of
the Religious Society of Friends
Minutes
of Sixth Month 19, 2004
Deer Creek Monthly Meeting
I2004-14
Opening. Baltimore
Yearly Meeting’s Interim Meeting gathered on
William Penn on the
cross of Christ
The cross of Christ
is a figure of speech borrowed from the wooden cross where Christ submitted to
the will of God. … It may justly be termed the instrument of our wholly dying
to the world and being made conformable to the will of God....
Where does this
cross appear and where is it to be taken up? Within….in our hearts….
And how is the cross
to be daily borne? The way, like the cross, is spiritual. The soul must submit
to the will of God.... God’s will is manifested by the light of Christ in our
consciences....
The cross of Christ
is that spirit and power in us which is not of us, but of God….
The way of taking up
the cross is … an entire resignation of soul to the discoveries and requirings
of the cross.
The work of the
cross of Christ in us is self-denial.
William Penn, “No
Cross, No Crown,” 1669, 1682, the quotes are from No Cross, No Crown,
Ron Selleck, ed., [Friends United Press, Richmond, IN, 1981]; pages 19-22,
further edited
A Friend was moved to
offer the witness of feeling present, and needing God’s guidance.
The Clerk thanked Deer
Creek Friends for their hospitality, with appreciation as well, for this
beautiful spot for Interim Meeting’s work.
I2004-15 Ministry
and Pastoral Care.
Rosalind Zuses, Co-Clerk of the Committee, read a
travel minute for
Betsy Meyer, for her visitation to Indiana Yearly
Meeting on behalf of Friends World Committee for Consultation.
Friends Endorsed this
minute.
Sixth
Month 6, 2004
Elizabeth F.
(“Betsy”) Meyer, a beloved member of this Meeting, has opened her leading to
travel to the annual sessions of Indiana Yearly Meeting in Seventh Month 2004 as
a visitor on behalf of Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the
This Meeting unites
with Betsy’s leading. We trust
that you will benefit as we have from sharing her insights and faith.
We commend her to your Christian care and hospitality.
Approved
and Minuted at our meeting for
business held Sixth Month 6, 2004.
Steven Colgate,
Clerk
Endorsed
at Baltimore Yearly Meeting Interim Meeting held Sixth Month 19, 2004.
Michael Cronin,
Clerk of Interim Meeting
I2004-16
Friends United Meeting
Concern.
Rosalind Zuses, Co-Clerk of the Ministry and
Pastoral Care Committee (M&PC), reviewed the process through which several
documents had been prepared following Interim Meeting of 3/04 for consideration
at the current Interim Meeting. A
surprising development was the lengthy discussion of our concern by the FUM
General Board with the three BYM representatives [Howard Fullerton, Rich
Liversidge, and Walt Fry] on
A.
In consultation with members of Stewardship and Finance Committee, the Ad
Hoc Committee on Gender and Sexual Diversity, and Young Friends, a seven-step
action plan was brought forward.
Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee
Process or
Action Plan
for FUM’s
Policy on Gender/Sexual Diversity Concern
1.
Respond immediately to FUM letter of
2.
M&PC recommends short-term funding decision to Interim Meeting; BYM
to send first half of 2004-budgeted amount to FUM. Rationale: The groups that
met were not in agreement and therefore cannot unite with the minutes from Stony
Run and others asking that BYM funding be stopped; the budget for 2004 was
approved at Annual Sessions 2003 and we cannot disrespect that decision; to stop
funds without prior notice to FUM would be punitive. Note on the minutes from
Monthly Meetings: as the budget is approved by BYM as a whole, only the Yearly
Meeting can decide on whether to reduce funding to FUM, a Monthly Meeting
recommending that its part be withheld will only result in other monthly
meetings having to pick up that portion unless the Yearly Meeting decides to
withhold it as well.
3.
M&PC recommends that Interim Meeting charge a representative group (3
from each) of M&PC, Ad Hoc Committee for Gender and Sexual Diversity
Concerns, and Stewardship and Finance Committee, with representative from Young
Friends, to meet to bring a recommendation to Annual Session as to the second
half of 2004 budgeted funding (which can be discussed by those who approved it),
and a recommendation for the 2005 budget. Recommend Lauri Perman clerk if she is
willing, and someone to record other than those involved in the discussion.
