|
of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) |
|||||||||||
ContentsPeace Concerns and Restructuring at Yearly Meeting SessionsQuaker Leadership in These Times was the theme of this year's Yearly Meeting sessions at Silver Bay. Peace activities and the structure of New York Yearly Meeting were the major concerns.In the first session, Linda Chidsey, clerk of NYYM, invited us to see the week as an opportunity for spiritual awakening, personal renewal, and corporate transformation. She used the analogy of a snake shedding its skin, to emerge renewed and lustrous, to encourage us to cast off the old and put on the new. In this light, the Yearly Meeting approved the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Staffing and Structure that we hire a general secretary to oversee the functions of the Yearly Meeting. Minute 56C reads "According to practice, the General Services section will name a search committee for the general secretary position, endeavoring to ensure representation that reflects the diversity of the Yearly Meeting." The general secretary position will be reviewed in three years to determine whether the position, job description, and accomplishments serve NYYM needs. (The report on the Staffing and Structure Committee was mailed to each monthly meeting. It can also be found on the Web site at www.nyym.org/committees/ss/ssjuly03final.pdf. The Yearly Meeting office will mail a copy to anyone who requests it.) Thomas Martin, coclerk of the Financial Services Committee, presented the draft budget for 2004, reviewing the process for discerning this working budget. He noted specifically that the costs for a general secretary are not yet included. Helen Garay Toppins, administrative secretary of the Yearly Meeting, told us that as our government threatened war, prepared for war, and entered into war, the Yearly Meeting staff received a great many phone calls, faxes, e-mails, and walk-in visits from those seeking some sanity in a world gone mad. The staff accommodated as many requests as possible, but they had trouble responding to the needs of isolated Friends and isolated seekers. Frederick Dettmer (Purchase) and Patricia (Paddy) Lane (Butternuts) reported on the Peace Consultation held under sponsorship of Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas, at Guilford College in January. Paddy recalled from the conference that not all of us are "called to the edge"; rather, each of us should discern where we are led individually. She recalled one large idea from the conference: We must work publicly to change structures in ground-shaking ways, to bring about shifts in the way the United States sees and does things. She asked whether an entire yearly meeting could work together to address the changes needed. She reminded us that change is a step-by-step process. Peace does not come without conflict. Can love really overcome violence and hate? Ernestine Buscemi (Morningside) reported on activities of the Quaker United Nations Office. The office works to alleviate regional crises, to aid the United Nations in developing programs for preventing conflicts, and to help with ongoing issues such as the potential threat to international cooperation when people are deprived of fresh water. Vincent Buscemi reported on the Friends General Conference (FGC) Ministry on Racism. The objective of this ministry is to enhance Friends' racial and ethnic diversity and to eradicate racism among Friends. Vince said the committee used the image of a flower to describe its work. God is at the center and the petals are the divine-led work that emerges from continuing revelation. Part of the ministry was offering a study group, Reality of Racism, at Silver Bay. Ann Davidson, clerk of the Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel, reviewed the work done over a number of years by the Task Group on Conflict Transformation. Following this, the Yearly Meeting approved the creation of a new committee, the Committee on Conflict Transformation, under the Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel. The committee's charge is to provide an education in the spiritual basis and skills of Friends' conflict transformation and to facilitate the transformation of conflicts within New York Yearly Meeting. Carol Holmes (Fifteenth Street) and Carolyn Keys (Montclair) reported on the spring 2003 Friends United Meeting Peace Consultation. Carol noted that the conference planners requested that yearly meetings send representatives from both the activist and the spiritual sides of their meetings. Carol had collected into a notebook the weekly pastoral letters from the Worship and Action Working Group to share with conference participants. The gathering noted that this ministry was unique among yearly meetings. Carolyn shared the joy of working with Friends who express their faith differently. The conference participants agreed on several recommendations, including intervisitation and traveling ministries, providing resources and support for building peace skills, reconstituting Friends Coordinating Committee for Peace, and reconvening the FUM Peace Consultation in one year. Friends renewed a travel minute for Radh Achuthan (Peconic Bay). Radh participated in meetings in London, Bangalore, and New Delhi under a concern for global truth and reconciliation. He plans to continue the work at Pendle Hill and Eastern Mennonite College and to participate in the FWCC Triennial in New Zealand. Friends renewed a travel minute for Rosa Packard (Purchase). Traveling under a concern for Friends' peace testimony, particularly for conscientious objectors, Rosa met with Quakers in Germany; gave an oral statement to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in Geneva on behalf of Conscience and Peace Tax International; participated in the FWCC Peace Conference at Guilford College; served as a member of the planning committee for FUM's consultation on the Peace Testimony; and mentored Conscience and Peace Tax International interns. Rosa plans to travel to Geneva in April 2004 to report to the Conscience and Peace Tax International board and its representatives to the United Nations in Geneva and to consult Geneva QUNO staff. She also hopes to go to Brussels in July 2004 for the tenth International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns. If possible, Rosa will attend the July 2004 meeting in eastern Europe of the International Peace Research Association. As way opens, she will support educational programs on conscientious objection issues in other yearly meetings through the Every Monthly Meeting a Peace Center program of Friends Peace Teams Project. The Worship and Action Working Group, consisting of Linda Chidsey, Victoria Cooley, and Frederick Dettmer, gave a report. Friends affirmed the work of this group and approved the recommendation that the working group be continued for another year. The working group is to continue the arrangement for Yearly Meeting assistance to local meetings undertaking actions for peace; continue publication of Worship and Action Updates and postings on the Yearly Meeting Web site, and share news of Friends' worship and actions for peace in other ways; support further Worship and Action gatherings as Friends are ready to convene them; and pay for Worship and Action expenses associated with these recommendations. In the same way that an individual may be given a message to speak in worship, Linda said, so too may a yearly meeting be given a message to speak. It is our responsibility to be faithful listeners and discerners of the message the Spirit is giving us at present. The working group sees itself as giving voice to the worship and action that is taking place across the monthly meetings. Vicki asked Friends, "What would you ask of us or one another, as a way to find our way forward together?" Consent Agenda items that were approved included approval of nominations from the Nominating Committee; approval of resignations from committees; laying down the Friends and Creation Task Group, while encouraging Friends to remain active in their local area and monthly and regional meetings and to maintain contact with NYYM representatives to Friends in Unity with Nature; and approval of recommendations from the NYYM trustees regarding a bequest and the financing of some committees. Finally, the clerk lifted up a sense of the renewal that we have prayed for in the Yearly Meeting. She read the summary from the Renewal Report of 1994, which concludes, "Ultimately renewal will come as a gift, an inpouring of God's unending love for God's people. It may not come in the form expected or desired, but it will come. Our job is to be faithful and deeply obedient. We need only await it with confidence and receive it with gratitude." Paul Busby
