Farmington-Scipio Spring Gathering 2007
The Spring Gathering Planning Committee of the Ithaca Monthly Meeting is excited to report that Carolyn Hilles has agreed to join us at the Farmington-Scipio Regional Meeting’s Spring Gathering the weekend of June 8–10, 2007, at Long Point Camp on the west side of Seneca Lake.
Carolyn is a member of Beacon Hill Meeting in Boston, Mass. She is the author of “Our Money & Our Lives,” a featured article that appeared in the July 2006 Friends Journal on Friends and Money. In addition to giving the plenary address, Carolyn Hilles plans to conduct a workshop for our teens, and be a resource for us throughout the weekend.
Accompanying Carolyn will be Penny Yunuba, also a member of Beacon Hill Meeting. Together, Carolyn and Penny have conducted popular workshops on money at Pendle Hill and Friends General Conference. Penny also helped develop Your Money or Your Life: A Study Guide for Money and Spirit. In 1989, Penny used the program in Your Money or Your Life to retire early, giving up her $70,000-a-year job. Since then she has helped save a neighborhood garden from development, visited the elderly, played with the children from her Quaker meeting, visited with her friends and family, and had time for more spiritual listening and following.
In addition to providing an opportunity to meet and work with these Friends, Spring Gathering will include a range of workshops on a variety of subjects; activities for children, teens, and families; worship; singing; and plenty of time for eating and relaxing with Friends.
Please plan to join us for what promises to be a stimulating, interesting, and spiritual exploration of Friends’ relationship with money June 8–10, 2007, at Long Point Camp. Please look for the registration materials which should arrive at each meeting in the Region around the middle of April.
In the meantime if you have questions or need additional information, please contact any of the members of the Planning Committee: Bronwyn Mohlke at bjm9 [at] cornell [dot] edu or 607-277-4183; Rini Clarkberg at mec30 [at] cornell [dot] edu or 607-277-9364; Ginny Gartlein at 607-272-3471; or Marilyn Ray at MLR17 [at] cornell [dot] edu or 607-539-7778.
Young Adult Program during Spring Gathering 2007!
Four sessions: Sharing thoughts and files as conscientious objectors to war, time for business, an evening of games, and a time committed to be with a younger age group. (No sessions overlap with regular business meeting.)
Young adults: Please attend, bring a friend, and bring as much of a conscience file as you have. Clerks: Please announce this in your meetings! All members and attenders: Think of your young adults and encourage them to come!
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JYM Volunteers Wanted!
Martha Gurvich, clerk, JYM Committee
This year I am serving the yearly meeting as clerk of the JYM (Junior Yearly Meeting) committee. The JYM coordinators tell me that they have not received responses from as many volunteers for the JYM program as they were hoping to get. If you are thinking about attending the summer Yearly Meeting sessions at Silver Bay and think you might be interested in working with our youth, please give me a call or drop me an e-mail to margurvl [at] aol [dot] com, and I can tell you what is involved.
This is a really richly rewarding experience, you would be working directly with the youth as well as meeting a lot of wonderful people in the program. Most of us find that through our experiences with JYM, we make close friendships that last for years. It is a great way to get involved in the wider body of our Yearly Meeting.
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Albany Meeting Seeks Meetinghouse Resident
Albany Friends Meeting is seeking an individual, couple, or family to serve as our meetinghouse resident, starting in August 2007. In exchange for free rent in our third-floor apartment, the resident provides security for the building and cares for the house and grounds. If you are interested in this position, please send a letter of inquiry to Trustees, Albany Friends Meeting, 727 Madison Ave., Albany NY 12208.
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AFSC Seeks Western Mass. Program Coordinator
(Community Organizer)
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is looking for a director of programs for the Western Mass. region.
The Western Mass. Program, begun in 1968, has a long history of popular education and grassroots organizing for justice, peace, youth, and community development. Based in Florence, Massachusetts, the program serves people in Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, and South Berkshire Counties.
The Western Massachusetts program coordinator is responsible for community organizing, program administration, and coordination with regional and national AFSC.
