Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Annual Session will be held in person July 21-26, 2023 at Mount Madonna Center (near Watsonville, CA). It will also be possible to attend remotely via Zoom. This year’s theme will be Beloved Community Part II: Centering the Voices of the Next Generation.
Click here for more information, including the Clerk’s Call, bios of the keynote panel members, the schedule, and a link to registration.
When: July 2-8, 2023
Where: Monmouth Oregon
Registration begins: April 23, 2023
Greetings Friends,
Gather: One small word with many meanings.
Gather can mean to collect, especially from far-flung locations: They visited gardens, libraries, Meetings, and websites to gather materials to share in this workshop. Or it can mean to come together: Friends of all ages are gathering in Oregon in 2023 for an annual event. It can also mean to increase speed: Quaker witness is gathering momentum around criminal justice. Gather can mean gaining understanding: From the looks on the children’s faces, the performers gathered that their art was what the audience needed that night.
We expect that the 2023 FGC Gathering will be special, in part due to the location. It will be in the Pacific Northwest for the first time in a generation. It will be in Oregon for the first time ever. Some offerings will be online, but mostly, it will be an all-generations in-person experience for the first time since 2019.
We understand that it is a heavy lift for most people to come to the Gathering. It’s a big expense for ever-tightening budgets and those of us who don’t have much disposable income. It’s a large amount of time away from work for shrinking vacation benefits if we are so fortunate to even have a job with benefits. We may be apprehensive about the location. It costs a large carbon footprint to travel no matter what the offsets. Plus, there are all those roommates who snore and long cafeteria lines. Ah, the travails of travel. 🙂
We are convinced, however, that to gather, in and of itself, with all that word’s meanings, is deeply important. We cannot truly be a society, let alone a religious society, without gathering. Societies must have gathering spaces and places to exchange ideas, to share common experiences and to coalesce as a community. We must gather corporately and corporally to worship. Otherwise, we just dissipate into an unholy mess.
There is nothing like living together for a week. An event like the FGC Gathering creates life-changing opportunities – both scheduled and spontaneous – to worship, eat, sing, play, pray, explore, and learn together. The Gathering Committee is working diligently to welcome you just as you are and however you are, and we will do our best to make it work for you. We are preparing a unique opportunity to experience “gather” in all its meanings and for all to do a lot of learning, healing, sharing, inspiring, and creating together across our Religious Society of Friends..
The theme this year is “Listen, so that we may live.” We ask you to listen to this invitation prayerfully and see if there is life in it for you and your family. Come to The Gathering, enjoy Oregon’s Willamette Valley, gather for a while.
With Love and In the Light,
Jessica & Kate
Jessica Bucciarelli and Kate Jaramillo
2023 Friends General Conference Gathering Co-Clerks
When: Saturday, May 6, 2023, 10AM-Noon, Pacific Time
Where: online (via Zoom)
Join us online for the FWCC Southwest Regional Gathering, a fully bilingual gathering of Friends from Intermountain Yearly Meeting, Pacific Yearly Meeting, and the Western Association of the Religious Society of Friends.
Travelling Quaker minister Emily Proance will help us explore the challenges of meeting via computer. Can we sense the “presence of the Room” when the room has no walls? How do we maintain unity? The meeting will be conducted in both English and Spanish. All Friends are welcome.
We no longer require that all in-person attenders be vaccinated. However, we strongly urge anyone who is unvaccinated or in a high-risk group to wear a mask. If you have recently been exposed to an infected person, have symptoms, or are not feeling well, please join us online rather than attending in person.
Dear Friends,
EVERYONE is warmly invited to attend Spring Gathering at the end of April to enjoy fellowship with Friends from across our Quarter.
Are you curious about how other Friends Meetings and Worship Groups are navigating life as a spiritual community in these shifting times now that the pandemic is not so intense? We’ll hear excerpts from Meetings’ Spiritual State of the Society Reports and have worship sharing opportunities together.
The Children’s Committee is planning lots of fun activities including candle-making. In addition, children will have an opportunity to fold-form a copper bowl with metalsmith Marne Ryan.
Get to know other Teens in Southern California! Junior Friends aged 12-20 are invited to attend Spring Gathering on Saturday for fun, fellowship, and community building led by Linus Hartigan (co-clerk of PacYM’s Jr. Yearly Meeting).
The Peace & Social Concerns Committee is hosting an online interest group Friday evening at 7 PM, exploring where we are and what is next for us as individuals, within our meetings, and our Quarter, on the journey towards “radical transformation” and a fully welcoming and inclusive, beloved community.
Saturday’s schedule is from 9:00 – 3:15 (Pacific time). All program activities will be available for those joining us in person and via Zoom, except the children’s program, which will be in-person only.
