May 2013 Newsletter
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#Spiritual State of the Meeting, First Draft
FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON
MONTHLY MEETING FOR WORSHIP WITH A CONCERN FOR BUSINESS
April 14, 2013
Advices
The heart of the Religious Society of Friends is the Meeting for Worship. In worship we are called to seek God’s will with our entire being: body, mind, and soul.
In our Meetings for Worship, we are called to listen with prayerful obedience to God, with a willingness to give as well as to receive. In speech or in silence, each person contributes to the Meeting. Worshipping God together, we can strengthen one another, and our bodies and minds can be refreshed in the life of the Spirit.
Give adequate time for study, meditation, and prayer, and other ways of preparing for worship. Be mindful that worship is the fusion of individual and collective waiting to experience the love of God. Come regularly to Meeting for Worship, even when you are angry, depressed, tired, or spiritually cold. In the silence ask for and accept the prayerful support of others joined with you in worship.
During the Meeting for Worship, Friends may be led by the Spirit to testify, to share an insight, to pray, to praise. When speaking, we should do so clearly and simply, using as many words as necessary and as few as possible. When another speaks, listen with an open spirit, holding the speaker in love. Rest with the message, recognizing that even if it is not God’s word for you, it may be so for others.
Queries
In what ways do I prepare my heart and mind to receive the power of God’s presence and love?
How does worship deepen my relationship with the Divine? How is this inspiration carried over into my daily life?
Are our Meetings for Worship held in expectant waiting for Divine guidance?
When direction seems lacking, is this seen as a challenge to a more prayerful search for truth?
How does our worship inspire our Meeting’s activities?
Voices
Once I have centered down I try to open myself, to let the light in. I try to open myself to God’s power; I try to open myself to the other members of the meeting, to gain an awareness of them, to sense the spiritual state of the gathering. I try so to reform myself inwardly that, as a result of this meeting, I will thereafter be just a little less conformed to the unregenerate ways of the world; just a little more conformed to the dedicated way of love. –Jean Toomer, 1947
Preparation for worship is a life that integrates prayer, meditation, edifying reading, and deep conversation into the busy routines that most of us pursue. We cannot expect to dive casually out of the heat of the world into the coolness of divine communication for an hour per week. That only brings the heat of the world in and disturbs the waters, leaving no place for peace. Douglas Gwyn, 1997
In worship we have our neighbors to right and left, before and behind, yet the Eternal Presence is over all and beneath all. Worship does not consist in achieving a mental state of concentrated isolation from one’s fellows. But in the depth of common worship it is as if we found our separate lives were all one life, within whom we live and move and have our being. Thomas R. Kelly, 1938
On one never-to-be-forgotten Sunday morning, I found myself one of a small company of silent worshippers, who were content to sit down together without words, that each one might feel after and draw near to the Divine Presence, unhindered at least, if not helped, by any human utterance. Utterance I knew was free, should the words be given; and, before the meeting was over a sentence or two were uttered in great simplicity by an old and apparently untaught man, rising in his place amongst the rest of us. I did not pay much attention to the words he spoke, and I have no recollection of their purport. My whole soul was filled with the unutterable peace of the undisturbed opportunity for communion with God, with the sense that at last I had found a place where I might, without the faintest suspicion of insincerity, join with others in simply seeking His presence. To sit down in silence could at least pledge me to nothing; it might open to me (as it did that morning) the very gate of heaven. Caroline E. Stephen, 1872
There are times of dryness in our individual lives, when meeting may seem difficult or even worthless. At such times one may be tempted not to go to meeting, but it may be better to go, prepared to offer as our contribution to the worship simply a sense of need. In such a meeting one may not at the time realise what one has gained, but one will nevertheless come away helped. Berks & Oxon Quarterly Meeting, 1948
…I have never lost the joy of sitting in silence at the beginning of Meeting, knowing that everything can happen, knowing the joy of the utmost surprise; feeling that nothing is preordained, nothing is set, all is open. The Light can come from all sides. The joy of experiencing the Light in a completely different way than one has thought it would come is one of the greatest gifts that Friends’ Meeting for Worship has brought me. Ursula M. Franklin, 1979
2013/4-1 Opening The meeting opened with silent worship at 12:30 PM. David Etheridge served as Presiding Clerk, Margaret Greene as Alternate Clerk, and Hayden Wetzel as Recording Clerk. The clerks read a Query from Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s draft Faith and Practice, and appropriate advices and other readings. 27 Friends and visitors were present.
2013/4-2 Visitors The Clerk welcomed visitors Ellen Perry (of Worcester, Massachusetts), Mike Gilbert (of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and Gregg Robb (of Washington, DC).
2013/4-3 Death of John Atlee The Clerk reported the death of our member John Atlee.
2013/4-4 Annual Report of the Library Committee Michael North, clerk of the Library Committee, gave the committee’s annual report. The committee continues to organize and improve the Meeting’s library, which now holds 2,052 books, slightly more than last year. The library has benefitted from a generous cash donation for purchases, and also a donation of five e-readers which are used for Meeting discussion groups. The library’s webpage has seen improvement. The committee extends its gratitude to Friend Ray Allard for his ten years of service.
2013/4-5 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report Kevin Camp, Clerk of the Ministry and Worship Committee, presented the first draft of the annual Spiritual State of the Meeting report. The report has been enriched by participation of many Friends. The committee welcomes comments over the coming months.
Joan Gildemeister, of the Membership Committee, presented the following membership matters.
2013/4-6 Transfer Out of Nicholas Blanchet Friends approved the transfer of Nicholas Blanchet to Boulder Friends Meeting (Boulder, Colorado).
2013/4-7 Termination of Membership of Ronee McLaughlin The committee recommends termination of the membership of Ronnie McLaughlin, from whom we have had no communication for over five years, in spite of the committee’s efforts. The recommendation lies over one month. Friends approved the termination.
2013/4-8 Termination of Membership of Daniel Dozier, Jr. The committee recommends termination of the associate membership of Daniel Dozier, Jr. who has passed the age (25 years) specified in our Handbook for associate membership, and who has not applied for full membership in this Meeting. Friends approved the termination.
2013/4-9 Termination of Membership of Alex Churchman The committee recommends termination of the associate membership of Alex Churchman, who has passed the age (25 years) specified in our Handbook for associate membership, and who has not applied for full membership in this Meeting. Friends approved the termination.
2013/4-10 Termination of Membership of Hannah Entwisle The committee recommends termination of the associate membership of Hannah Enwisle, who has passed the age (25 years) specified in our Handbook for associate membership, and who has not applied for full membership in this Meeting. Friends approved the termination.
2013/4-11 Fiinance and Stewardship Committee Update Ed Husted, Financial Coordinator, gave a preliminary overview of the Meeting’s finances, showing a continued decline in contributions to the Meeting. The committee has identified the major factor in the drop in contributions as the declining number of contributing families in the Meeting, and sees a challenge to our Meeting in cultivating and retaining new contributors among our members and attenders. The committee’s analysis of contributions showed the deaths of three specific members reduced contributions by about $5,000 per year; and controversy over admission of a person with a troubling history reduced contributions by about $3,000 a year.
2013/4-12 Youth Programs Coordinator Report Windy Cooler, the Meeting’s Youth Programs Coordinator, reported continued progress in the development of our childcare, First-Day School and intergenerational community programs. Our attender Kristie Anderson has been working with Windy Cooler and the Property Committee to improve our spaces for the use of these programs.
2013/4-13 Committee of Clerks Minutes The Meeting’s Committee of Clerks met briefly on 31 March. The Clerk read the minutes from that meeting:
“The committee of Clerks met at 9:30 AM under the leadership of the Meeting’s Alternate Clerk, Margaret Greene. In attendance were: Kevin Camp (clerk, Ministry and Worship), Michael North (clerk, Library), Mark Cannon (clerk, Peace and Social Concerns), Merry Pearlstein (co-clerk, Healing and Reconciliation). Meeting Recording Clerk Hayden Wetzel took minutes.
