Swarthmore Friends Meeting 

     of the Religious Society of Friends

For an expanded view of the many things the Peace and Social Concerns Committee is involved in, please click on the links in the left margin.

Peace and Social Concerns statement on Committee role and responsibilities

February 10, 2008

Peace and Social Concerns (PSC) is the Committee which bears witness in various ways to Friends Testimonies on issues of peace and justice in the world and at the local, regional, and national levels.  It welcomes members of the Meeting and the larger community to bring concerns to the Committee for clearness and support.

In carrying out its work, it relates to the following activities/working groups that report to the Committee at least once a year:

• Feeding the homeless

• The Discretionary Fund (matches contributions of members/attenders)

• Environmental Working Group (active from time to time)

• Clothes packing

• Quaker Quick Notes 

• Environmental Resources Page

We would like to continue to be active in the following areas:

• Conscience, militarism, and war tax concerns

• Interfaith work to abolish the death penalty

• Interfaith climate change

• Peace Resources Page and Peacemaker sites

• Interfaith work to abolish nuclear weapons

The Committee has, or has had, representatives on various working groups and committees of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM)www.pym.org associated with our witness:

• PYM Middle East Working Group www.pym.org/pym_wgs/mideastwg.php

• PYM Earthcare Working Group www.pym.org/pym_wgs/earthcarewg.php

• PYM Climate Action Network www.pym.org/pym_wgs/climateaction.php

• PYM Nominating Committee www.pym.org/pm/nom.php  

• PYM Peace and Concerns Standing Committee www.pym.org/pm/pax.php

• Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) Network www.fcnl.org/

The Committee is the group primarily responsible for getting members and others involved in the Friends Committee on National Legislation, including the process of setting priorities http://www.fcnl.org/priorities/

The Committee maintains relationships with local peace groups including the Delaware County Wage Peace and Justice http://www.delcowagepeacejustice.org/ and the Peace Center http://delcopeacecenter.org/, a project of Chester Quarterly Meeting.  The Committee continues to seek ways it can help its neighbors in Chester.

The Committee is involved in the Nonviolent Peaceforce Initiative http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/, Friends Peace Teams http://www.friendspeaceteams.org/, and the local Women in Black vigil http://www.womeninblack.org/.

The Environmental Working Group, when appropriate and as time allows, sells environmentally-friendly goods and attempts to increase awareness of the effects of consumption.

The Committee makes regular reports to Monthly Meeting for Business, and proposes minutes if approved by the Committee.

The Committee is responsible for a potluck after Meeting once a year, usually February, and encourages Committee members to help with summer potlucks.

The Committee makes suggestions and arranges forums on a range of peace and social action topics.

The Committee is responsible for the Peace and Social Concerns bulletin board and encourages members and attenders to check it regularly.

The committee distributes minutes and agendas in a timely manner to members and to anyone else who might be interested.

The Committee provides information for the Swarthmore Monthly Meeting webpage.

The Clerk or another member of the PSC Committee attends the Clerk's Meeting and Meeting for Business.

Committee members are encouraged to participate in decision-making on any of these areas through attending meetings, and to contribute suggestions by email or other discussion.  Some members choose to concentrate on one or a few concerns.  The Clerk or another member maintains a list of current members.  To be on the list of the Committee for upcoming events, and/or to receiver our agenda and minutes, email: meeting @swarthmore.edu with subject: PSC.