Representative Meeting
December 3–4, 2005

Spiritual Growth Is Advancement

It is the depth of our worship and lived practice that will make newcomers realize that they have come home. So Advancement is both about attracting people to us and about having something to share with them. This means fostering a depth of community and power in worship that speak for themselves.

To be sure, once people come in our doors, they can be well met or ignored, and this will have a major impact on whether or not they stay. There are some very important concrete, common sense practices that create a sense of hospitality, and these have a significant impact on whether or not someone feels initially welcome. But that initial welcome will not bear fruit if it is not supported by genuine community, a depth of worship, and the means for helping the newcomer to partake in these. For this to occur, we have to be alive in our own faith and practice, and we have to be able to share the basic elements of how we tap into the wellsprings that nourish us.

Advancement is often taken to be about increasing our numbers. Membership in the Yearly Meeting has dropped every one of the last forty-eight years, except this last year. At the same time, our average attendance at meetings for worship has remained relatively stable for the last ten or twelve years. And attendance in most of the past few years has been above the ten-year average. How are we to understand these two statistics, of falling membership and of stable, even increasing, attendance? And what does this have to do with Advancement and spiritual deepening?

My sense, based on my travels and discussions with Friends about their monthly meetings, is that we are not succeeding in retaining those seekers who try out our monthly meetings. Nor are we incorporating newer regular attenders into the community life of our meetings. So while numbers at worship are about the same, the proportion who are members, and who are seasoned Friends, has been dropping.

We are having plenty of seekers at our doors, wanting to explore who we are and how we worship. Some stay awhile. Some stay for a few years, and then drift away. Some become faithful attenders, but not enough a part of the meeting so as to be clear to seek membership.

For some of those who drift away, we are not a good fit. But in too many instances I believe we are losing people who have been called to us, but with whom we have failed to share the heart of how we practice our faith. What has been missing for these seekers? We need to be helping them to access the riches we have gained in our practice. We need to be offering Quakerism 101 classes, and also ongoing support in helping newer Friends to deepen in our core practices of worship and worship for business. Perhaps we hang back in sharing our spiritual experience?

I believe that this is the work ahead for us, to better meet and integrate the influx of seekers. as we all deepen our life in the Spirit. Many of our monthly meetings are growing, some dramatically. Our Web site is being visited by an astonishing number of people. We have added four new worship groups in the past year or so, and four more are under consideration. The office is constantly getting calls and e-mails asking for help in finding a meeting to attend. We are not lacking in people interested in us.

Spiritual deepening, the work ahead, lies at the heart of Advancement and Religious Education. In advancement, we need to not only be trying to attract newcomers (outreach), we need to work at deepening our community (inreach). In religious education, we need both to continue to grow in our own faith lives, and to find effective ways to share what we have found.

Some Friends have expressed concerns about the survival of the Religious Society of Friends. My sense is that we are poised for new growth. The question at this time is "How do we best respond to the growth that is at our door?"

Perhaps the best and most effective way for us to promote growth in our monthly meetings and worship groups is for each of us to become more faithful in our own faith and practice. If our spiritual life is deep and rich, if we come to worship filled up from our week's practice, if our life is a witness of what the Spirit asks of us, if our meetings for worship reflect the power of how God is moving in our hearts and lives, then we will grow. And we will grow because we have struck a chord of faithfulness, and it has drawn others who recognize it and respond to it.

Christopher Sammond, NYYM general secretary

NOTE: This is a condensed version of an article that will appear in the November issue of Spark, which is devoted largely to Advancement and Outreach.

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Eyes Wide Open Returns to Our Area

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Eyes Wide Open was displayed in Ithaca, N.Y., October 6, 7, and 9. It will be at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Amsterdam Ave. and W 112th St., Manhattan) Oct. 11–14; Prospect Park, Brooklyn (southwest entrance) Oct. 16; Military Park, Newark (Broad St. and Raymond Blvd.) Oct. 18–20; Union Square (E. 14th St., Manhattan) Oct. 22–23; and in Poughkeepsie November 15–16, including an all-night vigil on Tuesday Nov. 15).

Volunteers needed! To volunteer advance registration is required. For the Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Newark exhibits ign up online at www.eyes.afsc.org, call 212-598-0963, or e-mail eyes.ny [at] afsc.org. For the Poughkeepsie exhibit e-mail Judith Nichols, junichols [at] vassar.edu, or call 845-437-5656.

More information is available at http://www.afsc.org/eyes and on the NYYM site at http://www.nyym.org/events.

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Funds from Barrington Dunbar Committee

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Randolph Meetinghouse Restoration Celebrated with Open House Oct. 15

The building, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been owned since 1897 by the Friends Meeting House & Cemetery Association of Randolph Township (FMHC), the second-oldest preservation organization in Morris County. Its restoration, requiring extensive structural rehabilitation, began in the 1970s and continues.

Only about 25 feet square, the two-story building is the county's oldest place of worship in continuous use. Built to serve Mendham Friends Meeting, it has been used by Dover-Randolph Friends Meeting since 1954. Removal of many layers of paint, begun two years ago, has restored the exterior's 18th-century appearance.

A 2004 grant from the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund helped pay for a heating system and repair of damage caused when the former system was installed in the 1950s. Substantial interior structural rehabilitation was funded in 1989 by the New Jersey Preservation Bond Program. All other work has been financed with private donations.

The meetinghouse is one block east of N.J. Rt. 10, on Quaker Church Rd. at Quaker Ave. between Center Grove Rd. and Millbrook Ave. On-street parking is provided along Quaker Ave.,, and additional parking is available at the nearby Center Grove Elementary School.

Contact: John Ruch, FHMC Trustee, Harmony, Pa., 724-452-8834 or 724-316-6002 (cell); jsrsmr [at] fyi.net.

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Brother Outsider to be shown at Shrewsbury Meeting Oct. 21

The program will be presented Friday, October 21, 2005, at 7:00 P.M, with an introduction and a discussion led by Walter Naegle, conservator of the Rustin estate and Rustin's partner during the last decade of his life.

The Shrewsbury meetinghouse is on the northeast corner of Broad Street (Route 35) and Sycamore Avenue. Limited parking is available in the rear; additional parking is available one block east on Buttonwood Drive.

There is no charge for admission. Light refreshments will be available.

For information about the presentation call 732-741-4138 or visit www.shrewsburyquakers.org. For more information about Brother Outsider, visit www.rustin.org.

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Self-Care and Your Spiritual Center: A Weekend for People of Color Oct 28–30

October 28–30, 2005, Pendle Hill presents this weekend with Valerie Barlow and Kimberly McNair. Our commitment to spiritual balance is expressed through our self-care. How do we continually nurture our families, our communities, and ourselves from our spiritual center? We will explore some of the ways in which we, as People of Color, survive and thrive in the world while maintaining a balance of our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical self-care. We will share the gifts of the diversity of our cultures and learn from each other. Please bring musical instruments, creative writing, art, music, sculpture, and other meaningful personal/cultural items to share with others. This weekend is an opportunity for exploration, reflection, creativity, affirmation, and celebration!

Valerie Barlow is a partner of Tapestry Seminars, a company that provides training and consultation. A member Atlanta Friends Meeting (GA) and the Fellowship of Friends of African Descent, she was formerly the regional director of the Southeast Regional Office of the American Friends Service Committee. Valerie is committed to assisting individuals and communities in reaching and experiencing the fullness of their gifts from God.

Kimberly McNair, also a partner of Tapestry Seminars, has extensive experience providing individual counseling and group facilitation on personal growth issues. She believes that spirituality is a continuous journey that helps us to discern our life's purpose and subsequent contributions to humanity.

Cost: $260/shared room; $310/private room; $185/commuter. Matching scholarships are available. Contact Pendle Hill early to apply.

Further information: http://www.pendlehill.org/fall_winter_2005.htm

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CCW Offers Military/Draft Counseling Workshop on Long Island Nov. 4

The location is the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, 38 Old Country Rd. , Garden City NY. The program includes:

• Friday night, Nov. 4—Town Hall meeting
• Saturday, Nov. 5—Training Program 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.
• Handbook, meals, and materials
• Eligibility to volunteer once per week beginning in December 2005

The fee is $50.00. (For those of draft age or who speak Spanish, scholarships may be available.)

