October is Visitation & Board meeting month for Friends United Meeting (FUM). Besides board members from FUM’s shrinking but scattered territories, notable Friends will be gathering in and around its home turf of Richmond Indiana.
Among the most notable of these visitors is Kenyan Friend John Muhanji, who heads FUM’s African ministries. Besides official sessions, he’ll be visiting several Friends meetings & churches in the Midwest during the next few weeks.
No doubt the official agendas in these sessions will be full, and discussions lively. But if FUM’s record is any guide, some issues may have a hard time getting heard.
One in particular (unless I miss my guess), despite the fact it’s been in the news, on my mind, and even the pope has talked about it. But neither the pope nor I will be in Indiana this month.
So maybe some reader will pass along the following questions, not only in Indiana but to any other FUM-connected meeting or concerned Quakers:
Also . . .
Also, about the gospel being preached . . .
One for all those with financial responsibilities:
Others are asking too:
In Closing: For John Muhanji & FUM:
I joined the federal bench in 1984, some years before any of the justices currently on the Supreme Court. Throughout my career, I have been bound and guided by a written code of conduct, backed by a committee of colleagues I can call on for advice. In fact, I checked with a member of that committee before writing this essay.