Quaker Organizations
Quakers are known for putting their faith into action. Quaker Meeting members and attenders (as well as interested non-Quaker volunteers) often work through regional or national Quaker organizations to turn their faith into action. Links to some of those organizations are listed below.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Regional Meetings are often referred to as “Yearly Meetings” because historically they would meet at least once a year to make decisions about issues and concerns that affect the regional group (which includes Medford Quaker Meeting). Currently Philadelphia Yearly Meeting convenes the 100+ monthly meetings under its care three times a year and provides a vehicle for members of individual meetings to take broader action. www.pym.org/
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
Friends Committee on National Legislation is a Quaker lobbying organization in the public interest that works for justice, peace, good stewardship of the earth's resources, and good governance for the United States. Founded in 1943, FCNL fields a team of expert lobbyists in Washington, DC and works with a grassroots network of tens of thousands of people around the country. www.fcnl.org
Friends General Conference
Founded in 1900, Friends General Conference is an association of local and regional Quaker organizations across the United States and Canada. www.fgcquaker.org
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Founded in 1917 during World War I to give young conscientious objectors ways to serve without joining the military or taking lives, AFSC activists drove ambulances, ministered to the wounded, and stayed on in Europe after the armistice to rebuild war-ravaged communities. Following that modest beginning, AFSC has responded in numerous ways to human suffering both in America and around the world. Key issues for AFSC include ending discrimination, building peace, defending immigrants' rights, ending mass incarceration, and building economic justice. www.afsc.org
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW)
A network of Friends (Quakers) in North America working on Earthcare concerns. QEW empowers individuals to take Spirit-led action on ecological concerns and build a community of Quakers committed to Earthcare. QEW shares spiritual and educational resources with faith communities, connects Friends caring for the earth and speaks out as a public Quaker voice about critical ecological concerns and environmental justice. www.quakerearthcare.org
South Jersey Quakers
A collaboration of Friends from Burlington, Ocean, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland and Cape May counties. www.southjerseyquakers.org