Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman (SRSC 12)

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Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

to my heart in quiet listening today just like He did with the prophets of the Bible. Still later I discovered the charismatic stream, and they too talked about the gift of prophecy. This gift was a work of the Holy Spirit giving to believers—often in the context of worship or fellowship— a message that would express God’s heart for others. All of these approaches were enlightening, but I found myself wondering how to put them together, how to exercise my own ministry (by then I was serving as a pastor) with “prophetic power.” John Woolman Enter John Woolman (1720–1772). I discovered John Woolman during my seminary years, when I was mostly engaged in the social justice and contemplative streams. I knew he was very influential in convincing the Society of Friends, often known as Quakers, in the American colonies to end slavery long before the rest of the country. Indeed, four years after Woolman died the highest levels of Quaker leadership gave members two options: free your slaves or be disowned by the Society. William Wilberforce, who promoted the abolitionist cause decades later in the United Kingdom, thanked Woolman for his inspiration. As I read Woolman’s Journal again later in life—along with his other essays—I discovered that Woolman modeled not simply a social justice view of the prophetic, but so much more. He had a deep sense of attention to the ministry of the Holy Spirit leading him to speak in groups and to individuals in his itinerant missions (the charismatic stream). He spoke about waiting silently for extended periods of time in God’s presence (the contemplative stream). And, he read the prophetic books out of a deep commitment