At Love Con, we made a video for the It Gets Better project. Check it out!
Some BYFNs (BYM Young Friends Newsletter) from last year are now available online! Check them out here.
Friday August 6, 2010
In light of the recently read and proposed “Minute on FUM Financing,” Young Friends decided to hold a threshing session as a method to explore and gauge the opinions held by our community. The threshing session was held on August 6, 2010 on the topic of the relationship between Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Friends United Meeting.
Young Friends found that, like the greater BYM community, a range of conflicting opinions arose. Some Young Friends felt less acquainted with the history of BYM and FUM, and others were simply undecided. Nevertheless, we feel strongly about taking part in this conversation. We feel that engaging in dialogue with FUM about their discriminatory policies is paramount to maintaining a healthy relationship with FUM without compromising our commitment to equality. We recognize that this is a sensitive topic and therefore feel led to emphasize that Quaker process is the only way to find unity on this difficult issue.
Members of our community are unsettled by the implication of the minute that funds are required for BYM to have a working relationship with FUM. Young Friends also raised the concern that the financial support of FUM is viewed as equal to the spiritual support of FUM and all of its decisions. We questioned whether money as a form of support only seems so important because perhaps we are not being as supportive in other ways. Friends considered that financial support alone cannot communicate BYM’s reservations about FUM’s policies.
Some would say that FUM’s policy of discrimination renders them unworthy of our spiritual fellowship, but does that mean we shouldn’t love them? Young Friends posed this question to ourselves. We found that accepting those who don’t accept everyone is difficult, but we concluded that loving and accepting others is at the core of our values. In light of this, Young Friends found that above all, we implore the community to approach each other, FUM, and this issue in a spirit of compassion.
The shrubbery was housed in an uncanny but eventually proven dwelling area as certain building trim and water removal hardware aided in the seating and comfort offered by the shrub. The seating was very important feature of this particular shrub, without this seating it would be harder to see who was coming, and to be in an almost upright position which helped us almost immediately spring up and aid our teammates in the capture and disposal of unwanted persons. Also it prevented our butts from getting dirty which is something that should not in anyway be overlooked.
