Partnerships - Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas

“As Way Opens” Now Available!

“When the path ahead suddenly clears, will you be ready to step forward?”

We are pleased to announce the publication of As Way Opens, a new collection of spiritual reflections born out of the FWCC Section of the Americas meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, March 2025. This book is the first product of our newly formed partnership with Barclay Press, working together to bring Quaker voices into greater circulation.

What is "As Way Opens?"

In these talks — given by Ana Gabriela Castañeda Aguilera and Debbie Humphries — two Quaker-rooted voices invite us into deeper reflection on “way opening” moments. They share stories and insights about listening, discerning, and preparing for times when the Spirit invites us to act. Through their wisdom we are reminded that preparation is not passive waiting, but an ongoing cultivation of courage, clarity, and openness.

As the back cover describes:

“In these talks … two voices rooted in Quaker tradition invite reflection on preparing for moments when ‘way opens.’ They share stories and spiritual wisdom, guiding readers to stay grounded, listen closely, and discern when to act, reminding us that preparation means cultivating courage, clarity, and openness to the Spirit’s call.”

We believe this work will speak to Friends and seekers alike — to those who reflect on times of transition, pivot, or call, and to those longing for guidance on how to walk faithfully when the path ahead is uncertain.

How donors can receive a copy

Because this is a special publication, we are making As Way Opens available as a thank-you gift to those who support FWCC with a donation of US $50 or more. Donors at or above that level will receive a mailed copy of the book, along with a note of thanks and our hopes that it will serve as spiritual support in their journey.

If you are interested in receiving a copy through your donation, please click the button below.

Books and Resources Donor Appreciation

Young Adult Friends Section Meeting Retreat Report

Young Adult Friends (YAFs, ages 18-35) serve a vital role in the health of the Quaker community. They carry the weighty responsibility of the future of Quakerism. They provide a bridge for Junior Friends to step into the larger Meeting. They bring energy and vibrance to gatherings. They steward what it means to be a Quaker.

Hosting opportunities for YAFs to be with one another builds a collective identity of Quakerism for this generation and becomes a foundation for what Quakerism will become. It also offers YAFs opportunities to engage with people going through similar experiences and learn to navigate those challenges from a place of inner light.

YAFs from across the Section of the Americas (SOA) were blessed with a unique and historic opportunity which was made possible by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). In March, 18 YAFs from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, and Bolivia gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona for three days leading up to the SOA Annual Section Meeting. This gathering was the first of its kind, and was inspired by the spirit of connection sparked at the YAF Gathering prior to the World Plenary last August. It marked a powerful moment of cross-cultural fellowship and spiritual deepening among young Friends.

YAFs were grounded in their shared belief of honoring the light within each of us while celebrating the unique facets of our local, regional, and national expressions of our faith. The first activity together was to establish the following intentions to aid the navigation of this diversity.

To learn and respect the differences between our cultures and worship / Para aprender y respetar las diferencias entre nuestras culturas y adoración
Speak on behalf of yourself – use ‘I’ statements / Habla en nombre de ti mismo – usa declaraciones ‘Yo’
Seek unity in our diversity / Buscar unidad en nuestra diversidad
We’re learning from God through each other / Estamos aprendiendo de Dios el uno a través del otro
Every experience is unique and valued / Cada experiencia es única y valorada
Enjoy being in each other’s presence / Disfruta de estar en presencia del otro
In building trust with one another, we learn how to share our light / Al construir confianza entre nosotros, aprendemos a compartir nuestra luz

YAFs deepened their spiritual bonds through a rich tapestry of shared experiences. Throughout the gathering, YAFs stepped into roles of leadership by guiding workshops, facilitating worship, and greeting the day together on peaceful sunrise hikes. A memorable excursion to the Desert Botanical Garden, led by two gracious friends from Phoenix Monthly Meeting, offered a space for reflection and connection with the natural world. With open hearts and willing hands, YAFs also gave back to the Phoenix Meeting community, providing much-needed yard care for its smaller, aging congregation. YAFs led the entire community in worship on the final day of the Section Meeting—an experience many described as spiritually moving and left a lasting impression on all who were present.

What young Friends do now shapes the future of Quakerism. Opportunities for YAFs to connect amongst themselves are crucial for the discernment of their identity and emboldens the brilliance of Quakerism for generations to come. This event is just one instance of the commitment that FWCC has in supporting YAFs around the world to honor their presence, engagement, and visibility.

Inspired by the depth of connection and shared spirit they experienced, YAFs left the gathering with a renewed commitment to strengthening their bonds and expanding their presence within the wider Quaker community across the Section of the Americas. While this may have been the first event of its kind, it is clear it will not be the last. The seeds planted in Scottsdale are already taking root, and are nurturing a growing movement of young Friends ready to walk together in faith, friendship, and service.

Meg Cody

Loving our Neighbours across the 49th Parallel: Conversation with Friends across our Common Border

As a part of Canadian Yearly Meeting sessions, Glenn Morison of Winnipeg Monthly Meeting and Co-Clerk of the Representative Engagement Program Group of the Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas, organized an online Special Interest Group on June 13, 2025 called:

“Loving our Neighbours across the 49th Parallel: Conversation with Friends across our Common Border“

After a Welcome from Glenn and an explanation of the gathering by Glenn, Evan Welkin, FWCC Americas Executive Secretary (North Pacific Yearly Meeting), offered a reflection on the work of FWCC to build bridges and cross cultures among Friends, including through the initiative of World Quaker Day which takes place the 1st Sunday of October every year. This year, October 5, 2025, World Quaker Day’s theme is on Galatians 5:14: “Love your neighbour as yourself” There are resources to host WQD events in your meeting here and a further reflection from FWCC General Secretary Tim Gee on the theme here in this month’s issue of Friends Journal.

Glenn Morison then shared a bit more about his motivation for hosting this event as a frequent traveler to and from the United States from Canada, and how the current political situation has deeply affected him. He referenced an experience at the recent FWCC Section of the Americas meeting in which he felt called to minister about the relationship between the US and Canada and an Executive Committee member from FWCC said a delegation might come to Canadian Yearly Meeting to speak to this concern.

Chuck Schobert, a Friend from Madison, Wisconsin and member of the FWCC Americas Executive Committee, spoke about his experience of making apologies as a US citizen travelling abroad, and offered his apologies to those gathered during the gathering. He spoke of the need to resist unjust policies and also of reaching out directly to offer a different message.

After some Introduction of queries for consideration in our breakout rooms, Friends divided into mixed groups with US and Canadians to consider:

What is your name, where do you live and what is your special interest in being here?

Given the reality that Canada – USA relations are the worst they have been since the Pig War of 1859, what is on your heart? What are your fears and hopes? How does this impact you at your deepest levels?

On both sides of the border there have been people who have reported that the current climate has impacted the usual relations between Friends who tend towards a quietest approach and those who lean towards a more activist expression in their life and meeting. Is your meeting impacted by the current political climate? If so, in which ways? And how can we uphold one another in such a situation?

Considering the strained relations between Canada and the USA, what are your thoughts, fears, and hopes? Kazu Haga, a practitioner of Kingian Nonviolence and restorative justice, reminds us that “human beings are not the problem. It is the actions we take, shaped by our life experiences, which are influenced by our culture and larger systems beyond our control. We need to fight the structures and mechanisms that perpetuate harm. To change them, we must understand individual stories and the systems influencing them.” How can we listen to our neighbours’ stories and understand the systems that affect them?

bell hooks, a feminist teacher and theorist, states, “beloved community is formed not by eradicating differences, but by affirming them, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” How can we work towards creating a beloved community in our daily lives?

We closed the gathering with some brief reflections on the experience and an overall sense of thanks for the opportunity to have the conversation.

Dialogue Peace

Building the Future as Way Opens: Reflecting on our 2025 Section Meeting

Gathering of Friends from the 2025 Section Meeting

From March 20–23, 2025, 145 Friends gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona and 30 more connected online for the FWCC Section of the Americas Meeting. We came from all across the Americas and beyond, including the largest Latin America delegation in recent memory. Friends traveled from their homes in Bolivia, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States—to be together in the Spirit and celebrate our diversity in fellowship. The theme of our gathering, “Building the Future as Way Opens,” was drawn from Isaiah 43:19: “Look, I am doing something new! Now it emerges; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the desert and rivers in the wasteland.”

And we truly saw something new emerge among us.

Throughout our time together, worship set the heartbeat of our days. Each morning began with early worship—quiet, grounded, Spirit-led. We experienced rich and diverse forms of worship led by Latin American Friends, Conservative Friends, and Young Adult Friends. Each voice, each style, was a reminder of how our varied spiritual practices all seek and serve the same Divine source.

Bible study sessions opened the scriptures in new ways, inviting us to listen with fresh ears and softened hearts. Home groups offered a space to reflect, laugh, and share stories across languages and backgrounds. In these small circles, we grew in our understanding of one another—not just intellectually, but spiritually and as members of a greater community.

In addition to worship and fellowship, we came together in workshops and business sessions, exploring how FWCC can live more deeply into its calling. After a successful campaign “Becoming the Quakers the World Needs”, we feel some fatigue on committees and in our fundraising efforts as transition, new programs and reorganization require more new energy.

We saw progress on new programming made possible by the campaign. We shared a beta version of our Digital Quaker Glossary, an evolution of a collaborative tool for making Quaker terms and vocabulary accessible to all in English and Spanish. We look forward to the next phase of this project, supporting our active Bilingual Services team to develop a certified interpretation and translation program. We also announced new partnerships on our digital map, offering a single source to find Friends’ projects as well as meetings, churches and worship groups around the world. Our Quaker Connect program launched in the days leading up to the Section Meeting and apprentices from meetings across the Section joined our gathering for the first time with new perspective and enthusiasm for what is possible in the Society of Friends. To witness their excitement and growing connection was to witness the future unfolding before our eyes.

Young Adult Friends brought great energy to the gathering, not only in their worship leadership but also in their fellowship. They explored the desert gardens together, shared meals and laughter, and took part in a service project for a local Friends meeting—offering their hands and hearts in service as part of a first-of-its-kind pre-conference gathering for young people across the Section.

Evan Welkin, our new Executive Secretary, introduced himself and set his personal experience within our gathering theme and what is unfolding in the Section. Joined by FWCC General Secretary Tim Gee, they both invited us to trust God and in each other as an unknown path unfolds before us in a time of uncertainty and great possibility. Our plenary speakers, Ana Gabriela Castañeda Aguilera and Debbie Humphries, built on this theme and reminded us of examples from scripture and our own lives when we are invited to do new things: how do we respond? We are excited that Ana and Debbie’s remarks will be printed for distribution soon.

We are, as ever, a community of Friends seeking unity across languages, cultures, and traditions. This gathering gave us the opportunity to treasure our diversity and to celebrate our shared commitment to God’s leading among us. There were long conversations over meals, joyful singing in multiple languages, and celebration over the work we are doing throughout the Section. Embracing Friends from across the globe, not just physically but spiritually, helped us find new ways to speak, to listen, to walk forward together.

The Spirit is doing something new among us. We came away from this gathering excited about projects that inspire and unite us, energized by the possibilities that lie ahead. We are also clear-eyed about the clear and present challenges in the world around us today. As we return to our home countries and meetings, may we continue to walk forward in faith, trusting that the road will open, and rivers will flow, even in the wasteland.

As Ana Gabriela shared powerfully with us during her evening plenaries: “Sometimes, it’s the very act of stepping into the unknown that prepares us in ways we never imagined.” Like the road in the desert or the river in the wasteland, this gathering reminded us that new paths are revealed when we walk forward in faith, trusting the unknown. We are all grateful for every person who made this gathering possible and for each Friend who took that leap. Together, we are building the future—as way opens.

FWCC Welcomes Sarah Katreen Hoggatt as Advancement Coordinator

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt, Advancement Coordinator at FWCC

Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) is pleased to announce that Sarah Katreen Hoggatt has joined our team as the Advancement Coordinator. In this role, Sarah will focus on fundraising, communications, and strengthening connections within the global Quaker community. With a deep commitment to Quaker values and extensive experience in communications and nonprofit leadership, Sarah brings a wealth of expertise to FWCC’s mission of fostering unity among Friends worldwide.

Quaker Experience

A direct member of Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends, Sarah was born and raised in Salem, Oregon, of the US Pacific Northwest, on lands of the Kalapuya peoples.

Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and went on to complete a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, a certificate in Spiritual Formation, and a certification as a spiritual director at George Fox Evangelical Seminary (now Portland Seminary).

In 2008, Sarah was selected for the editorial board of Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices (English and Español). Working with fellow editors and learning about their diverse Quaker experiences deepened her appreciation for the many ways Friends around the world live out the Light within them. To promote the book, Sarah traveled throughout the Pacific Northwest, across the United States, and internationally, speaking about it in Europe and Kenya. While in Europe, she first connected with FWCC at the Europe and Middle East Section conference in Switzerland—an experience she treasures. Around the same time, she also became involved with Quakers Uniting in Publications, a community she continues to value today.

Sarah has served in many leadership roles within Quaker communities. At Freedom Friends Church, she worked as recording clerk and helped write its Faith and Practice. She later joined Northwest Yearly Meeting (NWYM), serving on its Board of Christian Education. When NWYM decided to cut off LGBTQIA-inclusive meetings, Sarah helped found Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends (SCYMF). She initially served on the Faith and Practice Committee before being named co-presiding clerk from 2018 to 2022. One of her greatest joys in this role was looking out at all the faces during business meetings—”the best view in the house.”

During her time as co-presiding clerk, SCYMF recorded Sarah in ministry for writing, speaking, and spiritual direction. Since then, she has continued serving Quaker communities, including working on the planning committee for the 2023 FGC Gathering. She also enjoys organizing conferences and participating in clearness committees when called.

A Writer and Graphic Designer

At her core, Sarah is a writer. Since childhood, she has used writing—especially poetry—to express herself and share her perspective. Last summer, she published her sixth and seventh books: When the Ink Runs Dry and When the Questions Come, with an eighth book currently in progress. Her work (both articles and poems) has also appeared in Friends Journal and Western Friend.

Beyond writing, Sarah is a professional book designer and publisher, as well as an experienced editor. She is eager to bring her skills in publishing, design, and communications to FWCC’s work.

Welcome Sarah to FWCC!

Sarah will be working remotely from her hometown of Salem, Oregon. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing in pen and ink, hiking with her dog, learning classical guitar, reading, and Irish dancing.

We invite you to greet Sarah and welcome her at our Section of the Americas meeting in March. She is looking forward to spending time with our community and working alongside Friends worldwide.

FWCC Americas announces new Executive Secretary!

“I am honored for this opportunity to continue to serve the Religious Society of Friends on an international level, recommitting myself to be accountable, faithful and principled in seeking continuing revelation together in our global family.”

Evan WelkinNorth Pacific Yearly Meeting

The Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas—the global fellowship association for the Religious Society of Friends—is pleased to announce that Evan Welkin, from North Pacific Yearly Meeting, has been appointed as the next Executive Secretary, starting July 15, 2024.

“Evan Welkin impressed us with his grasp of the breadth of Quakerism, his administrative capabilities including project management, fundraising, and grant-writing, and most importantly, his spiritual grounding and rootedness in Quaker process. The search committee relied heavily on the leading of the Holy Spirit during the entire process and we felt the prayers of many who are devoted to our very important work in FWCC. On behalf of the search committee, we thank you for your prayers and let us continue in prayer for Evan as he begins his new role.”

Brenda McKinneyFriends Church of North Carolina

Evan Welkin is a member of Olympia Monthly Meeting (North Pacific Yearly Meeting), born and raised in the Cascadia region of the US Pacific Northwest on lands of the Siuslaw, Squaxin Island and Nisqually peoples. His grandparents Jack and Judy Brown (University Friends Meeting) became convinced Friends through their work with AFSC camps after the end of WWII.

He holds a BA from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA and Masters from Schumacher College in Totnes, Devon, UK. He is a graduate of the Guilford Quaker Leadership Scholars Program (QLSP) where he served as a Sojourning member released from Olympia MM to study theological diversity among evangelical, conservative, programmed and unprogrammed Friends in Guilford County. While in QLSP, he offered ministry at local meetings and churches, supported development of the QLSP Service Committee and received a Clarence and Lilly Pickett Fund for Quaker Leadership grant to survey meetings along the Eastern Seaboard. He participated in several service learning projects with the North Carolina Friends Disaster Service, advocated for graduates of the Ramallah Friends School targeted by campus violence at Guilford and received a Lyman Fund grant to join a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation to Israel and Palestine in 2008. While on the CPT delegation, he met his Italian future wife, Federica Faggioli, as she served as project coordinator on a EU-funded human rights monitoring project in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank. Returning to the Pacific Northwest, Evan served as Clerk of Olympia Monthly Meeting’s Finance and Worship & Ministry Committees while beginning a career in management and community organizing with the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, TOGETHER! of Thurston County and the Squaxin Island Tribe.

He married Federica in 2012 under the care of Olympia Monthly Meeting and her Catholic community, the Pope John XXIII Association. From 2012 to 2015, Evan and Federica tested a leading to move to Italy while connecting with the FWCC Europe and Middle East Section and supporting Quakers in Italy to host an annual gathering of Italian Friends, held each year on the Faggioli family farm from 2016-2023. Their first son, Oliver, was born in 2014 as Evan founded a private consulting practice focusing on support for nonprofit development and network facilitation for clients including the Global Ecovillage Network, Climate Action Network-International, PEN America, the European Network of Community-Lead Climate Initiatives, the Global Fund for Children, and Permaculture for Refugees.

From 2016-2017, Evan completed the Young Adult Leadership Programme at Woodbrooke Learning and Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, UK and served as Elder and Trustee of Europe and Middle East Young Friends. In 2018 after the birth of their second son, Gabriel, the family found way open to move definitively to the farm and found an ecovillage, learning center and permaculture project called “Borgo Basino.” From 2020 to 2024 Borgo Basino served as a living, learning community connecting education, networking and wellness on a small multifunctional farm. Nestled in the hills outside of Bologna, Borgo Basino offered a hub for agricultural innovation, community wellness, and sustainable hospitality. Despite facing significant challenges caused by the COVID pandemic, Evan continued his work as a lecturer and administrator at the Spring Hill College Italy Center while leading activities with groups, interns and community members on the farm. In 2022, he began work for the FWCC in the Europe and Middle East Section (EMES), supporting communications and development of the EMES Peace and Service Network. He also served the FWCC World Office facilitating the Global Quaker Sustainability Network. In Spring 2023, massive landslides caused extensive damage to the farm and its only access road, provoking difficult discernment about the sustainability of the farm after many setbacks. In early 2024, Evan and his family made the difficult decision to leave the farm and return to the United States, trusting again that way would open to new possibilities. The opportunity to continue his vocation and career with the FWCC Americas Section is truly the continued realization of a personal dream, connecting Friends around the world in faith, spiritual formation and a deeper connection with all life on earth.

In his spare time, Evan keeps bees, makes artwork and sails (and repairs!) wooden boats.

“It seems God is at work with loving and caring ways in FWCC Section of the Americas! I am so pleased Evan Welkin has agreed to join us to serve as Executive Secretary. I believe he will bring gifts to enhance our vision for the future of our Section. For this I am grateful.”

LaVonna LoeschGreat Plains Yearly Meeting, Presiding Clerk of the Section of the Americas

Evan's favorite verses

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
- 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
- Micah 6:8 (NIV)

Friends World Committee for Consultation Receives $1.125 Million Grant for Quaker Connect

The Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas—the global fellowship association for the Religious Society of Friends—has received a $1.125 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Thriving Congregations Initiative to help establish Quaker Connect, a program designed to reinvigorate the Quaker movement.

FWCC Americas recently hired Jade Rockwell as the program director. Jade joins FWCC Americas from West Elkton (OH) Friends Meeting, where she serves as Co-Pastor. She is pursuing a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis on Pastoral Ministry from Earlham School of Religion.

“I’m pleased to join FWCC Americas as the program director for Quaker Connect,” Jade said. “In this role I’m thrilled to dedicate my life work toward revitalizing Quakerism to reflect its beautiful diversity.”

“Quaker Connect is responding to the need of local Friends to develop a spirit of experimentation in partnership with God to support the members of their meetings and engage in issues important to their communities,” said Robin Mohr, Executive Secretary for FWCC Americas. “Quaker Connect will equip Quaker churches to be more clearly who they are meant to be: profoundly Quaker, deeply rooted, and highly visible in their local community. We are very pleased that Jade Rockwell has joined us at this pivotal point.”

Friends meetings and churches who wish to be considered for the first cohort of the Quaker Connect program should check the FWCC Americas website, QuakerConnect.org, for updates. The application period is planned to open in September 2024.

In the United States, the project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. An additional $200,000 grant from the Thomas H. and Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund will extend the program to Friends outside of the United States—from Canada to Bolivia—and enhance collaboration among Quaker organizations to support the growth and vitality of the Society of Friends.

Quaker Connect will be a structured network of Quaker meetings across the branches of Friends in the Americas. Each participating local meeting will nominate two to three Friends to join a cohort of other energized Friends in virtual workshops over a two year period. At the heart of the program, each meeting will choose one signpost of renewal that is lacking in their meeting, one Quaker, Christian, or FWCC practice to address the need, and take three months to try the experiment, and then initiate further experiments. Robust evaluation and communication processes are essential parts of the program. Quaker Connect is designed to adapt and seed the continuing revitalization of the Religious Society of Friends.

FWCC Americas is one of 104 organizations that has received grants through a competitive round of Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. Reflecting a wide variety of Christian traditions, the organizations represent mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, peace church and Pentecostal faith communities.

“Congregations play an essential role in deepening the faith of individuals and contributing to the vitality of communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We hope that these programs will nurture the vibrancy and spark the creativity of congregations, helping them imagine new ways to share God’s love in their communities and across the globe.”

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.

About Shoemaker

The Thomas H. and Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund, established by the 1936 and 1953 wills of Thomas Howard Shoemaker and Mary Williams Shoemaker, is a private, trustee-managed foundation with five volunteer, self-perpetuating distributing trustees. Since the death of Mary Shoemaker, approximately $9 million has been distributed to selected charities, including Friends meetings and Quaker-related organizations primarily in the Philadelphia area.

In recent years, the Shoemaker Trustees have become increasingly concerned about the future vitality and membership of the Religious Society of Friends. As a result, the Fund has shifted its focus to organizations that are investing specifically in the growth and development of the Society of Friends. In this spirit, the Fund is providing major support for new and collaborative initiatives developed by organizations that provide leadership, innovation and resources which address this strategic goal.

About FWCC Americas

The Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) is the global fellowship association for the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, also known as the Friends Church. 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. www.fwccamericas.org

FWCC-COAL Report on Working with Right Sharing of World Resources

by Karen Gregorio de Calderon, Coordinator for COAL-FWCC

Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR), a Quaker nonprofit, came to Guatemala from May 23-29, 2022 to investigate the potential for doing projects in Latin America and using Guatemala as a pilot project. For FWCC-COAL, it was beneficial for us to be a part of the working process for this visit because one of our objectives is to work on joint projects with a community improvement focus with Quaker organizations that wish to do this work in Latin American countries.

RSWR was for many years a program of the Friends World Committee for Consultation, but has now been an independent organization for over 20 years. RSWR works with marginalized women, offering them seed capital so that they can start their own businesses and become productive women, thus changing the lives of themselves and their families. This project would bring great benefits to the people of Guatemala.

How would work be done in Guatemala?

RSWR would work in conjunction with the COOSAJO Savings and Credit Cooperative located in Esquipulas, Chiquimula in eastern Guatemala. With this institution, the pilot project could be executed in the eastern region of the country. The staff of the Cooperative had the opportunity to learn who Quakers are worldwide and the work that Quakers do.

It is important to emphasize that the cooperative already carries out community work in the region with women, the pilot project would be a further development of their work. Two field technicians would be hired, who would form and train the women’s groups and accompany them in their training process, which is similar to RSWR’s work in Sierra Leone and India.

What activities were carried out during the visit?

Meetings with the management of the Guatemalan institution COOSAJO, to learn more about its work, its achievements and its values.
Meeting with the middle managers of the institution to share information about the projects and both organizations.
Meeting with the COOSAJO Board of Directors. We introduced FWCC and RSWR.
Meetings with leading employees of the institution: To learn about their testimony, their achievements and how the institution has been part of the change in their lives with the value of inclusion of women.
Field visits to the villages, where we were able to share with women who need to be taken into account and be benefited.
Meeting with young women leaders: to learn about the work COOSAJO has done with them, providing study scholarships, scholarships to study English, etc.

What did COAL-FWCC contribute during the RSWR visit to Guatemala?

Lodging
Food for two people.
General orientation on the region to be worked in (Statistical data and cultural information)
General information on Quakers in Guatemala, how they are organized and where they are most concentrated in the country and how Quakers work in this area.
Review of the information in PowerPoint and translation of the same, to present it in Spanish to the organization. Focus on the objectives with correct Spanish vocabulary.
Intervention in meetings, when it was necessary to make the idea of RSWR clear.
Support in decision-making processes when help was required.
Clarification of ideas
Accompany RSWR in each planned meeting, to support them in these processes (with the language, with small translations, synthesize the information, etc.)
Lead and facilitate scheduled meetings, to obtain the necessary information from each group.
Work meetings (RSWR-FWCC-COAL) at the end of the day to draw conclusions and learn from each scheduled activity.
Coordinate and manage meetings with Quakers in the region
Coordinate visits to the churches in the region
Coordinate a visit to the largest Friends campus in the Region. National Friends Church.
And the most important thing is that due to the support that can be provided by COAL and the Quakers in the region, Guatemala is a potential country for RSWR to start a pilot project in Latin America and that could later be extended to other countries.

What benefit do local Quakers have with this project?

Job opportunity: One of the benefits is that they will be considered in the process of hiring field facilitators. In other words, when the call to hire people is launched, it will also be sent to the Quakers in the region so that they can apply.
Opportunity for the women of our churches: The women of our Friends Churches will also have the opportunity to be taken into account, to provide them with seed capital, according to the RSWR processes.

What did COAL achieve during the RSWR visit?

First, connecting the affiliated and non-affiliated yearly meetings.

During RSWR’s visit, representatives and leaders from our affiliated and unaffiliated Yearly Meetings were invited to a meeting. At the meeting, the work of FWCC, the work of COAL, the future plans and an invitation to work together were announced. In addition, the RSWR project was presented to them, as a fulfillment of the mission and objectives of FWCC, making our slogan a reality: Connecting friends, crossing cultures and changing lives. This meeting was fruitful; we were together in harmony sharing the love of God that unites us.

Among attendees were:

Ambassadors Friends Monthly Meeting, represented by Susy Ramirez
Holiness Friends Yearly Meeting: With the participation of two representatives to FWCC, Teresa de Hernandez and Abner Garcia. In addition, 4 women leaders from the different churches of the yearly meeting participated.
National Friends Church: It was represented by its president Rigoberto Vargas and by 3 more members of one of the churches. That they are also part of the Shalom Jiréh Organization, who distributed the funds that FWCC collected, for the victims of Hurricanes Eta and Iota
We also achieved the participation of two disabled women entrepreneurs, who have not been supported by other organizations.
Total, we achieved attendance of 16 people.

All attendees were pleased and grateful for having been invited to the meeting and expressed their desire to be taken into account in the process of this project or others that we can work together as a region and as a church through FWCC.