“Friends discussed their feelings and experiences serving as committee clerks. Points raised included committee work as a component of community, practical questions of discerning with which committee a particular matter lies, the role of the clerk in his or her committee, and the responsibilities and activities of committees.
Meg Greene suggested each committee share a brief quarterly update describing the activities and plans of the group for the past and coming period. She also reminded Friends of the need to send all minutes and other significant materials to the Meeting Office for permanent retention. Nominating Committee has been contacting less-active Meeting members regarding committee service. Peace and Social asks each committee to discuss a prepared statement regarding gun violence.
This type of informal discussion will occur every fifth Sunday in the year.
Friends approved the minutes.”
2013/4-14 Closing The meeting ended at 1:20 with 20 Friends present, with silent worship.
Friends Meeting of Washington, Library Committee Annual Report, 2013
I. Introduction
The FMW Library Committee has continued to grow and take care of the collection. We continue to add books to the library, catalog the collection, clear the cabinets and the shelves of duplicates and old supplies, and have begun examining the shelves to identify out of scope materials.
II. Finding Books in the Collection and Checking Them Out
A reminder that the books in the Library have been cataloged on http://www.LibraryThing.com. The FMW Library catalog is viewable at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/FMWLibrary or on mobile devices at http://www.librarything.com/m/ by entering the collection name FMWLibrary. The Library Committee has also printed out lists of the books in the collection with call numbers arranged alphabetically by author and by title and made these available in the Library. These are more reliable than the card catalog, which is quite out of date.
Anyone wishing to check books out should write his or her name on the card in the back of the book and leave the card in the gray box on top of the card catalog. Try to return books within three weeks so that others may use them too. FMW Library Committee Members are trying to make themselves available in the Library after 10:30 meeting ends on First Day in order to help people with questions or to find books- please come by and visit, or feel free to send an e-mail to the clerk via the Library’s homepage on the FMW website: http://www.quakersdc.org/library.
III. Size, Growth and Scope of the Collection
As of the end of March, 2013, the Library held 2,052 books in the collection, about 64 more than last year at this time. Additions to the collection came from donations and purchases. In particular, the Library was happy to receive a gift of $200 in the form of a credit at QuakerBooks.org from a member, with which we were able to purchase ten new books.
A little over a year ago, the Library began setting out duplicates on a table in the Parlor, asking that people leave a dollar for any book they take. This has garnered over $120 for the Library, $24 of which was spent to purchase books for the Library; over the next year, the Committee will probably spend the remainder on more books.
The median publication year of books in the collection went up from 1968 to 1969 as many new books published in the past ten years on Quakerism and religion were added. The Library still has many of the books in the collection that are older and possibly out of date, not reflecting the current interests of the meeting membership. We will continue to seek suggestions from the community and look for new titles relating to Quakerism to add to the collection.
IV. Kindles and E-Books
Last fall, a member of the Meeting generously donated five Kindle Paperwhites from Amazon.com to the Library for the use of the Meeting. This is a new format for the FMW Library, and it presented many new and interesting challenges. Concern was expressed that keeping track of these valuable devices and loaning them out as we do our paper books might be difficult, as we do not want them to disappear. Therefore it was decided to use them for a reading group among the Peace & Social Concerns Committee. Hence, a member of the P&SC Committee purchased a single e-book copy of Living Faith: How Faith Inspires Social Justice by Curtis Paul DeYoung from Amazon.com which was placed on all of the Kindles.
The Library has also added more links to electronic versions of classic Quaker titles to the Library’s homepage, including John Woolman’s Journal, Robert Barclay’s Apology, and Journal of the Life and Religious Labours of Elias Hicks. If people need assistance downloading these to their own Kindles or other e-book readers, please contact Library Committee members.
V. Donations
The Library has received many generous book donations over the past year. However, the Committee feels the need to let the FMW Community know that it is always best to contact someone on the Committee first before bringing books in. This past year, most donations were well within scope, but in previous years people have donated books that were far out of scope, sometimes anonymously. If you have Quaker-related books that you would like to share with the community, please contact one of us to find out if the Library could use them.
The Library’s scope for collecting includes Quaker history and biography, spirituality, mysticism, social justice, and non-violence.
VI. Ray Allard
Ray Allard has served on the FMW Library Committee for many years: first two three-year terms as a member and more recently as an “emeritus” volunteer member. Recently he and his spouse Gerri Williams announced that they will be leaving Washington, DC, to live in Duluth, Minnesota in May. We will greatly miss Ray--his jovial company, his smart commentary, and his hard work, particularly at organizing the Pendle Hill Pamphlets and the newsletters. We wish him and Gerri luck in their future endeavors, and hope that they will continue to keep us abreast of what they are up to.
Members of the Library Committee:
Ray Allard (emeritus)
Thomas Goodhue
Patrick Lynam (emeritus)
Patrick Marchman
Michael North(Clerk), belgrade18@yahoo.com
Submitted April 14, 2013
The Friends Meeting of Washington (FMW)
2012 Spiritual State of the Meeting
Early in 2013, sixty FMW Members, Attenders, and Sojourners provided to Ministry and Worship heartfelt comments about the spiritual state of our Meeting. Over two-thirds said that the Spirit prospers well among us or for them individually. They felt supported in their spiritual journeys through interactions with Friends and community members, participation in Worship, Memorial and Wedding Meetings, and FMW Committee work. Opportunities for spiritual growth have been plentiful, though they can often challenge us. Many have seen the Spirit moving among us as we have sought to know one another better. We have shown directly our love and concern for children, families, and elders. Friends have sought to find clearness on how to best welcome all into our community, embracing “the Divine” in everyone.
“Friends Meeting of Washington is a spiritual community that is supportive of individual’s evolving relationship to the Spirit”…while it is also “large, urban, diverse…with a wide range of activities and groups”
Many noted that the complex structure of our Meeting provides both challenges and opportunities. Its large size allows us to support a variety of worship, service, and learning opportunities while also making it difficult for some of us to know each other well. Friends sought to foster the trust and love that nurtures true fellowship and community. Our members and regular attenders are socially active, strongly opinionated, and often transient individuals. They bring us a deep commitment to spiritual growth, energy, and strong individual expectations. Sometimes members and friends are disappointed at the limitations of our Meeting. Our historic campus offers an opportunity to witness our faith by welcoming many visitors and others seeking safe-harbor or a community with Quaker value. However, active engagement with FMW demands an ongoing commitment to discern needed improvement and maintenance of the property. As we struggle to find the Light in each other and in our community we are thankful for the gifts we have been given by our predecessors. We turn to the Spirit to help us use our unusual strengths and special challenges. These forge and strengthen pathways toward shared spiritual enlightenment.
“FMW is the center of my life and a community that both challenges and nurtures me.”
FMWseemed to find its way in 2012 regarding a handful of issues that had been challenging for many years. Our physical spaces were greatly improved and plans for enhanced accessibility approached unity through tireless efforts by dedicated committees. We undertook many actions to provide a safer environment for our children and their families. We re-invigorated our Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Our young adults expanded their fellowship and service activities. Finally, those with hearing loss were accommodated to the greatest degree possible, particularly in our Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business.
“I still think of FMW as my spiritual home but sometimes I feel a sense of alienation and desertion as well.”
The major challenge facing FMW this year was how to welcome individuals with troubling histories, including child sexual abuse. In addressing this, the hurts and differences among us were often tied to a lack of attentiveness toward our children in the past. Their parents and families revealed a need to build trust, community, and caring. Many individuals and committees responded to this situation by seeking to listen and hear each other with an open heart, and by convening additional opportunities for worship and fellowship. As the year progressed, most of those responding to the survey saw real progress. Even so, there are still concerns that many such efforts remain “works in progress”. In our daily lives, many find that the Quaker Spirit is on display through patience, compassion, and service. This is evident through professional work, family, and continued daily personal growth.