Immigrant Workers Freedom RideThe American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Immigrant Rights Program is working with the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride (IWFR). Between Sept. 20 and Oct. 4, 2003, busloads of immigrant workers (documented and undocumented) and their allies will ride buses from nine U.S. cities to Washington, D.C., for meetings with Congressional leaders, then continue on to a culminating rally in Queens, N.Y.According to the IWFR Web site, www.iwfr.org, "Immigrant workers, living and paying taxes in the United States, deserve the rights to legalize their status, to have a clear road to citizenship, to reunify their families, to have a voice on the job without regard to legal status, and to enjoy full protection of their civil rights and civil liberties—rights denied by their undocumented status and outdated laws. AFSC is an endorser of the IWFR. It should be noted that no civil disobedience is planned during the IWFR. For more information about AFSC's involvement, contact Rosita Choy, rchoy@afsc.org; 202-547-6000 x148 or Jonathan Blazer, jblazer@afsc.org; 215-241-7136. Infant Care Kits for IraqisAmerican Friends Service Committee has begun a new campaign to provide infant-care kits to Iraquis. Each kit will contain two new receiving blankets, one pack of new baby washcloths, one bar of baby soap, and one new baby hairbrush. The kits will be distributed to clinics, maternity wards, and other places so that new mothers will have a few basics to begin life with their new children. For information about how you can distribute kits visit http://www.afsc.org/iraq/relief/kits.shtm.To defray shipping costs and to purchase additional useful items such as vitamins, AFSC requests a contribution of $10 per kit. Please write a check payable to AFSC/EMAP and send it with the kit to AFSC/EMAP, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia PA 19102-1479. Four other collection centers are listed on the Web site. For further information contact Anne Wright in the New York Metropolitan Regional Office of AFSC, 212-598-0951; awright@afsc.org. This campaign ends Oct. 31, 2003. NYYM Epistle7th Month 20–26, 2003Silver Bay, New York To Friends Everywhere! In the opening worship of our 308th session, the Clerk read a poem by e e cummings that begins "i thank You God for most this amazing day". The poem speaks of reawakening: to see and to hear anew. Inviting the children to come to the front of the room, the Clerk displayed a newly cast snakeskin. The snake must rub against rough rocks to peel off its skin inside out, including the covering of its eyes. In its new skin, the snake shines brightly and its eyes see clearly again. We, too, must change, sloughing off old habits, if we are to see clearly. The State of Society report conveyed a sense of spiritual vitality in our monthly meetings. The report also pointed out a number of challenges to be faced. Messages that were brought spoke of listening to the Spirit and taking up the challenges. Retha McCutcheon, visiting from Friends United Meeting, asked us to discern, "What is the right thing for Friends to do at this time?" Keynote speaker Rubye Braye asked Friends to listen to the call of the Spirit, to test the leading, then to do that thing we are called to do. When we follow our calling, the action becomes our Art, a manifestation of God's love. Forgiveness, she said, creates a space for the Holy Spirit to enter. Elizabeth Duke, who travels the world for Friends World Committee for Consultation, told us that people all over the world are praying for Friends in the United States in these difficult times. We sense our connection in the Spirit and thank you for your prayers. Vincent Buscemi reported that the Ministry on Racism of the Friends General Conference is calling Friends to healing and transformation. Representatives who attended the Friends United Meeting Peace Conference reported that our Yearly Meeting weekly Worship and Action reports are unique, useful, and inspiring. The meeting took action to continue this service. In our business sessions, we heard memorial minutes, received reports, and endorsed travel minutes. We created a committee on conflict transformation and approved a position for a general secretary. We trust that this addition in staff will enhance our witness. In Bible study, led by Alan Kolp, the Paradise theme served as a spiritual context to hear again the biblical story of the human quest for union with God that underlies peace and harmony. This Yearly Meeting was attended by 450 adults and 152 young people, Friends from eleven weeks old to ninety-six years young. Although it rained frequently during the week, Friends found joy in one another's presence. We especially enjoyed the ways that the large and active Junior Yearly Meeting engaged with Friends of all ages, and appreciated the teenagers' outreach to adults. We are heartened to see Young Friends carrying forward our Quaker Testimonies by working in Friends' organizations We send our greetings, knowing that as partners with God, we work together to heal the world. Linda B. Chidsey,
War is Not the AnswerTo Young Friends,Our week here at Silver Bay is almost over. Since we got here to Yearly Meeting, we have been gathering treasures. Not the kind of treasure you can take home and put in a special box, but the treasures of the heart, gifts we give each other with our friendship and love and laughter and kindness. Some of us are here for the first time. How many of you are here for the first time? Others have been coming for many years, maybe your whole life! How long have you been coming to Silver Bay? Many of you have been greeted by people who know who you are, but who you don't remember. Some Friends here have known you since you were babies. Some have known your parents and even your grandparents since they were kids like you. All of you are here because your families want you to have the treasures of the heart that we find here, so that you can know how wonderful it is to live, even for just a week, in a safe and beautiful place with hundreds of people who care about you and who see you as the treasure of their hearts. The adults have a pretty good idea of what you've been doing this week: working and playing, worshiping and singing, splashing and swimming in the lake and in wishing the rain would stop so you could do more of that. We loved the gifts you gave the Yearly Meeting at the Fun(d) Fair and Café Night. And as we have been meeting, we have been so happy to see you having fun. We want you to know what we've been doing while we sat in our meetings. Quakers believe that if we sit together quietly and ask the Holy Spirit of God to guide us, we can learn how to work together to make our world a more peaceful place for everyone. On Tuesday evening, our Friend Rubye Braye told us that if we listen for that voice of the spirit in our hearts, and faithfully do the work that is given to us, we will be able to change the world. We are all unhappy that American soldiers go to fight in faraway lands. Whenever there's a fight with guns and bombs and rocks and knives, people get hurt and die and we wish that would never happen. So we have spent a lot of time this week talking and listening and praying about how we can help all the people understand that no matter what the problem is, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. As you get older (and so do we adults) the work of making peace will be more and more your job. So we want to give you the treasure of Yearly Meeting and Silver Bay to keep in your hearts. If you remember how people live together here, it will help you to believe that there can be Peace, a real treasure. Together we pray "Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with us." We thank you for putting up with our busy-ness and our rules, and even our grouchiness sometimes. We hope you take home the treasures you found this week and keep them safe in your hearts, until you bring them back to Yearly Meeting to share another year. We love you. NYYM Sessions Committee
