All are welcome to join our online worship each First Day or worship at our regular time in their homes. If you are a visitor new to Quakerism please do read "About Us" to learn more about our faith and practice. This section also includes the details of our Quaker community life that we look forward to resuming when possible to do so safely.
Visit our Events page to see our schedule.
SEYM (Southeast Yearly Meeting) issued a statement on the arrest of a member, Javier del Sol, for sexual abuse of a child about sixteen years ago in his home community of Lake Worth, Florida. SEYM is making an effort to reach out to anyone in the yearly meeting that may have been affected and provide support for them. The statement may be viewed on the SEYM web site.
Do you need a spiritual boost? Read the Reflections blog for peace and inspiration.
Tampa Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends affirms and supports the witness of Jan Dahm in her letter to the editor published by the Tampa Bay Times regarding the anti-trans legislation recently passed in the Florida House.
The meeting encourages all Friends and other organizations to support this minute, develop their own statement, and disseminate it widely especially among all Florida legislators. Below is the letter as it was published on April 17.
The Florida House just passed the most morally bereft, anti-LGBTQ legislation that specifically targets trans children who want to participate in athletics, without a peep in substantial debate from Republicans who simply waited in silence to cast their majority vote. The supporters of the bill could not provide evidence or use science for their claims, despite the impassioned speeches from Democrats, parents, youth, and other advocates. They just had the numbers to push it through, and the lack of a moral compass to consider the impact on children and families. Language in this monstrous bill stipulates invasive genital inspections as one of the remedies of kids whose gender is disputed. During a pandemic, this is the sad and cruel focus of the Legislature.
“Whatever you did for the least of these” has a secular meaning generally understood as a display of empathy, consideration, and care; the spiritual reference goes a bit deeper, but the point is the same: protect the vulnerable. Delighting in power and domination over children is not an example of a healthy society. For the Christians who think supporting this bill and harming these children is a sign of their faith, all I can say is “Jesus wept.”
Jan Dahm, Gulfport