"We are doing well because we struggle well." “There is so much love, so much pain, so much hope, so much disappointment.”
What is desired by our Meeting includes tolerance, unity, and cohesion. Moreover, what is wanted most of all is more self-forgiveness and trust. Friends recognize that more financial stability and funding support will enable our meeting to serve better the shared Spirit of its members. Many are deeply concerned that financial support for our Meeting is diminishing. This is particularly troubling as we foresee the need to fund physical alterations that will make our buildings accessible to all and more accommodating to children, families and elders. Many wonder if our spiritual connection to our Meeting is reflected in the level of funding support provided by members and attenders. Friends hope that capital fundraising gets underway shortly. As the overall economy improves, we trust we will find our commitment to financing FMW improved.
A particularly long-standing concern focused on the frequency and character of vocal ministry, particularly in the Meeting for Worship held on First Day at 10:30 a.m. in the main Meetingoom. While many recognize and appreciate that individual vocal ministries do not “speak” to everyone and that we all have different needs and capabilities, there is a feeling that we should be more careful to ensure that vocal ministry is truly Spirit-led. This vocal ministry should be in keeping with Faith and Practice.
“FMW is a spiritual resource for sharing and deepening your values with others who are also searching and intentional.”
In conclusion, we find that the Friends Meeting of Washington is a community that continues to grow within a challenging climate of vitality, questioning, expectation, and deep abiding concern for the well-being of our Meeting. We see many opportunities for improvement and compassion toward one another and the world at large. We also see that many of our struggles have long histories and that, in the measured, sometimes lengthy way of Quaker engagement, we are making progress toward unity and Spirit-led understanding. While we are often exhausted by the effort of resolving tender issues and knowing and trusting each other more, we know that in all things we are linked by the Divinity that resides within us and within our community of believers and seekers.
FDS in March 2013 celebrated Easter, with the dying and sharing of eggs, and a great tour of the neighborhood and building, asking ourselves, "what are we looking for?" We celebrated Spring and family with dance and with the annual School for Friends’ Simple Meal and cooperative games in the back garden. We began April with Haiku, reminded of the cultural sharing between Japan and the US that DC observes this time of year with the Cherry Blossom Festival. About 20 people volunteered their time directly with FDS in the last month.
In the last month First Day School has had made headway in meeting our goals of greater organization and intergenerational integration, volunteer recruitment, compliance with child safety policy, and the development of our nursery. We are:
- Working with Property Committee to explore FDS options for multi-use physical space inside FMW and in the gardens
- Meeting seasonally to plan FDS themes and calendars
- Actively participating in Child Safety Committee meetings and Religious Education Committee meetings and following up on action items including recovery and organization of documents and building agenda items that represent feedback from the community.
- Aiding in the development of an intergenerational "fun day" in mid-Spring
- Communicating at least weekly with the greater FMW community about FDS, opportunities within BYM, ideas for building on the FDS time, and invitations to integrative conversations
- Gratefully accepting family training in life-saving and first aid techniques from Personal Aid Committee (and our coordinator has been trained in the use of the new AED)
- Welcoming new families and new volunteers to our FDS program
- Hiring additional childcare workers for our nursery
FDS continues to struggle creatively and sincerely with themes inside of our goal of intergenerational integration. At both the last CSC meeting and REC meeting we discussed the budget limitations of our child-care solution ideas to rise of meeting and committee and business meeting times as well as ways in which we can behave in ways that increase joyful community bonding and connection as part of the solution to child safety and family involvement in the work of the meeting. We welcome all conversation in this struggle toward clarity.
- Windy Cooler, Youth Programs Coordinator
Annual Giving to Friends Meeting of Washington
|
Fiscal Year |
Budgeted |
Actual |
Shortfall |
|
2009 |
$250,000 |
$240,000 |
$10,000 |
|
2010 |
225,000 |
227,000 |
None |
|
2011 |
230,000 |
232,000 |
None |
|
2012 |
236,000 |
214,000 |
22,000 |
|
2013 |
236,000 |
203,000* |
33,000 |
- Projected from 9 months to year.
