 May/Summer 2001 (XXXIX 3) |
he Peace Testimony is a central witness of Friends. We make peace in many ways as we seek to "live in the power of that Life and Spirit that takes away the occasion of all wars" as the Eighth Query puts it. We try to keep our own lives clear and we attempt to steer regional cultures and governments away from occasions for war, whether social injustice or hair-trigger weapons systems. We do this work as individuals, as Meetings and through community peace centers as well as through the Yearly Meeting. PYM has eight peace-related "projects" and four or five overseas projects (along with five social concerns activities) overseen by the Peace and Concerns Standing Committee. We serve also through national and international groups such as the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), and the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO).
It is with the individual Friend who is called to some mission that these works start and some of our most effective service continues. JoAnn Seaver of Green Street Meeting (PA) has recently returned from one of her visits of helping in Central and Andean America, this time from Colombia as a Witness for Peace. Such Friends inspire Meetings to action: Woodstown Meeting in southern New Jersey is providing both material support and companionship for a school in Camden. Some Meetings join in community-based peace work: State College Meeting has recently opened space in its meetinghouse to a very active community peace center. (To connect with other Friends or Meetings with your concern call Meetings' Initiatives Coordinator Laurence Sigmond at 215-843-8747 or toll-free 866-854-8747.)
The peace-related projects under the care of Yearly Meeting likewise emerged out of the callings of individual Friends. No central committee decides what types of projects to create so if something isn't being done it's because nobody was called to do it. Projects range from "Conscience, War Tax, and Militarism" supporting Friends all over the nation in their individual witnesses; to support activities for local peacemakers in the Balkans, Ecuador, and elsewhere; to organizing nationwide on a major "occasion for war," global warming; to interpreting the United Nations peacemaking services though the U.N. Working Group and the Support Group for our PYM representatives at the United Nations; to condemning the high-risk nature of available long-range mass killing weaponry in the "Abolish Nuclear War" project. (All these projects welcome new members; to get connected call Joan Broadfield, contact for Peace and Concerns on the PYM staff, at 215-241-7230.)
Finally there are the large nationwide organizations, AFSC, FCNL and QUNO. They do work and have entry where most of us can't go. Both the Friends Committee on National Legislation, in the halls of Congress, and Quaker U.N. Office enjoy special access because of the respect they have earned for integrity and good information. Friends from PYM Meetings are involved in AFSC and FCNL. The FCNL needs meeting participation and QUNO is hoping to develop its contacts with us.
Libby Marsh
Green Street Meeting (PA)
Clerk of PYM Peace and Concerns Standing Committee
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM