FWers, Koya, is quite correct below about the Quaker Church, specifically the one in Whittier. I don't think that they are heavy recruiters but they operate much more like a regular church group. There are also at least 2 types of Quaker meetings, the silent meeting [my group follows this pattern] and the programmed meeting which is somewhere between the silent meeting and the Quaker Church.
While we may have focused more on education than Amish and maybe even more than the Mennonites, I have always been impressed about how hard the Mennonites work for good causes. Thanks Koya, Bill On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 10:24:23 +0900 "Koya Azumi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Dear Bill Ward (is this correct?): > > How right you are that Quakers do not proselytize, > but there are varieties of Quakers and perhaps some > do proselytize. There are Quaker churches with > ministers, I understand, as with one of which R. > Nixon (what a shock!) was a member in Whittier, > California. Do you know how such got started? > > Quakers came to Japan to proselytize in late 19th > Century. (I'm sorry I do not know how this came > about; I have never studied the subject. Somehow > they were "assigned" (by the government?) to go > to Mito (in Ibaragi Prefecture) to do their mission. > I think there is a meeting in Mito still. > > Christian missions in general have had only minimal > "success" in Japan as far as membership is concerned. > Although there are Christian churches all over the > country, Christians number, I suspect, less than a > half of one percent of the population. My rough guess > on the number of Quakers in Japan now is a few > hundred. > > One variable which may be used to compare a variety > of religious groups is "this vs other wordliness". > Along with most other groups Quakers have become > more this-worldly while retaining their basic other- > wordly beliefs. They try to put into action in this > world what they believe. On the individual level > many Quakers as with the Menonites declared them- > selves as conscientious objectors, but at the same > time they have created organizations to help create > a "better" world on this earth. Hence the American > Friends Service Committee and the Council on National > Legislation in the US. (I do not know what Quakers > have done in other countries. I had heard that Kenya > has the largest number of Quakers in the world, and > BTW thank you for the tribal name. How are they > organized? Do you know?) I am of the impression > that Quakers in the US and Japan are far better > educated than the average and definitely than the > Amish. > > Thank you for posing the question. I wish I knew > the answer! > > Koya AZUMI (Mr.) > > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
