At a time of great intensity of feeling surrounding our national political life, some Friends seek guidance about political messages in Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business and in personal announcements. Friends are reminded that Richmond Friends Meeting is a nonpartisan organization. Messages directed at particular individuals or political parties stand in the way of our fulfilling the timeless Quaker instruction to “walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.” Foregoing personal attack does not preclude our speaking to the deep issues of our time, particularly those that have received minuted support from the Richmond Friends Meeting community or that bear on historic Quaker commitments to peace, justice, and equality.

Perhaps further guidance may be found in this statement by Barry Crossno, executive secretary of Friends General Conference: “If our only way forward is to resist, then let us resist. However, where we can create mutual respect, where we can sow love, and where we can share a vision of the Kingdom of God where all God’s children are valued, let us do so. Rather than be the rock of righteousness, let us be a river of love that sweeps us all towards liberation.”