Note on the Epistle from the Elders at Balby, 1656A transcription of the copy in the Lancashire Records Office has been placed on the Web site of Quaker Heritage Press at http://www.qhpress.org/texts/balby.html. The transcription in NYYM's Faith and Practice is a paraphrased summary of the text quoted ;by William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism.Thanks to Richard Accetta-Evans for letting us know of this transcription. Harold J. Risler, convener
NYYM Web Site Continues to GrowEach day more than 200 people from all over the world visit NYYM's Web site, www.nyym.org. Some are looking for meetings; some want to look up something in Faith and Practice; some are looking for information about peace activities—the reasons for visits are endless. Friends and others can find a wealth of material on the site.Recent additions to the site include the text of all the Worship and Action Updates, which the Working Group on Worship and Action sends out by e-mail nearly every week. Rubye Braye's presentation at Silver Bay, Leadership During These Times is on the site, as is the report of NYYM's Task Group on Conflict Transformation. The Yearly Meeting's Epistles from recent years are on the site, as are State of the Society reports. You'll find the complete text of Faith and Practice and the NYYM Handbook, along with recent and back issues of Spark and InfoShare. Looking for a meeting near you? The Meetings section lists every monthly meeting and worship group in the Yearly Meeting, with times and locations of worship, contacts, and links to the Web sites of meetings that have them. The Other Quaker Sites section and the Peace section provide links that can keep you surfing and learning for days. Each year's Yearbook is also posted on the site, but without the alphabetical section. (We don't make individuals' personal information available except, with their permission, when they are the contact persons for events, etc.) It is important for people to know that all these materials are available on paper, for those who don't have access to the Web. Items such as InfoShare and the Worship and Action Updates are sent out to people who request them. (If you want to be on the list to receive material by postal mail, please let Helen Garay Toppins know by calling the office or sending her a letter or card c/o NYYM, 15 Rutherford Place, New York, NY 10003; 212-673-5750.) Paul Busby, Web weaver Building a Culture of PeaceYoung People Working for PeaceA thrilling place: The March 15th protest [in New York City] happened right outside my window . . . I had to show my NYU i.d. to about four police before I could get into my dorm, and I felt like the spoiled little NYU kid. The park [Washington Square] was a thrilling place to be that day; it's so exciting to hear the sound of thousands of passionate, concerned, angry people emanating from, essentially, my own backyard. —Raphaela WeissmanPlaying music for peace: I wanted to let you know that I have been actively working for peace in the best way I know how—through music. I have been performing with my band, the Daria Musk Trio, in NYC nearly every weekend, and we have held a number of concerts in the name of peace. On February 15th we played two shows in one night! First our own that we had booked midtown on the West Side and put up posters and flyers everywhere, waved the cover charge, and asked people to come for solidarity and song. Then we packed up our equipment as fast as we could, loaded up the car, thanked everyone for coming, and then booked it over to the Not In Our Name concert for peace. I had contacted them after hearing about Not In Our Name from a previous march in Washington, D.C. I got in touch with their music director, sent in a CD, and got us into the show to play a few songs. It was held in a huge church, filled with tables set up for different organizations for the cause, and discussion areas labeled with topics where people could sit and voice their opinions, and brainstorm ways to help and work for each particular issue. We, by some miracle, made it there with some time to hang around and check things out before we had to go on. (NYC was so packed on the 15th, I don't know how we got there in time.) We sat backstage in a narrow stairwell, jammed with performers and people running the sound, cradling our instruments, waiting anxiously to go on. Finally we got onto this big stage, plugged in, and played! We played "Dove," a song I wrote a while ago, but I thought spoke to the issues, of creating peace inside and outside of ourselves. We had a blast, it was very powerful to be a part of such a great demonstration. In Peace and Music —Daria Musk FCNLFriends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) will hold its annual meeting November 13–16, 2003, with the theme Building a Culture of Peace, at Georgetown University Conference Hotel, Washington, D.C.Scheduled speakers include Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of Children's Defense Fund, and Bobby Muller, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. The annual meeting will begin with a briefing and lobby day on Capitol Hill at 1:00 P.M. Participants are urged to plan to arrive early and schedule an appointment with the offices of your elected representatives. If you are interested in receiving registration materials, please call or e-mail FCNL at 800-630-1330 ext. 112 or e-mail lauren@fcnl.org. Worship and Action Retreat: Where Does Peace Lead Us?Where does our Peace Testimony lead us now? Friends are invited to consider this question in worship Oct. 31–Nov. 2, 2003, at Worship and Action retreats near Albany, and possibly near Buffalo and in New Jersey (to be confirmed).Queries will be sent to monthly meetings ahead of time, so that everyone in our Yearly Meeting can reflect and share with their home meetings. Retreat participants are encouraged to write out their individual responses in preparation for the weekend. Everyone is welcome! We hope that each monthly meeting will send at least two people to this important weekend retreat and ask them to share their experience when they return home. The Peace Initiatives Fund will help pay for the weekend. An announcement with registration forms and additional information will be sent to all monthly meetings and posted on the NYYM Web site in mid-September. Nonviolent PeaceforceThe Nonviolent Peaceforce is a "peace army" composed of trained civilians from throughout the world. In partnership with local groups, Peaceforce members apply research-based nonviolent strategies to protect human rights, deter violence, and help create space for local peacemakers to carry out their work. Affinity and support groups work locally on behalf of the Peaceforce.For further information go to www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org. To network with NYYM Friends interested in forming affinity groups and to learn more about the Nonviolent Peaceforce, contact Jane Simkin, Box 53, Poplar Ridge, NY 13139. Light behind the WallsOn October 17–19, 2003, Eddie Ellis, Coordinator for Riverside Church Prison Ministries, and Helen Garay Toppins, clerk of NYYM Prisons Committee, will facilitate Light Behind the Walls.This Powell House weekend will explore the status of prison worship groups, related prison issues and criminal justice concerns within NYYM. The weekend is sponsored by the NYYM Prisons Committee with special invitations to AVP, AFSC, the Black Concerns Committee, and the Latin American Concerns Committee. To date the agenda items are: hearing reports from all of our prison worship groups; how to get more volunteers for existing and new worship groups; how to start new prison worship groups; hearing reports from AVP about their prison workshops; how to get more volunteers for participation in AVP prison workshops; hearing reports from AFSCs Newark and Syracuse Criminal Justice Programs; juvenile justice issues such as how to promote Quaker visitation and AVP type programs in upstate juvenile justice facilities; development of coordinated strategy for how the NYYM Prisons Committee, AVP and AFSC can improve communication. Powell House is giving us the special committee rate —$128/person and $80/person for commuters. Workcamp in KenyaManhattan Monthly Meeting invites Friends to a workcamp next year to restore Friends schools in Kenya. The workcamp will be from August 1 to 9, 2004. For more information write to Manhattan Monthly Meeting, 15 Rutherford Pl., New York NY 10003. Information is also available about the Kenyan HIV/AIDS Project.S. Jean Smith, Manhattan Meeting Military Counselor TrainingA training for counselors on military discharges and GI rights will be held Saturday, Sept, 27, 2003, 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., in the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) office at 15 Rutherford Pl. in New York City. The facilitator will be Bill Galvin of the Center on Conscience and War. The sponsoring organizations are AFSC, Purchase Quarterly Meeting, and the NYYM Peace Concerns Committee.The location is the same as the Fifteenth Street Meeting: between 15th and 16th Sts. and between 2nd and 3rd Aves., near the Union Square subway station. For registration information please contact Rosa Packard. The training is limited to 25 persons. Cost is $10 at the door (if you can't afford it, contact Rosa Packard).Coffee and light snacks will be provided. Lunch is available at nearby restaurants and delis. Reference book to be used: Helping Out: A Guide to Military Discharges and GI Rights by Alex Doty. Attendees should order and bring their own copy of the book, available online at www.objector.org for $40. NYS Labor-Religion Coalition Delegation & Border PilgrimageA Journey of Hope and Life—Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, 2003. The New York State Labor-Religion Coalition has been coordinating delegations to visit the border of Mexico since 1997. Delegations experience the impact of free trade (NAFTA) through the stories and experiences of the people who work in border factories and who live with NAFTA policies.This delegation will be a journey toward understanding the peril of migrants and their families in search of a better life, the root causes of economic injustice on both sides of the border, and the religious spirit that demands of us concern for the stranger in our midst and for humane treatment of all workers. The cost of $1,300 per person Includes round-trip air fare from Albany, NY., to El Paso, Tex., transportation to and within Mexico, meals, housing, translation, stipends for host groups in Mexico, participation in Border Pilgrimage events and fiesta, plus preparatory materials. For information: Maureen Casey, NYS Labor-Religion Coalition, 800 Troy-Schenectady Rd., Latham NY 12110; 518-272-8275; maureenc@labor-religion.org or www.labor-religion.org. Alternative Information SourcesDo you wonder sometimes what the major corporate-owned media aren't telling us? The American Friends Service Committee's San Francisco office has a Web page, www.afsc.org/pacificmtn/alternative-info.htm, listing Web sites that provide useful information on some key concerns, including civil liberties, globalization, and the Middle East. Another source of alternative information is Paul Busby's site, http://www.papipaul.org. [Click on the Alternative Sources link on the home page.]Impressions of Yearly MeetingThe Promise of Yearly MeetingI could feel the sacred space of Silver Bay, and the power of the Spirit among us, and I was filled with gratitude, renewal, inspiration, and hope.There were two messages that I heard over and over again, expressed in different words and in different ways, but still the same messages. The first is that the world is praying for and expecting a powerful response from our yearly meeting to carry forth in action our testimony of peace. The second is that Friends are ready and eager to work toward eradicating racism and other forms of oppression in ourselves, in our Society, and in our world. Every night I was reminded of the movement of the Spirit flowing through NYYM by a storm-swollen stream racing directly under my room in Overlook on its way toward the lake: irrepressible forward movement, change, living water, and the cycle of life back to its source. Linda Chidsey opened sessions on First Day with a reading of one of my favorite poems by e e cummings, "I thank you god for this most amazing day." She then told the children about a snake skin, shed by a snake rubbing on hard places to remove even the covering over its eyes in order to grow and see. The lesson: To grow and change and see anew we have to shed old ways, and this may have to be done by rubbing up against hard issues. We then sang the "Hymn of Promise" about all that is "unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see." As the week progressed, the seeds of that promise were everywhere visible to me in the actions and words of individuals and groups meeting together. FUM's Retha McCutchen gave an account of a righteous Gentile saving a Jewish man's life because "it was the right thing to do." She called us to speak to the condition of our country, and invited us to think, pray, and join with others in one voice. Elizabeth Duke recounted that in her world travels working for FWCC, the call and burden of Friends' testimony —what we are being called to do and to respond to as led—is very heavy right now. She pointed out that others all over the world are praying for Friends here in the U.S., trusting us to follow the teaching God will give us. This moved me profoundly to a place beyond words. Fred Dettmer and Paddy Lane reported on FWCC's Peace Consultation and Conference at Guilford College. "We are not all called to the edge. Each must respond to an individual call." They said we must work publicly to change structures in ground-shaking ways and make massive shifts in the way we see and do things in this country. They reminded us that love is the way to peace. It is an unfolding process and one must first listen to the Holy Spirit. To convey our peace in a society determined on quick-fix solutions, we must remove the film from the eyes fixed on armed conflict as a solution. They suggested we ask others, "Given your experience, what would you now demand before supporting the next war?" and, "Without going to war to seek our goals, how could we better spend the one billion dollars a week that it costs to keep a military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq?" Ernie Buscemi from QUNO also called for unity and one voice among Friends, and prayed for us to be centered, settled, alert, and aware. Speakers from the floor expressed gratitude and gave moving appreciation to the Worship and Action Working Group for what they are doing. We learned that their weekly pastoral letter of witness and worship is unique and that others are watching what is going on in our yearly meeting. This group sees that their work is to listen and reflect back, and asks if we as a body will continue to be faithful to the message given to us. Along with these messages of action for peace was the partner message to end racism. This was the other thread that was woven through the entire week for me. Vince Buscemi, representative from FGC's Ministry on Racism Committee, spoke of FGC's mission to eradicate racism in FGC and its meetings. Toward this end, Vince facilitated a study group, The Reality of Racism, and Jeff Hitchcock facilitated another, White Antiracist Friends. In addition, Charley Flint and I led an interest group, The Joys and Challenges of Interracial Families. Both the numbers attending and the conversations and discussions they generated attested to the timeliness of these topics. I was touched by the earnestness of individuals and their eagerness to take issue with this institutionalized system of oppression that has touched all of our lives. Other study groups also dealt with related topics of oppression (Relation of Feminism to Quakerism, and Trauma Healing and Reconciliation). The nature of oppression is to confuse people, and many in NYYM appear ready to respond to the message to enlighten and free ourselves and others from this institutionalized system that divides and hurts us all. Our plenary speaker, Rubye Braye, was an example of how love can overcome the bitterness of oppression. She exuded that love in her personal encounters with me and with others. Rubye pointed to our calling and reminded us to have joy in doing our work. She also reminded us that "art is whatever work you are called to do at its highest level," and "if God hasn't called you, he probably called someone else." None of us has to do it all. Nor do we have to do it alone. Working on issues of racism and other oppressions is hard work, and it was deeply gratifying to see from the enthusiasm and interest of Friends that many are eager to do the work. Cracks are appearing in the ice of a very long winter, and the breakup and floe are inevitable. The final evidence of the vitality of the life of our yearly meeting, which filled me with gratitude and hope, was the presence of my now adult children. Both go to great lengths and personal effort to attend at least part of the week. It is their renewal, both spiritual and physical, for the year ahead. Silver Bay is a place for connections, stimulation and growth, deep introspection, and play. It is a place where we, as a body, intentionally go to meet the Spirit in action. That our youth feel that Presence as much as those who have a longer history in Yearly Meeting is a promise for our future and a testimony to who we are. Evelyn Kennenwood, Syracuse Meeting Hope for Vision and PowerThe high point of Yearly Meeting for me came in worship sharing. It was a difficult group(!): not the greatest location and folks seemed to resist the usual ground rules for deepening worship and coming closer to one another. But in the very last session came a real epiphany. One of the group spoke of training for fencing in college, of rehearsing and holding the postures and stances until he ached. Gradually came the ability to remain relaxed and calm and deeply centered, even though his body was fiercely active in a fencing match. Now, I have a new and compelling metaphor to guide me in my effort to stay centered as I go through life's chores and challenges!Did others find this year's sessions curiously subdued? Was it the mood I brought with me or were many Friends, in fact, more reflective and prayerful than confident and sure of the road ahead? I left Yearly Meeting somewhat saddened. Attendance at Junior Yearly Meeting was the lowest since 1986. Attendance in general also seemed low (fear of a bad economy and unemployment?). Some 40 meetings in our Yearly Meeting have an active membership of 15 people or fewer! I keep hoping that a burning, passionate vision for our Religious Society will develop and guide us into this new century. Everyone with whom I spoke at Yearly Meeting agreed that the world desperately needs Friends' values and beliefs, needs to see them being practiced. Yet, I don't know how that will happen. Are we experiencing deep power in our local meetings for worship? Are we sharing the excitement of that power with friends and neighbors (do I?)? I fully approve of returning to the general secretary and field staff personnel format. But I kept wondering whether it wouldn't take more than a new general secretary to reverse the ongoing decline in our numbers. If a vision of new and vital service to God and to the world were to grow up, would we take up the challenge? Glen Bibler, Brooklyn Meeting Where Two or Three Are Gathered in My NameWe will travel there together. We have left Interstate Highway 87 North, exit 24. Some six minutes ago we came to a junction, left on 9 North.It is winding and bending like a roller coaster, up and down hill. There! There! There! Below is the Bay! A breathtaking sight from your altitude and vantage point. It is for you a Spiritual Journey. You recall from your last plane ride the pilot saying We are making our decent, as we are on our final approach only this time it's to Silver Bay and you are in your car. You have come this far with great expectation. Impression begins to form from the moment you arrive at the entrance to the Silver Bay Association road. You hear the voices of children. You noticed on your way in; they are happily playing, screaming, and singing. Lots of them exploring the terrain and trails along the slopes leading to the gigantic mountain standing vertically erect to the left of you, and so very near. This is a great gathering of Friends. George Fox is making an impress upon your thought. You know there is room for you at the table and you will be fed. The greetings become intense. You are eating and speaking from one side of your mouth as Friends descend upon Friends in this joyous fashion. You feel the intensity of God's Love. It is spiritual sustenance to the soul, courage for the heart, and healing for the body. You are the friend of a Friend, indeed, hundreds of Friends, and you are together in one place only a breath apart. It's time to unload your luggage. You enter your assigned room with the assist of several friends and their children, everyone carrying something. Shortly thereafter you are alone in quietness and you are thoughtfully in prayer, thanking God for: your safe arrival, the family of Friends, the Association of Silver Bay, and all those who maintain its function, making us feel at home away from home. The Chapel bells ring out: All those who wish may enter with songs of praise and worship. It is a beautiful chapel with a lovely pipe organ. Another bell rings and it is the Quaker call to make ready to present yourself as a vessel to be filled to receive the Holy Spirit's charge, in that silent place within you, and to follow its leadings. To us the Gathering of Friends, all together, in one place, is sacred. Each person approaches the Auditorium, or place of Meeting, inside or outside, with deep inner reverence for that of God in everyone. Inside, the children are seated with their parents. On stage, the officers of the New York Yearly Meeting and Junior Yearly Meeting are seated in an array of splendor and beauty. A choir is present. A deep silence is growing. It grows deeper like a dimming light, until all is hushed. And like the dawn of the morning, the Clerk rises and, softly audible, proclaims slowly, Welcome, Friends, to the 308th Session of the New York Yearly Meeting. The clerk tells the children a symbolic story. It relates the snake changing its skin by shedding the old one and taking on the new. It is interpreted by the writer to be translated to us, spiritually meaning: We have gathered here to shed old ways, all negative actions or thoughts that would injure ourselves and others of humankind. To know that as Quakers under the Society of Friends, we are called to renew our faith; to be strong in the Strength and Power of the Holy Spirit; to know the Right, see the Right, and do the Right. And when we leave this place, go out into the world and live that life of service to humanity as Christ commands us through the Holy Spirit. We hear the whispering of Christ, For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them. The Clerk sits down with the little children and is speaking with them when a voice from the back interrupts, Excuse me, I have a question.The Friend is allowed to speak. Why don't we use the mike? he inquires. The question is well taken, and the microphone goes into use for the benefit of all. Spiritual democracy in action. The Clerk then walks to the podium and presents the welcome message, followed by the Hymn of Promise, sung by the Children's Choir. Many Friends join in singing that hymn. It is beautifully set to music. Now there is silence, an awe-imposed silence. The senses are elated and too full for sound. There seems to have manifested from that song a vibration that most people feel. I certainly feel it. It infuses the entire auditorium with calmness. The moment has arrived. Time for the roll call for the New York Yearly Meeting. Every Friend will stand up when his or her meeting's name is called. My wife and I feel the joys of Unadilla Friends rising up in us as Unadilla Meeting is called. We feel lifted up because we hold their images in our mind. They are with us in Spirit and in thought. They are the Unadilla Meeting. Yes, the roll is called, and we are together. We often sing together there at the meeting, O Love that wilt not let me go. Dawn breaks upon the lake. The water mirroring the sky reflects a silver aura toward the foaming clouds, and a calm, soothing light tinctured with orange gold radiates the greenery around us. We are housed at Hepbron upon the slope, so early morning we sit out on the porch, breathing in the morning air. There we feel the spirit of cleansing. A woodpecker in a nearby tall tree is sounding off the way woodpeckers do: ra-tat-ta-tat. Then the chapel bell rings out. Some Friends attend singing at the Chapel. Others fill the Boathouse upon the lake, where they unite in silent worship. I gaze at the creeping, rising sun, having a fiery disk, a red sun, the color of blood. The hymn Spirit of God like fire burning. The latter day saints are walking the earth, comes to mind. A bell sounds. It's breakfast time. There will be worship sharing soon. The gathered body of Friends will be divided into small groups of twelve, more or less, depending on people's interest. What we discuss is never repeated. The group is bonded together, locked in trust. Herein is the mystery of a faith so powerful, the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it. My experience of this exercise is the enrichment of the soul. It is in this way one comes to touch, see, and feel immortality and one's own Ethereal Life as an individual Friend, changed by the Divine Being, which gives utterance to the Holy Spirit, conforming that of God in every one. A bell sounds again. Now we shall journey toward the Auditorium and unite into one body, guided by the Spirit. Listening to the Spirits leading out of that silent place within us: The Great Temple. The Creator's fashioned it so that they may dwell therein. This brings us to our business of the day. That business is to seek the Truth, Enlightenment, Wisdom, and Divine Guidance in all we do. The week will end with the pentecostal vision of Christ's ascendance; and after this admonition: This shalt thou be conscious of only the Breath of God passing through your nostrils. Feel the Center of Christ's abode in thy forehead. Hear this whisper to the heart. Friends go forth and live all ye in the Joy of Christ and the Holy Spirit; thy Eternal Teacher. This is the sum of my impressions regarding the 308th session of the New York Yearly Meeting. Amen Stanford Mighty, Unadilla Meeting ImpermanenceThe weather report for the Silver Bay area looked ominous for the upcoming days, and when I arrived on Wednesday for the second half of the session, the rain was already falling. My companion, on a previous rainy stay at Silver Bay, had commented on how much the weather there reminded her of Basho, the Japanese poet and contemporary of George Fox. And indeed, the sound of water falling from the downspout during the silence of a meeting, the walk between buildings, splashes in puddles, an umbrella held against the rain, and the low clouds gathered against the mountains across the lake, all evoked half-remembered haiku poems.The transient nature of things is one of the themes of Basho's poems. Having come to Silver Bay a number of times over the past ten years I have come to know in a small way things of permanence, or at least the illusion of permanence, and things of transience in this place. The mountains and clean waters of Lake George seem permanent. Quakers' love for ice cream, their love of a good cause, and their love for choosing the right words when crafting a minute seem only a little less permanent. Transience was only too apparent with the reading of Asa Watkins' memorial minute this year. Asa was a beloved member of Summit Meeting, my meeting, and he was my friend and mentor. My memory of Asa is intimately bound to my memory of Silver Bay and Lake George. Asa loved the lake. He had a summer cabin on it near the tip of the Tongue Mountain. There is no road in; you have to take a boat to get to it. During my last stay at Silver Bay Asa invited me to his cabin. We made the trip out on his boat and spent a wonderful afternoon there. The property had been in his family for years. The cabin had the accretion of the many summers spent there; it reminded one of a live-in Joseph Cornell construction with items from the past lovingly preserved and carefully placed in their appropriate locations. We sat on porch in the sun, drank glasses of iced tea, watched the humming birds make furtive flights to the feeder, and waved to the excursion boat as it tooted a greeting to Asa as it made its way up the lake. Sadly much of the cabin was lost in a fire only days after my stay, another reminder of the transience of things. But Asa and his sons spent the next few years replacing and rebuilding what was lost in that fire. I remember his excitement about finding a tin roof replacement that exactly duplicated the old roof—the proof was that it produced the same sound when raindrops fell on it. Perhaps in a similar way Silver Bay functions to renew us in a world of impermanence. It is a time and place where we come to renew our relationships with others in the Meeting, it is a time of refreshment and a time to renew our relationship with God. Jeff Bird, Summit Meeting A Nation at WarThe 308th Session of New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends became for me a procession of memories and thoughts, many of which have long clamored for attention, but following these takes time set aside, intentionally. A setting such as Silver Bay allows this to happen, as it did for me this week. Renewing old and young acquaintances and listening to each other's stories surely illustrates to us that our paths have similar twists and turns, yet our very presence here this week signifies our bold efforts at survival and our determination to forge ahead by the Grace of God.We all, I believe, in one way or another have struggled with what a nation at war does to our testimony on peace. Several workshops and conversations testify to how vulnerable we are, when cast against dominant powers and philosophies that so differ from our own. We are distressed and dismayed at the seeming weakening of our Quaker testimonies in the many aspects of domination by warfare to which we seem to have become unwilling partners. Guilty by inaction, or is it fear? Or is it that our Peace Testimony has lost substance and is now a mere shadow of its once compelling self? I speak for myself, and continue to seek for ways to substantiate and incorporate our Quaker Peace Testimony in my daily life. Pacifism, brought into my life through Quakerism, has become an integral part of the Truth that helps to focus the Light within me. Quakers are a "trying" group in more ways than one. We willingly or unwillingly find ourselves confronting racism, genderism, injustice and many of society's ills that we are moved to bring to our attention. History does attest to some degree of success in these and other areas that loudly call for justice, but I often wonder when our dreams of a just world will, with our help, become realities—measurable, tangible, and sustaining. Further, I ask of our Quaker body, do we have the courage, the intestinal fortitude, the will to continue this now receding goal of equality and justice for all? The week at Silver Bay, to say the least, was thought-provoking. It challenges me to give attention to areas of life that seem to be doing quite well in their dormant state, maybe for years. Yet a workshop, a study group, a conversation over meals, always serves as a prod to one comfort zone or another, to cause me to seek for further Light on the subject. The bookstore is a great help as a source yet, and this I have found to be so true, that the opportunity for worship sharing often serves up the questions, answers, testimonies, observations, and the stillness in which many of our stirrings find a leading, if not a complete answer. People—power under the guidance of the Holy Spirit at work is an inestimable recipe for some, if not all, our ills. The week at Silver Bay serves to nurture us with its abundance of natural offerings—the beauty of the lake, the mountains, the sound of happy children's shrieks and laughter, and if we try hard enough, time for rest and recreation. Time to cause to evolve the poet, the painter, the journaler, the clown that oft shadows us, but which we oft repress with the plea of insufficient time. We were made to see that even our business session is learning and demonstrating its reluctance to be subjugated to the tyranny of time. If a snake can change its skin, why so can we change the way we were. And we leave this Yearly Meeting with more substance than shadows. It is my hope and prayer that as Quakers we grow, we change, we come more fully into the image we were created to be. Daisy Palmer, Westbury Meeting Why I Attend Yearly MeetingAlthough I have been going to Yearly Meeting for over a dozen years now, I know I am a comparable newcomer compared to many of the annual dedicated visitors. Nevertheless, I sometimes ask myself why I go to Yearly Meeting nearly every year. There are many reasons not to go, such as this year's weather, but there are still more to keep me returning year after year.The positive attitude of so many of the Q's is one reason to keep going. This year, for example, the forecast was for rain, thunder, and lightning, day, after day, after day. Still, all week long the Quakers kept their chins up, persevered, and maintained positive attitudes. Actually, most of the days turned out to be only partly cloudy. They were very humid with occasional light rain interspersed with a few heavy downpours, but not so bad as long as one was not caught in the open at the time of a downpour. How did the sessions go this year? I could not attend the first day due to a commitment in New Jersey, but left early Tuesday morning and arrived at Silver Bay in time for lunch. Although there was some light rain along the way, the 4-1/2 hour drive was relaxing. I met many long-time Friends on the porch and at lunch. My reasons for attending YM certainly can't be the food. It is mediocre at best, but it is nourishing, so I go anyhow and then slip off campus for an occasional nosh. During the rest, family time, and recreation scheduled from 1-2:30 P.M., I was able to chat with and get caught up with still more Friends. Is it perhaps the opportunity to renew friendships that I enjoy attending YM? Then, at 2:30 it was time for an important Personnel Committee meeting during which we appointed officers of the committee for the coming year and discussed other personnel matters. On Wednesday it again rained much of the day. Following breakfast, I skipped my usual morning constitutional because of the rain but enjoyed an early period of solitary meditation on the porch with beautiful Lake George in the background. I then attended unprogrammed meeting for worship and followed up with the morning business meeting. Since power was out during the meeting and we were without microphones, speakers were asked to speak loudly and to enunciate clearly. They came through admirably. The meeting discussed the report recommending the hiring of a general secretary (GS) but did not reach a conclusion. Jeff Aaron reported that in 1996 the staff costs were 47.1% of that year's budget. For 2004 it would be only 37.8% without a GS and 45.4 % with a GS, so the numbers were clearly in line with historical precedents. Nonetheless, it was decided to postpone a decision to permit the consideration of minutes from several monthly meetings on the subject. Next there followed another meeting of the Personnel Committee, during which much was discussed and we agreed to meet again in the fall. After dinner, the evening business session approved the hiring of a general secretary with the understanding that the matter would be reviewed after three years. Quaker ability to solve amicably most of the occasional sticky matters that arise is another reason I enjoy attending YM. Thursday morning was interrupted by two business calls from N.J. that were entirely unnecessary. I quickly disposed of them to attend the morning business sessions. There was a memorial minute for Asa Watkins, with whom I served on the board of the McCutchen Yearly Meeting Nursing Home for many years. Several moving messages followed the minute. He will be missed. The afternoon was spent just talking to many bright, interesting, and dedicated people. Perhaps these enjoyable discussions are the reason I enjoy YM. Friday arrived, and at last the sun came out! I spent the early morning reading the New York Times on the porch and then later joined the worship in the auditorium. Then, following lunch there was an afternoon meeting of the Nurture Coordinating Committee to attend. We heard an architect speak on the accessibility of facilities, which was quite interesting. Although I left during the late afternoon and had spent the day indoors in meetings, the drive home was sunny and relaxed. So just why do I attend Yearly Meeting? Do I attend YM for the chance to attend the unprogramed worship with a very large number of like-minded Friends? Is it because there are more things going on that I enjoy than things I don't care for? Is it for discussions with intelligent and informed people? I certainly don't do it because of the food, or the weather. It seems that it is usually too hot and humid or too wet and humid. It is none of the above and is really very simple. Throw out the perceived pluses and minuses. Somehow, Yearly Meeting proves to be an uplifting experience. I go for the same reason I attend weekly meeting for worship. Attending Yearly Meeting just plain makes me feel better! Larry Coulthurst, Somerset Hills Everyone Can Know GodEveryone, without exception, has access to the inward knowledge of God. Friends believe this means that our worship and life together can be very simple and honest. Jesus said, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24) There is no need for outward priests or religious rituals. For some Friends, worship is based entirely on silent waiting for the inward voice of God; others include music, scripture reading, and prepared sermons; all seek to worship according to the direct leadership of the Holy Spirit. Since God is working inwardly in everyone, it is important that everyone—male and female, young and old—have equal opportunity to share in ministry as they are led by the spirit of God. The ministry of each believer is nurtured by the community of faith."You Are Welcome among Friends"
Letter to the EditorDear Friends,I am recently returned from Yearly Meeting Sessions, and am writing to share a concern that is becoming increasingly crucial to me. For several years, I have been facing a slight but steady decline in my hearing. It is just enough to make hearing difficult-to-impossible under certain circumstances. These circumstances abound at Yearly Meeting and Representative Meeting sessions. There are large groups, background noises, interruptions, and so on. This is not my issue only; audibility is a huge issue for many of us. The largest single difficulty is that F/friends do not speak clearly. Speakers do not speak into the mike, do not speak slowly (amplified speech needs more spacing), and do not always speak clearly. In non-amplified settings, there is not even a microphone for some assistance. When asked to "speak up," F/friends customarily do so for a few words or phrases before reverting to their usual vocal volume or speaking style. The Disability Concerns Committee put a reminder in the Minute at YM sessions, but an occasional reminder does not suffice. Communication habits are deeply ingrained in individuals. They are so embedded that we no longer think about them. The habitual mumbler, soft speaker, mouth coverer, head turner, or stiff-lipped speaker are not conscious of these blocks to communication. Folks with such communication challenges do not think to confound communication—they do so without thinking at all! Furthermore, a hearing loss is "invisible," and does not prompt anyone to make a significant change of habit. Only a concerted, constant effort throughout the Yearly Meeting [and everywhere, really] will bring about a change. This is a ministry we can all undertake personally, with no expense. This is a ministry that can be practiced in any program, in business meeting, in worship sharing, in social situations: in any communication setting anywhere. Many of us who struggle to hear do not require a hearing partner. We require the raised consciousness and subsequent changes in communication that will include us. When someone speaks in a way that does not include a person with a hearing challenge, the speaker has made it seem (often unconsciously) that the struggling listener is not worthy to receive the message. Failure to include us makes it seem that, in the end, our involvement and our contributions are without value. Please, let us all make a concerted effort to take up this individual and personal ministry so that all who attend any Friendly gathering will feel included and welcome. Thank you for listening. Sincerely, Susan H. Wolf, Staten Island Meeting Observations of a First-Time FGC AttenderI didn't know what to expect as a first-time adult attender at the Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering (more or less, a weeklong national gathering of Friends, mostly of the unprogrammed sort) from June 28 – July 5, 2003.As a young child, I had unofficially visited the Gathering once at Cape May, N.J., in the 1960s. In those years the Gathering was held at the ocean resort each summer. My mother told me that Martin Luther King Jr. attended as a guest one year and that his presence truly exuded peace. I was small, and the rocking chairs on the front porches of the hotel seemed really large. The Friends in attendance appeared tranquil and content. My Quaker granddad was big and weighty, enthusiastic about all the events, a real conversationalist and mixer. I remember him in a happy mood when we were there, introducing us to everyone. It turns out that my Quaker grandfather wasn't always happy. He was a chemical engineer and inventor, a 1918 graduate of Swarthmore College. He was the research director for an explosives lab in the coalmining region of Pennsylvania in the 1920s through 1940s and later a food sciences chemist specializing in sweeteners. He had an angry "explosive" side, opposite of his "sweet" FGC side. The explosive side wouldn't tolerate mistakes or incompetence by anyone in any role. My granddad could be abrasive in how he expressed his opinion, even though he was right many times. Years later, Joe Vlaskamp, a former member of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, as was my granddad, told me that he admired my grandfather for standing up for what he believed in. As an adult Friend in 2003, I found the mood of the annual FGC Gathering energetic, crowded, and somewhat hurried. There were too many things for one to do, and, one had to be wise in choosing only as much as one could handle comfortably. The Gathering is a metaphor for a Friend living in the world, being mindful of the Simplicity testimony – live with what one really needs, nothing more. A Friend should leave enough time for the Spirit. The highlights of my FGC experience were running early in the mornings on wooded paths surrounding the campus, running on the new foam padded track before lunch, going on a field trip and swimming in a lake with the single Friends, watching a thunderstorm blow in over the large lake, and watching a sunset on Wednesday evening for a half an hour after dinner. Facing east, I saw layers upon layers of clouds turning color gradually. After those faded to gray, I turned around to the west and watched a large cloud bank to the north turn from orange to purple while ridges of low clouds to the south reflected saturated, warm colors. The workshop I elected, Primitive Christianity, was led by a fairly new Friend, a former Baptist minister, religious scholar, and current faculty member at Earlham School of Religion. I stayed in the workshop partly to learn more about what Fox and Fell were so ardent about, and to observe a classmate, octogenarian Sally Rickerman, a longtime FGC Friend and outspoken Universalist Quaker, and her provocative interactions. The FGC Gathering was a true blessing, a wonderful growing experience, and a first chance to meet Friends from all over the country. Thanks to all who supported me! I encourage others who haven't experienced FGC to go next year, when the Gathering will be held in Northampton, Massachusetts. Glenn Reinhart, Brooklyn Monthly Meeting Dean Sought for Pendle HillPendle Hill, a Quaker center for study and contemplation in Wallingford, Pa., invites applications for the position of dean, starting in 2004. The dean has overall responsibility for the administrative, spiritual, and financial health of Pendle Hill's educational programs and reports to the director.The primary focus of the dean is on the resident community and the programs for which the resident community is the vessel. The dean must not only live on campus but also be involved in what happens on campus. Application deadline is October 3, 2003. Contact the Dean Search Committee, Pendle Hill, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford PA 19086; bscott@pendlehill.org. Further information about Pendle Hill is available at www.pendlehill.org. Pendle Hill is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NoticesThis column is prepared from information about membership received from the local meeting recorders.NEW MEMBERS Lewis Buckman – Albany
MARRIAGES/COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS
DEATHS
TRANSFERS
BIRTHS/ADOPTIONS
| |||||||||||