4.
Intervisitation begins for listening and getting to know other yearly
meetings within FUM only. Suggestion
is that Advancement and Outreach Committee takes intervisitation on as a
concern.
5.
The representative group makes a recommendation to Annual Session; it
makes a decision about funding FUM during this period (if/when we can agree to
one).
6.
M&PC, with help from many others, be responsible for editing an
information packet for intervisitation and discernment within BYM monthly
meetings and with the rest of FUM.
Information
Packet for
Gender/Sexual
Diversity Discussion in FUM
a.
A background and time line of the
events since 2002 Triennial leading to this concern
b.
Relevant parts of Faith &
Practices, BYM and others, including the Christian Faith of Friends being
distributed by FUM for discussion among its membership
c.
Minutes from monthly meetings on
this issue
d.
Personnel policies of FUM and some
constituent yearly meetings on the issue of discrimination against any
groups/individuals
e.
The proposed epistle from BYM
7.
Intervisitation begins to engage in dialogue with monthly and yearly
meetings within FUM on the issue of the FUM personnel policy and the Friends of
gender and sexual diversity issue in general.
In response to a
question of a Friend, Georgia Fuller said the expanded committee which had met
in the morning session 6/19 had considered the above steps to be an outline, for
the Yearly Meeting to pursue as Way opens. Friends
Approved proceeding in this manner.
B.
Rosalind Zuses read:
FUM General
Board Response
to
To the members of
Baltimore Yearly Meeting:
We the members of the
General Board of Friends United Meeting, gathered on
Following this, she
read the draft response proposed by the working group facilitated by M&PC
this morning. She reminded Friends
that this response is not intended to be the beginning of the discussion between
BYM and FUM’s constituent Meetings.
Draft Reply
to the
To the Members of the
General Board of Friends United Meeting
We at Baltimore Yearly
Meeting thank you for your considered and prayerful message of Sixth Month 12,
2004 regarding our concern of gender and sexual diversity. Your message to us is
welcome. We are encouraged to hear from our representatives to your Board of the
possibility of increased hospitality (including more intervisitation).
We at Baltimore Yearly
Meeting value being in community with a Quaker organization that reflects a
great breadth of practices and beliefs among Friends. For us, the way forward is
through the way FUM’s policies and practices reflect the diversity of FUM’s
full membership. There is a wide span of understanding of God’s Will
throughout FUM, and the diverse gifts of all need to be recognized and used for
God’s work.
Discerning whether
there is tension between God’s Will as recorded in the Bible and continuing
revelation as Friends’ way to the Truth is often a challenge.
We feel that the best way to understand the fullness of God’s Truth is
to include all Friends in the search. BYM commits itself to continue to labor
faithfully to seek God’s Will for all of us around the concern of gender and
sexual diversity. We remain in
community with the rest of FUM as we seek a Truth about discrimination against
people of different sexual orientations that will include all of us.
We are currently working on an epistle of greater depth and breadth.
Friends had many
editing suggestions, which varied widely. Some
Friends wished to remove sentences that other Friends considered crucial; others
found tender spots where language differences were important.
The motion of the sense of the Meeting was towards a simpler, shorter
version of the initial draft presented. One
Friend described the sense of tension between those desiring the pastoral
approach and those desiring the prophetic approach.
Many felt this was still the time for a pastoral approach, while others
felt it was time to move forward in a prophetic way.
Friends were able to Approve
that the committee would craft the final version based on editing suggestions
agreed to at Interim Meeting, and Directed
that the letter go to all FUM General Board members and staff.
C.
Friends moved to consideration
of M & PC’s short-term funding recommendation to Interim Meeting: that BYM
send the first half of our 2004-budgeted apportionment to FUM, with the second
half payment to be considered at annual sessions.
Since the 2004 budget was approved by Friends attending annual sessions,
it was felt that the same body should have the opportunity to reconsider this
allocation. One Friend remarked that
‘we should send our money because we want to, not because we feel we have
to’ because of budgeting decisions. However
Friends seemed to reach general agreement that not to send our apportionment at
this time would be punitive, and not in the spirit of the response BYM had just
received from the FUM General Board. When
it became apparent that the Spirit was leading Friends toward approval of the
recommendation, Jane Megginson agreed to stand aside in order to allow the
matter to go forward. Interim
Meeting APPROVED that the first half of our Budgeted 2004 commitment to FUM be
paid by June 30, and sent with a letter from the Interim Meeting Clerk
expressing the “crisis of conscience” that has been engendered within BYM by
FUM’s policy for employment and volunteers.
D.
Rosalind Zuses read the draft epistle to Friends, asking for prayerful
consideration, and that representatives to Interim Meeting take the epistle back
to their Monthly Meetings for distribution and active consideration at Annual
Session. [See Draft Epistle at the end of these June Interim Meeting Minutes]
Friends Approved
proceeding in this manner with the epistle.
Interim Meeting Clerk
Michael Cronin thanked Ministry and Pastoral Committee for their work, and added
thanks for the effective work of the Co-Clerk of that Committee.
Rosalind will be stepping down as Co-Clerk of M&PC to begin service
as Clerk of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting. She
will continue to work with Mand PC on this issue.
I2004-17 Stewardship
& Finance.
Clerk Marion Ballard laid before Friends for
consideration the proposal of Stewardship and Finance Committee to reduce the
current amount budgeted for BYM to send to FUM from approximately $17,400 to
$1,000, with an additional $7,000 set aside in support of intervisitation under
the weight of our concern for the right place of sexuality, specifically
homosexual relationships, in the Religious Society of Friends.
The Committee felt led to recommend withholding funds as a matter of
conscience, but wished to ‘remain at the table’ by not withdrawing all
support, since BYM was one of the founding Meetings of FUM.
Once again, the wide diversity of Friends’
understanding of God’s will for BYM was apparent.
Friends struggled with the sense of violation felt from the FUM General
Board and staff, and the best way to proceed effectively, without force, in
love, and with integrity in our spiritual witness against discrimination.
Some felt such a drastic cut in our financial support was an insult, and
not likely to foster achievement of our goal of interaction and persuasion.
Others were opposed to paying for discrimination ‘in our name’.
Howard Fullerton spoke as a member of the FUM Finance Committee, as well
as a BYM member, offering his knowledge of the context of our fiscal support.
We have a modest effect on their budget; they are ‘scraping for
funds’; neither
I2004-18
Ad Hoc Committee on
Gender and Sexual Diversity Concerns.
Bonnie Stockslager presented the report in the absence of Lauri Perman, who
intended to be holding Interim Meeting in the Light with her husband and Ron
Mattson, whom they were with in
The Committee has
appreciated being a part of consideration of these concerns and expects to
continue to be included.
The Ad Hoc Committee on
Gender and Sexual Diversity Concerns lays this before the
We recognize that many
Friends are struggling with the concerns of conscience around matters of
personal financial support and membership in Friends United Meeting.
We ask Yearly Meeting
to devise a process by which they may remain true to Friends Testimony of
integrity.
We further urge all
Friends everywhere to suspend judgment long enough to replace fear with faith.
I2004-19
Indian Affairs.
Clerk Flossie Fullerton announced that the two
Navajo visitors who had planned to come to Annual Sessions to participate in
workshop 15 would not be doing so, since they will come for the 9/21 opening of
the
I2004-20
Manual of Procedure Committee.
Clerk Howard Fullerton presented the report of
the Committee.
Manual of
Procedure Committee
This section,
prepared and approved by the Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee, replaces the
descriptions of the Ministry and Counsel and the Committee for the Nurture and
Recognition of Ministry to implement the merger of the committees approved by
the Yearly Meeting in session in 2002.
Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee
The Ministry and
Pastoral Care Committee consists of approximately twelve members nominated by
the Nominating Committee and appointed by the Yearly Meeting. Also, each Monthly
Meeting is requested to designate one of its members under a concern for
ministry or pastoral care to participate in the meetings and responsibilities of
the Committee. Any member of the Yearly Meeting with a concern for ministry or
pastoral care is welcome at the Committee’s meetings.
The Committee is
concerned with deepening the spiritual life of Baltimore Yearly Meeting and of
its constituent Monthly Meetings. The
Committee carries an active concern for calling forth and nurturing the gifts of
the Spirit in the Yearly Meeting. The Committee encourages and supports Monthly
Meetings as they recognize, publicly affirm, and practically support those
individuals who exercise their gifts in faithful ministry and service.
The Committee supports
and assists Monthly Meetings in fostering community and recognizing and
addressing the needs of individuals within their Meetings.
Committee members are expected to visit a variety of Monthly Meetings
throughout the year. Monthly Meeting
committees will be encouraged to invite these visits. Monthly Meeting committees
that deal with ministry and pastoral care are encouraged to invite these visits.
The Committee supports
and assists the Yearly Meeting with programs, retreats, workshops, activities at
Annual Sessions, and other activities as needed. The Clerk of the Ministry and
Pastoral Care Committee serves as a member of the Program Committee.
The Committee advises
Monthly Meetings on the preparation of the Annual Report of the
The Committee considers
requests for Yearly Meeting endorsement of minutes of support for members
traveling in the ministry outside our Yearly Meeting. Such minutes usually are
prepared by the Monthly Meeting in which the Friend holds membership and then
endorsed by the Yearly Meeting. (See Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly
Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Part II Practices and
Procedures, B The Monthly Meeting, 5 Visiting Among Friends, sub-sections b
Minutes for Spiritual Service and, c Endorsements.) If there is clearness to
proceed, the Committee brings a recommendation to the Yearly Meeting or Interim
Meeting for this minute. Minutes endorsed by the Yearly Meeting should be
returned to the Yearly Meeting. Ordinarily, the endorsement is for one year.
The Committee maintains
the Guidelines for Embracing the Ministry of Friends and supports Monthly
Meeting Committees of Oversight for these Friends.
As the need arises, the
Committee explains to Friends the historical Quaker practice of recording
members in the ministry and the Committee maintains a current list of all
recorded ministers within the Yearly Meeting.
Move to page 8 the
following text from page 9, to make it clearer that this is a function of
Interim Meeting Change the Interim Meeting date the ad hoc naming committee is
selected to reflect actual practice. Call the ad hoc committee the ad hoc naming
committee. The sentence about members of the Search Committee becoming members
of Interim Meeting is recommended to be dropped because every member of the
Yearly Meeting is a member of Interim Meeting:
On Spring Yearly
Meeting
Day, Interim Meeting appoints from the floor an ad
hoc Naming Committee of two Friends to nominate Friends for appointment to
fill the vacancies on the Search Committee. This ad hoc Naming Committee
serves for one year or until a new ad hoc committee is appointed. The Naming
Committee usually presents its recommendations to Interim Meeting on Summer
Yearly Meeting Day. At any time the Naming Committee may present to
Interim Meeting nominations to fill vacancies on the Search Committee that occur
during the year.
Modify the first
paragraph of the Search Committee (p. 9):
The Search Committee is
composed of six persons nominated by an ad hoc Naming Committee and
appointed by Interim Meeting, two appointed each year to serve a term of three
years. No person may serve for more than six consecutive years. The Committee
may not co-opt additional members.
The Youth Programs
Committee (p. 37) needs to make a change to its description. As part of their
revised job description the Coordinators of the Junior Young Friends program are
now ex officio members of the committee. The new Co-Clerks of the committee (Ted
Heck and Betsy Tobin) are aware of this.
The
Youth Programs Committee consists of eight to ten
adults nominated by the Nominating Committee and appointed by the Yearly
Meeting. Other members are the Young Friends Conference Clerks, the Young
Friends Yearly Meeting Program Planners and two Young Friends appointed by the
Young Friends Conference Business Meeting. The regional youth coordinators, the
Yearly Meeting YouthQuake representative, the Coordinator(s) of Junior Young
Friends, and the Youth Secretary are ex officio members.
These proposed
changes give the purpose of the AFSC and the FCNL, based on their web sites.
These additions will provide some information to the Nominating Committee and to
prospective appointees. The ASFC statement is on page 48 and FCNL’s is on page
49 of the current:
V.