Trained volunteers will be eligible to donate their time and expertise beginning in December 2005 to Long Island residents in need, through a project of LEAP (Local Education Awareness Programs), a coalition of Long Island organizations.

For further information or to register, contact: Amy Antoniazzi at the Ethical Humanist Society, 516-741-7304.

The Center on Conscience and War, committed to providing support to all who oppose participation in war, is endorsed by the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Two primary services provided are training volunteers for counseling and educating individuals and their families who face military service. They also provide a GI hotline to those already in the armed services. Their Web site is www.nisbco.org.

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Invitation to Deeper Communion Nov. 5

Montclair Meeting is at 289 Park St., Upper Montclair, N.J. For directions go to http://friends.montclair.nj.us/ and click on the Directions link. To register for the retreat, contact Judith Hinds, 973-661-0067; j.hinds7 [at] verizon.net.

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Nine Partners Quarterly Meeting Fall Fun Day for Children and Adults
Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005, New Paltz

Adults: 10:30–11:30 meeting for worship; 11:30–1:00 meeting for eating (soup and bread will be provided; bring other food such as desserts); 1:00–3:00, program to be announced.

Information: Leif Anderson, clerk, NPQM, leifanderson [at] aol.com.

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AVP Basic Workshop at Wilton, Nov. 13–15

• Affirmation and Self-Esteem
• Communication and Cooperation
• Creative Conflict Resolution

The carefully structured exercises and activities in AVP workshops call on the life experiences of participants to draw out constructive resolutions to the violence within us and surrounding our lives. Roleplays help participants to discover new ways of dealing with conflict nonviolently, to experience new behaviors, and to practice new skills.

The fee for the workshop is $75 and includes materials and meals (lunch and dinner on Saturday, and dinner on Sunday). Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements—there will be optional vegetarian dishes.

To register, contact Tom Martin, 203-222-0442; fireflytom [at] aol.com. For directions to the meetinghouse, go to the Meeting Web site, www.nyym.org/wilton.

Please register now—the workshop is limited to the first 20 participants. Scholarship aid for the fee is readily available.

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Fifteenth Street Meeting is at 15 Rutherford Place in Manhattan. For directions go to http://15stfriends.quaker.org/ or call the Yearly Meeting office.

For more information contact Richard Accetta-Evans at richaccettaevans [at] earthlink.net or Cynthia Large at klarchen [at] aol.com.

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Old Chatham Meetinghouse

For further information contact Spee Braun, clerk of Old Chatham Meeting, or Julia Giordano, clerk of the Powell House Committee

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News from the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund

1. completion of our album of scholarship students,
2. a Friends Council on Education–type workshop in La Paz,
3. progress on a dormitory project in Sorata, and
4. inauguration of a campaign to have meetings sponsor scholarships

Scholars Album: It is wonderful to present the scholarship students where you can see their photos and read a bit about them—not the same as a trip to Bolivia but a good substitute in the circumstances. The album is a cooperative achievement of Bernabé Yujra, Bolivian coordinator, Vickey Kaiser, U.S. coordinator, and Andro Gagné, our Web master. View the album http://www.bqef.org/scholarsalbum.htm.

Workshop: About 70 Bolivian Friends (teachers, administrators, and directors) from four Bolivian Quaker schools attended an all-day workshop on Quaker practices in teaching and administration, facilitated by Catalina Rios and Andrew Rutledge. Catalina and Andrew are teachers at Abington Friends School (AFS), and facilitate similar workshops in the US for the Friends Council on Education (FCE). Irene McHenry, executive director of FCE, and Virginia Christensen, assistant head of AFS, have supported and encouraged BQEF from its beginnings. We thank them for helping to bring this workshop to reality. Enthusiastically favorable reviews arrived quickly, beginning on the day of the workshop. The material on the organization and administration of Quakers schools, as well as on Quaker methods in the classroom, was a surprise and revelation, and there was a call for more workshops of longer duration. For fuller reports on the workshop, from a facilitator and participants, go to http://www.bqef.org/e-newsaug2005.htm.

Sponsoring Scholarships: We're excited about the potential for creating direct connections between students and meetings that this program offers. Each year, though the number of applicants and recipients has increased, the percentage of applicants receiving scholarships has declined. The number of scholarships will need to increase substantially in 2006, to respond meaningfully to the increased demand. One thing every meeting can do now is to budget for sponsoring a scholarship student in 2006, at a cost of $600. Read current guidelines for sponsorship at http://www.bqef.org/sponsorship.htm.

Dormitory: Benito Jallurana, a BQEF scholarship student, envisioned and proposed the dormitory in Sorata. Benito's village, Pallcapampa, is a two-hour walk from the school in Sorata, which he attended from grades six through twelve. Convinced that others in his and surrounding villages will be able to study and learn more if they have to walk less, he presented the idea to Barbara Flynn, leader of the Quaker Study Tours. It is gratifying to see this initiative on the part of one of our scholarship students! Benito got the support of Quakers in the Sorata valley and of some of the Friends visiting with Barbara. Barbara is taking responsibility for fundraising (about $6,000 is in hand). Although it will serve any student from these remote villages, it is definitely a Quaker project. BQEF's board will consider adopting this project at its next meeting. For more information email us at office [at] bqef.org.

Your Support: Meeting these expanding needs requires expanding resources. To find out how you can help, contact BQEF, 11253 Boston Road, East Concord NY 14055.

Please share this with f/Friends who may be interested in BQEF's work.

May the Spirit of Fellowship and Truth bless your lives.

Newton Garver, president, BQEF

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Earlham School of Religion: Diversity in Action

Earlham has developed a distance-learning program that might interest Friends who cannot readily move to Indiana. Also, through its Traveling Ministries program, ESR will send its teachers to our meetings for consultation and workshops, at no charge. Topics include Bible study, faith and practice, church leadership and management, and religious and spiritual education. Perhaps this would be a great resource for a regional meeting gathering!

I encourage Friends to visit the ESR Web site to find out more: www.esr.earlham.edu or to contact me for information.

Ben Frisch, bfrisch [at] friendsseminary.org

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FUM News Center Online

You can also follow the last few weeks of Shelley Newby's (New Castle, Ind., First Friends Meeting) 540-mile Peace Walk from New Castle to Washington, D.C.

Know of something that might be of immediate interest to Friends beyond your yearly meeting? An event, a time-sensitive personal ministry, how your meeting is addressing a time-sensitive faith issue? Contact Barbara Mays, barbaram [at] fum.org.

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The Quaker Initiative to End Torture

This conference has the dual intentions of education and action for the long term. We will have speakers to inform us about the basics of current legislation, international law, treatment of survivors and perpetrators, and the recent history of torture. Then we will focus on creating and choosing actions to end torture. We encourage Friends to send us ideas for workshop topics and names of potential presenters.

We hope to draw on the work from many groups, among Friends and outside. We will have legislative updates from Friends Committee on National Legislation and reports on the torture in United States prisons from American Friends Service Committee staff.

QUIT's Web site is http://home.ix.netcom.com/~quit/.

Information: John Calvi, Box 301, Putney VT 05346; 802-387-4789; calvij [at] sover.net; www.johncalvi.com.

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Quaker Youth Pilgrimage

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The World Gathering of Young Friends

Here are excerpts from the WGYF Epistle:

To all Friends everywhere, Greetings from the World Gathering of Young Friends 2005. 226 Friends gathered together in Lancaster University, United Kingdom, from 16th–24th August 2005. Our theme was "I am the vine, you are the branches. Now, what fruit shall we bear?" taken from John 15; and William Penn's challenge "Let us then try what love will do". Among us, 58 Yearly Meetings and 9 monthly meetings and regional groups were represented, with speakers of more than twenty different languages. . . . Here we tried each other's forms of worship, silent and programmed, songs in many different languages, scriptural readings, hand holding. We were open, amazed, stretched and blessed. . . . Ultimately, through listening to the Spirit that moved us . . . we strived to become one organism, one body made up of many different parts (1 Corinthians 12:13). We were united . . . in our common desire to be unified and by the power of the Spirit amongst us. . . . We were challenged to put aside the labels we hide behind . . . and come together as Friends of the Truth, seeking together for the common truth behind our language. We have not finished this process. We are only at the beginning of a long path, but the love and joy we have felt in being in this place together have allowed us to come this far, and we pray that they will lead us further yet. . . .

