Powell House Launches Earthcare Serieswith Special Offer to MeetingsThe Earthcare Working Group of New York Yearly Meeting got its start at NYYM Summer Sessions in 2006. Under the care of the Nurture Coordinating Committee, their charge became to “lift up the spiritual basis of Earthcare within NYYM.” One of the fruits of their labor over the past year has been the Earthcare Curriculum, an ongoing series of courses that will be offered each year at Powell House to deepen our relationship with, understanding of, and care and witness for the Earth within the context of Quakerism. As a way to inaugurate this exciting new program, Powell House is offering a "special" February through April, 2008: If you bring one person from your meeting with you, the price is reduced to $175 per person. If three of you come from one meeting, the cost is $150 per person. Four people, $125 per person, and five people, $100 per person. The first two workshops in the Earthcare Curriculum in March and April provide the framework for the spiritual basis of Earthcare as well as the impetus and opportunity to discern and engage in corporate action. The August weekend will teach principles and practical methods for living and working in harmony with the Earth. The weekend of March 14–16, 2008, Marshall Massey ofIowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative), will lead “Earth in the Headlines: How Are We Called to Respond?” In addition to proposing the creation of a nationwide Friends' committee on environmental matters in 1985, which became Quaker Earthcare Witness, an international organization with a permanent staff and well over a thousand supporters and volunteers in the U.S., Cuba, Canada, and Costa Rica, Marshall has continued to advocate Friends' coming together to act corporately on behalf of the Earth. He has proposed a number of far-reaching actions Quakers could take to make a significant impact on the health of the planet while putting Friends on the forefront of the environmental movement. Now the time has come to gather together with Marshall to discern the next steps that are urgently needed for our care of the Earth. In this workshop, we will also explore the Quaker basis of Earthcare. Marshall’s deep reflection on this perspective has moved many of us profoundly. For example, in considering the appropriateness of nuclear energy, he says, “We are looking at a world that says to future generations, ‘Our need, or maybe it’s just our desire, for just one year of power at the rate we consume power, outweighs the suffering you future folks will endure from yet another Chernobyl.’ And how does that assertion look in the Light of Christ?” To learn more about Marshall, his thought, his Nature Amendment and more, go to: http://journal.earthwitness.org/. From April 11–13, 2008, Angela Manno will lead “Eco-spirituality & Action.” This workshop is based on the 8-week course Angela taught for New York Quarter, out of which the New York Yearly Meeting Earthcare minute emerged (Befriending Creation January–February 2008). A more detailed announcement will be sent next month, but in the meantime, to learn more about Angela and this workshop, please go to its listing on the Powell House Web site. We invite you to grow your environmental consciousness and that of others in your meeting! The more people attending from your meeting, the more Friends can carry on this work together sharing the same foundation. It can also be a way to develop a synergistic relationship among meetings within NYYM (and eventually beyond), in this very important work. SAVE THE DATE! From August 1–3, 2008, Ethan Roland will lead “Permaculture: A Toolbox for Sustainability and Beyond” a theoretical and hands-on experience for living in harmony with the Earth. To register, call or write Powell House, 524 Pitt Hall Rd, Old Chatham NY 12136; 518-794-8811; www.powellhouse.org; info [at] powellhouse.org.
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