The following message came out of the Conference called at Wilmington College over the Labor Day weekend [Aug 31 to Sep 2], 1956 so that Friends may discuss and think over their responsibilities regarding race relations. Another conference is planned for 1957 on the same subject. Conference members hope that this message will be widely read, and in any quantity may be obtained from David H. Scull, Annandale, Virginia.

We, the 120 Friends gathered here at Wilmington from 16 Yearly Meetings, as well as other Friends groups, greet you all in Christian Love.

Coming from North, South, East and West, we have been made fervent in the deeper realization that “we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” in our relations with our brothers. We have stood in the light of Christ “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world”, and that makes all men equal in God’s sight. We have been led to face with failure to meet the urgent challenge of the world wide revolution in human relations. We recognize our confusion and our lack of faithfulness to our principles. In all parts of the nation we have failed. Through ignorance or complacency or fear we have neglected our moral obligation. We have not treated all men as brothers.

Empty statements sometimes mean very little, but this we know: that right relations with God must lead to right relations with all men. Instead of passing judgment on one another, our task lies in helping one another to move forward in a practical application of this truth. Here, at this Conference, Friends, pastoral and non-pastoral, urban and rural, Negro and white, have prayed together and spoken to one another honestly in a spirit of love. We have gained insight into one another’s problems and have seen barriers fall. We urge Friends to create opportunities for similar experiences.

We see a service for Friends in the quiet, the experimental attacking by the individual Meeting and the individual Friend in their home communities. We earnestly pray that we can move toward a sense of awareness of world events from where we are to where God would have us be in race relations. More important than where we are is the direction in which we are going.

In the midst of tension and conflict at home and abroad, we see the immediacy of this problem. We suggest to each Friends Meeting and Church and to every individual Friend in America that we tenderly and humbly consider together the following queries:

As Meetings and as Individuals:

  • What are we doing to prepare our Meeting or Church to welcome into our own fellowship those of any race, regardless of race, who seek the saving light of Christ?
  • What are we doing to encourage the investigation and to create other religious opportunities for the growth of understanding among Friends?
  • What are we doing to support those who from tenderness of conscience are pioneering in the area of race relations?
  • What are we doing to release the uniting force of God’s love in our community by working to support interracial meetings or councils where differing opinions can be honestly expressed without fear?
  • What are we doing to release the God-given potential of each individual regardless of skin color, national origin, or religious conviction by helping to provide: a. Educational opportunities for all that bring about communication, understanding and common experience? b. Job opportunities for all based on ability? c. Healthful and constructive recreational opportunities.

Source: American Friend, October 4, 1956, p. 313

The 2nd conference of FNCRR was held at Westtown in Pennsylvania in 1957