“Living the Transformation”: Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) World Gathering | The Australian Friend

“Living the Transformation”: Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) World Gathering | The Australian Friend

Taisoo Kim Watson, Queesland Regional Meeting

Taisoo Kim Watson and Cho-Nyon Kim from Korea

I feel very honoured representing the Australian Friends and attending the FWCC Plenary program at Pisac, Peru, from 19 to 27 January 2016. And I am thankful for the funds provided by AYM and the Thanksgiving Fund. It would have been very difficult to manage the registration cost and airfares without this financial assistance.

The daily program was very full. I was asked to be on the Pastoral Care group, which involved rostering ourselves to be on duty in the Pastoral Care Room and also always wearing a green sash so Friends could seek help at anytime, anywhere. This was a good opportunity to meet Friends individually who dropped in for cups of tea and talk. I have made a special connection with a few Friends through Pastoral care and Choir. When there are over 300 Members from nearly 40 countries, it is not easy to make connections with all.

I was so eager to hear the news from Korean Friends, I tried to sit with them at breakfast time. Also it was a good opportunity to make some suggestions to the itinerary of Lee and Kim who will be visiting AYM in July. It was lovely to hear the Korean bamboo flute played by Kim and the three of us sang a Korean folk song.

Home Groups were decided and compulsory, but we were encouraged to participate in other groups such as Consultation. I joined as many as I could manage until I developed a terrible cough.

I chose the FWCC Constitution Review Consultation Group as I have some experience working with constitutions and also I felt strongly that some issues needed to be reviewed. One recommendation was to hold World FWCC Gathering/Plenary sessions at least once in every 12 years instead of the current practice of every 5 years. The rationale was that FWCC has to find financial and human resources to plan and organise the World Meetings, but every gathering puts FWCC in great financial hardship. There are smaller numbers of full paying Friends and growing numbers of Friends needing help. The Meeting reached a kind of unity to hold it every 10 years.

The North American Section predicted a 15% reduction in contributions to FWCC in the near future. The British Friends are able to continue to support FWCC at the current rate because of their endowment/investment, and some increase from the European and Middle Eastern Section. But as we see the numbers of this Section, we should not expect a great deal more. The registration cost for some YMs/MMs in Asia West Pacific Section was over A$2000. No Members from Japan Yearly Meeting attended. Two Korean Friends received financial assistance from their Monthly Meetings.

Our Group studying the Constitution also have acknowledged that other important works need to be done by FWCC other than organising World gathering/meetings. We will be celebrating 100 years of FWCC in 2037.

I quote a part of the section Equipping FWCC:

… serving the world Quaker community, developing flexibility to face challenges while maintaining organizational integrity and sustainability, looking at meeting requirements and governance changes…

I always valued the early morning silent meeting for Worship. The program noted clearly “un-programmed Meeting for Worship”. I do not think some Friends from evangelical and programmed Quaker churches understood what Silent Meeting for Worship means. On the first morning, a Friend started to sing very energetically, and then another Friend started praying in Spanish. A Friend had translated every sentence to English. We did not have much silent time left. I changed to the Bible Study, led by Janet Scott. I have learned much from these early morning Bible studies. It was rather moving to share the Lord’s Prayer in Korean at the end of one study session.

When I was attending the AWPS gathering in India, a number of Friends expressed concern that we had very little quiet time. I have received some concerns again during this FWCC gathering: there was not enough quiet time.

It has been exciting to meet cousins and distant cousins from many places of the World. We have different ways of worshiping, in many different languages but we came together in spirit .

I feel more strongly than ever the importance of FWCC in the lives of world Quakers.

FWCC needs all our spiritual and financial support to meet the challenges of the next 20 years and longer.

Quakers around the world

For your information, I have listed the YMs and MMs and the numbers of Members. (Ref. FWCC Finding Quakers around the World, 2012)

Bolivia (22,300), Canada (1,300), Colombia (10), Costa Rica (90), Cuba (900), Dominican Republic (110), El Salvador (1,600), Guatemala (19,620), Haiti (1,000), Honduras (2,500), Jamaica (2,100), Mexico (1,400), Nicaragua (200), Peru (3,500), United States (76,360),

Albania (380), Belgium (40), Croatia (50), Czech Republic (10), Denmark (30), Estonia (10), Finland (20), France (70), Georgia (20), Germany/Austria (340), Greece (10), Hungary (4000), Ireland (1,600), Italy (20), Latvia (10), Lebanon/Palestine (70), Lithuania (10), Malta (10), Netherlands (120), Norway (150), Poland (10), Portugal (10), Romania (920), Russia (30), Serbia (50), Spain (20), Sweden (100), Switzerland (100), Ukraine (10), United Kingdom (15,800)

Congo(s) (10+3000), Ghana (10), Kenya (146,300), Madagascar (20), Nigeria (20), Rwanda (4,200), Tanzania (3,100), Uganda (5000)

Australia (1,000), Bangladesh (475), Bhutan (800), Cambodia (410), China (100), India (4,300), Indonesia (1,800), Japan (140), Korea (50), Nepal (6,000), New Zealand (660), Philippines (2,500), Singapore (10), Taiwan (5,000)

Quakers in the World - Quakers in Korea

Quakers in the World - Quakers in Korea

Quakers in Korea

The Quaker presence in Korea dates from the end of the Korean War (1950-53).  In the aftermath of the war, The Friends Service Unit (FSU) – a joint arm of the British Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee – provided humanitarian and medical aid to refugees and others affected by the war.

From their base in Kunsan, the FSU initially tackled problems of severe malnutrition.  Later Houses for Korea was set up by AFSC’s Floyd Schmoe, providing refugees with the materials and training to construct their own houses.  Schools were started in the camps, with Korean teachers paid for by the FSU.  Adult literacy classes were started for war widows, and games of volleyball and basketball were organised.

The FSU was heavily involved with training local Korean doctors and nurses.  They set up a physiotherapy unit to help war amputees, and ante-natal and midwifery service and both out-patient and in-patient services for sick children.

When the FSU was wound up, at the end of 1957, local Koreans who had been working with the Quakers wanted to continue their connection with Quakerism.  With the help of American Quaker families living in Seoul (in particular, Reginald Price and Arthur Mitchell), a group began to meet regularly for silent, unprogrammed worship, and for study and discussion.

The first Quaker text to be translated into Korean was Rufus Jones' Quaker's Faith  in 1960.  It watranslated by Yoon Gu Lee and printed for distribution among members.

Seoul meeting was eventually recognized as a monthly meeting in 1964 under the care of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), and in 1967 moved into its own Meeting House.  As one member of the meeting was blind, the meeting became involved in the welfare of the blind. Some members gathered periodically to transcribe religious articles into Braille and a work camp was organized to repair a road near one of the homes for the blind.

One Korean who had first encountered Quakers through their work in Kunsan was the human rights activist, Ham Sok Hon. Ham was impressed by the Quakers’ pacifism, egalitarianism and their active participation in questions of social justice.  Ham started to attend Seoul Quaker meeting and became a member of the Society of Friends in 1967, after attending the Friends World Conference in North Carolina.

“You were already a Quaker before you became one,” an American Friend, Arthur Mitchell, told him.

Ham spoke out against dictatorship and injustice in South Korea.  He carried out a hunger strike in 1965, was imprisoned in 1976 and 1979, and was placed under house arrest in 1980.  South Korea finally achieved full democracy in 1987. The following year, when the Seoul Olympics were held, Ham was selected to be the head of the Peace Olympiad, which drew up a declaration calling for world peace.

Under Ham’s leadership, and with the support of Mary and Lloyd Bailey, who stayed in Korea during 1983/4 under the auspices of the Friend in the Orient Committee of Pacific Yearly Meeting and continued to correspond with the meeting for many years after, Seoul Meeting flourished.  Although membership declined after Ham’s death in 1989, it has revived again since 1998.

Conscientious objection has been a key issue for Quakers in South Korea.  In a country still technically at war with North Korea, compulsory military service is considered essential and for many years COs had no option but to serve or to go prison.  QUNO (Quaker United Nations Office) and FWCC were among those who campaigned for some form of alternative service to be offered, and this was finally implemented in 2007.

The American Friends Service Committee has maintained a presence in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).  They currently run an agriculture programme, helping farmers introduce techniques of rice cultivation adapted to the short growing season in DPRK.

AFSC continues to campaign against North Korean nuclear tests, while warning that isolating or ignoring North Korea is not only unrealistic but dangerous.

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Further Reading and Credits

EXTERNAL LINKS

• Friends in Korea
• Papers of C Lloyd and Mary Margaret Bailey
• AFSC in North Korea

History of Korean Quakers

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1. History of Korean Quakers

By Bo-Kyom Jin

After the Korean War, some British and American Quakers came to Korea for rehabilitation programs. After the overseas workers had left Korea, some of the Korean assistants of the programs held the first Quaker Meeting in 1958 and some American Friends who worked at the international Cooperation Administration in Seoul supported them. Meeting began with silent worship for thirty minutes, and about an hour was given for study and fellowship.

FWCC encouraged Seoul Friends to build relationship with Japan Yearly Meeting or with Honolulu MM and two of the Koreans became Quakers whose membership belonged to Honolulu Meeting in 1958. Historically, Japan and Korea have had a difficult relationship since Korea was colonized and devastated by Japan. So it was difficult for us to intervisit for some time. The same year, AFSC energetically tried to bring some Koreans to the seminars and work camps in Japan and Korean Friends began to participate in the program. As the result of their visits, correspondence with Japanese Friends began taking place. In 1961, FWCC began sponsoring some
visitors and Friends in residence in Korea and Seoul Friends
requested a direct and official relationship with FWCC. The Meeting then had about thirty regular attenders and study programs were actively carried out and FWCC helped strengthen its links with overseas Friends.

In 1964, with the help of overseas Friends, a meeting place for the Seoul Friends was purchased after having had to change places of worship ten times in 6 years.“Seoul Friends Meeting Monthly Newsletter” was published in 1966. The Meeting decided to take up the leper village in Tandong as its main service project. The visiting Friends from Japan, USA, Australia and England, have strengthened us very much.
Every Sunday, Bible study was led by Sok Hon Ham, who was a
widely recognized spiritual leader in Korea. In 1967, Seoul Meeting became a Monthly Meeting under the care of the FWCC. The visit of the Chairperson of FWCC, Douglas Steere and his wife Dorothy in 1967 and his public lecture at the YMCA with about one hundred people in the audience meant a great deal in Quaker outreach. At the same year, Sok Hon Ham left Korea for the USA to attend the Greensboro Gathering and the tenth triennial meeting of FWCC.
After the meeting, he attended the Pacific Yearly Meeting, studied at Pendle Hill and visited many Friends Meetings and Friends in the United States and Japan. International Quaker contacts such as work camps, travel and study abroad(at Pendle Hill or at Woodbrooke in England), participation in Quaker conferences, an inter-visitation program with Japanese Quakers, and numerous visiting friends contributed greatly to nurturing Korean Friends during the 1970s and 1980s and are still an enriching experience to us.

In 1980, SMM was active having a study group, outreach activities and raised a voice of conscience under the dictatorship of military government. Under the leadership of Sok Hon Ham, Seoul MM flourished with members and attenders at its height numbering close to fifty. In 1988, a second floor was added to the meetinghouse to meet the demand of the growing memberships. In 1990s, Seoul MM
went through a dark period after the demise of Sok Hon Ham.
Fortunately, since 2000, Seoul MM has revived some of its vitality.

2. State of the Meeting
Over the past year our number of members has decreased from 20 to 10. Some of the attenders are Americans who are married to Koreans In the past few years, a worshipping group began to meet regularly and more than 10 F/friends continues to gather every week in Daejon (a city 2 hours far from Seoul) They have established a vibrant, worshipping and studying community. We used to have a retreat annually but there were no retreats in 2007/8 because of the absence of initiatives or the decrease of members. Vocal ministries are rare in Seoul MM and sometimes I feel eager for vocal ministries in my Meeting. In addition, the financial situation of SMM has gotten worse mainly as monthly donations decreased.

Since 2007, AVP programs have been introduced by a Korean Friend (Jonghee Lee) and co-facilitated by her and German Friends (including Ute Caspers). Most of the participants were NGO activists. A Direct Education workshop facilitated by George Leakey from the USA was also held in Seoul last year.
We are planning a Korea version of Faith and Practice. I know you have made your own Faith and Practice and hope that Australian Friends will give some useful advice to us.

Last year we had quarterly gatherings named Family gatherings. The intention is for us to invite our family members who are not Quakers and sing together and share food and fellowship.

We have an annual gathering (business meeting and fellowship)

3. Committee activities

We have Peace Service committee, Learning committee, Outreach committee, library and website committee, Facilities care committee, Finance committee. Our committees are not fully functioning partly due to shortage of manpower but we are thankful that we could maintain this Meeting and carried out some service activities.
From the beginning of the Korean Quaker history, service work was emphasized. As a first step, medicines were supplied to two Tuberculosis patients beginning in 1961 for two years. Work camps for orphans and the blind, In 1964, a house for leper patients was built. Emergency food was supplied in 1960s. In 2003, the Meeting participated in an anti Iraq War demonstration and actively raised funds to help anti Iraq War activists’ organizations. The meeting now supports Foreign Migrant Workers Center , Ssi-Al Women’s Center, and the Anti-Mine Association. Since the Korean War, landmines that were buried during the war have become a threat to civilians but those victims haven’t been cared enough by Korean government.
Our program consists of Business Meeting every 1st Sunday; George Fox Journal reading 2nd Sunday; Pendle Hill pamphlet discussion group every 3rd Sunday; Bible reading group every 4th Sunday.

4. Children in the Meeting

Child care issues emerged again during the 2008 annual meeting. At present, a few children attend the Meeting irregularly and SMM is going to assign F/fs to take care of them during the worship in case children come.

5. International Contacts

Sister Meetings : Canberra/Australia, Kapiti/ New Zealand, JYM
Hosted 2005 AWPS Section Gathering. Korean Friends have
attended international Friends gatherings including Bhopal, India gathering and Auckland and Dublin Triennials.

Epilogue :In December 2008, Seoul Friends had their annual meeting to review the past year and to think about and plan 2009. We are thankful that we could maintain this tiny meeting and that our worshiping group is getting more active.

It Begins | commentary

It Begins | commentary

Obama and the Quakers’ North Korea Problem

MICHAEL RUBIN / FEB. 18, 2011

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In 1947, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Friends Service Committee — non-governmental organizations belonging to the Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers — shared the Nobel Peace Prize. Presenting the award, Gunnar Jahn, chairman of the Nobel Committee, described the AFSC’s actions both during and after World War II. Seldom had the need for the Quakers’ relief operations been so great as during World War II. The Nazis, however, refused to allow the Quakers to operate in territory they controlled. The Third Reich was willing to make one exception, however. The Quakers could work in Poland, so long as they limited their assistance to those approved by the Germans. The AFSC refused to accept such restrictions. As the Allies beat back the Germans, the AFSC was ready, however, to assist “the prisoners who were released from concentration camps in 1945, all those who had to be repatriated from forced labor or POW camps in enemy countries, all the displaced persons who have no country to which they can return, all the homeless in their own countries, all the orphans, the hungry, the starving.”

Fast-forward to the present day. The AFSC operates a project in North Korea to help make collective farms more efficient. “In 1997, AFSC was one of the first two NGOs allowed to work directly with cooperative farms in the DPRK,” they explain, adding, “AFSC now works with four cooperative farms and with technical institutions to address production and soil fertility issues. AFSC country program also works with regional institutions and experts on training and exchange projects with DPRK.”

How times and values have changed. While the Quakers refused to compromise with the Nazis, they have no such qualms about Kim Jong-il’s conditionality. They ignore the fact that North Korea’s collective farms are slave-labor camps. Nor does the AFSC seek neutrality or to assist the true victims of the North’s reign of terror. For example, the AFSC does not help North Korean defectors who often arrive in the South traumatized and destitute.

The American Friends Service Committee reports that it teaches Human Rights Education at Sidwell Friends, where the Obamas send their daughters. Certainly, ideology played a role in their selection of Sidwell. “The choice makes sense at a philosophical level as well, because of how Quakers view the challenge of shaping children into socially responsible and spiritually aware adults,” Time explained.

Given the AFSC’s relationship with Sidwell, perhaps President Obama might ask the school and the AFSC to explain why enabling brutal dictatorships is consistent with the AFSC’s understanding of human rights, unless, of course, Obama also suffers from such moral blindness.