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

Chapter 3: The Ministry of Visitation in Meetings (1757–1759)

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Woolman suffered in meetings, and not just because they sang out of tune or the sermon was boring. He speaks of tears and painful

exercises.* He talks about a “weighty” conference. He felt the dynamics of meetings with a prophet’s heart, sharing God’s own sufferings. Woolman also found it necessary, after he followed the Spirit’s opening* and spoke a word, to resign himself to God, leaving the results of his ministry into the hands of God. This he experienced as a different kind of suffering at meetings. What kinds of inward suffering have you experienced at meetings? Do you think Jesus experienced this? What is it like to experience prophetic suffering in the midst of church meetings?

Remember: John Woolman served less as the primary pastor of a local congregation, but as an ambassador of the Society,* a traveling

missionary to many congregations. You will see this itinerant aspect of his ministry develop more and more through the course of the book. Nonetheless, it is perhaps helpful at this point to reflect on some of the basic principles and the fundamental actions that characterized Woolman’s missions and that characterize ours today. What can we learn about the process of Quaker mission for our own missions today? Keep asking this question as you read the rest of the chapters.