Contents

• NYYM Representative Meeting at Chautauqua April 16–18
• JYM Staff Opportunities!
• The World Still Says No to War
• Clerk's Corner
• Worshiping and Working with Friends in Cuba
• One Faith, Many Roots: Farmington-Scipio Regional Spring Gathering
• Looking Back: NYYM Friends and African Americans
• Dwelling in the Spirit
  • A View of Ministry and Counsel
  • New Pastor for Adirondack Meeting
  • Traveling Ministers Support Advancement in the Southern Adirondacks
  • On Being a Spiritual Nurturer
  • Summer Workcamp in Kenya
  • Summit Meeting Addresses Marriage and Same-sex Unions
  • A Call to Help Transform Conflicts
• New Projects Take Shape at AFSC's Conflict Resolution Program
• FUM Hires Outreach Specialist
• Illuminating Our Divine Connections Religious Educators Institute
• Simple Lives, Radiant Faith
• Tragedy on the Border
• CPT Activities and Resources
• Notices
• NYYM Calendar
• Powell House Calendar

NYYM Representative Meeting
at Chautauqua

April 16–18, 2004

The Bellinger Hall conference center provides a residential setting for our fellowship as a religious family striving for openings of the spirit as individuals and linked communities. Friday evening an old-timey string band, The Newton Street Irregulars, will be playing from 7:30–9:30, with a caller gently teaching us contra dancing and circle dances. This is an intergenerational event! Friends will also have the option of visiting informally, setting up or visiting displays, and sharing topical videos, including the exciting Solar Sailor In America: Clean Transportation for the 21st Century.

Teenagers from the Farmington-Scipio Region youth program will be meeting simultaneously during the weekend, helping, attending meetings of interest, and visiting informally with other attenders.

Accommodations at Bellinger Hall are available starting Friday evening (after 5:00 P.M.), and meals are provided Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch. Bus, train, and airport pickup can be arranged. See registration form for details (and keep a copy when you send yours in). The registration form shows prices for rooms and meals. Friends are reminded that financial help in attending is sometimes available through monthly meetings, regional meetings, or committees. There are also designated funds through Yearly Meeting, which you may request on your registration form. (Don't wait until you are sure—go ahead and register with request and estimate of sources of assistance. We want to make this easy!) If you can allow enough time to stay along the way with someone in the host region, plan to stay Thursday night and/or Sunday night. Arrangements are being coordinated by Elmira Monthly Meeting member Joan Overman, 261 Upper Delevan Ave., Corning NY 14830; joverman@stny.rr.com; 607-962-1554).

Here is the schedule of activities:

Friday, April 16
remember: supper on your own along the way to Chautauqua
5:00 P.M.	Registration begins at Bellinger Hall
5:00-10:00	Set up and visit displays, share videos, visit and make friends
7:30-9:30	Intergenerational dancing to the music of Newton Street Irregulars
Saturday, April 17
7:00-7:45 A.M.	Meeting for Worship
7:45	Breakfast
8:30	Registration
9:00-10:00	Meeting for Worship
10:15-12:00	Committee Meetings
12:00-1:15 P.M.	Lunch
1:30-3:30	Meeting for Business
3:45-5:15	Committee Meetings
5:15-6:45	Dinner
7:00-9:00	Speaker: Shirley Way
Sunday, April 18
7:00-7:45 A.M.	Meeting for Worship
7:45	Breakfast
8:45-9:45	Meeting for worship with opening meditation
10:00-12:00	Meeting for Business
12:15-1:15 P.M.	Lunch

  

Shirley Way of Farmington-Scipio Region will speak Saturday evening on her emerging clearness and action in opposing the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly called the School of the Americas). She "crossed the line" at this Fort Benning, Ga., base in November, and testified movingly at her trial and sentencing. She is preparing for her three-month sentence in federal prison this summer.

Business Session
Agenda items known at press time: Budget, Treasurer's Report, General Secretary Search Committee Report, Return of travel minutes from Ernestine Buscemi and James Morgan, Worship and Action Report, YouthQuake Report, Report on Light Behind the Walls.

Committees and Displays
Committee clerks are reminded to notify Eleanor Doud (of Fredonia Meeting) of their intention to meet, and size of room needed. Questions about meeting rooms and other facility needs or display space can be addressed to Eleanor at 716-782-3570 (evening) or 716-665-2116 ext. 213 (weekday). Registration forms include: Room and meal rates, directions to Chautauqua, motels in area, and nearby restaurant. The Chautauqua Institution is in the southwestern corner of New York State, about 70 miles from Buffalo, 350 miles from Albany, and 390 miles from New York City.

For driving directions see the next section or go to www.chautauqua-inst.org/about.html and click on Maps.

Directions to Chautauqua Institution

Interstate 86 (formerly Rte 17 & Southern Tier Expressway) going west. After crossing the bridge across Chautauqua Lake, take the exit 8 (the first exit immediately after the bridge), Mayville/Lakewood, Route 394. At end of exit turn right towards Mayville. Approximately 4 miles, Chautauqua's main entrance/gate will be on the right. (Several miles past the Jamestown exit there is a split in the road. Follow the road towards Erie PA.)

