Contents

• What are gifts and leadings?
• Ministries the Meeting supports
• Other ministries in the Meeting community
• What our committee does
• Gifts & Leadings Resources

What are gifts and leadings?

The Quaker belief that everyone can have a direct experience of the divine has many ripples. One is that we don’t need preachers to lead us. A corollary is that anyone may be called to minister—to the group as a whole, to individuals in the community, to others in the world. Every member of our community has gifts to share, and every member is encouraged to listen for how they might be led to ever-greater faithfulness.

What ministries does the Meeting support?

• Yoko Koike Barnes— Fair Trade
• Vanessa Julye— Helping the Religious Society of Friends Become More Welcoming to People of Color
• .O— Love and Respect Transform
• Jon Watts— Thee Quaker Project

Other gifts and leadings in our community

In addition to supporting these ministries formally under our care, we also lift up the gifts and leadings of other members of our community. We recently organized talks by several members of our community where they spoke about the work they are called to do, including:

• Carolyn McCoy
• Chuck Esser
• Ingrid Lakey
• Bruce Birchard

What does our committee do?

The Committee on Gifts and Leadings provides advice and support to the Meeting in its faithful nurture of all our community members. The Committee receives inquiries and promotes accountability and care for those who wish to explore leadings and for those whose ministries are under the care of the meeting. Specifically, the Committee:

• Provides programs for community members to explore gifts and leadings.
• Helps members seek clarity around their leadings through a “clearness” process.
• Where a member’s “ministry” is taken under the care of the meeting, guides the support of that work and ensures that the Meeting as a whole is informed.
• Directs financial support for member ministries, as needed and available.
• Monitors the needs of all the individuals and supporting groups engaged in this process, and recommends ways of strengthening this network of support.  
• For more information, please see the Committee Charge here.

Where can I find more resources?

• Gifts and Leadings Committee Charge, full text.
• Nurturing Faithfulness to leadings of the Spirit in Central Philadelphia Meeitng—describes how we in CPMM attempt to support one another in faithfulness in every phase of the life of our community.
• Handbook for Formal Care of Friends Called to Ministry or Witness—describes the procedures of CPMM for providing formal care.