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Campus Outreach Ministries

John Menzel, New Brunswick Monthly Meeting

Several monthly meetings throughout New York Yearly Meeting have considered or actually made attempts at outreach to college campuses in their areas. We have been undertaking such an effort in New Brunswick for the past three years. We had no experience or information on campus outreach or ministry. Even today we are trying different approaches, both to develop a Quaker witness on campus and to communicate with Quaker students.

In 2005, with the aid of a Friend in the Rutgers University administration, we decided to contact various Quaker institutions to find out what others were doing and to gain some insights. The effort was 100% unsuccessful. We contacted about six colleges and a few national agencies and found that Friends have been seriously engaged in nurturing young people under 18, but have not been very active in outreach to those over 18. So we decided to go it alone, but I keep feeling that there should be more support, at least in resources on the Yearly Meeting level.

We need to know what others are doing, what works and what doesn’t. Maybe there is literature we can use. Young Friends graduate from secondary education programs and then go off to other endeavors, and often lose contact with their base of support.

We have the opportunity to create a support network for students and monthly meetings who are concerned about Quaker outreach on campuses. There is the possibility to establish a task group, under NYYM Advancement Committee. The goal would be to:

• gain information about what efforts are or have been made and what does and does not work
• what resources are available to assist Meetings which are engaged in outreach to campuses
• provide opportunities for Friends to share ideas and experiences and support each other
• meet together at NYYM sessions

If you are interested in participating in a Campus Outreach Task Group please contact me as soon as possible, at 908-239-7850 or jpmenzel [at] optonline.net, and we can start making plans. This task group, in order to be effective, should include Young Friends. I am eagerly hoping to hear from interested persons throughout the New York Yearly Meeting.

I have been in touch with FGC. They are interested in our progress and may be able to put together some useful literature. However, the real impetus for this effort must come out of monthly meetings and campuses.

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Embracing Humanity

Sarah Brown, Circle of Young Friends

Introduction to Modern African-American History was the most difficult class I took freshman year. Learning about lynchings, segregation, and disenfranchisement of people of color gave my days a sickly glow. All I could ask myself was “Why?”

Sarah Brown

Growing up Quaker I was taught to recognize that of God in everyone—so as I look at these missives from the past, postcards of lynch mobs and photographs saying “No Dogs, Negroes, or Mexicans,” I try to see the humanity in it all.

Like many students in my class I cry when I see these images. I imagine the horror that the victims must have gone through and the devastation of their families. I think of the terrible truth and historical nearness of it all. While I do not need to use my powers of reason to find compassion for those most wronged, I do struggle with seeing the humanity in the perpetrators of such grave injustices.

What finally struck me is the sacrifice of their own humanity that these racist people must have had to make. What is lost on both sides when one individual dehumanizes another? What are the effects of this dehumanization on their relationships with those that they do care about and on generations to come?

Sonia Sanchez, an African-American poet and activist (among many other titles), came to speak at my school for Martin Luther King Day. She asked us, “What does it mean to be human?” I think about that question in relation to the photographs that I see and the history I learn. What did it mean to be a white American in the 20th century trapped in a seemingly inescapable cycle of dehumanizing brutality? I wonder if the struggle of humankind is not simply toward equality, but toward recognizing the Light in all people across the board and honoring the Light in oneself.

Many people struggle to under- stand the incredible violence that humanity can generate. For me, as a Quaker, I cannot make the excuse that those who create harm in their communities are evil. I can see their long journey to hate and find my-
self having compassion for all the self that they have lost along the way.

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Brooklyn YAF Growing!

Jessica Harbaugh, Brooklyn Meeting

The current Brooklyn Young Adult Friends (BYAF) group began the summer of 2006. Since its beginning, more than 100 members and attenders between the ages of 18 and 35 have voiced their interest in the group.

The list grows each week in response to announcements made by BYAF members following meeting for worship. Our group offers a way of welcoming new young people to Brooklyn Meeting, people who might otherwise shy away from introducing themselves during social hour. Many young people tell me that they are relieved to hear the announcements and that they feel immediately included in the meeting’s activities.

Group members consistently host events, such as potlucks, picnics, hiking, and going out for brunch. An admittedly social group in its beginning, BYAF has recently established a subcommittee under the care of Ministry and Counsel (M&C), thanks to the continued efforts of Peter Laughter and Joe Garren, both of M&C. We are attempting to establish a more formal group so that we can come to know and strive to meet the myriad needs of people in our stage of life, be they spiritual, emotional, social, or vocational.

Members of Brooklyn Meeting have celebrated BYAF’s creation and continued growth. The Meeting has been as nurturing as could be, with their efforts to include us at meeting for worship, meeting for business, social hour, and even within individual committees. As we work with M&C to begin our subcommittee, I ask Friends to hold us in the Light. This subcommittee is our greatest hope of building and sustaining our group.

If you are interested in starting a Young Adult group in your monthly, quarterly, or regional meeting, please contact the Yearly Meeting office.

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Our Lives in Language

L. B. Callid Keefe-Perry
Rochester Meeting & Young Adult Concerns  Committee

The Power of Words

The last weekend of Ninth Month, my wife, Kristina, and I were presenters, panelists, and participants at Goddard College’s Power of Words Conference, an annual offering from their department of Transformative Language Arts. While there we met faithful people from a wide variety of traditions and vocations, each committed to living his or her life in a devoted practice of, among other things, authorship, poetry, therapy, and ministry. This year the conference’s theme was, “Liberating Yourself and the World through the Spoken and Sung Word,” and we were very grateful to be able to be a part of what happened that weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, we had been invited to speak at an all-conference panel focusing directly on “Liberation and the Word.” Following that, Kristina and I led a workshop we called “Grounded in Community: A Quaker Vision of the Creative Word.” There we considered the role of our communities in supporting discernment and truth telling, and some of the ways that ministry can emerge in the spoken word. Our experience of that afternoon workshop was that it quickly gathered, and that those present were able to share some vision of the hope, possibility, and importance of language, intention, and spirit. Our sense was that the work was well received, and in the workshop evaluations and subsequent smaller conversations, people shared that they were very excited about what they had been present to.

This was a new experience for us. Though we have some experience traveling in the ministry among Friends, that weekend’s work was in a nonmeeting setting. Indeed, part of our Leading to bring this piece to Goddard was the fact that is was outside the Religious Society of Friends. It seems important to us not to hide our Light under a bushel. In fact we take very seriously William Penn’s quote, “True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it.” And yet, this was new for us, and at times a bit intimidating. Who were we to bring all this Quaker stuff to people anyway? Would we be faithful so far from our meeting? What would people think? Sometimes, though, newness offers rich potential and an opening to joy if we can just trust and move beyond the fear of change and uncertainty.

With support from our meeting, we brought ourselves and our sense of Quakerism to the conference. There we encountered a group of people who were committed to transformation in their lives and in the lives of others. They were convinced that one path to that transformation and liberation was a creative use of language used to explore the world and its possibilities. People approached their callings with the same rigor as their employment, sometimes living less wealthy lives so that those lives could be more full and grounded. Over and over we found a deeply held sense of hope for the world and the expectation that, with attention and intention to the way we frame it, change was possible. This feeling became palpable First Day evening as our time together ended with a closing circle that we had been asked to set up.

Kristina framed the event and attempted to explain our manner of silent worship and reflection. Without much more ado, those gathered entered into the silence. After an initial period of rapid and rocky messages, the stillness settled thickly. After that, the messages seemed to flow and form a larger piece, tied together in the Liturgy of Silence. Indeed, there were times when that closing meeting seemed deeply covered. In a journal reflection after the event, my words were that “…the feeling, one I have rarely felt, was one of Gathering; we didn’t just talk of renewal, gathering, and joy, we became immersed in them.” We were tendered deeply, one to another, to One.

The whole of the experience of the weekend has worked on me considerably. I had been trying for weeks to write an article for this Spark, and it wasn’t until after the conference that I found myself prepared. I am glad for what it was; for being able to connect with so many people willing to experiment with their very lives for that to which they feel called; for the joy of bringing silent worship to people; for the clarity it has brought to me regarding what to share with you in this article. In our preparation for, and reflection on, Goddard, Kristina and I turned attention to our own habits, beliefs, and practices, and I would like to share some of the fruits of those labors with you.

The Practice of Words

I think quite a bit about Plain Speech. Not about the theeand thou, but about what it really means for my yea to be my yea; about how much energy I put into breath and word; about what is and is not done in service. Ours is a rich tradition, and while much of it has survived intact, I sometimes feel that the Religious Society of Friends has indeed come to posses some lifeless forms. We talk about speaking Plainly and Truthfully, and yet I think there are levels at which we have not, individually or as a body, become convinced or convicted of the power our words have in shaping our lives.

There is an experiment that I sometimes try. I start with a period of 30 minutes and see if I can say only things that have come from my center. For that half an hour I attempt to make my words count, to have them be willful and intentional means by which I try to connect with the world. Because isn’t that what words are? Bridges from our inward lives into this glorious creation, tying our will and mind and heart to the breath, and binding the whole of it into sound and meaning.

I believe that early Friends were meticulously scrupulous about their language because they valued precision and accuracy and because they understood the act of speaking to be a powerful one. Misplaced or careless words are more than mere chatter or misplaced breath: They are each a small wasteful use of our precious life.

Perhaps this all seems a tad over the top; however, I encourage you to at least consider the idea. What if we thought of our words this way more often? As if each sentence were a precious gift we dared not squander, every one a chance for the connection of one to another, an opportunity to give life to our highest hopes and steal strength from our deepest fears by speaking them aloud. In meeting for worship or meetings at work, we can try to respond with a greater inward intent; sure, things might go slower, but imagine how much more you might see at that pace. The poetry, beauty, and potential of language itself is a gift, and we would do right to steward it with a greater attention. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” (Luke 16:10)

Needless to say, I rarely make it to 30 minutes.

It is so easy to become careless and speak out of habit, rather than out of need or compellation. And yet, both within meeting for worship and without, we are continually presented with moments in which we can deepen our spiritual lives through the process of focusing on centered, plain speech. What’s more, these moments are available even without workshops, communal worship, or book groups. How blessed we are to have so many chances! And yet we take so few…

This is not to say that mindfulness and attention will put nothing but honey in our mouths. Far from it. I know from experience that sometimes what I have felt to be rightly seasoned and coming from center has, after the fact, not seemed to be the right thing to say at all. What attention and discipline do offer, though, is the ability to reflect on our process and be able to see where we have fallen short. It seems to me that language is a perfect medium in which to practice and grow in our faithfulness.

Friends, the Seed of the Living Spirit is present and abundant. Our every action and word helps to determine where, and to what degree, it will root. We have before us, this and every day, a long series of choices and opportunities to help it grow and strengthen its hold in a soil that often seems rocky and dry. I pray that we each help to give it light, love, and a place for it to live in our hearts. There is work to be done Friends. And there is hope.
What was your experience the last time you spoke in a Meeting for Worship?
How often today did you feel as if your words came from a quieted, center place?
What practices do you keep to refocus yourself in your daily life?

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Finding Yourself Quaker: CYF Conference

Amy Savage, clerk, Young Adult Concerns

We are a Circle of Young Friends. A Circle because that is our go to group seating arrangement. Young because we span the ages of 18 to 35. Friends because…well, because that’s what we call ourselves as part of New York Yearly Meeting.

The term Friend is more than just a description of our relationships. It carries with it a definition of our beliefs and practices. How much, though, does it describe you? What does it mean for us to be Young Friends? To call ourselves Quaker? Or if we don’t, what is it about Quakers and Quakerism that keeps us attached to it and each other?

Come explore these questions, and all the others they lead to, at the CYF Fall conference to be held Nov. 23–25, 2007, in the Brooklyn meetinghouse at 110 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn, N.Y. We will be roughing it (sleeping in the meetinghouse), so everyone one needs to bring his or her own bedding. We also request that people bring games and activities for free time as well as food to share, as we will be cooking for ourselves.

Please go to http://cyfnyym.org/pmwiki.php, fill out a registration, and e-mail it to cyf.nyym [at] gmail.com with “fall conference registration” in the subject line. The cost of the conference will be $45, to be paid at the conference.

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One Foot In, One Foot Out

Carolyn Cooley, Quaker at large

I went to my first NYYM sessions when I was a wee babe, and return to Silver Bay every year. I am so grateful for the chance to be with people who have watched me grow, and now cherish and respect me as an adult. It’s one of the few situations in my life when I’m part of an intergenerational community, and I value the chance to be actively engaged with people older and younger than me.

As a young adult I left New York, and the rest of my year felt distant from the Yearly Meeting community. Quaker values were a foundation to me, but what that looked like in my daily life evolved over time. I appreciated having the annual anchor of NYYM sessions as a chance to reconnect with Quakerism, do some spiritual searching, and affirm my connections to NYYM. But because I don’t participate in a monthly meeting that’s part of NYYM, it’s easy to feel detached or unwilling to take responsibility even as I sit in business sessions in a community I care deeply about. This distance has been a way out for me in some ways—as I wrestle with my sense of alienation, dissonance, or points of difference from Quakers and NYYM in particular, I can shrug it off with the excuse that I don’t really have a role in this community anyway. I tell myself that Yearly Meeting sessions can be a source of spiritual renewal for me without my being involved in the workings of the Yearly Meeting.

Not surprisingly, taking this position doesn’t feel like a great solution. I would like to feel like I can be fully engaged, and that I can bring my whole self to Yearly Meeting, as I try to do in other parts of my life. I find it easier to hold on to my spirituality and values in my daily life, wherever I may be living it, than to bring my culture, beliefs, and experience into Quaker space. Sometimes it’s hard to bridge the gap between the issues and attitudes on the floor of business meeting and my life experience. Recent examples are the issues of inclusiveness of GLBTQ1 people and racism within the Yearly Meeting. In my life outside NYYM, GLBTQ people, identity, and culture are accepted and celebrated. Among many people I know, it is a commonly held view that racism exists within our closest institutions, not just out there somewhere, and that dismantling racism is central and necessary work to ending oppression and inequality. From this point of view, I find it hard to engage in the Yearly Meeting’s process of addressing these issues, especially with love and patience. I get frustrated and want to yell about how if we are such an open and accepting community, why is our yearly meeting not full of GLBTQ folks and people of color? Over and over again, I tell myself that what I’m hearing, piled on top of other doubts or discomfort with Quakerism and Quaker culture, makes it clear that I just don’t belong here, that the differences are big enough that it doesn’t make sense to struggle.

After years of inner debate, I can’t seem to make the break. I still don’t live in New York, but I can’t shake my deep love for this Yearly Meeting, and I believe there is room for those of us who grew up in this Yearly Meeting and still identify as Quaker. Though I’ve attended several monthly meetings in different yearly meetings, I have never found the strength, integrity, depth, and challenge that I find in NYYM. I can’t feel good walking away from something so rich and so important to me.

When I look around and see the almost complete absence of young adults and youth participating in business sessions, I can’t help but wonder if my experience reflects a larger generational disconnect. I think many young folks may be operating with some different assumptions about gender and sexuality, racism and other forms of oppression, environmental destruction, the sicknesses of our current society. I wonder if the substance of the searching and struggling that takes place in the Auditorium may seem antiquated, puzzling, or irrelevant to the young people in our Yearly Meeting.

I don’t have a clear solution to this kind of generational difference—I’m not sure I even have an accurate grasp on what the differences are. An inquiry into this could be started with intergenerational sharing or listening sessions to hear about people’s lives, values, cultures. There are some big questions to ask: What values are essential to Quakerism? Are there aspects of Quaker culture that are not essential to Quakerism, and make it a less welcoming place for some people? How do people’s daily lives, young and old alike, relate to the issues and attitudes expressed in the Yearly Meeting context? How do young adults in the Yearly Meeting understand their own Quaker identity, and how are Quaker values expressed in their lives, or not? What would the business of the Yearly Meeting be if both young and old, and everyone in between, were present? I look forward to a deepening knowledge of our community, and the growth that might come with it.

1. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, and queer

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Dance As Spirituality

Jillian Smith, Saratoga Meeting & Circle of Young Friends

Hello, Friends! My name is Jillian Smith and this is a glimpse of my experience as a very young adult in the Circle and my yearning to stay involved with the youth group and the young adults.

This summer I attempted to be a Junior Yearly Meeting volunteer, a first timer in the Circle of Young Friends, a Young Adult Concerns Committee member, and a young adult attempting to have a “summer vacation.” I soon realized that I have a limited capacity for activities and can’t do everything I want to do. I especially can’t do it all at once. This lesson I learned from stretching myself so thin is a lesson I am learning over and over again. The balance of work, obligations, and life is a tricky one, especially for us young adults who are both in college and working.

As I find myself more and more, I feel more connected and more aware. I am planning on declaring a dance major by the end of my sophomore year here at Skidmore College. My experience with dance continues, having started at Powell House Café Nights as a youth, then to the study of the organized and stylized particulars of ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop. Though dance is beautiful, it definitely takes a focus unlike any other, and it is physically demanding in ways I didn’t know were possible, and in ways I am still discovering. The focus dance requires is as demanding as it is to be totally silent. Although while I’m dancing I am communicating, I am required to be entirely silent. This silence allows me not only to listen to the music in the environment, but also to feel something more. The focus and connection to the spirit I find in dance is very similar to the meditative trance I find myself in when I am involved in the love and community of Friends.

At Skidmore we recently had a guest teacher/performer, Bill Evans. Like many artists, he was very unique in many ways, as was his art, which was very beautiful tap and modern styles of dance. He also spoke of his many years of experience and how he evolved into what he is today. He verbalized a feeling (that I had felt in many of my dance classes) in a tangible and describable way. The concept that he embodies is that for him dance is his spirituality and his passion. When he is dancing (amplified by performance) he seems to be in a state of nirvana. This nirvana that he seemed to emanate is something that I have experienced only a few times. The first time was at Powell House at a WinterSong conference. The feeling of being connected to those around you and then to something bigger is hard to describe but I feel glimpses of it when I dance.

One of the lessons I have learned is to let myself feel what is happening around me. Happiness has been objectified, and it has become a goal, keeping us from truly embodying what we already have obtained. Letting myself be joyful in the moment and feel the bliss or the stuff of life while dancing is truly beautiful. Although nothing is perfect, grace can come in waves and is balanced by an occasional crash and fall both literally and metaphorically.

I am excited to get together with Friends again soon. I love how after class I can catch up with members of CYF and Powell House attendees. I am planning on facilitating a senior high conference soon, to help make the transition into adulthood easier. I hope, too, that this conference will prevent the disconnect between generations who have graduated and those that are soon to graduate. Then there is a CYF conference planned for this November, which will be a real reason for thanks and giving over our Thanksgiving break.

It is hard to constantly be connected with the light with in, Friends that live so far away, and that universal energy. My focus today is mostly on the articles I need to read for class and the review for the midterms coming up. But, I have the opportunity to go into a room full of dancers who are not speaking but listening. I am able to center myself for a moment before returning to the sprint of the day’s activities. I am still learning how to learn here at college. I make mistakes along the way, but sometimes that is the best way to grow—physically, mentally, and spiritually.

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Love is the First Motion:
An Exercise in Clearness

Chris DeRoller, codirector of the Powell House Youth Program

One of the things that I thoroughly enjoy about working with young people is that they have helped me hone my Quaker process and continually restore my faith in the Quaker way of doing things. Our youth have a deep sense of fairness but also a tenderness toward one another that takes precedence over fairness. For many of them love truly is the first motion. That is the spirit in which our Quaker process functions best.

The minute below was written by Powell House youth attenders and then approved by all those present at our Planning 2007 conference. The process began almost a year earlier when some young friends expressed concern about drugs being used at Powell House conferences. Mike (codirector) and I talked with a number of youth and parents to get a feeling for what might be happening. We decided that this was an issue that our community needed to talk openly about.

In February 2007 we held a Spinning Circles conference for 9th to 12th  graders. The blurb and the confirmation letter read:
Hippies, Flower Children, Woodstock; Powell House was born in this same era, infused with the spirit of a new age and new way of being. Community, expanding awareness and living Love are part of our fabric. We ask that drugs not be. Still they touch our community in many different ways. This weekend we will have an opportunity to talk about this together, to share our own spiritual journeys and to practice the messy but satisfying art of tie-dyeing.

We had 60 young friends register. 43 were able to attend. Nine remained on the waiting list. We’d struck a chord.

During the weekend an intense small-group session allowed youth attenders to share how drugs affected them, why they used or didn’t use drugs, why they used or didn’t use drugs at Powell House, and how they felt when people used drugs or made a big deal about drugs. Participants wrote their answers on index cards. We collected and redistributed the cards before reading them aloud. This let people answer honestly with some anonymity. The same small groups then discussed Powell House as a sacred community: What does sacred mean? Is this a sacred community? What about the Youth Program is important to you? What do we have to offer each other? If drugs were legal should they be allowed here?

The questions were designed to allow people to hear how drugs affected others and also what Powell House and our time together means to each other. Our hope was that out of this the youth would be able to find a common place to stand. Ten or so young friends gathered in the afternoon and sifted through what they had heard, trying to identify what common threads were present. They listed points of agreement and drafted a minute.

On Sunday morning the minute was read. The sense of all those gathered was that Powell House was not the place or time for drug use. (It’s important to note that nearly half of those present self-identified as using drugs though fewer than five wrote of using drugs while at Powell House.) We could not find clarity on the definition of drugs, on dealing with addictions, or on the consequences for drug use. There was a good deal of respectful, honest dialogue, but it was clear that we would not be able to approve a minute that morning.

Planning conferences in September have traditionally been times to solicit input from the youth and to address issues that impact the community. It seemed the appropriate weekend to continue the process. A group of young friends met Saturday morning and reviewed the index card responses from the Spinning Circles conference. Of the nine youth, only two had been at the Spinning Circles conference. The young friends spoke about what struck them in the responses they were reading. They offered their own answers to the questions. They shared concerns they had about what wasn’t present in the responses. What struck me in all of this was their care and concern for those among us who use drugs. They wanted to be sure that those friends knew that they were loved, respected, and welcome at Powell House. They also wanted to be clear that drugs were not. The definition of drugs arose out of the adverse affects that they had on the community. When someone stated that caffeine was a drug, someone else asked, “Does the use of caffeine (coffee and tea at breakfast) cause rifts in our community?” Those present laughed and said, “No.” Looked at in this way it became easier to see what substances we wanted included in the minute.

Again sifting through all the discussion and responses, we identified those things that were true, that we could say with certainty. Two young Friends volunteered to draft the minute. The draft was read to the whole group Sunday morning, changes were made, and the group as a whole approved it. There were unresolved issues (consequences, dealing with addictions, how to disseminate the minute), but the group was clear that the minute expressed their truths and a vision of our community that they could all agree on.

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UK Conference on Religion and Youth

Call for Papers

The British Sociological Association’s Annual Conference on Youth will be held at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Selly Oak, Birmingham, UK, April 8–10, 2008.

Young people are at the forefront of cultural and social change. Their engagement with religion, religious ideas, and institutions tells us how resilient beliefs and practices are, whether faith has a future, and how religions adapt, transform, and innovate in relation to wider social and cultural trends. Equally, if we are to understand young people, we need to consider their spirituality as a core dimension of personhood.

The aim of this conference is to bring together scholars interested in religion, spirituality, and young people in order to open up a wide-ranging sociological debate on Religion and Youth. We welcome papers on any subject around this theme. Suggested areas for sociological reflection include:

• Youth Spirituality
• Youth Religion and Social Capital
• Religion, Young People and Families
• Religion and Youth Cultures, Subcultures and Lifestyle
• Radical Youth Religion
• Alternative Youth Religions
• Religion and Marginalized Youth
• Researching Youth Religion
• Religion and Young People’s Health
• Religious and Spiritual Development
• Young People and Institutional Religion
• Generational Religious Differences
• Gender, Ethnicity, and Young People’s Religious Identity

The conference will also have space for “work in progress” on all topics concerned with the sociology of religion. Papers are very welcome from postgraduates as well as more established academics. For further information and registration, see www.socrel.org.uk or contact Sylvie Collins-Mayo, Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Kingston Univ., Penrhyn Rd., Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE , UK; tel: +44 (0) 208 547 2000 ext 62371; e-mail: S.Collins-Mayo [at] Kingston.ac.uk, or Ben Pink Dandelion, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, 1046 Bristol Rd., Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6LJ UK; tel : +44 (0) 121 415 6782; e-mail: BenPD [at] compuserve.com.

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Extracts from Minutes of NYYM Fall Sessions

November 11–13, 2007

Full text of the minutes is available at www.nyym.org/pubs/0711min.shtml.

2007-11-01. The Clerk, Ernestine Buscemi (Morningside), called us to worship, reminding us that despite the despair evoked by much of what is happening in the world, the illumination that sends out a divine radiance makes us alive and well. We each and all belong to and are loved by God, and this is the grounding for all the work of the Yearly Meeting.

2007-11-04. Boyce Benge (Brooklyn) read an epistle from Illinois Yearly Meeting, Seventh Month 29, 2007. Their theme this year was “Answering that of God.” Finding that faithful preparation and seasoning allowed them to complete their work with relative ease, they celebrated the increased inclusion of young Friends and noted that issues of accessibility limited the participation of others. They were reminded that answering implies a two-way relationship, that we are called not just to answer, but to listen and wait for answers, forming a deeper relationship with the Divine.

2007-11-05. The reading clerk read a memorial minute for Barbara Haviland Houser. Barbara was born in 1921 to a family that had been members of Purchase Meeting since 1727, and the meeting was ever a vital part of her life. A steady, calm, and nonjudgmental listener, an excellent cook and stalwart of the Hospitality Committee, she was a caring presence for all, having a special rapport with children and teenagers, inspiring others to feel good about themselves. She served the meeting in many roles and is remembered for her knowledge of Quaker history and practice and her devotion to Quaker community. Friends spoke of their remembrances of Barbara.

2007-11-06. The Clerk introduced the general secretary, Christopher Sammond (Bulls Head-Oswego). Christopher told us that though he had come to his post wanting to get new things going, he now often feels that…we are becoming more and more active in being a visible presence in our communities; we are better supporting and nurturing our youth; we are at work in proactively addressing the spiritual needs of Friends…from new attenders to seasoned Friends; we are changing our structures to encourage more grassroots discernment in our life as a Yearly Meeting; we are supporting a multitude of different expressions of our witness in the world—giving tangible expression to our spiritual life; we are seeing more and more Friends led to travel in the ministry; we are witnessing greater participation in the work going on at a Yearly Meeting level. [Christopher’s complete report is available at www.nyym.org/pubs/GenSecReport0711.pdf.]

Christopher’s message concentrated on the work still to do, including learning how to “befriend” newcomers to our meetings, discerning a clearer vision of what we are called to do as a Yearly Meeting, communicating the work going on at the Yearly Meeting level, continuing the powerful work we do in exploring our relationship with Friends United Meeting, planning and encouraging participation in the new meetings for discernment, and untangling personal and interpersonal wounds from our discernment process in our meetings. He spoke of his sense that we need to continue to look for where we are called to do more work.…

2007-11-07. . . .The treasurer, Harold Risler (Buffalo)…brought a summary of the Treasurer’s Report as of September 30, 2007, which is available in full on the Web site.…So far we have collected more money than we had to this point last year, and Harold anticipates that we will collect enough funds to cover our expenses for the year.…

2007-11-09. . . . Steven Mohlke (Ithaca) [clerk of Financial Services] . . . introduced the members of the Financial Services Committee . . . Steve presented the proposed budget, a balanced budget . . . Steve and others responded to questions on specific budget items, particularly about expenditures for encouraging participation of new and seasoned Friends in Yearly Meeting gatherings . . . Friends approve the proposed budget of $537,400, which includes expected income of $537,400, including the anticipated covenant donations of $483,300. [The budget is available at www.nyym.org/committees/treasurer.]

2007-11-10. The Clerk introduced Linda Chidsey (Housatonic), who delivered a message out of her experience in the meeting of the Public Policy Committee of the New York State Council of Churches (NYSCC) (September 21 and 22, 2007) . . . These issues are currently healthcare, education, immigration, poverty, the environment, and war . . . Representatives [looked] at their advocacy work through the lens of social-movement stages as well as at roles and methods, based on an organizing scheme from a book by Bill Moyer, Doing Democracy. They explored their fears and the obstacles to this advocacy work. In other words, they faced the question: What are the costs of discipleship? Linda brought forward several questions: What extraordinary thing might God be calling us to do? How are we distracted from the fundamental message of the Gospel? What can I no longer not do? How much are we willing to suffer? She spoke of our being called to participate in God’s love, that this draws us out of our fears and to our belief in the fundamental goodness of the world.…

2007-11-14. Helen Garay Toppins (Morningside) began the report of the representatives to the Triennial of the Friends World Committee for Consultation . . .

Helen reported in three parts: as a black woman, she encountered behavior at the Triennial that she experienced as racist or sexist. She responded to these incidents by engaging in open-hearted dialogue because she felt that she wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with her Quaker family.

Helen presented a workshop on prison ministry, feeling accompanied by the spirits of all the people in NYYM and beyond who had nourished this ministry. She said the efforts of others around the world with people in prison with AIDS prepared her for returning to respond to this issue at home.

As staff liaison to young adult Friends, Helen delighted in the presence and contributions of the young Friends from 15 to 20 yearly meetings. FWCC decided to set up a Young Adults Committee in the United States; she urged NYYM to make it possible for young adults from our Yearly Meeting to attend . . .

2007-11-15. Jill McClellan (Central Finger Lakes), assistant clerk of Nominating Committee, brought . . . names forward for approval [The complete list is on the NYYM Web site and will be e-mailed or mailed to Friends on request.]

Friends were urged to identify young adult Friends with gifts to offer and to inform the Nominating Committee.

2007-11-16. . . . Newton Garver (Buffalo) . . . summarized his [recent] work in Bolivia . . . He indicated that . . . he is unlikely to continue visiting Bolivia, but he is available to visit Friends Meetings and others in the United States to describe the work of the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund . . . NYYM Friends asked Newton to convey our loving greetings to Friends in Bolivia.

2007-11-17. The Clerk introduced Daniel Jenkins (Saranac Lake), who reported for the Committee on Conscientious Objection to Paying for War . . .

The amicus brief of the Yearly Meeting in support of his petition of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court was submitted July 5, 2007. On October 1, 2007, the court refused to hear the case. An appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is now possible. He thanked the Fund for Sufferings for their support in paying the penalty imposed for taking this issue of conscientious objection to military tax to court.

Dan then updated Friends on the other work of the Committee, including its third conference held at Flushing Meeting in September 2007, the fourth conference being planned for the spring in the Albany area; the work on the Call to Friends inviting them to write statements of conscience, record them with their monthly meetings, and file them with the Yearly Meeting; and the submission of articles on conscientious objection to paying for war to Friends Journal.

Dan closed with a message about integrity and the willingness to examine how we earn, store, and spend money. “A goodly part of integrity involves honest recognition of that which we control or have power over and that which controls or has power over us—with the intention of bringing these into right relationship for the blessed community to prosper.”

2007-11-18. Some Friends gathered [Saturday] evening in worship in response to the message of Linda Chidsey (Housatonic) arising out of the New York State Council of Churches Policy Committee, which asked “What extraordinary thing might God be calling us to?” Paddy Lane (Butternuts) read a proposed minute from the group, calling for Friends to gather in worship for peace. Friends united with the urgency of the concern…. The clerk, the assistant clerk, Paddy Lane, and anyone else who feels called will refine the minute for distribution to monthly meetings, government officials, the New York State Council of Churches, and Friends everywhere.

Friends approved revival of the Quaker Worship and Action (WANDA) e-mail list and the Worship & Action communications.…

2007-11-19. Justin Bishop (Schenectady), recording clerk of Witness Coordinating Committee, announced the Sharing Fund goal for 2008 of $50,000…. He appealed to Friends to contribute to the Sharing Fund.

2007-11-20. Lee Haring (Bulls Head-Oswego), clerk of the Interim Steering Committee of the Meetings for Discernment, reminded Friends that this body replaces the Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Counsel. The first meeting will be held March 15, 2008, at Rochester Meeting. The second will be held Tuesday, July 26, 2008, at Silver Bay. He urged meetings to appoint people who are in touch with the meeting and to whom people turn for ministry and counsel. He emphasized the desire to have a range of ages, ethnicity, and theological perspectives.…

The Meetings for Discernment will consider the following questions:

• How is the Spirit moving in your monthly meeting?
• What concerns have been laid upon your heart and into the collective care of your monthly meeting?
• How is the Spirit moving in the Yearly Meeting?
• What are we as a body called to at this time?

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Fire Damages Jamaica Boys’ Home

This information comes from Terri Johns, program manager
for Global Ministries of Friends United Meeting (FUM).

Fire at Swift-Purscell Boys School (photo courtesy of FUM)

On the evening of October 10, 2007, someone broke into an office in the historic Great House at Swift-Purscell Boys Home in Jamaica. Whether intentionally or not, the person left a fire behind at the Great House.

Burning through the night, the Great House fire spread to consume another nearby building and damaged part of yet another building. By the end of the evening, the boys had come to the harsh realization that there would be no more computers, no library, no dining room, and no tailor shop to learn the tailoring trade.

Donald Stewart, who runs the boys’ home, and Angella Beharie, who is in charge of Friends Education Council in Jamaica, both suffered the loss of their offices, including computers, years of records, and many personal items. The kitchen and store room suffered some damage as well but are now usable.

Swift-Purscell Boys Home after fire (photo courtesy of FUM)

Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the damage and loss are painful enough. How much will it cost to replace? We don’t know, but we are well aware that it is far more than Friends Education Council has on hand.  FUM will be collecting money for this project and updating the Web site, www.fum.org, as they know more.

One of the things they need right away is a computer and printer, which will cost about US$1,100. An additional computer is $600. These items will get the office back up on its feet to some degree. The tailor shop is also in need of a couple of good sewing machines. They do not need to be commercial or industrial grade—regular home machines will be fine.

FUM has joined with Christian Service International (CSI) to help with this situation. CSI will be planning work teams, and FUM will be collecting donations toward the projects.

If you want to help with the losses, please contact Friends United Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Dr., Richmond IN 47374; 765-962-7573; info [at] fum.org; www.fum.org.

