Monthly meeting has yet to decide whether it will be independent or join SCYMF
In a letter to Northwest Yearly Meeting leadership, Silverton Friends announced its decision to fully welcome gender and sexual minorities who want to be part of the worshiping community. The congregation approved the following minute in a nearly three-hour business meeting on September 24:
We are a community that loves one another, yet even in our love we do not find ourselves in full agreement regarding all matters of human sexuality. Even so, as Silverton Friends walks the path of Jesus together, the LGBTQ+ community will be welcome to fully participate in the life of the Meeting.
Silverton Clerk of Elders John Pattison sent a copy of the letter to the congregation last night, explaining that “this minute puts us outside NWYM Faith and Practice, which means, unfortunately, that we as a church have to make a decision in the coming months about whether or not to join the new yearly meeting or be an independent church.”
In an email sent to the Reedwood Friends Church community, the Northwest Yearly Meeting elders served notice that, effective September 1, 2017, Reedwood would no longer be associated with NWYM. Read the email in its entirety below:
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NWYM Board of Elders action.
On August 19, 2017 the NWYM Board of Elders approved a minute discontinuing Reedwood Friend Church’s association with NWYM effective September 1, 2017, as authorized by NWYM Faith and Practice page 33: “In situations in which a ministry point or local church continues to deteriorate, remains ineffective or out of unity with NWYM Faith and Practice, the BoE, acting for the Yearly Meeting, may discontinue the church or the association of the church with Northwest Yearly Meeting.” With this decision, the supervisory work of the Care Committee has ended.
Pastoral Changes
Effective September 1, 2017, Jade Souza and Martha Wood will complete their ministry at RFC. They both will receive severance packages covering the last four months of 2017. We commend them both for their care and concern for those attending RFC.
Phil McLain, Clerk
NWYM Board of Elders Local church Care Committee for Reedwood Friends Church
February meeting included more churches than first reported
A February meeting at North Valley Friends brought together at least 76 people from 14 different churches in Northwest Yearly Meeting (NWYM) to hear more about what it might mean to start a new yearly meeting. An earlier post reported that 12 churches were represented, but the sign-up sheet – uncovered in efforts to establish the historic documentation for Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends (SCYMF) – includes people from two churches left out of that original report.
Represented churches included
Camas
Eugene
Hillsboro
Klamath Falls
Newberg
North Seattle
North Valley
Reedwood
Rosedale
Second Street
Silverton
South Salem
Tigard
West Hills
Of those, Rosedale has announced its plan to stay with NWYM. Newberg has split into two congregations – Newberg Friends Church and Newberg Emerging Friends Church – with Newberg Friends Church staying in NWYM while Newberg Emerging Friends Church is leaving. Other churches leaving the yearly meeting include North Seattle and Reedwood. Churches removed from the yearly meeting include Camas, Eugene, Klamath Falls and West Hills.
Click here to read the minutes from the meeting at North Valley on February 18.
At the end of mid-year boards this last January, the Administrative Council announced its decision to restructure Northwest Yearly Meeting (NWYM) and to create a transition team to “facilitate the creation of a newly formed yearly meeting.”
That same day, at least 21 yearly meeting board members and monthly meeting representatives met briefly and then signed up for more information about future meetings and gatherings that might lead to the creation of a new yearly meeting.
Members of churches leaving NWYM have been gathering documentation for the historic records of what is now being called Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends. These unofficial minutes from the meetings in January are part of that record as are these notes from a called meeting of representatives from December 10, 2016.
Oregon Coast conference center faces ownership question in light of YM restructure
Twin Rocks Friends Camp distributed a draft to supporters Saturday regarding possible changes to bylaws in light of the Northwest Yearly Meeting restructure. The document includes two options for ownership, clarification of who can attend camp, how staff will be selected, and it addresses the possibility that a new yearly meeting might run its own camps at Twin Rocks.
“Twin Rocks seeks to continue its highly effective ministry, and hopes to conduct its future work in a matter that is – in as many ways as possible – consistent with its successful past. We desire that the watching world may see Twin Rocks’ ministry as one that cares deeply about one another and all those who desire to come to Twin Rocks.”
Twin Rocks is owned by churches in NWYM that are part of the Salem, Newberg, Portland and Southwest Washington areas. One ownership option approved by the board of directors in May would make no change, meaning that churches in these four areas that leave the yearly meeting – Camas, Newberg Emerging Friends, West Hills and possibly others – would not retain ownership.
The second ownership option would make the camp independent: “In an effort to avoid being ‘owned’ by either branch of the split among Friends, Twin Rocks will become an independent entity, not tied to any Yearly Meeting. This independent camp will maintain a Friends heritage, but board members will not be required to be members of a Friends church. Instead, board members will need to be Christian, and able to adhere to the expectations of camp volunteers.”
Camp volunteers are expected to “(1) sign a Christian Statement of Faith (which has to date been the same as George Fox University’s), and (2) avoid advocating beliefs in opposition to the following statement: “Related to human sexuality, Twin Rocks aspires to be a camp welcoming of all people…. We affirm the goodness of marriage, singleness, celibacy, and sexual intimacy exclusively within a marriage covenant between a man and a woman. Because God has called us to seek peace and unity, we call on all those who would serve at Twin Rocks to offer grace, love and forbearance to each other as we discuss issues of sexuality, always seeking to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The document supposes that there would be no change as to which campers or churches are welcome to use the property or attend camps, and “Twin Rocks plans to continue to offer its impactful slate of summer camps.” In addition, churches that leave NWYM would continue to qualify for the Friends group rate, “which is 15 percent below regular rates.”
Click here to read the full proposal.
Congregations disagree on split of NFC assets
Newberg Friends Church began the process of splitting into two congregations in May, and at a business meeting in June, clerks “recommended a formal process for separating into two congregations.” Representatives from both groups would meet “to develop a Covenant of Separation to be effective on or before September 30, 2017, which focuses on our relationships, finances and other matters.”
But at a business meeting Sunday, July 16, the group leaving Northwest Yearly Meeting (NEFC) approved formal withdrawal from the negotiation process: “We leave the choice of what to share in the hands of NWYM-NFC [the congregation that will stay with the yearly meeting], releasing all expectations.”
On a series of projected slides, leaders of the emerging congregation claimed they had received a “best and final offer” worth between $250,000 and $375,000. They estimated that the church’s net assets have a value in the range of $3.5 to 5.5 million.
“The process was not a good faith negotiation,” was listed as a point on a slide titled “Why it is Unjust.”
Leaders presented a minute for approval, and although the spirit of that prepared statement was approved, Brandon Buerkle shared in an email that several people in the meeting recommended the minute be revised “to take out language that could be perceived as antagonistic. They wanted to soften it to make sure that the minute spoke out of a desire to love while also speaking truthfully.”
“Some of those who spoke in the meeting about these kinds of revisions were tagged by the clerks to revise the minute alongside the CoS team this last week,” Buerkle wrote. “After a number of revisions over email, the revised minute was brought before the NEFC elders, who made a few more tweaks before approving it.”
The revised minute was shared with clerks and members of the Covenant of Separation talks in an evening meeting on Saturday, July 22, and is excerpted below:
“An offer of 50 percent of the sale price of Friends Center, some restricted and designated funds, and some material assets (e.g. two vans) was offered to NEFC from NWYM-NFC. These represent an estimated 5 to 10 percent of current NFC assets net of liabilities. Subsequent attempts to negotiate have not yielded a change in this offer.
“As members of NFC, we do not affirm an assumption that ascribes ownership and the right to distribute NFC resources to only one of the two NFC communities. Given our assumption that we should be equal partners at the table, we find the situation to be unjust and the offer to be inequitable. We find ourselves at an impasse, with no peaceful path forward.
“As a body, we discerned the call to love one another outweighs the inclination to fight. Above all else, in fidelity to our shared faith, we desire that love mark the conclusion of this difficult process. Knowing both communities have felt the hand of God leading us forward in unexpected ways, we leave the choice of what to share in the hands of NWYM-NFC, releasing all expectations.
“We recognize deep wounds in everyone involved. We pray for the grace to forgive, and for healing for all.”
Click here for more information about Newberg Emerging Friends Church.
Click here to read the full minute.
Clerk warns of separation if ‘way forward cannot be found’
Members of 28 Friends meetings in Ohio and Tennessee gather next week for what “may someday be remembered as the most important days in living memory for Wilmington Yearly Meeting.” Presiding Clerk Dave Goff announced the annual-session business focus in a letter sent last month and offered that if a way forward cannot be found on marriage equality, “We may need to begin the process of a separation.”
In the discussions, scheduled to start Friday, at least one proposal under consideration will be to allow “each monthly meeting to chart its own course on sensitive and complex issues.” The minute, proposed by Fairview Monthly Meeting, “advises that the yearly meeting not discipline any monthly meeting for their stand on such issues.”
“There are some meetings and some individuals who strongly believe that the time has come for Wilmington Yearly Meeting to endorse ‘Marriage Equality,’ or at the very least to allow those who strongly believe this way to practice their beliefs without disciplinary consequences,” Goff wrote. “Others would be inclined to discipline those meetings who have openly conducted same-gender marriages, or who have said that they will do so if opportunity arises. One meeting has unilaterally performed a same-gender marriage regardless of the opinion of the Wilmington Yearly Meeting or its affiliated monthly meetings. There are some who think they should be disciplined in some way. Many others believe they should be left alone to do as they believe is right.”
Marriage equality first came to the floor of Wilmington Yearly Meeting for action in 1978: “A concern came from Friendsville Monthly Meeting to Yearly Meeting Ministry and Counsel regarding a letter, sent to many meetings, from Gay Concerns Committee of Philadelphia Meeting…. Ministry and Counsel recommended this concern for response be referred to the Committee on Public Morals for study and report.”
The Public Morals Committee produced six position papers and released its findings in 1979: “The issue of homosexuality will not go away. The Committee suggests that Yearly Meeting members clarify their own views through study and openness and a waiting on the Spirit. Compassion should be shown to homosexuals.”
The yearly meeting received another request in 1990 to “discuss this issue and formulate a statement.” Then in 1997, “a statement on same gender marriages was adopted with representatives of Community, Wilmington, Eastern Hills and Dover Meetings and five individuals recorded as ‘standing aside.’” Friends approved the statement as a working document.
Campus Friends supports marriage equality and leadership there has encouraged the yearly meeting “to trust monthly meetings to make their own decisions about this issue.”
Cincinnati Monthly Meeting identifies as an Open and Affirming congregation.
Community Monthly Meeting is no longer part of Wilmington Yearly Meeting.
Eastern Hills Monthly Meeting “now holds to a position of favoring marriage equality,” according to leaders there “and would choose marriage equality over membership in Wilmington Yearly Meeting if forced to make a choice.”
Wilmington Monthly Meeting has a Statement on Equality on its website.
Documents from Wilmington Yearly Meeting:
A summary of the use of “working documents” by Wilmington Yearly Meeting from 1970-2013Minutes that were approved without unity by Wilmington Yearly Meeting from 1970-2013Minutes on the topic of same-gender relationships by Wilmington Yearly Meeting from 1970-2013- Fairview Friends Monthly Meeting minute for Yearly Meeting
- Letter from Presiding Clerk Dave Goff regarding this year’s agenda for business
Group discusses details, documents
In a brief notice dated July 10 and released July 14, the Transition Team announced it had met on Saturday, July 8, to discuss details and documents “needed for further clarification on several issues before moving forward.” The notice also referenced but did not disclose details of a report from the Friendsview Retirement Community board.
The transition team, according to Northwest Yearly Meeting Presiding Clerk Brad Holton, “will facilitate the creation of a newly formed yearly meeting,” though the team may not have authority to act, as it must report to the Administrative Council, which “is committed to completing the transition with dignity and honor for all churches.”
In a report released in March, the Transition Team identified itself as having been “appointed by the Administrative Council to facilitate a fair and equitable division of assets for the restructure of Northwest Yearly Meeting.” In April, the team announced research of a fiduciary trust that “would empower both yearly meetings by holding certain assets that are non-theological in nature and currently benefit all parties.” In June, a sub-committee was assigned to work out the details of that trust, and it was clarified that “the work of the Transition Team is subject to review by the Administrative Council.”
At a meeting hosted by North Valley Friends Church in February, NWYM Superintendent Retha McCutchen said that questions “for the Transition Committee to consider and answer” should be directed to her by email – retha@nwfriends.org.
At least four members of the Transition Team attend churches that are leaving NWYM. Churches leaving NWYM do not have representation on the Administrative Council.
Congregation still determining whether ‘we will remain in NWYM’
North Valley Friends Church met on the evening of July 12, 2017, for the purpose of reviewing and approving the following minute:
We, the community of North Valley Friends Church, are now experiencing grief and sadness as a result of the January decision of the Northwest Yearly Meeting Administrative Council to restructure NWYM by splitting off four churches from NWYM without recourse and making provision for other congregations to leave NWYM. Our congregation is currently in a discernment process to determine whether or not we will remain in NWYM.
We recognize the January decision was the culmination of various events and choose to minute our dissatisfaction with the decision made by the Administrative Council. We believe that the process used to make the decision may have been flawed and was not representative of our commonly held values regarding Quaker decision-making. We realize that it has been stated that there will be no reversal of the decision. However, we desire to inform you and other churches historically a part of Northwest Yearly Meeting of our deep concern with the process and decision.
Dwight Burton and Trisha Hornback, co-clerks
Our New Thing releases draft overview of sessions
Interim Committee forms rough agenda, schedule
Anyone who is interested may join sessions for Our New Thing at George Fox University the week of July 24-26. The group will gather in the Lemmons Center from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Monday, July 24
2 to 5 p.m. informal gathering and community building
Tuesday, July 25
8 a.m. worship, small group discussions, large group times to integrate the leadings from small groups
10:30 a.m. a panel of folks from the LGBTQ+ spectrum will talk about their experiences and what would help them to feel welcome and safe within the new organization.
12 p.m. lunch
1 p.m. discussion about learning/noticings from the panel discussion
2 p.m. small group discussions on questions and concerns related to forming a new organization
4 p.m. regather as large group to consider leadings
Wednesday, July 26
Meet from 8-5 on Wednesday, starting with worship. “If the sense of the meeting is that there is unity around some basic decisions, we will consider whether we are ready to approve steps such as:
- agreeing to form an organization,
- deciding what form the organization will take,
- describing its purpose and identity in general terms,
- choosing a name,
- nominating and empowering committees to work on different facets of the New Thing
- deciding when to gather next to continue our work.
“If we are not yet ready to take those steps, we will move back into listening mode, perhaps in small groups if that feels helpful. We may revisit the organizational steps later in the day if that feels right. At the end of the day on Wednesday, we will close with worship and celebration of wherever Spirit has led us in our time together.”
Is this part of the NWYM Annual Sessions?
“Yes and no. Our schedule and agenda is independent of NWYM, but we are sharing the campus facilities and there will be opportunities to interact if desired. Click here for the NWYM schedule.
“The 1-2 p.m. NWYM workshop times will overlap with our sessions. Participants can choose which to attend. Our New Thing will not have formal sessions in the evenings during the NWYM worship services, but there will be an opportunity for unprogrammed worship in “our” space during that time for those who would prefer not to attend the NWYM worship.”
What does it cost?
“We are still part of NWYM at this point, which allows us to use space at George Fox during Yearly Meeting Sessions at no cost and with housing and meals provided at reasonable cost. Childcare is also available if you register ahead. Registration for the whole event is only $25 if you are not staying in the dorms or buying a meal package. Click here to register.
“For any questions regarding registration, lodging, meals, childcare, etc., call NWYM at (503) 538-9419, ext. 100”
What if I want to serve on a committee or work group going forward?
“Send your self-nomination to Helen May at helen[dot]morasch[dot]may[at]gmail[dot]com. She is collecting names and will forward them to the Nominating Committee.”
Click here for the full draft overview.
Eugene Friends Church is beginning a search for pastor to fill a vacancy created by retirement. The new pastor is expected to begin work as early as March 1, 2018, and no later than July 1, 2018. Application packets will be available by the end of August 2017. Interested persons may contact Marie Matsen, clerk of the elders, Eugene Friends Church, 3495 W. 18th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402, or send an email to eugenefriends.jobs@gmail.com
Opportunity to ‘remember our story, say our goodbyes’
The clerk of the Yearly Meeting worship planning team sent out a letter today addressing questions about plans for annual sessions. Because of a restructure announced in January, the gathering at George Fox University later this month will be the last such session. The NWYM restructure is set to go into effect in June 2018.
Lynn Clouser Holt wrote that “many may be weary and disillusioned and wonder the reason for gathering together for worship…. We must be committed to reflecting and holding Christ’s Light for each other as we close our last NWYM together to establish a good and strong foundation as we all move ahead.”
Although six congregations have announced their intent to leave NWYM and three have publicly declared they will stay, the reality, according to Holt, is that all “have been shaped by our NWYM relationships – past and present, and by years of participating in worship and service together. I invite you to attend each service and hope you will encourage others to come and worship together as well.”
Each evening service has been planned as “a safe and spacious place to encounter Christ, and the themes of the evenings are similar invitations one would find in a memorial service,” Holt wrote. “There will not be a main speaker but … each service will include silence and opportunity for private personal response if one feels led. A small team will be providing the music. Sitting in worship together – regardless of what label we wear or whether we stay or go – invites us to trust God with one another and exposes us to currents of grace which thankfully are not limited by human division.”
Holt included the theme for this year’s worship gatherings: “When Grace happens, we relinquish [and/or] remember our story and say our goodbyes.”
The worship planning team includes Holt, Retha McCutchen, Nate Macy, Rob Willoughby and Martha Wood.
Click here to read the entire letter.
Rosedale to remain in NWYM
Letter outlines 3 points of unity
In a letter shared with yearly meeting pastors, leaders at Rosedale Friends Church announced they would “remain a member church of NWYM affirming the current Faith and Practice.”
The document, sent out by Marie Cammack, describes the reorganization of Northwest Yearly Meeting into two organizations: “Churches and individuals of NWYM who believe actively practicing LGBTQ persons should be introduced into full church membership, including potential leadership roles, are being invited to form a sister yearly meeting that better reflects their theological position. In this re-organization, NWYM churches and individuals will remain faithful to orthodox Christian theology on this issue as our present Faith and Practice outlines.”
Leaders at Rosedale outlined three points around which the Salem Area congregation has reached unity:
- We at RFC will continue to accept, welcome and encourage people from all walks of life, regardless of their status, gender, ethnicity or the sin issues they personally struggle with.
- We believe we all are equal as sinners in the sight of our righteous God, and none of us are called to stand in judgment over one another.
- We also realize that to identify any of our present spiritual struggles need not be judgmental, and none of us will ever be encouraged toward righteousness if our sins are not first recognized as being the spiritual death they are.
“We will continue to believe it is inappropriate to elevate people into leadership while they are personally embracing life altering sins.” The letter includes an illustrative list of sins that would potentially prohibit an attender from service and that also might require a person “be discipled before being considered for membership.”
North Seattle faces third affiliation
With its first meeting in 1905 in a tent on an empty lot, North Seattle Friends has been in existence now for over 100 years. That’s a lot of history.
“From our beginning as Friends Memorial Church in 1905 to 1948 the church was part of Indiana Yearly Meeting,” Pastor Lorraine Watson wrote in an email. “In 1948 Friends Memorial was accepted into Oregon Yearly Meeting (renamed to NWYM in 1974). In 2004 Friends Memorial changed its name to North Seattle Friends Church. Sometime soon we will exit Northwest Yearly Meeting for our third affiliation.”
Watson emphasized that in spite of that history, members of the Quaker church aren’t stuck in the past: “Our current meeting is very much alive with the sense that God is present among us today. We are … committed to listening deeply to God in community, following the leadings that come and freeing each other to live into the ministries that arise in our midst.”
In spite of its size and location, North Seattle Friends is “not a neighborhood church,” Watson said, “but a place [to which] people come from all over the area looking for a Christ-centered Quaker presence. We invite all people to join us, recognizing that those who stay are those who have a similar thirst for knowing God.”
“We gather in meeting each week with our primary purpose being to listen together to God who is present in our midst and speaking to us. Whatever else happens is of no consequence if we do not listen together and allow God to speak to us. Generally, we also include music, God stories, and a message, but not always. We are very aware that we all bring something to this gathering and that it is not up to the upfront leaders to create the experience for us. We bear witness to how God works in our midst.”
Watson said that weekly worship gatherings serve as touch-points for community: “We have a strong sense that we accompany each other as we go through the week, so we often announce where the community is going the next week. We also love blessing each other, whether it be going out in ministry or submitting to surgery. But no matter what else we do, we always have a time of silence so that we can listen deeply to God and in that time, we invite people to share their leadings out of the silence.”
In light of the yearly meeting restructure, Watson said, “We grieved the news that NWYM is unable to hold the diversity that has long been present in this yearly meeting. It was our sense that we would do our best work if we stayed together.”
North Seattle decided in April to leave Northwest Yearly Meeting and to help build a new organization: “We hold hope that this will be a Quaker organization that can truly live into what it means to be Christ-centered Quakers in the Northwest…. Once there is definition to the process, we will discern whether we are to join this group, although I think there is little question but what we will become members.”
“I really yearn for a strongly Quaker and Christ-centered yearly meeting in the Pacific Northwest,” Watson continued. “It has felt to me for many years like there has been a tug and pull in NWYM between various parts of the YM. Quaker vs. Evangelical, social concerns vs. evangelism and the struggle around joining FWCC are the areas that I’ve been most aware of. I believe this struggle goes way back to 1925 when Oregon Yearly Meeting (now NWYM) left Five Years Meeting (now FUM) and probably before that…. With the restructuring, I yearn for us to move forward in freedom as both Quaker and Christ-centered.”
AC decision intended ‘to lessen the tension’
In a letter sent to pastors today, yearly meeting presiding clerk Brad Holton issued four clarifications “regarding NWYM churches and the current restructure.”
1. “It was not the intention of the AC [Administrative Council] to force churches to discuss this division.”
This clarification may be in response to churches such as Newberg Friends, which announced on March 3, that “because of the yearly meeting decision to restructure, all churches have decisions to make” or North Valley, which announced on March 21, that “because of the yearly meeting decision to ‘restructure,’ all churches in NWYM have decisions to make.” The transition team also clarified on March 22 that “churches are not under a deadline to make decisions.”
2. “NWYM would be composed of meetings who align with current Northwest Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice. It also may include churches who have internal disagreement but have agreed to align their practices with current NWYM Faith and Practice.”
This clarification repeats information from the March 22 transition team report: “It was the intent of the AC decision, as revised at the Mid-Year Representatives meeting, that churches that have not made a statement regarding human sexuality are welcome in either yearly meeting. NWYM will require support of the current Faith & Practice. The new group envisions including those affirming churches as well as those who agree to disagree.”
3. “The AC made the decision to restructure in order to lessen the tension within NWYM and to open a path where everyone could move forward in their respective ministry.”
This clarification adds background insight for the June 3 transition team report that it is “the spirit and intent of the AC to be respectful, fair and impartial” to all churches.
4. “Under the AC decision, churches who are diverse and choose to value their shared community and not divide over this issue would be able to stay in NWYM. Or they may discern to go independent or join another yearly meeting.”
This clarification repeats information from the January 28 AC announcement: “This may include churches who have internal disagreement but have agreed to align their practices with current NWYM Faith and Practice.”
Group would assist in ‘process of prayerful rebuilding’
Scotts Mills proposed establishing a special task force in an email to Northwest Yearly Meeting pastors, elders, clerks and representatives Wednesday.
“We are eager to get on with what God has called NWYM to do since 1893 and do not want to wait until 2018 to begin the process of rebuilding our structure and unifying our vision,” Pastor Wanda Jenkins wrote. “We believe that across NWYM are many Friends committed to Christ and NWYM Faith and Practice who have ideas and skills that would be helpful to the process of prayerful rebuilding, and who are excited about moving forward.”
In the email, Jenkins identifies the reality that the ongoing NWYM restructure requires significant resources: “By appearances, all the present administrative forces are by necessity focused on the legal and financial tasks of separation, not on the future of NWYM. It is our observation that many holes will be left in NWYM which need to be addressed, including, but not limited to: Administrative staff including a new superintendent, committee structure and membership, finances, vision and plans for a future.”
Establishing a task force would facilitate inter-church communication and collaboration, according to Jenkins: “This group would be charged with communicating between the churches gathering, collating, and reporting ideas, visions, concerns, resources, and needs (structural and spiritual) from churches around NWYM through all possible means (face-to-face gatherings, video conferences, etc.) and reporting recommendations to the AC, Elders, and entire NWYM as appropriate. This special task force would make public recommendations for future progress with NWYM.”
Our New Thing to gather for worship and business
The interim committee for the group leaving Northwest Yearly Meeting released a tentative schedule for annual sessions. Each meeting – Camas, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Newberg Emerging Friends Church, North Seattle and West Hills – is to name one person to serve on a nominating committee that would start meeting the Monday of Yearly Meeting.
The group is looking for people to self-nominate for the following positions:
Officers:
- Clerk (1 volunteer)
- Recording Clerk (1 volunteer)
Committees:
- Financial Committee (3-5 members)
- Spiritual Care Committee (no set limit)
- Interim Committee (5 at-large members, up to 5 members nominated by local churches)
- Prayer Team (no set limit)
Work Groups:
- Bylaws, Faith & Practice
- People Work
- Quarterly Gatherings (responsible for worship, fellowship, and educational content)
Click here to read the interim committee agenda.
Click here to view the tentative schedule.
Click here to read the complete minutes from the interim committee.
Representative group to form Covenant of Separation
Clerks at Newberg Friends recommended a formal process for separating into two congregations in a letter emailed to the church info list on June 8. The message, signed by Mark Ankeny, Phil Smith and Ron Mock introduced an interim budget and a plan for forming a representative group that would “draft a Covenant of Separation to be effective on or before September 30.”
The purpose for the process is “our abiding concern that the coming transition be done well, to preserve relationships and allow both congregations to be thriving bodies of believers following the leadings of Jesus,” according to the letter.
The proposed minute acknowledged that the group is already in the process of dividing, that “none of us wish to leave Newberg Friends Church,” and that “each group includes people who have been members of Newberg Friends Church for all or most of their lives.” The minute also lays out parts of the Northwest Yearly Meeting restructuring process, especially those points that apply to the split at NFC.
The over 150 people present for the business meeting Sunday approved a second check signer and an interim budget of $101,100 – continued employment of one pastor, support staff, utilities, maintenance, program expenses, and yearly meeting local church support – for the period beginning July 1, and ending September 30, 2017. The meeting also approved the following minute:
We direct that a representative group be convened by our clerks to develop a Covenant of Separation to be effective on or before September 30, 2017, which focuses on our relationships, finances and other matters.
Click here to read the full letter.
Click here to read the original text of the proposed minute.
Scotts Mills to stay with NWYM
Church expresses hope for renewal, growth
Scotts Mills Friends Church announced its commitment to stay a part of Northwest Yearly Meeting in a letter shared with pastors, elders, clerks and reps. The email that included the letter as an attachment was signed by Pastor Wanda Jenkins and sent on Saturday, June 2.
The letter offers hope for the future – “We recognize the Lord God leading us to new and renewed faithfulness of life through the Holy Spirit, and look forward to a new life that will be given by the Lord Jesus”
Hope for a new start – “as renewal was given to our forebears. Much as they left old practice to follow the Lord’s leading, we expect this new life to look different from what has gone before.”
Hope for growth – “We rejoice that it will be an exciting new growth of God’s Kingdom as we turn from our failings to the glory of God, recognize the high priority of our identity as Jesus’ family, grow in the Spirit, and love our neighbors. May Jesus Christ be lifted up!”
The letter briefly explains the community’s decision in response to the yearly meeting restructure: “As a committed part of NWYM, Scotts Mills Friends Church witnesses to the unfailing truth of the Bible, given by the Holy Spirit through centuries. The Faith and Practice document of NWYM, crafted by earlier Friends, summarizes doctrines we still believe.”
The letter also offers historical context for the decision. Click here to read the entire letter.
Churches may get up to 18 additional months for discernment
Churches that choose to become independent will not “share in liquid asset distribution,” according to a report released today by the yearly meeting transition team. The team met Saturday, June 3, to continue work on the restructure of Northwest Yearly Meeting.
Camp boards of Tilikum, Quaker Hill, Quaker Cove and Twin Rocks reported changes they anticipate in light of the NWYM restructure. Boards of George Fox University and Friendsview Retirement Community will be asked to provide similar reports.
Dave Green, Silas Olson, Roger Watson and Gordon Crisman were named to work out the details of a possible fiduciary trust.
Churches that haven’t discerned whether to stay with the yearly meeting or leave the yearly meeting by June 30, 2018, “should notify the Administrative Council for up to an 18-month extension.” Churches still in “process as of December 2019” may request additional time, and the Administrative Council will make decisions about such requests “on a case by case basis.”
Click here for the full report.
Group plans for Yearly Meeting sessions
Churches leaving Northwest Yearly Meeting have each named representatives to an interim committee, and the group plans to meet on June 7, in Salem. Members of the committee include the following:
- Joann Boswell, Camas
- Chris Durost, West Hills
- Joanne Halgren, Eugene (alternate)
- Cecilie Hudson, North Seattle
- Faith Marsalli, Klamath Falls
- Marie Matsen, Eugene
- Helen May, Camas
- Elizabeth Price, Eugene
- Elijah Walker, West Hills
- Carol Whorton, Klamath Falls
- Jan Wood, North Seattle
The committee is considering the following questions in preparing an agenda for the meeting in June: “What presentations, if any, do we need to hear? What business items do we need to approve to move forward? What working groups do we need to name and get started?”
The represented churches and others interested in being part of a new organization will worship together at Yearly Meeting in July. Joann Boswell <joannrenee@gmail.com> is collecting input from anyone who has ideas or suggestions for what should be included, discussed, or accomplished at Yearly Meeting.
PNQWTC announces theme
Gathering brings together Quaker women
The Pacific Northwest Quaker Women’s Theology Conference announced the theme for its next gathering: Answering that of God in every person – recognizing, naming, imaging, abiding.
The planning committee shared in a letter, “Our hope is to build a community among us that nurtures the souls of all involved. Our purpose for 2018 is to foster a community of spiritual refuge by answering that of God in every person and abiding in the Divine, which radiates to the wider world and nurtures our Quaker witness.”
The conference started as a friendship between two women, grew into a group that met “to encourage each other in our individual ministries and leadership roles within the Society of Friends,” and eventually a series of retreats that are “centered on experience. This keeps us from arguing over meanings of words, and allows us to come to know and accept each other without having to defend particular belief systems against the prejudice of the others.”
The conference will be held June 6-10, 2018, at Canby Grove Christian Center in Canby, Oregon.
The planning committee is looking for participants who may also have gifts and be willing to serve in one of the following areas:
- Producing publications
- Webmaster
- Facebook facilitator
- Friends traveling to publicize the conference among the meetings
North Valley releases survey results
Congregational meeting scheduled for sharing, listening
In an email last week the North Valley transition task force and elders called a congregational meeting for sharing and listening. The meeting, scheduled for this Sunday evening, will give people an opportunity to consider the results of a meeting-wide survey about how NVFC might respond to the yearly meeting restructure.
“This is not a business meeting, and we are not seeking a decision at this meeting,” Scot Headley emphasized in the email. “Have conversations with your family and friends in the congregation, and with others you don’t know as well Now is a time to listen to one another about what are our hopes and concerns regarding the yearly meeting transition. Keep one another in prayer and remember our friends in our local congregations, as well.”
In the report, the transition task force presented several findings of fact:
- Based on inquires made about Evangelical Friends Church International (EFCI, an umbrella group for NWYM), churches may not be jointly affiliated with an EFCI YM and other YM, such as a Friends United Meeting (FUM) YM.
- Churches may not independently affiliate with FUM.
- Based on statements from the YM superintendent and presiding clerk, no appeals of the January YM administrative council decision will be heard.
- Information regarding the work of the YM transition team is not very conclusive at this point. There is general agreement from this group to seek fair and impartial means of apportioning physical assets, but as of yet, no clear guidelines or decisions have been published. NV Elder, Silas Olson, serves on this group.
- Information regarding a possible new YM that may emerge in the region is also inconclusive. There have been several listening meetings in this regard, but as of yet, no clear direction is apparent.
The survey results indicated that although the most selected option was some kind of joint affiliation with Evangelical Friends Church – North America and Friends United Meeting, a separate survey question illustrated that respondents were more willing to support joining a new yearly meeting than any other option.
Themes identified by the task force in responses to open-ended questions in the survey include the following:
- Schedule corporate discernment that incorporates meetings for worship, focused on healthy vulnerability, listening, and Quaker process
- Focus on welcoming, loving, and including our LGBTQ members and attenders
- Affirm unity in diversity as NVFC previously discerned
- Expressions of frustration and desire to appeal/reverse the YM decision to split
- Become independent now and acquire 501c3 status
- Hold fast to Quaker distinctions, history, process
- Desire that NVFC to be an example of love and trust to others
- Hope for trust/reconciliation with NWYM in the future
- Continue NVFC process/discernment/conversations around human sexuality
- Be transparent and informative during this process
Central Oregon congregation ‘hopeful for the future’
Metolius Friends Church reported in a letter yesterday that it is staying with Northwest Yearly Meeting. The decision, a response to the Administrative Council’s announced restructuring process, was shared by Pastor Jadon Ross in an email to yearly meeting pastors, representatives, elders and clerks.
“We are hopeful for the future of NWYM, and we are encouraged and excited to continue to have a voice and influence in NWYM. With the help and guidance of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit we know that people’s lives will be transformed, God’s Kingdom will expand, and Jesus will be lifted high throughout the Northwest.”
A follow-up email to Ross proposed the following questions:
- Regarding the helpfulness of moving through a formal process like the one you describe for Metolius in the letter. How has that been good for the congregation? How might that kind of process benefit other churches should they choose to similarly engage?
- NWYM is going to look different a year from now. What signs of hope do you see in the midst of what we’re going through now? What do you hope for? What hope might you offer for others who may be feeling hopeless?
- Do you think that having gone through this process and coming to unity as a congregation might positively affect the quality of relationship or of interactions that Metolius has with the yearly meeting going forward?
Each group names reps to Saturday meeting
Newberg Friends Church didn’t split on Sunday night. The roughly 250 people who attended the business meeting were unable to reach unity to approve the recommendation from the leadership team that members “discern whether we are being called to form two congregations,” so presiding clerk Mark Ankeny asked people to keep doing the work of talking to “folks we disagree with.”
He said elders and clerks would meet the following night and schedule a follow-up meeting: “We’re not going to wait weeks before we meet again. It could be as early as two weeks [from now].”
But on Tuesday, a letter was sent to “each of the emerging congregations,” encouraging them in their meetings “Wednesday or Thursday evening” to choose “thoughtful people representative of the diversity of opinion and experience in your group” for a Saturday morning meeting. This afternoon, an email was sent to the larger congregation, announcing the Saturday meeting as well as the five named representatives with an “affinity for staying in NWYM” and the five named representatives with an “affinity for leaving NWYM.”
“Since our Sunday night congregational business meeting the clerks have heard from people who expressed great concern about having another meeting in two or three weeks as announced at the end of our meeting. We have decided to honor those concerns and have invited leaders from each of the emerging congregations to send five people to meet this Saturday at 10 a.m. to discuss possible ways forward.”
Julie Anderson, Hank Helsabeck, Dick Sartwell, Ron Stansell, and Dave Woolsey will represent the first group. Davida Brown, Aaron Dunlop, Gary Fawver, Lisby Curtis Gemeroy, and Lisa McMinn will represent the second group.
DVD receives praise for ‘astute readings of the Bible’
Now a graduate of George Fox University, Samuel Neff worked with Quaker theologian and performance artist Peterson Toscano to produce a performance lecture of biblical texts that explore gender transgressions. Theologians speak highly of Toscano’s work, which he has recommended for study groups, church libraries, and anyone interested in letting scripture challenge their view of gender and sexual minorities. Click here to see a trailer and more reviews.
Toscano brings a deep reverence for the Biblical text with him into his exploration of gender transgression. This play is mesmerizing and compels the viewer to see well known Bible stories in a brave new light.
-Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
I applaud Peterson for bringing to the fore in this play a new way of looking at the Bible! Bravo! No, bravissimo! I had to look at my own sexual stereotypes and how I bring them to biblical interpretation!
-Michael Willett Newheart, Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Howard University School of Divinity
In a word, Peterson is phenomenal. I was hooked in fifteen minutes. I sat there, watching him bring moments of scripture to life in ways I had not considered, and scrambled to figure out how soon I could bring him to my campus. It turns out, he’s even more delightful in person. His compassion matched by conviction and a wickedly smart sense of humor, a rare combination, make interactions with Peterson memorable, uplifting, and often life-changing.
-Dr. Jennifer G Bird, PhD, Bible scholar, speaker, and author. www.permissiongrantedthebook.com
As a Jewish Studies scholar, educator, and activist for TBLG inclusion in Jewish communities, it was a thrill to see confident transgender characters from the Hebrew scriptures given flesh via the performance activism of Peterson Toscano –and, more importantly, to recognize through his performance that those characters fulfilled social roles in Jewish communities as gender variant folk. Bring Transfigurations to your shul and create an opportunity to dialogue about present-day transgender people in Jewish communities.
-Noach Dzmura, Editor, Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, and Director, Jewish Transitions
Peterson Toscano’s work combines astute readings of the Bible with great story-telling and comedy. He offers interpretations of the texts and insights that even experienced biblical scholars haven’t seen before. When portrayed by Toscano, Bible stories and characters come to life with wit, sympathy, and humor.
-Dale Martin, PhD Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University. Author of Sex and the Single Savior
Group prioritizes autonomy in split from yearly meeting
The North Carolina Fellowship of Friends is one of two new associations emerging from the split in North Carolina Yearly Meeting. The clerk of Vision Committee, Sara Beth Terrell, said that the speed of the restructure had forced “some hurried organizing” that has made it difficult for the group to determine its purpose.
The fellowship will operate using the 2012 version of North Carolina Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, as printed, for reference and counsel.
Many “would be happy with a new Faith and Practice, for example,” Terrell wrote in an email, but “we have been told that for legal reasons we need to claim the old one as bylaws.”
The fellowship also determined at a meeting in April that it will focus on common ministries rather than theological nuances.
“We aren’t going to focus on what divides us but on what we can come together around,” Terrell wrote. “And one reason to state that up front is to make space for meetings that may not be theologically on the same page, but also don’t want other meetings to have the right to interfere in their life as a meeting.”
“Getting through the divorce as well as possible,” is what Terrell identified as the group’s primary concern. The pressure to act and act quickly is partly financial: “The division of trust funds and assuring that Quaker Lake Camp will survive are key motivators for many.”
Terrell said that the Vision Committee she clerks “is starting from a different place. We agreed that the starting place is that there is one Christ Jesus who can speak to our condition, and he has come to teach his people himself. This is the basic organizing principle for Quaker faith and practice over the years as well as our congregation-based polity.”
Terrell suggested some questions or queries for all Friends everywhere who are concerned with the future health of our movement:
- Do we have the right to call ourselves Friends?
- Can we use this seeming tragedy to call us back to the essentials?
- Will we allow the Spirit to re-shape this Body of Christ?
Terrell also offered her “blessings on your journey as a body of faith!”
The next NCFF meeting is scheduled for May 20.
Report to Board of Oversight suggests YM visit
At its annual meetings in Berkeley, Calif., the Western Association of the Religious Society of Friends (WARSF) discussed “the impending division of Northwest Yearly Meeting (NWYM)” and approved a proposal to “open and continue a dialogue with the congregations that are leaving NWYM.” In his report back to the Board of Oversight, Brian Young wrote that “the annual sessions of NWYM might be a better opportunity” for discussing possible affiliation.
“YM sessions are generally open to having visitors from other Friends groups,” Young wrote, “and sometimes are quite good at welcoming such visitors.” He offered as his reason for not attending the meeting in Eugene earlier this month that “the group that is leaving NWYM has no clear sense of what they want in terms of continuing affiliation.”
Fraser offers notes from Indiana schism
Back in February 2012, Margaret Fraser began documenting the emergence of something new among Friends in Indiana. She was later named the New Association’s presiding clerk.
Fraser shared the following linked pieces from her blog in the stated hope that her documentation of their process might prove helpful to Northwest Friends embarking on a similar journey:
February 2, 2012 – There was a problem of chicken and egg. Many people feel too exhausted to want to talk doctrine, money and structure. In fact, for some, the whole idea of an organization is an issue that they are not ready to get back into. Yet there has to be one to receive property, restricted funds and other assets as part of the separation from Indiana Yearly Meeting, and there are short deadlines attached to that. We knew we had work to do.
July 29, 2012 – And here we are, in 2012 in a different crisis. While many issues – the interpretation and role of scripture, organizational polity and authority, the nature of sin, God’s will and so on, have arisen, at the heart of it is an issue – the potential violation of conscience – that, it seems, cannot be accommodated. Some things can be worked through by compromise, by giving up a cherished tradition in order to keep the peace and stay together. But for one group of Friends to take a course of action, or withdraw from a course of action that they, in conscience, after deep prayer, cannot do, is a different matter.
July 17, 2013 – We had to move forward – deadlines had been set. However, too much pressure to be “in” or “out” would add to the stress in meetings, as well as adding to the lines that had already been drawn. We wanted to avoid wounding splits in congregations. With a lot of trust, and some hugs and tears, we began the process of building a new Quaker family. We decided to delay choosing a permanent name for ourselves until we knew what our ultimate geographical boundary was, and incorporate simply as The New Association of Friends.
August 2014 – We share a renewed sense of the encouragement that can be found in relationship with each other. Many of us spoke of how wonderful it was not to approach a gathering of Friends with apprehension, but with hope, joy, even an anticipation of having fun. We are still in discernment about the future of the New Association of Friends. We rejoice at how far we have come, trusting God will continue to lead us to deepen and strengthen our ties, and to increased effectiveness and faithfulness.
Group ‘to lay some groundwork’ for new church
Although the invitation is open to anyone, Brown wrote that she especially hopes people will attend who “feel part of NFC … but cannot see clear to stay in NWYM after the restructuring process.”
“In the manner of Friends, we will convene a meeting for worship in business, spending time in intentional community, listening to the leadings of the Holy Spirit and to one another. The committee will also share information about practical developments and offer opportunities for all who wish to join in the planning to do so.”
To RSVP (for childcare or transportation from Friendsview): contact independentfriendschurch@gmail
The meeting will be Thursday, May 4, from 7 to 9 p.m., in the sanctuary at Newberg Friends.
Structure in NW contradicts distinctive of equality
Silverton Pastor Bob Henry said in a letter to Quaker News this morning that the unrest in Northwest Yearly Meeting is caused, at least in part, by what he calls “a Pastor/Leader Centricity Complex. This is where pastors, leaders, or groups of like-minded leaders in the yearly meeting have an obsession or excessive fear of ‘losing control’ when their personal beliefs or understandings are threatened (in ways real or imagined) or even questioned by those who believe or think differently.”
Henry said NWYM sees this problem playing out because of “local and yearly meeting leadership with a great deal of power to define who is ‘in or out’ while seemingly neglecting or acknowledging our Quaker distinctive of equality. And I am not just talking about those embracing our LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers. I am also talking about fellow pastors, leaders, and entire local meetings who have been subjugated to this type of leadership and taught to draw lines, label, and refuse a variety of people a place at the table.”
And church leaders suffer: “Many of the pastors in our yearly meeting have suffered greatly (and will continue to suffer more than will ever be known) as pastoral care is replaced by rejection, estrangement and a set of hoops to jump through to prove oneself worthy of being called a pastor in the NWYM. Sadly, this often occurs at the hand of fellow pastors and leaders within the yearly meeting. It is already a hard club to break into without people working in opposition to one’s entrance. This is one of the many reasons I ultimately refused to take part in the NWYM Recording Process. I believe as Friends we are to be recognizing the gifting that God has bestowed on women and men alike, and recording what God is showing us.”
In the letter, Henry identifies a list of reasons his family joined Quakers:
- We sought a people who embraced the universal presence of God in all people.
- We sought a people who desired building healthy communities that appreciated one another for the gifting God bestowed on them and their neighbors.
- We sought a people who did not fear the future, emerging wisdom, or people different than themselves.
- We sought a people who understood themselves and their actions in terms of the world’s needs.
- We sought a people who were given permission to explore beyond their horizons with creativity and energy.
- We sought a people who were safe and would help us raise our children to love God and neighbor.
- We sought a people who were committed to the Quaker S.P.I.C.E.S. in daily life.
Henry, who is leaving Silverton to serve at Indianapolis First Friends, offered these words of encouragement: “I pray that the NWYM would take time to embrace potential and possibility while committing to persistent learning and seeking Truth wherever it may be found. Most of all, I pray that each person in the NWYM would take a moment to appreciate those pastors, leaders and their families who have tried hard to listen to God’s leading and remove themselves from the center, without completely losing themselves in the process. They are humble women and men who have heavy hearts for the people of this world and deserve a BIG thanks.”
Leaders sever ties with NWYM
In a letter to those attending the gathering at Eugene, Saturday, Starr and Cross Reardon announced their “intention to sever all relationship with the governing body of the NWYM…. It is our desire to journey with you as you create a new yearly meeting.”
Starr is working on her master of divinity. Cross writes music, sings and plays a variety of instruments. The couple is planting a Quaker worship group in Pocatello and has also ministered there as part of the Portneuf Valley Interfaith Fellowship.
“Jesus came to include not exclude,” they wrote. “We believe all people are welcome at the table. We believe in hope- that all things/people have the potentiality to be made whole in our relationship with Teacher. We have optimism in our future, as Christ can work through us to transform our communities and our world. We seek to challenge oppression wherever and whenever it is encountered. We believe that Jesus resisted the status quo and leads the way into freedom.”
Clerk sees transition as opportunity for identity work
Bob Henry announced his resignation at Silverton Friends in an email earlier this month. But John Pattison, clerk of the meeting, said the transition (Henry was called to pastor at Indianapolis First Friends) doesn’t “change the work that’s left ahead…. We still have to discern whether to stay in Northwest Yearly Meeting, join the new yearly meeting, or go independent.”
That’s because “the decision about the yearly meeting, as well as what our position will be regarding welcoming LGBTQ people, won’t be coming from the ‘top down,’” Pattison wrote in an email. “We have to do the hard, patient work of seeking God’s direction together.”
Northwest Yearly Meeting is setting off five churches as part of a restructure announced in January. Other monthly meetings may choose to stay in NWYM, join the new association or become independent Friends meetings. Each church has been asked to decide by June 2018.
“I hope Silverton Friends Church uses this time as an opportunity to become crystal clear about who we are, what’s important to us, and what God is calling us to do and be in our particular community,” Pattison wrote. “The concept I’ve used to describe it is one borrowed from psychotherapy: self-differentiation…. A self-differentiated leader is one who is clear about … values and vision, isn’t anxious, is willing to be vulnerable, willing to take risks. I want Silverton Friends to become a self-differentiated church.”
Pattison said that means Silverton won’t rush to hire a new pastor: “Hiring a permanent pastor before we are confident in our identity makes it more likely that we will rely on a new pastor to give us that identity. That’s not fair to the pastor or to us.”
“The church is fortunate to have a group of elders right now who are wise and humble and committed. The next step, as far as the elders and I can tell, is to set aside a few Sundays before Bob leaves, to talk as a whole congregation. Over the last several years, conversation has become a formational practice for our church. Though we’re far from perfect at it, we’ve intentionally trained ourselves how to talk well across our differences. We’re going to lean into that skill. Every few weeks, between now and mid-June, we are replacing the full sermon with focused conversations meant to clarify our identify in Christ, discuss what it means to be a Quaker follower of Jesus in the Silverton area, build closer community, and listen for God’s voice together.”
In his letter to the congregation, Henry brought up these same conversations: “I was proud at the most recent ‘family meeting’ to see people feel safe to share from their hearts on difficult topics – that only comes through strong relational bonds, patient listening, and faithful presence together. I know there are more difficult conversations ahead, but you have proved to be a people who can weather those and find a positive future.”
Pattison said these conversations are especially vital now that the yearly meeting is in transition: “What I’ve been experiencing as clerk since the Northwest Yearly Meeting decided to split – and especially since Bob announced that he is moving to Indianapolis – is new terrain for me. I can barely see the road ahead, and I have no clue how everything will play out. What I’m committed to do is just be faithful to the very next step, as that next step is revealed.”
Excerpts from Saturday’s meeting
Jan Wood, North Seattle, opened the meeting Saturday: When we enter the door we lay down our preconceptions, convictions, planned speeches – and take on a neutral space in the spirit of Christ, to align with the heart of Jesus. It’s like shedding the garments that need to be shed, that encumber us, and take on the garment of Christ, that frees us. Whenever an organism experiences pain, the natural reaction is to resort to coping mechanisms, to change our behavior to protect itself, to protect itself from that pain ever happening again. We are being birthed out of woundedness and pain, and are vulnerable to resorting to these defenses. We need to release those we are angry at, hold in judgment, have wounded us—release them into the hands of Jesus.
During the meeting, we identified six priorities for an interim steering committee:
- Communication.
- “People work.” Jan asked Eric Muhr to elaborate on “people work.” He offered that we are usually inclined to think in terms of superstructure, rather than infrastructure. We might want to give attention to concern about an undergirding infrastructure to provide for the individuals not connected with these five churches, but who might want to be involved.
- Research into what’s been done before in similar situations, what the YM is requiring, what bylaws are needed. Retha McCutchen, NWYM Interim Superintendent, noted that we don’t need a full Faith and Practice, but merely bylaws (Roger Watson added later that we will need articles of incorporation as well).
- Identity work (who are we, what throws us together).
- Plan for ways to serve the interests of folks not affiliated with departing churches.
- [This was added later in the discussion.] Plan for alternative, parallel business meetings to be held during YM sessions in July 2017.
Wood clarified: We are pretty clear on a steering committee with a limited shelf life expiring at yearly meeting, a time frame for the steering committee to be formed, and a strong concern for a large, pained group in the middle without a departing church to affiliate with, and an identification with their pain.
Jade Souza, Reedwood: I would like for the committee to consider institutional support for meetings that are currently unclear, churches that are restructuring, or new plants or new worship groups.
We approved the following minute:
We approve the creation of an interim committee for the purpose of proposing a structure for the association of the five churches that must leave Northwest Yearly Meeting by 2018, to be comprised of two members appointed from each of these churches. It will serve as the point group for communication among the Friends coalescing around the formation of the new entity, and for communication with NWYM. The interim committee will decide on the scope and priorities of its work. We will ask the five churches leaving NWYM to name their representatives by May 21, 2017. The work and continued existence of this group will be re-evaluated at a meeting of the departing churches to be held during NWYM’s 2017 annual sessions.
Roger Watson, NWYM Director of Finance and Development, spoke to us about relevant legal and financial matters. As a NWYM staff member he has a fiduciary responsibility to us, in both practical matters (such as IRS 501(c)3 eligibility), and also matters concerning our relationship with NYWM. Transition team is working on a plan for the fair and equitable disbursement of the earnings from financial assets. The larger representation our group can achieve, the larger our share in the earnings from the financial assets. We need to show ourselves as a “going concern” here today and at least through the next year. To show good faith effort, we must show ourselves as a legal entity. This involves creating incorporation papers and bylaws. The Faith and Practice of NWYM is their bylaws. In establishing who you are, it’s important also to establish why you are, your purpose.
The next meeting will be during the 2017 NWYM sessions in July.
Click here for the complete minutes from the meeting.
Letter from clerk identifies hopes for way forward
In a letter to the gathering at Eugene this last weekend, Doreen Crail, presiding clerk at West Hills, listed six “things I believe we would expect for any new yearly meeting or affiliation.” Four of the items address issues of inclusion and equality:
- It is of utmost importance that any and all members of WHF are allowed to fully participate and provide leadership in any affiliation level meetings, committees, etc.
- We have amazing released pastors who have many gifts. We would want to collaborate only with others who value and appreciate these individuals as much as we do.
- It is a priority for relationships to be respectful and communication transparent.
- It is important that diversity is respected and people are safe from the judgment of others.
- There would need to be a commitment to follow Quaker process and decision making.
- It seems we may not want to participate in an arrangement where an individual or committee has authority to tell our local meeting what we should or should not do, but WHF has not discussed this topic.
The entire letter is available online.
Churches leaving YM take step toward incorporation
[This article was updated on April 23, to include the final, approved minute]
Just over 90 people from 17 meetings gathered at Eugene this afternoon to discern next steps for those leaving Northwest Yearly Meeting.
The group approved for a communications team to begin work directly following the meeting. That team is tasked with broad dissemination of information, increased transparency, and an infrastructure that supports multi-directional connections for the continuing work of discernment.
Jan Wood, North Seattle, clerked the meeting. “We need a comprehensive way to do communication,” she said.
“Let what we’re doing become public,” Rachel Swain Kidd, Eugene, encouraged the group. “As long as we’re part of the Northwest Yearly Meeting, what we’re doing should be posted there.”
In addition, each church leaving the yearly meeting – Camas, Eugene, Klamath Falls, North Seattle and West Hills – will name two representatives to serve on an interim committee that could begin meeting as early as May 21. The interim committee will decide the scope of its work and will serve as a place for ideas to be shared, reporting back to the next gathered meeting at annual sessions in July.
John Price, Eugene, pointed out that having an interim committee will give the yearly meeting Transition Team a group that it can begin working with.
Superintendent Retha McCutchen briefly shared that this new association does not require a Faith and Practice in order to operate. “You just need bylaws,” she said.
The importance of having bylaws and of getting incorporated, according to Roger Watson, yearly meeting director of finance and development, is that “it’s going to be a sign to Northwest Yearly Meeting as a whole and to the Administrative Council in particular that we are serious about what we are doing.”
Watson clarified that incorporating will also help the Transition Team: “One of the questions that the Transition Team is dealing with is the question of division of … earnings from some financial assets…. The larger representation we have in this group, the more share you get to have in the earnings of those financial assets.”
The following minute was approved by the group:
We approved the creation of an interim committee for the purpose of proposing a structure for the association of the five churches that must leave Northwest Yearly Meeting by 2018, to be comprised of two members appointed from each of these churches. It will serve as the point group for communication among the Friends coalescing around the formation of the new entity, and for communication with NWYM. The interim committee will decide on the scope and priorities of its work. We will ask the five churches leaving NWYM to name their representatives by May 21, 2017. The work and continued existence of this group will be re-evaluated at a meeting of the departing churches to be held during NWYM’s 2017 annual sessions.
Friends from the following meetings were present:
- Betweeners (worship group in Tualatin)
- Bridge City (North Pacific YM)
- Camas
- East Hill
- Eugene Friends Church
- Eugene Friends Meeting (North Pacific YM)
- Friends in Common
- Hillsboro
- Klamath Falls
- Newberg
- North Seattle
- North Valley
- Reedwood
- Silverton
- Spokane
- Tigard
- West Hills
The communications team includes Gil George, Rachel Hampton, Connor Magee, Thomas Magee, Eric Muhr, Kjiersten Schmidt and Lorraine Watson.
New group to use F&P for ‘reference and counsel’
The North Carolina Fellowship of Friends, formerly known as the Autonomy Group, approved in its April meeting for business “less organizational structure (including fewer committees) and more emphasis on fellowship and ministry.” The decision, minuted and approved by representatives from seven monthly meetings, illustrates a central concept for the structural principles approved in that same meeting.
Joshua Brown (Springfield) published the list on his blog:
- We are a Christ-centered fellowship of Quaker meetings. We affirm the autonomy of each meeting in Quaker faith and practice.
- We will operate using the 2012 version of North Carolina Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, as printed, for reference and counsel.
- We will worship and serve our local community without interference from other meetings or a higher level organization.
- We will respect the right of other meetings to do the same.
- We will focus on common ministries rather than theological nuances.
- We will closely resemble North Carolina Yearly Meeting in its most peaceful form.
- We agree that we will have differences, but they will not stay us from our common, Christ-centered fellowship.
The new Fellowship plans to accept both individuals and monthly meetings as members. There is also a plan for dual affiliation for monthly meetings that want to stay connected with both the Authority Group and NCFF, though the former may not allow affiliation from those affiliated with the latter.
The Fellowship is still in the process of incorporating and at this point has just five committees: stewardship & finance, communication & outreach, education, peace & mission, and nominating.
The next NFCC meeting is scheduled for May 20. Click here for minutes from the April 8 meeting.
Group hopes to avoid splitting ‘non-theological’ assets
A report from the yearly meeting transition team, released yesterday, identified one research item, one item of discussion, three recommendations and one next step. Two of the recommendations in the 278-word document were clarifications from the working group’s last report.
The transition team identified a fiduciary trust as an ongoing research focus. The trust would allow Northwest Yearly Meeting and the new coalition of monthly meetings to avoid splitting as-yet-undefined assets by “holding certain assets that are non-theological in nature” and distributing the dividends of these assets proportionally between the two groups.
Superintendent Retha McCutchen has not yet responded to an emailed request for clarification as to which assets might be included in this trust, and according to one member of the group, others are remaining “silent, at least for the time being, in agreement with the stated policy” of the transition team. McCutchen confirmed in an earlier email that “the group decided that I would be the spokesperson for all communication from the group and its work.”
The three recommendations from the transition team are “to the Administrative Council.” Earlier language from Presiding Clerk Brad Holton said the team would report to the council, leaving some ambiguity about what deliberative body has final approval. Holton had earlier written that the Administrative Council “is committed to completing the transition” but that the transition team would “facilitate the creation of a newly formed yearly meeting.”
The recommendations, the first two of which are clarifications of an earlier report, include the following:
- All current churches (whether they choose to stay in NWYM, join a new YM, or go independent) will retain their property along with any associated debt.
- Employed pastors and staff (current and future) will continue to have access to the 401(k) pension plan and be able to contribute new funds.
- All current churches will have access to the Friends Church Extension Fund.
The transition team reported ongoing discussion of Quaker Hill, Quaker Cove, Twin Rocks, and Tilikum camps. The team has asked each individual camp board to review its “bylaws and policies and report back to the transition team” whatever changes seem best in light of the yearly meeting restructure.
The transition team did not list Twin Lakes Friends Camp, nor has it commented on the disposition of that property, 22 acres on Upper Twin Lakes near Rathdrum, Idaho.
The next meeting of the transition team is scheduled for Saturday, June 3, and members plan to “look at related organizations” during that meeting.
- Welcome
- Open Worship – Waiting Worship
- Organizational issues and questions
- Identity – Who do we want to become?
Spring play includes critique of restructure discussion
The spring play at George Fox University explored the tension related to the restructure of Northwest Yearly Meeting. Deus Ex Millennia “centers on the stories of seven students who find themselves hiding in a closet during an active shooter event.” At least one of the students is gay.
In a university press release, Director Rhett Luedtke said, “Each character faces a specific hardship that millennials, and others, encounter on a daily basis…. How do our students navigate a divisive and divided culture?”
Specific hardships include aspects of poverty, sexual assault, immigration, loss, identity and equality.
Near the end of the performance, a modified pdf of Newberg Friends Church Discernment Process Information document is displayed on screens above the audience while two characters – both college students – discuss the announcement of “a split.”
PHILIP: What are we supposed to do with this? This is ridiculous.
QUINN: I don’t know, Philip. I really don’t know. I thought it wasn’t that bad, you know? Like what’s so terrible about a split? Maybe we could actually be in a denomination that cares.
PHILIP: Quinn, what if the church doesn’t decide to go that direction? What if we decide it’s not important? How many terrible meetings will we have to sit through? I can’t do this anymore. I can’t sit here and pretend like LGBT people don’t want to kill themselves while we take all of this time to argue…. I can’t do it. Do you hear me? This isn’t loving! This isn’t how families treat one another! Like their belonging is up for debate?
(Church member approaches their table and asks the two if they’ve heard about the split.)
CHURCH MEMBER: Maybe we don’t have to choose. This is bigger than human sexuality. It’s not worth dividing over.
PHILIP: I don’t know if you mean what you’re saying. Maybe it is worth dividing over.
CHURCH MEMBER: I get it, really. Like this is important. But we can’t just give up over an issue. I’m willing to live in the tension. We all have to listen to each other, you know? We have to love people where they are at and that includes the people with a traditional view on human sexuality. That’s what it means to be a church. A family. It’s not like it’s a life or death issue.
QUINN: Are you serious? It is! It is a life or death issue. People are literally dying because of this. They’ve done studies – you know that right? Conclusive studies that show LGBT people are bullied more, have more thoughts of self-harm and suicide than other populations. And it’s worse if you’re in a church where people talk about you all the time as if you don’t matter – as if you’re up for debate! Do we really need to listen to people who think others shouldn’t exist or have love? Maybe those people should shut up! I’m so tired. I’m just so tired.
CHURCH MEMBER: What did I say?
PHILIP: Some people are living in the tension, others are dying in it.
At the scene’s close, Philip comes out to Quinn as gay. She hugs him and tells him she loves him. Then, in the following interlude, Quinn crouches inside a closet while members of the ensemble yell at her:
“Why aren’t you willing to live in the tension? I don’t like her voice – it’s annoying. I love you anyway. You’re too aggressive, consider where the others are coming from. I mean it’s fine but just keep your sexuality to yourself. Care less. You’re making yourself sick. Just work harder. It’s not impossible. Wow, you’re not a scary feminist after all. I don’t support that lifestyle. I just feel more comfortable learning from a male pastor. You’re the problem. This is just the way things are.”
Survey report second of five discernment meetings
Newberg Friends released survey results this last week as part of its ongoing discernment about whether to stay a part of Northwest Yearly Meeting. Nearly 400 survey responses are included in the data, available online, and the meeting Sunday was the second of five scheduled by pastors, elders and clerks.
Of the two survey items given the most time in Senior Pastor Gregg Koskela’s review of the data – “I want NFC to remain in Northwest Yearly Meeting” – had 356 responses in which 51.4 percent of respondents disagreed and an additional 6.7 percent were unsure. The other item – “I agree with and support the current NWYM Faith and Practice statement on human sexuality” – had 353 responses in which 50 percent of respondents disagreed and an additional 8 percent were unsure.
Tim Goodfellow, an elder, reminded the more than 200 people in attendance that the survey “has limits. There are people who didn’t take the survey. There are people who didn’t answer every question. In each one of those columns, there are people, people we care deeply about…. How we move forward is not determined solely by the pastors, the elders and the clerks. Each of us plays a role and has responsibility in how we move forward in this process.”
At the next two meetings – listening forums scheduled for the afternoon and evening of April 23 – people will have an opportunity to share their reasons for staying in the yearly meeting or for leaving. Then on May 7, the NFC leadership team plans to bring a recommendation to the business meeting.
At an informational gathering on March 5, monthly meeting clerk Howard Macy said the 2-month discernment process is intended to “help us seek God’s guidance about our life together. We want to find a path forward, what we need to do to maintain our vitality.”
In that same meeting, Administrative Pastor Elizabeth Sherwood clarified that the survey was not designed to be “a voting process. It’s a way for you to share your heart.”
A similar survey for members of North Valley Friends closed on April 9. Results of that survey have not yet been made available.
How a Bible-believing Christian can accept gay marriage
Former NWYM Superintendent Becky Ankeny released an ebook this weekend, A Leisurely Introduction to How a Bible-Believing Christian Can Accept Gay Marriage in the Church. The study, designed to take 10 days, starts out with the following excerpt from the introduction:
“When I did a rhetorical study of the introduction and opening chapters of C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, I realized that he was not actually trying to convert atheists. In fact, he says several things that exclude atheists from his intended readership. Instead, I found he was writing to those on the fence, those who wanted to believe in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Church, but feared it was intellectually disreputable to do so.
“This linked study is one that I hope you will take ten days or so to digest. It is intended for those who have the intuition that God wants LGBTQ people welcomed into the church, that God accepts their marriages and families, but they fear that leaning into that intuition and allowing it to become a conviction will mean they must throw out the Bible as a source of guidance and accountability.
“This study is not intended to convince those with the opposite convictions. I do not even expect them to read it, but if they do, I hope to help them recognize how someone can claim to be following the Bible and yet disagree with the exclusion of LGBTQ persons from the local congregation or the church in general. If they recognize this, perhaps they can continue to worship and serve alongside those whose convictions in this area differ.
“As a former church leader, I was in the middle of the denominational debate over full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the life of the church. I have listened to many folks stake out their positions and use the Bible to do so. I saw no one convinced by arguments using history, the original languages, the changes in culture, the unchanging nature of God. My own response came to be that the central themes of the Bible support full inclusion.
“However, someone recently said they had not heard anyone present a systematic approach to explaining biblical support for those affirming gay marriage and full participation in the life of the church. So I’m giving that task a shot. I do not claim to express the point of view of all affirming churches or individual Christians, nor do I expect my thoughts to be adequately systematic for all readers.”
Plans for parallel summer session placed on hold
One possibility for monthly meetings leaving Northwest Yearly Meeting might be some kind of combination with the Western Association of the Religious Society of Friends. The three WARSF meetings – all in California – have expressed interest, according to Brian Young (Berkeley), but there are also reasons for caution.
Young said the physical distances may be daunting, “especially for the folks from southern California. That will have to be determined as we get further into this process, and visitation will probably give us the best indication.”
In a 45-minute conversation at the Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas meeting in Stony Point, NY, this last month, Julie Peyton (West Hills) and Young discussed the possibility of representation from WARSF at annual sessions this summer.
Peyton had originally been given a green light from NWYM Presiding Clerk Brad Holton and Superintendent Retha McCutchen “to pursue a parallel program, one geared towards those leaving the yearly meeting. My intent was to share dorms, cafeteria, and worship but have some programming … that would help ground this new thing.” But Peyton reported that in a meeting last Tuesday, McCutchen shared with Peyton her concern that this not be “a divisive situation, where Friends see some workshops geared toward one group or the other,” effectively putting plans for a parallel program on hold this summer.
Young said he intends “to draft a report to WARSF’s Board of Oversight on [the] dialogue thus far in the next week or so, and I will be sure to mention the annual session dates” as an option for visitation.
No matter what happens, the priority for WARSF meetings, according to Young, “is to provide connections with Friends United Meeting and other Friends organizations – American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and FWCC. I believe that I can speak for most WARSF Friends in saying that we would want any organization that we might join, or any meetings that might want to join with us, to actively support those same connections.”
The next meeting for churches leaving NWYM, as well as anyone interested in the process, will be from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, at Eugene Friends Church, 3495 W 18th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402.
Church to decide status at later date
Four monthly meetings, all of which hold an affirming statement, will not be allowed to remain members in Northwest Yearly Meeting after the restructure: Camas, Eugene, Klamath Falls and West Hills. Yesterday, a fifth monthly meeting approved leaving as well.
In a meeting for business Sunday, North Seattle Friends approved the following minute:
Northwest Yearly Meeting has announced a restructuring process, which will create a newly Yearly Meeting on or before June 2018. Churches leaving Northwest Yearly Meeting may become independent or join the new Yearly Meeting. In response to this information, North Seattle Friends Church minuted their decision to leave Northwest Yearly Meeting during the restructuring period. As the newly formed Yearly Meeting has not yet been created, North Seattle Friends Church will decide on independent status or membership in the new Yearly Meeting at a later date.
Lorraine Watson as pastor, Jan Wood as clerk, and Cecile Hudson were approved as representatives to the newly forming entity. April 22 is the next gathering for this group.
Patty Federighi remains our rep to NWYM as long as we belong to NWYM.
In the process of creating structures that begin a process to form a new Yearly Meeting or Association, we trust and empower our representatives to discern and take action on our behalf. We understand that any substantive matters will be brought back to North Seattle Friends for discernment.
Approved.
Watson sent an email, saying that she remains hopeful.
The meeting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, will be at Eugene Friends Church, 3495 W 18th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402.
California, Indiana groups show new way for meetings to partner
Churches removed from Northwest Yearly Meeting and those considering leaving started discussions in February about what a new thing might look like. Two associations – one in California and another in the Midwest – give meetings examples for a way to be together.
The Western Association of the Religious Society of Friends (WARSF) is an organization of independent Friends meetings. Each church has its own 501(c)3 tax status and does its own recording.
WARSF, a collection of three California meetings, is similar to the New Association of Friends, based in Indiana, as both groups are part of Friends United Meeting and have full status in Friends World Committee for Consultation and the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
WARSF has minuted inviting churches leaving NWYM to join them. It’s also been suggested by one member of WARSF that they might be interested in joining something created by monthly meetings in the Pacific Northwest.
The New Association is incorporated in Indiana. A member there provided the Articles of Incorporation, filed in April 2013, along with the association’s bylaws.
Points of interest from the bylaws:
- “Individual Friends who are members, regular attenders, or supporters of monthly meetings that do not participate in the New Association” may themselves be members of the New Association if they “desire to participate on a personal basis.”
- “Monthly meetings and individuals that desire to maintain affiliation with another body of Friends are allowed to do so.”
- “Release from membership shall be without penalty or retribution.”
- Decisions are made “according to the Quaker process of prayerfully seeking unity under the leading of God.”
- A process for removal of the presiding clerk is defined in section 9.6.
- “No property belonging to the New Association of Friends shall be deeded, assigned, or in any manner transferred or disposed of without the passage of a resolution by the meeting for business.”
New site has 1,311 visitors, $7,600 in financial support
Launched on February 23, Quaker News announced its intent to move “formal communications out of the yearly meeting headquarters and into the hands of an independent and connected network of professional information hunter/gatherers.” Creation of the site was prompted in part by perceptions that gossip and conjecture were filling an information vacuum and potentially interfering with discernment.
Northwest Yearly Meeting released its communications coordinator in November 2015, and the yearly meeting Board of Communications is without a clerk.
Since its start, the site has developed four guiding truths:
- Movement toward transparency builds trust.
- Separating communications from the decision-making process reduces perceived conflicts of interest.
- Entrusting a third party with observing and reporting increases the yearly meeting’s perceived trustworthiness and objectivity.
- Contracting communications functions to an outside expert reduces yearly meeting costs and increases efficiency.
Quaker News averaged 102 views per day for the month of March, 204 views per day over the last week. The site has had 1,311 unique visitors, 25 subscribers, and gifts and pledges of support totaling $7,600.
Quaker News is the work of Barclay Press, where we hold to two truths: 1) Sharing stories changes lives, and 2) Open, equal access to information improves our discernment. You can support the work of Quaker News with donations through Barclay Press.
Restructure may extend past June 2018 deadline
[This article was updated on March 26 with additional comments from Superintendent Retha McCutchen]
The yearly meeting transition team met in closed session on Saturday, March 18. The team produced no minutes but did approve a report that was released the following Wednesday. That report counters one point from an earlier published Administrative Council decision, clarifies others, and prompts some new questions.
