Quaker Updates

What does it look like to be “non-partisan”? In 2020, this question takes on new and complex facets.

This collection of Quaker minutes and statements on police violence and racism come from Quaker organizations, meetings, and churches. Black lives matter. FCNL and the larger Quaker world are proclaiming this truth in our communities, our actions, and our statements.

Amid a worldwide health crisis, an economic downturn that has devastated millions, and a pandemic of racism and police violence in the United States, this query has woven its way into my thoughts over these past months.

I became a Quaker because of FCNL. Part of that story is personal, tied to the people I have met through this work, including my fellow intern and now husband. FCNL has introduced me to communities and people who are now, quite literally, my family.

There have been a lot of things that have given me joy working as your Quaker Field Secretary over the past four, nearly five years now. The work has been inextricably woven with my deepening faith practice, and I have fallen in awe and in love with so many Friends.

Like me, I know you are deeply concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our community and for people around the globe. I want to assure you that FCNL is in full operation – virtually – advocating for the world we seek, especially for those whose health and economic conditions make them even more vulnerable because of this pandemic.

Our advocacy is rooted in the conviction that a better world is possible. As people of faith and conscience, we bring our deeply held beliefs into our work for policy change, and we know how important and powerful it can be to frame our advocacy in the language of our faith.

This has been an inspiring time in Washington, D.C.! We have been riveted by our baseball team, the Washington Nationals, who unexpectedly made it into the playoffs and won the World Series! I became a big fan of this team. That they won and that I became so invested is testament that change can happen.

Friend Tom Bertrand is following a long-held tradition of visitation, and a leading to invite Friends to Quaker advocacy.

In Quaker meetings and churches, meeting minutes represent the wording of a decision or an agreed upon action to be taken by the meeting or church as a whole. FCNL recognizes the vitality of minutes as advocacy tools and as a means of communicating to members of Congress how a body of their constituents is thinking and acting on a particular issue.