Orange County Friends Meeting in Costa Mesa will be hosting the in-person gathering at their campus 2845 Mesa Verde Drive East, Costa Mesa, CA in the larger space where the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist neighbors have their sanctuary (Daniels Hall). There will be ample space for everyone who would like to attend in person,
Covid-19 Safety Policy: Everyone is expected to wear high-quality masks when inside and maintain social distancing between members of different households. If you are sick please stay home. All are welcome regardless of vaccination status.
Lunch: OCFM will be providing a simple lunch and refreshments during the day on Saturday and will be asking for donations to cover the cost of hospitality.
There is an outside courtyard area where we can enjoy refreshments and lunch together.
Friends joining us online will be able to join in our shared virtual space with everyone gathered in Costa Mesa as well as online (except for when we are in smaller breakout groups and at lunch).
May we gather with openness, humility, and a spirit of loving-kindness and gratitude. May we come together to listen, share, and learn from each other and look towards the future of the Quarter.
In peace and with gratitude,
Jane Blount, SCQM Clerk
2023 Spring Gathering Schedule
Friday, April 28:
7:00 – 9:00 pm Toward an Inclusive Community
Saturday, April 29:
9:00 – 9:30 am Arrival, coffee and tea, Greet Friends
9:30 – 12:00 pm Worship, Plenary 1, State of Society Reports Part 1
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Break – optional fellowship
1:00 – 2:45 pm Plenary 2, State of Society Reports Part 2,
2:45 – 3:15 Closing Worship
The Indigenous Concerns Subcommittee of Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Ministry and Care Committee invites you to join a noon screening and follow-up session of the film “The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code.”
The film explains how the “Doctrine of Discovery” was used to justify Europeans” seizure seizure of the lands of Indigenous peoples, Nations and Tribes in the name of “civilizing” and “Christianizing” them. This Doctrine was explicitly incorporated into US law in the 19th Century. It remains the foundation of US “Indian Law”, and the US legal system continues to use this Doctrine against Indigenous peoples to this day.
We are offering a two-session series in March and April, the first being a screening and initial reactions, and the second diving deeper into where we go from here.
March sessions will be on Wednesdays, March 8th and 22nd, from 7-8:30pm (Pacific)
April sessions will be on Sundays, April 16th and 30th, from 3-4:30 PM
If you would like to join our scheduled sessions, please reach out to the subcommittee at lesliezd@reninet.com.
To see a trailer of the film, click below:
The Peace and Social Order (PSO) Committee of the Pacific Yearly Meeting (PacYM) announces an interest group-type session held outside of Annual Session
Title: Quaker Spirituality and Somatic Practices
Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023 10:30-noon and 1:00-2:30 pm (Pacific), online
Contact: Linnea (linneachanson@gmail.com or Betty (bguthrie42@gmail.com)
Presenter: Shannon Frediani, member of Santa Cruz monthly meeting Worship & Ministry committee member. Former co-clerk of PacYM PSO committee.
Recognizing and countering the responses of trauma exposure is needed for navigating the multiple crises of our time (climate, war, racial and systemic injustice, COVID, etc.)
For context:
This particular interest group, a 2-session workshop, is a replication of the Spring retreat held at Santa Cruz Friends Meeting in May of 2021, sponsored by the W&M committee. It was designed by Shannon Frediani based on her teaching experience at Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist Seminary. The response from Santa Cruz Monthly Meeting participants was overwhelmingly positive.
Giving a brief overview of Quaker Spirituality and a story of when Quaker practice for maintaining regulation of bodies in a high stakes environment was successful, as well as an introduction of trauma exposure responses and what those look like, this workshop is designed to engage regulating somatic practices, foster Quaker formation, and offer a way forward.
Come to Meeting with hearts and minds prepared to be open and faithful to the leadings of the Spirit. Then the conduct of business will lead to truth, unity, and love.
When a matter is before the Meeting for Business, each person present contributes to the corporate search for a decision that accords with the will of God. Inaction is a form of action. Silent worship in the Meeting for Business contributes to the process of achieving unity.
Listen attentively to others’ words and use the silence between messages to reflect carefully on what you might contribute. When you are clear, speak simply what is in your heart, without repeating what has already been offered. While making your insights clear, lay aside personal opinions and attend to what God requires.
*from PACIFIC YEARLY MEETING FAITH AND PRACTICE (2001), 48-49
Our Meeting has been asked to endorse the following call to action, which was initiated by a group of 18 Friends who were concerned about threats to our democracy. Before endorsing it, we ask that Members and Attenders read the text, ponder the queries, and contemplate the suggested actions. Other resources related to the project can be found here.
May 2022
We Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, hold strongly to the principle of speaking truth with integrity. We ground our speaking truth in our worship and our searching of ourselves, as we listen deeply and honestly within and across all differences. Our testimony to the world includes standing up for spiritually discerned Truth, the equality of all persons, the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and respect and care for our neighbors and the earth. Right now, we see many forces at work in our country and the world that are undermining these basic values. Accordingly, we call on Friends everywhere to act.
In this country, in 2020, we witnessed an attempted coup. The January 6 assault on the Capitol was a deliberate, violent attempt to prevent Joe Biden — the clear winner of the 2020 election — from taking office and keeping then-president Donald Trump in power. To maintain that the last election was riddled with fraud is demonstrably false. This politically motivated movement has now embarked on an orchestrated campaign to suppress voting by black, brown and young people and to pass new state election laws giving the power to throw out huge numbers of valid ballots to highly partisan legislatures, governors, and state attorneys general. Thus, this lie is being used to deprive people of their constitutional rights and constitutes a major injustice.
As Friends, we feel called to speak out against these falsehoods and anti-democratic actions. We encourage Friends to seek spiritual guidance on any actions that you and your meetings might take to witness against this gross injustice. If this politically motivated movement succeeds in its anti-democratic takeover attempt, any hope of making significant progress on racial and economic justice, the equality of all people, the climate crisis, gun violence, and other urgent issues of our time will be gone.
We know that democracy in the United States has many flaws. During the past 100 years, our local, state and federal governments have acted to prevent formerly enslaved people and other communities of color from voting. It was not until 1920 that women finally won the right to vote, and their equality is still being challenged. We call on Friends to act — first, to resist all efforts to undermine our current democratic processes, and second, to support true democratic reforms to our still flawed election system. We cannot allow a government that is built on lies and injustice.
We the undersigned are encouraging Quakers throughout the country to work in their local communities, states, and the national arena to take critical actions to prevent an authoritarian takeover of our democracy. We urge Friends to discern the deep truths that provide a foundation for active love, wisdom, compassion, and a truly democratic electoral system—and then to actively support such changes. We know that love conquers fear. Let us lean into Divine Love and find ways forward in Truth.
We urge all Friends to discern the deep truths that provide a foundation for active love, wisdom, compassion, and peace in the world — and then to defend them. We ask:
We urge Friends to act for equality and equity within our diverse society:
Stemming from our testimonies of Integrity and Equality, we urge Friends to:
We believe that as a religious society grounded in nonviolence, we can:
MARIAN BEANE
Charlotte Friends Meeting, Piedmont Friends – Yearly Meeting
and Fellowship
BRUCE BIRCHARD
Central Philadelphia Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly
Meeting, Former General Secretary, Friends General Conference
LAURA BOYCE
Providence Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
Ujima Friends Peace Center
MARTHA BRYANS
Downingtown Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
SAM CALDWELL
Providence Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
Former General Secretary, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
GRETCHEN CASTLE
Doylestown Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
Dean, Earlham School of Religion, Former General Secretary,
Friends World Committee for Consultation World Office
ROBERT DOCKHORN
Green Street Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
TOM EWELL
Whidbey Island Friends Meeting, North Pacific Yearly Meeting
EILEEN FLANAGAN
Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
JOHN HELDING
Lopez Island Friends Meeting, North Pacific Yearly Meeting
AYESHA IMANI
Ujima Friends Meeting, Philadelphia, Clerk, Ujima Friends
Peace Center, Former Clerk of the Fellowship of Friends
of African Descent
PHIL LORD
Ujima Friends Meeting, Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting,
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
MARY ELLEN MCNISH
Byberry Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Former
General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee
DIANE RANDALL
Hartford Friends Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting,
Sojourning Friends Meeting of Washington, Baltimore Yearly
Meeting, Former General Secretary, Friends Committee on
National Legislation
CHRISTINA REPOLEY
Atlanta Friends Meeting, Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting
and Association, Founding Director of Quaker Voluntary Service
COLIN SAXTON
North Valley Friends Meeting, Newberg, Oregon
JOE VOLK
Executive Secretary Emeritus, Friends Committee on
National Legislation
MICHAEL WAJDA
Goshen Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
Sojourning Bennington Friends Meeting, New England
Yearly Meeting, Former Associate Secretary, Friends
General Conference
PAM YALLER
Upper Dublin Friends Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Meeting and Organization Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only
The life of the spirit gains depth and vigor through devotional practices, prayer, study and meditation. Take time regularly for individual and family worship, discussions. Readings from sacred texts and other spiritual refreshment in order to live a more centered life and to bring a deeper presence to the Meeting for Worship. Friends believe that the spiritual path is best found in community. Create opportunities in your Meetings for people of all ages to explore and express their evolving relationship with the Divine, their spiritual highs and their doubts. If different metaphors and language interfere with communication, listen more deeply, honoring the Spirit in which the thought and words have their beginnings.
