Spark, September 2025 - Messages from Friends

Start Spreading The News!

Share your meeting’s news, announcements, and upcoming events with the rest of the yearly meeting by sending them to [email protected]. News items will appear in Spark, our printed newsletter, and our weekly email newsletter. Want to get Spark in the mail? Email [email protected], or call 212-673-5750. Want to receive the weekly update emails? Sign up at [email protected].

Welcome to Spark Online

The online edition of New York Yearly Meeting's print newsletter

This is the Online Edition of the September 2025 issue of Spark, which you can also as a pdf file.

 

Messages from Friends

 

Contents

Articles On Theme: Messages from Friends

 

More Articles from Friends

Around Our Yearly Meeting

 

Editor's Note

Hello Friends. 

The next issue of Spark will be my last. I'm leaving the communications director role at NYYM at the end of December. I'm beyond grateful for my time — 9 years! — working for the yearly meeting. Amazing people who I wouldn't have met otherwise have become friends. I've learned a lot about Quaker belief and practices and have been transformed by them. Thank you for the support and nice words that I've received over the years.

Spark accepts article submissions of 400-600 words, artwork, poetry, shorter news items and announcements, and letters to the editor. Please share your gifts with the rest of NYYM. Email submissions to [email protected].

Upcoming Spark theme:

November 2025: Letters for Membership. Friends who wish to become a member of a Quaker meeting write a letter expressing their desire to formally join the meeting community. The letters usually include the Friend's personal history of belief and are often heartfelt and moving. In this issue we will share some letters requesting membership. Friends are encouraged to send their letters to [email protected] by October 15, 2025.

Send your meeting’s news to [email protected]. If you'd like to join NYYM's weekly email list, visit nyym.org/subscribe.

NYYM is on Facebook (NewYorkYearlyMeeting), and Instagram (newyorkyearlymeeting).

—
Sarah Way, NYYM
Communications Director
[email protected]

 

Notices

New Members

  • Alison Anthoine, Purchase
  • Sasha Chavchavadze, Brooklyn
  • Tanya Farmer, Brooklyn
  • Audrey Froats, Hudson
  • Linda Gnat-Mullin, Brooklyn
  • Richard Perry Mattocks, Poughkeepsie
  • Peter Turay, New Brunswick

Transfers

  • Shannon Kincaid-Toncray, Fort Worth (Texas) to Manasquan
  • Eva Koehler, Beacon Hill Friends (Boston) to Brooklyn

Marriages

  • Jack Harpster, member Rahway and Plainfield, to Reona Woods on May 17, 2025.
  • James Malchow, member Rahway and Plainfield, to Luis Rey Ramirez on August 2, 2025.

Deaths

  • Jim Atwell, Butternuts, on July 23, 2025
  • Peter Beck, Morningside, on Aug. 10, 2025
  • Janice Bortree, Cornwall, on July 18, 2025
  • Ann Stewart Burch, Poplar Ridge, on July 3, 2025
  • Frank DeLeeuw, Poughkeepsie, on May 5, 2025
  • Roger Dreisbach-Williams, Rahway-Plainfield, on July 11, 2025 
  • Dorothea Hoffman, Rahway-Plainfield, on July 1, 2025
  • Margaret Lew, Fifteenth Street, on Aug. 6, 2025
  • Norma Michelec, Purchase, in January 2025
  • Ann Schillinger, Housatonic, on March, 16, 2025
  • Elaine Sekreta, Westbury, on March 15, 2025
  • Bev Thompson, Old Chatham, on May 17, 2024
  • Larry Weekes, Brooklyn, on June 8, 2025
  • Bob Wilber, Brooklyn and Ohio YM, on June 15, 2025

Releases

  • Melanie Parry and Ryan Parry, from Manasquan
  • Deborah Way, from New Brunswick

 

 

News

Fall Sessions 2025 is Dec. 5-7, Online

The next gathering of the New York Yearly Meeting community for business, worship, and fellowship will be Fall Sessions. Find out what’s happening with other Quakers in our region, and hear about the good works of our committees and other Quaker groups. There will be items that require discernment from the “body” of the yearly meeting (those gathered for business meeting); decisions to be made under direction from the “inner Light.” If you care about Quakers, Quakerism, or the Quaker community in the NYYM region, you are warmly invited and encouraged to attend these sessions. 

In addition to meetings for worship and business, there will almost certainly be a plenary presentation and further opportunities to get to know other NYYM Friends.

All events will be online, making these sessions accessible (and interactive!) to anyone with a computer, tablet, smartphone, or regular audio-only phone.

More information, once available, will be posted on this page and shared in the Weekly Update email. Visit nyym.org/subscribe.

 

Summer Sessions 2026 Will Be Held at Silver Bay, NY

Summer Sessions will take place July 12-18, 2026, which is earlier in July than usual. The Silver Bay YMCA conference center on Lake George will be our host for the first time since 2022. Registration will open in early January, and early registrations and volunteers will be needed to make this a success. Read more at nyym.org/summer-sessions-2026...

 

Sign up for the Weekly Update

An email newsletter is sent to NYYM Friends each Friday. Past editions are available at nyym.org/weekly-updates. To subscribe, fill out the brief form at nyym.org/subscribe.

 

Upcoming Events

World Quaker Day is Oct. 5

Friends World Committee for Consultation invites you to join with Friends worldwide to "Love your neighbor" with the guiding Bible passage Galatians 5:14 "For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself." Visit fwcc.world/worldquakerday/

 

The Center for the Study of White American Culture, Inc.’s 3rd Annual Conference

October 17-19, 2025, Online

As racial injustice and division continue to tear at the fabric of our communities, it’s time to come together to act. The 3rd Annual Conference on Building Antiracist Multiracial Community (CBAMC 2025) invites changemakers, activists, and visionaries to unite and reimagine a future where equity, justice, and belonging aren’t just ideals, but living realities. Visit cswac.org/cbamc2025/

 

Powell House Fall Work Weekend

October 31-November 2, 2025

Join us for an intergenerational weekend of working, storytelling and coming together as a community. Costumes optional. Visit powellhouse.org/event-list/​

 

12-Step: A New Freedom - Living a Post-Recovery Life

December 5-7, 2025

In-Person at Powell House
This 12-Step Weekend is open to anyone who is presently working any of the many 12-Step Recovery Programs, or anyone who is considering the possibility of joining a 12-Step group. Visit powellhouse.org/event-list/​

 

NYYM Fall Sessions is Dec. 5-7, Online

The next gathering of New York Yearly Meeting Friends for business and fellowship will be held online, December 5-7, 2025. Emails will be sent with more information; visit nyym.org/subscribe to sign up if you aren't already receiving them.

 

New Years Eve Celebration For Families & Friends

In-Person at Powell House

December 30, 2025 to January 1, 2026! Visit powellhouse.org/event-list.

 

 

For Young Adults

Check Children, Youth and Young Adult Community Director Beth Kelly's list: nyym.org/yaf-events

Save the Date: National Adult Young Friends Retreat

February 14-16, 2026 at Powell House (Old Chatham, NY)

The Adult Young Friends community of Friends General Conference is organizing a national adult young friends retreat at Powell House this coming February. If you have any questions or are interesting in joining the planning working group, please do reach out! Contact Lucas Meyer-Lee at [email protected].

 

For Children & Teens

Powell House Youth Conferences

Visit powellhouse.org/event-list/ to register or call 518-794-8811.

Unfolding, Sharing — for 7th - 9th Grade

November 14-16, 2025

You are a story unfolding, a voice worth hearing, a light worth sharing. Through hands-on creative activities, improv games, quiet moments, and meaningful guided conversations, you'll explore your identity while being grounded in care and community.

Reflections — for 10th - 12th Grade

November 21-23, 2025

What do you see when you look at your reflection? Is it the same person that other people see? What makes me ‘me’ and you ‘you’? We will explore these questions and more as we delve into the mystery that is ourselves.

Eternal Exploration for 4th - 6th Grade

December 5-7, 2025

Adventurers gather! Assemble! Look within for treasure! Come with excitement and curiosity, ready to explore inside and out of doors. Together, we’ll uncover the wonders of our own fictional worlds and the natural world around us.

WinterSong for 7th - 12th Grade

December 12-14, 2025

The end of the year is filled with occasions for gathering, reflecting, and sharing love and warmth with those dearest to us. What traditions, big or small, do we cherish most, and why do we repeat them each year? As the days grow shorter and the temperatures brisker, we’ll explore what brings us warmth and light through shared music, fireside conversation, and group games.

 

Opportunities

Quaker Job Openings

Friends General Conference: www.fgcquaker.org/work-at-fgc/

American Friends Service Committee: afsc.org/careers

Friends Committee on National Legislation: www.fcnl.org/about/work-fcnl

 

Grants/Funds

Earthcare Grants 

NYYM’s Earthcare Fund offers grants to meetings engaged in the task of transforming our relationship with Earth, including addressing the climate crisis.

Witness Activity Fund Grants

NYYM’s Witness Coordinating Committee awards grants to meetings for projects such as warm gear for homeless people and expenses for a gun-buy-back. 

Details: nyym.org/content/nyym-financial-resources-individuals-and-meeting