Representative Meeting December 1–3
Brooklyn Meeting and Brooklyn Friends School
All are invited to attend Representative Meeting, December 1–3, 2006. These sessions will be hosted by New York Quarterly Meeting and held on Friday and Sunday at Brooklyn Monthly Meeting, 110 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201 and on Saturday at Brooklyn Friends School, 375 Pearl St., one block from Borough Hall in downtown Brooklyn.
Friday evening we will have soup, worship, and fellowship. There will also be a weekend program for high school students in grades 9–12 whose parents/guardians are coming to Representative Meeting. Registration details will be posted on the NYYM Web site in the near future.
Back to contents
Proposed 2007 Budget on Web
The proposed 2007 budget for NYYM can be found on the Web site at www.nyym.org/committees/treasurer, in both HTML and PDF formats.
Back to contents
State of Society Queries
Once again, it is time for the Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel to ask you to consider the spiritual condition of your meeting. According to Faith and Practice, "the monthly meeting on ministry and counsel should appoint one or more of its members to prepare and present a report on the spiritual condition of the meeting. This should be reviewed in turn by ministry and counsel and by the meeting for business of the monthly meeting."
We invite you to look back over the year 2006, focusing on your meeting community. These queries may help you in your deliberations.
- What is the state of your meeting or worship group? Are there places where your meeting feels stuck? Where do you see new life emerging?
- How do you attract newcomers and integrate them into the life of the meeting?
During yearly meeting sessions this year, Friends have labored with concerns about earth care, racism within the yearly meeting, conscientious objection to war taxes, GLBT ministry, and meeting the minimum needs of all.
- How do these concerns manifest themselves in your meeting?
Please include any other information that you feel would be useful for the yearly meeting to know about your activities, joys and concerns.
When the monthly meeting approves the State of the Meeting report, the clerk should forward it to the Yearly Meeting Office by February 14, 2007. If possible, send it both electronically and in hard copy.
If you would like assistance in writing the report, you may contact any member of NYYM Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel or someone from your regional ministry and counsel. Please send your report to office [at] nyym [dot] org.
Back to contents
NYYM Task Group on Youth
NYYM Nurture Coordinating Committee has formed a Task Group on Youth in order to help the monthly meetings in intergenerational Spirit-led youth work. As we share resources and listen to each other's questions, we can help each other with this important work. Youth and young adults, please share your insights. To offer ideas or participate in any way, contact Rick Townsend, slnt_1 [at] yahoo [dot] com, or Mary Rothschild, mary [dot] rothschild [at] gmail [dot] com
Back to contents
AVP at Arthur Kill
After a long hiatus, AVP workshops are again being offered at the Arthur Kill prison on Staten Island. Over 50 men signed up for the first basic workshop in October. As the maximum number that can be accommodated is 20, the workshops will be repeated.
Additional outside facilitators are needed now and on an ongoing basis to make the program available to all who want it. Facilitators should have completed basic and advanced training and training for facilitators. If you are interested, please contact the downstate AVP office at 60 Leber Rd., Blauvelt NY 10913; avpnyso [at] aol [dot] com 800-909-8920.
Back to contents
Worship at Westbury with Concern for Hunger
Westbury Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is hosting interfaith silent worship services with a concern for those who are hungry and in need. These will be held every Wednesday evening, starting October 4, from 7:30 to 8:00 P.M., in cooperation with the Long Island Council of Churches. Participants in the interfaith gathering are invited to bring an offering of nonperishable food, which will be delivered to the Long Island Council of Churches food pantry. Money contributions are also welcome. The Meeting is at 550 Post Ave. at Jericho Tpk. in Westbury, just north of exit 32 from the Northern State Parkway.
"We are delighted that the Friends are beginning these worship services," says the Rev. Thomas W. Goodhue, executive director of the Long Island Council of Churches. "It is a constant struggle to collect enough food and money to feed our neighbors who are hungry, and the Quakers are raising both donations and awareness with these prayer meetings. Each month, it seems we feed more children in Nassau County and more senior citizens in Suffolk. It is great that the Quakers, one of the oldest denominations on Long Island, are calling us all to pray each week for those in need."
For additional information, call the Westbury Meeting at 631-271-4672 or the Long Island Council of Churches at 516-565-0290, next. 206.
Back to contents
A Force More Powerful at Housatonic Meeting
Part II of the documentary film A Force More Powerful will be shown at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 15, at the Housatonic Meetinghouse in New Milford, Conn., at Rt. 7 and Lanesville Rd. All are welcome, and there is no charge. Refreshments and discussion will follow. The program will conclude at 5:00 P.M.
This is the second segment of a two-part documentary that explores the history of nonviolence around the world and how it overcame oppression and authoritarian rule. Its power came not from the barrel of a gun, but from discipline and tactical planning. The film, which premiered on PBS in 2000 and is narrated by Ben Kingsley, is "rich in archival footage and thoughtful interviews. ... The stories are inspiring, sometimes awesome." (Washington Post)
There are three stories: (1) in 1984 a young activist leads a consumer boycott against apartheid in white-owned businesses in the black townships of South Africa; (2) during five years of Nazi occupation, Danes' noncooperation undermines the Germans' attempt to exploit Denmark for food and war materiel, and rescues all but a few hundred of 7,000 Jews from the Nazis; and (3) the 1980 Gdansk strike wins Poles the right to free trade unions, launches the Solidarity movement, and catapults founder Lech Walesa into national leadership.
Parking will be available at the Red Barn just south of the meetinghouse. For more information, call Bill Holcombe at 203-313-4438 or visit www.housatonicmeeting.org.