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Follow-up to Eco-Spirituality & Action Minute

(Also known as the Peace with Earth minute)

At Yearly Meeting Summer Sessions last July, NYYM approved an Eco-Spirituality and Action Minute, which reads in part:

Now we are led to widen our witness again to work for peace between humans and our sacred earth community. Our culture has considered the Earth our property to be exploited, and we have all, knowingly and unknowingly, been complicit in this violent appropriation of world resources. We must now search for the seeds of this war in our possessions and our lives and work to nurture a new, mutual relationship with the Earth in all of our actions. The spirit is calling us to hold in reverence this miracle that God has given us. If we are connected to our source, our lives are richer and deeper.

There followed a list of queries for us to ask ourselves regarding our relationship with Earth. The entire minute can be found at www.nyym.org/nurture/ewg/peacewithearth.html, and paper copies will be sent to those who request them.

The Earthcare Working Group sent the following suggestions and contacts to monthly meetings.

Suggestions and Contacts
In discerning an action plan you may want to consider the following. These four categories are part of everyone’s daily life:

• food
• transportation
• clothing
• energy

This is not an exhaustive list, but we can begin to examine these four vital areas to understand how they affect the life of our planet and what changes we can make in our behavior.

We suggest that you begin by considering: the manufacture of items in these four areas; the means and distance of their delivery to you; your use of them; and the ultimate end of their life cycle. How have they impacted the life of the planet and your own health during these periods of time?

For instance, in the case of food, how far did it travel to get to your table? (The average is 2,000 miles. Someone might want to calculate how much CO2 was put into the atmosphere in that trip.) How can you stop buying some of these foods from so far away?  An increasingly popular solution is to eat food that has been produced locally.

Enjoy this journey! We look forward to hearing news of your action plan.

Regional Coordinators
New York City region: Janet Soderberg jesoderberg [at] verizon.net
Upstate New York:Angela Manno amanno [at] angelamanno.com
Central and Western New York:Liseli Haines liselih [at] juno.com

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Changing our Buildings, Changing the World

The National Campaign for Renovating Friends Center in Philadelphia

Friends Center is going Green and fossil-fuel free! The historic complex of buildings, in downtown Philadelphia, houses the national offices of the AFSC, FWCC Section of the Americas, Friends Association for Higher Education, Quaker Information Center, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and 16 other Quaker or Quaker-related nonprofits. The $12.5-million project is envisioned as a distinct ecological witness to the Religious Society of Friends and beyond. Upon completion, Friends Center will be fossil-fuel free by using integrated strategies of geothermal heating and cooling, solar electricity, purchased wind power, and energy efficiency measures like added insulation, open design with improved windows, and use of equipment and practices that reduce consumption.

Friends Center in Philadelphia

And now the campaign for Friends Center is going national. The work of groups in Friends Center touches Friends all around North America. Now outreach, education, and opportunity for participation in the greening is expanding beyond Philadelphia. Kristina Keefe-Perry, a member of Rochester MM, who lives in Boston, is coordinating this national effort. The project is truly spreading the word that Friends are living a witness that makes our words and actions speak with one voice. Not only is the building becoming a model of sustainability through this green renovation project, but it is a showcase for other meetings, along with architects, builders, property owners, and students of all ages to learn about sustainable design that preserves our planet.

With buildings estimated to account for 40–70% of energy consumption in the U.S., Friends have seen the opportunity for this project to allow us to “be patterns.” The Philadelphia Inquirer (July 6, 2007) quotes Pat McBee, the volunteer capital campaign director: “We want to be a model for other property owners and building professionals to come here, kick the tires, learn that these things work, that they’re cost effective, they’re beautiful, there’s nothing you’re really sacrificing, and it’s worth doing.” It is clear that Friends’ groups around the country are taking inspiration and encouragement from the model at Friends Center. Now they can get involved and are urged to contact Kristina Keefe-Perry for information.

Construction has already begun on the project. In addition to the installation of a vegetated roof and solar panels, drilling is planned for December 2007 of up to six deep (1,500–2,000 feet) standing-column geothermal wells, which will produce up to 40 tons of exchange capacity. The first of their kind in Pennsylvania, they are expected to reduce energy for heating and cooling by 39%. Additional measures to protect the earth include the choice to renovate rather than rebuild, recycling construction waste, selecting recycled or rapidly renewable materials whenever possible, and choosing materials with low toxicity. Friends Center has purchased 100% renewable electricity since 1998.

Like the green renovation of the Friends Committee on National Legislation building in Washington, the green renovation of these high-profile Quaker buildings in Philadelphia gives Friends a powerful voice in calling ourselves and others to live in harmony with all of creation.

For more about Friends Center’s “greening” see www.friendscentercorp.org. If you would like to help “Turn Quaker Gray to Quaker Green,” contact Kristina Perry at 215-563-8832 or kperry [at] friendscentercorp.org.

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Gulf Coast Workcamp

From December 26–29, 2007, William Penn House will lead a workcamp on the Gulf Coast, open to persons of all ages.

We are collaborating efforts with a local church on the Gulf Coast to identify a repair and recovery project with which we can assist. In addition, we will offer to work with church leaders to coordinate and cook a dinner as part of the workcamp. At this dinner, we plan to provide food, fellowship, and assistance with healing from the traumas of this disaster through a facilitated gathering in which survivors can share their stories of loss, pain, survival, and hope. By both working hard and listening deeply, we expect to provide long-term relief for victim/survivors and help educate workcamp participants about the ways in which the effects of natural disasters are exacerbated by both poverty and racism.

The cost of $250 covers lodging, meals, local travel, and supplies. Participants are responsible for arranging and paying for their own travel to and from New Orleans.

For more information, go to www.williampennhouse.org and click on the “workcamp in New Orleans” link or contact Felix Unogwu, WQW Program Coordinator, 202-543,5560, or e-mail him at Felix [at] williampennhouse.org. To register, please complete the Registration Form and Medical Form found on the William Penn House Web site.

