Working Group on Racism
The Working Group on Racism works to consider issues of race relations in general and Friends' testimonies in relation to the issues of race in the modern day. It pursues its work under the care of the Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee.
The Working Group has developed a variety of resources, seminars, and documents that they make available for Friends. Links to many of these are available at www.bym-rsf.org/what_we_do/committees/racismwg/resources.html.
Would you like to join other members and attenders of Friends Meetings in positive discussions about racism in the Religious Society of Friends? If so, click Quakers talk about Racism.
Would you like to chat with fellow Quakers about all the various types of diversity as related to Friends: race, class, age and gender to name a few? If so, then click QuakerQuaker.Org Diversity Group.
Both sites groups direct you to many online resources on these topics. Establishing your own account with these groups enables you to participate fully in the discussions.
The Working Group has published a new flyer: “A Quaker Response to Events in Ferguson, MO – What Can I Do?.” Click here to download a copy.
The Working Group has published a brochure inviting Friends for form change groups to help their Meetings become more whole entitled “You are Invited to Help Friends in Your Meeting Live as Members of the Blessed Community.” Training is available for those of you who accept this invitation.
The Working Group has identified congregations of several denominations in the DC and Baltimore areas that are already “multicultural” (less than 80% of any one ethnicity). Visiting those congregations might give us some ideas of what to do in our Meetings. That list is here.
Listed below are the current members of the Working Group.
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David Etheridge, Clerk
Friends Meeting of Washington |
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Jane Meleny Coe
Bethesda Friends Meeting |
Ellen Cronin
Sandy Spring Friends Meeting |
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Paul Didisheim
Friends Meeting of Washington |
Elizabeth DuVerlie
Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run |
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Peirce Hammond
Bethesda Friends Meeting |
Patience "Pat" Schenck
Annapolis Friends Meeting |
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Ann Varnon
Langley Hill Friends Meeting |
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Thinking about Race Reports
The text of the Working Group on Racism's monthly Thinking About Race reports is available. To jump to a particular year's reports, simply click the year listed below.
| 2011 Report | 2012 Report | 2013 Report | 2014 Report | 2015 Report |
| 2016 Report | 2017 Report | 2018 Report | ||
Ideas for Lowering Barriers
Resources for Local Meetings
Listening Project on Diversity and Outreach Report
Working Group on Racism Annual Reports
Working Group on Racism Interchange Reports
In 2010 and 2011, Baltimore Yearly Meeting undertook a project to consider the vision of the Yearly Meeting community. As a part of that project, each committee was asked to respond to a set of queries that had been promulgated by the ad hoc Visiting Ministers Committee. The Working Group on Racism's responses are available here.