For further information visit http://afsc.org/jobs/staff.php. To apply, send a résumé and cover letter by April 30, 2007, to Phyllis Cohen Gately, AFSC, 2161 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02140; fax: 617/354-2832; e-mail: pcohengately [at] afsc [dot] org.
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AFSC seeks Director of Quaker Affairs
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is seeking a Director of Quaker Affairs. This person will be responsible for developing annual plans and timelines for representing AFSC to various Quaker communities and providing opportunities for Quakers to participate in AFSC activities.
Requirements: Must be a member of a monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and understand the wide spectrum of Friends’ beliefs and organizations; excellent interpersonal skills; initiative combined with collaboration; demonstrable communication skills; ability to design and market programs; budgeting and financial-management skills; adult education or classroom experience; program planning, management, and evaluation experience; personal flexibility (permitting substantial travel, evening/weekend meetings); supervisory experience.
Send letter of interest plus résumé, including salary requirements, to Willa Streater at jobs [at] afsc [dot] org; or mail to AFSC-HR, 1501 Cherry St.,, Philadelphia PA 19102-1479. Please visit www.afsc.org/jobs/staff.php to see the full job description.
All résumés/CVs due by June 15, 2007.
Dear ones,
Now drop your pointed shields that wound. —Hafiz
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Christopher Sammond’s Travel Calendar
April 1–May 31, 2007
April
4—Meeting with NY State Department of Corrections deputy commissioner, Albany
13–16—Spring Representative Meeting, Chautauqua
17–19—Cofacilitate NYYM/NEYM Annual Pastor’s Retreat, Powell House
21—Personnel Committee Meeting, Manhattan
22–27—Comp Time
29—Visit Saratoga MM
May
11–13 Facilitate All Friends Regional Meeting/Shrewsbury Plainfield Half Yearly Meeting Gifts Retreat—Smartswood, N.J.
20 Facilitate Purchase Quarter Retreat—Stamford-Greenwich MM
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Spiritual Renewal in All Friends
and Shrewsbury-Plainfield Regions
Do you hunger and thirst?
Everyone carrying a concern about spiritual renewal and nurture in the combined regions of All Friends Regional Meeting and Shrewsbury-Plainfield Half-yearly Meeting are invited to join the task group meeting at Chatham-Summit Friends Meeting on Saturday, April 21, at 9:30 a.m.
We will meet in worship, and bring forward the spiritual needs we sense in ourselves and in our meetings. We will discern how those needs might be met.
Come early (9:00) for coffee and fellowship. Brown-bag lunch to follow. Map and directions can be found at the bottom of the home page of Chatham-Summit’s website, summitquakers.org.
Questions can be addressed to Heather Cook at burritolass [at] comcast [dot] net and 908-377-9665 or Bobbi Sue Bowers at
bobbisue [dot] bowers [at] juno [dot] com.
Extended Meeting for Worship at Ridgewood Friends Meeting on June 9
Do you yearn for the opportunity for more worship in community? An extended meeting for worship, which usually lasts about three hours, allows us not only to go but to stay deeply in the presence of the Divine in a way that is extraordinarily nourishing. It can also be harrowing, as the Light searches us, showing us where we need Divine assistance.
It is a common experience for Friends who have never experienced extended worship to doubt their ability to sit in worship for three hours. Afterward, they’re amazed at how quickly the time went.
Friends are welcome at 9 a.m. for coffee and fellowship. Worship starts at 9:30.
During a brown-bag lunch, we will discern what shape the afternoon should take—usually more worship, or worship sharing on something that rose up during the morning. The gathering winds up at about 3:30.
Please join us for all or any part of the day.
Ridgewood Friends Meeting is at 224 Highwood Ave., Ridgewood, N.J. 07450.
Questions can be addressed to Heather Cook at
burritolass [at] comcast [dot] net and 908-377-9665 or Bobbi Sue Bowers at bobbisue [dot] bowers [at] juno [dot] com.
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Housatonic Meeting Presents Who Killed the Electric Car?
Housatonic Meeting will host a showing of Who Killed the Electric Car? on Sunday, April 29, 2007, from 3:00–5:00 p.m. This documentary tells about the hopeful birth, short life, and untimely death of the electric car: environmentally friendly, cost-saving salvation to some; profit barrier to others.
Launched in 1996 by General Motors, the EV1 was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions, and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in 2002?
A discussion will follow the showing of the film. Healthy refreshments will be served.
Free—all are welcome.
Housatonic Meeting is at 300 Danbury Rd., New Milford, Conn. 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.
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Nurture Series II—Intergenerational Weekend
The Gifts We Bring to Swing
May 11–13, 2007
What do swing dancing and Quaker testimonies have in common?
Aside from being lots of fun, swing dancing also touches on many wonderful Quaker values—like equality, simplicity, connection, community, the courage to lead, and the courage to follow. This workshop is led by Melanie-Claire Mallison, a birthright Quaker who has been swing dancing since she was 12! She'll lead us in in-depth discussions on our Quaker Testimonies and then teach us East Coast Swing (a.k.a. Jitterbug), so we can live out the gifts we bring to swing!
Cost: $180 adults, $90 for ages 13–22, $45 infants–12, & $90 commuters
Childcare with 3 weeks' notice
To register, call, e-mail or write Powell House: 518-794-8811, www.powellhouse.org, or info [at] powellhouse [dot] org
For a complete calendar of Powell House events, go to www.powellhouse.org/cgi/pohocalendar.cgi.
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Great Waters Pagan Friends Gathering
Jen Chapin-Smith & Stasa Morgan-Appel, attenders, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, Michigan
Can one be a Quaker and a Pagan at the same time? Members of the Religious Society of Friends who experience the Divine through Nature not only say yes but are organizing nationally for the first time at Great Waters Pagan Friends Gathering.
The Gathering takes place Memorial Day weekend, May 25–28, 2007, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Gathering includes workshops, worship, discussions, and more at the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting on Hill Street. Huron Valley Pagan Friends Circle is sponsoring the Gathering.
The registration form is available online at www.great-waters.blogspot.com. The $45 registration fee does not include food or lodging (information on both, including camping options, are available at the website). Participants under the age of five attend for free. Find out more about Huron Valley Pagan Friends Circle at http://www.witchvox.com/vn/gr/usmi_grf.html.
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Second Conference to End Torture
The Second Conference on Torture, sponsored by the Quaker Initiative on Torture (QUIT), will be held June 1–3, 2007, at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. This will be a chance for Friends to become more informed, to spread information, and to choose action in education, investigation, prevention, and treatment.
Our keynote speaker will be Alfred McCoy, author of A Question of Torture. Col. Dan Smith from Friends Committee on National Legislation will talk about how the torture controversy is affecting the military, and Anthony Lagouranis will describe his shift from Abu Ghraib interrogator to antitorture activist. Hector Aristizabal has agreed to come back and conduct a plenary engaging us in interactive movement to help us understand the nature of torture.
Concern over torture has been growing among religious and other peace workers. Friends are already playing a significant role. We believe this conference will be important in moving forward this work. We hope your meeting will be represented at the conference and that you will support this work financially.
Conference attenders will also have a choice of several workshops to delve deeper into the issues, gain access to information and resources, and network with other antitorture activists and consider the future of QUIT.
Remember, though, space at the conference is limited, so we hope you'll register soon. Late fees apply after April 30. We are urging local meetings to send Friends to the conference on their behalf, to bring back information and motivation.
To register or for any questions regarding registration, please go to the QUIT Web site, www.quit-torture-now.org, or call 910-323-2912 (this is both a phone and fax). You can also e-mail qpr [at] quaker [dot] org. Registration fee before April 30 is $100. After April 30 it will be $125.
Please note: At Representative Meeting, April 13–15, 2007, NYYM's Witness Coordinating Committee will bringing a minute on torture for the Yearly Meeting's consideration. See www.nyym.org/ministry/wcc4repmtg0704.html.
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31st Annual Quaker Lesbian Conference
Building Bridges across Class, Race, and Age
Quaker Lesbian Conference (QLC) will be held August 17–19, 2007, at the Burlington Meeting House Conference Center in Burlington, N.J.
QLC exists to be a loving time and space in which women (self-defined) familiar with Quakerism, who are lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or moving toward those identities can connect with Spirit and with each other. We envision a community in which each woman shares worship, spiritual exploration, and loving relationships in an environment embracing diversity, individual leadings, struggle, and play.
The center is in the middle of downtown Burlington, N.J., an urban setting. We will have exclusive use of this relatively accessible facility. There are bunk beds, and it is necessary for you to bring your own linens. There is ample and interesting space for workshops and an attached meetinghouse in which to hold worship.
For more information or to add your name to the mailing list, send an e-mail to QLConf [at] aol [dot] com.
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Three Autumn Events Sponsored by William Penn House
William Penn House has three events coming up this fall. Washington Quaker Workcamps, a program of the William Penn House, will sponsor a Gulf Coast Workcamp from October 5–8, 2007. Participants will work on a repair and recovery project, assist with meal preparation, help provide an atmosphere of healing and hope, and learn about ways the effects of natural disasters are exacerbated by poverty and racism. For more information or to register, contact Felix Unogwu, WQW Program Coordinator, 202-543,5560, felix [at] williampennhouse [dot] org.
The second event, Teachers of Peace: Educating for Peace and Social Change, is for teachers of middle through high school–age students, and will take place from October 18–21, 2007. Participation (20 contact hours) will count toward continuing-education requirements for licensure renewal in most school systems.
From November 2–5, 2007, 10 high-school age Friends and ten D.C.-area students will participate in the “Simply Awesome” Youth Seminar.
The seminar will include a Washington Quaker Workcamp in which youth will increase the energy efficiency of homes of Washington, D.C. The weekend will include a presentation on a current legislative initiative related to energy efficiency, training in lobbying, and Congressional lobby visits.
To register or for more information on Teachers of Peace or “Simply Awesome,” call Bernadette Odyniec, program coordinator, at 202-543-5560, or e-mail bernadette [at] williampennhouse [dot] org.
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New York Yearly Meeting Prayer Support
Do you feel the need for prayer support?
If you would like the prayer support of Friends in New York Yearly Meeting for any reason, please contact Bobbi Sue Bowers at 732-919-1261 or bobbisue [dot] bowers [at] juno [dot] com. Your name will be placed on a weekly prayer list sent to Friends who feel led to pray for others. You can be on the list in several ways:
- Your name by itself
- Your name with a brief description as to why
- Your name with an asterisk to indicate that you do not want to be contacted or asked why you are on the list
Please do not submit someone else’s name without their permission
Do you feel led to a practice of intercessory prayer?
If you feel led to provide prayer support for Friends in New York Yearly Meeting, please contact Bobbi Sue Bowers at 732-919-1261 or bobbisue [dot] bowers [at] juno [dot] com. You will receive a weekly prayer list that contains a list of Friends who feel the need for prayer support. Friends may include a brief description as to why, or just their name.
If you would like to receive the prayer list, but do not have e-mail, please contact Bobbi Sue to request a hard copy which will be sent each week from the NYYM Office.
Friends are encouraged to take up intercessory prayer in a manner that speaks to them. Some Friends may feel led to practice solitary prayer, some to meet regularly with a prayer group or to hold a meeting for worship for healing, and some, though they may be geographically dispersed, to establish a specific day and time to simultaneously pray for Friends.
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Barrington Dunbar Fund: Good Works
The Committee for the Barrington Dunbar Fund for Black Development would like to make allmeetings and worship groups aware of the purpose, objectives, functions, and activities of this committee.
The Black Development Fund was established in 1969 as the response of NYYM to the needs of the Black and Puerto Rican communities within the area of NYYM. It was provided that the fund would be administered by a committee of Friends, the majority of whom would be Black. Committee members are listed in the Yearbook. The name was changed in 1978 to recognize the work of Barrington Dunbar for the Yearly Meeting. The Barrington Dunbar Fund for Black Development is a participant in the Sharing Fund of NYYM, and administers the Black Development Fund as money is made available to the Committee.
The Committee has used the funds contributed to provide scholarships for disadvantaged students at high school and college level; to assist in community-development projects aimed at helping preschool children, youth, and aged who are victimized by the adverse conditions of poverty and racism in their communities; to provide legal aid, rehabilitation of offenders, and bail bond projects; to provide job training; and many other projects of a like nature. If you would like to request an application for funding please contact the Barrington Dunbar Committee for Black Development at office [at] nyym [dot] org or write to NYYM, 15 Rutherford Pl., New York NY 10003.
To find out more about NYYM committees visit, www.nyym.org/pubs and follow the link to NYYM Handbook.
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Oswego Worship Group
Barbara Steinkraus
Last July 12, on a Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m., the Oswego Worship Group met for the first time. We have met every Wednesday evening since then, except once when a snowstorm intervened.
There are five of us who are moderately regular attenders. Three of those live in a nearby town. Only two of the regulars are Quakers. The Catholic Newman Center allows us to worship in their small chapel. It is most conducive to our silent worship, even though an AA group meets at the same time in a different space.
On one evening we deviated from the silent worship and followed a worship-sharing format. That was so successful that we intend to do it again, perhaps once a month or once every two months.
The Syracuse Monthly Meeting is our sponsor and makes a modest quarterly donation to the Newman Center on our behalf. Initially they provided us with two overseers to help us get started, but after that first week or two there has been little or no contact with the overseers.
Our meetings are mentioned every week in the Church Calendar of the local newspaper, but we have yet to make a concerted effort to let the adjacent college community know of our existence.
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Report on BQEF
Newton Garver, Buffalo Meeting
The Bolivian Quaker Education Fund (BQEF) was incorporated in 2002 by four NYYM Friends, two of whom remain as officers. A significant portion of support for BQEF still comes from within this yearly meeting. But the board now has ten members, seven from other yearly meetings, and contributions come from Canada, Britain, and Ireland as well as from the U.S. the program continues to expand in Bolivia, and to our surprise we have become a significant source of volunteer opportunities for Young Friends. AVP and FCE workshops are going strong, and this year we have raised the number of post-secondary scholarships to 40 (up from 15 in 2003). Friends are encouraged to visit our Web site, www.bqef.org, for a full picture, but two recent happenings merit reporting here.
Two and a half years ago, following consultation with a clearness committee at NYYM 2004 fall sessions, BQEF applied to be come an “affiliated organization” within the Section of the Americas of FWCC. Normally that process would take about 15 months, but at its annual meeting in Providence last month the Section was again unable to approve the affiliation, although no direct opposition or hostility was expressed.
In March of 2006 generous donations from Friends in Britain, Maryland, and Ireland made possible a brand-new program suggested by one of the scholarship recipients, an internado (supervised residence) in Sorata for secondary students (grades 7–12) who otherwise would have a 3-hour round-trip walk each day to attend school. On March 30 and 31 of this year, largely because of gifts from Irish Friends, the internado acquired a substantially superior permanent home. The speed with which this has been accomplished is gratifying.
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Orchard Park Partners with Crossroads Springs, Kenya
Alison Hyde, assistant clerk for Crossroads Springs, Orchard Park Meeting
Orchard Park Monthly Meeting partners with Crossroads Springs Care Center in Hamisi, Western Kenya, for the care and education of young children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Founded by Dr. Meshack Isiaho of Hamisi in 2004, this center has grown from serving 40 children to now serving 165 children pre-K through grade 5. Food, clothing, education, and loving care are provided in a building that will also house 100 most needy children when dorm rooms are completed. The motto is "Serve the Children, Heal the Nation." The goal is for children to be educated and provided with skills to be self-sufficient and contribute to their country.
