323nd Annual Sessions
March 27-30, 2003
Arch Street Meeting House, Philadelphia

Seventh-day morning

Third Month 29, 2003

The Meeting settled into open worship. Clerk Arlene Kelly then introduced herself and others at the clerk's table: Suzanne Day, Recording Clerk; Kimberly Diliberto, assisting Recording Clerk; and Dudley (Sandy) Heath, Alternate Clerk.

Minute 17: Welcome To Visitors

The clerk welcomed any visitors from other Yearly Meetings to introduce themselves, and John Darnell, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, introduced himself as visiting on behalf of Friends General Conference. He explained the purpose of the FGC visitor program as an opportunity for Friends to learn of the many programs and services that support Friends. He recommended service on the FGC Central Committee where doing business and coping with difficult issues in the manner of Friends is well practiced. Our Alternate Clerk read John's letter of introduction from Frederick Monthly Meeting.

Michael Hubbard of North Pacific Yearly Meeting also introduced himself.

Thomas Swain (Middletown MM, Concord Quarter) read the epistle from the Annual Conference of the Community of Friends Evangelical Churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo held the last month of 2001 in Uvira, near Burundi. Their theme was 'May the world call us Christians or Quakers'. Their dedication to peace making and peace education in the presence of strife was itemized in a charter reflecting the ways in which individuals demonstrate that they are Children of the Light.

Minute 19: Action On Minute In Relation To The U.S. Government's Involvement In Iraq

The Clerk explained that the agenda planning group had anticipated a desire on the part of Friends to be responsive to the situation in Iraq at these sessions and so had asked Howard Cell of Yardley Meeting, Clerk of Peace and Concerns Standing Committee, to convene a group who could develop a draft minute. The clerk shared the expectation that following our attention to this minute, the balance of the morning will turn our reflection back to the foundation from which we hope to build a peaceful and just world.

Howard Cell introduced the others who had collaborated on bringing the draft minute before us this morning: Margaret Mansfield (Mount Holly MM), Ted Brinton (Birmingham MM) and Muriel (Mickey) Edgerton (Gwynedd MM). Before reading the draft minute, Howard encouraged Friends to be aware, and to make their Meetings aware, of our Yearly Meeting's Fund for Sufferings with Lee Garner (Central Philadelphia MM) its clerk of Trustees.

After hearing Howard read the minute, and being invited by the clerk first to respond to its overall sense, much appreciation was expressed for the mix of spiritual, historic, political facets and immediate personal actions and attitudes which contribute to conditions which lead to war. The actions recommended in the minute are clearly ones which require individual commitment to personal and corporate support of the work of the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Some improvements were recommended: inclusion of the Quaker United Nations Office, dialog with elected officials, being aware that not all people of faith and good will agree with us, and holding up a concern for civil liberties. The meeting approved suggestions clarifying who we are and for what we are responsible as Friends within a country where Congress has allowed the President to launch pre-emptive war.

Following a break, a revised minute was brought to the body of the meeting and read aloud by the Recording Clerk.

Friends received the new draft with some expressing sadness that there is not unity among us in naming the Spirit of Christ as the foundation of our Peace Testimony. Approval was found for 'The Spirit of God and the teachings of Jesus'.

Although the list of suggested actions cannot be exhaustive, the Meeting approved adding the Quaker United Nations Office.

The Assisting Recording Clerk read the revised minute, which the meeting approved

Minute of Concern

As members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, we are appalled and deeply saddened by the United States government's implementation of a doctrine of pre-emptive war with its attack on Iraq. William Penn reminds us that: 'a good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we do evil, that good may come of it'. At the same time, we have been heartened by the formation of a global peace movement that opposes this war and supports the United Nations as the keystone of an international system of law and diplomacy.

The Quaker peace testimony is an expression of our religious experience, which grounds our belief that war is contrary to the Spirit of God and the teachings of Jesus, and which encourages us to "live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars".

Accordingly, we recommit ourselves today to work with people of faith and good will to end the war against Iraq, to help alleviate the suffering it is causing, and to do whatever can be done to build a culture of peace. More specifically, we shall seek, through our Monthly Meetings as well as individually, to do actions including the following:

1. Strengthen the faith communities to which we belong and which nurture our peace work.
2. Support the humanitarian assistance to Iraq being undertaken by the American Friends Service Committee. [AFSC, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA 19102. afscinfo@afsc.org]
3. Support the efforts of the Friends Committee on National Legislation to persuade the Administration and Congress to respect the rule of international law and to abandon the policy of pre-emptive war. [FCNL, 245 Second Street SE, Washington DC 20002. fcnl@fcnl.org]
4. Support the Quaker United Nations Office in its quiet diplomacy. [QUNO, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York NY 10017. qunony@afsc.org]
5. Address conditions - such as poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, ignorance, powerlessness, and oppression - that lead to war, including our own actions and attitudes that contribute to those conditions. (For example, implement the Minute of Concern for Energy Stewardship in Meeting Facilities and Households, which was approved by Interim Meeting in January 2003.)
6. Pray, vigil and witness for peace and reconciliation in concert with people of faith and good will, and engage in appropriate forms of political action laboring with our elected officials.
7. Seek our own leadings on how each of us can live into the spirit of this minute.

Attention then moved to implementation. The minute will be published in the PYM News and posted on our web site. When it is sent out to Meetings, the clerk's covering letter will ask Friends to examine ways our lives move away from God's life and power, how we may deepen our trust in the divine and gain faith that we will be sustained in the face of fear. Another part of implementing our intention is to release those Friends who are so led to go to Washington to meet with elected officials from the four states within our Yearly Meeting, carrying the message we have minuted this morning.

Friends expressed great appreciation for the work of the group which brought the draft minute before us today. Also, Friends acknowledged our need to continue to explore the theological and linguistic differences that matter deeply to us. While words are precious to us, we need to be aware that words are not our response to what is and will be happening in our world. We must be what we say. Our clerk noted that the second portion of the agenda planned for this session was to have guided us into the deeper center of our faith, and we need to find opportunities for that.

These minutes were approved after having been read aloud and improved by the meeting, which then settled into closing worship before adjourning until afternoon.

Suzanne Rie Day,, recording clerk

Copyright © 2003, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM