Minutes of Concern
It is a tradition among Quaker meetings to respond to social issues by adopting minutes of concern, also known as minutes of conscience, in which they record their positions on these issues. These minutes are not arrived at lightly, but are the product of a long and sometimes arduous process of discernment. Minutes are recorded only after a Meeting has arrived at Unity. In other words, they do not merely express the opinion of the majority of members or attenders—they are derived from a sense of the Meeting as a whole.
Orange County Friends Meeting approved each of the following minutes of concern on the date indicated, and each still represents settled policy:
- Gaza, Israel, and the Palestinians (9 September 2024)
- Safety and Societal Participation of Transgender and Gender Non-conforming People (9 June 2024)
- A Call for an Inclusive and Diverse Society of Friends (13 December 2020)
- The Death Penalty (10 November 2002)
- Violence in the World (2 Feb 2002)
In addition to drafting and adopting our own minutes of concern, Orange County Friends Meeting sometimes endorses minutes or statements prepared by the Pacific Yearly Meeting. The following minute was endorsed by OCFM on June 8, 2025: