Micah Bales, one of the planners and main promoters of the Wichita YAF conference, recently replied to an inquiry about the long list of “Thou Shalt Nots” set for the event. He referred the inquirer to a blog post by his wife, Faith Kelley, another of the planners. It’s on the William Penn House blog, entitled, “What Should I Eat? Community & the Individual”

This blog post is very illuminating about the “frame” being put onto the conference, and deserves some careful unpacking. So this commentary will run on a bit; please bear with me.

Continue reading Tunafish or Torpedoes? Some Reflections on YAF Wichita, and “Community” →

Following up the earlier post about the involvement of FGC poohbahs with the impending Wichita YAF gathering, with its restrictive dress code and suppressive agenda.

I mentioned a minute adopted by the FGC Central Committee trumpeting their undying support for LGBTQ Friends — a commitment that utterly contradicts the Wichita gathering’s spirit and legalistic rules.

Continue reading “We will never go back . . . .” (Except when we do.) FGC Minute on Gay-Lesbian Friends (See Also: Wichita YAF Conference) →

It’s not enough that the Young Adult Friends Conference in Wichita has saddled itself with a backward-looking, repressive code of conduct and controlled agenda, which has been criticized here before. (See here and here.)

Now it’s come to us, from a reliable source, that there is high-level involvement in the process from the liberal Friends General Conference (FGC). Can this be true?

Continue reading The Wichita YAF Conference Plot Gets Thicker – Is FGC Involved? →

The following message has been broadcast across Quaker networks today:

<< The planning committee for the Young Adult Friends Gathering, 2010, comes together in Wichita, Kansas this weekend. Young Quakers from across the United States, Canada and Mexico will gather this Memorial Day weekend, May 28-31, for a gathering…
>> For more, go here.

Since the big event is only a bit more than a month away, this will be one of their last chances to take another, more edifying look at the embarrassing and oppressive set of “Expectations for Community” that I have commented on before, and if they value the reputation of their “movement,” they’ll ease up on the long list of “Thou Shall Nots.”

Continue reading YAFs Memorial Day Gathering: Time To Grow Up →