Dear Friends,
I’m honored to announce the good news that I’ve received a grant from the New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) Witness & Ministry Fund. Some may recall that Friends Meeting at Cambridge (FMC) approved a letter of support for my application on April 14, 2024 at the Meeting for Business in Worship.
Before reading on, I want to let you know that this news relates to a tender concern, so please take time to ground yourself before reading further.
I am humbled by the process where the unfolding of a leading does not include a guidebook and detailed project plan. I’m currently finding my way through conversations with Friends inside and outside of our meeting who have relevant experience or shared concerns.
I hope to bring my ministry to the FMC community by addressing conflicts among us that are rooted in trauma.
I am called to the work of creating the beloved community,
where truth and justice are practiced with love.
I seek to strengthen my skills in conflict resolution and learn effective ways to foster safe space in our spiritual community in preparation for addressing even more challenging conflicts.
I carry a concern regarding family violence. The Society of Friends shares this same intergenerational trauma as all communities in our wider society.
I feel called to work with other Friends to develop practices for healing trauma in a way that prevents future domestic violence by breaking the trauma cycle. There is wisdom in Quaker testimonies, such as the peace testimony, that Friends apply routinely in secular society. By turning this wisdom inward toward our Quaker communities, I believe that we have the power to interrupt abusive patterns.
Can we notice the conflicts amongst us that are rooted in trauma? Instead of reenacting a traumatic experience by unintentionally taking on roles of past trauma, could we take steps, in our day-to-day interactions with each other, to help each other heal?
I am honored to receive funding from NEYM Witness & Ministry Fund which will provide $9,000 to support my ministry over the next 6-12 months. I am spending the next few months learning and preparing for creating a safe space for Friends to grapple with the realities of intergenerational abuse. I hope we can talk about how to live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of child abuse, as well as intimate partner abuse and all forms of violence within the family and community.
In the coming year, I plan to host a series of events that highlight specific hard-to-find Quaker writings that address these tender concerns. I am currently meeting one-on-one and in small groups with Friends who have relevant experience and hope to meet others who carry a related concern or feel led to accompany me in some way.
In the coming year, I expect to create specific opportunities for us at FMC to learn more about the resources I compile and about the process of following my leading to complete this project.
I would love to hear from anyone in our meeting who would like to connect around these concerns. Please email me at sarah@fmcquaker.org.
