The first time I was confronted with my identity as a “Brown Woman” was my first trip to North Pacific Yearly Meeting (NPYM). I had never experienced such a direct external approach to my skin color before. My family celebrated my adoption day as a family holiday.
“I don’t want to think about that stuff and I’m not going to write about it either.” John grabbed his backpack and stalked out the door. I had pushed too hard. It had happened in a moment, and he was gone.
Last summer (last winter there), we spent several weeks traveling among Friends in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. During those travels, we gained some insights about ways that our yearly meetings in the U.S. could share our Quaker faith more openly with the world around us.
“Have you anything to declare?” is a vital challenge to which every one of us is personally called to respond and is also a challenge that every meeting should consider of primary importance. It should lead us to define, with such clarity as we can reach, precisely what it is that Friends of this generation have to say that is not, as we believe, being said effectively by others.
The following two documents emerged from a conversation among Friends in the West, 8/10/2016, concerning ways to welcome newcomers into Quaker meetings.
Recording of a conversation among Friends in the West, 8/10/2016, concerning ways to welcome newcomers into Quaker meetings.
A collection of quotations describing Quaker perspectives on ways to welcome newcomers into Quaker meetings.
A message that San Francisco Meeting has ready for sharing with seekers who ask about opportunities offered by the meeting.
Transcript of a presentation to North Pacific Yearly Meeting, July 16, 2015; Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington
