connections in Indiana Yearly Meeting, since the Friends Meeting in town was part of it. I had no idea I was walking into a storm...
