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December Representative MeetingRepresentative Meeting will be held Dec. 7–8, 2002, at Chatham Middle School on Saturday, and at Summit Meetinghouse on Sunday. Both are in Chatham, NJ. See map and directions (included in e-mail and attached). Friends are urged to study both carefully and to make sure you head to the town of Chatham, not the town of Summit.Registration, hospitality(NOTE: Clicking on the link to the registration form, below, will open the form in a new window. This is a PDF document, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open. Click here to download free.)Please send in the registration form to reach the host committee by November 22, indicating whether you are requesting hospitality, what meals you are purchasing, and whether you have childcare, transportation, or other needs (that we can address!). Chatham Middle School is completely accessible, and Summit Meetinghouse is basically on one floor, with a regular restroom on that floor. Hospitality cannot be offered after the deadline, and the more people who register by the deadline, the more smoothly All Friends Regional Meeting can facilitate the weekend. Registrations are to be sent to Joe Condon. Checks should be included with your registration, made out to All Friends Regional Meeting. A list of area motels is below, including the price ranges quoted to us and the distances from Chatham. Those using the Internet may find Mapquest helpful in finding lodging nearby (type in address of Summit Mtg, 158 Southern Blvd., Chatham, NJ 07928) as well as directions to it. Our hospitality coordinator also suggests www.morristourism.org/lodging.htm as well as www.priceline.com. TransportationFor those traveling by train from NYC, Midtown Direct goes from Penn Station: Take the Morristown line to Chatham, where the station is ˝ mile from Chatham Middle School. There is hourly weekend service by Midtown Direct from Penn Station, starting at 7:11 A.M. (this one arrives Chatham 8:06 A.M.).Those needing to be picked up should indicate this on the registration form, or call the following cell phone number on the weekend of Dec. 6–8: [NUMBER DELETED FROM WEB VERSION]. However, we cannot arrange for pickups from Newark Airport at the last minute; these must be arranged well in advance. If it is last-minute, please take a limo to Chatham. Reserving committee meeting and display spaceThese requests should be directed to Hal Haydock. Reserve early!InformationIn addition to the cell phone number listed under Transportation, the following cell phone number will be available to call during the Dec. 6–8 weekend: [NUMBER DELETED FROM WEB VERSION]. If you have general questions before that, please contact Joe Condon.Schedule
Directions(Click here for map.)From Northeast, NYC and Southeast:
From Eastern upstate NY and Tappan Zee:
From western upstate NY:
From the southwest:
Lafayette Street is about 0.8 MI: For the school turn right, the second light is Main St./NJ-124 go left onto it and 100 yards the driveway of the school marked by a sign on the right; For the Mtg Hse continue past Lafayette to a sign and driveway 100 yards on the right. By train:
The following is a list of some of the motels near Chatham, NJ: Hamilton Park Conference Center
Hanover Marriott
The Madison Hotel
Morristown Inn - Best Western
Summerfield Suites hotel
Westin Hotel
Holiday Inn
Howard Johnson Inn
A meeting's sense of community, internal communication, spiritual vitality, and witness activity can influence its ability to attract and retain newcomers. Friends will learn how something as mundane as a bulletin board can be an effective advancement tool. Participants will receive advancement materials and hear about new resources such as QuakerFinder.org. They will also learn how to help their meeting create an advancement plan tailored to its particular needs. Facilitators Deborah Haines and Jane Berger will describe ways in which advancement goals can be achieved without further burdening busy Friends. Often activities the meeting already carries out can be modified slightly to foster growth. A special session on racial and ethnic diversity will be part of the weekend. Helen Garay Toppins of Morningside Meeting will also offer a session on outreach to college communities. Please attend and please don't stay away because of money. Powell House has received a special grant to support scholarships for participants in this workshop. Sign up as soon as possible to be sure you will receive assistance. You may register online at www.powellhouse.org or write to Powell House, 524 Pitt Hall Rd., Old Chatham NY 12136; 518-794-8811. Deborah Haines is clerk of the Friends General Conference Advancement & Outreach Committee; Jane Berger is clerk of the New York Yearly Meeting Advancement Committee. Jane Berger and Deborah Haines Back to contents
Last year, YM asked us to pick up where the Ad Hoc Committee on the Function of NYYM left off--that is, to recommend specific ways to make our YM more spiritual, more effective and more friendly. To achieve those three goals, we are laboring on whether and, if necessary, how to change the staffing and committee structure. As we began to understand our work, praying about our charge, talking with and listening to Friends and testing various ideas, we realized we lacked clarity on a basic definition of the function of the YM. Without it, we realized we didn't know what exactly we were trying to make more spiritual, more effective and more friendly. After much labor, the joint committee came to unity on this definition, which we would like to test with you:
Q. How does the above speak to you?
Our current deliberations are influenced by the following thinking: Central to our faith is the belief that the spirit of God is alive and present to lead everyone directly. George Fox described his early mission as seeking to "turn people to their inward teacher and leave them there." However about 10 years later, Fox and other Quaker leaders felt a need to temper this assessment. A great people had indeed been gathered, but there was much disorder and excess of spiritual enthusiasm that testified to a people who still "walked loosely" and too often mistook their own desires and prejudices as the leadings of the spirit. Spiritual Anarchy Perhaps most distressing was the fall of James Nayler, one of the most charismatic of the original Valiant Sixty. In a moment of spiritual weakness, goaded by overly enthusiastic followers, he reenacted in Bristol, England, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, with his followers proclaiming: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of the Sabbath." Nayler's action, meant as a symbolic statement of the Quaker belief--that everyone possessed the spirit of Christ within and thus could be considered Christ-like--was seen by Fox and others as a clear outrunning of the Inward Guide. What's more, its excess did major damage to the Quaker movement, confirming an oft-heard criticism that Quakers were spiritual anarchists. Meeting Structure Evolves Clearly, Fox and others concluded, there was need to correct a na‹ve reliance on individual discernment. Friends needed to develop institutional checks that were open to the primacy of the Spirit but guarded against the temptation of spiritual anarchy. And so was born our institutional structures--organized local meetings. However, the origin of yearly and regional meetings grew out of yet another need. Experience showed that monthly meetings could become small, comfortable gatherings of like-minded individuals. As a result, there often is a need for guidance from larger, more diverse bodies of seasoned Friends. Hence the need for larger meetings. We also know from our own Yearly Meeting's history that conflict is inevitable--yes, even among Friends. Thus, we understand that yearly meetings were intended to be "high courts"--places where a judgment, however provisional, could settle a conflict. In addition, yearly meetings became a place for providing support--material and spiritual--for Quaker witness when it's lacking at the local level. It also provided Friends a nurturing community that enriches their local meetings' experience. Q. What wisdom can you offer here?
In seeking to discern whether our committee structure best serves our needs, we turned to a pamphlet, "Structural Incongruities in Quaker Service," written by a wise Friend, R. W. Tucker. In it, he observed that Friends have always recognized the difficulty of "living in this world and yet not being conformed to the spirit of this age." Because we are human, it is perhaps inevitable that "worldly models" of organization should creep into our midst. According to Tucker, just about everything in contemporary life is organized along bureaucratic lines. In this model, a bureaucratic committee is formed around a particular cause or concern. The committee defines an action to be taken and then delegates or hires a manager to carry it out. The committee's job becomes oversight and support. On the other hand, traditional Quaker service begins with the promptings of God's spirit, either to an individual or to a community. If it begins with an individual, the concern is brought to an appropriate meeting for discernment. If it "answers that of God" within the assembled group, these Friends have an obligation to get behind the concern with support--financial as well as emotional--to help release this Friend for service. Structure Overcomes a Leading To demonstrate the slippery slope from Quaker service to bureaucratic management, Tucker relates this story about a conflict within a committee in the 1960s: A Friend felt a call to help "inner city" families improve their lives through weekend workcamps that improved their housing. The ministry blossomed over 30 years and attracted enough support to release him to focus on this ministry full time, so he accepted appointment as a paid executive secretary. Until then, the camps were the only work of the committee and its members focused on that effort. But over time, the yearly meeting's nominating committee, charged with filling committee slots, became less concerned whether the nominees felt called to support the workcamp ministry; they were appointing Friends who felt led to social activism--or, in fact, anyone willing to serve. Soon the committee became hopelessly divided between traditional supporters of the original ministry and those who considered the committee's focus too narrow. Frustrated with the in-fighting, the executive secretary resigned, recognizing that, in effect, both he and the committee had been inadvertently converted from Friends with a leading to bureaucratic managers. Such transformations occur all across Quakerism. As a result, differences in theology and organizational structure consume much of a committee's energy, detracting it from important service to the world. Q. Can you tell us, from your experience, how a committee structure may have thwarted or supported a leading? To be sure, Tucker saw a need for people who are called to be administrators, "to help the community in its task of faithfulness, perhaps simply by relieving it of housekeeping tasks so it can fully devote its time and energy to faithfulness." Tucker implies that service/witness ministries should be task groups that arise from spirit-led concerns, and they should last only as long as the person feels the call and the community supporting it feels led to continue; but they should never become permanent committees. This idea coincides with recommendations from both the Renewal Committee and, years ago, from Josh Brown in a document entitled "You Can't Get There from Here." The joint ad hoc committees have a vision of a Yearly Meeting which makes that distinction. Thoughts on Committee Structure The Committee on Committees is seeking to discern which committees--mostly in the area of Witness--should be spirit-led task groups and which should be permanent standing committees. The committees of General Services appear to need permanency, with appointed members who have specific managerial skills. Ministry and Counsel also has ongoing concerns to assure its ministry to Friends. Discernment Staffing The Committee on Staffing and Structure affirms its recommendation to the Yearly Meeting to hire a general secretary--a servant leader in a position to provide support to Friends and monthly and regional meetings and to lead staff in implementing Yearly Meeting priorities. Based upon responses to our report to Yearly Meeting 2002, we also anticipate recommending part-time regional field staff financially supported jointly by the Yearly Meeting and the regions. The development of the job description for the field staff would be designed by the region in consultation with the Yearly Meeting and guided by local priorities. The appointment of YM staff specifically in the areas of youth and religious education also are under consideration. Q. What Canst Thou Say? We would like your reaction to our current thinking. Please address responses on staffing to Joanna Komoska. Responses on committee structure should be addressed to Stanley Zarowin. Back to contents
Lord, make us instruments of your Spirit of Love, that we may through our words and deeds awaken that same Spirit of Love and Charity which we know lies in the soul of every person.
Lord, make us instruments of your Spirit of Truth, that we may tear away the masks of pretense and theory and speculation, which now gloss reality with false faces in the minds and utterances of our media, our neighbors, and our leaders.
Lord, make us instruments of your Spirit of Peace, that we may bring calm where there is panic, patience were there is urgency, and hope where there is fear.
Lord, make us instruments of your Spirit of Hope, that we may sketch alternatives to gloomy forecasts and dire predictions, and may bring fuller attention to opportunities for reconciliation and growth that always accompany conflict and danger.
Lord, make us instruments of your Spirit of Joy, that we may keep your presence shining in our faces, that our spirits may rebuke the glumness and foreboding of the news of the day, and that we may sing and rejoice in our knowledge of the work of the Spirit.
Lord, make us instruments of your Spirit of Light, that we may shine upon the hill and be a candle to the darkness and a voice n the wilderness.
Lord, nurture within us that seed Christ which blossoms into expressions of Love, Truth, Peace, Hope, Joy, and Light, whose eternal Spirit existed before Scriptures were given forth, and which guides us into that blessed fellowship already prepared for us.
Newton Garver October 8, 2002
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Much of our time was spent in sharing information about the decision-making and communication processes of each adjudicatory so that we can work more closely together and at times speak with one voice. A major concern was, of course, war on Iraq. NYSCC had signed on to a strong statement from Churches for Middle East Peace, and we were encouraged to spread the word. Attendees felt we should take immediate steps to try to influence New York's senators. Staff was instructed to contact both Senator Clinton's and Schumer's offices and arrange to talk with them personally. A group did meet with Senator Clinton on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., and felt it was a positive connection long term, even though she did vote for the war resolution. Efforts to contact Senator Schumer continued. In August after Yearly Meeting, the clerk, Linda Chidsey, shared with the members of NYSCC information about the Worship and Action Network, the Peace minute, and our Epistle. The moving of the spirit?
