Most of WA and ID

Integrity is breaking out all over the place among the Friends around RantWoman. RantWoman thinks she is supposed to appreciate Quakerly attention to precision for example in naming our gatherings and the exercise of laboring under the concern for rightly ordered representing among Quakers and in the wider world, but so far RantWoman finds movements of Spirit around the question almost imperceptible. Perhaps RantWoman just needs more practice seeking.

RantWoman recently returned from the fall session of the Pacific Northwest Quarterly Meeting. RantWoman is grateful for respectable but not unlimited levels of sunshine, for flowing streams and clear air and gentle pace, and for many ways to renew and deepen ties among Friends. RantWoman has a lot else to say, but one thing at a time.

One of the items on the agenda at Meeting for Business was whether to change the name of this body. There are questions of geographical and temporal precision, as well as multiple pathways to confusion with other Friends bodies both in RantWoman's Yearly Meeting and another geographically overlapping but theologically distinct Yearly Meeting. The agenda featured only initial reports from Monthly Meetings but to say the least there is NOT unity:

Begin with the question of meeting frequency. Some Friends have no problem with the term Quarterly: while there are only two plenary sessions, fall and spring, each year winter adnd summer also involve a Continuing Committee meeting. Any darn fool who does not already have enough meetings in his or her life is welcome at Continuing Committee. RantWoman for instance is more than satisfied that these meetings add up to Quarterly sessions.

Some Friends note only two actual plenary gatherings per year and suggest calling ourselves half- yearly, a concept which could lead to confusion with parallel usage in Western Canada.

Some Friends who are distressed by the term Quarterly and what they view as only two meetings / year suggest terms such as Regional Gathering. This usage has legs among unprogrammed Friends in MT and AZ. RantWoman could live with this if there is a groundswell in this direction but is amused by terms that do not make any reference at all to frequency of meetings, a point RantWoman files under "not cultivate unreasonable expectations."

Next comes the question of geography. Pacific Northwest is too large and also conceivably confused with Northwest Yearly Meeting. Some Friends like "Cascade." Most of the Friends who like this live west of the Cascade mountains; this label has no appeal for Friends in ID who live hours away from the Cascades. Other Friends note that the Cascade mountains actually extend all the way into northern California and some north into Canada and thuse the term is unhelpful in the current context.

Next we learned that, while RantWoman for instance thought the Quarter include all unprogrammed Friends in WA and ID, in point of fact around the southern edges there are Meetings and worship groups under the care of Willamette Quarter to the south. At the moment, the option RantWoman likes best is completely unadorned: Most of WA and ID, either Quarterly Meeting or Regional Gathering.

RantWoman expects to learn more of usage and custom and history among other Friends. RantWoman also expects more practice with shared discernment. RantWoman may also be bringing sewing to Meeting for Business to help keep idle hands and idling soulds out of trouble during the process.