Representative To Other Organizations
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends
Service Committee carries out service, development, social justice, and peace
programs throughout the world. Founded by Quakers in 1917 to provide
conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian war victims,
AFSC’s work attracts the support and partnership of people of many races,
religions, and cultures. AFSC’s work is based on the Quaker belief in the
worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and
injustice.
The AFSC is directed
by the American Friends Service Committee Corporation, through a Board of
Directors elected by the Corporation from among its members. The Corporation
members all must be members of the Religious Society of Friends. AFSC is staffed
by Quakers and other people of faith who share the Friends’ desire for peace
and social justice. Further information is available at the AFSC web site.
Baltimore Yearly
Meeting may appoint five persons to the Corporation of the American Friends
Service Committee. These persons are nominated by the Nominating Committee and
appointed by the Yearly Meeting, not all in one year, to serve each for three
years. Those persons are expected to participate in meetings of the Corporation,
usually held in
The Middle-Atlantic
Region of the AFSC works throughout New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia on issues
related to youth, criminal justice, economic justice, social justice and peace
building.
Friends
Committee On National Legislation
The
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
is a public interest lobby founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society
of Friends. FCNL seeks to bring the
concerns, experiences and testimonies of Friends to bear on policy decisions in
the nation’s capital. People of
many religious backgrounds participate in this work.
FCNL’s staff and volunteers work with a nationwide network of thousands
of people to advocate social and economic justice, peace, and good government.
FCNL is governed by
a General Committee of 240 Friends, two-thirds of whom are appointed by 26 of
the
The six Yearly Meeting
representatives to the Friends Committee on National Legislation are nominated
by the Nominating Committee and appointed by the Yearly Meeting, two each year
for three-year terms.
One Friend had a
clarifying comment about the American Friends Service Committee, which will be
given to Howard before Annual Session. Another
Friend mentioned that the Volunteer Service Subcommittee has not existed for
some time. Friends APPROVED
forwarding the report to Annual Session for consideration.
I2004-21 Search
Committee.
Clerk Ann Marie Moriarty presented the report for first reading of
nominations:
Presiding Clerk
Lauri Perman,
Supervisory
Committee Meg Boyd Meyer, Baltimore Stony Run for 2nd 2-year term
Gretchen Hall,
Nominating Committee
Class of ’07
Barbara Thomas,
Marjorie Scott,
Cariadne Burchard,
Catherine Tunis, Herndon
Friends Approved
the first reading for forwarding to Annual Session.
Ann Marie also notified
Friends of a change due to marriage and a move:
From Dorothea Musgrave,
Friends Meeting of
Finally, she raised the
issue of the tension between skills needed for clerking Supervisory Committee
and those needed for clerking at Interim Meeting.
Current practice is to have the same person preside over both, although
the skills that serve these bodies best do not necessarily overlap.
Search Committee asked Friends to consider allowing Supervisory Committee
to name its own Clerk from its constituent members.
The matter was laid over for seasoning, to be taken up at a later time,
preferably at annual sessions.
I2004-22
Peace and Social Concerns.
J.E. McNeil, for the Committee presented a
letter for Interim Meeting to consider forwarding to BYM Annual Session for
consideration. Friends Approved
sending the letter to all Monthly Meetings in BYM and forwarding the letter for
annual session action.
Expression of
Concern about Erosion of Civil Liberties
In the immediate
aftermath of the terrorist attacks on this country on September 11, 2001, the
Congress, under pressure and without due consideration, passed the Uniting and
Strengthening America by providing Appropriate Tools Required to intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act).
Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends believes
that the Act:
·
grossly infringes on the civil liberties of all residents of the United
States by allowing government access to business, medical, library, bookstore
and computer records, and maintaining surveillance with complete secrecy.
·
subverts the system of checks and balances by giving the Executive Branch
overly broad discretionary powers, and by severely limiting the Judicial
Branch’s autonomy and authority for searches.
The original Act is due
to expire in 2005. However, on
Baltimore Yearly
Meeting believes that the USA PATRIOT ACT represents a climate of fear and
distrust on the part of our government, putting it at odds with the citizens it
was created to represent and protect from intrusive, arbitrary action. Our
country needs to look beyond the emotions that enable the Act, and to move
forward with wisdom and a spirit that encourages peace, freedom, and true
security.
