South Central Yearly Meeting

Religious Society of Friends

Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas


2024 SCYM Representative Meeting - ONLINE- All Welcome

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2024 SCYM Representative Meeting (RM) will take place November 22-23 (Online). RM is a time for all of us to gather for fellowship and worship, deal with mid-year business matters, and hear from the Yearly Meeting Planning Committee and the Quarterly Meeting Adult Planning Committee about our upcoming Annual Sessions, April 17-20, 2025.
There is no need to register for RM. The schedule and Zoom link will be available here closer to the date. 


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Being a Quaker Today: Nurturing Our Soul, Brightening Our Light, and Acting on Our Faith

 
SCYM’s 2024 Annual Sessions ended Sunday with Friends departing with great memories of over a hundred Friends being together among the bluebonnets! You can read all about it!

2024 SCYM Epistle to Friends Everywhere

2024 SCYM Youth Epistle

SCYM 2024 Gaza Cease-Fire Minute

SCYM 2024 Minute on Unhoused People

SCYM 2024 Minute on Indian Boarding Schools
2024 SCYM Annual Sessions Minutes
SCYM 2024 State of the Yearly Meeting Report

A highlight at 2024 Sessions was looking at our draft Faith and Practice which you can read here. Yearly Meeting was a great opportunity for Friends to let the Faith and Practice Committee know their thoughts and feelings about the draft or some portion of it.

Go to 2024 Documents to see all the documents from the meeting. 

This year’s theme encouraged Friends to challenge each other to go back to the root of our faith to re-discover what it means to be a Friend in today's society and how our faith inspires us for future action. 

  • What do we Quakers do to be an example of faith in society? 
  • What can groups, or individuals, do in their daily lives, local, national, or international responses? 
  • How do Quakers demonstrate and be a visible example out in the community?

We were fortunate to have Pamela Haines, from Philadelphia, as a presenter. You can find out more about Pamela and her work here. She will help us address our theme which was purposely chosen to encourage any Friend wishing to share their work or inspiration with the community. Click "read more" to see about workshops offering a workshop.

To see a statement from Pamela Haines and her short bio, click on "Read more"


Spiritual Refreshment for the Long Haul

Sunday, April 2 to Wednesday, April 5 online for everyone.
Thursday, April, 6 to Sunday, April 9 at Greene Family Camp (Bruceville TX) with some events also available online.
 

2023 SCYM Epistle to Friends Everywhere

SEE Most DOCUMENTS FOR THE MEETING HERE
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Documents in Advance & Presented During the Meeting:

2022 Representative Meeting Minutes (with links to the reports)

(click "Read more" for direct links to the reports brought forward during the meeting including the 2022 SCYM Annual Sessions Minutes)
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Led by Faith to Work for Justice

Online April 10-13
In person at Greene Family Camp and online April 14-17

2022 SCYM Epistle to Friends Everywhere

2022 Youth Program Committee Epistle

2022 SCYM Annual Meeting Minutes

(for more documents from the meeting and about the program, click "Read more".

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Loving in the Light: Quaker Response in Times of Crisis, Part II
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Our 2021 Keynote Speaker is Eileen Flanagan, a Quaker author, speaker, and online teacher, whose lessons on spiritually-grounded non-violent activism have reached thousands.
Below are all the attachments and the minutes from both sessions of 2020 RM 1 and 2.

For more news . . .

See the newsfeed page

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9/28/24
Please hold Friends Tina and John Coffin in the Light.  Tina fell Thursday evening and had surgery Friday to address a broken femur bone.  Their daughter traveled to Little Rock Friday evening.  At the present moment, food is not needed, but your pastoral care and prayers are appreciated.  

