Wednesday´s 4 hour meeting at INELA headquarters went beyond our expectations. All six yearly meeting made it, and four of the six were represented by their presiding clerk. We started with Nancy delivering a message on a bit of Friends´ history, and then she talked about the testimonies, reinforcing their Biblical basis. Then we each spoke about FWCC´s work at the World and Section levels.

Each yearly meeting representative then gave a short presentatin about the state of the yearly meeting, including membership stats and pressing issues they face.

This led in what, at times, was a very emotional discussion. Perhaps the toughest issue they face is that of declining membership, in large part due to the attraction of their youth and others to Pentecostal and similar denominations. The largest of the yearly meetings, the Holiness Mission yearly meeting, said they are 10,000 fewer (vs what time period, I am not certain, but it seemed to mean within the past decade;I was interpreting, so I wasn´t able to take detailed notes though Nancy did.) Sone of the yearly meeting leaders, at times speaking in anguished tones, said how critical it is to involve younger Friends in the life of the church and in leadership roles. Over and over we heard how frustrated some leaders are because they don´t have either the materials or capacity in their yearly meetings to explain what makes the Friends church special or different from other evangelical churches. The original message of the first missionaries who brought their Quaker distinctives to Bolivia is unknown to probably a majority of congregants today. There is almost a desperation to know more about Quaker history and early Friends´ beliefs.

The other issue we heard alot about has to do with administrative changes occasioned by changes in the Bolivian constitution. Under Evo Morales´ government Bolivia has moved from a church state to a lay state, and this is reflected in the change in Bolivia´s official name. (can´t remember it exactly now, try to google it.) All church denominations have been asked to supply, electronically, detailed documentation including bylaws, names and positions of church leaders, etc. All the yearly meetings are now in the process of updating thier bylaws, but some have concerns that they might not meet with government approval. So this has taken quite a bit of administrative energy from the yearly meeting clerks and governing boards, not to mention concerns about the future relationship of the government and the church.

To witness all six yearly meetings in Bolivia sit together and talk about their common concerns was quite an experience. Perhaps this is the beginning of future collaboration, or perhaps not, but at the very least everyone was very grateful to Jesus Huarachi, using our visit to Bolivia, for reaching out to all Quakers in Bolivia.