The Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas (FWCC) is holding its Annual Meeting within our Yearly Meeting. This is a wonderful opportunity for BYM Friends to learn about FWCC, to meet the representatives from several countries south and north of ours, and to participate in some special meetings.

This will all take place at the Pearlstone Conference Center in Reisterstown, MD, a beautiful place out in the woods away from populated congestion just north of Baltimore. The meeting will be held from March 18-21, 2010. Friends are invited to participate. During the days there will be business meeting, a threshing session, workshops, and committee meetings.

Please register at http://www.fwccamericas.org if you plan to attend part or all of the Annual Meeting, particularly if you want a meal.

Friday evening we have the privilege of hearing Deborah Seuss speak. Deborah is a graduate of Earlham School of Religion and currently a pastor at First Friends Meeting in Greensboro, NC. She writes: I was raised in a Jewish/ Christian home and found my way to the Religious Society of Friends in the early 1980/s, being attracted to the Quaker Christian testimonies on peace and equality as well as Friends understanding of the universal saving Light ...to my great surprise I ended up in pastoral ministry in Iowa YM-FUM, Northwest YM, and currently in North Carolina. Along with her husband, Deborah served for six months as Friend in Residence at an Anglican Retreat Centre in Perth, Australia.

Saturday evening will be a special time when Baltimore Yearly Meeting Friends will have a program showing who we are.

If you would like to help out with hospitality, inviting one or more of these Friends to meet and speak to your meeting, or help with transportation, please contact Sheila Bach at snbach@earthlink.net.

Put these dates on your calendar and come to Pearlstone (pearlstonecenter.org) to converse with other Friends in the Western Hemisphere in both English and Spanish. Learn about Friends who may not always think and believe as we do. Get to know about the wider Quaker fellowship.

Trish Cam of the FRIEND says "every three years the representatives named by their Yearly Meetings gather for nine days not only to conduct business, but also to grow in the life of Christ and the Holy spirit by discovering together their common Spiritual ground.” The theme of this years Triennial in Dublin Ireland was Finding The Prophetic Voice for Our Time. This gave all of us challenges and opportunities for looking at ourselves and our world in  different ways

Baltimore Yearly Meeting was represented by Sheila Bach, Bob Fetter, Jason Eaby and Benjamin Zuses. Laura Nell Obaugh and Flossie Fullerton were also selected as observers by FWCC. In addition Mary Lord was present and we found out she still maintains her membership in BYM. This was one of, if not the largest,Yearly Meeting representation at the triennial. We were visible.

Every morning started with a religious talk from a different part of the Friends family. Part of that included singing hymns. Mary Lord was quickly tapped to lead the singing! Bob Fetter was involved with the Program Committee, and many mornings presented the speaker. Jason was tapped at least one night to do the electronics for the microphones.   Working groups were organized according to the areas of concern/interest received from each Yearly Meeting. One was on visitation and outreach, based in part from our BYM concern for intervisitation with FUM. As the working group was named, the concern we had forwarded was included. As part of the BYM intervisitation committee, I presented an updated about what we were doing. Sheila and Laura were also present. Benjamin was tapped to help set up the project fair space. I presented a small representation of our Yearly Meeting. This was well received. As individuals came by the table many commented on our Camps and said “why didn’t we think of doing this for our Yearly Meeting?”

After the Triennial, some of us toured to the “1652 country.” At the end of the tour, the organizer said he felt the family of Friends needs to meet the cousins occasionally.” I think this sums up my feeling about the whole trip.

Most of us will be at Fall Interim Day with pictures and information. If you want any of the representatives to visit your Meeting you can contact them.

Flossie Fullerton

A Friendly Planet

Let me first start out by being completely honest. When I was first asked to be a substitute representative to the Triennial of the Friends World Committee for Consultation, I was a bit shocked, but also quite honored to be asked. Then, I was told that it was in Ireland, at which point I decided that I was in, just as long as I could work a few other things out. Obviously I worked them out - but my initial reason for going was the location, not the organization. By the end of the Triennial that had changed. Not that the location wasn’t wonderful, but I gained an appreciation for FWCC's mission and purpose. In many ways, what we’re trying to do at Baltimore Yearly Meeting with intervisitation, FWCC has been doing for the past 70 years.

To give you a sense of what a Triennial is like, just imagine our own BYM Annual Session with an international flavor, where not everyone speaks English. It may have been the proximity to our recent Session, but the Triennial had such a similar feel that for the first couple of meals, I wondered why people I expected to see weren’t there. Then I remembered that I wasn’t at our Annual Sessions, but an ocean away at the Triennial. There were business meetings, workshops, interest groups, worship sharing and evening activities. The business meetings were held primarily to receive and approve reports from committees. But there is much less potential for contention. How can you argue over a “budget” that is, at best, a guess at trends for the next three to five years? There is even a roll call of “Meetings” or, in this case, “Sections.” I now know how it must feel to be from Sandy Spring during the Meeting roll call at BYM Session - the Section of the Americas was by far the best represented section. But except for one piece of business, the business meetings really did not seem to be what was important. They never really felt like the “real” reason we were there. (And I’m sure some of you are thinking, that isn’t the real reason we go to Sessions either!)

The real reason behind the Triennial, at least this is what I felt, is for the connections that are made. Some were reconnections with Friends that haven’t been seen in years, such as Ron Mattson. Others were with people who live just a couple hours away by car, with the irony of needing a seven-hour plane ride to meet them not lost. (And looking at the participant list, I may have missed one who lives in the same county as me!) Some of the connections were with people in the Americas, with some of them coming from a branch of Quakerism that we don’t normally have any contact with. Then there were the international connections. Obviously, there were many Irish and British Friends to meet (which occasional led to the question: “Which BYM are you talking about?”), but there were also Friends from Germany, Korea, numerous African nations, New Zealand, Australia and many others, but overall, it didn’t really matter where you were from. As an interesting aside, one of the Australians had just finished a year at Pendle Hill and another is an expatriate New Yorker. (And then there was the British Friend who was born in the U.S. at Lancaster General Hospital and raised in Lancaster County, PA. And the sound cue, please: “It’s A Small World…”)

So what is my point? My point is that for the most part Friends are Friends the world around. Yes, we may disagree on some things, but some of those disagreements arise from cultural differences that we must be sensitive to and patient with. We also must learn that the answer to a problem we have may lie with another who has already solved it. One of the greatest concerns that was expressed was how to change the gerontocracy that the Society of Friends has become. This was mostly phrased in terms of “How can we get more Young Adult Friends involved?” (Or as most members of FWCC refer to that age group, “Young Friends.”) I was asked to go in the first place was because of that concern. But if you tell most African Friends that this is a problem, they will look at you funny. They actually have the opposite “problem.” They have many younger Friends, but fewer older Friends. Unfortunately, I don’t think any concrete solutions were divined from their situation. But then on the other hand, there is the Asia-West Pacific Section which would just like to get members, period.

But as I understand it, the above is what FWCC is about, - helping Friends help and understand each other all over the world. The best way to do that is to get us to communicate. And in some ways, that is what the theme of the Triennial, Finding the Prophetic Voice for our Time, was really about. It wasn’t about foretelling the future; it was about listening to those visionaries who are already there, communicating to the rest of us what needs to be done to get there. And even though we live in an age of near instantaneous world-wide communications, to get ideas across and make connections there is still no substitute for being in the same room together. Both Benjamin Zuses and I have a standing invitation to Kenya, due to the connection we made with one of our roommates. He’s a person, who honestly, had I not been put in the same room as him, I would probably not have sought out. I would have been the lesser for it. Having that realization is part of what the Triennial was truly about.

That is also why my reason for being there had changed by the end of the Triennial. I came to understand FWCC better and to appreciate the need for an organization like it. If Friends are truly going to make the world a better place, then we need to learn to get along with each other, work together and actually talk to one another.

In closing, earlier, I mentioned that there was one piece of important business that was decided. There will not be a Triennial in 2010, but instead there will be a World Gathering of Friends in 2012 in Kenya, and it is there that FWCC will next conduct its Business Meetings. The Triennial in Dublin may have actually been the last Triennial. There was some discussion of just having World Gatherings every five years and conducting business in conjunction with them going forward.

I’d also like to thank Friends for giving me this opportunity. While what I said about my initial reason for wanting to go was true, when I was asked, I also had a feeling or a sense that accepting the nomination was the right course. When I told several people at the Triennial the chain of events that led to me being there, their response was basically the same: “It sounds like you were really supposed to be here.” I haven’t entirely figured out why that is so, but I’m sure it will become clear eventually. So, again, thank you, Friends, for making it possible for me to be there.

Jason Eaby

FWCC SOUTHEAST REGIONAL GATHERING

The theme of the gathering was Quakers Responding to Militarism at Home and Abroad with a significant focus on terrorism. It was held at the Jamestown Friends Meeting, Jamestown, NC, from September 22 to 24, 2006. Debbie Parker and Paul Mitchell reported on the Quaker Initiative to End Torture (QUIT) ( quit-torture-now.org) Conference in Spring, 2006. Bill Jeffries focused on broader militarism issues and urged that we go to the FCNL site to seek ways of taking action on militarism and more, specifically, torture issues (http://www.fcnl.org/torture). Frequent reference was made to Jennifer K. Harbury’s book, Truth, Torture, and the American Way, The Historical consequences of U.S. involvement in Torture and the upcoming conference on torture at Guilford College, June 1-3, 2007. Latin American countries are urged not to send their military to the School of the Americas (renamed to Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). Torture is a spiritual issue, as it crushes the spirit of others. The universality of God (God’s concern for all peoples) should preclude torture.

Following are queries that came out of the FWCC gathering that have broad applicability to all of us.

1. In view of the Quaker belief in the light of God in everyone, how do we answer that of God within the torturer, or within those who order torture? Can we communicate with them from a spirit level?
2. What is our response, as Quakers, to our country’s involvement in torture? Consider from the standpoint of the individual, the monthly meeting, and the yearly meeting?
3. What actions might we be led to take specifically as members of FWCC, Section of the Americas toward this issue? Are there special roles or perspective that inform us?

Two of your BYM-FWCC Representatives were able to attend this gathering and enjoyed the wonderful Southern-style hospitality of the Jamestown Friends as well as benefiting from the well-planned program.

Graham Johnson & Dona Boyce-Manoukian

"To fashion one's thought and action as a Quaker involves more than maintaining membership in the Religious society of Friends... (more...)

The Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) is composed of the divergent world-wide branches of Quakers for the purpose of witnessing to our faith and expressing Friends' testimonies in the world. Holding gatherings for these divergent Friends to meet and get to know each other is one of the primary ways of strengthening our ties to each other. These gatherings are Triennials, section meetings and regional meetings. The next Triennial will be held in Ireland in 2007.

Within Baltimore Yearly Meeting, your representatives desire to inform you of the work and purpose of FWCC and welcome any opportunity to speak to groups about FWCC. We have spoken to several groups during this year and seek more opportunities during the coming year.

BYM is part of the Southeast Region along with North Carolina YM (FUM), North Carolina YM (Conservative), Southern Appalachian YM, Southeastern YM and Jamaica YM. Seven people from BYM attended the regional retreat in Cane Creek, North Carolina in the fall of 2004 where they had a very rich sharing with each other. The next regional meeting is tentatively planned to be held in Jamaica in the fall of 2005. Jamaican Friends are particularly anxious to have continued exchanges within this section. (For some time there has been a cooperative effort between North Carolina YM (FUM) and Jamaica YM in holding a Bible school every summer in Jamaica.) The regional level provides a great opportunity closer to home for the type of exchange FWCC wishes to foster between divergent Friends.

BYM has appointed four young Friends to attend the World Gathering of Young Friends in the UK in August 2005. While the WGYF is not an official function of FWCC, it is whole heartedly endorsed and encouraged by FWCC and one of our BYM representatives is very involved in this effort.

At the sectional level, we are part of the Section of the Americas which encompasses South, Central and North America. Five people from BYM attended the sectional meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in March 2005. Three of your representatives are very active in serving on committees for the section and two more have been co-opted for service to the Section. All of the business of the section is conducted in Spanish and English. Spanish-speaking Friends are asking for more Quaker materials; some are already in print and being translated into Spanish but there is a need for other materials which don't exist and need to be developed. After our recent sectional meeting in Phoenix, a group stayed after the meeting for the purpose of developing new materials. The Executive Secretary, Margaret Frazier and Loida Fernandez, Committee of Latin American Friends, recently completed a highly successful three-week trip through Bolivia and to Peru meeting with many Friends and Churches. Two of the Philadelphia staff are bilingual. In March 2006, the Section of the Americas meeting will be held in Chiquimula, Guatemala. Within our Section, FWCC has a Visitation program whereby a designated Visitor of one Yearly Meeting visits another one during its Annual Meeting. Last year Anne Moore, Philadelphia YM, visited with us during our Yearly Meeting. Within the Section we hear of the work of the Field Secretaries who spend most of their time visiting and working with all the types of Friends in the Midwest and West. The Section of the Americas recently published Friends Peace Witness in a Time of Crises, a report of the presenting panels at the Peace Conference organized by FWCC at Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, January 17-20, 2003. It is available for purchase.

The financial situation of FWCC at the world level and the section level has been poor for sometime. It has come under critical examination and fiscally responsible planning at both the world and sectional levels has resulted. At the sectional level, a three-year fund raising campaign has now begun after competition of a feasibility study. Great effort is being dedicated into turning around the fiscal situation and the expectation is that it will indeed be successful. BYM contributes to Section of the Americas and twenty-five percent of our contribution is sent on to the World Office in London for their important and valuable work. Our administrative staff at all levels is dedicated to the purpose and mission of FWCC and fostering good relations between the members of our Religious Society of Friends.

Your own representatives serve this Yearly Meeting with pleasure and continue to seek opportunities to share with you the work of the Friends World Committee for Consultation.

Friends World Committee for Consultation, 21st Triennial

Four women from Baltimore Yearly Meeting had the special privilege of being among the 309 Friends from around the world who gathered in January in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand for the 21 st triennial gathering of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). (Aotearoa is the Maori name and New Zealand the English name of the country that hosted us. Friends there use the names together when speaking of their country or their Yearly Meeting.)

Sheila Bach, Dona Boyce-Manoukian, Flossie Fullerton, and I thank you for sending us. We look forward in the weeks and months ahead to opportunities to speak directly with many Friends throughout the yearly meeting about our experiences at the Triennial and, for some of us, as guests of Aotearoa/New Zealand Friends afterwards.

Established in 1937 to bring Friends together from different traditions and across geographical separations, FWCC is the principal “umbrella” organization of Friends, embracing Friends from every continent as well as from the Conservative, Evangelical, programmed and unprogrammed traditions.

At FWCC Triennials, Friends gather from as many affiliated yearly meetings as possible for worship and fellowship, to learn about the work and witness of Friends in other parts of the world, and to build personal friendships that, it is hoped, will help to bind Friends together around the world.

Because of its location, this Triennial was particularly rich in Friends from West Asian and Pacific regions, including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Countries where Friends are few also sent representatives. These included Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Cuba. Sadly, 22 of the 47 Friends expected from Africa were delayed because of visa restrictions and only arrived on the seventh day of the 10- day conference. All 12 Friends expected from India also had difficulties obtaining visas, which kept them from coming at all.

The keynote address was given by Jean Zaru of Ramallah Monthly Meeting in Palestine on the Triennial theme: “Being Faithful Witnesses: Serving God in a Changing World.” Jean spoke of the hardships of living in Ramallah and of her concern for the wall presently being built between Israel and Palestine. She spoke in broader terms about all the aspects of life that create divisions, and presented a query: “What walls have I created?”

The challenges of being faithful witnesses were offered in presentations throughout the week from Friends from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Congo, the U.S., Germany, El Salvador, Philippines, and Kenya. Our days were grounded in worship, offered each day by a different yearly meeting, each inviting us to share in that yearly meeting’s customary manner of worship. All participants were also assigned to small worship and sharing groups that met together every day. Over the course of the Triennial, these groups provided a rich opportunity to form deep connections with Friends of different backgrounds.

Triennial business is multilingual, with translation offered into English, Spanish, and French. Business sessions considered changes to the FWCC constitution, the budget, and action minutes from working groups. Nancy Irving (USA) was appointed to be the new General Secretary and Joseph Andugu (Africa) the new Associate Secretary.

The first presentation of the budget showed a severe deficit. It was clear that dramatic refocusing of the work and funding was necessary. Three intense visioning sessions helped develop a corporate vision of the needs of FWCC and how to accomplish those needs. FWCC’s financial situation indicates that if income does not rise substantially over the next three years, it will be impossible to sustain current level of activities. Particular concern was expressed over the possibility of having to cut back on the programs of the Quaker United Nations offices in Geneva and New York if income levels do not increase. After much deliberation, a revised budget was approved for the next four years that anticipates a deficit in each of the next two years and a slight surplus in subsequent years. One of our representatives (Sheila Bach) stood aside from this action out of concern for the seriousness of FWCC’s financial situation.

As the Triennial closed, several Friends commented that this gathering demonstrated a new mission for FWCC: to be a model of possibilities to the world for collectively working on problems in peace and love.

Rebecca Rawls