News Feed :: South Central Yearly Meeting

If ICE Comes to Your Meeting

By Friends General Conference, March 20, 2025

What should you do if ICE comes to your Quaker Meeting? Know your rights. If ICE officials question you, you may decline to answer questions until you have legal counsel. Tap the link in our Bio to view the Congregational Guide for churches dealing with ICE. This document was created by Rev. Minna Bothwell with input from legal experts.

https://docs.google.com/.../1Vg2hIh6f3uJFz_Sk.../edit...

The Congregational Guide offers practical advice for greeters and childcare workers, in the event that Homeland Security approaches your Quaker meeting. It also shows how an ICE authorization form differs from a judicial warrant. Help your community to be proactively prepared! Did you know that authorization forms from ICE do NOT grant the right to enter private property without consent? If you find that this document is useful, please share it with people you know.

Document credits: Rev. Minna Bothwell. "Welcoming, Protecting, and Preparing: A Congregational Guide." Capitol Hill Lutheran Church, ELCA, 2025. There are no restrictions on this document's use for faith communities.

Quaker Suit to Prevent ICE in Our Meetings and more

By Liz Yeats, February 25, 2025

Friends across the country are doing many things to resist the attempts of the present administration to violate the rights of people in the United States. SCYM has joined with other Yearly Meetings and congregations in a suit filed against the Department of Homeland Security blocking the Trump administration's policy that permitted indiscriminate immigration enforcement actions in houses of worship. The latest news from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting follows:

"The case PYM and our neighboring yearly meetings filed against the Department of Homeland Security has taken a big step forward! The U.S. District Court of Maryland ruled in our favor by blocking the Trump administration’s policy that permitted indiscriminate immigration enforcement actions in houses of worship. This preliminary injunction is a crucial step in upholding the right of all people to worship without fear. However, the ruling applies only to the plaintiffs and is a temporary action. Even so, we are encouraged as it sets a strong precedent as the case moves forward.
This suit is a single step in a march toward seeking justice in the current state in our country. There may be more that is ours to do. Meetings can support the lawsuit in different ways. They can also begin the powerful Quaker practice of discernment, seeking possible next steps."

Use the links in PhYM's text to see ways PhYM suggests for Friends to discern further steps. See below for more suggestions for action.

2025 SCYM Workshop Submissions

By Liz Yeats, February 10, 2025

2025 SCYM Workshop Submissions

We invite you to submit a proposal for workshops that align with our theme, "Creating Collective Integrity Through Personal Experience." This theme explores how our personal struggles, actions, and leadings can inspire positive change within our communities and beyond. Workshops should reflect on how individual experiences contribute to shared responsibility and collective action, fostering integrity in our personal and communal lives. Whether your focus is spiritual reflection, practical action, or creative expression, we welcome diverse ideas to inspire and empower the SCYM community.
Due date for workshop proposals: 4/1/25 - Click "Read more" for the workshop submission form if you do not see it below.

Holding SCYM Friends in the Light

January 18, 2020

2/20/25
Please hold Andrea Beane in the Light. She fell and broke her ankle earlier this week and spent several days in the hospital. She needs surgery but she is home in her home in Abiquiu, NM, being cared for by friends and neighbors. She needs to wait until the swelling goes down before surgery. She returns to see the doctor on Tuesday and hopes the swelling will be down then. Her spirits are good although she got a bit bored in the hospital. She would appreciated calls, texts and emails. Please hold her in the Light for the best possible outcome.

1/28/25 - Pam writes that her eye is mostly improving and a plan is in place to continue the healing. She writes further that:
"I'm not driving since my vision is so unclear. That's okay. No real place to be that Danny can't take me. Thank you all for your kind notes, calls and concern, prayers and chants and wishful thinking. You are all very precious to me and Danny.
In the Light,
Pam"
1/25/25
Please hold Pam Arnold in the Light. She had cataract surgery on her right eye last week which has affected the retina in that eye. It will require further surgery in the coming week before she can have cataract surgery in her other eye. Please hold Pam and her husband Danny in the Light for the best possible outcome.
Pam doesn't text but welcomes calls and emails. You can find her contact information in the SCYM online directory if you have a website login or you can contact liz.yeats@scym.org for the information.
(Lacking a photo of Pam Arnold I am posting a photo of her cousin Patsy who often comes to SCYM Annual Sessions. We'll hope that Pam doesn't have to wear Patsy's glasses after her surgeries are complete. - with a smile and apology Liz Yeats)

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

By Liz Yeats, September 25, 2024

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?"

Letting Your Life Speak

By Liz Yeats, August 3, 2024

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

By Liz Yeats, March 7, 2024

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.