Back to contents
Friends Historical Association Annual Meeting
"Benjamin Franklin and the Quakers: A Case of Legerdemain" will be the subject of a presentation at the Friends Historical Association Annual Meeting on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Arch Street Meetinghouse in Philadelphia. The presenter will be Emma Lapsansky-Werner, professor of history and curator of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College; she will examine some of the dynamics of Franklin's complex relationship with Quakers and Quakerism. The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m.; the lecture, free and open to the public, will begin at approximately 1:00 p.m. Reservations are required for those wishing to have lunch; please visit www.haverford.edu/library/fha/fha.html. The reservation deadline is Nov. 3. The meeting house is at 4th and Arch Sts., Philadelphia; there is free parking on the grounds. Questions may be directed to 610-896-1161 or fha [at] haverford [dot] edu.
Back to contents
A Defiant Soul celebrates John Bowne
Most Quakers are aware of John Bowne, who was arrested in 1662 for allowing Quakers to worship in his house. On November 18, 2006, the Bowne House Historical Society will present a dramatic reading of Susan Kathryn Hefti's new one-act play, A Defiant Soul, which brings to life John Bowne's historic act of civil disobedience. While the play is set in 1662, the battle of wills that ensues, along with the political freedoms it spawns, resonates in the current global dialogue on civil liberties and individual rights.
Gloria Waldron Hukle will read from her fact-based historical novel Manhattan: Seeds of the Big Apple, which imagines the harrowing life and times of Resolved Waldron, the sheriff who arrested Bowne.
The location of these readings is St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, 131 East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue, in Manhattan. The fee is $10 ($5 for seniors & students). Reservations are recommended; reply to rsvp [at] bownehouse [dot] org or dcartelli [at] bownehouse [dot] org or call 718-359-0528.
Back to contents
Powell House Events
(For detailed information visit www.powellhouse.org, write to Powell House, 524 Pitt Hall Rd., Old Chatham NY 12136, or call 518-794-8811.)
- Deeply Relax to Deepen the Spirit, John Calvi, 11/3–5, 2006
- "Faith" in Quaker Faith and Practice, Anne Thomas,11/10–12, 2006 (annual Friends in the Spirit of Christ weekend)
- Quaker Diversity: A Retreat for Young Adults, Tim McEwen & Helen Garay Toppins,11/17–19, 2006
- Writing: Touching the Divine through Story and Song, Lisa Grant,12/15–17, 2006
- New Year's Celebration,12/30/2006–1/1/2007
- Silent Retreat: Dwelling Deep: An Extended Meeting for Worship, Linda Chidsey,1/12/2007–15/2007 (cosponsored by the School of the Spirit Ministry)
- Drawing Out Gifts V: Travel under Concern, Brian Drayton,1/19–21/2007
- Nontheism among Friends, Robin Alpern and Joan Lukas,1/26–28/2007
Youth Conference
- Wintersong 2006,Junior/Senior High, 12/8–10, 2006
Back to contents
QUNO Job Opening
The American Friends Service Committee seeks a Coordinator for Finance and Administration for the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in New York City.
The Quaker United Nations Offices in New York and Geneva seek to forward the peace-making and humanitarian work of the United Nations and to interpret matters of the UN from a Quaker perspective. These offices are sponsored by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), a Quaker organization with general consultative status as an international non-governmental organization at the UN, and administered in New York by the American Friends Service Committee and in Geneva by Quaker Peace and Social Witness.
Responsibilities:
- manage QUNO office and Quaker House financial components
- manage and maintain general systems and functions of QUNO office
- manage and maintain Quaker House general systems, functions, and physical plant
- supervise Quaker House housekeeper and custodian
- act as QUNO personnel liaison
- manage logistics for Quaker UN Committee and special events
- manage communications and outreach activities for QUNO
Qualifications include
- Compatibility and familiarity with the Quaker values, testimonies, and processes that underpin QUNO's work and methods, and the ability to represent them to others. Understanding of and commitment to the principles, concerns and considerations of the Religious Society of Friends worldwide.
- Bachelor's degree in business administration and/or accounting.
- Five years of office management and administrative experience, including financial and accounting experience. Service in the nonprofit sector preferred.
To apply contact Human Resources Dept., AFSC, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia PA 19102; 215-241-7000; fax: 215-241-7275.
Back to contents
Early Deadline for December InfoShare
Paper copies of the December issue of InfoSharewill be made available at Representative Meeting Dec. 1–3, 2006, at Brooklyn Meeting and Brooklyn Friends School.
To make this possible, the editor must receive all articles and information no later than November 10.This is a firm deadline! (Some specific information regarding Representative Meeting will be added after that date.)
Please e-mail articles to paul [at] nyym [dot] org or mail them to Paul Busby, NYYM, 15 Rutherford Pl., New York NY 10003.
Back to contents
Elizabeth Ann Bogert Memorial Fund Grants
Friends World Committee for Consultation announces the availability of 2007 grants from the Elizabeth Ann Bogert Memorial Fund for the Study and Practice of Christian Mysticism. Grant proposals, due by March 1, 2007, 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 and the way in which a grant will be used, the specific amount of money requested (up to $1,000), other sources of funding, and plans for communicating the results to others.
Projects funded in 2006 included: a 10-day writing retreat for prayer and research into the mystics and their spiritual senses; a study of the relationship between permaculture and Christian mysticism; publication of an anthology of accounts of mystical experience; establishment of a library section on Christian mysticism in a state prison; and travel costs to visit key landmarks in France important in the life of Joan of Arc, assisting completion of two one-woman plays for performance.
Seven typed 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. Decision will be made in May, and grants 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 the secretaries at muccidem [at] verizon [dot] net.
Back to contents