Public transportation:

Plane to Buffalo or Jamestown, NY or Erie, PA
Bus to Buffalo, NY or Erie, PA
Train to Buffalo or Rochester, NY

Please be aware that another group will be using Bellinger Hall at Chautauqua until 4 P.M. Friday, so we are asked not to arrive before 5 (when our registration table will be set up). Teens from our Region will be helping arriving Friends find their way in and to their rooms. Also note that we are not to bring our own food into Bellinger Hall. If you have not had supper along the way, you may wish to know that a restaurant called Andriaccio's is just up the road from the Chautauqua main gate.

Two phone numbers where individuals might be reached at Bellinger Hall are 716-357-6241 or 716-357-6240. If you have any questions regarding travel or meeting room requirements, please feel free to call Eleanor Doud at 716-782-3570 (eve.) or 716-665-2116 ext. 213 (day).

Motels in the Area

Click for Registration Form for NYYM Representative Meeting. (This is a PDF document, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download Acrobat Reader free, click here.

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JYM Staff Opportunities!

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The World Still Says No to War

Friends throughout New York Yearly Meeting are opposing war and occupation in various ways. Here is a partial listing of meetings' activities on March 20. The most current information is available by clicking here.

To have your meeting's activities included, e-mail them to paul@nyym.org or call Paul at 212-673-5750.

Amawalk Friends Meeting invites you to join peace-loving people from your neighborhood and around the world on March 20 at 7:00 P.M.

A candlelight vigil will be held at Amawalk Meetinghouse, Quaker Church Rd., Yorktown Heights, N.Y. The focal point of the vigil will be the public reading of the names of American soldiers who have fallen in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For further information, or to volunteer to be a reader, please call Nicholas Burlakoff at 914-923-1351 or e-mail at nicholasbu@earthlink.net.

Brooklyn Meeting will offer hospitality to those traveling long distances to participate in the march and rally for peace on March 20. We will keep the meetinghouse open both Friday March 19, the night before the event, and Saturday March 20, following. We will have a potluck supper each night and breakfast in the morning. Sleeping will be on the (carpeted) floor of the meetinghouse, so bring your own bedding. We will also have some individuals who can offer hospitality.

On Saturday March 20, we expect to have a meeting for worship at either Brooklyn meetinghouse or 15th Street, followed by participation in the march and rally. We will have various banners, mostly endorsed "NYC Quakers." Bring you own, although local regulations ban wooden supports; supports should be cardboard tubes. Please let us know if you plan to be with us either night at the meetinghouse, so that we can know the expected numbers and have adequate planning. You can respond directly to me by e-mail, tomr@tnrmediate.com. A map and directions are posted on our Web site, www.brooklynmeeting.org. (Driving directions require passing through Manhattan. Alternate directions will be provided on request, and may be more suitable to the occasion.)

Tom Rothschild

Elmira Monthly Meeting will cosponsor Cultivate Peace—Grow Community, a peace event to be held in Elmira, N.Y., on March 20. The event will start at 5:00 P.M. with a prayer service at Trinity Episcopal Church, followed by a Witness for Peace vigil at Wisner Park and then by a soup supper at Trinity Episcopal Church. Everyone is most welcome to all or part of this event in solidarity with people throughout the world who are gathering and demonstrating on this anniversary of the beginning of the war against Iraq. The event is being organized primarily by Pax Christi.

Flushing Friends Meeting plans the following:

12 noon, Manhattan, march and rally, specific locations and routes to be announced

4 P.M., Flushing, leafleting in front of the Flushing Branch of the Queens Borough Public Library.

5:15 P.M., Flushing, coffee, tea, cookies, and fellowship at Flushing Friends Meetinghouse, 137-16 Northern Boulevard, Flushing.

6:30–8:00 P.M., Flushing, candlelight vigil with a twist: Those who wish to stand (or sit) vigil in front of the meetinghouse will do that; others will do a "walking vigil" on the streets of Flushing. We will have a large banner in front of the meetinghouse all day. However, those who wish to carry signs are urgently encouraged to carry signs that do not attack or ridicule personalities.

The walking vigil departs from the Meeting House at 6:45 sharp. Some signs will be provided, but you can bring your own, keeping in mind that it is against the law to use wooden or metal sticks; plastic and cardboard mailers are fine. Candles will be provided, but if you want to make sure you have a candle, please bring your own.

For information contact Naomi Paz Greenberg, naomipaz@nyc.rr.com.

New York City Peace Friends are planning to gather for a silent public witness prior to the march. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on the NYYM Web site. Scarsdale Friends will hold a candlelight vigil in front of the meetinghouse, facing Popham Road. They plan to read the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since the war was declared to be over by the U.S. government. Friends will gather at 7:00 P.M. and stand for about an hour.

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Clerk's Corner

One of the Benedictine presenters, Father Kardong, related a question posed to a Benedictine community during a visit from the abbott primate. Noting that the monastic community revolves around prayer, work, and study, and that this had been a year when several significant pieces of work had received a good deal of focus, the question was simple and direct, something like: "How is your prayer life progressing?" (The question struck me like a query we Friends might be asked to consider as we prepare our State of the Meeting report.)

Father Kardong related that in response to the question, several members of the community spoke about the work of the past year in light of their understanding and practice of "work as prayer."

To these responses, the visiting abbott primate replied, "Yes, and how is your prayer progressing?"

This story, with its pointed question, has remained with me since that visit to St. Meinrad. It cropped up again, most recently, during the January silent retreat at Powell House.

During times of deep stillness such as experienced during a silent retreat, we are gifted with an opportunity to take such questions into our hearts, to be drawn into deeper prayer and relationship with God. In deep stillness we are able to listen more attentively and discern more clearly the guidance and direction available from the still small voice within.

Too often we tend to separate, in our minds, the "contemplatives" and the "activists," those with an inward focus and those more outwardly engaged in affairs of the world. After weekends such as the January retreat at Powell House and the Quaker Monastic Dialogue in 1999, I want to make a plug for both the necessity and the usefulness in taking time apart to enter the stillness, to spend time with the deeper questions, to be renewed in mind and spirit. In William Penn's words, we then return to the world "excited in our endeavors to mend it."

Whether we would characterize ourselves as contemplatives, activists, or some combination of the two, I am moved to pose the query I heard at St. Meinrad:

How is your prayer life progressing?

Linda Chidsey, clerk, NYYM
January 21, 2004

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Worshiping and Working with Friends in Cuba

The second week we began the reconstruction of the chapel at Delicias, a mission of the Puerto Padre church. Only a shell remained. Foundations were dug for an adjacent pastor's house and for pillars to support a roof, the walls not being strong enough. For two days I assisted Ron while he bent rebar into rings. The last day was enriched for me by conversations with an eager junior high student of English, a school principal, and a retired sugar refinery worker. Both chapels have the advantage of being in much-frequented locations.

We went to Sunday School at Gibara, where Luis Carlos, the pastor, and his wife, Evelin, put on a puppet show about Jonah, and at the Velasco church, where I dropped in on the youngest class. The teacher was talking about Jesus growing in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:40). As an illustration she helped a small boy to walk in adult sandals. We attended Sunday worship in the evening at Gibara and at Puerto Padre; there were Bible reading, a message, and enthusiastic singing. I was able to go to an evening prayer-for-healing meeting at Velasco. It was well attended, and prayers were requested for many sick people; there seems to be a high incidence of cancer in the region. I was invited to say a few words about myself and the work team, and to offer a prayer—a challenge for an unprogrammed Friend with somewhat rusty Spanish! I was told that churches filled up in the 1990s during the "special period," when people were hungry and had nowhere to turn.

I like the more egalitarian, less consumer-oriented, and more open aspects of Cuban society, which, of course, has its negatives as well. I like the emphasis the government puts on free education and medical care. People told me that Cubans are poor, which they are in comparison with us; however, I did not see the more extreme, obvious poverty that I've encountered in other countries. More than one person said, "You have to live our reality to understand it."

Judith Inskeep, Purchase Meeting

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One Faith, Many Roots

Farmington-Scipio Regional Spring Gathering

Our teens usually organize intergenerational games on Friday night.

This year, our main speaker on Saturday morning will be Ted Mills (Buffalo Monthly Meeting, retired sociology professor from UB). The working title of his talk is What Happens in Silent Meeting? Individual and Group Process from a Sociologist's Perspective. We also hope to have a report from youths who attended YouthQuake

On Saturday afternoon, there will be a two-hour slot for workshops. Current topics and/or speakers who have been invited include: Hospitality for Refugees: A Spiritual Perspective, in which Chris Owens, director of Vive, a refugee center in Buffalo, NY, will talk about his work with refugees; Walk Gently on the Earth: Native American Perspectives on Environmental Issues (invited speaker is Neil Patterson Jr. from the Tuscarora Tribe); A Quaker Perspective on Homeschooling: How and Why, with Sue Tannehill, who currently homeschools two children and who facilitates a group of 50+ homeschooling families; Violent Toy Exchange: How it works, How to Organize One (speaker to be determined); Rural Migrant Ministries (workshop leader to be determined); Nonviolent Peace Force (workshop leader to be determined); Kingdom Parables in Matthew, with Anne Huiner, Buffalo Monthly Meeting and HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal).

Saturday Night will be an intergenerational contra dance with the Newton Street Irregulars and a campfire sing.

There are also opportunities for early-morning worship, birdwatching, fellowship, and Bible study. We hold business meeting on Sunday both before and after lunch. A room will be set aside for those who want to display or share information. Displays in the past have included work with Bolivian Quakers, Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, QUNO, prison work, artwork from young Friends in Russia, and more.

This year, we will be meeting in a larger facility and look forward to being able to expand our offerings. We always welcome F/friends from other places and would be delighted to see you at our new location, Rotary Camp Sunshine near Rochester. Rotary Camp Sunshine is fully accessible for people with handicaps. The facilities include dormitory-style housing, spacious meeting rooms, trails, a pond, tent camping, and a few smaller rooms with shared baths suitable for families with small children. The camp is in Rush, NY, and a block of motel rooms will be reserved in a motel that is less than five miles away for those desiring private accommodations.

If you are interested in attending or want to receive a registration packet, contact Bfloquakers@aol.com.

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Looking Back: NYYM Friends and African Americans

In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863 by Leslie M. Harris (University of Chicago Press, 2003) includes a chapter on the Colored Orphan Asylum, exploring the dynamics of the changing relationships between the white female Quaker directors of the Asylum and New York's African-American community, and between the Asylum and the white male (and non-Quaker) city elite. The author also treats the interaction of the (white, mostly Quaker) New York Manumission Society, the New York African Free Schools, begun under the sponsorship of the Manumission Society, and New York City's African-American community.

Emily Howland, from Scipio (now Poplar Ridge) Meeting in Cayuga County, N.Y., appears in no fewer than five new books. Subversives: Anti-Slavery Community in Washington, D.C., 1828–1865 by Stanley Harrold (Louisiana State University Press, 2003) includes Howland's work in a school for African-American women in Washington in the 1850s and her work with the newly freed people during the Civil War. Harrold focuses on the biracial nature of the antislavery and reform community in Washington. Emily Howland and Julia Wilbur, from Rochester, N.Y., are featured in Carol Faulkner's Women's Radical Reconstruction: The Freedmens Aid Movement (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). Faulkner, who was also one of the editors of the Lucretia Mott papers, sees a continuation between the pre–Civil War abolitionists and the postwar teachers in Reconstruction.

Howland reappears in two recent, and very important, studies of Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman: The Life and Life Stories by Jean M. Humez (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003) and Bound for the Promised Land: Portrait of an American Hero by Kate Clifford Larson (Ballantine Books, 2003).

Finally, The Underground Railroad Conductor: A Guide to Underground Railroad Sites in Eastern New York by Tom Calarco (Travels through History, 2003) frequently mentions Friends involved in the Underground Railroad, from New York City north to the Adirondacks. This book is intended as a companion volume to Calarco's forthcoming Underground Railroad in the Adirondack Region (McFarlan, 2004).

Christopher Densmore, curator, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Editor's note: Harriet Tubman's home in Auburn is now a museum. The Black Concerns Committee has met there and encourages Friends to visit and learn more about "The Moses of Her People." For further information contact The Harriet Tubman Home, 180 South St., Auburn NY 13201; 315-252-2081; HTHome@localnet.com; http://www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/.

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D w e l l i n g i n t h e S p i r i t

A View of Ministry and Counsel

Much of this service enriches not only the life of the one who ministers but also that of those who are being served. This experience can be likened to taking a piece of steel and leaving it for some time in a magnetic field and allowing it to absorb the magnetism from the magnetic field. When it is removed it will be able to draw other unmagnetized pieces of steel to itself. The person who understands the meaning of ministry and remains in the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit is by that power able to draw others to the Living Christ.

A meaningful example of ministry is recorded in George Fox's Journal (211–12) . "So the hearts of the people were opened by the spirit of God and they were turned from the hirelings to Christ Jesus their shepherd who had purchased them without money and would feed them without money or price. And Nicholas Beard and many others were convinced that day, that came to hear the dispute. And so the Lord's power came over all and his day many came to see. And abundance of Ranters and professors there were that had been so loose in their lives that they began to be weary of it and had thought to have gone into Scotland to have lived privately, and the Lord's Truth catched them all and their understanding were opened by his light, spirit and power through which they came to be settled upon the Lord; and so became very good Friends in the Truth and became very sober men, that great blessing and praising the Lord there was amongst them, and admiration in the country."

Quite often during ministry, the Holy Spirit works through individuals to accomplish feats far beyond their imagining. The Bible is replete with such examples as the story of Esther or Jonah or Ruth in the Old Testament and in the New Testament the delivery of Peter from prison and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Allied with the service of ministry is the service of counsel, which is to put into proper perspective the truth that has been revealed. It is essential in this service to discern the facts of the case and the most appropriate procedure to be employed in bringing about the best result. It is essential that an atmosphere of trust be established at the outset and that each one feels respected in the situation. A clear outline of the matter under consideration should be presented to the persons involved and each member of the group should sense his or her value in arriving at the most appropriate decision. It is necessary that whoever is involved in the service of counsel remembers that confidentiality is often a priority and each person has an obligation to honor the sacredness of maintaining the integrity of the information with which he or she is privileged.

The service of counsel and the service of ministry are gifts that are bestowed upon persons who by their experience with the Risen Christ are led to advance His Kingdom in this world.

Noel Palmer, clerk, Ministry and Counsel Coordinating Committee

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New Pastor for Adirondack Meeting

Adirondack's new pastor, Regina Baird Haag, and family

Adirondack Friends Meeting looks forward to having Regina and her family with us.

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Traveling Ministers Support Advancement in the Southern Adirondacks

Building on that success, during the coldest spell in January of 2004, our subzero temperatures were warmed with a ray of light and hope in the person of Rubye Braye, who came all the way from North Carolina to serve in our remote area. This time we planned a very full schedule with lots of community exposure for Rubye.

Clergy associations in Southern Hamilton County and Fulton County joined forces—with a minuscule budget—to invite Rubye Braye to be the guest speaker at an ecumenical service in celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in southern Hamilton County and to be the keynote speaker at the Fulton County Martin Luther King Day celebration in Gloversville, N.Y. As an added bonus, Rubye also spoke to prisoners at the nearby minimum-security Hale Creek Rehabilitation Facility. All in all, more than 200 people enjoyed her message of love and nonviolence.

We've had multiple calls thanking us for bringing such inspiration to the area and other calls from people seeking to worship with us. We've received press coverage in the Gloversville Leader-Herald and the Hamilton County News, as well.

Traveling ministry has been an important part of Quaker culture for centuries. I can't think of a better way to tell the world who we are and what we stand for.

Alyce Branum, Tryon Worship Group

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On Being a Spiritual Nurturer

Among the lives transformed in the program just concluded, one participant wrote that the most meaningful part was "the experience of a community in God and the opportunity to put into words that experience." The deadline for applications is May 26, 2004.

You can receive a detailed prospectus by contacting Michael at 919-929-2339; mgreen@mindspring.com. The information and application form are also available on the Web at www.quakerinfo.com/sos.shtml. The Ministry is dedicated to helping all who wish to be more faithful in listening and responding to the inward work of Christ.

Michael Green, for the School of the Spirit Ministry

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Summer Workcamp in Kenya

For further information and an application contact Gloria Thompson, 718-918-2915; gpt0252@yahoo.com

Gloria Thompson, Manhattan Monthly Meeting

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Summit Meeting Addresses Marriage and Same-sex Unions

We reached clearness on the text of the minute after a two-year process of prayerful consideration, including three worship-sharing sessions, legal consultations, many committee meetings, and much discussion, prayer, and soul-searching. What began as a consideration of same-sex unions in the context of covenant relationships matured into a more encompassing statement on the recognition and celebration of committed relationships more broadly, arising from our experience as individual Friends and as a Quaker community.

The process was triggered by a request for the meeting to endorse the Marriage Resolution that Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund was attempting to put before the New Jersey Legislature. In discussing this request, it became clear that Friends felt that the topic of same-sex relationships was one that needed deeper consideration, and at business meeting Ministry & Counsel (M&C) was asked to facilitate a discussion on the topic of recognizing same-sex unions. M&C established a subcommittee which then convened a series of worship-sharing discussions and gathered background materials. M&C's key challenge was to initiate and support a process in which friends could feel safe expressing their thoughts, feelings, and insights, to provide a forum where people could express widely varying views without feeling threatened themselves or causing others to feel threatened.

In particular we felt it important to make it clear from the outset that if there was no clearness on a direction to take, then we would let the matter rest. Indeed, we only began to look at the wording of possible minutes relatively late in the process once it became clear that that was the sense of the group. Even then, the process was highly interactive, with the subcommittee putting forward a number of different forms of minute and then working through a series of drafts, trying to incorporate the many insights we received and yet maintain a coherent form of words.

Nevertheless, there was sincere dissension from an attender who would have had us halt the process, based on a view of the precedence of biblical interpretation and historical custom over current discernment. We listened deeply and wrestled with this for a long while, but in the end, having repeatedly tested our leading, we continued with the process. The individual did not stand in the way, but it grieves us that that voice, partly as a result of the outcome of our discernment process, is no longer heard among us and no longer travels with us.

In the early worship sharings it was saddening to discover that, even in a relatively conventional, suburban meeting, most Friends had direct experience of the suffering caused by acts of intolerance or hate directed to themselves or close friends or family members based on sexual orientation. Friends' experience was that same-sex relationships had the same access to spiritual validity as opposite-sex ones—indeed, that from a spiritual perspective there seemed to be no distinction—and that the question in front of us was simply whether we wished to recognize such relationships.

At the same time, the feeling was expressed that conventional, heterosexual marriage was not doing well in our society, with 50% of marriages ending in divorce. Friends wished to emphasize the spiritual basis for committed relationships as a whole and the responsibility that the Meeting had for nurturing committed relationships in the meeting community.

Thus the minute evolved into a broader statement about committed relationships, a statement of intent based on principles that arose from our direct experiences as individuals and as Quakers—that the gifts of the spirit are not bestowed in a discriminatory fashion, and that committed, spiritually based relationships are vital to our community and to society as a whole. Given those principles, it seemed in the end to be self-evident that we should recognize, celebrate, and nurture committed, loving, and spiritual relationships irrespective of gender, race, age, disability, or sexual orientation. And again and again, we found ourselves returning to George Fox's words in the quote that ends the minute: ". . . we marry none: it is the Lord's work, and we are but witnesses."

Minute on the Recognition and Celebration of Committed Relationships Approved January 11, 2004 Just as there is that of God in every person, there is that of God in every relationship that calls upon God. NYYM Faith and Practice It is our direct experience that the gifts of the Spirit are bestowed without consideration of gender, race, age, disability or sexual orientation—that there is "that of God" in everyone. It is also our direct experience that committed, loving and spiritual relationships that are enduring, unselfish, mutually tender and supportive are greatly beneficial to individuals, to our Meeting community, and to society as a whole. Quakers have traditionally recognized and celebrated such committed relationships in a religious ceremony under the care of the Meeting, in which the couple solemnly commits to a lifelong relationship based on love and faithfulness and relying on God's assistance. This recognition and celebration is based on Friends' experience that these relationships are the work of the Spirit to which we are simply witnesses, and not of human ordinance. We therefore affirm that we will hold meetings for worship to recognize and celebrate such commitments under the care of the Meeting, for couples (at least one of whom is a member of the Meeting) irrespective of gender, race, age, disability or sexual orientation. Requests for such celebrations of commitment or marriage will be considered individually in the manner of Friends (including a process for clearness) and according to the principles and procedures as set down from time to time in Faith and Practice, the Book of Discipline of the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, as applicable. The Meeting acknowledges, and will make clear to any couple seeking to be joined under the care of the Meeting, that certain spiritual relationships recognized by Friends may not be recognized by secular authorities. "For the right joining in marriage is the work of the Lord only, and not the priests' or magistrates'; for it is God's ordinance and not man's; and therefore Friends cannot consent that they should join them together; for we marry none; it is the Lord's work, and we are but witnesses." – George Fox, 1669 Summit Monthly Meeting 11th day, First Month, 2004

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A Call to Help Transform Conflicts

Our process of resolving conflict must be a spiritual one, based on the spiritual framework in which we live. The process we seek will rely on Gospel Order (see Faith and Practice), which is the aligning of meetings and our own lives in accordance with the spirit of a living God. Matthew 18:15–20 provides an example of Jesus' approach to resolving conflict. If you have been offended, go to the person first to inquire and clarify in a nonjudgmental manner aspects of the conflict. Speak to the person with the love of God as your companion. In other words, give up human willfulness to God in the face of conflict. If this first step is not sufficient, then seek the aid of your meeting or, where appropriate, your quarter or region. The Committee on Conflict Transformation stands ready to assist in this process as needed.

Conflict Transformation: A Spiritual Process
Conflict transformation as we see it is neither mediation nor arbitration, although it may involve those skills and others such as listening and negotiation. Conflict transformation is effecting a qualitative spiritual change in the lives of all those involved, as individuals and in their meetings. Dealing with conflict in a transforming way requires lifelong engagement in skills, processes, and attitudes supportive of conflict transformation.

The process we recommend will not prevent conflict, nor is every conflict reconcilable. Conflict is a natural part of life. Lessening conflict requires the individuals and body of the Yearly Meeting to deal preventively with issues that cause tensions and conflicts within the Yearly Meeting such as race, theology, and regionalism by making connections to existing standing committees that have the spiritual and material resources to aid Friends on these topics.

Further goals of the committee include encouraging Friends to feel empowered to resolve conflicts in their meetings; identifying good clerking, eldering, threshing sessions, prayer, listening, worship sharing, use of time, and clearness committees as conflict resolution tools; and fostering the use of these structures and skills.

Conflict Transformation and Peace
Our Yearly Meeting upholds Friends' testimony of peace. And peace, to be effective, must be based upon the transformation of conflicts writ large. We recognize that achieving true peace is a spiritual process, starting from within each individual. This process depends upon recognizing and honoring "that of God" in one another. It depends upon placing oneself "in that life and power that takes away the occasion for all war."

Through projects like the Committee on Conflict Transformation, and wider groups like the Alternatives to Violence Project, we can begin both to practice this process ourselves and to demonstrate to the world that another way is possible, the way of peace.

By recognizing conflict in our meetings, and creating from this occasions of spiritual growth and (where possible) reconciliation, we can assist our members and meetings in becoming "patterns and examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come" for the spread of peace, both in the Spirit and in the world. How Friends Can Become Involved The committee is asking that Friends help us in our work by discerning and recommending Friends and attenders whom you feel may have gifts in listening, counseling, or other appropriate training and skills to serve as visiting Friends to assist in conflict transformation. Our goal would be to have at least one person from each meeting to be part of this group. Please give your suggestions in the first instance to your meeting's committee on Ministry and Counsel.

The person should have the gifts to help those in conflict reach inward in a loving way; be one who is not threatening, and who guides without directing. The person should have the ability to listen, reflect, and put others at ease. The person should be a seasoned attender or Friend.

While knowledge of conflict resolution methods is desirable, it is not necessary.

From the names provided, the committee will create a roster. The committee then intends to arrange a weekend of orientation and training at Powell House for those on the roster and the committee.

Upon request, we will try to arrange a visit by a committee member to explain the purpose of the committee and to answer further questions that cannot be addressed here.

NYYM Committee on Conflict Transformation
Alyce Branum, Albany MM
Cheshire Frager, Flushing MM
Joanna Komoska, Peconic Bay MM
Tom Rothschild, Brooklyn MM
Sanford Segal, Rochester MM
Rick Townsend (clerk), Fredonia MM

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New Projects Take Shape at AFSC's Conflict Resolution Program

While perhaps a bit idealistic, this imagined approach to conflict is a fundamental underpinning of the developments in the Conflict Resolution Program of the AFSC's New York Metropolitan Regional Office. The program is building its capacity in the region to help communities and individuals respond to conflict – that is, moments when our differences with others require us to make adjustments in our lives – in a way that does not lead to injury and may bring benefits.

The AFSC Conflict Resolution Program works at many levels: changing public perceptions of conflict and how it can be handled constructively; building public awareness of tools and skills available for managing conflicts; and providing greater access to services that teach or support the use of these tools and skills.

Based on a long-standing commitment to the transformative capacity of conflict resolution, new projects are taking shape. A recent dialogue effort takes up the question of reparations for African-Americans as part of an exploration into how communities can reach a useful consensus on this issue. Another example, a dialogue between "thinking hawks and doves," is based on the potential for achieving justice with security if policy planners are willing to look for and respond to the legitimate concerns of others involved in an issue.

An early program focus was on areas where failures to achieve constructive exchanges on difficult issues meant continued suffering. One undertaking was a dialogue project to help overcome serious divisions in the Haitian community in New York. Recently this group made a quantum leap from its successes on the local level to building a dialogue process to bridge the contentious divisions that hamper progress toward peace in Haiti.

As individuals and nations, we differ in countless ways: in our opinions, our backgrounds, our experiences, our needs, and our wants. As the challenge that introduces this article suggests, we can treat differences that separate us as problems to solve – together – rather than as sources of division or violence. It is not a matter of reaching agreement at any cost, but about seeing more options for working through differences while maintaining respect for others and contributing to the growth of a culture of peace.

Conflict prevention and resolution is a relatively young field, though it is increasingly being uplifted in international arenas. Tools such as dialogue are the least known of new approaches being introduced today. The field and the tools are, however, well suited to the work of the AFSC and will be a part of the AFSC's strategic plan. They inform and enhance our work in countless ways as we move forward. For information or comments you are encouraged to contact Laurence Berg at 212-598-0967 or lberg@afsc.org, or to visit the NYMRO Web site at http://www.afsc.org/nymetro/programs.htm.

Laurence Berg, AFSC/NYMRO

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FUM Hires Outreach Specialist

"I am excited about using my technical skills to support people in the work of bringing seekers to Christ," says Curtis. "I look forward to bringing Friends United Meeting's yearly and monthly meetings, and seekers worldwide, together through this virtual community."

For information contact Ben Richmond, FUM, 101 Quaker Hill Dr., Richmond IN 47374-1980; 765-962-7573.

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Illuminating Our Divine Connections
Religious Educators Institute

As Friends we honor the direct experience of God. How can we as Quaker educators nurture the spiritual growth of Friends young and old so they may have meaningful experiences of God in their lives? How do we create an environment in our meeting that is welcoming to all? Join us for a weekend of motivating speakers, workshops, interest groups, worship, and fun as we explore a variety of ways to illuminate our Divine connections.

Plenary Speakers: Niyonu Spann and Marlou Carlson. Workshops cover topics such as:

• Creating an Anti-Racist Meeting Community, Ernie and Vince Buscemi
• Involving Teens in the Life of Meeting, Kri Anderson
• Exploring Christianity from a Quaker Perspective, Gail Thomas
• Adult Spiritual Formation, Beckey Phipps
• Organizing a First Day School Program, Virginia Wood
• Teaching Peace, Mary Lord
• Meeting the Needs of a Small Meeting
• Creating Thoughtful Discipline within the Meeting
• Experiential & Montessori Approaches to Spiritual Formation, Marlou Carlson
• Building an Intergenerational Community
• Being a Quaker Parent
• Working with Young Adult Friends
• Coming of Age in a Quaker Community, Su Hansen
• Expressing Ourselves through Movement and Music
• Children's Program for infants–12 years
• Stimulating evening programs
• Daily worship sharing clusters
• Daily Bible study
• Books/curricula to preview and purchase

Registration materials will be available in May. For additional information contact Michael Gibson, Religious Education Coordinator, Friends General Conference, 1216 Arch St. #2B, Philadelphia PA 19107; 215-561-0759; michaelg@fgcquaker.org; www.fgcquaker.org.

Camp Asbury is in Wyoming County, N.Y., in the Town of Castile, not far from Letchworth State Park. For information on the camp: 16 Lakeside Ave., P.O. Box 218, Silver Lake NY 14549; 585-237-5262; fax 585-237-6863; campasbury@novocon.net; http://www.campasburyny.com.

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Simple Lives, Radiant Faith

The Gathering is an opportunity for us to experience a life of continuous worship: as we rise, as we walk, as we eat, as we join in fellowship, as we gather in meeting for worship.

Evening programs will present radiant lives whose ministries have touched thousands. A new afternoon offering this year will be "Conversations with Friends," a chance to get to know better other radiant members of the FGC community. As usual, there will be lots of music, films, and dance. Workshops are the best place to develop a small community of like-minded Friends. A wide variety of topics may include anything from crafts, dancing, or hiking to social activism, healing, Bible study, or Quaker process.

Children will discover a large group of Quaker peers. Junior Gathering is a community of up to 350 children and over 100 adults who feel called to be with them.

The High School program is an exciting opportunity to explore artistic and spiritual imagination.

Adult Young Friends (ages 18–35) form a supportive community that fosters bridges with the greater Gathering. Participants may choose to join in worship, business meeting, games, gender groups, soul searching, wink, and other opportunities for connection and spiritual growth.

Many Friends will meet at the Gathering Store and Lemonade Art Gallery, where the creative talents of Friends and others will be showcased. Books, artwork, and handiwork can be purchased throughout the week. In addition, there will be opportunities to make music of all kinds.

Registration information for the Gathering will be available in the spring of 2004. Work grants and scholarships for first-time attenders and others will be detailed in the Advance Program and on the FGC Web site.

For further information: FGC, 1216 Arch St. #2B, Philadelphia PA 19107; 215-561-1700; fax: 215-561-0759; friends@fgcquaker.org; www.fgcquaker.org.

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Tragedy on the Border

Little girl in Chihuahua, México, looking into New Mexico, U.S.A. Photo by Paul Busby

Three areas of focus were the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the 2,600 people who have died in recent years trying to cross the border into the U.S., and the nearly 400 women who have been murdered in Ciudad Juárez during the past few years.

As a result of NAFTA, companies import parts into Mexico, assemble them in factories called maquiladoras, and export the finished products. In the past, maquiladoras imported impoverished workers from southern Mexico to create a surplus of labor, resulting in unemployment and lower wages. A worker fortunate enough to have a job in such a factory may make US$5 per day—about enough to buy food for one meal for a family of five. Maquiladoras prefer to hire women, considering them more subservient than men and less likely to organize. After age 28, these women are considered expendable.

Nearly two million people live in Ciudad Juárez, whose population has expanded enormously as people left the interior of Mexico and came to seek jobs in maquiladoras. When people arrive in the city, they build shelters out of cardboard. A whole family may live in a "house" whose sides and roof are made from discarded boxes. Over time, they acquire wood from pallets and slowly replace cardboard with wood. Eventually they may acquire enough cinderblocks to build walls. A cinderblock costs a day's pay from a maquiladora. A bag of cement costs more than a day's pay. It takes a family ten years to be able to live in a cinderblock house—and still they won't have running water or electricity. Many thousands of families live without electricity.

One night while we were in the area, a fire raced through 35 wooden huts, killing a woman and her two children and leaving at least 35 families without shelter.

On our first day in Ciudad Juárez, we met with a priest and a nun who live in a cinderblock house in a colonia in which drug dealing and poverty are endemic. Behind the house was a mural that included the names of many of the "mujeres de Juárez," the murdered women. We were each given a slip of paper with a name on it, to be written on the mural. My paper said, "Unknown." The murdered woman was 16.

Later we were to meet with clergy, nuns and religious brothers, and many others who seemed to take literally the teachings of Jesus. One Catholic brother works with workers to educate them about their rights. When I asked him how his theology relates to liberation theology, he said, "If it isn't about liberation, it isn't theology."

We met with people from organizations on both sides of the border who educate workers and women, train people to operate a restaurant, support undocumented immigrants, etc. The evening of November 1 we attended an interfaith service at which we heard from an undocumented Mexican who had left his family in Puebla ("I couldn't just stay and watch them die of hunger") to come north. When he finds work—rarely, for very little pay—he sends money home. He cried as he told us that he doesn't know whether he will ever see his family again. . . .

Detail from memorial to the murdered women of Ciudad Juárez, international bridge, Ciudad Juárez Photo by Paul Busby

November 2, a Sunday, was the Mexican Day of the Dead. We attended a Roman Catholic mass at the border fence, celebrated by a Mexican priest on one side of the fence and a U.S. priest on the other. Spanish alternated with English as we remembered the 2,600 people who have died trying to cross this border in the last few years. Some of us held crosses, each bearing the name of one who died. My cross bore the name Trinidad Orozco Hernández. This mass seemed a fitting way to end our trip.

I am left with the memory of a priest who said, "Now I can't tell God that I didn't know." I am left with the memory of an unknown 16-year-old girl whose dreams were shattered. And I remember Trinidad Orozco Hernández, whose search for a better life ended with her death in the desert.

Paul Busby, Fifteenth Street Meeting

NOTE: Information on NAFTA can be found at http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/index.cfm, among other sites. The Women of Juárez are the subject of Amnesty International reports, including "Mexico, Intolerable Killings." Check www.amnestyusa.org and search for "Juarez."

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CPT Activities and Resources

The Peacemaker Corps has grown to include two Colombian members, a harbinger, we hope, for growth in diversity. CPT played a critical role in Iraq as opposition built against the war and continues to do so with a six-member team in Baghdad and regular delegations.

In addition, Getting in the Way: Studies in the Book of Acts is now available from CPT's Chicago office. This unit of four lessons was designed for groups who wish to study the work of Chris- tian Peacemaker Teams within the context of biblical witness. Accordingly, each lesson is tied to a passage from the book of Acts. Participants will study both the first-century church described in Acts and the history and work of Christian Peacemaker Teams.

In the first lesson, Kathleen Kern, member of the Christian Peacemaker Corps since 1993, takes people on a journey through the beginnings of CPT and the early church. Subsequent lessons deal with how early Christians and CPTers have subverted privileges granted them under ancient and modern empires, how CPTers and early Christians have spoken truth to power and models that CPT and the early church have used for growth.

Multiple copies of this study book are available from CPT.

For information contact CPT, Box 6508, Chicago IL 60680; phone 773-277-0253; fax 773-277-0291; cpt@igc.org.

Gene Stoltzfus, CPT

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Notices

TRANSFERS
Nancy Byrne – to Montclair from Fifteenth Street.
Audrey Jaynes – to Montclair from Fifteenth Street.
John Paul Jaynes – to Montclair from Fifteenth Street.
Munro Wesley Johnson – to Wilton from Westerly (NEYM).
Julie Kennedy – to Wilton from Princeton (PYM).
Jon Stout – to Fifteenth Street from Brooklyn.
Michael Stout – to Fifteenth Street from Brooklyn.
Suzanne Stout – to Fifteenth Street from Brooklyn.

DEATHS
Clara Currier, member of Adirondack Meeting, on September 7, 2003.
Wesley Wilcox Pinney, member of Montclair Meeting, on January 3, 2004.
Marie Taber, member of Collins Meeting, on December 14, 2003.

BIRTHS/ADOPTIONS
Correction: James Jedidiah Walsh, on June 11, 2003, to Hannah Smith Walsh, member of Shelter Island, and Brian J.J. Walsh.

MARRIAGES/COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS
Benjamin Brennan, member of Scarsdale Meeting, and Gwendolyn Oulman, on September 13, 2003.
Kathleen Congdon, member of Farmington Friends Meeting, and David Stone in November 2003.

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