7/22/24
Please hold Lon Burnam in the LIght as he appeals his civil rights having been violated by being banned from Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Danielle Evans informs us that Lon Burnam, member of Fort Worth Monthly Meeting, has been using his right to speak up in court. According to WFAA (the local ABC news):
Former State Rep. Lon Burnam has also been banned from the commissioner's court. He confronted Judge O'Hare about this July 2nd exchange with Commissioner Alisa Simmons. As she asked a county official to provide copies of the Tarrant County Jail operating procedures, Judge O'Hare interrupted her and started banging his gavel so she could not be heard. 
"The Chair has not recognized your right to speak," said O'Hare. 
After adjournment for recess to enter executive session, Burnam approached O'Hare to express his dislike about him not recognizing Simmons.
"For him to continually step on and over her to me is just unacceptable," said Burnam, "And I went up and told him exactly what I thought."
Deputies escorted Burnam from the administration building. Several days later, Burnam says two deputies served him a trespass warning at his home. It names O'Hare as the reporting person. The trespass warning does not specify a time frame for banning him from the commissioner's court. 

The photo above is of Tarrant County Sherriffs presenting a trespassing warning to Lon at his door July 9. (photo credit to Lon)

6/18/24
Please hold Claudia Wilson in the Light. She has been evacuated from her home in Ruidoso NM because of fires. Fort Worth Friends are in touch and she tells them after a night in an evacuation center she and a neighbor are getting a hotel room. They don’t know the fate of their homes. Please hold them in the Light for the best possible outcome.

4/26/24
Please hold Tina Coffin in the Light. She broke her arm at the elbow earlier this week and is home recovering. 

2/26/24
Please hold Claudia Wilson in the Light. She broke her pelvis while at her home in New Mexico. She is in the hospital and says they will send her to a rehab facility for further healing as she gets better. Fort Worth Meeting Friends are in touch and offering support and Claudia has her former partner and neighbors in NM who are helping on site. She would love to hear from Friends via text (682-472-6770) or email (claudiawwilson@gmail.com). Please limit calls to aid in healing. Hold her in the Light for healing and the best outcome. 


Friends Peace Teams News

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Read the Friend Peace Team's  Peaceways 2024 and Epistle

Reflect on the annual  FPT query:
"Justice and peace are possible!
What sustains your faith in justice and peace in the face of violence and war?
What brings you hope, joy, and resilience?"

Friends Peace Teams 2024 Annual Gathering
Celebrating 30 Years! Everyone Welcome!

13 - 16 November 2024 ONLINE​​​​​​​
Info and Registration

 


Letting Your Life Speak

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Are you a student asking deep questions about who you are and how to live and work in alignment with your values? This 2-afternoon virtual workshop, from 1-4 p.m. ET August 13 and August 14, sponsored by Friends Place on Capitol Hill and led by Beacon Hill Friends House will offer you an opportunity to explore those questions in community with peers. It is especially geared toward students interested in careers in social action and public service. The cost to participate in the workshop is $75. RSVP at: https://www.friendsplacedc.org/event/letting-your-life-speak  


2024 SCYM Youth Program - Share Your Light

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The Youth Program Support Committee is working hard to prepare a wonderful program for children and young Friends at annual sessions. The Youth program needs teachers and part-time volunteers. You do not need to be a professional teacher to qualify. Please consider these opportunities for yourself if you are planning to attend this year and pass this message on to others in your monthly meeting or worship group. To get more info email Erika Mittag at erika.mittag(at)gmail.com or Howard Hawhee at howardhawhee(at)gmail.com. To sign up to volunteer go to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uymxr7QlNOJ2ZyMqeHNM8mOzZLjD2YcYFCkDij9uP0Q/edit.


SCYM Gifts of Service to Our Spiritual Community

Each of us has gifts of service that are needed in SCYM to fill a variety of roles. The  SCYM Gifts of Service to Our Spiritual Community Form lists yearly meeting committees, representatives, and roles that make our yearly meeting run. While not all positions currently have vacancies, your indications will allow the Nominating Committee to know of your interest. Please fill out this form and follow the directions on it to return it to the Nominating Committee.

Gifts of Service to Our Spiritual Community Form


Friends General Conference (FGC) announces a January 18-21 Online Conference: "In these changing times..."

