New York Yearly Meeting
of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Volume 31
Number 2 		SPARK
15 Rutherford Place
New York, NY 10003		 March 2000
SPARK (ISSN 00240591)
New York Yearly Meeting News
Published five times a year: January,
March, May, September, November
By New York Yearly Meeting,
Religious Society of Friends,
15 Rutherford Place
New York, NY 10003
212-673-5750
newyorkym@earthlink.net

Editorial Board: Publications Committee
Editor: Helen Garay Toppins
SPARK deadlines are the first of the month preceding the publication month.

Permission is granted
to reprint any article, provided Spark is acknowledged as the source.

New York
Yearly Meeting Staff
Paul Busby paul@nyym.org
Barbara Heizman
Helen Garay Toppins

Contents

Everyone Invited
to Representative Meeting
March 31 - April 2
Chautauqua, New York

Register Early

Chautauqua Institution, a beautiful and history-rich center for the performing and creative arts, will be the venue for our first Representative Meeting of the new century. Farmington-Scipio Regional Meeting will be our host. Representative Meeting is a time when NYYM Friends gather for worship, business, and fellowship. A cluster of buildings at Chautauqua Institution is reserved for us. These include guest rooms, meeting space, and dining facilities. We look forward to the type of socializing that a residential Representative Meeting will allow us, much like we experience at Silver Bay.
    The Host Committee is happy to report that they have clarified costs with Chautauqua Institution and are able to announce room rates lower than the ones quoted in the January Spark. A shared room (2 beds) with bathroom shared with another room will cost $22.50 per person per night. A shared room (2 beds) with private bathroom will cost $25.00 per person per night. A private room with shared bathroom will cost $45.00 per night. A private room with private bathroom will cost $50.00 per night. Friends are encouraged to stay at Chautauqua Institution. This is a unique opportunity for Friends to spend time together and nurture our blessed community. For those who wish to stay off campus, motels in the area are listed on page 8.
    Meals will be served at Chautauqua starting with Saturday breakfast and ending with Sunday lunch. Dinner will not be served on Friday so Friends should arrange to stop and eat along the way or bring food with them. There will be tables available for "brown baggers" on Friday night. The cost of meals are $6.25 for breakfast, $8.50 for lunch, and $12.00 for dinner. Children under 11 receive a 50% discount on meals.
    Friends in Rochester, Syracuse, and Dundee are also offering hospitality for travelers: If you can stop along the way on Thursday night, March 30, or Sunday night, April 2, we will help you find a host. John Cooley will be able to fit your travel plans with a place to stay.

Schedule

Friday, March 31
7:30-9:30 P.M.Open discussion: What is Yearly Meeting For? with the Ad Hoc Committee on the Function of NYYM
Saturday, April 1

7:00-7:45 A.M.Meeting for Worship
7:45 Breakfast
8:30 Registration
9:00-10:00 Meeting for Worship
10:15-12:00 Committee Meetings
12:00-1:15 P.M. Lunch
1:30-3:30 Meeting for Business
3:45-5:15 Committee Meetings
5:15-6:45 Dinner
7:00-9:00 Speaker, Barry Gann: Violent Myths and Myths about Violence
Sunday, April 2
7:00-7:45 A.M.Meeting for Worship
7:45 Breakfast
8:45-9:45 Worship Sharing
10:00-12:00 Meeting for Business
12:15-1:15 P.M. Lunch
Business Sessions
Agenda items known at press time include Jubilee questions, Friends World Program Council of Overseers, the Treasurer's report, Lindley Murray Fund Trustees report, Tax Witness update, and the Sharing Fund report. If Meetings have items for the agenda, please send them to the appropriate coordinating committee clerk: Ministry and Counsel, Linda Chidsey; General Services, Margery Rubin; Nurture, Margallen Fichter; or Witness, Karen Reixach. Business may also be forwarded to Victoria Cooley, Yearly Meeting Clerk, c/o the Yearly Meeting office. The Friday evening program will be an open discussion on the question What is Yearly Meeting For? with the Ad Hoc Committee on the Function of the Yearly Meeting, from 7:30 - 9:30 P.M. Barry Gann, associate professor of philosophy at St. Bonaventure University, and director of peace and conflict studies, will lead the Saturday evening program. His message will center around the topic of violent myths and myths about violence. Friends who have heard him speak tell us to anticipate a thoughtful and moving talk.

Committee Meetings & Display Space

Committee meetings can be scheduled on Saturday 10:15 A.M.- 12:00 noon or 4:00 - 5:45 P.M.To schedule a committee meeting contact Eleanor Doud.
Registration
It is important to register as soon as possible. Fill out the registration form and mail it to Nadine Hoover. If you have questions about accommodations or registration, call Nadine.
Childcare
Childcare will be available in the same cluster of buildings as the meetings. In order to plan effectively, the number and ages of children need to be known in advance. It will be hard to accommodate last-minute requests. Please indicate your child care needs on your registration form.
Transportation
Chautauqua (near Jamestown) is a 7-9 hour drive from New York City and 6-7 hours from Albany. (Directions to the Institution are on page 8.) You may also travel Amtrak to the Depew (Buffalo) station. On Friday, Amtrak departs Penn Station in New York City at 11:50 A.M.and arrives at Buffalo/Depew at 7:22 P.M.On Sunday, Amtrak departs Buffalo/Depew at 2:20 P.M.and arrives at Penn Station at 9:55 P.M. Round trip fare is $142.00. Reservations are required.
    You can also fly into Jamestown or Buffalo, NY, or Erie, PA. Roundtrip flights from New York City to Buffalo range in price from $98-191. Contact your travel agent for details. Prices vary depending on departure times. You may also contact Robert Horvay, of Friendly Travel, 140 Colson Lane, Mullica Hill NJ 08062-1948; 888-FRIEND-0 (888-374-3630); fax and phone 856-223-0666; qtl@jersey.net.
Information/Announcement Sheet
A NYYM Information/Announcement sheet will be distributed at Representative Meeting. If you have items for this handout please send them to Helen Garay Toppins, NYYM, 15 Rutherford Place, New York, NY 10003, fax 212-673-5750, e-mail newyorkym@earthlink.net. Items must be received by March 28.

