{"id":1626,"date":"2024-03-09T11:22:07","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T17:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/?p=1626"},"modified":"2024-03-09T11:26:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T17:26:40","slug":"profile-of-glen-copper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/?p=1626","title":{"rendered":"Profile of Glen Copper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY Mike Soika<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s Note: With the March edition of Shareletter, we are kicking off a new series of interviews with members\/attenders at Milwaukee Friends Meeting, asking them about their faith journey. Following the interview is the list of questions that are asked.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The strong Quaker history of nonviolence first attracted Glen Copper to Quakerism.  He has been attending Milwaukee Friends Meeting since 2007, and keeps \u201ccoming back\u201d to the meeting because it offers him the \u201cfreedom to explore the silence for truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glen states that the ability to continue learning from the recorded experiences of George Fox, John Woolman, William Penn, as well as Friends at meeting are aspects of Quakerism that he truly cherishes, and when pressed on the matter, offered that there is nothing about Quakerism that he would \u201crather do without.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All interviewees are asked to respond to the following observation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a continuum of faith regarding the role of God in the world. Some believe that the Divine is active in the world and \u201chas a plan\u201d for everything while at the other end of the spectrum, others believe that there is a Divine Spirit infused in everything but that there is no \u201chand of God\u201d guiding the universe.  What is your \u201ctheory of God\u201d and how does that impact your spiritual journey?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glen responded that his personal sense of the Divine is \u201cgrowing and becoming more real, but putting it into words, and writing it down as a belief system is what (has been) responsible for most of the hate, mayhem, and troubles in this world.  Sometimes I speculate but I have not developed a theory.  I\u2019m just enjoying my odyssey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of odyssey is very real for Glen, who sees Quakerism as \u201ca quest and a mission to be an instrument of God\u2019s love,\u201d using the Lord\u2019s prayer and St. Francis\u2019 prayer as a guide.  Like most of us, Glen is challenged with finding enough time to \u201csit in silence and inquire and listen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who are just beginning their Quaker journey, Glen advises all to \u201copen yourself up to explore opportunities to be God\u2019s hands and feet to bring about his kingdom and do his will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0 These interviews with members\/attenders of the Milwaukee Friends Meeting are offered to help us better appreciate the faith journey we are all traveling on together.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Interview Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1.  How long have you been a Quaker?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. What brought you to Quakerism?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What keeps you coming back?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. What aspects of Quakerism do you absolutely cherish?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Are there any aspects of Quakerism that you would rather do without?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. There is a continuum of faith regarding the role of God in the world. Some believe that the Divine is active in the world and \u201chas a plan\u201d for everything while at the other end of the spectrum, others believe that there is a Divine Spirit infused in everything but that there is no \u201chand of God\u201d guiding the universe.  What is your \u201ctheory of God\u201d and how does that impact your spiritual journey?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. What do you find most challenging about your spiritual journey?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Is Quakerism a practice (orthopraxy) or a religion (orthodoxy)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. What advice do you have for someone just beginning to explore Quakerism?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Anything you would like to add?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    NEW! Profiles of the faith journey of MFM members & attenders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-march-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1626"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1637,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1626\/revisions\/1637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareletter.milwaukeequakers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}