Minute: Quaker Witness Concerning Actions of the Current Federal Administration (Minute approved February 8, 2026)

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As Quakers, we value peace. We are guided by simplicity, peace, integrity, community and equality. We are committed to resolving differences through communication, mutual respect and reconciliation, not aggression or coercion. We respect the sovereignty of all people and nations. The coercive actions of our current administration: occupying US cities and violence against their residents, the action in Venezuela, and threats to own Greenland contribute to a “might is right” belief that will likely lead to more violence, loss of life and suffering, and no clear endpoint.

As Quakers we value equality and community.    We seek to strengthen community by caring for each other, regardless of our country of birth.  We stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors, many who came seeking asylum from threats to their life and well-being.   We strongly oppose the actions of our current administration, which seek to instill hate and mistrust of our immigrant neighbors, is causing deep harm to communities and families. 

As Quakers we value integrity living truthfully with our words and actions aligned. The actions of our current administration repeatedly seek to obscure the truth by preventing impartial investigations and attempting control of the media and systems of justice.  When individuals who speak honestly in opposition to policies are removed or silenced, we are deprived of a clear understanding of what is truly happening.  We affirm our right to free speech and being able to hear a diversity of perspectives in our media.  We commit to seeking truth rather than accepting the falsehoods that are presented to us.

As Quakers we believe that there is sacredness within every human being.  We strive to nurture a world in which every person is treated with dignity and respect, free from fear and division. Our communities grow stronger when all are welcomed and cared for as members of the human family. Policies which encourage aggression towards sovereign nations and dehumanize individuals stand in opposition to justice and compassion.  Actions which foster love, justice, and care for one another are the true foundations of a peaceful world. Olympia Friends Meeting commits to these actions.

February 8, 2026

Proposed Minute to Boycott Chevron in support of Palestine

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The oppression and genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government (not the Israeli/Jewish people) continues. Since October, 2023, over 55,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands are unaccounted for under rubble. The lives of over 17,000 children have been brutally ended. Hospitals and schools continue to be bombed. Since March, the Israeli government blockade has prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, a violation of international humanitarian law. Food and medical supplies are prevented from getting into Gaza. Three quarters of Gaza’s population are at ‘Emergency’ or ‘Catastrophic’ levels of food deprivation. (WHO)

American tax dollars aid Israel in its genocidal campaign. Many of us feel frustrated as the world looks on in silence, wondering what we can do. We look to national Friends organizations for guidance.

Olympia Monthly Meeting joins American Friends Service Committee in endorsing the campaign to boycott Chevron, which is complicit in this genocide due to its extensive natural gas network off the coast of Palestine/Israel, providing both energy and hundreds of millions in tax dollars to the Israeli war machine. That money helps fuel the bombardment of more than 90 percent of homes in Gaza and the violent displacement of Palestinians.

We have carefully deliberated and educated ourselves on the situation in Gaza, and we are taking this public stand, agreeing that as a Meeting we will boycott Chevron as long as it continues to fuel Israel’s war crimes.

We encourage all Quakers to join us in renouncing complicity in this genocide and take a moral stand in whatever ways they discern. This stance aligns with our Quaker testimony in support of peace, and against all war and the killing of human beings.

Suggested actions:

  • Don’t buy gas from Chevron
  • Write to Chevron CEO (Suggested message: Tell Chevron CEO Mike Wirth You’re Boycotting Chevron) “I am joining the growing global boycott of Chevron, demanding that your company no longer conduct business that gravely violates Palestinian human rights and benefits Israel’s genocidal regime of apartheid.”

Minute: Boycott Chevron in support of Palestine (Minute approved July 13, 2025)

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The oppression and genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government (not the Israeli/Jewish people) continues. Since October 2023, over 55,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands are unaccounted for under rubble. The lives of over 17,000 children have been brutally ended. Hospitals and schools continue to be bombed. Since March, the Israeli government blockade has prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, a violation of international humanitarian law. Food and medical supplies are prevented from getting into Gaza. Three quarters of Gaza’s population are at ‘Emergency’ or ‘Catastrophic’ levels of food deprivation (WHO).

American tax dollars aid Israel in its genocidal campaign. Many of us feel frustrated as the world looks on in silence, wondering what we can do. We look to national Friends organizations for guidance.

Olympia Monthly Meeting joins American Friends Service Committee in endorsing the campaign to boycott Chevron, which is complicit in this genocide due to its extensive natural gas network off the coast of Palestine/Israel, providing both energy and hundreds of millions in tax dollars to the Israeli war machine. That money helps fuel the bombardment of more than 90 percent of homes in Gaza and the violent displacement of Palestinians.

We have carefully deliberated and educated ourselves on the situation in Gaza, and we are taking this public stand, agreeing that as a Meeting we will boycott Chevron as long as it continues to fuel Israel’s war crimes.

We encourage all Quakers to join us in renouncing complicity in this genocide and take a moral stand in whatever ways they discern. This stance aligns with our Quaker testimony in support of peace, and against all war and the killing of human beings.

Suggested actions:

  • Don’t buy gas from Chevron
  • Write to Chevron CEO ((Suggested message: Tell Chevron CEO Mike Wirth You’re Boycotting Chevron) “I am joining the growing global boycott of Chevron, demanding that your company no longer conduct business that gravely violates Palestinian human rights and benefits Israel’s genocidal regime of apartheid.”

Minute of Support for Lawsuit: PYM et.al. vs Department of Homeland Security (Approved February 9, 2025)

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The Olympia Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) stands in support of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and the individual monthly meetings in their 2025 lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security. As Quakers, we affirm that freedom to exercise religion is a crucial right of all people that is enshrined in the United States Constitution.

For decades, United States policy has prevented immigration enforcement, including arrests, investigations, and surveillance at sensitive places including houses of worship. The Trump-Vance administration’s new policy allows the government to conduct immigration enforcement in these areas. Fear of government enforcement may deter worshippers from attending services, infringing on their right to associate for religious exercise.

Quakers believe that a diversity of voices is essential to our spiritual experience and have a historic commitment to peace. When the government takes actions that reduce access to worship and potentially allows a violent encounter within a place of worship, it interferes with our ability to participate in our faith.

Minute Endorsing AFSC’s A different future is possible: Quaker organizations share a vision for peace in Palestine and Israel (Approved June 9, 2024)

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Olympia Friends Meeting has endorsed AFSC’s A different future is possible: Quaker organizations share a vision for peace in Palestine and Israel. (Also here in PDF format.)

We ask that our Members, Attenders and F/friends read it, consider it, and take the actions in it to support peace.

Our Minutes and Statements

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Quaker meetings have the tradition of adopting Minutes about areas of concern. These are statements of convictions that express the “sense of the meeting” on which the Meeting reached unity during a meeting for business. At times they also issue statements to the press or to run as a newspaper ad.

Below are links to some Minutes and Statements from Olympia Friends Meeting:

Olympia Friends Meeting’s COVID-19 Update Letter ~ April 10, 2020

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April 10, 2020

Dear F/friends,

We hope that you are in good health, good spirits and discerning a new normal for this period of Covid-19 induced change in our lives. There are many ways F/friends are reaching out to each other during the quarantine, including lots of Zooming with creative ways to worship, sing, play, connect, do business, and even dine.

We thank you for your financial contributions to the life of the Meeting. They are much-needed as we continue to pay staff, taxes, utilities, and other expenses.

Due to the quarantine and disruption to health, well-being, and finances, Olympia Friends Meeting is experiencing a decline in revenue. We have no rental income, and financial contributions from members and attenders have decreased. Our expenses for March were more than our income.

So, a gentle suggestion that if you are accustomed to paying by check and the satisfaction of putting it the giving box at Meeting, consider paying online for the time being. It’s very easy. Go to http://olympiafriends.org/, and click on “donate” in the upper right of the web page. This will take you to a page with a gold-colored “donate” button. Click that, and it will take you to a page where you put in the amount you wish to donate and click to either pay by credit/debit card or by PayPal. Alternately, you can mail a check to the Meetinghouse, 3201 Boston Harbor Road N.E., Olympia, WA 98506.

These are tough times. The physical, emotional, spiritual and financial resources are strained for many. And yet, we have each other. Thank you for all you are doing for your families, Meeting, the community, and in the world.

In the Light,
Finance Committee, Olympia Friends Meeting

Download this letter in PDF format here.

Meeting for Worship via Zoom starting 03-15-2020

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Olympia Friends Meeting made the decision – because of the risk of transmission of Coronavirus COVID-19 when meeting in person – to close the Meetinghouse to our own events and renter’s events for the foreseeable future.