Affirming its belief in
the testimonies of the Religions Society of Friends (Quakers) of Simplicity,
Peace, Integrity, Community, and Equality, Baltimore Yearly Meeting urges the
Several Peace and
Social Concerns announcements followed:
·
A copy of an open letter to President George Bush is available.
This letter was sent from Friends in the
·
Friends Meeting of
·
Sharon Stout , of Adelphi Friends Meeting, asked Friends to join in
support of a letter crafted by Adelphi Friends which deplored ‘acts of
aggression, oppression, humiliation, and torture in
I2004-23 Staff
Report.
General Secretary Frank Massey remarked that it had been a busy few
months.
1.
Josh Riley,
2.
Supervisory Committee
has reviewed and updated BYM Personnel Policies,
including the non-discrimination statement
3.
Supervisory Committee is in the process of reviewing and writing policies
for the camp programs as well as for the Youth Programs
4.
The office staff has been trained in child safety, and will develop a
manual of procedure for implementation of safety procedures
5.
Staffing adjustments include:
•
Jerry and Becky Coates serve as caretakers at
Catoctin
•
Laurie Wilner , bookkeeper one to two days
each week
•
Hope Braveheart will begin 7/1 as
full-time
Youth Secretary
6.
Future staffing changes:
•
Josh Riley will leave his post after 5
years to begin full time pursuit of a degree in pastoral counseling.
Friends have the opportunity to express their thanks today and at annual
sessions for the wonderful job Josh has done as BYM’s full-time Camp
Administrative Secretary
•
Jane Megginson will move from her duties
as Office Manager to fill the Camp Administrative Secretary position.
Frank described Josh as
having done a magnificent job, and felt the Yearly Meeting was lucky to have
Jane move into that position. Both
of these Friends have years of experience in our camping program, and have
served it well.
7.
The BYM web site will be available for posting minutes and draft
documents from Interim Meeting shortly after they are received at the office.
8.
Friends can save money by
registering for BYM annual session by 7/9. Registration
forms may be downloaded from the website. A
few additional advance reports were still available in the hallway for Friends
to take home from Interim Meeting.
I2004-24 Closing.
The action minutes were read by the recording clerk, and approved by Friends
present. The Clerk called for
closing silence and worship, during which Lamar Matthew rose to give vocal
ministry, thanking Friends for their tenderness and care in their labors over
our differences with FUM. He
remembered with gratitude being told …it’s not your issue, it’s our
issue.’ He further remarked that this was how we tell each other that we love
each other and respect each other. Lamar
spoke of his hopefulness as we explore how to better serve our Friends community
and our world community.
Friends arose to gather
again at annual session, 7/26-8/1 in
Michael Cronin,
presiding
Frances Preston Schutz, recording
Second edited draft of the BYM epistle
to FUM
Edited on
“To Friends in FUM
Everywhere,
We send greetings from
Friends gathered at Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Interim Meeting Day on sixth
month, nineteen. For almost two years now, we have agonized over the differences
we share with many in the leadership of Friends United Meeting regarding the
right place of sexuality, specifically homosexual relationships, in the
Religious Society of Friends. We feel led to share our faith and hope, as well
as our pain and anger, praying that our labors will be in love and that this
sharing will eventually benefit Friends everywhere.
A foundation of
Friends’ faith and practice is that each person, regardless of differences, is
created in the image of God. (Genesis 1: 27) Scripture and experience have shown
us that each unique, finite person contains a unique, finite reflection of the
Infinite Divine. What Friends have experienced over the years is that each time
we embrace one of God’s children-who is in some finite way “other” to
us-we more fully embrace the image of God.
In 1968, we
formalized our embrace of the “other” within BYM when our Orthodox and
Hicksite meetings consolidated after 140 years of separation. We continued this
process over the next 20 years while we threshed, drafted, and finally adopted
BYM’s unified Faith and Practice with the joyous cry, “We came! We saw! We
concurred!” Under “The Life of the Spirit,” in the section entitled
“Home Life; Living with Self and Others,” we affirmed our collective
experience that:
Our Meeting
communities now include persons living alone, two-parent families, single
parent families, married and unmarried couples, homosexual and heterosexual
couples, single adults or extended families sharing a household, and larger
communal groups. At present Friends are divided on the wisdom or rightness of
some of these relationships.