Our Meeting has established a separate bank account for monies contributed to Crossroads Springs to be transferred to Kenya. All donations are tax deductible. Reports and plans are received each month from Dr. Isiaho, and reports are given at each monthly meeting. Members have suggested many ideas for assisting the orphanage, including a calabash to collect gifts toward bed nets to prevent malaria, making fleece blankets for the children's beds, and sending letters and drawings from First Day school.
We admire Kenyan Friends and friends for their determined work on behalf of AIDS orphans, and we hold them in the Light. We welcome others to join us in support. We encourage all Friends to look at the Web site for photos and more information: www.crossroadssprings.org.
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Contribute to Spark
We invite Friends to send articles for publication in Spark. Proposed future topics are: May 2007, "Light behind the walls" (Prisons); September 2007, Stewardship; November 2007, Young Adult Friends; January 2008, Racism; March 2008, Friends and Authority.
Friends are invited to send in material on these and other Friendly topics for consideration. Items should be approximately 500–800 words long. Deadline is the first day of the month preceding publication—for example, the deadline for September Spark is August 1. All submissions are subject to editing and space consideration.
We are also interested in receiving appropriate artwork, such as photos and drawings, for Spark. Photos must be at least 300 dots per inch to be usable. Acceptable formats for electronic photos are JPEG (preferred) or GIF.
Send your articles and artwork preferably as attachments in Word, to Paul Busby, Spark editor, paul [at] nyym [dot] org. You may also mail material to Paul at NYYM, 15 Rutherford Pl., New York NY 10003.
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Building Peace at Easter
Newton Garver, Buffalo Meeting
I arrived home about 10 last night, having driven the last hour or so through a driving snow. This morning it is snowing again, the temperature is about 20, and the forecast is for snow and subfreezing weather to continue through Monday. We are in for a chilly Easter.
40 years ago there was a different Easter Sunday. Ross Flanagan had arranged a pilgrimage across New York State, with stops in Syracuse and Rochester, culminating in a frugal dinner at the Unitarian church and an all-night vigil at the Peace Bridge. Sunday we had a glorious silent sunrise service, and then 300 hundred of us walked across the Peace Bridge with donations to the Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) for medical relief to all parties in Vietnam, in defiance of the U.S. government. We were greeted as we passed through the customs gate at the bridge by a Mr. Slatkin of the U.S. Treasury, who reminded us (at first individually, then in groups of 10–12) that we were likely violating the Trading with the Enemy Act and the Export Control Act and could be subject to severe penalties. Ross got different treatment, since he had a package of bandages rather than just funds: He refused to be separated from his little package, initiating a confrontation that was resolved only when then-U.S. Attorney (later judge) John Curtin phoned Robert Kennedy to get top-level clearance for the package. (Jack Curtin and I exchange friendly greetings several times a year, usually at chamber concerts.) But the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature was nearly 60 by the time we reached the other side, the first warm day of spring. Canadian Friends were waiting to greet us, and we had a wonderfully invigorating celebration. When Anneliese and I visited Toronto Meeting last Sunday, Ursula Franklin, now in her nineties, welcomed us before the Meeting as Friends known for forty years, with allusion to that historic event.
The year before (1965), NYYM had defied the attempt by the U.S. government to limit where charity could be applied, by agreeing at its annual session at Silver Bay to transmit $3,000 to CFSC for medical relief to all parts of Vietnam, which Walter Ludwig and I carried across in cash in August of that year, and were invited to appear on CBC-TV that very evening to explain what Friends were up to. This, too, was part of what Ursula was alluding to.
You can read more about these events in Quaker Crosscurrents, pp 304–7.
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Lauri Perman is New Director of Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill’s Board of Trustees has announced that Lauri Perman has been named executive director of Pendle Hill, effective May 14.
Lauri brings to Pendle Hill a rich background in higher education and Quaker service. She will work with Pendle Hill's Board and staff to implement the mission approved by the Trustees last September: “Pendle Hill is a center of God’s work in transforming the world. Pendle Hill nurtures the life and witness of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) through worship, work, study, and service. We welcome those of all spiritual paths.” Pendle Hill’s Web site is www.pendlehill.org.
Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. —James Baldwin
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