What potential do we have after the RSWR visit to develop other projects with the Guatemalan institution COOSAJO for the benefit of local Quakers and society in general?

The institution has community development programs, with established processes.
Provide entrepreneurship training
They carry out projects to take care of the environment
They design training processes according to the needs of the projects to be worked on.
Provide scholarships to people with limited resources.
They have an agreement with the US embassy for young people who want to study English in a free program. This with the purpose of curbing migration, since Chiquimula is a department bordering Honduras and El Salvador vulnerable to the formation of migrant caravans. There are many bilingual youth who benefited from these programs.
Recruit new interpreter volunteers who already have command of the English language and who serve as interpreters among the international cooperatives.

Conclusions:

FWCC has the opportunity to start a closer relationship with this institution and manage benefits that are possible for our Quaker community. In this way, achieve that the yearly meetings have something in common and gradually break down the communication barrier between them.
An important point to emphasize is that the yearly meetings are interested in working together on projects for the benefit of the community.

[Translation by Diane Zappas and Robin Mohr]

Update on U.S. Religion Census

By Gilbert George,
Operations Manager

Every 10 years the American Association of Religious Statisticians takes a census of all the religious bodies in the United States. FWCC collects data on Quaker Meetings and Friends’ churches so that our presence, in all its multifaceted beauty, can be accurately included in the religious landscape.

We want to thank all of the Yearly Meeting, Monthly Meeting, and Church staff and volunteers who provided us with data. We deeply appreciate your cooperation and commitment. Because of your participation we delivered data on location and membership numbers in late February, and you will have access to the full US Religions Census report in early summer of 2022.

In early October, we created a project plan and hired Keenan Lorenzato of Pacific Yearly Meeting and Philip Maurer of New England Yearly Meeting to collect the data as quickly and accurately as possible. To all the Friends who were praying for our discernment process, Thank You! These two Friends collected membership and attendance numbers from almost the entirety of Friends in the US in less than 3 months. They also helped reestablish contact with Yearly Meetings, individual meetings, and churches we had not been in contact with since before the pandemic.

The last decade has seen seismic shifts across the religious landscape in the United States, and our Society has not been immune from the cultural and economic pressures bearing down on the World. Over 1,000 Friends Meetings and Quaker Churches in the United States remain active, shining their Light in the unique way their location and call to faithfulness requires of them. If you would like to see where they are, check out FWCC Section of the Americas’ “Find Friends” page. My hope is that with your support we can extend this directory to cover our entire Section, and maybe even the World, so that we can find each other when traveling and seekers can find a meeting near them.

Strengthening our Community of Friends: Visit to the Yearly Meetings of Bolivia

By Karen Gregorio de Calderon, Coordinator of Latin American Programs

In the month of January, God allowed us the privilege of making a visit to the affiliated yearly meetings of Bolivia, with the objective of strengthening our community and sharing the love of God that unites us. It was a wonderful experience to be able to greet the brothers of the different congregations to share with them, in the worship services and multiple scheduled activities, in which we were able to live together in harmony, worship our Lord Jesus Christ, share our cultures and our common heritage. We thank God for this privilege and for what it will allow us to continue doing in the near future with each of the Meetings. We are sure that God will direct the plans for the growth and expansion of his work.

I traveled with Raúl Pérez, member of the Executive Committee of FWCC-Section of the Americas and member of El Salvador Yearly Meeting and Robin Mohr, Executive Secretary for the Section of the Americas. We had the opportunity to visit the yearly meeting annual sessions of INELA Bolivia, the Bolivian Union Friends and the Central Friends yearly meetings.

We particularly want to thank Pr. Gualberto Torrez, of the Iglesia Evangelica Union Boliviana Amigos for his support and taking us to visit some of the rural churches of their yearly meeting.
We also had the opportunity to visit with Friends of Central Yearly Meeting. It was a blessing to share the message of God’s word and participate in the worship services. We thank its president Armando Mamani and the Congregation for the organization of the activities and their development.