Section Meeting Logistics and FAQs
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- How much does it cost to participate?
- Can I get help paying for the Section Meeting?
- Can I participate in any parts of the Section Meeting for free?
- How do I pay?
- Can I cancel my registration?
- What technology do I need in order to participate in an online Section Meeting?
- Do I have to speak Spanish?
- What is the Section Meeting?
- Who can/should come to the Section Meeting?
- What happens at the Section Meeting?
- What will I get out of attending the Section Meeting?
- What preparation do I need to do for the Section Meeting?
- What is the mission of the Friends World Committee for Consultation?
- What is the purpose of FWCC?
- What do we have to share with each other?
Registration
What is the registration deadline?
The deadline to register for the Section Meeting is February 28th. Registration is not complete until payment is received.
What do I need to know before registering?
Ready to register? Before you do, you need the following:
- A valid email address (note that our system will only accept one registration for each email address)
- The appropriate registration fee (see the section regarding cost)
- Which of these two times you prefer for your home group meetings:
- 8am Pacific, 9am Mountain, 10am Central, 11am Eastern on March 13th and 9am Pacific, 10am Mountain, 11am Central, 12 noon Eastern on March 17th and 20th.
- 5pm Pacific, 6 pm Mountain, 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern
- Your top three choices for workshops (see the section on workshops)
- If you would like to facilitate an Interest Group, a 90-minute opportunity to gather with other interested Friends to discuss a topic of mutual interest, you will need to tell us the topic and/or title.
- If you would like to share music during the Section Meeting, either as part of a worship service or during our Festival of Music, you will need to tell us a bit about what type of music you would like to share!
- Choose your payment method – online with PayPal or a credit card or by sending a check
Remember that your registration is not complete until we receive your payment! The registration deadline is February 28th.
Costs
How much does it cost to participate?
The costs this year are as follows: $150 for registrants from the US and Canada, $25 for registrants from Latin America and the Caribbean, and $150 for any registrant coming from outside the Section of the Americas. There is a discounted fee of $50 available for registrants from the US and Canada who need additional support to participate, beyond what their monthly and/or yearly meetings may provide.
Can I get help paying for the Section Meeting?
It is assumed that North American yearly meetings will support their appointed Representatives’ travel to Section Meetings. Please be in contact directly with your own yearly meeting regarding how to access this support. Others wishing to attend the Section Meeting but looking for financial assistance are encouraged to speak with their monthly and yearly meetings to see if there might be funds available.
Can I participate in any parts of the Section Meeting for free?
We will be livestreaming a couple of events, which you may attend for free! Check our website at https://fwccamericas.org/_wp/event/2021-section-meeting/ for more information closer to the time.
How do I pay?
You can pay using a PayPal account, as a guest using a credit card via PayPal, or by sending a check. Please be in contact with Heather Gosse at heatherg@fwccamericas.org if you need assistance completing the registration and payment. If you are in Cuba, please contact us directly regarding registration and payment.
Can I cancel my registration?
Cancellations before February 28 will incur a $25 charge. No refunds for cancellations received after February 28.
Technology & Accessibility
What technology do I need in order to participate in an online Section Meeting?
You need an email account in order to register. You need a computer, smartphone, or other device that can handle a Zoom call to participate most fully. It is most common to connect via the internet, but you can also connect via a phone call. With a smartphone call, you can participate fully. You can use a telephone that is not a smart phone to dial in to a Zoom call for audio only. Some social or small group events may happen on another platform TBD, but the main events will occur using Zoom. If you are in Cuba, we will work to patch you in to the Zoom calls another way.
Do I have to speak Spanish?
No! Interpretation will be provided. Some small group activities will be monolingual and most musical offerings will be only in one language, but all of the larger programs, workshops, worship, etc will be accessible in both English and in Spanish.
Why the Section Meeting?
What is the Section Meeting?
The Section Meeting is the biggest conference organized by the Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas. It is held every two years. All Friends are welcome to attend! Normally we meet in person, but this year that is not possible, so we will recreate as much of the experience as we can online. The schedule includes opportunities for worship, workshops, business sessions, and small group activities. It is a great opportunity to get to know and connect with more Friends from North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean and to learn more about the Friends World Committee!
Who can/should come to the Section Meeting?
All Friends are welcome, though registration is required. Nominated representatives from each affiliated yearly meeting are expected to attend, if possible. The assembled body of the representatives is the Friends World Committee for Consultation, so we can’t do it without you!
What happens at the Section Meeting?
We gather for a combination of reasons, all with the goal of fostering and strengthening connections among Friends within the Americas. There are opportunities to worship with everyone, workshops and interest groups you can participate in, small “home groups” in which we share more deeply and work to get to know one another better, opportunities for fellowship and bible study, a meeting with others from our region within the Section, and sessions in which we conduct some necessary business of the organization.
What will I get out of attending the Section Meeting?
You will get to know Friends from across the geographic, cultural, and theological spectrum within the Americas! Our experience is that our faith and our witness are strengthened through being in community with each other, reaching out across the differences that exist among us. You will worship with this diverse group of Friends, and share with them in groups of varying sizes. You will have an opportunity to participate in one of the workshops, as well as the chance to converse with other Friends carrying shared concerns in interest groups. You will learn about and support the business of this association of Friends.
What preparation do I need to do for the Section Meeting?
You need to register and pay for this conference. If you are an official representative from your Yearly Meeting, we ask you to review the agenda and the advance documents related to the business sessions on Saturday, March 13th and Saturday, March 20th (see schedule on the website for times). We will have spiritual preparation available as well.
Why FWCC?
What is the mission of the Friends World Committee for Consultation?
Answering God’s call to universal love, FWCC brings Friends of varying traditions and cultural experiences together in worship, communications, and consultation to express our common heritage and our Quaker message to the world.
What is the purpose of FWCC?
The purpose of the Friends World Committee for Consultation is to encourage fellowship among all the branches of the Religious Society of Friends. In the Americas, the Quaker community extends from the Arctic to the Andes, spanning a rich diversity of regional cultures, beliefs, and styles of worship. FWCC Section of the Americas offers programs that unite Friends across the hemisphere through Spirit-Led fellowship.
What do we have to share with each other?
To offer to the world that which we have [Acts 3:6]
What does it mean share what we have received? It means the passing on of traditions and of new revelations about God’s will for the world. It includes sharing Quaker practices of discernment, and patterns of faithful living across the branches of Friends. It includes newer concerns like ecological sustainability and climate resiliency, and disaster preparedness locally and internationally. It includes new Light about old injustices like racism and colonial patterns of economic and social life. It also includes the holy grace of our connection to the divine, our experience of communion with the Living Christ, and the peace and fulfillment and courage that this holy connection brings to us as individuals and as a Quaker community.
The world needs this healing grace. It is part of FWCC’s responsibility to share this healing grace, new ideas, and old traditions with our siblings and cousins among Friends that we may better share our Quaker message to the world.
Contacts
Who should I contact with other questions?
For questions about registration details and payment, contact Heather Gosse. Email: heatherg@fwccamericas.org Phone: 1-215-241-7250
For questions about COAL registration, contact Karen Gregorio. Email: kareng@fwccamericas.org WhatsApp: 502-30466129
For other questions about the Section Meeting, contact Heather Gosse. Email: heatherg@fwccamericas.org Phone: 1-215-241-7250