Call to the 2026 Annual Session of Pacific Yearly Meeting
Experiment!
Dear Friends,
The past year has thrown a lot at us—social and political violence, moral and value-based challenges, use and abuse of natural, financial and personal resources—to name a very few. When our outward social and political structures fail, we need to turn to our spiritual communities and inward light, seed, oneness–the source of our solace and strength.
Many of our Monthly Meetings are experiencing shrinking pains or growing pains. Many of our committees—including nominating committees—are limping along with not enough members to do their work. Our financial resources don’t match the financial costs we have in conducting our business (which is a form of worship). And finally, how do we share news, important information, requests for help, or successful ideas with each other?
So, I suggest experimenting. We’ve been talking at annual sessions for at least six years about the challenges we face. Let’s try some new things, move off center, take some risks. But not without acknowledging that experimentation has a process.
My first experiment is an idea map as the call to Annual Session: I invite you to interact with these ideas and bring your own.
Lisa Graustein, a member of New England Yearly Meeting, who has traveled widely among Friends in the US and globally, carries a ministry focused on addressing the underlying dynamics of white supremacy, colonization, and climate change. She will be speaking to us about how our faith and practice inform each other.
I look forward to seeing you July 17-22, 2026, at CSU Monterey Bay in Seaside, California, or online via Zoom.
Southern California Quarterly Meeting will gather at Santa Monica Friends Meeting on Saturday, April 25th (and via Zoom (from 9 AM until about 3:30 PM)).
You are also invited to a dialogue with members of our Peace & Social Concerns on Friday, April 24th at 6:30 PM. We will share about recent and planned peace and justice actions from our SoCal Quaker community and our work to protect and support members of our communities, especially those impacted by our government’s aggressive and violent immigration enforcement actions, and advocate for peace and humanitarian aid to those devastated by the war in Gaza.
A detailed schedule and other information will be provided to everyone who signed up.
A simple lunch and refreshments will be provided on Saturday for onsite
attenders. We are planning to provide childcare as needed for friends attending with children.
If your monthly meeting has not yet considered the queries for the state of the meeting reports, here those very queries are:
How do we appreciate and include those who have joined our Meetings in the last few years? How can we honor and encourage their commitment to the community without presenting a burden of rules and expectations?
How do we accommodate the views of those seeing a need for change, having a new idea, and those who value tradition and wish to season any changes.
How do the structures and practices of our Quaker meetings appeal to the spiritual journey of the meeting?
How can our Meeting find joy in service, in the ministry of small things?
Please send your State of the Meeting reports to me post-haste (or thereabouts) at danstrickland2001@yahoo.com .
In my past calls to gatherings, I’ve mulled over the losses we’ve all had to bear in the last year or so, and how to move past that. I’m seeing people in my neighborhood community still spending energy placing blame for the firestorms, and while I understand the impulse, it’s wearying. I was thinking of talking about how one can move past loss and focus on rebuilding, letting go of the blame. This, however, feels clichéd, lacking in empathy. I feel strongly that progress, change, recovery happens when we focus on repairs and rebuilding and letting blame fade, but the more I think about it, the more that feels like a position of privilege. This is what is working for me, but as in all, it’s not what works for many.
There are changes in our Meetings, more than usual. The Society of Friends, as in the Viet Nam War era, is being seen as a place of refuge for frightened, vulnerable people to gather and find support. This is what stimulated my thinking when forming the Queries to aid Monthly Meetings with state of the meeting reports. Entering into this is the Pacific Yearly Meeting theme of “Experiment”. You’re all familiar with the old description of the Society of Friends as an experiential or experimental religion. PacYM Ministry feels it’s time for us to try doing things differently, see what works, what doesn’t, and what of our current practice is no longer useful. This will likely be divisive.
There’s an old definition of conservative and liberal that I like: liberals exist to test new ideas, advocate for change to existing structure, while conservatives test the need for that change against the value of institutional practice. So a query could be framed along the lines of how do we accommodate the views of those seeing a need for change, having a new idea, and those who value tradition. Think of the yin/yang symbol, where both are included in one circle, with a part of each in the other.
Another need I see is to appreciate and include those who have joined our Meetings in the last few years. How can we honor and encourage their commitment to the community without presenting a burden of rules and expectations. Can we help our Meetings to willingness to experiment? I see the value of our not-quite-Quarterly gatherings in this: we can hear how other Meetings are doing, what changes are happening across the Quarter, and talk with old and new friends about how best to find love and unity among us.
Southern California Quarterly Meeting Religious Society of Friends
SPRING GATHERING
WHEN: Friday evening, April 24th (Zoom only) & 9AM to 3PM, Saturday April 25th (Zoom and onsite) WHERE: Santa Monica Friends Meetinghouse, 1440 Harvard St, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Please join Friends from throughout SCQM, in person and via zoom, to hear about the Spiritual State of the Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups in our Quarter.
Snacks, coffee/tea, and lunch will be provided for a donation, and there will be activities for children.
We will provide a zoom link for all sessions.
Please register at the link below by Midnight, Tuesday April 22, 2026.
Earthquake, Wind, or Fire: Attending to the Still Small Voice
Breathe through the heats of our desire Thy coolness and Thy balm; Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still, small voice of calm!
(John Greenleaf Whittier, The Brewing of Soma)
“The poem references 1 Kings 19:11-12, in which the prophet Elijah is confronted by God in the wilderness. Elijah faced tumultuous times in his prophetic task of speaking truth to power. Whittier, a Quaker abolitionist, similarly dealt with seismic issues in his commitment to the cause of anti-slavery and social reform.”
(Max Carter: Stephen G. Cary Memorial lecture, Pendle Hill 2025)
For some of us, this retreat comes after literal fires, winds, and rains. Surely, we have all experienced political and social storms. We have grief; we have confusion, bewilderment, anger and overwhelm. We long for peace in the chaos, despite the external turmoil.
What if we bring our fear, discouragement, anger and grief, and lay them at the foot of the mountain? What might we hear if we surrender our desires and the limitations of our mind and body and sit and listen to the Still Small Voice? Maybe strength and new purpose, maybe permission to change direction. Maybe a perspective on what part of Spirit’s work is ours and what is for others.
The silent retreat offers a sanctuary for us to listen deeply, whether walking the beautiful grounds, participating in optional activities or sitting quietly in our rooms.
Registration Information
COVID PROTOCOLS: Masks will be optional. We kindly ask participants not to come if they are having any symptoms.
REGISTRATION: The retreat is open to members of Friends’ Meetings and to attenders of at least three months. Please register by clicking here:
Registration by February 20th: Double room, $325 per person Private room, $350 per person Financial Aid is available**
Late registration until February 27th: Double room, $350 per person Private room, $375 per person Financial Aid is available**
The Abbey has raised their fees and we had to raise ours accordingly. Our actual per-person costs are about $350. Those who are able to pay more than $350 will help subsidize others who need financial aid. Fees include program, lodging, and six meals. We can’t accept registrations submitted after Friday, February 27th. Cancellations received by Friday, February 20th will receive a full refund. After that date, a $30 cancellation fee will be deducted.
**FINANCIAL AID: No one is turned away because of lack of funds. We have financial aid available and many meetings offer scholarship grants. Please contact our registrar, Judy Leshefka, for details about financial support options (judyleshefka@gmail.com).
Venmo or Zelle: Make your payment to Sarah Crompton, Treasurer for the Silent Retreat: cromptonclark@gmail.com (310) 963-6319.
Check:
Make a check out to our treasurer Sarah Crompton and put Silent Retreat in the memo line.
Mail your check to: 440 N. Broadmoor Blvd. Springfield, Ohio 45504.
After registration, you will receive a confirmation letter with more information about the retreat and directions to the Abbey. If you will be using public transportation (bus, train) and need a ride to the Abbey, contact Judy Leshefka by Monday, March 9th.
ARRANGEMENTS: Please plan to arrive between 3 pm and 5:30 pm on Friday, March 13th to check-in and get your room key. Dinner will be at 6 pm. We’ll gather at 7 pm for a brief tour of the grounds, followed by an orientation and preparing to enter into the silence, which will last until late Sunday morning. The retreat will end after lunch on Sunday. Please plan to be present for the entire retreat. The spiritual richness of our gathering is enhanced by each participant, and it can be disruptive to have people arriving or leaving at odd times.
(Questions or concerns: contact Judy Leshefka at 858 652-1406 or email: judyleshefka@gmail.com
EXTENDED RETREAT DAY OPPORTUNITY
March 15-16, 2026
Participants may choose this opportunity to stay an extra day for deeper reflection. They can continue their silence during Sunday lunch and throughout the afternoon or join in conversations.
At 3:45 PM, we will meet for a brief worship and set our intentions for the remainder of the retreat. We will then re-enter into silence. On Monday morning, a writing exercise will be offered as an optional activity. We will all meet at 10:30 AM for worship and worship-sharing. The retreat will end after lunch.
If you wish to stay over, please indicate your intention on the registration form. We must know by February 27th so we can inform the Abbey. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer any scholarships for this opportunity. The cost will be $150, the Abbey’s
Annual Session will be held at Whittier College and online July 11-16th. This year’s theme is “Find Your Balance, Heart Reaching Forward.”
Click on the button below to register or to find more information about the schedule, program activities, fees, and financial assistance. All are welcome!
Common folk, not statesmen, nor generals, nor great men of affairs, but just simple men and women, if they devote themselves . . . can do something to build a better peaceful world.
Henry Cadbury 1947 Pacific Yearly Meeting, Faith & Practice 2001
Find Your Balance, Heart Reaching Forward
Call to the Pacific Yearly Meeting 2025 Annual Session
Last year my life got difficult–fractiousness at Meeting, family drama, health concerns, and other heavy loads. One night while participating in a pre-recorded yoga class, I toppled over. Sitting there, I thought, “I can’t do this.” Just then the teacher’s voice said, “Find your balance, heart reaching forward.” That invitation/prayer resonated with
me immediately and sustained me through the following months of rapprochement at my meeting, healing of my body and soul, and renewal within my family.
With daily political and social blows, with outrage, fear, and anger leading the headlines, our society has become self-righteously polarized and isolated. How can we maintain our equanimity and reach out with generosity? How can we say to Friends and our neighbors, “You are my beloved community; you are safe here,” and make it so?
We can find balance by standing up carefully, planting our feet firmly, maintaining flexibility and responsiveness, and reaching out for a railing, wall, cane, or a friend’s arm. Can we help each other balance? We can reach forward with our hearts by returning again and again to the seed of our faith, in worship, prayer, devotion, and trust in the divine and each other. Can we be trustworthy?
Our plenary speakers, “common folk” and “devoted” will share their experiences and discoveries in finding balance and moving forward: John Pixley (Claremont), Aaron Terry (Honolulu), Amy Cooke (Grass Valley).
Please join us for Annual Session onsite or online, July 11-16 at Whittier College, California, for worship, fellowship, work, and play. Registration opens in May.
Love and blessings, Robin DuRant, Clerk, Pacific Yearly Meeting
Additional Encouragement from Faith & Practice 2001
If but one man or woman were raised up by His power to stand and live in the same spirit that the Apostles and Prophets were in, who gave forth the Scriptures, that man or woman should shake all the country in their profession for ten miles round.
George Fox
One of my final observations. … has to be about the extraordinary ordinariness of many of these women. They wanted their mundane daily lives to be impregnated with the experience of the Spirit and its fruits of love and peace and harmony. They went out into the streets, faced physical abuse and cried their message over paying opposition, then they went home to check the household accounts and feed and comfort their children. They foresaw the millennium, wrote letters to the King and served beef and beer at supper.
Christine Trevett Women’s Speaking Justified: And Other Seventeenth Century Quaker Writings About Women (1991)
I recently turned 79, not a remarkable number (except for being a prime, of course – I see you, fellow math geeks). The next birthday will be a big one, though. I remember everyone talking about the “Big 3-0”. Well, hold my beer! So it’s for me becoming a time of mulling over where I am, who I am, and where I’m going. A year of reflection. It’s been a year of loss, personal for me as our house and its contents turned to ash in the Eaton Firestorm. A number of Orange Grove Friends’ Meeting people lost much in that firestorm. For myself, I was surprised to discover the degree to which the house, the things within it, the surroundings and neighbors are a part of my identity. The cliché goes “it’s only stuff”, which certainly speaks to Quakers – but I feel a part of me is gone.
Others among my friends have losses – friends, family, spouses – and apart from the ache of each loss, there’s a sense, I think, of wondering how the loss changes us as individuals. I’m an old Peace Corps volunteer, and served in a country where the volunteers tend to remain a tightly knit community. So we hear about, sometimes see in person, our old friends in declining health, hear when they die, and wonder at how friends who are still young – a year or so younger than I, for Pete’s sake – could be gone.
I think many of us feel that same sense of loss over what has happened to our country. I feel some trepidation at mentioning politics in this context, so I’ll be brief, but I see anger, fear, and mourning among my friends. I see, as well, that same concern over a loss of identity, who we are as a people.
At meeting for worship recently a Friend talked about his grandfather, who recently turned 109, putting my 79 in a very different perspective. The grandfather is officially one of the 10 oldest men in the US. The funny stereotype is a reporter asking the elder how they lived so long, and being told the secret is a daily pack of Camels and a pint of Jim Beam. The Friend observed his grandfather over a visit or two, and saw that he constantly had friends come visit. Lots of conversations, jokes, stories. Maybe that’s how we all survive and thrive, as individuals and as communities, spiritual and otherwise. Lots of visits, gatherings (such as this one I’m calling you to), shared meals, telling stories and planning for future gatherings and visits.
Come to the quarterly spring gathering, join us in the Santa Barbara Meetinghouse, and enjoy our extended community. Let us help, support, heal, and find hope with each other.
At 6:30 PM on Friday, April 25th, the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Southern California Quarterly Meeting is conducting an online interest group featuring the clerks of Friends Peace Teams, a spirit-led organization working to develop long-term relationships with communities in conflict around the world to create programs for peace building, healing and reconciliation. They will be sharing news about the Alternatives to Violence Project, the Towards Right Relationship with Native Peoples Program, and other peace and social justice work. Please register using the link below if you are interested in joining, even if you do not plan to attend the Saturday morning Spring Gathering program.
Registration for the Southern Quarterly Meeting’s Spring Gathering is now open!
Where: Santa Barbara Friends Meetinghouse, 2012 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara When: Saturday, April 26, 9AM-3:15 PM What: Friends from across Southern California will share State of the Meeting reflections and other information. Lunch will be provided Transportation: Spring Gathering is a two-and-a-half hour journey by car under good conditions, and the Santa Barbara Amtrak station is a seven-minute taxi ride from the Meetinghouse.
Call to SCQM Fall Fellowship November 1-3, 2024 at Temescal Canyon & on Zoom
Friends, we are called to gather again in fellowship at our traditional place, Temescal Canyon. We have a long history with that spot, and if you’ve never been, we encourage you to make the effort to come in person. We plan to have a hybrid gathering, so the option of remote participation will be available, but if it’s at all possible, being in the beautiful place with fellow Quakers from around the Quarter is a wonderful experience.
The Ministry and Counsel Committee has chosen to consider “Faith and Prayer in Action” as the theme for the gathering, and speakers who will lead us to consider this theme are being invited. With the rich variety of people in our Meetings, we hope this topic will stimulate broad discussion. On a very basic level, many of us consider the “Ministry of Small Things” to be prayer – the prayer while washing dishes, preparing food, or arranging the logistics for Fall Fellowship. At the same time, many of us have been appalled by uncaring response from politicians to, for example, mass shootings, with the hypocritical “thoughts and prayers”. This is why Ministry and Counsel has deliberately chosen the phrase “Faith and Prayer in Action”. Come and engage in this worship and learning.
In addition to our keynote presentations and worship sharing on Saturday and Sunday mornings we will have interest and affinity groups, time for fellowship, hiking, plenaries, community night, and worship.
We will be offering a rich children’s program for all ages during plenary and interest group sessions. Fall fellowship is an opportunity for kids to get to know one another in our geographic region and spend some time in nature. Attendance fees are automatically waived for babies, toddlers, children, and teens.
Please join us for SCQM’s Fall Fellowship on the beautiful grounds of Temescal Gateway Park in the Pacific Palisades, just north of Santa Monica, or via Zoom. See below for details.