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Save the DatesRegistration is Open 
Join Friends from across North America in seeking what messages Spirit offers us as we explore Spirit led growth and transformation. We will have time to deepen our spiritual lives, share ideas across yearly meetings and explore new ones as we meet online.

The dates are January 18-21, 2024 online only.

The program includes four main components that were lifted by yearly meeting clerks, focus group members and additional Friends:

  • Connection to Spirit
  • Becoming an Actively Anti-racist Faith Community
  • Changing Structures for Changing Times
  • The Future of the Religious Society of Friends.  

For more info go to: https://www.fgcquaker.org/event/gathering-anew-2024/?sd=1705554000  

Registration is Open


Quaker Religious Education Collaborative invites all to join them for a free Online Practice and Discussion Group led by Nadine Hoover and Beth Collea
The group meets monthly to enrich adult Quaker Religious Education for ourselves and our meetings/churches. Each month will open with worship and a message from the book Walking in the World as a Friend: Essential Quaker Practices (available on the QREC website). Then, we will hold worship sharing to hear from each person, followed by a discussion on any questions, reflections, or implications for us as Friends, and close with worship. We may discuss practices, such as journaling, spiritual companions, and faith and practice or scripture study, that help us and our meetings/churches.
Monday, January 8, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time
Experiences of the Living Spirit and the Role of the Minister (pp 27-30 or relevant videos) 
Monday, February 12, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time 
Experiment with Spirit and the Role of the Steward (pp 35-37 or relevant videos)
Monday, March 11, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time
Essential Quaker Structures as an Ecology of Practices (pp 45-58 or relevant videos) 


Zoom Link for 2023 Representative Meeting

Topic: SCYM 2023 Representative Meeting

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89853107161?pwd=N2tDaENCMExIUXZ4Mi95V3JYSHNmdz09

Meeting ID: 898 5310 7161
Passcode: 2023rm


Friends Ugandan Safe Transport Information

SCYM has made donations to Friends Ugandan Safe Transport - FUST for many years now. Don Satterthwaite sent the following three documents after SCYM 2023 so Friends can know more about the situation for homosexual people in Uganda and what Friends are doing to help. 

Uganda FUST - Resources and Program Information

ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL PENALTIES –SUMMARY 

Status report on Ugandan anti-homosexual legislation for SCYM 2023 


Great News from SCYM Faith and Practice Committee

Dear SCYM'ers:

The first draft of our SCYM Faith and Practice is now ready for your review. There will be a workshop at 2023 SCYM Annual Sessions in which Friends can ask questions of the committee and bring suggestions for editing. We will not be asking for a decision to adopt this as our Faith and Practice at this time. 

Friends should know that this document has been a long time coming with the work of many Friends. Let us express gratitude to the committee that has worked hard to bring it to us and the many others who participated in this process along the way.

Now it is all of our responsibility to review it and discern if it reflects the faith and practice of the meetings in South Central Yearly Meeting. See the SCYM Faith and Practice draft here

John Coffin, Committee clerk
Little Rock Friends Meeting


Tina Coffin Retires from the "Carillon"

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Oklahoma/Arkansas Quarterly Meeting celebrated Tina Coffin's long years publishing The Carillon at their Quarterly Meeting this fall. Two members of the Quarter, LaDeana Mullinix and Sue Garzon, wrote new lyrics to a familiar tune to celebrate. 

Tina's Song


"The Secret to True Communication" by J. E. McNeil

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Former Houston native and Quaker activist, J.E. McNeil prides herself on her ability to bridge the regional, cultural, and political divides in the United States—the ability, as she puts it, to speak both NASCAR and NPR. So she created a program that teaches others how to communicate with people of different ideological persuasions. As she says, "You can't start persuading people until you're actually communicating." 

Watch the video here.

If you don't already know about Quaker Speak Videos, this is great time to view this one and others. You can find the whole archive of videos here