Patricia Beetle
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The second meeting of the Golden Thread Symposium was held at the Conscience Bay Friends Meetinghouse in St. James on Sept. 29. The 29 attenders represented several Christian religions, Hinduism, the Keetowah religion of the Onondaga Indian Nation, Reformed Judaism, Bahá'í, and Buddhism. The question we considered was When, if ever, is violence justified?
A Bahá'í said that one should be killed rather than kill. However, killing might be justified to defend the defenseless. Even Gandhi said that violence might be necessary in the case of a deranged person wielding a sword in the marketplace.
A Reformed Jew pointed out that often two groups are engaged in mortal combat while a third party pulls the strings.
A Unitarian cited the example of a wrestler in school who pinned the opponent without mortal wounds being inflicted. He said that Unitarians believe that aggression is different from self-defense. Violence in the latter case might be unavoidably necessary.
A member of the Onondaga tribe recited the traditional Iroquois legend to illustrate that two brothers may be born "good" and "evil." The story implies that the Creator created evil and left us to deal with it.
A Christian Scientist read from Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. The passage said that in the spirit of Jesus, one should love one's enemy.
A Hindu spoke of Ahimsa (nonviolence as articulated in the Bhagavad Gita). She quoted Gandhi, who said that one should cultivate truthfulness, tolerance, loving kindness, and honesty. God is the supreme power. Whatever you do is not you, but the Supreme Being in you.
A Buddhist stated that we exist because everything else exists. All living creatures are one entity. Balance wisdom with compassion. It is not correct to meet violence with violence.
Finally, a member of Conscience Bay Meeting quoted the Quaker stance as articulated in 1651 by George Fox. Referring to Jesus he said, ". . . I live in the virtue of that life and power that took away the occasion of all wars." In 1660, he said, "We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fighting with outward weapons for any end . . . neither for the kingdom of Christ nor for the kingdoms of this world. . . . Therefore, we cannot learn war any more."
Another member pointed out, however, that some Quakers have been conflicted by what they see as a just war, as in the case of Long Islander Robert Townsend, of the famous Washington Spy Ring. Some Quakers serve in the ambulance corps at the front lines. Some enter the armed forces to combat evil.
A Muslim could not attend but sent a position paper. She said that Allah instructed believers not to transgress against others. While there is permission to defend your home, faith, or honor, Allah does not like a transgressor. Over a billion Muslims believe in a diverse, peaceful world.
The bottom line was clearly that violence should be avoided at all cost except in the defense of the innocent. Copies of the Assisi Decalogue for Peace of January 2002 were distributed. This decalogue was created by 200 leaders from a variety of religions and sent by the pope to the world's heads of state. Among other things, it stated "We commit ourselves to proclaiming the firm conviction that violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic spirit of religion."
Robert Sisler
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QIVP seeks to provide a way to live a more God-centered life. We believe that community is the best means to achieve our objectives, which are to increase the spiritual focus of our lives, strengthen our family life, find alternatives to the consumer society, live in environmentally sound ways, and include a good measure of joy, fun, outreach, and service in our lives as we strive to meet these objectives. We believe that our communities' success in achieving these five objectives will be aided by memberships diverse in race, age, ethnicity, sexual preference, and economic situations, and therefore it is our aim to gather communities whose members are diverse in these ways.
QIVP-East Chatham is 6 miles from Powell House, the conference and retreat center for New York Yearly Meeting. To join the village, you need not be a member of the Religious Society of Friends, but we ask that you embrace the stated purpose and objectives of the project.
To learn more about QIVP, and ways to participate, go to www.qivp.org or write to info@qivp.org. An open house will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2003, from 1-3 P.M.
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"All we, like sheep, have gone astray, each to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).
In recent months I have been hearing ideas expressed that trouble me greatly. I have heard expression of the supremacy of the individual will over any possibility of corporate discernment in a meeting gathered in worship to seek the leading of God. This, of course, negates the possibility of gathering a prayerful sense of the meeting and confuses unity with unanimity as well as the denial of the Meeting for Business as a meeting for worship.
Even worse, I have heard the Peace Testimony described as wrong, nonexistent, or, at best, irrelevant. This, despite the fact that New York Yearly Meeting endorsed the Peace Testimony, and all that it implies, in 1960 and restated its acceptance of it in 1990 (see page 51 of the 1998 edition of Faith and Practice).
These ideas strike at the heart of Friends' testimonies. It is these testimonies that make the Religious Society of Friends stand apart from other faiths and have sustained Friends through three and a half centuries. It is these testimonies that are the reasons why others have often turned to us and asked, "What do Quakers say?" They are why, despite our relatively small numbers, we have often taken the lead in many areas of human relationships.
Without them, the Society of Friends ceases to exist. I, for one, cannot understand how those who deny the existence of our testimonies can continue, or wish to continue, to be members of our Society.
I pray for our Society and for those who wish to destroy it from within.
Richard K. Goodman
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New Brunswick Monthly Meeting has been actively working for peace since September 12, 2001. We have held special meetings for worship to care for and listen to each other's concerns about terrorism. We have attended CCCO (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors) meetings to get information about the draft. We have organized and maintained weekly vigils every Sunday since September 11, 2001. Initially these vigils were interfaith but currently they are attended by Quakers only (others have dropped out but we have not). We have attended meetings for peace held by NYYM and are keeping each other informed via various e-mail correspondences. Individuals have contacted senators and legislators expressing our views. As part of an interfaith ad hoc organization, we have met with local people of many faiths and in their houses of worship, including Jewish people, Muslims, other Christians, and secular humanists.
I only wish that all our activities were having a demonstrable impact on the national level, but we are disappointed at the way the political arena is headed.
Peace to you,
Robin Gowin
Individuals from the meeting have participated in vigils, leafleting, and petition gathering, as well as sending letters and calling congressional representatives and the president.
In meeting for business of October 14, the meeting approved setting up a Long Island Friends Peace Group, modeled along the lines of N.Y. Peace Friends. The minute will go to Long Island Quarterly Meeting October 26 to broaden the participation. We will seek cooperation with other faiths who wish to join a worship and action group.
Text of minute:
Gretchen Haynes, Westbury Back to contents
Nancy Hammond, clerk of the Purchase Quarter Committee for Abolition of the Death Penalty, orchestrated a press conference at the start of the vigil. Speakers included activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Westchester County Legislature chair Lois Bronz, State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, and New York State Assembly candidate Pasquale Fiorelli. The event was covered by the local newspaper, the local cable TV station, three radio stations, two weekly newspapers, and one monthly magazine. The vigil was funded by Purchase Quarterly Meeting, donations from cosponsors, and a grant of $150 from Witness Activities Fund. Back to contents
For more detailed information, help or encouragement, contact Sue Clark. Other Efforts for Peace
A major outreach last spring was the Peace Forum, in which a group that filled the meetinghouse heard a panel of speakers on the topic Alternatives to War. We continue to work with local coalitions holding demonstrations and rallies and to keep in touch with elected officials. Sue & Marvin Clark
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The spirit of war has captured our nation. Friends, as individuals and as corporate bodies, can be tempted by this spirit. The first temptation is described by Thomas Merton as the frenzy of activism. The second temptation is to succumb to the spirit of war by denigrating those who see "no alternative" to war. We will know we have succumbed if Friends describe the Bush administration using the same absolutist, hopeless terms that the administration uses to describe Saddam Hussein. The third temptation is simply to oppose the war. Our testimony is not only that war is wrong, but more importantly, that there is power available that takes away the occasion of war. Our Yearly Meeting minute is entitled the Gospel of Peace. To preach that Gospel, we must study it in all its fullness, with our heads and with our hearts as well. To live in that Light and Power that takes away the occasion of war means taking time to open ourselves so that we can then do the rigorous work of loving and truth-telling as individuals and as meetings. Farmington-Scipio Region is inviting its meetings to conduct the New York Yearly Meeting Spiritual Nurturance Program, not simply as a resource for individual spiritual development, but as a support for discernment and action. The program involves three regional retreats and two local meetings per month over the course of nine months. One local meeting focuses on reading and discussion; the other focuses on mutual support and accountability for practice. Two, three, or more Friends from a local area are asked to attend the retreat together and to commit to the two meetings per month with each other at home. The first retreat was held at Rochester Meeting, September 28, 2002. An alternative for that retreat was Buffalo Meeting's retreat at Finn's Inn October 11-12, to which Buffalo invited Friends from Fredonia, Orchard Park, and Collins. The second retreat was scheduled for January but is being rescheduled for February 22, 2003, in order to bring Michael Green of North Carolina Yearly Meeting and the School of the Spirit as a resource. The third retreat is scheduled for June 28, 2003. The reading list and schedule for the twice-monthly sessions is available in the booklet distributed by NYYM Ministry & Counsel to each meeting in June 2001. A variant of the schedule, adapted for Farmington-Scipio, and the agenda for the first retreat are available by e-mailing or writing Karen Reixach, c/o Rochester Monthly Meeting, 84 Scio St., Rochester NY 14604. Back to contents
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We are coordinating a workshop on Conscience and War, facilitated by Bill Galvin. The program, scheduled for all day Saturday, October 26, 2002, will include draft counselor training and will be held in the Summit Friends Meetinghouse. Meetings within New York Yearly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, along with individuals from universities and a few peace organizations, have been invited to attend. A nominal fee is being requested of participants to cover the cost of the manual, to pay our speaker's expenses, and to provide breakfast and lunch at the event. Childcare is available all day Saturday, and overnight accommodations in Friends' homes are also being provided. We have had quite a number of registrants and expect a good turnout. A frugal meal, consisting of delicious soup-kitchen fare, was held on October 6th by Summit Friends Meeting. Partakers in the meal were asked to contribute the amount they would have spent on a fancier meal at a restaurant. The monies collected were designated to cover the additional expenses incurred in the process of sponsoring the October 26th program. We at Summit Friends Meeting recall with gratification the wonderful support of our local Chatham congregations for our well-attended March forum "Holy Land" Holy Peacemaking. Subsequent to that event, members of the local clergy council have been asking what plans we have to further the cause of peace; we have been given special invitations to interfaith peacemaking forums and have been included in Friends of Open House gatherings to inform us of the possibilities for lending support to an organization called Open House, which is engaged in peacemaking efforts in Israel. As a result of our forum, quite a number of Summit Friends were asked to participate in the September 11th Drew University (Madison, N.J.) forum which focused on In the Aftermath of September 11th: Is There a Future for Religious Pluralism? The morning segment of the program featured three keynote speakers from the three Abrahamic faiths. In a lengthy afternoon session, closed to the public, participants responded to those presentations. Summit Friends Meeting provided handouts at this forum. These consisted of notes summarizing our March forum presentations and small-group sessions, which taught interfaith participants to listen to one another in the manner of Quaker worship sharing. We are still formulating our response, as Quakers, to the Drew program. We are beginning to assemble a collection of reference materials on various aspects of peacemaking for our library, in the hopes of sharing them with members of the local churches and synagogue who participated in our forum, as well as individuals in our meeting. We are including information from the Web sites of Friends Committee on National Legislation, American Friends Service Committee, and the Quaker United Nations Office. We are inquiring about what peacemaking resources are available at local congregations and hope they will reciprocate the sharing process. We have begun giving attention to the possibility of starting a Friends of Open House support group in our local area, hopefully in concert with nearby congregations. Open House is a Jewish-Arab peace and coexistence center in Ramle, Israel, founded 11 years ago by our March forum speaker Yehezkel Landau and his wife. Their codirector is a local Palestinian. Ramle is a multiethnic city of Jews, Muslims, and Christians, about 20% of whom are Arabs. This community center brings together Jewish and Palestinian youth, teachers, and parents in an atmosphere of acceptance and friendship. Many of the programs are centered on children and young people, providing opportunities for them to get to know those of another faith and to share their pain, their fears, and their hopes. By January we hope to hold an interfaith meeting of members of local congregations, both Jewish and Christian, to describe how we might assist the organization Friends of Open House, North America, in its support of the center in Israel. Peacemaking also includes eliminating the causes of war. Widespread AIDS in Africa is causing tremendous destabilization throughout that continent. We are networking with a Quaker healthcare professional in Burundi and are investigating working cooperatively with Montclair Monthly Meeting to work toward AIDS education and prevention and medical management in Kenya. We hope to continue expanding our efforts in this area of peacemaking in the coming months. Cynthia Kwalwasser and Mary Alice Benson
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They served as advocates for peace and, as the meeting quickly made clear, a pastoral presence. This meeting with Senator Clinton lasted for more than an hour, far more time than had been promised. She made a point of thanking the group for meeting on such short notice. In the end, as we know, Sen. Clinton voted to delegate warmaking authority to the president. However, a link may have been forged. AFSC called a meeting of peace and antiwar groups committed to nonviolence and democratic decisionmaking. It met for the first time on September 30 and one week later had almost 100 people turn out from 7:30-9:30 A.M. outside New York's senators' offices to collect signatures against war with Iraq and attach them to two giant postcards that were received by senate staff. The group has coalesced into a continuous alliance, the New York Non-Violence Network. NYMRO also organized a petitioning evening outside the Angelika Film Center, which garnered dozens of signatures in less than two hours. Setting up for even fairly brief times in likely locations can reap a lot of signatures. These Iraq Peace Pledge petitions are sent on to Peter Lems, nationwide coordinator for Iraq antiwar issues in AFSC's Philadelphia headquarters. The names and cities of signers are posted on the Peace Pledge Web site; the actual petitions are used during lobbying visits and other opportunities. The Iraq Peace Pledge can be accessed through AFSC's Web site, www.afsc.org. Friends interested in receiving handout literature, petitions, or other resources are encouraged to phone Cheshire at 212-598-0963 or e-mail her at cfrager@afsc.org. She is also available for speaking engagements, teach-ins, and panels. Back to contents
Chuck Fager pointed out that there is not now a draft, but for the past 20 years 18-year-old males have been required to register. If someone doesn't register, he will be ineligible for any federal or state grants or loans for education. Chuck distributed the Selective Service forms for conscientious objection and in pairs we answered the questions thereon: "Describe the nature of your belief which is the basis of your claim and state why you consider it to be based on religious training and belief," and "Explain how, when and from whom or from what source you received the religious training and acquired the religious belief which is the basis of your claim and any material which will help give the local board the fullest possible picture of how your beliefs developed." Chuck supplied copies of many important documents and writings to illustrate the points he made about Friends history. These are all available at the meetinghouse to be borrowed. An interesting sidelight: Chuck said he wanted to know what kind of Meeting we were and asked three questions: 1) How many have read the Bible all the way through? (Two or three raised their hands.) 2) How many consider themselves Christians? (A little more than half.) 3) How many listen to NPR? (All hands raised.) "Ah!" he said. "You're NPR Quakers . . . the ones who pray, 'O Lord, as you no doubt heard on Morning Edition . . .' " There followed what many considered the best ever talent show, and the evening concluded with stargazing on the hill ably conducted by Eric Rivet, Keith Murdock, and their telescopes. Back to contents
The Financial Services Committee will present the proposed 2003 Budget for the yearly meeting at Representative Meeting on December 7 & 8, hosted by All Friends Meeting. Overall the numbers are up by 5.8% (+$24,892), and the expected income from meetings is up 5.2% (+$20,867). We are doing our best to keep our expenses down. However, there are five significant increases next year: 1. Our rent for the office at 15th Street paid to the New York Quarterly Meeting will be a staggering 18% increase (+$3,000) to pay for a new charge, security. We have absolutely no control of rent charged to us. 2. Junior Yearly Meeting expenses will be increasing by $2,500, as we expect more young Friends to attend the sessions at Silver Bay next summer a welcome sign of a healthy yearly meeting. 3. Our bookkeeping fees will increase by $2,020. 4. The Opportunity Fund will be up by 50% (+$5,000) the costs of supporting released Friends who will continue to visit the worship groups and small or struggling meetings. This is a worthy ministry leading to our well-being and much-needed growth. 5. Peace Initiatives of $8,500 is a new line item in the budget under the Witness Section. This money partially funds the activities of the new Worship and Action working group that we formed after approving the two peace minutes in July, and helps our monthly meetings as they witness for peace. Friendly Discernment Without the strong support of the monthly meetings throughout the regions, our yearly meeting simply could not function. Please know that we no longer have a "head tax" in NYYM for more than four years now. We now use a process called "Friendly discernment" to determine the proportional shares expected from the regions and quarters. Some meetings carry more of the financial responsibility, to provide some relief to others less able to give. We urge each region/quarter to use this same Friendly discernment process in apportioning the shares to your monthly meetings. Arlene Reduto and Tom Martin, coclerks, Financial Services Committee
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Friends Peace Teams Project (FPTP), supported by 15 yearly meetings, organizes peace teams, promotes participation among Friends, and helps local Friends meetings engage in peace work. New York Yearly Meeting was represented at the October Friends Peace Teams Coordinating Committee meeting in Nashville by Rosa Packard and Fred Dettmer, both members of Purchase Meeting, and David Easter, Albany Meeting. At that meeting numerous opportunities for Friends to join peace teams were discussed. The African Great Lakes Initiative
To be continued in the January 2003 issue. David Easter
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The secretary-general's report is a call for engagement of civil society in prevention of violent conflict. Jack Patterson, codirector of QUNO, is exploring with other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) the possibility of four to five regional meetings with civil society to discuss the report. It is hoped that these discussions would culminate in an international conference for NGOs on prevention. In addition, a volunteer intern from Niger who spent some time at QUNO produced the first draft of a paper on poverty and conflict: Does poverty lead to conflict? If so, how? Students in a Wilmington College course on conflict resolution will discuss that topic with Lori Heninger, codirector, during a visit in October. Their professor, Michael Snarr, will ask them to contribute to the advancement of the concept through papers and projects. Sarah Clarke, new associate representative and former intern, is taking up David Jackman's work on control of small arms, working with David Atwood, associate representative at QUNO-Geneva. The study of former girl soldiers, a joint project between QUNO-NY and QUNO-Geneva, is soon to be published; it will be helpful to NGOs that work in the field with former child soldiers and also follow the legalities of the issue. At the UN Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002 the U.S. promised increased development aid of up to $10 billion, but it will be bilateral, not given through the UN. The goals of the Millennium Summit of 2000, almost universally agreed upon, include the halving of poverty by 2015; the estimated cost (World Bank) of implementing the goals is $50 billion per year in additional aid. Aid is usually given with strings attached we'll set up a printing industry for you, if you agree to buy our paper. QUNO's newsletters and briefing papers are available on its Web site at www.quno.org. Lori Heninger Back to contents
The head of school, Kim Tsocanos, explains that although there are pockets of academic pursuits, "the trip is as much about the 'invisibles' of our curriculum the retreat contributes to the social, emotional, and spiritual growth of everyone who joins us on the journey. Given the importance of field trips to Friends philosophy and curriculum, we treat these field trips as integral components to learning, not as optional extracurricular activities. "At Powell House, as on all our field trips, we get to be with one another beyond the confines of the school environment. All ages of children get to work, play, eat, and rest together in ways that develop deep friendships and give a taste of extended family that some of us may otherwise never experience. We are all given the opportunity to enhance and strengthen our feelings of community in a safe environment. "Field trips also foster in students the desire to expand their knowledge about the world and the other people in it. Particularly at this time in history when so much is changing, the Connecticut Friends School feels it is appropriate for children to be comfortable with and enjoy that which is new and unusual. Whether it is food, speech mannerisms, concepts, or physical environments, it is important that children meet 'newness' with the spirit of opportunity, curiosity, and joy about the diversity of our planet." For further information about Connecticut Friends School, contact Judy Meikle, Head of Admissions, 203-762-9860, or visit our Web site, www.ctfriendsschool.org. Sean Higgins, communications & technology coordinator
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NEW MEMBERS Nick Burlakoff - Amawalk
TRANSFERS Virginia Floyd to Sandy Spring (BYM) from Ridgewood DEATHS John Bishop, member of Saratoga, on October 13, 2002.
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