For three Wednesday evenings in January 2025, seven members of Buffalo Quaker Meeting attended via videoconference a training called Creating Anti-Racist Organizations, which was presented by the Center for the Study of White American Culture (CSWAC) and sponsored by New York Yearly Meeting. Over 140 members of New York Yearly Meeting attended the training.
Is the Collective Greater than the Individual in Quakerism?
I have learned that I cannot fully practice Quakerism by myself. It’s not just that Community is one of the central Quaker testimonies, along with Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Equality, and Stewardship. I have to practice Quakerism with a community of others, because we seek to experience Spirit collectively, a sense of unity in Spirit, and invite each other to share how Spirit is changing us and illuminating our way.
AVP Workshop Builds Community
Beginnings with Nurture Committee
We hope that Nurture will foster more willingness to give and receive personal support within our Quaker community. I have learned something about help and equality both through conversations within Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and New York Yearly Meeting’s ARCH (Aging Resources Consultation Help) program. It is a form of privilege culture to project a status imbalance between those who give help and those who receive help. This is not just or healthy in terms of our humanity and spiritual practice. We receive the loving spirit from any experience in giving and receiving from the heart.
Broadening Your Quaker Horizons
Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is Growing in Buffalo
The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is growing in Buffalo, and those of us in Buffalo Monthly Meeting involved are excited to join other members of the local community in building a more just and peaceful Western New York by establishing a regular schedule of community AVP workshops in Buffalo.