Bethesda Friends Meeting

Moved, in part, by the initiative of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, a group of 14 Friends met throughout the summer to read and discuss the book Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy — written by Quakers Peter G. Brown and Geoffrey Garver. The book asks “What is an economy for?” (among other questions) and explores a new economic model that combines awareness of ecological limits with a focus on fairness and spiritual well-being of the human race. Moving into autumn, we will try different ways to translate these principles into specific actions that Friends can take in the Meeting, in our families, within the community, across the region, and to work for changes in national policy. What are other Friends doing on this topic at your Meeting? We would like to hear. Email: bethesdafm@igc.org.

We were privileged to once again bring Arthur Larrabee to Baltimore Yearly Meeting for a one-day workshop on Quaker Process as it applies to both Meeting for Business and Committee Meetings. Arthur does not just lecture, but brings the participants into the discussion. We were also fortunate to have a variety of Friends from various Meetings who were willing to share their experiences and questions with the group and Arthur. We discussed many things but prominently among them were “shared expectations,” “the goal of Friends’ decisions: a Spirit-led sense of the Meeting of what God wants us to do,” and a sense of “unity rather than unanimity.” It was a rich day for us and we thank all who attended!

Bethesda formed an ad hoc committee to recommend ways our Meeting might implement the Minute sent to Yearly Meeting in May of 2008 in response to BYM’s request for advice about association with Friends United Meeting. The committee has met five times and has consulted several of the standing committees of Bethesda as well as individuals from other Meetings in both dual membership Yearly Meetings and in FUM-only Yearly Meetings. We are mindful that our challenge includes the need for both external and internal dialogue. We seek new and more fruitful ways to sustain — or enhance — our relationships within the wider Quaker community, as we are clear we grow in Spirit from these relationships. Yet we are not comfortable being affiliated, through our membership in BYM, with an organization whose policies are inconsistent with what we understand to be one of the fundamental testimonies of Friends. At the same time, we also are exploring how our Meeting can be more welcoming and inclusive internally. As one Friend suggested when consulted about opportunities to build relationships with Monthly Meetings in FUM, “our goal should not be to know people but to love people — after all, how well do we really know ourselves?”