During the Second Hour, we will address three queries sent to all the Monthly Meetings in SAYMA by the Chattanooga Monthly Meeting. They follow, at the end of the accompanying letter.April 23, 2024
Dear Friends,
Recently, Chattanooga Friends Meeting (CFM) held a discussion regarding our relationship with SAYMA and whether we will continue as part of it.
We began with a review of the section on page 26 in “A Guide to Our Faith and Practice” which defines the Yearly Meeting and states the responsibility of Monthly Meetings to “participate in keeping the affairs of
the yearly meeting in good order.” We believe the primary purpose of the yearly meeting is to assist Friends in monthly meetings to live our Quaker testimonies and show ourselves as witnesses to the Truth as we have found it together. We are concerned for the long-term viability and success of SAYMA and want to be part of the effort to keep the affairs of the yearly meeting in good order.
It is CFM’s conviction that all SAYMA meetings should be conducted in the manner of Quakers in a meeting for worship. We believe this includes respectful listening to all voices, including any opinions that do not resonate with us individually. We believe that violent behaviors, invective, and name-calling do not belong in a meeting for worship for business or any other purpose. This negative behavior has occurred during the last several yearly meeting sessions and in some committee meetings and is the reason that many long-time attenders from CFM have stopped attending the annual meeting and participating in other SAYMA business.
The first time we experienced an outburst in the Yearly Meeting, we were all stunned into silence. Nobody knew what to do, including the meeting clerks and those of us in attendance. As one of our members observed, Quakers are conflict-averse and try to avoid confrontation when possible.
The next year, when outbursts and violent behavior continued, several of our members (who are long-time attenders of SAYMA) decided they had had enough and would sadly give up going to the annual meeting until sessions were once again respectful and conducted in a worshipful manner. Some of our members want to stay with SAYMA, hoping it would turn around. It has not. Our efforts and written statements about this have been met with outright dismissal or bare tolerance.
As CFM ponders our decision whether to stay or separate from SAYMA, we respectfully ask these questions of the clerks and committee clerks of SAYMA.
In peace,
Chattanooga Friends Meetingchattanoogafriendsmeeting@gmail.com
1. Do you allow/accept this type of behavior in your own monthly meetings?
2. Will there be steps taken as part of the annual meeting planning to address and stop this behavior in the 2024 gathering and future rep meetings?
3. What can our meeting do to support SAYMA clerks to return SAYMA meetings to good order and be true to the Yearly Meeting Function Guidelines as stated on pages 26/27 of AGTOFAP?