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InfoShare
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| Volume 1
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February 2002
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Number 1
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Friends in New York Yearly Meeting want to know what's happening in our Yearly Meeting! To help meet this need, we will be publishing an online newsletter, InfoShare. Since Spark comes out only five times a year, and the need for information is ongoing, we will be publishing InfoShare in months in which Spark is not issued, except in the summer. Thus, InfoShare will come out in February, April, June, and October.
InfoShare will be posted on NYYM's Web site, but paper copies will be available on request.
We need your help. If your monthly, regional, or quarterly meeting is having a retreat, a Basic Quakerism course, or some other event, please let us know, so that we can spread the word. We also put many events on the Events section of this Web site and on the NYYM Calendar, but we can't do that if you don't tell us about them! Please send us the information. We especially encourage newsletter editors, clerks, Ministry and Counsel clerks, etc., to keep in touch with us and inform us of the goings-on in their meetings. We also encourage Yearly Meeting committees to send us their news.
Send items to Paul Busby, c/o the NYYM office; e-mail paul@nyym.org.
Paul Busby, editor
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The Publications Committee is exploring the idea of adding a Spiritual Journey column to Spark. We are asking for your help in considering the value of this and in finding material for it. We hope people in your meeting will share some of their spiritual experiences and leadings.
Please send us material or suggestions for people to contact. Perhaps you know of people who could talk to us about something they have experienced or have done, but would prefer to be interviewed rather than to write it up themselves. If you could let us know about them, that would also be very helpful. Some Friends are diffident about sharing their spiritual lives, but many have had experiences that would inspire the rest of us. If such experiences, leadings, and prayers were published in Spark, they could benefit us all.
Please let us know how you can support this column with your suggestions and experiences or tell us why you do not consider it a good idea. Your comments are very important to us as we continue to make Spark more responsive to Yearly Meeting needs.
Lee Ridgway, clerk, Publications Committee
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Rosa Packard of Purchase Meeting has compiled Resource Packets for monthly meetings, to assist meetings in becoming peace-education centers for their communities. The packets include recent information, referrals, and pamphlets about Quakers and the Peace Testimony. These were distributed at December Representative Meeting to representatives of more than half the Monthly Meetings in NYYM. To request one for your Meeting, contact Anne Wright at AFSC/NYMRO 15 Rutherford Pl., New York NY 10003; 212-598-0951; awright@afsc.org.
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- Sundays, 12:30 to 1:30 P.M. Interfaith Vigil in Monument Square, New Brunswick, N.J. Contact landr100@hotmail.com.
- Mondays 6 to 7 P.M. at 55 W. 125th St., corner of Malcolm X Blvd. (Lenox Ave.). Morningside Meeting sponsors a Quaker vigil, a response action to U.S. military action. Info: Vince Buscemi, 212-255-6793.
- Tuesdays 5:30 to 6:30 P.M. Brooklyn Friends gather to vigil behind Borough Hall on Joralemon Street. Following the vigil Friends may go to the Meetinghouse for Meeting for Worship.
- Wednesdays 5:30 to 6:30 P.M. Women in Black meet outside the NY Public Library, Fifth Ave. and 42d St.
- Thursdays 7 to 8 P.M. Peace Vigil in front of Ossining High on Rte. 9. Bring white candles and signs. Info: Nick Mottern: 914-788-0336.
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How can Friends in small meetings and worship groups strengthen their spiritual community while at the same time reaching out to others? This question will be the focus of Growth and Renewal, a retreat for small meetings and worship groups to be held at Powell House May 31-June 2, 2002.
For further information please go to the announcement in the Events section of this Web site or contact Powell House at 518-794-8811; www.powellhouse.org.
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The telephone is an important advancement tool. Many people call a meeting with questions before visiting the first time. If your meeting has a telephone, the answering machine message should include: 1) words of welcome; 2) the time of worship; 3) simple directions to the meetinghouse; and 4) the name and number of a live person to call: "If you have questions, please call . . ."
If your answering machine allows callers to leave messages, please be sure to check the machine regularly.
How is your meeting listed in the telephone book? The Advancement Committee suggests listing a meeting under "Churches - Quaker" in the yellow pages. In the white pages, we suggest that you list under "Quaker Meeting," followed by the proper name.
The Advancement Committee provides grants to help small meetings or worship groups cover the first year of new phone service. The committee will also help cover the cost of changing a telephone listing to "Quaker." For further information contact Jane Berger.
Jane Berger, clerk, Advancement Committee
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A peacemaking forum, convened and moderated by Quakers and cosponsored by local religious organizations, will feature an outstanding interfaith panel of six Muslims, Jews, and Christians engaging in a dialogue of reconciliation and the opening of hearts. This forum will be convened by Summit Monthly Meeting (Chatham, N.J.) on Sunday, March 17, from 2 to 5 P.M. at the Presbyterian Church of Chatham, 240 Southern Blvd. (1 mile down the road from SMM Meetinghouse).
The forum will feature Jewish peace worker Yehezkel Landau, Richard Deats, from Fellowship of Reconciliation, speaking from a Christian viewpoint, and a Muslim from the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination League. Cheshire Frager, of the American Friends Service Committee's New York City office, will moderate. Following the panel discussion, the audience will participate in small-group discussions, reflect prayerfully, and share insights with the larger group.