F&S is particularly concerned about the drop in contributions from $240,000 in fiscal year 2009 to $203,000 in the current fiscal year. We have investigated the individual contributions extensively during the last month.
We found that there was an unusually large reduction in contributions in the last year. This included three deaths of long-term friends who had contributed a total of over $5,000 a year. The controversy over admission of a person with a troubling history reduced contributions by about $3,000 a year. And there were a number of other unusual one-time reductions. We think that reductions in the future will not be as large as in 2012.
Our major finding is that we have not been doing a good job of adding new contributors to FMW. In 2008, our last year with a large increase in contributions, we added 84 new contributor families with a total annual contribution of $41,000. In 2012 we only added 59 new contributor families with a total contribution of $18,000. From 2008 through 2012 the number of contributing families declined from 308 to 261 families.
The result is that we plan to focus on adding contributors to the rolls with an eye to increasing both the number of contributors and the amount contributed in the future.
The Grate Patrol packs and delivers 120 bag lunches and soup to people living on the street on Wednesday, May 1. Soup or chili is made in the afternoon. At 5:30 PM we start making sandwiches and packing the lunch bags. At 7 PM, we load the van and one or two people go out on delivery for about an hour. You’re welcome to help out with any or all of these things. Call Steve Brooks 240-328-5439 or email sbrooks@uab.edu for more information.
PiscatawayIndian Scholar, Dr. Gabrielle Tayac, to Speak at Friends House on May 1 (7:30 p.m.). Topic: “Native Peoples in Our Area: Then and Now.” The presenter, who grew up in Maryland, is a member of a prominent Piscataway family that includes several hereditary chiefs, and is an expert on the history of our region. She has served as the Director of Education at the National Museum of the American Indian and holds a permanent appointment there as a Historian. Friends House Retirement Community, 17340 Quaker Lane, Sandy Spring, MD 20860
Come to S.O.M.E. on Saturday, May 4 at 6:15 AM and be prepared to flip pancakes and help prepare breakfast for our vulnerable neighbors. The kitchen is at 70 “0” St. NW, adjacent to a parking lot. For more information and to sign up, contact Betsy Bramon at betsy.bramon@gmail.com
Come to a monthly FMW Work Day on Saturday, May 4 from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM. We will be working on the back garden, getting it all spruced up and ready for the Inter-Generational Party later this month. Come for all or part of the day; all skill sets welcome, pizza served midday.
A Nature Program on Friends Wilderness Center trails will be led by Carlen Emmanuel, a forester with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, on Saturday, May 4 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. For details, see www.friendswilderness.org
There will be a Spring Work Weekend at Catoctin Quaker Camp on May 4 and 5. For more information, go to http://bymcamps.org/wp/friends-service-weekends-spring-2013/
A Meeting for Singing will be held at 10:00 AM on Sunday, May 5 and every first First Day for the rest of the year. Join in singing chants, hymns and songs of praise and longing. All voices and ages welcome; no paper training required.
The Inquirer’s Class continues on Monday, May 6, 13, and 20 at 7:00 PM. All are welcome at this Quaker 101 class, regardless of experience with the Meeting. For more information, contact Michael Cronin at mcronin943@gmail.com
There will be a Spring Work Weekend at Shiloh Quaker Camp on Saturday, May 11. For more information, go to http://bymcamps.org/wp/friends-service-weekends-spring-2013/
Come to the monthly Meeting for Worship and Potluck on Tuesday, May 14. Worship begins at 6:30 PM; potluck at 7:00 PM. All are welcome.
