A Spirit-Gathered Space: New Reflections on Public Ministry and Its Support
- windycooler
- May 31
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 11
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with my friend, Friend Lynette Davis, who led a small focus group in May for the Friends Incubator (cosponsored by Friends General Conference) on the future of public ministry and how our work might best support meetings and ministers, together. Lynette's observations on what she heard in our focus group conversation offered deep insights into what it felt like to guide such a space and left me, and maybe now you, with much to consider about how to best support public ministry.
Lynette, who was accompanied by elder Lissa Field of Quakers in Pastoral Care and Counseling, reflected first on the importance of having diverse voices in spaces like this focus group where we discuss and imagine ministry. "Thinking about programming often defaults to what a "typical U.S.-based Quaker Meeting looks like," she said, noting how limiting that lens can be. Ministry is growing and thriving outside the United States, and Lynette found it critical that "voices that were not U.S.-based" were present at this focus group, offering different perspectives.
When I asked her what she had been looking for in leading the group, Lynette shared a truth many new ministers may recognize: "I’m not always sure what I need." Listening to the participants in the group sparked realizations of what support might look like, she said. It wasn't about a singular model of care but rather a variety of possibilities—mentoring, accompaniment, worship support—that could be adapted to different contexts.
Perhaps most moving was Lynette's description of how "gathered" the group felt under her care. Even though it wasn’t a traditional worship setting, "everyone was holding space for each other in a gentle and tender way," she observed. "There was a sense of purpose and unity that felt very gathered, like Spirit was truly working in and through everyone." Lynette contrasted this with "fake gatheredness" where surface-level harmony is mistaken for deeper spiritual unity.
Lynette sees great potential for our meetings to grow in their support for ministers, including public ministers. She pointed out that "the willingness of people to donate their time and expertise" in the focus group "says a lot about what we as Quakers need to grow." She hopes that meetings, even small ones, will be able to encourage and direct ministers toward resources like spiritual direction and support groups, especially if they lack the numbers to form traditional anchoring committees.
Importantly, she noted that the broader church often prizes charismatic leaders without ensuring mechanisms are in place to care for them. This leaves ministers vulnerable to burnout. Lynette emphasized the importance of "space for support and care and being able to be honest and open and vulnerable."
She concluded by sharing about her own support structure as a public minister, a "faithfulness group" that is independent from her home meeting, Ujima Friends. With Ujima’s clerking team and a more independent structure, Lynette’s experience uplifts the creative ways meetings and ministers can form mutually nurturing relationships based in their own context. There is no cookie-cutter shortcut to being a community of ministers. It is something for us to discern -- together in good faith.
What We Heard in the Focus Group: Public Ministry Belongs to the Community
The focus group that Lynette led was designed to inform the content for a pilot cohort of the Incubator project, supporting ministers, elders, and their meetings who successfully apply to the program. Because of a generous grant from the Shoemaker Fund and the ongoing work of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting to fundraise in support of this work, we are now scheduled to meet at Pendle Hill in April of 2026. Applications for participation in this first cohort are forthcoming. Please do sign up for updates if you want to be sure to know when applications are open.
Participants in this preparative focus group reflected on what public ministry means today. While affirming that "all Friends are ministers," they described public ministry as a particular call— and "something in addition to that"—where a person’s gifts become visible and intentionally exercised toward others. Public ministry was seen as a "lived faith intentionally exercised," often reshaping one’s life around the call.
Support structures for public ministers emerged as a critical need. Participants named forms of practical ministerial support, including:
Mentoring
Worship communities and networks of other ministers
Spiritual accompaniment and eldering during public work
Financial support—funds and infrastructure to make ministry sustainable
Clearness committees for discernment
Community recognition of ministry, through letters of introduction or public acknowledgment
Financial sustainability was a pressing concern, especially for Friends outside the U.S. or in small meetings. Many participants spoke of needing grants, donations, and creative structures to support their work. They emphasized that financial support "liberates" ministers to focus on their calling.
Beyond practical support, participants pointed to deeper challenges: lack of institutional backing, political barriers to their work, and peer-to-peer dynamics that sometimes discourage identifying public ministers for fear of upsetting community norms.
Education was another vital need. Friends asked for more resources on Quaker history and practice—particularly stories of earlier public ministers. Suggestions included developing newsletters with information on ministry concerns and additional opportunities for formal theological training.
Crucially, participants called for a shift from an individual to a "communal spirituality," recognizing that spiritual gifts flourish best when understood as "a collection of grace" within the community.
One Friend summed up the hope beautifully: "Helping Friends find their voice, to speak and to live out their ministry," with the belief that "if you can slow down and reflect, you can find the one thing you could do that would help you live out your calling."
In closing, many Friends in this first focus group noted the home community and the international community of Friends as a vital support network, especially for those facing hardship and isolation. The global Quaker family, they reminded us, is more important now than ever.
These reflections are an affirmation: public ministry is not a solitary endeavor. It belongs to all of us, in a community of ministers, and it thrives when we create the conditions for ministers to be seen, supported, and sustained.
Stay connected for more updates as the incubator project develops! We welcome your reflections and questions as we continue this work together.
About the Author: Windy Cooler (she/her), the convenor of the Friends Incubator, is a public minister and practical theologian in the unprogrammed tradition of the Religious Society of Friends. Her call focuses on public ministry, right relationship, and spiritual formation within and beyond Quaker communities. Her ministry is held under the care of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting in Maryland.
Lynette Davis, SFCC (she/her) is a writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and mental health advocate. She believes stories can change the world and create meaning in life and enjoys holding sacred space for healing and spiritual deepening that integrates expressive arts. Lynette writes at the intersection of mental health, faith, and a Spirit-led creative life on Substack at http://lynettedavis.substack.com. She is the author of Success To Die For: Breaking Down Assumptions About Anxiety, Depression, & Suicide and Their Impact on Business Women and a contributing writer of Illuminate, a Quaker Bible study series by Barclay Press. She has been a convinced Friend since 2016, and is a member of the Ujima Friends Meeting, and a vowed member of The Sisters for Christian Community, an ecumenical community of religious sisters.
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