How is Spirit stirring in your Quaker community? Through FCNL’s online and onsite travel to monthly meetings, Friends churches, and other Quaker communities, we join in meeting for worship, share messages, hear leadings and concerns, and provide spiritual and practical support to knit together Friends’ witness and FCNL’s advocacy for the world we seek.
FCNL’s ministry of Quaker engagement is a crucial part of grounding the organization in the Religious Society of Friends and supporting Friends’ participation in Quaker advocacy.
We regularly visit meetings and churches around the country, sharing the work and ministry of FCNL with Friends far and wide, and encouraging Spirit-led witness and advocacy. We are so looking forward to continuing our sharing and connecting with Friends.
Visit Offerings: Workshops and Presentations
Here are just some of the ministries we offer Quaker communities and ways we can be a resource for your witness. Request a visitor to lead a program or contact us at Quakers@fcnl.org to learn more.
Listening in Tongues: Skills for Engaging Disagreement from a Quaker Perspective (1.5 - 3 hours)
With polarization and conflict gridlocking policy and threatening democracy, it is important to strengthen our capacity to be in relationship and work with one another across ideological differences while remaining open to the possibility we ourselves might be changed through such encounters. In this experiential workshop, we will practice strategic dialogue listening and speaking skills. We will explore how we might draw on Quaker tradition and spiritual grounding for the work of building a more just and peaceful democracy in our advocacy for the world we seek.
F/friends in Unlikely Places: Engaging Those Who Disagree (1 - 1.5 hours)
Does talking to legislators who don’t agree with you feel like an exercise in futility? In this workshop, we’ll make the case for engaging legislators with differing views and discuss how to have those conversations faithfully and effectively. Drawing on moral foundations theory and Quaker tradition, this workshop will equip F/friends with new frameworks for communicating across political divides, practicing seeing that of God in people we disagree with, and building relationships to make change in Congress. Read this blog post to learn more.
Trauma Informed Advocacy Spaces (1.5 - 2 hours)
Advocacy work can be emotionally challenging, especially for advocates who are directly affected by the topics they work on. They may simultaneously feel the issue’s impact while trying to explain it to others. For FCNL, being trauma informed means creating advocacy spaces with the understanding that any advocate present may be living with the lasting emotional response that often results from living through a distressing event and/or experiencing systemic oppression. This workshop aims to prepare participants to support and encourage trauma informed spaces in advocacy settings. By recognizing the effects of trauma and how they might show up in advocacy spaces, we can make changes to ways of gathering and working together to limit re-injury for people with a history of trauma. Read this blog post to learn more.
The Roots and Branches of Quaker Advocacy (1 hour)
Explore the intersections of Quaker theology, history, and advocacy through the lens of A Theological Perspective on Quaker Lobbying by Margery Post Abbott and the work of other Quaker scholar-activists. Discuss and share your experiences of Quaker changemaking traditions and learn how FCNL’s work fits into the broader landscape of Quaker civic engagement today.
Speaking Truth to Power: Storytelling in Quaker Advocacy (1 hour)
Learn how to frame and tell your story as an impactful advocacy tactic. We all have stories to tell and ministry to share about the change we want to see in our society. The content of this workshop is applicable to any communication with Congress, including media advocacy and virtual lobbying. Your meeting/church can specify a policy area focus for the workshop by sharing what issue you are led to learn and act on in your request (e.g., peace, economic justice, policing, climate). If you do not have an issue focus in mind, FCNL will suggest an issue of strategic importance based on your legislators.
Sharing Quaker Ministry with Congress: Lobby Training (1.5 - 2 hours)
Learn how to lobby Congress online or onsite! Learn the ins and outs of preparing for and conducting a lobby visit. This training prepares you or your group to lobby elected officials in the manner of Friends. Your meeting/church can specify a policy area focus for the workshop by sharing what issue you are led to learn and act on in your request (e.g., peace, economic justice, policing, climate). If you do not have an issue focus in mind, FCNL will suggest an issue of strategic importance based on your legislators.
Policy Update with FCNL’s Lobbyists
Why does our advocacy matter now? Hear from any of our lobbyists about the highlights of their program issue area in the last year and ask questions. Talk with the experts about why your advocacy is important in their program area in this moment!
Plenary or Keynote Address
An FCNL staff member shares remarks during a session at your (virtual) gathering. These talks can range from addresses given by our policy experts to stories of staff spiritual journeys and remarks on how Quakers engage in the political process in ways that are both faithful and effective.
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