Yielding to the Presence of God Is Not Easy

“The early church gathered not around Scripture, creed, or liturgy but around the presence and the experience of God in their midst. They trusted that God is what they needed to live and find their way through the empire. These new followers created seedbed communities called the Ekklesia—meaning called-out assembly or congregation—in which they could experience the presence of God within.

For God to move freely in their midst, the early church fathers’ and mothers’ admonition to the new disciples was, in the words of Paul, to ‘flee from idolatry.’ God, not idols made with human hands or the empire, was worthy of worship. But the presence of God dwelling in the hearts of all sorts of people, regardless of race, gender, and class, was true worship.

Yielding to the presence of the God who moved in their midst was not an easy path. Like the early Christians, early Friends witnessed not only the brokenness in their own lives, but became tender to the brokenness and suffering of others living in the empire of their day.”

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Banner art by Mark Pratt-Russum