There will be a Junior Young Friends Conference at Shiloh Quaker Camp from May 17 to 19. For more information, contact Alison Duncan, Youth Programs Manager, youthprograms@bym-rsf.org, 301-774-7663
A program on Writing in the Midst of Nature will be led by Caroling Pelton, an experienced journaling teacher, at Friends Wilderness Center on Saturday, May 18 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. For details, see www.friendswilderness.org
White Identity Exploration Group When Friends [School of Baltimore] announced that we would be starting a White Identity Exploration Group for parents this spring [2012], we received a range of responses. The School had successfully launched affinity programs for parents of children of color as well as for same-sex, adoptive and single or divorced parents – all of which are minority groups at Friends. Why, some argued, would white parents, as a majority on campus, need to meet around their racial identify? Other parents decried the notion of a singular white identity, arguing against the notion that there is only one way to be white.
The truth is we all have a racial identity. Understanding it, and how it impacts those with whom we interact, is not about further separating ourselves from those who are different from us. Quite the opposite: Such identity exploration among majority and minority groups can facilitate relationships by dispelling stereotypes and identifying shared values and characteristics.
Diversity exists within any group. Striving not to see differences when we look at each other – the once-popular “identity blindness” theory – presumes that difference is inherently bad when, really, it provides exciting opportunities for learning and mutual sharing.
- From “Diversity Notes,” by Felicia Wilks, Director of Diversity at Friends School of Baltimore, in the Spring 2012 Collection, p. 9.
The BYM Working Group on Racism will meet on May 19 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, usually at Bethesda Friends Meeting or Friends Meeting of Washington. If you would like to attend, on a regular or a drop-in basis, contact the clerk of the Working Group, David Etheridge, 301-320-3470.
Party Time! Come to an inter-generational, all-Meeting party on Sunday, May 19 starting at rise of Meeting. Yummy food, ice cream bar, parachute games, bubbles, music and many surprising treats. All party offerings welcome, especially the gift of your presence. For more information, contact Windy Cooler and Debby Churchman at the office.
There will be a Young Friends Conference on May 24 – 26, space TBD. For more information, contact Alison Duncan, Youth Programs Manager, youthprograms@bym-rsf.org, 301-774-7663
The Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology will meet May 24 – 27 at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. Plenary speaker Dr. Donald Kalsched will talk on “Trauma and the Soul,” following the release of his new book in March, Trauma and the Soul: A Psycho-Spiritual Approach to Human Development and its Interruption. For more information, check http://fcrp.quaker.org/
Spend your Memorial Day Weekend (May 24-26) at Catoctin with FMW Friends! Young Adult Friends, Families, Singles, Seniors, Babies et al are welcome. We cook, eat, walk, (mostly) talk, swim in the pond, laze in the sun, and worship together.
Eureka! There is another fun filled fibre fiasco,onSunday, May 26 in the North Room atnoon. Please join other fab fibre friends as we knit, crochet, quilt, tat, mend and sew together.
There will be a Spring Work Weekend at Opequon Quaker Camp on Saturday, June 1. For more information, go to http://bymcamps.org/wp/friends-service-weekends-spring-2013/
A monthly series of edited extracts from the historical material of the Friends Meeting of Washington.
July 1934
Dear Friend:
Daniel Shoemaker and I presented the matter of some form of cooperation between Florida Avenue Meeting and the two Baltimore Yearly Meetings with our Committee as requested. Our committee decided at that time to suggest that Florida Avenue be asked to help with the peace work of the Cooperating Committee. The following minute will show our interest and desire for fellowship: “We feel that we must make no move that would be divisive or in any way ask our new members to make a choice of Yearly Meetings. But we welcome any effort toward cooperation and unity.”
Cordially thine,
Sina M. Stanton
++++++++++++
IllinoisYearly Meeting
3 December 1942
Deal Allen [White]:
When the 57th Street Meeting was set up it was the combined efforts of the few Friends living in the University of Chicago district and the old Hull-House Meeting. At first we held two separate Monthly Meeting – then feeling that was ridiculous the two clerks sat at the table, first transacting the business of one Monthly Meeting then the other. This went on for some time. Minutes were typed in duplicate with “F” or “G” in the margin to signify business done by one or the other. Now the minutes are still written in duplicate but all business is done by all present.
