The Third National Quaker Conference on Torture & Accountability will be held September 24–26, 2010, at the Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, California.

Two internationally known anti-torture activists will headline Conference. Human-rights attorney and investigator Scott Horton will be the keynote speaker. Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of SOA Watch, will also bring his unique perspective on the work.

Scott Horton has been one of the most tenacious investigators and reporters on issues of torture and accountability. Earlier this year, he broke the stunning story about three Guantánamo prisoners whose deaths there had previously been reported as suicides. Horton’s investigations showed they more likely died during torture by U.S. secret units.

Roy Bourgeois, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former missionary to Bolivia, founded SOA (School of the Americas) Watch in 1990 and has been active in the effort to abolish the “School of Assassins” ever since. He has also been active in the struggle for women’s ordination in the Catholic Church.

Friend John Calvi, coordinator of QUIT, The Quaker Initiative to End Torture, has been working on the concern for torture and accountability for several years.

Accountability today is the way to prevent torture in the future. The road to accountability will be long and difficult. This 2010 Quaker conference (which is open to other interested persons as well) will be one strong step down that long path. Watch for more details soon about the program. Fees will be kept as modest as possible, and registration will be limited. More information at the QUIT Web site, www.quit-torture-now.org.

Worship about Finances

Budget Saturday

October 2, 2010

Purchase Meeting

F. Peter Phillips for the Financial Services Committee

Every year, Friends who serve as treasurers for monthly, quarterly, regional, and half-yearly meetings are convened by the Financial Services Committee at Budget Saturday. This year, Budget Saturday will take place at Purchase Monthly Meeting on October 2. All Friends are welcome to join in the worship. We will meet at 9:00 a.m.for hospitality and settle into worship at 9:30. We expect to adjourn no later than 4:00 p.m.

At Budget Saturday, Friends share ministry on the proposed programs and activities of New York Yearly Meeting, and on the ability and clarity of the monthly meetings to support that work. In worship, our leadings are held in the Light and tested against our abilities to execute them. In anticipation of Budget Saturday, each monthly meeting clerk and treasurer will receive a draft expense budget during August, with a request that, at their September meetings for worship with a concern for business, each meeting indicate its likely level of covenant donation in support of the proposed work. Each quarter will attend Budget Saturday with an estimate of the expected level of support.

Budget Saturday is an opportunity to share deeply felt ministry and to renew our unity of vision as a Yearly Meeting. The Financial Services Committee hopes that many Friends are led to attend and participate in our worship that day.

Alternative dates, November 17-18.