FUM News

Report from the FUM General Board

Friends United Meeting’s General Board met in person and via Zoom from March 6–8, 2025. The meetings started with a development session led by Colin Saxton, Director of Church Relations and Stewardship Theologian for Everence Financial Services. Colin initiated a discussion on how Everence could further build financial capacity within Friends United Meeting, prompting a deeper conversation among board members.

What Does it Mean to be Publishers of Truth?

In these partisan and divided times, when many Americans are arguing not only about how to respond to the truth, but what truth (or Truth) even is, Friends United Meeting has been asking what it means for us to be publishers of truth in this time. The FUM staff has agreed to the following guidelines for our news stories, social media posts, and our own personal communications, whether on social media or in person: • Share first-hand experience • Resist passing along AI “news,” or even an AI voice • Avoid creating or spreading memes that pass along partial truth without context• Ask whether what we are communicating will enhance a person’s dignity, or is intended to take dignity away

Wilmington College Students Visit FUM–Belize

Students from Wilmington College, led by WC Campus Minister Nancy McCormick, spent their Spring Break, March 8–15, in Belize at Belize Friends School, Centre, and Church, in Belize City. They volunteered in a number of capacities while there, including painting school rooms, leading games, and holding crafts sessions with children from the school’s neighborhood. Here are some of their reflections:

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FUM Journal

Hidden

We were driving to my mother’s home in Nashville for our Christmas celebration, and my daughter reacted to a new construction project we hadn’t seen before. Obviously it had been quite a while since we drove south.

Coffee with Jesus

As a barista, mornings now bid me rise at 4 a.m. to fill enough carafes with liquid motivation for the 6 a.m. rush. Before the sun peeks over earth I’ve heard, “Thanks, hon” from the construction foreman with a gravelly, Sam Elliot-like voice; said, “Have a great day,” to half the hospital’s nurses as they caffeinate before their rounds; and poured refills for the jogging club whose daily circuit ends at the espresso machine.

The neighborhood

Not being much of a television watcher, I confess I’ve never actually seen the show Survivor. I understand many people really enjoy it. I simply cannot get my head around why it is so appealing. As with so many other things, I’m probably just missing something.

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An Enduring Truth

Throughout our history, the people known as Friends (or Quakers) keep rediscovering an essential and enduring truth: There is one who speaks to our most basic needs and most significant hopes—Christ Jesus the Lord. Both individually and communally, we are learning to know and follow the Voice that guides us in the way we should go. Together, we seek to understand and obey that truth which sets us free. As a people, we share in the experience of that powerful life which makes all things new. Maybe you are searching for an authentic and transforming faith and community to call home—if so, come in and join us as we seek to know and follow Christ.