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Except for a few reprinted old documents, articles on this site are copyrighted by the author, and may not be reprinted without permission. You are, however, free to link to any article or page on this site without prior permission although it's nice to know who's linking to us.  Bill Samuel Webservant QuakerInfo.com  |
Friends United Meeting and the
Dually Affiliated Yearly Meetings (Last updated December 10, 2007) Friends United Meeting (FUM) is the largest organizational representation of the strain of Friends stemming from the Orthodox side of the great Orthodox-Hicksite schism among North American Friends in 1827-28. During the middle part of the 20th century, interest among some Friends in bridging the divisions among Friends resulted in five yearly meetings assuming dual membership in both FUM and Friends General Conference (FGC), the organizational heir to the Hicksite side of the schism. These are Baltimore, Canadian, New England, New York and Southeastern Yearly Meetings. These are all in North America, while the majority of FUM's membership is in East Africa. For a number of years, there have been tensions related to perspectives widely held in the dually affiliated yearly meetings but not commonly held in the yearly meetings solely affiliated with FUM. Some of these tensions relate to different faith understandings, particularly with respect to Christology and approaches to scripture. However, the issue which has been in the forefront of dialogue between representatives of these five yearly meetings and the rest of FUM has been the issue of homosexuality, specifically in relation to FUM's personnel policy that staff should not engage in sexual relations except in marriage, understood as being between one man and one woman. There has been growing resistance within the dually affiliated yearly meetings to support of FUM, as long as FUM retained their personal policy, which the concerned Friends view as discriminating against gay and lesbian Friends. In Baltimore Yearly Meeting, this led to the suspension of membership contributions to FUM in 2005. These differences were highlighted at the historic FUM February 2007 General Board meeting in Kenya, the first joint meeting of the North American and East African Boards of FUM. The Board reaffirmed the Richmond Declaration of Faith, the historic Orthodox Friends statement of faith which has long been an official faith statement of FUM (although member yearly meetings are not required to adopt the Declaration). Five Board members from dually affiliated yearly meetings asked to be recorded as standing aside from that decision. While no minute was recorded on the matter of the personnel policy, some speakers at the Board meeting vehemently denounced homosexuality, and some Board members representing dually affiliated yearly meetings came away with the feeling that there would be no movement on this issue in the next few years and that discussion of it would be discouraged. The FUM General Board is helding a retreat July 16-18 on its identity, facilitated by Johan Maurer and Rebecca Mays. This retreat preceded the annual sessions of the remaining (since Southeastern suspended its membership) four dually affiliated yearly meetings. This Web page is to provide information and views, mainly through links, regarding the controversy about the Board actions. I have seen several reports of representatives to the Board meeting that are not linked here because they are not on public Web sites at this time. If the authors are willing to make such reports available, I would be willing to put them up on this site. I intend to update this page from time to time. Please email me with reports of further actions by yearly meetings and letting me know of links that might be usefully added here. Note that the Other Views entries include blog links which often include comments on the blog entries from people with a variety of views. -Bill Samuel
Reports and Actions of and to Official Friends BodiesFUM Press Release summarizing the February 2007 FUM General Board meetingSoutheastern Yearly MeetingReport to Southeastern YM by Lisa Stewart, Representative to FUMSoutheastern Yearly Meeting 2007 sessions minute: 07YBM15 SEYM is in unity in declaring that our Yearly Meeting has entered a period of transformation with regard to our membership in Friends United Meeting. We acknowledge great pain and struggle within our body and, as we have heard, among other members of F.U.M. as well, over this process and we strive to hold each other in love and Light as we labor. New York Yearly MeetingReport on Friends United Meeting from the NYYM Representatives to FUM, April 2007NOTE: The minutes of the 2007 annual sessions of New York Yearly Meeting do not report any discussion of the relationship between the Yearly Meeting and FUM. The only action relative to FUM reported in the minutes was appointment of representatives to the FUM Board. Baltimore Yearly MeetingReport to BYM Concerning FUM, By John Smallwood & Rachel Stacy, BYM Reps to FUM, August 2007From Baltimore Yearly Meeting 2007 Epistle: Over the past year, our new General Secretary, Riley Robinson, has interacted with Friends United Meeting (FUM) in a variety of contexts. As an openly gay man, he might have wondered how he would be received. His reports on these meetings have consistently challenged our assumptions about others in FUM and opened us to the richness and complexity of the FUM community. We are grateful for the respect with which he has been received. Also, we are deeply blessed by his dedication, hard work, and the depth of his spiritual gifts. Canadian Yearly MeetingI have nothing from Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) relating to the controversy about actions at the Kenya FUM Board Meeting. CYM sent no representatives to that meeting. However, CYM has had a Consultation and Renewal Working Group which has considered many matters concerning the future of CYM, including its representation on wider bodies. It made its final report in March 2007, which is to be considered at CYM sessions in August. This is from that report:L. Representation on Wider Bodies Other ViewsGrowing Together in the Light blogNOTE: This is the blog of Will T., a New England Yearly Meeting representative to FUM.
Can you believe? blogNOTE: This is the blog of Johan Maurer, a former General Secretary of FUM now a part of Northwest Yearly Meeting, which is not a part of FUM.
The Seed Lifting Up blogNOTE: This is the blog of Zach, a Friend from Boston.Early Report on NEYM and FUM (August 6, 2007) That God blogNOTE: This is the blog of Claire, a Young Adult Friend from North Carolina, who sojourns in Massachusetts 9 months a year.FUM +/- NEYM, Some Queries raised in the light blogNOTE: This is the blog of Anna, a Young Adult Friend from New York Yearly Meeting.Out of the Silence There is a Voice Calling A Friendly Letter blogNOTE: This is the blog of Chuck Fager, long-time commentator on matters relating to the Society of Friends and long-time critic of FUM.Wrestling With A Roomful Of Elephants: FUM After Kenya |
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