Baltimore Yearly Meeting Epistle

August 2002

To Friends Everywhere:

 Sing and rejoice you Children of the Day and of the Light.  For the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that can be felt.

 George Fox, 1663 (letter 227)

Friends gathered on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, July 29-August 4, 2002 for the 331st Annual Sessions of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.  In our opening retreat, ably led by Claudia Wair, we considered what it means today to be Children of the Light and what Friends bring to the world.  We found joy in blessed community, buoyed by the vibrant presence of younger Friends, including 12 children in the nursery program.  The vitality and growth of our Yearly Meeting was reflected in an eclectic program of workshops, interest groups, and worship sharing.  A campus accessible for all Friends aided participation in these activities.

Our joy in being together has been tempered by confusion and anxiety as we question how we can respond as Friends in an increasingly violent world.  We are grateful to York Monthly Meeting, which last year invited Monthly Meetings to reexamine the peace testimony.  Meetings which responded found this work meaningful, but difficult, especially in light of the violent attacks directed against our country.  Friends are in the process of discerning how to respond to our nation’s reliance on military action. Denis Halliday, Irish Friend and former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, and Peter Lems, Program Assistant for Iraq at the American Friends Service Committee, urged that Friends act to forestall escalation of war in that country, which has been subjected to comprehensive sanctions, bombing, and the demonizing of Saddam Hussein.  Friends brought forth a call to action regarding Iraq, urging us as Monthly Meetings and as individual Friends to inform ourselves on steps we might take.  We continue prayerful consideration of our Peace Testimony, which we need to apply to all parts of our lives.

In meeting for business, Friends approved minutes opposing reinstatement of military conscription, supporting the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund, supporting restorative justice as an alternative to retributive justice, and expressing concern about the dilution of civil liberties in the name of the war against terrorism. 

In his opening address, Ron Kraybill (Associate Professor in Eastern Mennonite University’s Conflict Transformation Program), speaking out of the silence, felt moved to bring words of hope.  Hope is our foundation in the midst of apparent despair and difficulty.  Friends resonated with his description of the trauma, spanning generations, of modern warfare, in which 90% of the casualties are now civilian.  Traumatized societies and individuals must have time and room to heal, in order to move forward with peacemaking. 

A major obstacle peace building organizations face can be our inability to resolve conflicts among ourselves.   We struggled with a forthright response to a hurtful action which occurred during the preparations for the Friends United Meeting Triennial. Longstanding differences regarding sexual orientation and leadership roles precipitated this conflict.  This provides an opening for renewed communication.  Despite these difficulties, our representatives conveyed the rich, spirit-filled experience and warm hospitality they found among Friends in Kenya.

Ours is a Yearly Meeting which often has been prodded by younger Friends.  Our camping programs are an upward spiral of energy and creativity and are one of our most successful outreach programs.  Campers taught us that fun together is the first step, and joy together the second, and from this joy can flow a depth in which conflicts may be lovingly embraced.  In our Junior Yearly Meeting, a dedicated band of volunteers facilitated programs for our youth morning, afternoon, and evening.  Our intergenerational program this year found Friends working together to prepare hygiene and school packets for the American Friends Service Committee to send to Friends in Ramallah.  A variety of imaginative activities brought Friends of all ages together with much laughter.  Friends devoured two large cakes commemorating the 350th anniversary of Fox’s vision of a great people to be gathered.  Accompanied by drumming, Friends constructed a huge, free-form sand painting.

Mary Snyder, Friend from South Dakota , attended as a consultant to the Religious Education Committee. She provided workshops and a ministry of encouragement to our Religious Education Committee and our Yearly Meeting.  Patricia Kutzner=s embraced ministry among the people of the Torreon/Starlake Chapter of the Navajo Nation continues to move Friends as she patiently works with the local community to empower initiatives in one of the most economically disadvantaged parts of the country.

In the Carey Memorial Lecture, Ron Mattson shared his faith journey and how an understanding of the liberating nature of God’s love frees us to live faithfully. “I realized without any hesitation that I was loved by God.  That I had experienced that love many times and in many ways.  That it continued with me in different seasons and in a myriad of geographic locations.  And with that knowledge it was possible to take risks that would have not otherwise been possible.”  Friends joined Ron is singing the old Gospel Hymn, “Safe am I, Safe am I, In the hollow of His Hand.”

Lamar Matthew, Clerk of Yearly Meeting