Middle Eastern snacks and desserts will be served. Donations are welcome but not required. Cosponsors are being sought from local religious organizations. Preregistration is helpful to us, but not required. Call our registrar at (973) 263-2534 to reserve space or for more information.
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Gun Free Day on TV is a grass-roots effort to designate Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002, as a day of gun-free television - a day in which you can watch television without seeing guns and gun violence. The idea came from Midlothian Friends meeting in Midlothian, Va. They plead that the television networks not air any television programs or commercials that day featuring guns or gun-related violence.
According to their Web site, http://www.gunfreedayontv.org, "We hope to help every child and family become aware that shooting people with guns is not an accepted solution to problems, and that there are alternatives to gun violence. . . .
"Independent studies, testimonies given by experts to congressional committees, and other research have all shown that television violence increases aggressiveness in children."
For further information visit their Web site or write to GunFreeDayOnTV, Box 1003, Midlothian, VA 23113.
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The Elizabeth Ann Bogert Memorial Fund for the Study and Practice of Christian Mysticism offers grants to individuals for this purpose. The deadline for applications this year is March 1. For information contact Michelina and Vinton Deming, cosecretaries for the Bogert Fund, vintdem00@aol.com.
Friends for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (FLGC) will hold its annual Midwinter Gathering February 15-18, 2002, at the Illinois State Beach Resort and Conference Center, Zion, Ill. The following queries will provide a focus for individual and group discernment:
Who are we (FLGC)?
Why do we come to Midwinter?
Can we bring our whole selves?
How can we honor what we have in common?
Who would we (FLGC) like to be in the future?
Are we inclusive?
Who is the FLGC community to you?
Who are we and what do we want to be to one another?
For further information contact Doug Tipton, 847-758-8994; flgc@att.net.
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July 10-15, 2002, Friends from all over the world will gather at the Kenya College of Communications Technology in Nairobi, Kenya, to celebrate two centennial anniversaries: the founding of Five Years Meeting (currently called Friends United Meeting) and the 100th year of Quaker missionary presence in Kenya.
This unique Triennial will provide opportunities for Friends to meet and greet each other, attend workshops, and gather in small groups for worship, Bible study, and discussion.
Many interesting workshops are being planned in two different formats. Some will be three hours and others will be an hour and a half.
A pre-Triennial workcamp experience is being offered for interested Young Friends ages 16-21. Youths will have the opportunity to meet and work alongside their Kenyan peers at three village meetings. For our even younger Friends, days will be filled with such activities as drama, picnics, storytelling, and Bible study. The children will interact and get to know each other through games and interest groups. This will be a wonderful opportunity to make new friendships that may just last a lifetime.
Post-conference tours offer a chance to see the places and meet the people involved in FUM-sponsored missions projects. This is a great opportunity to experience Friends Theological College, where Rich and Sandy Davis prepare Kenyan pastors for ministry; to meet the dedicated staff who take care of the sick and hurting people at Lugulu Hospital, and to visit villages in Samburu and see first hand the struggle of everyday life in Turkana.
The Triennial gathering promises to be a faith-filled experience and an exciting adventure for all who attend. You are cordially invited to participate and encouraged to contact Pat Sickmann at Friends United Meeting for a registration form and information needed for overseas travel. Daytime phone number: 765-962-7573; pats@fum.org. You can also obtain information online at www.fum.org.
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June 29 to July 6, 2002
Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois
Join us for a week of loving community, with worship, play, study, music, and rest. Workshops at the Gathering bring small groups of individuals together daily in a worshipful setting to consider religious and social issues of concern to Quakers, to foster interactions between Friends, and to deepen spiritual experiences. Evening sessions gather us in our diversity, challenge us as peacemakers centered in the Spirit, and inspire and delight us as a gathered people. Our evening presenters will include John Punshon, Mary Rose O'Reilly, and a "Quilt of Quaker Musicians" performing for the entire intergenerational community.
Registration information for the Gathering will be available in the spring of 2002. Workgrants and scholarships for first-time attenders and others will be detailed in the Advance Program and on the FGC Web site at www.fgcquaker.org. Information: Friends General Conference, 1216 Arch St., 2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107; 215-561-1700; gathering@fgcquaker.org.
The Long Range Conference Planning Committee of FGC is making financial aid available for Friends wishing to attend the Gathering. Various kinds of aid are available, including matching funds for first-time attenders, workgrants, and other assistance.
Anyone with questions may call Liz Perch, Conference Coordinator, at FGC: 215-561-1700 (Liz's voice mail is x3005 - after 5 P.M. Eastern Standard Time Monday-Friday) or send questions to the Gathering Staff via email to gathering@fgcquaker.org.
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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live and work at Silver Bay? Do you know anyone who is looking for a life-changing experience? Silver Bay is recruiting full-time and seasonal staff.
Opportunities include full-time director positions, child-development director, assistant director of conference services, and Emp positions. Some of these can be turned into internships.
For information contact Carolyn Close, director of personnel, Silver Bay Assn., 87 Silver Bay Rd., Silver Bay NY 12874; 518-543-8833 x211; fax 518-543-6733; cclose@silverbay.org.
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