Athens Religious Society of Friends

• Moved to Action
• Our Quaker Community
• Member Statements

Things We Do

Moved to Action

Quakerism is an experiential religion and Friends strive to live their lives as testimonies to their ideals and values. We aim to show through our lives, individually and as a group, examples of living simply, peacefully, with integrity, as a community, and embracing equality among all people. In doing so, Quakers are moved to work toward social justice and alleviation of suffering. For example, Quakers were among the first to work toward ending slavery and providing education for men and women of any race. Avoiding war and the occasion for war is another action Quakers take part in to help prevent and alleviate suffering. Peacemaking efforts by Quakers led to one of their organizations, the American Friends Service Committee, receiving the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize for their humanitarian work during World War II. The American Friends Service Committee continues this work today, as do local Meetings (churches). Another Quaker organization, The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), lobbies congress on matters of peace and justice. These are just two examples of Quaker-based organizations whose individuals are following their ideals and values in order to make the world a better place. Another way Quakers have done this is through Conscientious Objection, which is an expression of the Peace Testimony.

Here in Athens, members of the Athens Friends Meeting actively work on issues of peace, justice, sustainability, and human rights. We also believe that we need to WAGE PEACE, in other words, to work for equality and justice in our community and all over the world so that people will not resort to fighting in order to get what they need. Some of this work is done by the Meeting as a whole (such as the minute of support we wrote for gender equality in 2009), and some is done by individuals, either in their jobs or as volunteers. Groups we are currently a part of or are working with include: AIDS Athens, Casa de Amistad, Center for Development in Central America, Ecological Society of America, Family Connection, Hospice, Learning Ally, Nancy Travis Childcare Project, OPEN-Athens, Whatever It Takes, The Wildlife Society, and Women in Black.

Our efforts include working to:

• support parents in nurturing their children
• reduce teenage pregnancy
• help families gain affordable housing and economic self-sufficiency
• protect our natural resources and biodiversity
• improve environmental legislation
• support Nicaraguan workers to establish businesses with micro-enterprise loans
• improve immigrants' rights
• reduce racism, sexism, and homophobia
• bring the public to a better awareness of peace as a viable option, both politically and personally
• protest torture and other aggressive military action
• correspondence with people on death row and work towards abolishing the death penalty
• increase awareness and prevention of AIDS
• care for dying individuals and their families
• write letters to the editor about Quaker testimony topics
• river and road clean-ups

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Our Quaker Community

Discussions

After worship on Sundays we have engaging discussions

Spiritual Retreat

About once a year we have a group retreat to share food and spirit as a community;
here are some pictures from our retreat at the Atlanta Meeting's cabin in North Georgia (Ferguson Cabin).

engaged in worship	campfire discussion
lunch at the cabin	a quick dip at the swimming hole

Potlucks

What better way to enjoy the company of others than with food!

eating together at our Meeting House	pre-meal conversation
an engaging conversation

Easter Service

Who doesn't enjoy a good Easter egg hunt?

I found one!

it takes a village to find an egg

Folk Festival

We helped a local artist show off his work

artist Leonard Jones preparing to paint

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Members

-a snapshot of our role in the world community

Below, individuals from the Athens Friends Meeting have provided a brief statement about themselves; we hope this gives you an idea about how we strive to our lives as testimonies of our ideals and values.