Bulletin 09.20.2019

Quaker Religious Education Collaborative

Last June, the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) approached SCYMF to listen to our joys and challenges around Quaker Religious Education in our yearly meeting. They shared with us they were awarded a Shoemaker Grant for ongoing work with two unstaffed yearly meetings (no paid positions) and wanted to discuss if SCYMF was interested in being one of these yearly meetings they could help and support. Coordinating Committee discussed the offer and discerned this would be a good resource for us as we are a small yearly meeting and it would benefit us greatly to have access to these Quaker religious education resources.

Part of the grant was funding two representatives to be a part of their conference in Old Chatham, New York from August 9-11, 2019 and Leann Williams and Sarah Katreen Hoggatt both felt called to go.

Click here to read their report, find out what QREC is offering us, and the ways we will benefit from the grant.

Business Items for Quarterly Gathering

Action items for Quarterly Gathering, September 28, 2019, in Eugene:

Suggested simple statement of who we are for website and elsewhere: “a Christ-centered, inclusive Quaker community.” – “The Coordinating Committee would like to suggest that Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends formally approves a simple statement defining who we are to be added to our website and other fitting places. This simple statement was gleaned out of the discussions held last year during Fall and Winter Quarterly Gatherings. We recommend the following statement, and also a simple statement defining what is meant by each of the following three phrases: ‘a Christ-centered, inclusive Quaker community.’”

Recording process: change from 60-day response period to 30-day for prospective recorded ministers.

New individual members and congregations: Roy Gathercoal, Kathleen Gathercoal, Silverton Friends Church, Hillsboro Friends Church.

New members nominated to committees:

Nominating Committee: Matt Boswell (Camas) and Eric Muhr (Silverton) – 2022
Coordinating: Roy Gathercoal (North Valley) – 2022
Equity & Inclusion: Anna Scott-Hinkle (Eugene) – 2022
Quarterly Gathering: Lynette Cortez (Silverton) – 2022

Learning & Action for Equity & Inclusion

The second Monday in October is the federal holiday of Columbus Day, which some U.S. cities and states recognize as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Native people have long protested Columbus Day, pointing to the genocide and forced assimilation of the colonial project in the Americas. The movement for Indigenous Peoples’ Day “recognizes that Native people are the first inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America, and urges Americans to rethink history.” Read more here: Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking American History (Smithsonian Magazine).

What are the stories you've learned about Columbus and the “discovery” of America? What are you learning that complicates this dominant narrative? Does your city or state recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day? If not, what local groups are working toward it? Is there an Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration near you? Who are your local tribes or native-led organizations? Are they hosting any events?

From the Equity and Inclusion Committee