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.
Advices and Queries for the Fourth Month*
Stewardship and Vocation
Advices
John Woolman said, “As Christians all we possess are the gifts of God… To turn all the treasures we possess into the channel of Universal Love becomes the business of our lives.” The principle of stewardship applies to all we have and are. As individuals, we are called to use our time, our various abilities, our strength, our money, and our material possessions with care, managing them wisely and sharing them generously.”
From the indwelling Seed of God, we discover our particular gifts and discern the service to which we are called. In making choices about occupation or education, consider the way that offers the fullest opportunity to develop your individual abilities and contribute to the world community while providing for yourself and your family. In daily work, manifest a spirit of justice and understanding, and thus give a living witness to the truth.
Be ready to limit engagements, to withdraw for a time, or even to retire from an activity that inhibits your ability to follow a higher call. Try to discern the right moment to accept new responsibilities as well as to relinquish responsibility that can pass to others. Be open to your calling in different stages of life. Meetings need the strength and vigor of young people as well as the experience and wisdom of elders. Although they may not be able to contribute great financial support, their energy and insight invigorate the community. As people begin careers and families, they may need the spiritual and experienced help of the Meeting. Later, when families are growing up and careers are established, greater participation in the Meeting and greater financial support may become possible. Welcome the approach of old age, your own and others’, as an opportunity for wisdom and greater attachment to the Light. Meetings should be ready with material and spiritual support for those suffering from unemployment or facing difficult vocational decisions.
Queries
- How have I been faithful to the leadings of the Spirit in choosing work or vocation?
- What am I doing with my talents, time, money and possessions?
- Is my conduct at the workplace consistent with my life as a Friend?
- How does my daily work enhance my spiritual life?
- How does the Meeting help and support members who are in job transitions?
*from Faith and Practice of the Pacific Yearly Meeting (2001), 48-49
Memorial Service for Dee Abrahamse
We will be having a memorial meeting for worship in remembrance of our beloved Friend Dee Abrahamse on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 2PM in the sanctuary of the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church at 2845 Mesa Verde East, Costa Mesa. Use the link below if you wish to attend online.
If you’d like to learn more about Dee’s life, you can read her story here. You can also see her being interviewed about her spiritual journey here.
Change in COVID policy
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.
Quaker Call to Action
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.
An Urgent Call to the Religious Society of Friends
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.
Queries
- What, if anything, is the Light Within calling Friends to do in response to the unprecedented rise of domestic extremism, white supremacy, and authoritarianism that is threatening the destruction of our democracy at home and abroad?
- How can I/we respond with resolute love even while I/we may be struggling with fear, anger, apathy, or hate?
Possible Actions
Defending 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:
- Individual Friends to search yourselves about the threats to our country, and the world, and to witness publicly to the truths that you discern are grounded in your experience of the Spirit.
- Quaker meetings and organizations to issue public statements calling out lies and the purveyors of lies, all in the context of our understanding of love, equality, and justice for all. Working for True Equality and Justice for All We urge Friends to act for equality and equity within our diverse society.
Working for True Equality and Justice for All
We urge Friends to act for equality and equity within our diverse society:
- Speak, write, and protest in support for full equality of all people in American society, whatever their racial or sexual identity, gender, or class.
- Support legislative and economic changes that would lead to actual equity among all peoples.
Promoting Free and Fair Elections
Stemming from our testimonies of Integrity and Equality, we urge Friends to:
- Support non-partisan voter-registration drives, particularly in communities under attack from those seeking to prevent them from voting.
- Publicly condemn partisan efforts to restrict access to voting.
- Confront partisan efforts to seize control of the election administration apparatus.
- Support conscientious, non-partisan election officials in our communities.
- Volunteer as poll workers, election monitors, and drivers to get people to the polls.
Preparing for Non-Violent Resistance
We believe that as a religious society grounded in nonviolence, we can:
- Arrange for nonviolent direct-action training in our Quaker meetings and organizations, as well as with others in our larger communities.
