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To Friends everywhere
At the 323rd Annual Sessions of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, we gathered with a tenderness and grief for all those suffering in this, a time of war. We were longing for the fellowship and joy we share in our annual sessions and for the opportunity to struggle together and contend lovingly on matters of deep concern.
After a day of informative and inspiring workshops, Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, shared with us testimony of the work and witness of that organization, for relief, peace, and justice. Speaking of the terrible consequences of military action around the globe by the U.S. administration, in particular Iraq, she alerted us to governmental policies that are eroding our civil rights, and warned us to remember the spiritual responsibilities of citizenship.
It is a difficult financial time for our community. While our sessions have been marked by a lack of unity on which sacrifices to make in our budget, several Monthly Meetings have come forward with extra resources to address some program cuts. In a called session, we will reconsider the budget.
After a long day of budget sessions there was enthusiastic energy which brought forth innovative and illuminating suggestions on ways to improve communication, and participation between the member Meetings and our Yearly Meeting. We will continue to encourage deeper levels of participation and to examine how we personally and corporately provide support for the leadings of the Spirit among us.
In the Saturday afternoon sessions, some Friends admonished us that within our religious society there is still great work to do on issues of race, economic and social diversity and experiential differences. As we listen to each other and hold each other in the Light, we can live out the witness we approved in our minutes. There is great hope in the transforming power of listening.
Energized by the rhythms and songs of musical group Tribe One, we found the intergenerational vigil to be a time of healing and uplifting unity. Our children continue to minister to us as they joyfully shared their activities and the insights they have gained with us throughout the sessions of Yearly Meeting.
In our Monthly Meeting communities, there is a yearning to share the experience of the Living God in our lives that transcends different interpretations and perspectives. There is a spiritual hunger for relevant and uplifting experiences of the Divine. Friends are striving to meet the blessed challenge of teaching Quaker process to newcomers. Our traditional practices continue to evolve as we incorporate the fresh ideas that come with new membership, though we are mindful of preserving those that remain tried and true.
On Saturday morning we gathered to consider the proposed Minute of Concern that the U.S. government has invaded Iraq. Thanks to the Spirit moving among us and the skills of our Clerk, we accepted the essence of that Minute early on. We struggled through individual phrases about our citizenship and what expressions of religious experiences are valid for us as a Quaker faith community. In recognition that the language of peace has inspired the world and the evolution of the contributing role of the Spirit in nonviolent witness and human affairs, we adopted the attached Minute. As Friends, we are called to search out the seeds of war in our own lives. We submit this Minute to you and call upon you to consider it prayerfully.
Jim Wallis, Christian activist and editor of Sojourners Magazine, encouraged us not to be afraid and brought us the message: "Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and then watching the evidence change." He said that there was no security apart from a common security. His comments recalled early Friends' belief in a better and sanctified future.
Though these are difficult times, we continue to be energized by the certain expectation that there exists within each of us the spiritual resources necessary to address the issues before us. In concluding our greetings we joyfully invite Friends to consider the words of an early Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Friend, John Woolman: "... to turn all the treasures we possess into the channel of universal love becomes the business of our lives."
We commend this message to you with prayers for peace.Signed on behalf of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
Arlene Kelly, clerk
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM