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

68

Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

Discussion Questions

What was a big insight or “take away” from your experience of reading this portion of John Woolman’s Journal ?

An important element of Woolman’s Journal is the Quaker meeting. Meetings for worship, business, sufferings, and more. Review in your

small group how you understand the format of a Quaker meeting and how people participate in these meetings. Then compare Woolman’s meetings with the meetings for worship, business, and so on that you experience today. How do you minister within meetings in your own context today?

We meet the way we do in part because of our theology of church. For example, we believe the Word of God in Scripture is central to our

faith and so the sermon is the central part of our service. We believe that our reception of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper ushers us into the presence of God and so the Eucharist is important. We believe the Spirit ministers through the body of believers and so we permit times of prophetic utterance or prayer ministry. Different types of business meetings reflect different views of authority in the church. What is your theology of church, or the theology of your church, and how does it affect your meetings?