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Clerk's Corner

Jubilee Lab Practice

Lab practice is what we get from God once we grasp the instructions, according to Bill Kreidler (in his Peaceable Kingdom talk at Silver Bay some years ago). We New York Yearly Meeting Friends know the basic instructions: Love God with your whole self, love one another, do not do to someone else what you would not want done to you. The instructions are not hard to understand, but most of us find them hard to follow.
    Quakerism is a bundle of practices for upholding one another in living according to these instructions. These practices include the corporate discernment described so beautifully in the passage from Patricia Loring that appeared at the head of the Witness page in the November Spark, concluding, "To attempt to turn the testimonies into principles is to disregard the specificity of the concerns and leadings that are laid on us particular individuals. It is also to create a set of ethical demands for action in the world that is impossible for any individual or organization to live up to. These demands in turn create a constant anxiety that is contrary to the peace of God given us when we are faithful to specific tasks given us as individual people or meetings."
    Now New York Yearly Meeting Friends ­ all across the Yearly Meeting ­ have been called to observe a year of Jubilee ­ sabbath rest, deep reflection, different behavior. The Yearly Meeting's Ministry and Counsel went to the well in their meeting last fall and what they emerged with was this call, confirmed at Representative Meeting in December. We have also been called through the World Council of Churches, which reflected in December 1998 on the passage in Leviticus which describes a year during which slaves are freed, debts forgiven, and land restored to the original owners. In Joe Vlaskamp's report of his attendance, which is printed as part of the Ministry and Counsel section in this issue of Spark, he says that the World Council of Churches statement "calls churches to work for:
  • debt cancellation for severely indebted, impoverished countries
  • substantial debt reduction for severely indebted middle-income countries
  • ethical lending and borrowing practices to prevent recurrence of the debt crisis
  • ethical governance and legislative action against all forms of corruption and misuse of loans."
Friends, do we have our Jubilee instructions clear?
    These calls raise many unanswered questions, important questions: How do we understand slavery in the year 2000 (are prisoners slaves?)? How do our instructions fit with the exercise of life-and-death power over others? What are ethical lending practices (the structural adjustment policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund?)? What kinds of development do not feed corruption while the impoverished grow poorer? Do we relate only to people we "trust"? Insofar as land can be owned, the original owner according to the story was God. What might it mean for us to observe restoration of that relationship? Are we as Quakers prepared to change, to receive new insight into truth? What is sabbath rest? Are we prepared to heal and to be healed on the sabbath?
    Some among us challenge the rest of us to change. Are we tempted, dear Friends, to remain in the questions and the status quo? Is it we who set the standards? Who needs to be satisfied, about what? On the sabbath, Jews refrain from any act that might mislead them into thinking they create: what might we need to avoid in order to spend a day being quite clear that we are not God?
    Loving God with our whole selves, loving one another, saying no to the unacceptable: Following these instructions, how shall we answer Jubilee questions?
    If we are clear about our instructions and the call, we can expect lab practice, in our daily lives, in our monthly meetings, at Representative Meeting in April: Applied Jubilation 101.

Victoria Cooley
Clerk, NYYM

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Nurturing Worship Groups

The Advancement Committee is sponsoring a weekend retreat at Powell House on June 9-11. It is especially designed for members of worship groups and small Monthly Meetings. The theme will be Growing the Blessed Community, a term used by Jane Orion Smith (CYM). She advocates that the life of our Society is rooted in our relationships with each other and with God. According to her, "A loving community is our strength, our witness as a people of Faith. Outreach and inreach, activities which support the spiritual growth of the Meeting, is a way of broadening and deepening that community. It is about sharing the spiritual search. . . ."
    Of course, there will be worship, fun, fellowship, and intergenerational activities. Friends interested in attending should contact Powell House. The weekend will be facilitated by Jens Braun, Ann Davidson, and Helen Garay Toppins.

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News from Friends

Stop the Death Penalty

Join Friends in Albany on Tuesday, March 14, for a lobby day to stop the death penalty. The Peace and Social Action Committee of Brooklyn Monthly Meeting invites Quakers and others to meet with their state legislators in Albany to urge them to stop the use of the death penalty in New York State. Specifically, we want to urge legislators to oppose expanded use of the death penalty, and support a moratorium on executions in New York State.
    Please spread the word of this lobby day to Friends Meetings and other community groups who oppose the death penalty. For more information, and to participate in the lobby day, call Jenny Knight or Nancy Hammond.
    Lobby Day is endorsed by New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.

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Friends for Lesbian and Gay Concerns

Gay, lesbian, and sympathetic Friends within traveling distance of the Westbury, Long Island, meetinghouse have a chance to meet there on Saturday, the 10th of June.
    About a dozen met there in February 1999 for worship, discussion, and lunch, finding commonalities they had not known of. We heard from some Friends that they had a hard time achieving acceptance in their own monthly meetings.
    Telephone calls and visits have continued, and several New York City members and attenders are talking to begin to set out a relaxed day of worship, eating, and discussion.
    People may stay over the night before as well. For overnight stays, travel directions to Post Avenue at the Jericho Turnpike (State Route 25) (also exit 32 Northern State Parkway), and schedules for the Long Island Rail Road (a one-mile walk on Post Avenue to the meetinghouse), and the day's plans, please telephone. . . .

Kevin Johnson,
Westbury Meeting

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Youth and Militarism

The National Youth & Militarism Program of the AFSC has an extensive Web site that details many aspects of our work: JROTC and other military programs, conscientious objection, alternatives to military, child soldiers, and general issues of the impact of war and the military on young people. We also have many of these materials available in print form. You can download orders from the Internet at www.afsc.org/youthmil.htm or contact Shannon McManimon, American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA 19102; 215-241-7046.

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Quaker Fiction

Emma J. Lapsansky, curator of Special Collections at Haverford College and a historian of Quakerism, was Friday night's guest speaker at December Representative Meeting. She shared stories of Quaker fiction authors spanning two centuries. Her suggested Quaker reading list is still available from the New York Yearly Meeting office. Just send a stamped self-addressed envelope to NYYM Office, 15 Rutherford Place, New York NY 10003.

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Friends Music Camp

Friends Music Camp has something new this year ­ a video describing our program. To request the video, the camp brochure, or other information about Friends Music Camp, write FMC, PO Box 427, Yellow Springs OH 45387; 937-767-1311 or 937-767-1818; Fax 937-767-2254; e-mail musicfmc@aol.com.
    Friends Music Camp is a 4-week summer program for ages 10-18 (2 weeks only is an option for ages 10-11) emphasizing musical growth, building a caring community, and Quaker values.

Peg Champney, Director

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Quaker Arts Camp

Quaker Arts Camp is a residential camping program with a focus on creative exploration and fun with music, art, drama, and dance. Rooted in nature and celebrating human connections to the earth and to each other, we nurture the divine within and around us. Together we seek and teach ways to explore these connections through our acts of creation.
    There is a two-week session from Sunday, July 16, through Saturday, July 29, for campers ages 9-14, and a one-week session from Sunday, July 30, through Sunday, August 6, for campers ages 9-12.
    Quaker Arts Camp is held at Opequon Quaker Camp outside Winchester, VA, and operated by Baltimore Yearly Meeting. BYM's camping programs provide an opportunity to spend extended time living in a functioning Quaker community that encourages tenderness, loving concern, dynamic activity, laughter, respect, work, honesty, silence, and joyful noise.
    For more information contact Josh Riley, Camp Administrative Secretary, BYM; 301-774-7663; bymcamps@igc.org; www.bym-rsf.org/quaker.

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Calling Quaker Historians

The thirteenth biennial conference of Quaker historians and archivists will be held at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, on June 23-25, 2000. Presentations will include a wide range of Quaker biography and history topics based on archives of the Religious Society of Friends since the 1660s. Quakers have played significant roles in women's and Native American rights, the antislavery movement, education, world pacifism, and economic development.
    Information and registration materials are available from Joelle Bertolet, Friends Historical Association, Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford PA 19041; fha@haverford.edu; or visit our Web site at www.haverford.edu/library/fha/fha.html. The Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists is a chapter of Friends Historical Association.
    The Friends Association for Higher Education and the Friends Council on Education will hold meetings at the same time.

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Minute to Cuban Friends

Jan Hanvik, a member of Hudson (NY) Friends Meeting, will be visiting Cuba in March. He has been awarded a Ford Foundation grant to assemble a database of dance resources in Cuba. He will take a minute from the Friends Meeting in Hudson to the Friends Meeting in Havana. If anyone has a particular message for the Havana Friends or would like any particular message or information brought back, please feel free to contact Jan at pamarj@aol.com or PAMAR, 198 Broadway, Room 807, New York NY 10038, tel. and fax 212-267-8723.

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Come Worship with Us

Philipstown Friends

How do you grow a new Friends meeting? Very slowly. At least, that's what the "book" says, and, in the experience of Carol Rice and James O'Barr, "the book" is right. Carol and James became acquainted when both attended Cornwall Meeting, just north of West Point in the Hudson River Valley, in the early '90s. Both lived on the east side of the river, in the Philipstown villages of Garrison and Cold Spring, and both felt called to explore the possibility of building Quaker community closer to home, with like-minded neighbors.
    They encountered many obstacles. Both had very busy work and home lives and families to raise. And though a number of people from the Philipstown area had expressed an interest in Quakerism over the years, Carol and James were unable to find a suitable meeting space that could accommodate both worship and First Day school. Then, in early 1999, they contacted the Franciscan community at Graymoor, in Garrison, NY. Father Jim Gardiner, Graymoor's director, welcomed them with open ecumenical arms. Father Gardiner not only granted them the use of one of the community's chapels for worship, and an adjacent room for First Day school, but also offered to provide the coffee and juice for fellowship at the rise of meeting.
    So it was that on May 16, 1999, the Philipstown Friends Worship Group, under the care of Purchase Monthly Meeting, gathered for worship in St. Francis Chapel at Graymoor. More than 20 people, including 7 children, came to that first meeting. Since then, five families have attended on a regular basis, with others coming from time to time. Visitors from other meetings have included Rachel Ruth and her daughter, from Poughkeepsie, Deborah Wood, from Purchase, and John Maynard, from Fifteenth Street.
    First Day school, under the leadership of Carol Rice, has brought joy to the whole meeting. The children join meeting for worship for the first fifteen minutes, then they adjourn to their own room, or to the beautiful Graymoor grounds. Carol has been giving the children, who range in age from 4 to 12, an introduction to Quaker thought and experience, especially by use of the book, Quakers On The Move, 1652 To The Present. At rise of meeting, the children rejoin the adults to talk about what they've learned and to show the artwork that they often do to express some aspect of Quaker history, witness, or testimony. Graymoor itself offers the children opportunities for acting out the testimonies, as it did when they made valentines, and brought them to the men at St. Christopher's Inn, the retreat center down the hill from us for men who are homeless and or who suffer from alcohol or other substance-abuse problems.
    What next? Starting in late February, we will undertake monthly visitations to other Friends meetings in the Hudson Valley. A weekly discussion of Quaker faith and practice, to be held at rise of meeting, will begin in March. We are looking forward to a weekend retreat for worship groups, to be held at Powell House June 9-11, and to the possibility that some of us will be at Silver Bay for Yearly Meeting in late July.
    We are also looking forward to visits from other Friends, who can help us deepen both our worship and our understanding of Friends' faith and practice and can serve as our links to the larger Quaker community. All are welcome.
    Philipstown Friends meet every Sunday at 10:30 A.M., in the Little Flower Chapel, across from the bookstore, Graymoor, on Route 9 in Garrison, NY. For more information or directions, please contact the Yearly Meeting office.

James O'Barr
Philipstown Worship Group

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Manhattan Executive Meeting

The Manhattan Executive Meeting grew out of the programmed meeting that has been held at 15th Street on the first Sunday of each month. The idea was the brainchild of Winifred Rashford, a member of 15th Street Meeting, who grew up in Jamaica, West Indies, under the leadership of her father, Allan Jacobs, a recorded minister in Jamaica Yearly Meeting.
    In New York, Winifred met Friends from Jamaica and other parts of the world who grew up with a programmed meeting orientation and who desired to continue as Quakers who worship in this way. She approached 15th Street Meeting with this concern and permission was granted to hold a programmed meeting once a month for Friends who desired to worship this way.
    Winifred contacted Noel Palmer whom she knew from childhood and had even taught in Sunday School. Noel is a recorded minister from Jamaica Yearly Meeting and now resides in New York. He agreed to conduct the programmed meeting.
    Over the years Friends have felt the need to meet more often than once a month, and starting in 1998 began to meet on the first, third, and fifth Sundays. In 1999 Friends thought that the time had come to approach New York Quarterly Meeting to grant executive status to this Meeting. This was approved in November 1999.
    We endeavor, under divine guidance, to minister in the preaching of the Word and in witnessing in our living to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We trust that Friends who have, or would like to experience, a Quaker programmed meeting would feel free to worship with us. Meetings are held at 15 Rutherford Place, Manhattan, New York, on first, third, and fifth Sundays beginning at 9:30 A.M.

Noel Palmer, Pastor
S. Jean Smith, Clerk

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North Country Friends Worship Group

The North Country Friends Worship Group meets in member's homes on a weekly basis at 10:30 A.M.On the second Sunday of every month we meet to discuss a book. Currently we are discussing the Book of John. The only child in our worship group turns fifteen this month and sits in meeting with the adults. We have been meeting since 1996. For more information contact [the Yearly Meeting office]. You may leave a message. Business meeting is held on the first Sunday of every month accompanied by a potluck. We are happy to have guests.

Elizabeth Baker
North Country Friends Worship Group

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Piseco Worship Group

Nestled around a lake in the southern Adirondack mountains is the hamlet of Piseco with about a hundred year-round residents ­ a hearty and independent group that enjoy life in this four season vacation land.
    From the 1940s until late into the 1980s the community's religious life centered around the Roman Catholic Church and several conservative Protestant churches. Then five or six like-minded, spiritually oriented people gathered together seeking an alternative form of shared worship. The group decided to use a service patterned after an unprogrammed Friends meeting. Although some were familiar with the Religious Society of Friends, only one of the original group had been an active member of a meeting.
    Now over ten years old, and still small in numbers (especially during the winter months), the group has grown in strength and interest in Friendly ways. Frequently we have followed our silent worship with study sessions in which we studied books such as Quaker by Convincement, read articles from the Friends Journal, and discussed Queries and Advices from the New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice.
    Today we are pleased to have three in the group who are members of the Religious Society of Friends from the Albany, NY, Mount Holly, NJ, and Gainesville, FL, meetings. Calling ourselves the Piseco Worship Group, we are identified by the community as Quakers and invited to participate with local churches in periodic ecumenical services.
    As we strengthen our ties with New York Yearly Meeting we look forward to participating in the June 9-11 Powell House weekend Nurturing Worship Groups and Small Meetings.
    We are also expanding our outreach efforts. We plan to list our meetings in area newspapers. We hope to that as we share our faith in the wider community we may even break our 15-person summer record attendance.
    We would very much appreciate having Friends come visit. Amsterdam, Gloversville, Johnstown, and Utica are within an easy drive to Piseco, New York. Please, come visit us. For times and locations of meetings please [contact the Yearly Meeting office].

Alyce Branum
Piseco Worship Group

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Friends Worship Group at Rosehill

Friends Worship Group meets every First Day from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. in the dining room of Friends House in Rosehill. While seeking a way to provide comunity living for people with AIDS there was always an intention to provide Quaker persence. Under the care of New York Quarterly Meeting, Friends House has been for three years a thriving residential community, with the worship group an integral part for about half that time.
    All residents of Rosehill are welcome to attend no matter what their religious background has been, or even if none at all. We trust that all will find, as we of the Quaker Presence Subcommittee do, a source of help, wisdom, and strength. The silcnce, as well as the occasional messages, allows a calming of our hearts and minds in order that we can experience the Inner Light within each of us. You are invited to worship with us at Friends House, 130 E. 25th St., in NYC. Further information can be obtained from the Yearly Meeting office.

Boyce Benge
Brooklyn Meeting

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Letters 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 Publications Committee welcomes unsolicited manuscripts of opinion or reporting and will publish material that seems provocative and timely.
Dear Readers of Spark,
Our criminal justice system is not working. People seem to elect legislators on a "get tough on crime" platform when experience should show us that this is counter productive. We have built more prisons but they are filled to capacity as soon as completed. The objective should be rehabilitation instead of retribution. I am aware that there are people that could never be safely returned to society. I am also aware that there are a lot of inmates who could and would make a good adjustment to life on the outside if they had the chance and the parole system would work as it should.
    Let's look at some of the possible changes: 1. The death penalty ­ The incidence of homicides in the states that have renewed the death penalty has not decreased as a result. It costs the state more in legal and court fees to execute a criminal than to incarcerate him for life. A significant number of people have been executed who have been found to be innocent after the fact. That makes every one of us murderers if we continue to allow it. 2. Long sentences mandated by law ­ This limits the judge's ability to make the punishment fit the crime. 3. The elimination of educational opportunities for inmates ­ Experience has shown that in the past prisoners who have gained an education while incarcerated have a much lower rate of recidivism and as a result do not return to be an expense to the state. This program has proved to be financially prudent and a good investment. It is better to spend the money for education than for the $30,000 each year to keep them in prison.
    We cannot correct all the problems at once, but let's see if we can't work on our legislators enough to get education back in our prisons.

Robert H. Simkin
Poplar Ridge

Healing Survey

Dear Friends,
I am doing some writing on Meeting for Healing as currently practiced by Friends and would appreciate hearing from meetings and individuals involved in this and other healing forms. Please write me (e-mail is easiest) and I'll send you the list of questions I'm working with. John Calvi, PO Box 301, Putney VT 05346-0301; calvij@sover.net.
    Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,
John Calvi
NEYM

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A Year of Jubilee

The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.* Luke 4:18-19
    For the past several years, the Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel (CCM&C) has held a retreat weekend in the fall. Having a full weekend together provides an opportunity for committee members to get to know one another and to spend an extended period of time in worship. We have found that these weekends bring us together as a worshiping, sensing, deliberative body within the Yearly Meeting, and help ground our work throughout the year.
    It has been our custom to reserve a significant portion of one day as "retreat time," and to take up matters of business in the time remaining. This past October we decided to set all of Saturday aside as a retreat day and hold our meeting for business on First Day, prior to and following worship with Adirondack Friends, who were serving as our host.
    There were a significant number of items requiring our attention going into the weekend; some needing immediate attention and others being of deeper and broader concern. As the weekend approached, we experienced a temptation to forgo the plan for committee retreat time on Saturday in favor of working our way through what was shaping up to be a lengthy agenda.
    The experience of tension that so often accompanies taking time for worship and simply being with God, and that of taking up the important matters and work at hand, is an all too familiar one. We experience it on an ongoing basis, both as individuals and as a committee. Indeed, the more important and pressing the work, the more inclined we are to want to get on with things. We acknowledged that the latter is too often our inclination, especially in times of uncertainty and change.
    What also emerged was a renewed commitment to support the development of regional and quarterly ministry and counsel committees, the coordination of an expanded program of visitation within the Yearly Meeting, and a commitment to more intentional and active care of the worship and business at Representative Yearly Meeting sessions.
    By the end of the day, CCM&C decided to observe a year of Jubilee in the year 2000: acknowledging and celebrating God's generosity and the giftedness within our Yearly Meeting; expectantly waiting and listening for divine guidance and assistance; and responding to God's direction in joy.
    Further, we would invite the other sections of the Yearly Meeting to join us in our decision to bring only necessary items to the floor of the Yearly Meeting, only minutes that need approval. Committee reports could be written, distributed, and read at times other than business sessions. Throughout the week, the work of the committees would be held in prayer.
    When this invitation to a year of jubilee was brought to the Liaison and Sessions Committees, it was received and affirmed with enthusiasm. It seemed clear that the unity so quickly recognized indicated the invitation spoke to the condition of the Yearly Meeting.
    Saying yes to a clear year of Jubilee is a revolutionary act. It asks that we let go of the culture's movement between driven achievement (however good the cause), and narrow escape time. It invites us to enter into the authentic classical rhythm of ministry and sabbath. As we do so, we are freed to recognize our birthright in the image of God, and to resist the temptation to succumb to any lesser image. (Tilden Edwards, Sabbath Time)
    In Jubilee, the contemplative life and the active life are one. No longer is there a distinction between a life of prayer and one of social witness. In Jubilee time we open ourselves to the possibility of a new way of life and an inward transformation. We intend and commit to see what love will do.
    Jesus' words at the beginning of this article are rooted in ancient Hebrew law. Every seventh year was to be a Sabbath year, a year of sacred rest for the land. This was also a time of remission of debts.
    Mercifully, we held to our earlier decision to observe Saturday as a retreat day, holding meeting for worship; worship sharing around the query, "where is God calling Ministry and Counsel at this time of transition in the Yearly Meeting?" and in the afternoon having a worshipful discussion in response to the morning worship sharing.
    At the start of the weekend we posted two sheets of newsprint: one sheet listing the broader deeper concerns, to be taken into worship during our retreat time, the other listing those items that required a decision and would be taken up during our business meeting on First Day.
    The items of broader concern included: • visitation within the Yearly Meeting, especially in light of the Yearly Meeting's decision to no longer employ field secretaries • the care of worship and business at Representative and Yearly Meeting sessions • the spirit, structure, and function of the Ministry and Counsel section • Ministry and Counsel's role in providing support in times of conflict within the Yearly Meeting • the balance of worship/fellowship/business at Representative and Yearly Meeting sessions • support in the development of regional and quarterly ministry and counsel committees
    Whereas we would worship, deliberate, listen, and make decisions with regard to the items on our business meeting agenda the following day, on Saturday we simply took the broader, deeper issues listed above into worship, allowing them to sink deeply into our minds and hearts, trusting that God would reveal a way forward.
    Over the course of the day, there emerged a theme of letting go, of trusting and resting in God. A number of messages spoke of a need to listen for what might be emerging, for what is needed rather than trying to make something happen.
    In the fiftieth year, on the Day of Atonement, the ram's horn was to be sounded, liberty proclaimed for all inhabitants, and land restored to the original owners. This fiftieth year was the year of Jubilee. (Deut. 15; Lev. 25)
    The Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel invites Friends throughout the Yearly Meeting to take to heart the writings of scripture, and to enter into a year of Jubilee ­ a year of forgiveness, generosity, trust, celebration, and holy commitment. This year let us take abundant time for worship and fellowship, time with our children and for seeing one another's faces. Let us listen to one another's stories, welcome the stranger, and give thanks for the blessed community. We might best begin by heeding the words of the 14th-century mystic Hafiz, who wrote

          Just sit there right now
          Don't do a thing
          Just rest
          For your separation from God
          Is the hardest work in this world

Linda Chidsey
Clerk, CCM&C


*also translated: the year of the Lord's favor; a year of Jubilee

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Visitation

At our fall retreat, we of the Coordinating Committee of Ministry and Counsel had a clear sense of leading concerning visitations. The committee at first acknowledged with loving appreciation the work of Leanna Goerlich for so many years, and wondered how we might best respond to the need for visitation within the Yearly Meeting in the absence of field secretaries. The group, after reflection, found unity and pleasure in committing this year to focus on Friendly visits of worship and fellowship to monthly and regional meetings. These visits would not require prior planning of an agenda. It was the intention for all Coordinating Committee members to take part.
    It is our hope to encourage and engage others in the Yearly Meeting in visitation as well. We ask that you identify and support those Friends in your monthly or regional meeting who might serve as a resource person when particular topics of interest arise within your own or another meeting; for example, Gospel Order, membership, discernment, and eldering. We sincerely wish to encourage this deeply rewarding form of traveling in the ministry.
    Lastly, it is our intention to "continue to offer and provide pastoral care as way opens." We have observed that sometimes in the writing of State of the Meeting reports concerns have surfaced. With regard to some of these concerns, we hope now to join with and engage the dedicated and enthusiastic Friends who took part in the weeklong mediation training that was held at Powell House last summer. We expect the committee and the Yearly Meeting at large will benefit from their developing skills.
    Inquiries concerning visitation may be made to Janet Carter, Walter Haines, Linda Chidsey.

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Yearly Meeting Funds Available

At December Representative Meeting, Friends approved a minute that $30,000 be made available to monthly, quarterly, and regional meetings to assist with visitation and meeting assistance in the absence of field secretaries. These funds are to be administered by the Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel.
    Meetings in need of assistance or wishing to invite visitation may inquire further or send requests to Linda Chidsey, clerk CCM&C, c/o the Yearly Meeting office. We hope that Friends throughout the Yearly Meeting will want to take advantage of this opportunity.

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World Council of Churches' Jubilee Call.

During December 3-14, 1998, along with four others, I was a delegate to the eighth World Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Harare, Zimbabwe. This was the Jubilee Year of WCC. The five of us were named representatives of Canadian Yearly Meeting (1), Friends General Conference (2), and Friends United Meeting (2). In addition there were about fifteen other Quakers in attendance in a variety of capacities.
    One of the major concerns explored during the assembly was the debt crisis that impacts negatively on many of the world's poorest countries. In "Padares" (interest groups) and in an assembly business session, the concern of relieving debt received a great deal of attention. In these discussions, assembly participants insisted that debt cancellation or reduction should be linked with efforts to do away with government corruption which too often defeats the purpose of helping to improve lives and conditions.
    Alice Kirambi, a Quaker from Nairobi and an attendee of the assembly, was quoted as saying that funds made available through debt cancellation "should be channeled into social services and good government. The governments have to be accountable to the people."
    In the last business session, the assembly adopted a "Jubilee Call and End (to) the Stranglehold of Debt on Impoverished Peoples." This statement cites the biblical call in Leviticus for "a year of Jubilee," when slaves are freed, debts forgiven, and land restored to original owners. The statement calls churches to work for:
  • debt cancellation for severely indebted, impoverished countries
  • substantial debt reduction for severely indebted middle-income countries
  • ethical lending and borrowing practices to prevent recurrence of the debt crisis
  • ethical governance and legislative action against all forms of corruption and misuse of loans
In an address to the assembly during a session on Africa, Barney Pityana, chair of the Human Rights Commission of South Africa, said that poverty could be eradicated across the continent "if corruption in the management of public resources were eliminated. . .poverty is not a condition of humanity. It is . . . the result of policy options that have been taken which impoverish some and enrich others."
    There are many difficult issues connected with this concern. They need serious study and consideration. Friends should be a part of this process and should work with others on the local, state, and national levels to help find better solutions to the problem of world debt.

Joe Vlaskamp
Brooklyn Meeting

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Friends Transforming Conflict among Us

Several Friends are at metaphorical daggers drawn during a yearly meeting committee session. There are no elders to call on. What does one do? And which one does it?
    A coordinating committee and one of its constituent committees have an ongoing dispute. Who has responsibility (and authority) for intervening to resolve this controversy?
    A particular Friend seems addicted to "speaking truth to power" and gets embroiled in strife with everyone ­ in the monthly meeting, the region, around the yearly meeting and its committees. The local M&O, the regional M&C, one YM coordinating committee, a couple of respected elders (from NJ and CT) are all trying to deal with the various dust-ups. It's beginning to look like a traffic jam.
    Two monthly meetings, in two different regions, are at loggerheads. Whoops ­ now what?
    Conflict is an inevitable part of life and it can be a catalyst for necessary change. Friends, though, seem to have lots of problems in dealing with conflict. Perhaps we think we shouldn't be angry, or contend with each other, so when it unavoidably occurs, we don't do it very well; it becomes destructive ­ if it is openly acknowledged at all. We point the finger of blame, we proclaim and condemn, we snipe and bear tales ­ look at that, we act just like human beings!
    Those observing the conflict can react in a variety of ways, too. Some cluck and shake their heads at this violation of unity and amity. Perhaps they try to "counsel" the miscreants about lions and lambs lying down together. Some complain about the breach of Quaker process, or point to the lack of Gospel order. Some take sides and ratchet up the level of strife. Things can get polarized. Others intervene with a great deal of vigor and good faith, and not a clue. It can look more like conflict meddling than mediation.
    This is all surprising, in a way. Because of Friends' Peace Testimony the field of conflict resolution is rich with Quaker presence. Conflict resolution is a technology of peacemaking that includes a number of tools for direct negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and other modalities.
    Our Yearly Meeting has a number of Friends trained in the intervention skills by which conflicts can be resolved: problems solved, insights found, relationships restored and strengthened, community reclaimed and renewed.
    The Yearly Meeting's Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel has seen the need for our yearly meeting community to have better resources to transform the conflict among us ­ which would include many more persons trained to mediate within the context of Quaker process ­ as well as to understand the experience of conflict as people of faith.
    So the Conflict Transformation Task Group has been formed. The Friends currently serving on this task group are Linda Chidsey, Walter Haines, and Cheshire Frager, who has the considerable challenge of succeeding Leanna Goerlich as clerk. Kay Bacon was also previously a member before moving away. The task group has been reviewing literature on conflict resolution, forgiveness, and related spiritual issues.
    The Friends have looked at the differing philosophies and approaches within the conflict resolution field ­ starting with the name. Some people prefer the term conflict management, feeling conflict is rarely actually resolved. But some, especially those for whom this work is informed by a spiritual foundation and framework, use the term conflict transformation. This view embodies a deep process that is more dialogic than mechanistic because it embraces the whole person and the ever-present love and power of God and since it sees the possibility of redemption, renewal, and spiritual resurrection in each of us and our relationships, this is the approach that Ministry and Counsel believes fits Friends beliefs and gospel order.
    The Conflict Resolution Task Group will endeavor to create resources for the yearly meeting, including a guide to resolving conflicts among us, grounded in our peace testimony, scripture, and gospel order; a protocol for intervention, including mediation, especially between various "levels" of meeting organization (meaning the procedures for moving to mediation, etc.); a group of Friends all over the yearly meeting trained to mediate in a manner that is spiritually-based, consistent with standards of the conflict resolution field, and spiritually grounded. The Ministry and Mediation training at Powell House last August, cosponsored by the Witness and Ministry and Counsel Sections, began the process of developing a "cohort" of trained Friends. This training will be repeated in Y2K, and there are also Powell House On the Road weekend trainings occurring around the yearly meeting.
    Conflict can be a blessing when it helps us learn, grow, and change. Having a conscious, "official" way for our community to deal with the friction that must ever arise amongst us can help us learn, grow, and change corporately, so that we can better serve God's purposes here on earth.

Cheshire Frager
Flushing Meeting

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Jubilee Bible Study

I look forward very much to being with you this summer. The concern I will be developing explores connections between truth and liberation. This theme also coincides nicely with the year 2000 being a Year of Jubilee, and I have been asked to recommend several sources for you to consider in preparation for that theme. As you probably know, the year of Jubilee in Leviticus follows seven sets of seven years (the fiftieth year), where property was returned to original owners and where the soil was left fallow. In addition, slaves were set free, and society was realigned in just and merciful ways. Jesus' ministry also heralded a new age of Jubilee and applied several of these themes which deserve to influence Christian traditions and the rest of the world more profoundly than they have. These are some of the concerns we will be exploring together this summer.
    Two excellent encyclopedia articles can be found in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Vol. ("Year of Jubilee" by A. van Selms, Ed. Keith Crim, Nashville: Abingdon, 1976, pp. 496-498) and The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3 ("Year of Jubilee" by Christopher J.H. Wright, Ed. Jacob Neusner, 1992, pp. 1025-1030). These essays will provide the Jewish background of the year of Jubilee (especially Leviticus 25-27), which is an important consideration for understanding the transformative ministry of Jesus (especially Luke 4).
    If you want to consider a good book or two on the topic, I still like John Howard Yoder's The Politics of Jesus (1972). In 1994 Eerdmans came out with a second edition of this important text, and it still is one of the leading interpretations of Jesus' ministry from a socioeconomic and justice-related perspective. Another excellent text along those lines is Jesus, Liberation, and the Biblical Jubilee by Sharon Ringe (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985). Yoder and Ringe both develop very helpful pictures of Jesus as an inaugurator of God's redemptive liberation, which transforms both the individual and the structures of society.
    In addition to these more historical and biblical approaches, you will find many applications of the Jubilee theme, especially at the turn of the millennium. Several church councils and organizations have called for the year 2000 to be celebrated as a year of Jubilee (including the Vatican, the World Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church, etc.), and these may be found by looking up the theme on the Internet or on Amazon.com. An especially appealing book for considering the spiritual and social implications of Jubilee is Proclaim Jubilee! A Spirituality for the Twenty-first Century by Maria Harris (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1996). Another book by the same author is Jubilee Time: Celebrating Women, Spirit, and the Advent of Age (New York: Bantam, 1996), which helps women approaching age 50 and beyond to embrace the "inner elder" as a creative application of the Jubilee concept. A final text to suggest is The Biblical Jubilee and the Struggle for Life: An Invitation to Personal, Ecclesial, and Social Transformation by Ross and Gloria Kinser (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1999).
    You will also find several treatments of the theme in journals, such as Sojourners and The Other Side, but these are enough ideas to pique your interest in the topic. See you at Silver Bay!

Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson will lead Bible study at Silver Bay this year. He is Associate Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University and last year he served as a visiting associate professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School. His book on John (The Christology of the Fourth Gospel) has drawn international attention, and he has just become editor of Quaker Religious Thought. He is working on a book of Quaker essays entitled Following Jesus: Essays on Radical Discipleship.

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Faith and Practice Still Available

The Yearly Meeting's bestseller, Faith and Practice, could be on your or your Meeting library's shelf ­ or in your lap.
    Buy them to give to your Meeting's prospective members or to place in your community's public libraries.
    For prepaid orders send $6 per copy, which includes shipping and handling. Prepaid orders for 10 or more copies are $5 per copy, including shipping and handling.
    Send your orders to NYYM, 15 Rutherford Place, New York NY 10003.

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Friends General Conference Gathering of Friends
July 1-8, 2000
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

The entire gathering is rooted in worship and all of our activities and experiences are an outgrowth of worship. These include music, silent dining, Bible half hour, early morning outdoor and indoor meetings for worship, a mid-morning worship, several meetings for worship each afternoon, and a late evening worship sharing. Daily, from 7:00 A.M.to midnight, the silent center and a separate prayer and worship room will be open.
    Jerry Frost will open the week of evening programs, addressing the history of Friends General Conference on Sunday evening. On Monday, Friends from NYYM will tell us about their witness against the use of federal taxes for war and for the humane treatment of prisoners. From Britain Yearly Meeting, Joycelyn Burnell will speak on her spiritual journey as a scientist on Thursday. Closing our week, we will enjoy a presentation by Niyonu Spann. There will be an exciting intergenerational activity for Wednesday night.
    Workshops, a primary focus of the gathering, will be offered on a wide variety of topics, including spirituality, Quaker faith and practice, issues of peace and justice and personal growth. Workshops incorporating music, movement, and examining Quaker history (herstory) will be featured.
    Celebration of the FGC Centennial will add a special flavor to this year's gathering. There will be opportunities to explore Quaker and FGC history through workshops, field trips, dramatic presentations, and other special events. We hope to take an all-gathering photograph, create an all-gathering collage, and make this a memorable week for everyone as we reflect on FGC's first century and look toward the future.
    Friends' creativity will be displayed, performed, and celebrated again this year in the Lemonade Art Gallery. This week-long multimedia exhibit will feature new Quaker paintings, photography, sculpture, fabric, and other works. The Lemonade Gallery will also be a space for readings, discussions, and performances by authors, poets, playwrights, and musicians.
    In Junior Gathering, infants through junior high Friends will build and renew lifelong friendships through worship, art, music, and play.
    The High School Program will offer a loving community where young Friends explore spirituality while having fun and enjoying the company of Friends, new and old. The community is fostered by small support groups, workshops, business meetings, and worship. Additional activities will include dances, field trips, games, and interest groups.
    Adult Young Friends is a community that provides an intimate space within the gathering for post-high school Friends (ages 18-35) to live and have fun together while exploring their spirituality and roles as adult Quakers.
    Local Friends are planning an extensive and welcoming week. Friends will find many activities of interest in and around Rochester. Field trips will include Seneca Falls Women's Rights Park, Susan B. Anthony's home and grave, Genesee Country Village (19th century restoration), Erie Canal boat trips, scenic wooded state parks with hiking and swimming, and Lake Ontario Beach.
    There will be centers for women, men, singles, Friends of Color, Families, and 12 Step Program participants. Activities under the care of Friends for Lesbian and Gay Concerns and Friends Committee on Unity with Nature are also planned.
    The Gathering Store will offer a unique collection of books, First Day school materials, tapes, FGC merchandise, and handcrafted items.
    Getting to Rochester: The campus is off Interstate 390, less than 10 miles north of the NY State Thruway (I-90), which runs between Albany and Buffalo. The University is only five minutes from the Rochester International Airport, a pleasant, modern facility with service from USAir, Delta, Northwest, American, Continental, TWA, and other airlines. Amtrak and Greyhound serve Rochester as well.
    Dormitories at the University of Rochester feature double rooms or suite-style accommodations. Meal plans will allow for some flexibility. Commercial camping is available in nearby Canandaigua, where FGC will reserve sites, or at NY State parks.
    The gathering is committed to being as accessible as possible to all Friends, including those with financial, physical, or other limitations.
    Scholarships and workgrants are available to help make gathering affordable. General scholarships assist families and individuals with the expenses of room/board and registration. Workgrant opportunities include staffing the Junior Gathering program, assisting at the informational desk, helping with routine tasks, or taking on a specialized assignment. There are special scholarships for first time attenders. Contact FGC for details
    Detailed information on the 2000 Gathering, including registration forms, will be printed in the Advance Program and posted on the FGC Web site at www.quaker.org/fgc. The program will be mailed in the spring. You may request an advance program from Friends General Conference, 1216 Arch Street, 2B, Philadelphia PA 19107; 215-561-1700; fax 215-561-0759; gathering@fgc.quaker.org.