- Form small “affinity groups” that can prepare to carry out direct actions in support of free and fair elections and the state and local officials who support them.
- Support wider efforts to plan and organize nonviolent resistance on a state and nationwide level, as needed.
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
Thank you from Friendly Water for the World
A Note of Appreciation
In December 2021, our meeting donated approximately $3000 to Friendly Water for the World, a non-profit organization whose mission is to train and equip communities in sustainable village-scale technologies to safeguard, conserve, and expand essential resources. Our money was used to build two water catchment tanks at Bulovi Friends Primary School (Under Malava Yearly Meeting of Friends) in Kakamega County, Kenya. Because of these tanks, the children at the school no longer need to walk miles to collect water every day.
Below is the text of a thank you letter we received from Eric Lung’aho Lijodi, the Africa Programs Manager for Friendly Water for the World:
Date: 2nd September 2022
To all Friends,
Orange County Friends Meeting,
Religious Society of Friends,
Costa Mesa, California
Dear Friends,
REF: Appreciation
Calvary greetings in Jesus name with an expectation that this letter will find you all well. On behalf of my organization, I would like to express our deepest gratitude for your unselfish contribution towards construction of two Rain Water Catchments at Bulovi Friends Primary School (Under Malava Yearly Meeting of Friends).Your donation was very important to us as it geared us towards our commitment towards serving the community.
Attached to this appreciation note you will find the following documents which I beseech you to find time to read in order to have a deeper understanding of how important your donation has been not only to us as an organization but to the beneficiary community:
- Testimonial from the Sponsor of the School
- Testimonial from one student
- Duly filled completion report for the two Rain Water Catchments (KCDG 004 & KCDG 005)
- Photos captured from the dedication ceremony
We are blessed to have you as our partner and once more thank you very much for your generous support and we look forward to working with you again in the near future. If you have questions or needy clarity, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Eric Lung’aho Lijodi
Programs Manager
Advices and Queries for the Tenth Month
Personal Relationships
Advices
In daily relationships with others, both inside and outside the home, our lives as Friends speak immediately and lastingly. In these relationships, our faith may also be severely tested. We are called to respond to that of God in everyone: we are all children of God.
Friends celebrate any union that is dedicated to mutual love and respect, regardless of the unique make-up of the family. We strive to create homes where the Spirit of the Divine resides at the center and where the individual genius of each member is respected and nurtured.
Human sexuality is a divine gift, forming part of the complex union of body, mind and spirit that is our humanity. In a loving adult relationship in a context of mutual responsibility, sexuality brings delight, fulfillment and celebration.
The presence of children carries a special blessing as well as responsibility. Children bring unique spiritual gifts — wonder, resiliency, playfulness and more. Recognize and honor the Divine Light within children and treat them with the dignity and respect that is due to all people. Listen to and learn from children; share with them those values and practices that are central to our own lives. Special care must be given to resolving problems between adults and children in a manner that gives equal weight to the feelings and needs of both children and adults. Tender parenting is one of the critically important peace vocations in our society. Make every effort to offer all parents the personal and institutional support that this challenging work requires.
Take a strong stand against any form of abuse, whether that abuse is minor or severe, and whether it is emotional, physical or sexual in nature. The terrible impact of abuse on the most vulnerable members of our families creates lifelong suffering for its victims and is a major source of violence in our society. Perpetrators are themselves usually victims of similar violence and should be approached with compassion as well as firmness.
Queries
- Do I make my home a place of friendliness, joy and peace where residents and visitors feel God’s presence?
- Are my sexual practices consistent with my spiritual beliefs, and free of manipulation and exploitation?
- What barriers keep me from responding openly and lovingly to each person?
- Do we open our thoughts, beliefs and deep understandings to our children and others who share our lives and our hospitality?
- Do we provide our children and young adults with a framework for active, ongoing participation in meeting?
from Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice (2001), 56-57