As the setting sun cast soft golden rays over Fort Lewis College, the rhythmic stomping of feet and bursts of shrill laughter joined a symphony of cheerful Celtic music. For an hour and a half, two dozen contra dancers sashayed and swayed like wind-kissed grasses.
This week, close to 150 Quakers from the Mountain West and the Southwest met at Fort Lewis College for their annual Intermountain Yearly Meeting (IMYM). The meeting provides attendees the opportunity to connect with the larger Quaker community, worship, conduct business, meet with interest groups and participate in outdoor activities.
“I come to IMYM because this is my community, and when the stuff hits the fan, these are the people who are going to be there for me,” said Elizabeth Freyman, a member of the Albuquerque Monthly Meeting. “This is the time where we can get to know each other beyond doing work together and build our community and make it stronger and more resilient.”
Quaker meetings
Silent Worship Friend Meetings occur every Sunday and are used to conduct local worships. The Durango Friends Meeting falls into this category.
Monthly Meetings occur on the first Sunday of each month and are used by Friends Meetings to conduct any business the group must address.
Regional Meetings occur twice a year and are statewide. They are used to conduct business and grow community.
Annual Meetings, like the IMYM, occur once a year and encompass multiple states and regions. They are used to conduct meetings, grow community, educate and more.
Each day begins with worship, said Susan Dalh, a member of the Durango Friends Meeting who helped plan the IMYM.
Traditionally, Quaker worships are held in silence, said Jerry Peterson, a member of the Mountain View Friends Meeting in Denver.
“The silent worship tradition is based in the idea that if we're able to sit in silence, quiet our minds and listen, we can gain a sense of the truth of the spirit, or reality,” he explained.
When someone receives a message they believe is intended for the group, Peterson said it is the hope they will stand, break the silence and share the message.
Following silent worship, attendees can choose from a variety of events that provide them with opportunities to socialize, learn about the religion and conduct business.
Dalh said interest groups consist of “Quaker-friendly topics” that encourage members to learn about the religion’s history and the humanitarian and environmental issues that meetings are addressing.
This year, interest groups bear titles like “Weaving the Needs of Many into a Unified Vision,” “Quaker Projects in El Salvador” and “Ute Education Matters.”
Business meetings, provide an opportunity for monthly and regional meetings to address any administrative or operational concerns they may have.
Like worship, business meetings are conducted in a relatively silent, respectful manner.
“People are invited to stand and deliver their opinion or message, but we don't discuss things as a combination of individuals, (or in) comments and opinions,” Peterson said.
For a decision to be made, the entire group must “discern a common agreement in a sense of unity.”
“It's not the same as consensus,” Peterson said. “We want everybody to enthusiastically agree with the decisions being made. Consensus is kind of the lowest common denominator.”
If unity is not achieved, the business is tabled and moved to another meeting.
Evenings generally provide time for events that facilitate socialization between attendees.
Dahl said she always looks forward to the annual barn dance.
This year, the dance was called by Deb Comley who guided dancers of all ages and experiences. As dancers stumbled over their feet, laughter filled the air as they let the music and Comley’s calls guide them.
As parents danced, some children ran around the stage, climbing rocks and benches.
“Its one of the few places in my life where my kid can just go and I know that there are people who are watching out for him and are there to support (him),” said Freyman, who has been attending the IMYM with her son for six years.
The first yearly meeting, which was called the Intermountain Friends Fellowship, was held in 1970 when the Arizona and New Mexico Quarterly Meetings invited Colorado and Utah Friends Meetings to a fellowship gathering at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Since then, the meeting has occurred annually. The name changed to Intermountain Yearly Meeting in 1975.
For the next four decades, meeting locations fluctuated between Ghost Ranch and Fort Lewis College before finally settling on Fort Lewis College in 2022.
The Quaker meeting model originated from Philadelphia, the birthplace of Quakerism in America, said Richard Grossman, a member of the Durango Friends Meeting.
When William Penn, who is known for founding Pennsylvania, first came to the New World in the 1682, he brought Quakerism with him.
At the time, Grossman explains people traveled by foot and horseback, so monthly meetings would congregate every couple of miles. Every year, monthly meetings from a larger regional area would come together in what became the annual meeting.
It is this traditional model that the IMYM and modern monthly meetings follow.
The Quaker movement, which is officially called the Religious Society of Friends, first surfaced in the 1650s in England, Peterson said.
“There was such a great upheaval in England at that time with the English revolution, Henry the 8th was not too far in the distant past,” Peterson said. “With Martin Luther, the Reformation, all of that, the Quaker spirituality grew out of that tumultuous time.”
Early Quakers, including John Fox, the father of the movement, rebelled against the Church of England’s assertion that an official clergy person was necessary to facilitate communication with God.
“We believe everyone has what we call the inner light,” Grossman said. “It's kind of built into all of us.”
Fox concluded that though this inner light, the Holy Spirit could speak directly to the individual, effectively nullifying the need for an ordained mediator.
This belief has also earned Quakerism a reputation as a peaceful religion.
“We believe that God resides in every person, no matter their religion, where they're from, their rights, or anything,” Dahl said. “For that reason, we are usually opposed to war.”
Another belief, or testimonial, that is central to the Quaker religion, is equality.
Dahl said many early suffragettes, like Susan B. Anthony, were Quaker women. She also says Quakers were active in the Underground Railroad.
Unlike other religions, Quakers are not unified by a governing body, hierarchical structure or central work of literature.
“We don’t have a dogma or a creed,” Dahl said.
Rather, Peterson said, Quakers are unified by a series of testimonials that can be remembered by the acronym SPICES: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship.
Peterson says the values carried by the testimonials are broad and encompass many aspects of Quaker life including business, personal life and worship.
“The values expressed in those words are deeply held spiritual beliefs,” he said. “A commitment to those values is a good step forward to wanting to be part of a Quaker way.”
lveress@durangoherald.com