The full text of the Epistle can be found at www.wgyf.org. Click on "To All Friends Everywhere."

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Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists: Call for Papers

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Pastor Sought

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Coming Up at Powell House

Adult Conferences
Fall Work Weekend, Contra Dance, and Storytelling
10/21–23
Digging, gardening, raking leaves . . . Contra Dance Friday night, storytelling by Claire Beetlestone Saturday night.

Many Paths, One Mountain—an Exploration of Christian Universalism
Dan Seeger 10/28–30
A Friends in the Spirit of Christ weekend.

Deeply Relax to Deepen the Spirit
John Calvi 11/4–6
Energy work, simple massage, clearing meditation, and unregulated nap zones will help us all restore toward our best seeking.

New Year & Kwanzaa Celebration
Hosted by PoHo staff 12/30/2005–1/1/2006
This intergenerational conference is a time to reflect on the past year and live in the moment with our family and friends.

Silent Retreat—Dwelling Deep: an Extended Meeting for Worship
Linda Chidsey 1/13–1/16/2006 (through Monday lunch)
Cosponsored by the School of the Spirit Ministry

During this extended weekend, Friends are invited to enter more fully into the silence and to experience the deeper rhythms in which we might live. This retreat will include the opportunity for solitude, individual and corporate worship, silent meals, and "active" silence.

Conflict Transformation Intensive
NYYM's Conflict Transformation Committee 1/19–1/23/2006
This is an opportunity for Friends to gain more depth of understanding and skills in conflict transformation. We will be guided to explore our own behaviors and examine whether there are more effective ways to express ourselves. We plan to examine the spiritual basis of Friends' unique concern with conflict and its transformation.

This is also the first meeting of the Conflict Transformation Roster, composed of Friends willing to visit meetings as listeners, as prayerful presences, when invited.

Drawing Out Gifts 1: Becoming the Gift God Made You to Be
Christopher Sammond 1/27–1/29/2006
This is the first of a series, Drawing Out Gifts, sponsored by NYYM's Coordinating Committee on Ministry & Counsel

Each of us is imbued with gifts of the Spirit. They are what is most precious within us, and, because of that, what is most challenging to bring forward. For us to become fully who we are, these gifts need to come to expression both in our spiritual lives and in the lives of our communities. This workshop will provide a welcoming space for you to get in touch with and begin to bring forth what is seeking to find expression in your life.

Youth Conferences
Planning 2005, 7th–12th gr. 9/16–18/2005
This is our time together to share our experience of the PoHo youth program and our visions for the future.

Getting Our Way or Getting Along, 4th–6th gr. 9/30–10/2/2005
Often it seems like we have to choose between getting our way or getting along. Is there a third way? Can we stay on our path and get along with others too?

Being Present, 10th–12th gr. 10/14–16/2005
What does it mean to be fully aware of the moment? What does it feel like? How do you do it? Come be present with us and find out.

Power Play, 7th–9th gr., 10/28–30/2005
Explore a new (or maybe ancient) understanding of power.

A Riddle or Two, 4th–6th gr. 11/4–6/2005
Join us for a weekend of solving riddles, having fun, and making friends.

Junior Counselor Training (JCT) 2005, senior high 11/18–20/2005
This is our "work-your-heart-out" conference. If you're responsible, fun loving, believe in the "idea" of PoHo and would like to become a JC let Mike or Chris know.

Wintersong 2005, 7th–12th gr. 12/9–11/2005
Mystical. Magical. Incredible. Real. Join us as we gather to celebrate our amazing community and fill both houses with Light and Love.

For further information: Powell House, 524 Pitt Hall Rd., Old Chatham NY 12136-3410; 518-794-8811; info [at] powellhouse.org; www.powellhouse.org.

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