My replies to your Queries:
1. Is Quaker renewal … it principally as a means to an end…k)?
2. Do I believe [it] consists in other Quakers becoming more like me?
3. … Am I too comfortable with the status quo? … [or] is Quaker renewal … renewed … adaptation of older Quaker practices…?
4. Are there lessons to be learned from renewal movements in other traditions, …?
My replies:
To 1. It is not Quaker renewal per se that I truly value, but Quakerism itself, as described in the current edition of QF&P. (We have no creed, but QF&P 1.01 and Advice 1, plus many more references, make clear Quakerism is supposed to be about opening oneself to being guided, inspired, taught and transformed by God, putting one’s trust in the idea that good values are the leadings of God; that God’s Light (i.e. Jesus?) can show us our darkness, etc. )
To Q 2: Certainly not! I’m definitely not a good exemplar. What I want is for Quakerism to become more like it was. As now, concerned with Peace and Social Witness, open to new light as from Buddhism, Hinduism, Pagansm, yes and humanism, but based overtly on the Christian especially the teachings and example of Jesus.
To Q 3: I think we as a Society are indeed forgetting about (or choosing for dubious reasons to ignore and even hide) the spiritual resources in the Quaker tradition. Quaker renewal would consist in a renewed appreciation and adaptation of older Quaker beliefs that have fallen out of favour. And even if one has doubts (e.g. about the reality of supposedly divine guidance) it’s not a bad working hypothesis.
To Q 4: Yes! Learn not to invent new religious concepts (as do schisms and sects) but to trust in some of the old. (Advice 1’s verbs: Heed! (i.e. DO something about it). TRUST! (i.e. you don’t have to believe it 100%, just decide to put your faith here); ‘shows’, ‘leads’, ‘brings’ – all gentle guidance, not dictating nor threatening. Our form of worship ‘allowing‘ God to teach and transform us. It’s a lovely, loving, active, transforming religion, not merely a set of life-style preferences. I yearn for renewal, not reinvention!
My Credo Blog 