Subcommittee on Human Rights
The Subcommittee on Human Rights is a subcommittee under the Board of Local Outreach.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Mandate
The Subcommittee on Human Rights (SoHR) exists to assist the churches, boards, and staff of Northwest Yearly Meeting in responding to the issues of human rights, war, responsible stewardship of the earth, racial reconciliation and other issues that concern us as Friends. SoHR will work to bring these issues to the attention of Friends in the Northwest, provide reliable and pertinent information and suggest specific courses of action.
SoHR will have the capability of creating its own ministry teams, or “task force groups,” in order to focus effectively on specific projects/issues. SoHR may also prepare “minutes” behind which the Yearly Meeting (local meetings, Areas, YM Boards, and interested individuals) after consideration, may wish to unite.
For the time being, SoHR will be primarily accountable to the Yearly Meeting board of Local Outreach, and will be funded through that board’s budget. Minutes and progress updates from SoHR meetings, as well as from the various appointed task force meetings, will be part of an information sharing and feedback loop between all concerned Y.M. boards for the purpose of helping as many as possible to become aware of key issues, as well as providing opportunities for input.
In order to fully support NWYM’s commitment to weave peace and social justice issues throughout its structure, SoHR will work diligently in conjunction with local congregations, appropriate boards, and the Yearly Meeting staff to discern God’s calling and our united responses to these issues.
- A Immigration Ministry Team has been established to provide resources to assist NWYM churches and individuals respond to this specific aspec tof Human Rights concerns. View their page for current resources.
Information
For more information on the current status of work being done by this subcommittee, or on how a person can get involved with this subcommittee, please contact Gar Mickelson at the Yearly Meeting office (503) 538-9419, or email him at gmickelson@nwfriends.org.