Nevertheless, we
recognize that there are many kinds of domestic living situations in which
individuals have made long-term commitments to each other and in which a caring,
sharing, supportive relationship can grow. We are all called to make our primary
relationships responsible, loving, mutually enabling, and spiritually enriching.
Over our last 16 years
as a consolidated Yearly Meeting, one of the paths that have led us to deeper
faith has been the path toward a better understanding of God’s gift of
sexuality. Many of us have shared the pain of families as they wrestle with the
newfound identity of a beloved member who discovers that they are not
heterosexual. We have also rejoiced with lesbian and gay members who, in the
process of discovering how to be good stewards of their sexuality and
relationships, have revealed to us God’s sustaining love in new and powerful
ways. We have benefited from their hard work, good humor, and spiritual
leadership as clerks of our monthly meetings, our BYM committees and our Yearly
Meeting.
We believe that to
reject any spiritual gifts that God has bestowed on our meetings through unique
individuals is an affront to God’s goodness and mercy. Yet, the recent
interpretation by the FUM Executive Committee of Minute 88-GB-52, (that staff
and volunteers must sign, abide by, and enforce against others a policy of
discrimination against any person in a sexual relationship outside the bond of
marriage between one man and one woman), confronts us with the dilemma of
choosing some gifts, thereby rejecting others. This prevents most of BYM from
serving in any volunteer or staff position for FUM. . We would never again be
able to host our Triennial as we did in 1999.
The recent
interpretation of this Minute has already proved very painful to some of our
most revered and beloved leaders in BYM, from whom opportunities to share their
considerable gifts of the Spirit with the wider Quaker community have been
removed. This includes married and single Friends who live within the FUM policy
but cannot impose it on others. Our Young Friends are deeply hurt by what they
experience as rejection of those who have been important leaders and guides for
them.
BYM has begun a
clearness process led by the Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee to determine
if we can remain in loving engagement as well as vigorous disagreement with
those who uphold this policy. At the very least, we stand in full opposition to
the policy itself. Additionally we feel ashamed because discrimination among
Friends is being practiced in our name. Many Friends and some monthly meetings
in BYM feel driven by their conscience and integrity to no longer give financial
support to FUM because this personnel policy violates our understanding of the
uniqueness and fullness of God’s good creation. We in BYM are wrestling
mightily and painfully with this dilemma. This has led us to deeply consider the
question: “Must we choose between upholding our membership in FUM or
upholding the integrity of our Friends’ tradition by not participating where
there is discrimination against most of us?”
We are led into deeper
discernment by the following queries:
1)
Will we allow this serious disagreement over some aspects of our
understanding of God’s, gifts, Purpose and Will to prevent us from seeking the
continuing revelation of God’s Truth together as Friends?
2)
Can we labor together to discover if there is a single truth that
God is putting before us?
At this time in our
seeking, we have discerned that it is contrary to God’s Will to have to choose
either what God has given us through membership in FUM, or what God has given us
through our members who are in relationships that FUM policy defines as
unacceptable. We are led to a third way.
We are led to stand in
this present tension and engage in dialogue with those who uphold the policy. We
stand in this tension for all of our children and grandchildren, some of whom
will discover that they do not fit neatly into a heterosexual world. In the
past, Friends from other Yearly Meetings, who were struggling with their
sexuality, have turned to BYM Friends for comfort, guidance, and the reassurance
of God’s love. For them we stand in this tension and dialogue. We will not
abandon them.
We stand in dialogue
with the leadership of FUM because Christ did not shun discomfort or dialogue.
We are also seeking exchange with the other yearly meetings, encouraging them to
join us in our search for God’s Truth on this issue. We are initiating the
same process throughout the monthly meetings in BYM. We have faith that through
this painful struggle the Way will open and bring us to a greater unity and
understanding of God’s Will for us all.
In spite of the current
struggle, we are grateful for this opportunity to discern our witness and come
to have a fuller understanding of our faith through it.
Yours in loving faith,