Contents

• Epistle of New York Yearly Meeting
• Seeking Light
• General Secretary's Committee
• Letter from Danbury Prison
• Choosing between Survival and Annihilation
• A Call to Faithfulness in Worship and Action
• Overcoming Racism: Educating Ourselves and Others
• God is Like a Rock
• Epistle for Weaving the Strands Intergenerational Women's Gathering
• Visiting Quakers in Ukraine, Russia, and Latvia
• Annual Fair at McCutchen Friends Home
• FUM Triennial Sessions
• Contribute to Friends Bulletin
• I m p r e s s i o ns    o f   Y e a r l y   M e e t i n g
  • Safety to Explore
  • No Longer on the Sidelines
  • Impressions of a Newcomer
  • Returning to the Place Where I Know Who I Am
  • Inward Rhythms at Yearly Meeting
  • Blessed Meeting and Memories
• Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill
• Friends and Conflict
• Quakerism 101 at Old Chatham
• 9/11
• Pendle Hill: Conscience and War
• World Gathering of Young Friends
• Powell House Youth Conferences
• Job Opportunities
• Notices

Epistle of New York Yearly Meeting, July 2004

God is our refuge and strength. We gathered in the spirit of this conviction, in spite of the worldly shadows of competitive greed, imperial power, and military assertion. Pained by evils done in our name, our spirit remains one of faithfulness, hope, and renewal. Friend Shirley Way, incarcerated at Danbury Federal Prison Camp for her peace witness, wrote reminding us of the thousands who wept publicly at the gates of Fort Benning last November, mourning the hundreds of thousands victimized by those trained there by our government in torture and assassination. She calls on us to join in public weeping for the wasted lives and for other squandering of resources and opportunities.

Daniel Snyder, our keynote speaker, introduced the theme of our sessions, "Transforming Hopelessness into Centered Peacemaking," reminding us of the hidden springs of love that fill our lives with Grace. It is from deep within ourselves that we are called to respond to the world's challenges. He urged us to respond to the nagging cynic inside us with confidence that true nonviolence is the greatest power on earth. To that end we must learn to absorb pain. Citing Simone Weil's remark that false gods turn suffering into violence, while the true God turns violence into redemptive suffering, he reminded us that the real enemy of love is indifference, the refusal to suffer.

Part of our renewal and hope lies in reinstating, after several years, the position of general secretary. This appointment comes at a time when New York Yearly Meeting has already both deepened its spiritual roots and strengthened its focused peace-making. The new general secretary, Christopher Sammond, noted with appreciation the years of careful discernment, searching, and hard work that have led the yearly meeting and himself to this time. Like the harrow that breaks down the earth to ready it for seeding, we together will be able to deepen our roots in God's love, so that new life can emerge. We are being called into deeper relationship to God in order to strengthen our witness in this world.

In this light, the Meeting minuted support for the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill (HR 2037), endorsing New York City Council Resolution #367 and urging Friends to contact their Congressional Representatives in support of this effort. We were especially inspired by a report from the Worship and Action Working Group, which during the past year has continued to write periodic letters that remind us how Friends and others are expressing their faith.

The query "What measure of growth have you experienced as you have been guided by the Spirit this past year?" elicited 68 thoughtful responses from our meetings. The reports showed that preparing responses had deepened the sense of community within meetings, as Friends expressed not only their distress about the war in Iraq, HIV/AIDS in the world, and growing unrest in many places, but also joys in each other and in the springs of love that refresh us during worship.

We were moved by the contributions of young Friends through reporting their experiences at YouthQuake 2003, and in bringing to us a memorial minute for one of their own. In response to concerns of young Friends, we approved a minute calling on the YouthQuake planning committee to invite gifted Friends as leaders and presenters without regard to their sexual orientation.

At programmed worship Carol Holmes brought a message about the power of the tiny: the small things we do, often unaware of their import and their power to change the world.

Our gathering was blessed by the presence of numerous visiting Friends from Africa, other yearly meetings, and Quaker organizations. At the end of the week we rejoiced in recording the gifts in the ministry of two pastors, Ruth Ann Bradley and Janice Ninan.

In Bible study this year Steven Davison focused on the social context and import of the Gospel, a message to oppressed people living under the yoke of imperial Rome. This context leaves little room to suppose that one might enjoy even the relative wealth of middle-class comforts and still enter the kingdom that God has prepared for us. Salvation comes through recognizing the power and strength and redemption that can come through suffering and release of worldly goods.

We pray that you will all be blessed with refreshment from the deep wells of love, be faithful to God's leadings, and be bathed in the joys that belong to the realm of divine fellowship.

Signed for and behalf of New York Yearly Meeting
Linda Chidsey, Clerk, NYYM

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Seeking Light

I have also traveled to Illinois Yearly Meeting to be a plenary speaker on building spiritual community, particularly as it relates to racism. Last weekend I attended the All Friends Regional Meeting picnic, and next weekend I travel to Philadelphia to attend an FGC Committee on Racism meeting, after which I will hurry back Sunday morning to attend worship at 15th Street Meeting and join Friends in being a Quaker presence in the big March for Peace.

My first priority for the months ahead is to get out to all the regions of the Yearly Meeting to listen to Friends and to gain a fuller understanding of the Yearly Meeting. If things work out as planned, I will have traveled to and met with Friends from every Quarterly, Half Yearly, and Regional Meeting in the Yearly Meeting by the end of February. (Perhaps by the end of a year I may have a fuller idea of just what I have gotten myself into!) Most of these meetings will be for just one and two days at regularly scheduled regional events, but I also hope to start traveling around in regions. I am planning my first such trip to Farmington-Scipio in early October.

One Friend from the All Friends picnic surprised me with the question: "What do you need from Monthly Meetings to help you with your work?" I pondered this a bit, and then responded, "I need Friends to consider where in their Meeting communities they see the Light breaking forth. Who do they see as quickening in the Spirit, and in what groups or activities do they most experience the presence of the Divine? What gifts do they see their meeting having that might be a resource for the rest of the Yearly Meeting?"

I went on to explain that some Friends had said things to me that have led me to believe that they see my role as being a problem solver for the Yearly Meeting. While I do expect to help Friends work through some problems, I see the larger part of my work as supporting, drawing out and empowering new life in the Yearly Meeting. It's been my experience that if we support the life of the Spirit, many knotty problems will begin to unravel on their own. So please hold these queries, and let me hear from you.

Blessings,

Christopher Sammond,
NYYM General Secretary

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General Secretary's Committee

The responsibilities of this committee, as approved by the General Services Coordinating Committee and announced at the Yearly Meeting Sessions at Silver Bay, are:

• to report to the General Services Coordinating Committee
• to evaluate the effectiveness of the general secretary position and how well it is serving the needs of the Yearly Meeting
• to evaluate the work/performance, according to the Policies and Procedures set by the Personnel Committee, of the individual person who is serving in the position of general secretary
• to nurture and support the general secretary in prayer
• to consult with the general secretary as this Friend establishes priorities, develops program goals, and formulates both long- and short-term work plans

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Letter from Danbury Prison Dear Friends, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you through Friend Vicki. I write to you from an empty classroom at Danbury Federal Prison Camp. The halls are mostly quiet now. The guard is off the loudspeaker. Mail-call is over. I have centered and invited the Spirit to guide my words. My time here is passing with relative ease. I know why I am here. It is right that I am here. It is where I am called to be at this moment. Knowing this, combined with a sense of being upheld and carried, brings me peace. One of the many gifts for me and all of the women here is Sister Ardeth Platte, a Dominican nun who together with two other nuns poured their own blood and hammered on a Minuteman III missile silo in Colorado. Ardeth was sentenced to 41 months imprisonment and three years probation. Recently Ardeth has been speaking of Joan Chittister's book, There Is a Season, based on Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 9. Verses 1 and 4 read: "For everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven: . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." When there is public evil there must also be public weeping. More than ten thousand gathered at the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, last November. We publicly wept. We mourned the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives at the hands of dictators, military generals, death squad leaders and others from Latin America who have been trained to torture and assassinate at the U.S. Army School of the Americas, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. And we twenty-seven who intentionally crossed onto Fort Benning together with our families, friends, School of the Americas Watch staff, and former prisoners of conscience again publicly wept at our trial in January—not for ourselves but for our sisters and brothers in Latin America, Iraq, and around the world who continue to be tortured and assassinated. My faith tells me I cannot sit idly by and say it's okay that my government poisons the minds and hearts of young men from Latin America and young men and women from this country. My government tells them it's okay to torture and kill and then shows them how. In Latin America, the poor, children, and people who work to end the oppression of the poor are targeted by my government and theirs. My faith tells me I must seek Truth and when I find it, I must speak it, live it. It is really quite simple and easier than we sometimes allow ourselves to believe. My experience shows me that when I say "yes" to the Spirit, way opens and the service becomes a gift, not a burden. As Caroline Fox (1819–1 871) said, "Live up to the light thou hast, and more will be granted thee." In these times of great public evil we are called to publicly weep. We and our government officials, CEOs, board members of corporations, and shareholders need to witness the pain we inflict on people around the world and on our earth. When we hurt others and our environment, we hurt ourselves. There is but one Christ Jesus, one Spirit. She lives in all of us. We carry the pain we inflict on others in ourselves. Before we can begin to heal, we must allow ourselves to feel. I am holding the Yearly Meeting body in the Light as you gather together. May the Spirit move among you. May she be heard. In peace and with much love and gratitude, for without my faith community I cannot hear, cannot follow. Shirley Way, Central Finger Lakes Monthly Meeting

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Choosing between Survival and Annihilation

Schell gives a positive name to the negative term nonviolence and calls it cooperative power, describing how it has been operative in history for longer than we realize since we usually focus on military power and war. But he says "the power that flows upward from the consent, support, and nonviolent activity of the people can defeat the seemingly stronger power that commands the instruments of force, as the downfall of the British Raj in India and the collapse of the Soviet Union showed. The will of the people, the wretched of the earth, can change history.

The culmination of his discussion of the history of nonviolence comes when he uses this material to find solutions for the dilemma that we are in today. As the danger of annihilation grows due to rapid spreading of the technologies of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, the world has to choose between survival and annihilation. After 9/11, the Bush administration chose to respond to the most important geopolitical question facing the world, the disposition of nuclear weapons in this second nuclear age, with force rather than with diplomacy, negotiation or the use of economic sanctions as had been done throughout the first nuclear age. The sharp turn toward force was accompanied by a turn away from treaties and other forms of cooperation. "The National Security Strategy of the U.S. of America" issued in September 2002, claimed that America henceforth promote and defend liberal democracy and free enterprise by the unilateral use of force, preemptively if necessary, and would keep its military strength beyond challenge. Schell calls this policy of unchallengeable military might coupled with a unilateral right to overthrow other governments, an imperial policy, making a decisive choice of force and coercion over cooperation and consent the mainstay of the American response to the disorders of the times. But if the nuclear powers insist upon holding onto and threatening to use their WMD, and more nations develop them, they will inevitable fall into the hands of terrorists and the stage is set for catastrophe. Since force summons counterforce, we must turn to structures of cooperative power by incremental steps, building upon the array of nongovernmental organizations already there to solve the problems of justice for the poor and abuse of the environment. Binding treaties to abolish nuclear arms and other WMD must be created along with the protocols for enforcement, and a democratic league must be founded to support democracy worldwide as an underpinning of peace and to restrain existing democracies from betraying their democratic principles in their foreign policies.

He concludes that the cooperative power of nonviolent action has already shown that it can substitute for force throughout the political realm and must now be brought to bear on the choice between survival and annihilation.

Jean Benninghoff, Westbury Meeting

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A Call to Faithfulness in Worship and Action

Out of faithfulness rises the call to live in peace.

In these times, we hear God calling us to live peaceably, ourselves, in all our relationships.

We hear the challenge to pay attention, inwardly, in our households and families, at work, in our meetings and communities, and in the wider world. We are awakening to the challenges of mediated relationships, relationships we do not experience directly, with people who are most affected by our politics and government actions—close to home or across oceans—with those who make clothing we wear, who harvest food we eat.

We see responses to this call in actions grounded in worship. Gathered in session as a yearly meeting, we are settled. Our reports are becoming messages. We are learning to let go in faithfulness, to pay attention in trust. We see responses in our lives and work at home. We believe that we can learn and live our unity, upholding one another in love and truth, with a tender hand, waiting and acting in faithfulness.

NYYM Worship and Action for Peace, 30 July 2004

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Overcoming Racism: Educating Ourselves and Others

To address these goals the meeting first held a daylong workshop in the spring of 2003, "Healing the Hurts of Racism." This was attended mainly by Friends from Albany Meeting with a few others from other meetings in the quarter and from Friends-related projects. As an outgrowth of this workshop, an ongoing Mutual Clearness Committee was organized to help participants become clearer in their personal commitments to work against racism. Around ten people, meeting members and interested persons of color in the community, have continued to meet monthly to share insights and support each other's commitments.

Addressing its second task, the Committee with a Concern for Overcoming Racism has organized two public events in recent months to help Friends and others learn more about the history of slavery and racism in the United States. The first was a forum on reparations and the second was a program on the Underground Railroad in Albany.

The community forum "Considering Reparations: A Path toward Justice and Reconciliation" was held in January 2004. Over 50 people of racially diverse backgrounds attended. They responded enthusiastically to three very fine speakers.

Helen Garay Toppins, a member of Morningside Meeting, shared "One Quaker's View of Reparations," summoning attention with a powerful CD reenactment of an auction selling enslaved people. Sarah Curry-Cobb, Albany councilmember and one of the founders of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee), described why her resolution in support of reparations, currently before the Albany Common Council, was needed to move the community toward healing. Jackson Sekhobo, a native of South Africa, described the experience of his country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission as it relates to reparations and rehabilitation of victims of apartheid.

During a subsequent meeting with a concern for business a statement was minuted in support of the Albany Common Council resolution supporting two bills before the state legislature. One bill provides for the state to apologize for legally supporting slavery in New York State, and the second establishes a commission to quantify the debt owed to heirs of slavery in New York State. During a later Common Council meeting comment period, several Albany Friends and forum attendees spoke in support of the resolution.

A second event open to the public was a program on the Underground Railroad in Albany. The presentation was given by Paul and Mary Liz Stewart, who founded the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region and who lead summer tours of the underground railroad sites in downtown Albany. Their program was mind opening. They presented new information such as the fact that many more New Yorkers held enslaved people than is generally known. They challenged the assumption that African Americans were rather helpless and quite dependent on European Americans by renaming "escaping slaves" "freedom seekers," by showing them to be people of great courage, by naming many of their leaders, and by showing that the African American community was extremely important in developing and staffing the underground railroad.

On November 6, 2004, Jane Meader Nye will speak at Northeastern Regional Meeting on Quakers and the Underground Railroad in the Capital Region. This will also be open to the public and may touch upon the question of how certain stations and routes on the railroad were independent of European American help.

The Albany Committee with a Concern for Overcoming Racism has also developed a bibliography of books and reference material on reparations, which can be accessed at http://www.nyym.org/albany/.

Committee with a Concern for Overcoming Racism,
Albany Friends Meeting

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God is Like a Rock

We worshiped, sang, danced, and celebrated F/friends of all ages. The teens led us in some fun conversation starters and intergenerational games on Friday night. I got a chance to visit with several people and started conversations that were carried on over meals through out the weekend.

Ted Mills, Buffalo Meeting, spoke to us about his work as a sociologist trying to learn what happens in Quaker Meeting from a sociologist's and a Quaker's point of view. The talk led to a lively question and answer session. Ted followed up with a session in the afternoon along with other workshops on homeschooling, Native American perspectives on environmental awareness, Parables of the Kingdom, Rural and Migrant Ministry, art and spirituality, following a leading, and closing the School of the Americas.

In addition, a new activity, intergenerational games, found people of all ages playing checkers, folding origami, playing UNO, making necklaces and beaded animals, and generally enjoying each other's presence. The companionability of seeing so many people sitting side by side chatting while their hands were busy was a welcome addition to the weekend.

On Saturday, the teens worked with Shirley Way, learning about the School of the Americas and creating banners to take down to the SOA in November for a demonstration.

The Newton Street Irregulars led us in a contra dance on Saturday night and then sang with us for several hours.

The food was delicious, with Jean Kron, formerly at Asbury Camp (where Spring Gathering had been held for many years), acting as head cook. Poplar Ridge Friends organized the kitchen crews.

Worship included a memorable children's sermon on Sunday morning by Ruth Kinsey, pastor at Farmington Friends Church. Ruth always gathers up the children and pulls out a shopping bag. In the years I've been privileged to watch her with the children in our region, I have seen her pull out dirt and flowers, a shiny coin, and numerous other items. This time she pulled out a rock and asked the kids to describe it. It was gray, black, brown, and a little bit shiny in places. Then, Ruth said, "What would you say if I said this rock was green and red?" The kids all agreed politely that that would be "unusual," "strange," etc. Then Ruth pulled out a portable UV light and shone it on the rock. Sure enough, under the UV light it was red and green. After the calls of "Cool!" "Wow!" etc., died down, Ruth said, "God is like this rock. We all see Him in a different light. Quakers see Him in a Quaker light, Jews with a Jewish Light, Muslims with a Muslim light. . . . So, when someone tells you, 'God is like this' you can just think to yourself, 'Well, that's how you see Him with your light.' "

The best part was hearing my five-year-old tell about Ruth's sermon to a Friend who hadn't been there and telling how God was different to different people, but it didn't change God at all.

Business meeting on Sunday was attended by many people, and Friends approved continuing with the teen program. Vickey Kaiser will work closely with the teens with mentoring from Nadine Hoover, who has been doing this work for the past few years. The teens presented a minute from their business meeting and chose a youth liaison to work with Joan and Ken Overman on the regional newsletter. Friends were attentive and much was accomplished.

F/friends process is an amazing one, and I am always so grateful to be able to see it at work. Many thanks to all who worked so hard to make this weekend memorable. If there are other regions who have thought of making business meeting part of a weekend event, I encourage you to try it. The opportunities for shared conversation, worship, play, and visiting are strengthening to all. It was a wonderful weekend.

Sue Tannehill, clerk
Farmington-Scipio Region

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Epistle for Weaving the Strands
Intergenerational Women's Gathering

The princesses woke up to a snowy, fairy tale landscape to play games with a blanket for remembering names. The princesses created an altar with precious items close to their hearts with a connecting light burning throughout the weekend. In a name whip vivid images of female power poured forth from each princess, followed by a free time filled with hi-fem crafts and much needed beauty rest. The response to Deborah's query of the greatest excitements and challenges of being female, the group was led into an emotional discussion about body image, with an ignored dinner bell ringing in the distance. After another fantastic meal, the princesses reconnected to share verses which had meaning to them. Sardines and coffeehouse completed another meaningful day, with kudos, thanks, and joyous happy laughter ringing through the halls to purple prose.

Sunday dawned in our beautiful Queendom. More games, a profound healing worship and an energetic joyful dancing session made Spirit palpable to us as we celebrated our final morning together. Present were laughter, tears and plenty of smiles, followed by what is only just begun.

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Visiting Quakers in Ukraine, Russia, and Latvia

The tour will spend three nights in Kiev, five nights in Moscow, three nights in St. Petersburg, and three nights in Riga. Travel between cities will be by overnight train with sleeping compartments, and lodging will be in tourist class hotels. Some meals will be independent. The tour will be accompanied by a bilingual guide as well as a Quaker leader.

In every city a menu of choices will be available: sightseeing, meetings with special interest groups, meetings with local Quakers, or open time for rest, personal exploring, or shopping. In Moscow, there will be an opportunity to visit Friends House Moscow, some of the projects it sponsors, and the monthly meeting.

Pre-tour planning will include an introduction to the Cyrillic alphabet and the Russian language, participant input about what to see, whom to meet, etc., and information about the sightseeing and special interest groups as they are scheduled.

For further information contact Julie Harlow, 1163 Auburn Drive, Davis CA 95616, or FHMUS@aol.com.

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Annual Fair at McCutchen Friends Home Saturday, October 2, 2004 112 Linden Ave., North Plainfield, NJ; 908-755-8600 www.mccutchen.org.

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FUM Triennial Sessions

The theme for the sessions was selected from Revelation 17:14 is, "but the Lamb will overcome them." Together we can experience hope and encouragement that the final victory is assured for all who believe and walk by faith.

For further information contact Friends United Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond IN 47374; 765-962-7573; www.fum.org.

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Contribute to Friends Bulletin

To contribute an article, please contact the editor at friendsbulletin@aol.com or 3223 Danaha St., Torrance CA 90505. If you have ideas for articles or themes, please contact the editor, who would be delighted to hear them. Letters and responses to published articles are also welcome.

For further information on Friends Bulletin see www.westernquaker.net.

Anthony Manousos, editor

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I m p r e s s i o n s    o f    Y e a r l y    M e e t i n g

Safety to Explore

Jill McLellan Central Finger Lakes photo by Margery Rubin

One thing was different for me this year. I had a very painful, ugly eye infection that sidelined me at times. I appreciated that Friends were sympathetic and helpful even though I felt like my face was not at all pleasant to look at. I also noticed that I viewed more of the interaction and activities from the sidelines since my eye could not tolerate sunlight. These are things I noticed:

1. The love and energy of young Friends was evident as they happily ran around, and then later I witnessed their collective collapse on couches in the inn.

2. I observed the accessibility of the inn and usually the dining hall to walkers, canes, wheelchairs, and one electric scooter as well as the helpfulness of the Silver Bay staff and Friends in general. (I was not looking particularly for hearing and sight accessibility so cannot comment on that.) I was on Disability Concerns Committee for a number of years, and although work remains, some improvements have been made over the years. The golf carts were wonderful in helping some Friends arrive at far-flung locations for groups and committee meetings.

3. I love seeing the family groups at Silver Bay: new grandchildren and children, partners arriving midweek, adult children with their families. I observed lots of love.

I always look forward to worship sharing and was pleased this year with the depth of sharing and how concerns I had were shared by others in their thoughts and struggles. I realized that I continue to share a bond with almost everyone who has ever been in a worship sharing group with me, more so than fellow committee members or study group participants. That speaks to the spirituality and importance of the worship sharing experience. I will admit to frustration at times over the years struggling to listen deeply to messages I did not appreciate or understand at the time, and yet that bond remains.

I spent much time in prison-related issues, a particular passion of mine. The Prisons Committee achieved some of its work (we can never do it all!!), and the study group led by Allison Coleman and Robert Martin was inspiring to help us connect the various kinds of prison work we do with services and with each other. Some of us experienced renewal of commitment; others received inspiration to undertake new projects.

The Ministry and Counsel meeting for representatives from monthly meetings with reports of the visits to Janice Ninan and Ruth Bradley made me feel blessed to know both of them and exceedingly pleased, but not at all surprised, that they are now recorded with gifts in the ministry. I was actually present at that sharing only because Shirley Way, who would have represented us, is representing us all in Danbury Prison for her SOA witness. I felt fortunate to be present in her place at that emotional and affirming meeting.

For me the highlight of the week was when my husband arrived to join us Friday morning. He was reluctant to use the gas for the trip since we try hard to be environmentally conscious, but after we weighed the options, I (and my gooey eye) needed him. When he arrived, the sun shone brightly, and a good week became much better. I was reminded once again how we need each other: families, friends, Friends, regional meetings, monthly meetings, and yes, the yearly meeting as well.

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No Longer on the Sidelines

Liseli Haines Mohawk Valley photo by Margery Rubin

We are all 14 years older. My children do love it at Yearly Meeting. The relationships they have developed at Silver Bay and at Powell House are the most important in their lives. The teenage years at Silver Bay have afforded different challenges than the toddler years, and I have tried to weather them all with love and faith. And I am no longer on the sidelines.

I love the people I know who make up the New York Yearly Meeting Family. I have found ideas, concerns, and even committees that I am passionate about. This year I found joy in working with the 8th and 9th graders in JYM, a group who are on the cusp of adulthood, who have the passion of youth and give those who are watching glimpses of the great things they can do and become. I don't ever want to lose the awareness of the gifts young Friends possess. Young and old, we all make up the Yearly Meeting.

As my children have grown out of JYM I have, once again, become aware of the difficulty of growing into adulthood in the Yearly Meeting. Those years where college-age Friends are searching for a place in NYYM. Some, such as my son, turn around and become JYM group leaders. Some, but fewer, find a place in the Yearly Meeting Sessions: business meetings, committees, and concerns.

By far the greatest number never find Yearly Meeting beyond JYM. They move on to summer jobs that don't allow the time off, or return to enjoy their friends and the beauty of Silver Bay but are saddened by ever-shrinking numbers of peers and can't quite see themselves as part of the Yearly Meeting. I spent about ten years in this group of Friends myself. I tried being on a committee but it wasn't the right fit, and I drifted away, not feeling particularly known or valued for myself.

It is clear that Friends in JYM need to learn about Quakerism and about how and why the Yearly Meeting works. How else will they find their place in the Religious Society of Friends? It is equally clear that Friends in the EYM (Elder Yearly Meeting) need to appreciate the joy, energy, and passion of younger Friends (how old was George Fox when he started preaching?) as well as remember or relearn how to play. I have been encouraged this year by the intergenerational reaching out I have seen in many parts of the Yearly Meeting: High schoolers initiating intergenerational games and conversations; Young Adult Friends reorganizing themselves; increased inter-

generational participation in the Fun(d) Fair and Café night. It gives me hope for the future of New York Yearly Meeting.

The wellspring of love, joy, hope, and faith is flowing over the entire Yearly Meeting. May it open our hearts to the gifts of each individual regardless of age.

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Impressions of a Newcomer

Roosevelt Weaver Montclair photo by Margery Rubin

The setting was superb. The beauty of Silver Bay was calming and serene. I am only sorry that I somehow missed the Sunday orientation for first timers.

I participated in the interest groups that I already had some affiliation: Black Concerns and Latin America. I look forward to actively participate as a member of these interest groups during the coming year. As a result of taking part in Black Concerns Committee, there was positive communication between Black Friends who are committed to bringing about social change in terms of improving social relations in the greater society and Friends community. Race, I believe, is an issue that should be handled in order to bring about better relationships with all people. We need to gain understanding of cultural and ethnic differences. In my opinion, Black Concerns should take a lead in educational issues for African American youth. Race relations, although equally important, need to be under the umbrella of a different committee. There just is not enough time to cover all the issues within one committee.

I learned a great deal from Friends with biracial children. As a father of two now-grown biracial children, I could relate to the discussions around the issues our children face each day. Within our group, we shared the joys and sadness of experiences that our children were faced with while growing up in this society. There were suggestions made by members of the group to help better our skills in day-to-day situations. I know I have made some wonderful new friends at New York Yearly Meeting, and I look forward to further discussion in this area.

As a first timer I had periods of loneliness. I felt there was a lack of welcoming on the part of seasoned attenders. It is certainly understandable for old timers to gather together after not seeing each other for a long period. I suggest, though, that a plan be thought out of how to welcome newcomers in a more open manner.

I was blessed to meet so many interesting Friends at Silver Bay. One of the people who had a positive impact on my stay was Daisy Palmer. She was insightful during our discussion group and was able to bring logic and spiritual calmness to our group. I learned a great deal from her.

In general, my first time experience at Silver Bay was wonderful and spiritually rewarding. I look forward to future years and seeing old Friends, and welcoming new Friends.

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Returning to the Place Where I Know Who I Am

María Arias Brooklyn photo by Margery Rubin

This was the 309th session of New York Yearly Meeting, our fourth year of participating in this gathering. I appreciated the opportunity to be at Yearly Meeting to replenish my spirit. I came wanting to learn, eager to share, hoping to grow, and most of all willing to surrender to God. "Thy will be done."

Sunday evening I participated in opening worship. This was a beautiful way to begin the week, setting a tone of worshipfulness, mindfulness, and compassion for ourselves and one another. Our session opened with Walt Whitman's words from "I Dream'd in a Dream"—"… a city invincible…the new city of Friends, Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love…"

The week was filled with sacred moments, testimonies of God's love and images of that love in action in the world. One such image came through Shirley Way's letter from Danbury's Federal Prison Camp, read in the opening meeting. The image of "public weeping" necessary when there is "public evil." Let us weep to cleanse, to heal, and to move forward with the task at hand.

My evening ended on Sunday with swing dancing in the Gymnasium. I welcomed two other opportunities to dance: square dancing on Monday evening and contra dancing on Friday night. I have to thank my patient contra-dance partners, Seta and Bruce. Can someone teach me the contra dance swing? Bring your right foot next to your partner's right foot, pivot on that foot, keep it steady, and swing your left foot around. This is much easier said than done, dear Friends.

On Monday morning, I arrived at my worship-sharing group and my group was in a deep silence. I knew as I entered this circle that I was in the presence of God. We created a sacred space for one another. Thank you, group, for nourishing my soul, for nurturing my spirit, for holding me and loving me ever so tenderly. God's Grace—through each of you and all of us.

I was grateful for the opportunity to worship with LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer) Friends on Monday afternoon. Although it was a small gathering, there was much heartfelt sharing and an opportunity to meet two new Friends. Our plenary speaker, Dan Snyder's, message provided me with more images of God's love in action in the midst of acts of horror. He retold the story of Vedran Smailovic, principal cellist of the Sarajevo opera, who after a shell exploded outside of a bakery in May of 1992, killing 22 people, was moved to play Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor, in full concert attire, for 22 days, one day for each neighbor killed, at the exact time that the bomb had exploded. This story provided us with an image of inspiration and light in the midst of despair. Our speaker gave me new ways to be with despair. I felt encouraged to think of "despair as a path to true hope," of "despair occurring in a soul that longs for life," to be with despair and to know that "at the center of our despair is our love." Our speaker shared the love demonstrated by Parker Palmer's friend who massaged his feet and through that gesture helped to bring him back from his depression. He reminded us that in our Quaker tradition, "what rises to speech is born of silence." I pondered on the questions: What does it mean for us to understand our lives as Sacrament? How are our lives "an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace"? Can we be still in expectant waiting for "an encounter with the Divine"? Can we listen "for the Breath of God"?

On Friday, during programmed meeting for worship, Carol Holmes in her ministry brought these messages back to us through the acts of Yearly Meeting Friends. She shared the story of a Morningside Meeting member who on September 11, 2001, in the midst of the attacks on the World Trade Center, continued her walk in Central Park identifying birds, she retold Dorothy Garner's message, from earlier in the week, of how she planted cabbages instead of participating in a bomb shelter drill during the cold war. Our outward expressions of God's Grace.

Both during our meeting sessions and during lunch gatherings wonderful reports were shared about the work of Friends General Conference, Quaker United Nations Office, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and the American Friends Service Committee. They demonstrated the work of Friends in our local and global communities. This work is deeply grounded in our testimonies of peace and equality.

Ernie Buscemi, Ben Frisch, and Margaret Cooley shared on their participation in the triennial of Friends World Committee on Consultation in New Zealand. They shared greetings in the Maori language, the conditions of children and families in Africa suffering from AIDS, insights on how we can learn and shift our thinking through sharing with Friends who are different from us. We were encouraged to include our young people in these gatherings and to see our friends in Latin America and Africa as resources, not only as Friends in need.

I continue to be inspired and renewed by our young Friends. I feel ever blessed by the opportunities to learn and to grow from their sharing. Thank you for sharing your experiences with YouthQuake, for bringing forth the memorial minute of one of your own, and for the two intergenerational gatherings.

Dinner with the sisters from Africa on Wednesday night was filled with love, hope, and courage. Mary Juma from Kenya, Cassilde Ntamamiro from Burundi, and Nana Fosu Randall from Ghana shared powerful testimonies of God's love in action through their work. They shared devastating information on the conditions in their countries due to internal strife and wars, the effects of HIV and AIDS, and poverty. They demonstrated the transformation of pain and suffering into healing and of conflict into peace.

I cofacilitated, with Evelyn Kennenwood, an interest group on Friday on the Joys and Challenges of Multiracial Families. Although we only had an hour and a half, Friends shared with reverence about our personal experiences within our families and communities. As Quakers we have much to offer on how to move an agenda on racial justice forward within our own communities and our larger world, moving from a place that seeks understanding one another and healing. Can we embrace a way to dialogue from a place of personal responsibility and accountability rather than guilt or blame, with a commitment to transform racism in order to be true to our testimony of equality? A concern that emerged from our group had to do with the effects of racism on African American boys and young men. How can we as the Religious Society of Friends respond to this issue?

By far the most difficult meeting I participated in this week was the meeting on reconciliation on the issue of abortion. It was not the fact that we did not have unity that was challenging to me but rather how that was manifested. I didn't hear an appreciation of the complexity of the issue from the perspective of gender, race, and class in what some Friends shared. I felt I bared too much of my soul in a place that did not feel safe to receive it. While one Friend said that "we need not tremble" in this conversation, I must share that I did.

On Saturday, before leaving Silver Bay I walked the labyrinth and asked God for guidance, to lead me in the work that I am to do, to keep me faithful, to help me to be a sign of God's Grace in the world. Can I listen? Be obedient?

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Inward Rhythms at Yearly Meeting

Joan Cope Savage Syracuse photo by Margery Rubin

Also as usual, I managed to have some family time, this year in kayaking and a Silver Spray boat ride with my daughter. That too all felt safe.

I was grateful to experience that a witness concern that I had brought to Indian Affairs found a warm welcome. It seems to be on its way into the committee process that both develops and tests our discernment. In retrospect, Yearly Meeting in general also seemed to be relatively free of the combative earnestness that goes with self-voiced causes spoken in argument, and more tempered with causes expressed in a fellowship of love and faith.

A number of speakers turned, in various voices, to the humble process of faithfulness, whether it was Dan Snyder talking about recovery from despair, or Rosa Packard on war tax, or Anna Staab's comment about having only one success in two years as a legislative intern, and being thankful for that one success. In Bible study, Steve Davidson shared that Jesus's practice of sharing bread from a single loaf meant that Jesus expected his followers to give up their own private loaves and be as one humble family. Perhaps we too are in transition to a closer fellowship of faith and action that is more wholesome, more of one loaf.

Yet, the image that stays most clearly for me was a slow sequence at the last meeting for worship. Ethan Kent, a very young member of Rochester Meeting, arrived on the shoulder of Rima Segal. He settled into a chair next to her and borrowed her capacious straw hat, one decorated with flowers. He adjusted himself gently and soon he was sound asleep under the safety of the hat. His comfort and peace expressed my experience as well.

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Blessed Meeting and Memories

Lenore Ridgway Bulls Head-Oswego photo by Margery Rubin

This year I went to the women's worship sharing, and developed a great appreciation for the bonding that can take place among women. As a widow, I am redefining my place in the world, and found support and love as I work on this. Women's worship sharing has a special place at Silver Bay, and for many people is an integral piece of their yearly meeting.

It seemed to me there were more younger F(f)riends and more families than in previous years. It was pointed out that I am getting older, and therefore more people are younger, and that some of our beloved older members were not there in body anymore. In spite of the clear truth of both these points, I think it was a family-oriented, younger meeting. I was very sensitive to the love people showed for their partners, their friends, and their children.

The State of the Society report spoke of general concern over the war, and meetings' peace activities. It also spoke of many meetings' being in a period of redefinition and transformation rather than a period of growth. My impression was that F(f)riends are developing greater sensitivity to each other and to the manifestation of God in each other. Differences exist but are being recognized and worked on rather than ignored.

Christopher Sammond, our new general secretary, spoke of these being "harrowing times" in both senses, that of distressing and dismaying times, but also that of breaking up clods and preparing the ground for seeding and new growth. He sees that we are doing some of the latter harrowing, and feels we are beginning to come to a stage of new spiritual growth. I feel great confidence in his abilities to serve the meeting and help its growth.

Our keynote speaker, Dan Snyder, talked about transforming hopelessness into centered peacemaking. It is necessary first to acknowledge our hopelessness and spiritual drought, and to find out why we are unwilling or unable to relinquish it. At this point, words of comfort are useless, for we have not yet come to bedrock. He said "A core insight of Quakerism from its beginning is that we cannot grasp God with our words; but we can prepare a place in our hearts to receive the Divine Guest." We must wait in silence, not trying to define what will come, but accepting whatever does come from the silence.

We must guard against activism for its own sake, for activity dictated merely by the intellect in response to guilt over the state of others contrasted with our own. We need to listen to Howard Thurman's advice "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Once we are doing what makes us come alive, we should not judge the value of our activities on short-term results. What seems a failure may have had more effect than we know at the time. For example, the major antiwar march in 1969 seemingly did not impress Nixon, who watched a football game instead. But the protests in Washington and elsewhere largely influenced his decision not to launch a nuclear attack in Vietnam.

Dan Snyder said much more, and said it much better than I can paraphrase, but it left me with a sense of hope and better understanding of what I should do and what I should leave in God's hands.

There were beautiful memorial minutes for Evelyn Dane and Henry Wheeler, both of whom I knew and valued deeply. The love with which F(f)riends spoke of them both, and also spoke of William Palinski, whom I did not know, brought joy to the meeting for their lives. We like to think of their enjoying each other's company in the spirit.

I attended a study group on racism, and it has brought more understanding of the insensitive way we have treated—and continue to treat—people of color, often through ignorance rather than ill-will. Even Friends segregated their meetings for worship, and I carry this as a pain in my heart. We need to learn to look at color as a descriptive trait rather than a defining trait. My color is not all of who I am. I am grateful to the people of color who are willing to help me be more aware.

On a practical note, the food at Silver Bay was much better than it has been in previous years, and they served it buffet style, so the lines moved more quickly. The dining room was crowded, as part of it had been screened off for the emps. As always, it was a pleasure to sit with familiar and unfamiliar F(f)riends at meals, and to make new friends of them.

The Fun(d) Fair and White Elephant Sale were both successful, and Café Night was a rousing success, with wonderful acts by large and small people. I particularly enjoyed the swing dancing by Robin and Bowen Alpern, and the recitation by a young Friend of the states through Nebraska in alphabetical order in a tuneful sing-song. So many were wonderful that it is hardly fair to single any out; they all deserve praise and thanks.

So much business, so much beauty of nature, so much love. For me, this was truly a blessed yearly meeting.

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Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; and bearing one with another, and forgiving one another, and not laying accusations one against another; but praying one for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand. Isaac Penington, Letters, 1667

Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill

New York Yearly Meeting, at annual sessions held July 25 through 31, 2004 minuted its ongoing support for the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill through the endorsement of Resolution 367, now pending before the New York City Council:

We, the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) have a deep and continuing concern that nearly half the budget of the United States goes to pay for current and past military expenses, necessitating the reduction of federal funds for education, health care and other human needs. Quakers have a long history of religious and moral opposition to war and killing. Many of us have become conscientious objectors and have done alternative service. Yet as citizens and taxpayers we are still obligated to contribute to wars and killing through the payment of federal taxes. This creates a great religious and moral conflict for us. We therefore express our wholehearted support for the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill, which would establish a Religious Freedom Peace Tax Trust Fund in the Federal Treasury to be allocated annually to any non-military appropriation within the federal budget. This would give us, as conscientious objectors, an alternative to the involuntary funding of war and allow us to pay our federal taxes in good faith. We likewise give our support to Resolution #367, now pending before the City Council of the City of New York, calling upon Congress to enact this legislation, and to any similar resolution which may be brought before other local governments.

Friends in meetings and worship groups throughout the Yearly Meeting are encouraged to consider adopting minutes calling upon local governments to introduce resolutions similar to that now pending before the New York City Council. As members of a historic peace church, we want to bear witness to the right to conscientiously object to the use of taxes for military purposes.

In the fellowship of peace,

Linda B. Chidsey, Clerk, New York Yearly Meeting

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Friends and Conflict

The intention of the study group was, first, to ascertain what might lead Friends to come and what they might hope to gain from these three 1-hour periods of time together. Unanimously, Friends were seeking new ways to ease conflict in monthly meetings and committees, as well as in Yearly Meeting committees. They had not come merely to find an audience for their concerns and have a dialogue about them, but also to gain skills that would provide alternatives to chronic problems that existed between Friends and had not yet been resolved.

This helped reinforce the sense that this new standing committee—now in existence for one year under the care of Ministry and Counsel Coordinating Committee—does not primarily need to provide suggested guidelines when an occasion of conflict might arise among us. Rather, it was called into being because of our need to study alternative methods toward transformation and healing for what has already arisen and is active conflict as you read this, in many locations of our Yearly Meeting. We spent our second and third day studying skills such as methods of listening, providing safety, staying present, and discussing ways meetings within regions might be able to help each other through pairs of Visiting Listeners facilitating possible healing where bias or lack of trust makes resolving conflict within monthly meeting borders difficult. The time was limited, the topic large. The committee is presenting an opportunity for three days of discussion and skills learning October 15–18 at Powell House for Friends who have had clearness with their monthly meetings regarding their preparedness for this ministry. We do hope you will consider joining us.

One interesting feature of the study group was a preferred-conflict-style evaluation that each participant was willing to take. It is called the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Inventory. (For easy access to this evaluation, go to http://www.csuchico.edu/~wbergman/Resources.htm.) The collective profile of the study group, although slightly different from the previous two, did not reflect the "Collaborative" style of addressing conflict (which is what is often referred to as leading toward win-win outcomes). The three groups averaged together were in the 98th percentile of "Accommodating" (I lose, you win outcomes—also referred to as "smoothing") and 97th percentile for "Avoiding" (we both lose—also referred to as "withdrawal"). Friends, we can do better. With the Spirit to guide us, let us work lovingly and directly with one another.

Joanna Komoska, with the Conflict Transformation Committee

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Quakerism 101 at Old Chatham

The course includes material on Quaker history, beliefs, worship, social witness, and decisionmaking; selections from writings; and reflection questions for wrestling with key religious and ethical issues, including the application of Quaker faith to everyday life.

For a registration form, contact Becky McBride.

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9/11

At 6 P.M. we will have a simple potluck dinner. Again, all are invited, so please, bring your favorite dish to share. From 7 P.M. until 8:30 or 9:00, we will have a walking vigil through the streets of Flushing as well as a stationary vigil in front of the meetinghouse. Bring your own candles or flashlights.

Flushing Meeting is at 137-16 Northern Blvd., Flushing, N.Y. To reach our meetinghouse, take the #7 train to the last stop, Flushing-Main St., and walk four blocks north to Northern Blvd. Turn right at Northern Blvd, and walk about 1/4 of a block until you reach our meetinghouse.

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Pendle Hill: Conscience and War

This is intended to be a skill-building weekend as well as an examination of conscience. In what different ways can one engage in tax witness, for example?

For information contact John J. Meyer, director, Religion & Social Issues Forum, Pendle Hill, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford PA 19086; 610-566-4507 ext. 121; fax: 610-566-3679; johnm@pendlehill.org; www.pendlehill.org; www.phpeace.net.

The World Gathering of Young Friends

The World Gathering of Young Friends will be held at Lancaster, England, from August 16–24, 2005.

The theme will be "Let us then see what Love will do—I am the vine and you are the branches. Now what fruit shall we bear?" This will prove an enriching and challenging opportunity for more than three hundred Young Adult Friends to share their Christian and spiritual experiences.

Each Yearly Meeting should appoint two representatives to attend—if possible, one male and one female. There will also be 150 open places available.

For further details please contact the Young Friends General Meeting office at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, 1046 Bristol Rd., Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6LJ, United Kingdom; www.wgyf.org; yfgm@quaker.org.uk; +44 (0)121-472-1998.

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Powell House Youth Conferences

22–24: Acting on Trust    Junior High
Ways in which we are trustworthy and times when our trust was betrayed

29–31: Spooks and Spirits   Senior High
Learning from emotions

November
12–14: P.E.S.T.Y.   4–6 grades
Peace, equality, simplicity, truth, youth

19–21: JCT 2004   Senior High
JC training conference

December
10–12: WinterSong 2004    Junior/Senior High

For more information, contact Powell House, 524 Pitt Road, Old Chatham NY 12136; 518-794-8811; info@powellhouse.org.

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Job Opportunities

Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends is seeking an interim general superintendent. The general superintendent is responsible for providing the leadership to make the IYM vision come to life. This vision will have three features at its core as an expression of a Quaker understanding of the Christian faith as represented in Faith and Practice:

• Building strong, healthy local meetings
• Discipleship of new and existing members and attenders
• Leadership development

Nominations and applications should be sent to Jay Marshall, 10 NW 28th St., Richmond Indiana 47374. A search committee has been appointed in accord with Faith and Practice, and will consider applications until the position is filled.

Friends House Moscow is accepting applications for the positions of intern (minimum 6 months), full- or part-time staff (up to 2 years and renewable), and Friend in residence (very negotiable).

All must be fluent in Russian and English, willing to live economically in Moscow, and experienced with the faith and practice of Friends.

For further information contact Julie Harlow, 1163 Auburn Dr., Davis CA 95616, or FHMUS@aol.com.

FCNL is seeking a secretary for information services to lead and direct a group of professional staff in planning and implementing FCNL's communications strategies for lobbying, legislative education and advocacy, program interpretation, and fundraising. For information contact search@fcnl.org or write to SIS/FCNL, 245 2nd St. NE, Washington DC 20002.

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Notices

NEW MEMBERS
Robert Benz Christian – Catskill
Jessica Brockington Cole – Morningside
Tom R. English – Flushing
Nan French – Peconic Bay
Morgan Clothier Harting –Fifteenth Street
Kristen Howard – Wilton
Christine Japely – Fifteenth Street
Susan Medlar – Wilton
Jesse Colin Meehan – Westbury
Anne Victoria Mullen – Brooklyn
Stephen Murray – Shelter Island
Ellen Provost – Westbury
Nancy J. Sunshine – Flushing
Michael Utter – Farmington
Amy Willauer-Obermayer – Binghamton

DEATHS
Margaret Allen, member of Farmington, on July 8, 2004.
Myrtle Hilda Darcy, member of Montclair, on July 26, 2004.
Cheryl Doehler, member of Montclair, on June 21, 2004.
Esther Hicks Emory, member of Westbury, on June 26, 2004.
Ruth V. Hegeman, member of Westbury, on June 17, 2004.
John C. Mott, member of Ridgewood, on May 26, 2004.

BIRTHS/ADOPTIONS
Delia Kady Hallett, on June 21, 2004, to Miranda Kady Hallett, member of Poplar Ridge, and Richard Hallett.

TRANSFERS
Carolyn Nicholson Beer, to Old Chatham from Atlanta (SAYMA)
Sandra Joan Beer, to Old Chatham from Atlanta (SAYMA)
Eric Harris-Braun, to Old Chatham from Wilton
William H. P. Caplis to Ridgewood from Northampton (NEYM)
Frank de Leeuw, to Poughkeepsie from Washington, DC (BYM)
Louise de Leeuw, to Poughkeepsie from Washington, DC (BYM)
Jesse Jacob Harris-Braun, to Old Chatham from Wilton
William Jens Harris-Braun, to Old Chatham from Wilton
Dana Harvey, to Buffalo from Wolfville (Canada Yrly. Mtg.)
R. Barbara Kuesell, to Brooklyn from Morningside

MARRIAGES/COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS
Deirdre Dolan and Roger Burlingame, May 15, 2004, under the care of Amawalk Monthly Meeting
Jane Ruth Egloff, member of Buffalo Monthly Meeting, and Dana Harvey, on July 3, 2004
Morgan Clothier Harting, member of Fifteenth Street Monthly Meeting, and Caroline Elizabeth Kazlas, on June 26, 2004.
Joseph H. Proskauer and Ellen Provost, members of Westbury Meeting, on May 1, 2004.
Heidi Soule, member of Farmington Monthly Meeting, and Jeffrey Goveia, on June 26, 2004.

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