RantWoman has decided to let the above quote serve as the epigraph for her personal posting of the NPYM 2018 Annual Session Epistle, also available on npym.org. RantWoman is seasoning leadings about other postings, but the epistle is sufficient unto the hour.
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RantWoman comments by way of introduction:
1. It is our Yearly Meeting's custom to Accept rather than obsessively group-edit the offerings of the Epistle Committee. RantWoman decided she could settle down about a need to fuss because on final reading the Epistle Committee admitted they themselves are not at unity about every word and then needed to wander off about the Oxford comma as well as Annual Session.
2. The Epistle committee promised that there should be something in here that offends almost everyone here. Good. At least RantWoman will not feel alone if called to fussiness about something or other.
3. The Epistle as drafted, to RantWoman's ear badly underplays some threads about "Who do we mean, we?"
4. RantWoman hopes separately to post some of the other threads, besides "who do we mean, we?" which emerged from worship as the group started to consider the minute on uprooting racism. RantWoman appreciates the bravery of the Ad-hoc Committee... who remained mostly centered as worship insistently wove distinct strong messages into the air for further conversation.
5.RantWoman wishes the Epistle reflected unity at the final Meeting for Business to change the name of the committee now called Ministry and Oversight. Friends are at unity to change the name but are not at unity about what to change it to. RantWoman is certain the world is entitled to another RantWoman exegesis regarding all the things that annoyed her when this name change came up in her own Meeting. But no promises.
6. RantWoman does not quite know what to make of Nominating Committee concerns, for one thing because she went to two different interest groups where people exchanged emails and committed to further connection going forward. For another thing, in some cases Nominating Committee should be helping see that Friends with beautiful powerful leadings feel well nourished spiritually, not just trying to lure them into committee work.
7. Further RantWoman pith available at twitter.com using the hashtag #npym2018 . Warning:God, RantWoman's intentions, and autocorrect in places did not play well together.
8. RantWoman is slightly cross about things she cannot find on either the NPYM.org webpage or the one specifically for Annual Session. RantWoman means to whine in more detail separately.
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Epistle 2018
Greetings to
Friends Everywhere:
The nearly 300 Friends gathered at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA,
send you our hopes for building a world where bigotry is uprooted and equality
of justice is the basis of all our social relations – a Commonwealth of Divine
Peace. We have shared a taste of that under hot, sunny skies at the foot
of Mount Rainier, land traditionally occupied by the Puyallup People (/spujɑɫəpabs
in Lǝšūtsijd Coast Salish). In our 45th Annual Session we worshipped and shared
together, while considering our role in the racism that afflicts our society.
We are
grateful for the ministry of our Friend in Residence: Vanessa Julye, from
Friends General Conference’s Ministry on Racism, who lovingly rebuked Quakers
for upholding white privilege over the centuries up to the present day, and
called our largely white gathering to undo the powerful silent forces which
actively keep other Friends away. There was an enormous range of
emotional responses. As Vanessa reminded us, “we live in a world of
traumatized people, harmed by the effects of White Supremacy” – harm done to
people of all colors. We often feel anxious, powerless to respond, and
baffled as to how to “do it right.”
How do we
make it right? Our Friend in Residence warned against seeking to be
comfortable: white people should not confuse discomfort with lack of safety; at
this the room quaked with a gasp of recognition. Language is often a sore
point: we wish to be authentic and speak the truth of our experience, but in
ignorance we use words that wound others. We know we will make mistakes
even as we go forward in a brave way, and feel exasperated by that reality.
In follow-up workshops Friends considered how to deal with the
manifestations of cultural and systemic bias. We are thankful for the
Friends of color that offered resources and insights while supporting each
other in healing. We began to look at a proposed minute supporting
engagement to uproot racism. Our worship group discussions
helped us look more deeply into the privileges of our educated, Euro-American
majority, and to empathize with the sufferings of vulnerable people at
the corner of invisibility and exposure.
Friends
considered a variety of other topics in interest groups. Many Friends
spent time discussing responses to world climate change and its underlying
causes. Other concerns and Quaker organizations also received Friends’
attention and support. The xenophobia and racism in the U.S. immigration
system seized many Friends’ attention. We appreciate their many good
actions and opportunities for our involvement.} After laboring all day,
the music ministry by Anna Fritz soothed our spirits in the evening.
Junior
Friends Yearly Meeting (high school age teens) were most visible in taking part
in small worship groups, and in leading a plenary session with a game to
highlight the issue of privilege or lack thereof, including race, gender
identity, sexual orientation and dis/abilities. We were reminded of our
commitment made last year to welcome transgender and gender non-conforming
people.
In a time
when the outside world’s business roils and breaks our hearts, the gathering’s
business rolled out lightly and smoothly. Our children’s program,
traveling ministry program and other initiatives give us hope for the
future. The new “Pay as you are led” funding brought in more attendance
and opened doors for some who otherwise might have been burdened by
costs. Overall our Yearly Meeting’s local meetings find themselves spiritually
grounded, though with diminishing numbers and aging members, which leads to
difficulty in Nominating Committee’s filling all 97 positions at the YM
level. This is not a new difficulty for our YM nor for other Quaker
meetings; a sign not of lack of commitment but of flagging energy and
fewer new, young members.
We are
challenged to make effective witness, to uproot racism from our hearts and our
communities now. This is not the time to talk about our ideals; it is the
time to act to bring forth actions that manifest the ideals we cannot yet
see. The Spirit is working among our Beloved Community, leading us to
recognize past failures, to acknowledge our progress, and to live up to the
Light we now have.
In peace,
Signed among
and for Friends of North Pacific Yearly Meeting
Lucretia
Humphrey, presiding clerk
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