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FUM Seeks General Secretary

FUM commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord. The General Secretary is responsible to the General Board for implementing this purpose through effective programming, public leadership, administration, and staff supervision.
    Nominations, expressions of interest, and requests for a job description should be directed to Wayne Carter, Clerk of Search Committee, FUM, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond IN 47374. Please send application and resume by May 1. The search will remain open until filled; however, we are hoping to present a candidate to the General Board meeting of June 17.

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Friend in Residence Wanted

Friends Meeting at Cambridge, Mass., is seeking a Friend in Residence. This appointment involves being active in the life of the Meeting and in the larger community of Friends, and being a Friendly presence at the Friends Center. The position offers a stipend, benefits, and an apartment at the Friends Center.
    Friends Meeting at Cambridge is a large unprogrammed meeting in an urban setting. We have meetings for worship on Sunday mornings and evenings, a First Day school, and a midweek meeting for worship. The Meeting has an active peace and social justice witness. Large numbers of visitors come to the Meeting on Sundays and on weekdays as well. Many young adults come to our Meeting seeking a spiritual home. There are many active, longtime Friends in the Meeting, as well as elderly members who are ill or homebound. It is an ongoing challenge for the whole Meeting to develop and sustain a sense of community among such a heterogeneous population spread over a large geographical area.
    We are looking for an experienced and gifted Friend. People interested in this position should write to the Friend in Residence Search Committee at the Meeting, or to FMCsearch@aol.com to request a job description. Letters of interest and resumes will be accepted until the position is filled; review of applications will begin March 1.

Ian Harrington, Clerk

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AFSC and Quaker Meetings

The booklet Partnership Opportunities published by the AFSC offers you and your Meeting accessible ways to share in the work that AFSC undertakes ­ a corporate Quaker witness.
    Built directly on a similar guide, it outlines a variety of specific projects. Included is a little context, an explanation of what an individual or a Meeting might do, and a contact for more information and next steps.
    We hope that you will look through this guide and find an opportunity which interests and inspires you. The AFSC staff can give you more information and assistance, 212-598-0950 or 315-475-4822.

Hope Wallis, for the staff of the Middle Atlantic Region, Syracuse Office
Elizabeth Enloe, for the staff of the New York Metropolitan Regional Office

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Religious Education Retreat

Parents as Resident Theologians is the title of a Unitarian-Universalist adult curriculum, and of a weekend at Powell House, March 24-26, 2000, sponsored by the NYYM Religious Education Committee. Facilitated by the committee's clerk, Renee-Noelle Felice, and by Hope Johnson, intern minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palisades, the weekend will offer parents and religious educators an opportunity to reflect on their own theologies, and on ways to share them with their children.
    A childcare program will be offered by Katherine Wood.
    The cost is adults $145, teens $85, youth $65, and infants $20. Scholarships available with advance notice. To register, call or write Powell House, 524 Pitt Hall Road, Old Chatham NY 12136-3410; phone 518-794-8811; fax 518-794-8815; e-mail powellhse@aol.com; the Web site is www.nyym.org/powellhouse.

Renee-Noelle Felice
Staten Island Meeting

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PoHo Wish List

  • sleds
  • digital camera
  • complete board games and decks of playing cards: Uno, SkipBo, Ungame, Set
  • record player for our stereo system
  • router
  • leaf rakes
  • pruning shears/loppers
  • CDs or tapes of swing music
  • large chain saw for tree trunks
  • 350+ Mhz pc-compatible computer
  • responsible adults to do pickups for youth conferences at the Hudson or Albany train/bus stations
  • soft Nerf balls
  • safe and reliable minivan
  • comfortable rocking chairs
  • toaster oven

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Notices

This column is prepared from information about membership received from the local Meeting recorders.

New Members

Mia Boynton, Poplar Ridge
Marna Herrity Congdon, Brooklyn
Steven and Gloria Fortuna, Matinecock
Robert Fulton, Manasquan
Barbara Lynn Ganzel, Ithaca
Keith Hughes, Fifteenth Street
Thomas and Gregory Jaske, Matinecock
Bridget Moix, Fifteenth Street
Nicholas Sugar, Summit
Benjamin Warnke, Brooklyn

Transfers

Ruth Hawes to Cornwall from Catskill
Liza Trent Savory to Dover Randolph from Summit

Ceremony of Commitment

Michael Barlow, member of Brooklyn Meeting, and Melissa Hood, under the care of State College (PA) Monthly Meeting, on December 28, 1999.

Deaths

Sylvia S. Wilson, member of Brooklyn, on December 31, 1999

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Memorial Service

John DeForest passed away suddenly on February 4. Members of Stamford-Greenwich Monthly Meeting remember him most affectionately for his role in founding the meeting, which two years ago celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.
    There will be a Memorial Service for John in the manner of Friends in the meetinghouse, located on the corner of Roxbury and Westover Roads in Stamford on Saturday, April 8 at 3 P.M.All are invited. For more information call 203-869-0445.

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Financial Aid

It is understood that Representative Meeting will entail unusual costs because of housing and travel. No one who is led to attend should stay away because of financial considerations. Sessions Committee, Advancement Committee, and the Farmington-Scipio Regional Meeting have allocated funds to assist Friends with expenses incurred in attending Representative Meeting. Please note this need on your registration form and it will be forwarded to the NYYM Advancement Committee. As is our custom, the Sessions Committee asks that you seek funds from your monthly meeting, regional meeting, or Yearly Meeting committee. Friends who can afford to contribute are asked to consider adding a donation to help defray the costs for other Friends.

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NYYM Handbook Is Here

We have mailed (at no charge) copies of the Yearly Meeting Handbook 2000 to the clerks of monthly meetings, quarterly/regional meetings, worship groups, and yearly meeting committees. The Handbook describes in detail the offices, committees, and procedures of the NYYM.
    Friends who would like to purchase a personal copy of the Handbook should send their checks to New York Yearly Meeting, 15 Rutherford Place, New York NY 10003. The cost is $10.00. The Yearly Meeting will cover postage.
    If you have any questions, concerns, additions,or corrections please send them to the Publications Committee, care of the NYYM office.

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        I told them that I lived in that life and power
        that takes away the occasion for all war.

George Fox, Journal, 1694          

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