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Grants for Christian Mysticism

The Elizabeth Ann Bogert Memorial Fund for the Study and Practice of Christian Mysticism makes annual grants of up to $1,000. The fund is administered by Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas.

Projects funded in 2007 included: research for and publication of material on mystic Bernadette Roberts; a study of Russian icons; composition of a cantata based on the life of Quaker mystic James Nayler; research on individuals seeking to live a hermit life; a study of mystical practices as a way to launch a spiritual-healing-and-teaching ministry.

Grant proposals should be no more than two pages long and should include a statement of the applicant’s working definition of mysticism, a description of the project, the specific amount requested, the way in which a grant will be used, other sources of funding, and plans for communicating the results to others.

Seven copies of the proposal should be mailed to Bogert Fund Secretaries, Vinton and Michelina Deming, 4818 Warrington Ave., Philadelphia PA 19143. Two or three people familiar with the applicant’s work should mail letters of reference directly to the secretaries.

Proposals and references for 2008 grants are due by March 1, 2008. Decisions will be made in May; grants will be distributed in June. Recipients are asked to send a progress report within a year. A brochure describing the fund is available. Inquiries may be sent to muccidem [at] verizon.net.

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QUNO Internship

Gabriel Morden-Snipper, QUNO program assistant

The Quaker United Nations Office invites applications for their internship program. The internship provides an opportunity for college graduates or candidates with equivalent experience who have an interest in international affairs, and a commitment to Friends' principles, to work at the UN. Currently, QUNO focuses on issues of peacemaking and development on the UN agenda. Interns work closely with permanent staff on one or more issue areas, while providing administrative support to the daily operations of the office. Stipend and medical coverage provided. QUNO can assist successful applicants with obtaining a work visa.

Further information and applications are available online (www.quno.org), or may be requested by contacting the office: 777 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017; 212-628-2745; qunony [at] afsc.org. Deadline for submission of applications and references: February 8, 2008.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

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Meeting for Discernment

The first Meeting for Discernment will be held on March 15, 2008, at Rochester meeting. These meetings are a rare opportunity for us to practice our faith as Friends, listening together as to how the Spirit is moving in the YM. Through prayer and listening, Meetings for Discernment will connect as many Friends as possible, from all over our Yearly Meeting.

See the article in October InfoShare for details.

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2008 Budget Approved

At Fall Sessions 2007, the NYYM budget for 2008 was approved.

The budget is available at www.nyym.org/committees/treasurer.

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Correction

The article in September Spark entitled “How Does the Stewardship of All Creation Relate to Our Practice As Friends?” was written by Dale Jacobs.

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Letter to the Editor

Note: Letters to the editor are presented when space is available. Letters raise and explore topics of concern to NYYM Friends. As in any Quaker forum, views here are uncensored, should be expressed briefly and gently, and may discomfort some Friends. The Communications Committee welcomes unsolicited manuscripts of opinion or reporting and will publish material that seems provocative and timely.

Dear Editor,
This is the time of year when many of us review our annual giving to various causes, making those last decisions before the year’s end. I would like to address the issue of unethical Native American charities. Such charities usually feature the terrible plight of individuals from various tribal Nations to solicit donations. Native American spokespeople contacted said that this method of soliciting funds is offensive to most Nations. In addition, it is likely that only a small percentage of the monies they collect actually benefit the destitute people featured in their literature or glossy catalogs featuring Native American articles. Instead, the monies are spent on extravagant salaries or further advertising. These reprehensible charitable organizations were highlighted in an article from In These Times, reprinted in Indian Affairs (fall 2001) and available online at www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/09/capozza2509.html. So if you receive a solicitation from any charity using this technique, that should alert your warning bells!

There are several other questionable charities with religious affiliations that exempt them from revealing how much money they collect or how their contributions are actually spent. For example, past investigations have revealed that at least one charity uses it’s “job training” program to provide inexpensive labor to continue the charity’s activities rather than to provide bona fide training so that the person can find employment. Such charities may or may not give the collected monies to the Native Americans they purport to help, but we can’t discover this information. Such practices, although unethical, are not illegal because charities with religious affiliations are not required to register with the IRS.

Genuine charitable agencies deserve our support. We should not let charities with a tarnished reputation prevent us from supporting those doing important and much-needed work. If Friends want to check further, please visit www.charitywatch.org (the Web site of the American Institute of Philanthropy). This organization gathers information and rates charities annually on the effectiveness of their programs. If you give a donation to this organization, you will receive their detailed report on a wide variety of charities. Information is also available from www.guidestar.com and www.give.org.

So before you pick up your pen and checkbook, make certain that your contribution is going to a reputable organization.

—Susan H. Wolf, Staten Island Meeting

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Notices

NEW MEMBERS
Tanya Cooper—Croton Valley
Michael Crawford—Collins
Ruby Crawford—Collins
Joy Dixon—Collins
Joanie Goodemote—Collins
Rosemary Harris—Collins
Marcie Martin—New Paltz
Mary Jo Martin—New Paltz
Jason McGill—Morningside
Vera Parisi—New Paltz
Linda Lee Short—Mohawk Valley

TRANSFERS
David Goodwin, to New Paltz, from Brooklyn
Lori Heninger, to Shrewsbury from Morningside.
Jack Patterson, to Shrewsbury from Morningside

DEATHS
Lawrence Heaton, member of Poughkeepsie, on September 1, 2007
Bonnie Lee Johnson, member of Buffalo, on October 25, 2007
Herb Kimball, member of Farmington, on October 18, 2007
George McClure, member of Montclair, on November 3, 2007
Esther Petitt, member of Nine Partners, on June 7, 2007
Lloyd Smith, member of Matinecock, on July 9, 2007
Margaret Ward, member of Chappaqua, on September 19, 2007

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