So that we are able to continue having Meeting for Worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. and other meetings, we will be meeting online with Zoom, a video conferencing tool. You can see our calendar of current Meetings and events here. Zoom is successfully used by Quaker organizations to let people meet “face-to-face” to conduct committee meetings, and many Monthly Meetings are making the move to it or something similar for the same reason we are now – so that we stay connected as a community and are able to worship together.

With Zoom it is not necessary to download anything or to sign up for an account. You can connect with a computer or a cell phone, or you can call in on a land line.

Here are some directions from Zoom on how to join a meeting:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-Joining-a-Meeting

And here are some great directions from Chapel Hill Friends Meeting – with our thanks:
https://www.chapelhillfriends.org/zoom/browser.html

Before joining a Zoom meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can download the Zoom app from the Zoom Download Center : https://zoom.us/download. If you don’t do that, you will be prompted to download and install Zoom when you click a join link. You can at that time also cancel the download and click on “If you cannot download or run the application, join from your browser.”

To join the Meeting for Worship, we gather starting around 9:45 AM on Sunday mornings, and have a few minutes to greet each other. When it is 10:00 AM, quiet your surroundings and yourself (mute if possible unless you are led to speak during worship) and be present in the Zoom meeting as you would be entering the Meeting for Worship at the meetinghouse.

Please make sure your computer or cell phone camera is turned on because it’s really nice to see each other’s faces in this time of isolation.

Once you’ve “entered” you’ll see the faces and names of the others who are present.

Please mute yourself by clicking the button on the bottom left of the screen and then if you want to speak you can un-mute yourself there.

The Meeting for Worship will close with the moderator thanking us.

We’ll take some time for introductions (alphabetically by first name since we can’t go around in a circle) and announcements, and then have some “virtual” social time.

To join the Meeting:

Link: https://zoom.us/j/395448936
or if using the ZOOM app: Meeting ID: 395-448-936

There is a password. Ask us if you need it. (See below)

You can either choose to connect with your web browser or download the Zoom app for cell phones and computers. When you click a link to join a Zoom meeting the first time, you will be offered the opportunity to download the app. This is not necessary. You can choose to do that or to connect via a browser.

If you do not have access with a computer or cell phone, there is also an option to call in on a phone line, though without video. 
Phone: (253) 215-8782 or (301) 715-8592.
Calling in international?  Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aemqdrgb4W

If you are using your browser, you may need to approve Zoom to use your camera in the lower left of your screen so we can see you in video.

If you want to download the app ahead of time, do that through the app store on your cell phone or this link for your computer: https://zoom.us/client/latest/ZoomInstaller.exe

If you have a problem, slow down and try again.

Questions ahead of time? Contact our Hearthkeeper via this form or call (360) 561-7067 (calls only, no texts). Inquiries left after 9 a.m. Friday will be replied to the following Monday.

Find Other Quaker Worship and Fellowship Online

See the information and links here: https://westernfriend.org/quaker-worship-and-fellowship-online
which is created and maintained by Western Friend, the official publication of Quakers in Pacific, North Pacific, and Intermountain Yearly Meetings.

Minute on Becoming an HP-free Church (Approved August 11, 2019)

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“Look upon our treasure, the furniture of our houses, and our garments, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions.”  – John Woolman

As Quakers opposed to all wars and who affirm the essential equality and dignity of all people, we take a moral stand against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories [as defined by international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law https://www.btselem.org/international_law] and the companies which profit from the suffering of others there.

Hewlett Packard manufactures and supplies the biometric identification technologies that limit Palestinian movement and identifies them as targets for other forms of discrimination. Hewlett Packard is the largest IT supplier to the Israeli military and is profiting from the oppression of the Palestinian people.

We have carefully deliberated and educated ourselves on the situation in Israel and Palestine, and we are taking this public stand by signing onto the HP-Free Church pledge: https://www.fosna.org/apartheid-free-worship, agreeing that as a Meeting we will boycott all Hewlett-Packard products and refuse to invest in Hewlett-Packard as long as it continues the practice of supplying tools of oppression to the Israeli government.

We encourage all Quakers to join us in renouncing complicity in this occupation and taking a moral stand against the occupation in whatever ways they discern.