Welcome As You Are: Seekers, Finders, Sharing The Journey

Mar 5, 2023 | Publications Videos

The 2023 Michener Lecture, with Joel Cook

Whoever you are, however you are, you are invited to and welcomed at the Divine banquet table.

In this 2023 SEYM Michener Lecture, Joel Cook shares stories from his own life, the Bible and other sources: stories of how all are welcome to abundant life in the Spirit, and loved just as we are; stories of restlessness, seeking and finding, of shadows, transformation, and belonging. To truly welcome everyone, we must share our stories of our spiritual journeys with each other — so that all can know they are not alone in their struggles, and that they are loved and welcome just as they are.

Joel Cook was raised in a Christian Science home, where he learned an appreciation of the Bible and of religious study. In July 1989 he attended Friend’s Meeting for Worship for the first time at Plainfield (NJ) Friends Meeting.

Quaker Meeting immediately became his spiritual home. He was active in Monthly Meeting, Regional Meeting, and attended New York Yearly Meeting sessions until moving to Florida in 2003. Joel brought his love of the Bible and study of religion to Plainfield Meeting, offering weekly Bible Study for several years.

After moving to Florida, Joel attended the Treasure Coast Worship Group for several years before worshiping regularly at Palm Beach Meeting. There he facilitated the discussion before Meeting for Worship many times, often using the Bible as a starting point for the topic. Several years ago, he helped to re-start the Treasure Coast Worship Group, where he now worships.

Joel has led Bible and other workshops at Southeastern Yearly Meeting sessions for several years and facilitated retreats at Friends Meetings in SEYM. He led a five-day workshop, “Seeking St. Paul,” at the 2011 Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering and in 2014 he presented the daily Bible Half Hour using the gathering theme: “Let Love be the First Motion.” In March 2019 Joel brought the message to the Sunday plenary worship at the FWCC Section of the Americans meeting. For the 2021 FGC Gathering Joel co-facilitated an on-line workshop “Discovering the Divine Flow in Our Lives,” based on “Resistance and Obedience to God, Memoirs of David Ferris (1707–1779)”

Joel is a member of Palm Beach Friends Meeting (Lake Worth Beach, FL), and worships with the Treasure Coast Worship Group. He served as Southeastern Yearly Meeting Assistant Clerk and is now serving as the Yearly Meeting Treasurer.