The "issue" confronting the Yearly Meeting tomorrow (Saturday)

Dear Friends,

I thought it might be of interest to you to understand what we are facing in the business sessions tomorrow. There will be a report presented by the Board on Christian Ministries and Evangelism which will be up for discussion and approval. There are people from all sides of this issue and I thought I would just quote part of their report to you so you can pray and understand what faces us. The majority of the report concerns the ministry of Phil Gulley and his current beliefs which are contrary to the core belief of Quakers. Here is a small portion of this lengthy report which pretty much sums up the problem we have.

"Phil Gulley met with the Christian Ministries and Evagelism Board at the board meeting on January 17, 2009. The summary of his statements regarding his ministry and theolgy are listed here:

Phil thanked the Board for the opportunity to meet. He noted Friends in the Yearly Meeting who first encouraged him in the ministry and in the recording process. He stated that he believes he still has the gift of ministry and that his strong support at Fairfield Meeting demonstrates that. He acknowledges that not everyone at Fairfield believes as he does, but that those still support him in his ministry there. He sees Western as a Yearly Meeting of great diversity where Friends are encouraged to think and to develop in their beliefs. He sees himself as fitting in with that view.

Phil stated that if his recording were rescinded he would no longer in good conscience be able to continue to pastor at Fairfield. This would be kind of like a marriage where a couple would live together after a divorce.

Phil acknowledges that he once believed in the Deity of Jesus as God's only Son, as taught in Scripture and in our Faith and Practice, but that his ideas have evolved to the point that he doesn't accept the unique, exclusive Deity of Jesus. He calls himself a Christian, though, because he believes that Jesus was fully infused with the Spirit of God and that He is the fullest representation of what God wants us to be and as such provides us with the Path to God. Further, each of us can be infused with the Spirit of God, too, and be children of God.

Asked about blood atonement, Phill said he once believed in it, but he now believes the tradition of shedding blood as sacrifice has it origins in pagan ritual and was picked up by Hebrew tradition, and hence realized its culmination in the concept of Jesus' shed blood on the cross as atonement for our sin. Similarly, he no longer accepts original sin, believing we are born innocent with "that of God within."

Asked how he deals with Easter, then - doesn't Easter present him with a big problem?--Phil countered that, no, on the contrary, he finds Easter a wonderful time! Jesus, infused with God's Spirit, was the best representation of God on Earth, the best example of what God wants us to be, but people, by killing Jesus, rejected God. But God could not accept that; "He rejected our rejection" on Resurrection Day. This, Phil, insists, is overwhelming evidence of God's infinite Grace and Mercy."

On June 3, 2009, the Board recommend the rescinding of Philip Gulley's recording due to his substantial disunity with Faith and Practice, particularly as regards to the Deity of Christ Jesus and the atonment. The minute was approved and is now before the Yearly Meeting body for their approval.

I hope this helps you to understand why we need everyone's prayers for tomorrow as there will be much discussion and hard feelings at the business meeting. Phil is a real likeable guy and many people think a lot of him, but I feel this is a separate issue from his personality and it challenges all of us who are dedicated in our ministries.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Bob