In a follow-up email, Superintendent Retha McCutchen said that she was named “the spokesperson for all communication from the group and its work.” She said that several of the questions raised “have not been answered yet.” She promised to provide more information as it becomes available.
After a list of those present at the meeting, the report says that “no decisions were made. The team familiarized themselves with assets of NWYM and its related organizations and decided what research needs to be done to have the documentation necessary to make informed decisions.”
The report identifies four points of information:
Transition date flexible, all churches may choose to join new yearly meeting
In the decision announced by the Administrative Council in January, affirming churches will be set aside as independent churches or “may be a part of the newly formed yearly meeting.” This transition process was to be completed “on or before June 30, 2018.”
But the report released Wednesday walked back that language from the Administrative Council, calling June 30, 2018, a “soft date. Churches are not under a deadline to make decisions regarding their status within this time period. The transition team will offer a time frame after June 2018 where churches might still leave NWYM with their property.”
McCutchen clarified that “this is not a hard and fast deadline that a church meets or else. Churches might make a decision in the next six months or they may not reach consensus within their meeting until after June 30, 2018.”
The report also clarifies that churches not currently holding an affirming stance on human sexuality “are welcome in either yearly meeting.”
“The reorganization as presented by AC and amended during the January Reps meeting is intended to invite those churches who are diverse, and who have decided to keep their community together and live within that diversity, to be a part of either yearly meeting,” McCutchen said.
According to the published Administrative Council decision, a new yearly meeting “may include churches who have internal disagreement but have agreed to align their practices with the newly formed yearly meeting Faith and Practice.” Northwest Yearly Meeting “may include churches who have internal disagreement but have agreed to align their practices with current NWYM Faith and Practice.”
Nobody loses nonprofit status
“All churches currently members of NWYM will remain under NWYM’s 501(c)(3) until a new yearly meeting is formed and [has] obtained a 501(c)(3) for member churches.”
The exception to this coverage is that any “local church [that] has secured its own designation” will at that point, presumably, cease to be covered by the yearly meeting’s nonprofit status.
What about independent churches?
The transition team considered the reality that some churches may choose to be independent rather than stay with Northwest Yearly Meeting or join a new yearly meeting. The transition team has not determined what share those churches might have in yearly meeting assets.
Retirement accounts may remain where they are
Anyone who has invested in a 401k(k) tax-qualified, defined-contribution pension account, will be allowed to keep their individual contributions where they are, or withdraw their account, “regardless of the yearly meeting choice.”
“This statement is only intended to reassure people nothing is changing with their pension terms and conditions,” McCutchen said.
The transition team meets again on Saturday, April 15. Click here for the full report from Saturday’s meeting.
Yearly meeting decision inconsistent with Quaker process
Members of Camas Friends committed themselves last week to following Quaker process and avoiding “the authoritarian path that led to the NWYM administrative council’s decision to restructure NWYM without us.” The minute, approved in a regular meeting for business, was published in the Washington church’s weekly e-newsletter on Wednesday.
“Our Quaker practices and testimonies are timely for our time and place,” pastor Matt Boswell wrote in a follow-up email. “I hold the hope that this ‘new thing’ will allow us to live more fully into our Quaker identity in a way that is compelling and inviting to many and life-enhancing and life-saving to many others.”
Camas Friends’ approval of a Welcoming Statement in October resulted in its removal from Northwest Yearly Meeting, along with at least three other monthly meetings – Eugene, Klamath Falls and West Hills.
“We advocate for healthy relationships and will support them, whether between people of the same or opposite genders,” reads a portion of that statement. “While human sexuality is a particularly weighty topic of conversation in our religious context, we do not see our desire to equally value straight and LGBTQ identity as something that should define our meeting. It is simply one expression of what is most important to us.”
Boswell wrote that the yearly meeting decision to restructure has created unique opportunities: “We are hopeful about the path we are walking, even if our destination is a bit unclear at the moment…. I see the emergence of an organization that hits a ‘sweet spot’ in terms of the spiritual hunger of many: a Christ-centered, progressive, non-liturgical, non-showy, socially conscious, inclusive and spacious Christian spirituality.”
Boswell added that this split doesn’t end conversations on human sexuality, and it certainly doesn’t resolve them: “Meetings who have not talked about sexuality and gender need to talk about sexuality and gender. Meetings who have had the conversation need to keep growing in their understanding and not assume they are enlightened and thus ‘finished.’”
Boswell also suggested that churches take advantage of this transition to do “honest, self-reflective work about their religious identity,” work that might include sitting with some of the following questions:
- Are we really Quaker? How do we know?
- What’s the Bible?
- What do people need to believe or do to be one of us?
- What do our ministries and programs say about what is important to us?
- How are the demographics of our congregations implicating what we feel, say, and do about the marginalization of LGBTQ+ persons but also racial minorities, women, religious “others,” foreigners, and the earth?
- What’s a yearly meeting, and why should we care?
- What’s the value of being independent versus tied to others; and “tied” in what sense?
- What does a future network of meetings look like?
- What is “future us” doing in the PNW, the world, in our gatherings, with our resources, etc.?
- How do we start to take steps toward this future version of ourselves?
“This conversation could be very exciting,” Boswell wrote, “assuming we listen to one another, are aware of our anxieties and the limitations of our perspective as individuals, open to learning from others, and aware of what is at stake: not just our happiness as religious practitioners seeking a new spiritual home but the potential consequences for others – especially suffering others – of what we do (or don’t do) and how we do it.”
The minute approved by Camas Friends has three parts:
- Camas Friends needs to take plenty of time in the decision-making process concerning future affiliation with other Friends churches or becoming independent.
- We need to get our non-profit status taken care of, to allow us to move forward.
- We want to commit ourselves to following Quaker process, seeking God’s direction for Camas Friends. We do not ever want to fall into the authoritarian path that led to the NWYM administrative council’s decision to restructure NWYM without us.
Reps agree to continue in fellowship regardless of affiliation
[This article was updated on March 28 to reflect additions to the minutes.]
All three clerks tendered their resignations at the start of business Saturday, suggesting that the ongoing restructure of Northwest Yearly Meeting likely means the end of a united Portland area. But just over 40 representatives from 11 monthly meetings agreed that they should continue to gather “regardless of formal affiliation.”
Keri Kimberly, an elder at West Hills, clarified that the area meetings could continue to meet “even if various monthly meetings end up in different places.”
“Portland area is one of the areas that’s most affected by this [restructure],” Tonya Comfort (Clackamas Park) said, noting that the area includes some churches that will likely stay with the yearly meeting, some that will join a new yearly meeting and others that may decide to become independent. “It would be important that there be a time together where we maintain those contacts. I don’t want to lose contact with those people I love and care about.”
Bernie Bosnjak (Hillsboro), Forrest Cammack (Tigard), Tonya Comfort and Brian Morse (Clackamas Park) agreed to serve on a planning committee. The next gathering of the Portland Area will be during annual session this July. A fall gathering will be hosted by Clackamas Park Friends on Saturday, October 14.
During the five-hour meeting, Julie Peyton (West Hills) reported on the importance of visitation for the sake of building and maintaining relationships. Eric Muhr (Newberg) offered a talk on reconciliation with the first two chapters of Philippians as his text. Elijah Walker (West Hills) facilitated an open worship experience in which participants prayerfully produced drawings, collages and a number of other art pieces.
In the 3-o’clock session, Bosnjak prepared the group for final business by encouraging people to consider what feelings they have experienced – individually, in local churches or as part of the area gathering – and what those feelings might suggest as to what should be shared with the larger yearly meeting: “Some people say, ‘I have feelings and I want to tell somebody and I’m not sure who to tell.’ Other people might say, ‘I have feelings and I want to tell somebody and I’m not sure who will listen.’ Do you have something to say to Northwest Yearly Meeting?”
Before the end of business and a shared potluck meal, the meeting approved the following minute: “We are sensitive to the pain many have experienced as a result of the announced restructure of our yearly meeting. We note, from our conversations, a desire to be mutually vulnerable in our work toward reconciliation. We are more together than we are apart, and many stated their desire that we find a way to nourish relationships and stay together. We intend to continue meeting in fellowship together as a Portland area gathering regardless of formal affiliation.”
Click here for the complete minutes from Saturday’s quarterly meeting.
Convening clerk seeks dialogue about value of wider association
A small group of Friends meetings in California is interested in joining with Quakers in the Northwest. The convening clerk for the Western Association of the Religious Society of Friends (WARSF) sent an email last week that has since been shared among members at Eugene, North Valley and West Hills.
“We would like to open and sustain a dialogue with the meetings that are being separated from Northwest Yearly Meeting,” wrote Brian Young, pastor at Berkeley Friends, “to discern what value there might be in a wider association.”
Young wrote in a follow-up email that the association doesn’t have “a clear sense other than to say, ‘We believe we have a great deal in common and would like to explore whether that is true with you.’” WARSF may send a representative to future meetings of churches leaving NWYM, as “face-to-face interactions would be helpful in deepening the dialogue and building trust.”
The California association includes three monthly meetings – Whittier First Friends, Berkeley Friends and Bakersfield Quaker Meeting.
“We meet annually, alternating between Berkeley and Whittier,” Young wrote. “A significant part of WARSF’s purpose is to serve as a connecting body between our local meetings and Friends United Meeting, as well as the American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Friends World Committee for Consultation.”
Young offered a brief history of WARSF: “In 1993 Southwest Yearly Meeting announced its intention to leave Friends United Meeting (FUM) because of disagreements over theology and mission. When that separation was formalized in 1996, Whittier First Friends withdrew from Southwest and formed WARSF in order to retain the connection with FUM. Bakersfield joined WARSF after a year or two. Berkeley remained with Southwest for another five years, but departed in 2001, primarily because of concerns over changes to Faith and Practice.”
Young noted that WARSF was formed by meetings “choosing to leave the yearly meeting rather than by expulsions, and the underlying reasons had to do with, first, a desire to retain connections with FUM and other Friends organizations, and second, differences in how Christian Quaker faith should be expressed, rather than disagreements over whether and how to welcome sexual minorities. Nonetheless, today both Whittier and Berkeley welcome and include GLBT people.”
Young can be reached through the contact form linked here.
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