++++++++++++
Buffaloand Niagara Fall United Monthly Meeting
3 October 1943
Dear Friend:
Your letter was read at our Monthly Meeting and the Executive Committee was instructed to give you our experience in the formation of a United Meeting. Permit me to say, individually, that it has been very satisfactory and that we have found a common ground of harmony whereupon former members of either branch of the Society can meet. We believe we have helped if ever so little in bridging the gap by our visitations among either branch within the vicinity of Buffalo.
++++++++++++
FMWwas created as an independent meeting, not affiliated with either the Homewood or Stony Run Yearly Meeting (which represented the FUM and FGC wings of the Society). The first letter above shows how early this lack of larger community occupied Meeting thoughts. In the early 1940s the Meeting wrote to other united meetings within the US asking their experiences and received many interesting responses. We joined both YMs 1944, which in time merged into the present BYM.
Hayden Wetzel
FMWHistorian
This April, we had a beautiful spring for about a day and a half (two days?), and then temperatures plunged into summer. The FMW garden responded enthusiastically to all this light and heat, with new blossoms springing (so to speak) forth every day. Many lunch meetings suddenly shifted to the outdoors. If you’re in the neighborhood, drop by for lunch al fresco! Gardens open Monday to Friday.
In an effort to make better use of this wonderful property, the Meeting has been renting event space to a number of organizations, as well as providing space for Meeting-led activities. This month, the property has been particularly well-used. For example, one Wednesday, a huge group from United for Equality and Affirmative Action were set to bring several busloads of people from Detroit to speak out on behalf of immigrant rights
at a rally at the U.S. Capitol. They were expected at 9:00 a.m. Around 10:30, a couple of them wandered in and said that the rest were stuck in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, and would be there by lunchtime. Meanwhile ,the School for Friends kids came to do silent worship, and were shuttled off to the Quaker House Living Room. There they sat, according to Molly Tully, for 30 minutes (30!), in wiggly quiet. Afterwards, they spilled out into the garden and ran around on a beautiful, warm day. The folks from Terra, our wonderful groundskeepers, had come that day to do a big spring clean-up—they took a quick break when the kids poured out, careful not to spoil the fun.
The immigrant rights people—mostly teenagers--showed up shortly afterward, having been on the bus since 11:00 pm the night before. They lined up to use the bathrooms, ate a ton of pizza, used every electric socket in the place to re-charge their phones (“My mother will kill me if I don’t call her back!”), met in the Meeting Room to get pumped for the rally—and then walked a full three miles to the Capitol in the heat (you can see 17 seconds of their march here). Many thanks to them and to the Kellys for cleaning up afterwards, as well as to any squirrels and birds who ate the stray pizza crumbs.
In addition to these events, the Meeting House this month hosted the Wellesley Alumni Group, the Grate Patrol, a 2-part showing of the movie “Amazing Grace,” two trainings for using our new defibrillator, our monthly worship and potluck, two meetings of the Climate Support Group, a meeting of Get Equal, a half-day training by Amnesty International followed by political action at several nearby embassies, a dinner in support of our beloved Makai Kellogg and her work in the Dominican Republic, a Meet and Greet for Represent US (which opposes corporate lobbying), a meet and greet for the Shambala Center, a GMO-Free potluck and speakers meeting, a two-day workshop on Peacemaking Circles, an Inquirer’s Class, two spiritual group meetings, a book signing for one of our attenders, a rehearsal dinner and wedding, a Fibre Party, four language classes, a weekly Buddhist sitt, the weekly meeting of Muslims for Progressive Values, four weekly meetings for worship, a monthly meeting of the Buddha’s Brain group, and 12 committee meetings. Whew!
- Debby
Imam Daaiyee issues call to prayer in FMW Parlor. Photo by Nikki Kahn, WashingtonPost, http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/imam-daayiee-abdullah-welcomes-gay-muslims-to-worship-marry/2013/04/17/3ebcab3a-a5db-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_story.html