Peace & Social Concerns

The NPYM Peace and Social Concerns Committee exists to “Support Peace and Social Concerns of Meetings, Worship Groups, and Individuals in NPYM.” Our Clerk is Susan Cozzens (Eastside) and our members for 2023-24 are Nora Barker (Eugene), Susan Cozzens (Eastside), Verna Lilly (Tacoma), and Theo Mace (South Seattle). Our official NPYM job description is here. Our reports to Annual Session for the last few years are here. 

We maintain a list of PSC contacts for monthly meetings and worship groups (MWGs). About half of the NPYM MWGs have designated contacts. If you want to check on whether yours is on the list, contact your clerk or our committee (psc-clerk@npym.org). We welcome new, updated, or additional contacts. 

We occasionally host online information sessions on ways Friends are carrying out their social concerns. For example, 

• In May, 2024, we hosted "Talking with Each Other about Israel and Palestine: An opportunity for Friends in the Northwest to share."  The session started with two presentations:

-- Paul Parker, former Principal of the High School (grades 6-12) at Ramallah Friends School; member of Eugene Friends Church

        "Israel and Palestine: Precursors to War -- Hurdles for Peace"     

-- Eva Otto, Clerk of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of University Friends Meeting, Seattle

         "Israel, Palestine, and the Fog of War"

Small group worship sharing followed the presentations. In addition to the presentations themselves, a recording will be available. Additional resources from Friends organizations on Israel/Palestine issues appear here. 

• In November 2023, we hosted a session with Hellen Lunkuse Tanyinga, co-founder and co-clerk of Bulungi Tree Shade Friends Meeting in Jinja, Uganda. The persecution of LGBTQi people in Uganda has impacted them greatly, A worship group leader was murdered, nine members were taken in by police and tortured, and many have had to flee their homes and employment. Some have been assisted in leaving the country by the Friends Ugandan Safe Transport (FUST). A project of Olympia Friends Meeting, to date FUST has helped 3,010 LGBTQi people (and a few allies and children) flee. A video of the session is available here. 

If you want to share a project or event in this way, please contact the committee clerk at psc-clerk@npym.org. 

We regularly offer Sharing Sessions to give MWGs a place to share their experiences and resources in social concerns areas.  

• In December, 2022, we hosted a session on housing and homelessness, inviting others from the Western yearly meetings to join us. The presenters were Chris Ferguson (Tacoma), Jon Betz-zall (University), and Ralph Gillam (Multnomah), plus others who shared from other meetings. Notes from that session are available here and a video here. 

• In April, 2023, we hosted a session on what Friends were doing to implement the Minute of Support for Indigenous People adopted by Annual Session in 2022. Presenters were Linnea Wang (for MGOF), Carla Main (Port Townsend), and Jill Hoyenga (Eugene), plus others who shared what their meetings were doing. Materials shared in that session are available here. 

In 2021-22, we held two sessions:

- Native American Support, April 25, 2022. Notes are available here. 

- Policing and Prisons, September 27, 2021. Notes are available here. Western Friend magazine hosted a follow-on session on prisons and detention centers for Quakers in the West on October 25. The Quaker State-level Legislative Action Network followed in February with a national-level dialogue focused on prison-related action in state legislatures. 

These topics for sharing sessions were chosen based on a survey among Meetings and Worship Groups in the Fall of 2020 to see what issues they were working on, as meetings or individuals. In 2020-21, we held Sharing Sessions on three other issues: Earthcare, Immigrant Support, and Racial Justice. Notes from those sessions also appear in our Stored folder in the NPYM Google Drive. 

All are welcome to join the Sharing Sessions. On request, Susan is happy to set up additional Zoom sessions on other issues on which Friends would like to share across NPYM the actions they are taking.  

NPYM-affiliated national PSC organizations 

Our charge from NPYM includes convening NPYM's representatives to national peace and social concerns organizations. These are currently AFSC, FCNL, Friends Peace Teams, and QEW. Notes from our meeting with those representatives in September 2020 are in the PSC Stored folder. 

AFSC (American Friends Service Committee): https://www.afsc.org. Regular Wednesday briefings on action in specific AFSC programs appear on its Facebook page. 

FCNL (Friends Committee on National Legislation): fcnl.org. Look for their regular events, which include Thursdays with Friends and Quaker Changemakers. 

Friends Peace Teams: https://friendspeaceteams.org/.  FPT offers regular online training sessions on right relationships with Native people and on spiritual nurture, and is beginning some in-person workshops. See Upcoming Events – Friends Peace Teams. 

QEW (Quaker Earthcare Witness): https://www.quakerearthcare.org/. For actions you or your Meeting might take, check the section of their web site on Fossil Free Friends.