by Lon Fendall, Jan Wood, and Bruce Bishop

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review by J. Brent Bill

I HEARD an account of a particularly contentious business session a couple of years ago at the meeting [Friends church] I attend. I wasn't there, but the report I received from a reliable source (my daughter) said it was almost chaos. The subject was the resignation of the pastor, and some attendees—in complete and utter disregard for Friends (Quaker) practice—began interrupting each other, shouting, name-calling, and otherwise behaving in an unacceptable manner. The wounds from that business session are still healing.

This is why I heartily recommend Practicing Discernment Together as a practical and needed addition to church libraries, and as part of new member assimilation. Fendall, Wood, and Bishop have put together a concise, clear, and cogent presentation of the Quaker way of group spiritual discernment. As they say in the introduction, “Group discernment is an essential ingredient of anything that Christ's followers seek to do together.” This prime premise should guide our life together, and their book provides constructive ways of learning to do just that.

The book is a mix of practical learning steps and case studies that illuminate those steps and their use. With chapters such as “Cultivating Foundational Discernment Skills” and “The Leader's Role in Group Discernment,” the book serves both as a useful primer to the person new to this practice and a valuable reminder for the long-timer. From basic advice such as “turn to God first” or “courageously carry out God's plan,” the reader is encouraged to see decision making as a spiritual exercise, as a way of walking closer to God in the business that communal life presents to us. Some of the chapters end with beneficial bulleted lists that recap the essential points of what was read. Backing their points with abundant scriptural references, Fendall, Wood, and Bishop lead the reader through the basic but deep principles and practices of group spiritual discernment. A glossary and checklists are also instructive.

In some ways, I could say that there is nothing new here. This is true at one level. I know that because I've spent much of the past year reading and studying in preparation for a book I'm writing on personal spiritual discernment (As Way Opens, to be released by Paraclete Press in spring 2008). Much of the material in Practicing Discernment is available in other books and articles. You can find information on these themes if you want to read 20 books and hundreds of articles. What is truly helpful about Practicing Discernment is that these three writers obviously care about the subject of group spiritual discernment, have read widely and well in the discipline, and here offer a wonderful distillation and some new thinking on the best of the best thoughts in this area in an easy-to-read, brief guide.

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