Quaker Updates

Many small liberal arts colleges, like Guilford in Greensboro, NC, have been struggling financially for years. The pandemic only worsened the situation.

You might know that you can visit members of Congress in their offices by setting up a lobby visit—but did you know that members of Congress will also visit you? Two groups of Quakers put this knowledge to work when they invited their members to attend their Quaker meetings.

During Spring Lobby Weekend 2021, Alicia and I led a workshop on finding F/fri

“The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

What touchstones, teachings, and traditions can Quakers draw on to nourish and guide our outward lives and activism?

We spoke with two FCNL constituents to learn why advocacy is personal to them.

In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, students at Carolina Friends School decided to take action for justice. Together, they wrote letters to their senators urging them to advance legislation to address many of the pressing issues of our day, including the climate crisis, access to health care, police brutality, gun violence, and more.

FCNL’s weekly Witness Wednesday Silent Reflection is a time to step out of doing and connect to what motivates and sustains us in this work.

I am personally very dedicated to the national Quaker lobby organization, the Friends Committee on National Legislation. For most of the past twenty-five years I have attended their annual meeting in D.C., and I joined the 2020 event online from home where gathered for four days of worship, organizational meetings, and to virtually lobby of our elected officials.

Each month, FCNL brings individual Friends’ witness in the world into conversation with Quaker advocacy work through our Quaker Changemaker event series. Here are some highlights from this past years’ events.