About Western Friend

Western Friend is published by the Friends Bulletin Corporation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit (EIN 93-1156843), established jointly by Pacific, North Pacific, and Intermountain Yearly Meetings. While Western Friend is the official publication of these three yearly meetings, the opinions expressed within the magazine and on this website are those of the authors, not the meetings. The Board of Directors for Friends Bulletin Corporation comprises three members from each of the three yearly meetings. The board meets three times a year, rotating between the regions of the yearly meetings. Each board meeting is typically hosted by a local Friends meeting, and local Friends are encouraged to visit with the board and staff!

Our Mission

Our mission is to build practical and spiritual connections among Western Friends in print, online and face-to-face.
We accomplish this by:

Publishing a magazine, Western Friend, six times a year.
Offering Friends everywhere a limited selection of content from our print magazine (and more!) on our website, WesternFriend.org.
Partnering with other Quaker organizations, such as Ben Lomond Quaker Center and Friends Fiduciary Corporation, to develop workshops and programs designed to meet the specific needs of Friends in the West.
Hosting local speaker events in conjunction with our board meetings, held three times a year and rotating through the territories of the three Yearly Meetings we serve.

Board of Directors

Western Friend is directed by the Board of Directors of Friends Bulletin Corporation. The board is composed of three members each from Pacific, North Pacific, and Intermountain Yearly Meetings. It meets three times a year, rotating among different regions within the three yearly meetings. Board meetings are typically hosted by local Friends Meetings.

The board sets strategic direction for Western Friend and oversees the financial health of Friends Bulletin Corporation. Board members also actively engage with Friends throughout the three yearly meetings, to incorporate wisdom from many Friends when setting direction for Western Friend.

Public board documents

Board-member-only documents

As of October 2, 2021, the Board of Directors of Friends Bulletin Corporation is:

Lucretia Humphrey, Clerk
Montana Gathering of Friends (NPYM)

Steve Finger, Treasurer
Flagstaff Friends Meeting (IMYM)

Nancy Wilkinson, Recording Clerk
Strawberry Creek Meeting (PacYM)

Mary Hansen
Bellingham Friends Meeting (NPYM)

Tom Head
Chico Friends Meeting (PacYM)

Lanny Jay
Apple Seed Friends Meeting (PacYM)

Nancy Marshall
Phoenix Quaker Meeting (IMYM)

Jay Thatcher
Corvallis Friends Meeting (NPYM)

Molly Wingate
Colorado Springs Monthly Meeting (IMYM)

History

Originally founded in 1929 by Howard and Anna Brinton, Western Friend was known as Friends Bulletin for the better part of eighty years. At the time, Pacific Yearly Meeting stretched from eastern Colorado and New Mexico, west to Hawaii and north to Washington and Montana. Friends Bulletin was- and remains- a valuable means for these far-flung Friends to stay in touch with one another. Even after Intermountain Yearly Meeting (CO, NM, AZ and UT) and North Pacific Yearly Meeting (WA, OR, ID, MT) split off from PYM in the mid-1970′s, Friends in the West continued to place a premium on maintaining their connections with one another. Over the decades, it grew from a single-sheet, black-and-white broadside focused on announcements of births, deaths, and upcoming events, to the full-fledged color magazine featuring articles by and about Friends in the West, known since 2008 as Western Friend. This website and additional programs such as workshops and speaker events serve to further our mission of building practical and spiritual connections between Friends in the West in print, online, and face to face.