[NOTE: See also this UPDATE to this post, here.} I feel torn about renaming the Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama. On the one hand, Pettus was all those odious things: traitor, KKK leader, etc., etc. On the other hand, John Lewis & many others shed their blood under that sign, and seared its letters onto … Continue reading Rename the Pettus Bridge? I’m in no hurry.
I. Summary SAYMA’s Representative Meeting gathered on Zoom the evening of July 20, and lasted amost four hours. More than forty persons were on the line. It was not an easy session. The main agenda items were a summary review of the 2019-2020 budget, and the initial reading of the 2020-2021 proposed budget (their fiscal … Continue reading SAYMA Representative Meeting: Summary & Comment
The internet is a mystifying thing: emails can go round and round, and some end up in my inbox that have been many other places on their electronic journey. One such came yesterday, and it is germane to the current issues roiling SAYMA (Southern Appalachian yearly Meeting & Association). It is no less than the … Continue reading Exclusive: The SAYMA Enemies List; and Two More Minutes
In yesterday’s post, we revisited a letter from the late Friend Alan Robinson on making some sense of the controversy over SAYMA paying Sharon Smith for her “ministry” on racism among Quakers. He proposed applying the test in Jesus’ parable (in Luke 6:43-45) about judging trees by their fruits. One of the “trees” targeted by … Continue reading SAYMA and Smith: “Judging the Fruits” by Their Own Words
Over the past decade, I’ve witnessed and reported on the breakup of five U.S. Yearly Meetings. This “assignment” was at best unpleasant, and often disheartening. After the fifth schism, I had hoped the ugly epidemic was over. But now there’s a possible Number Six. A showdown for it is coming on July 20. The previous … Continue reading SAYMA Showdown: Another Yearly Meeting Split?