Cross the Divide

Epistle and Comments from North Pacific Yearly Meeting;

July 10-14, 2024; University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

North Pacific Yearly Meeting did not sponsor a keynote presentation at its annual session in 2024. Rather, it held two worship-sharing plenaries on the topics of peacemaking and the future of the yearly meeting. Below are some key ideas expressed in those two plenaries, as noted by your editor, follwed by the annual session’s epistle.

In this world of division and war . . .
What are you fearing? What are you grieving?

Violent deaths of children
Youth compelled to kill
Disavowal of grief
Apathy towards misunderstandings
Addictive polarization
Rejection of truth
Disdain towards nonviolence
Exaltation of short-term self-interest
Forever war
Irreversible ecological destruction
Epidemics, pandemics
Fear of others
Idolization of others
Vilification of others
Stubborn indifference
Hypnotized lifestyle
Dispirited creativity
Glorification of combat
Glorification of sports
Glorification of winning
Glorification of inequality
Capitulation
Disavowal of responsibility
Resentment
Blame

What evidence have you seen of the Spirit at work?

Children as children
Youth as youth
Nonviolent action
Nonviolent dreams
Nonviolence in history
Tears
Laughter
Art
Parables
Love of ambiguity
Love of absurdity
Careful discernment
New voices

What roles do you see for our yearly meeting?

Container of our community
Protector of our community
Mediator of generational change
Platform for new ideas
Platform for new voices
Platform for inconvenient truths
Re-interpreter of timeless truths
Teacher of Quaker practices
Refresher of Quaker practices
Critic of inflexibility
Refuge for outcasts
Lightkeeper
Projector
Uniter
Priority setter
Family
Agent for Love
Agent of joyful vulnerability
Entity dying to be reborn

To Friends Everywhere,

The North Pacific Yearly Meeting 2024 Annual Session, held in Missoula, Montana, began with a welcome feeling of uniting again with friends from afar and a sense of the deep Presence of the Spirit. Throughout our time, we sought to remain in the spirit of worship as we confronted the world as it is. We continue to be grateful for the technology that allows people to join us online from Oregon and Washington, and parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

We gathered on the aboriginal territories of the Salish and Kalispel, and many of us crossed the lands of other tribes in our travels here. We honor all these peoples, remembering that they were here first and that they are still here.

The theme of our annual session was “Cross the Divide.” In the call to participate in Annual Session, we were asked to consider how we are divided - from each other, from our neighbors, from the Earth itself, and through wars around the world. We are urged to meet in the stillness of the Spirit and choose a better way.

The Care Committee continued to revise and implement the Listening process, hoping to address incidents of racial wounding. Most of the situations addressed have involved other marginalizations.

We heard from our committees that robust work is being done, but that it is hard to fill roles on those committees. There was deep concern that our organizational structure is not sustainable with too few people doing the work.

During an early plenary, we participated in worship sharing around the theme, “In this time of division and war, what are we fearing and grieving? How does God plant the seeds of peace?” This plenary ended with a sense of hope when we were asked to raise our hands if we had deescalated a potential violent conflict between strangers, between friends, or between children. Nearly all raised their hands in response to these questions. “We are the seeds of peace. Let us go out and plant ourselves and grow.”

During one plenary, the Junior Friends shared a series of sci-fi stories they wrote about “Quakers in the Future,” with different endings for all of them. The Junior Friends then posed queries for us all to consider: what story is NPYM currently living? And what story would we like to tell? In response, some people shared their concern about the survival of the yearly meeting as it is now. People also shared heartfelt stories that expressed a lot of love for our Quaker communities, our children, and our hope for the future.

And we had fun together! After working hard during the day, many people of all ages enjoyed the movement and music at our community dance. The next night, our Community Night featured many delightful acts. We were in stitches as a small group of women did a chicken dance on stage while clucking a Bach melody.

We return home with our hearts filled with the Spirit and love for each other.

In Friendship,
Paul Christiansen, Presiding Clerk