FMW Newsletter, July 2015
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Friends Meeting of Washington
Monthly Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business
June 2015
Do you make your home a place of affection where God's presence is felt? Do you practice family prayer? Do you share your deepest beliefs and interests with all in the family? Do you grow together through sharing prosperity and adversity? Can you keep a sense of humor and avoid taking yourself too seriously? Do you establish family standards including the mutual obligations of children and adults?
Are you as children learning to be accountable for your own actions? Do you as parents help your children to grow in independence and responsibility? Do you consider the needs of grandparents and older members of the family circle?
Advices
In the busy years of home life the parents are upheld and strengthened by their dependence upon God and upon one another; the efficient running of the home, the simple hospitality, the happy atmosphere, are all outward signs of this three-fold inner relationship. Home-making is a Quaker service in its own right. It should be recognized as such and a proper balance preserved, so that other activities – even the claims of Quaker service in other fields – should not be allowed to hinder its growth.
- Quaker Faith and Practice, Britain Yearly Meeting, 1959
Voices
Our children are given to us for a time to cherish, to protect, to nurture, and then to salute as they go their separate ways. They too have the light of God within, and a family should be a learning community in which children not only learn skills and values from parents, but in which adults learn new ways of experiencing things and seeing things through young eyes. From their birth on, let us cultivate the habit of dialogue and receptive listening. We should respect their right to grow into their own wholeness, not just the wholeness we may wish for them. If we lead fulfilling lives ourselves, we can avoid overprotecting them or trying to live through them…
The family is a place to practice being ‘valiant for the truth.’ We can live lives of integrity, letting both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ come out of the depth of truth within us, careful of the truth in all our dealings, so that our words and our lives speak the same message. We cannot expect our children to be honest with us or anyone else if they hear us stretching the truth for convenience or personal gain. They are quick to catch such discrepancies. Moreover, we should trust them enough to be honest with them about family problems – disasters, serious illness, impending death. It is far harder on children not to know what is wrong.
- Elizabeth Watson, 1980, from Quaker Faith and Practice, Britain Yearly Meeting
Meeting for Business opened at 12:15 pm with 24 persons present. Friends welcomed Robert Mertz from Bethesda, MD and Liz Sullivan from Washington, DC as first time attenders to Meeting for Business.
2015/6-2 Clerk’s Report
Congratulations and thanks to our own Steve Coleman for another one of his amazing gifts to DC. This time it is the work he did to revitalize Marvin Gaye Park at Minnesota and Nannie Helen Burroughs avenues in a grassy area with benches called Lady Bird Johnson Meadows. There, a six-foot circular, mosaic portrait of Marvin He Gaye begins the dedicated trail. This is a long neglected park of our city and with this work we hope will become a place for reflection and community.
William Penn House is celebrating their garden box project with Parks and People on July 2th.
BYM annual meeting will take place August 3 through 9 – register at www.bym-rsf.org. The office staff encourages people to register before June 29 when the rates go up. The Personal Aid Committee welcomes scholarship applications for Baltimore Yearly Meeting first time attenders. You may email Patty Murphy, pmurphy@sju.edu, or submit a letter in writing care of the Committee. For more information visit: http://www.bym-rsf.org/events/annualsession/.
From July 5 to 11 Friends General Conference (FGC) Annual Gathering will be at the Western Carolina University near Asheville NC. Look up the program for this year at www.fgcGathering.org.
Our beloved BYM Secretary, Riley Robinson, is leaving that position for one in Development over at FCNL. BYM's supervisory committee is heading up the search committee for Riley's replacement.
On June 14, Beyond the New Jim Crow – Preventing the Revolving Door will be held at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church (Kensington, MD), 5:00 pm, co-sponsored by Bethesda Friends Meeting and the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church.
On Saturday, June 20, there will be a poetry workshop at Friends Wilderness Center from 10 to 3. For more information, contact Sheila Bach, snbach@earthlink.net. 304-728-4820.
Sunday, June 21 the event: Ending Mass Incarceration will be held here at the Meeting. There are now 2.1 million people incarcerated in the United States, more than any other nation on earth. Come learn what can be done about it, including a number of local efforts here in D.C. at noon in the North Room. For more information, contact Debby Churchman at dchurchm@yahoo.com.
Major items
2015/6-3 Peace and Social Concerns
Justin Connor brought forward a request supported by Peace and Social Concerns Committee and Finance and Stewardship Committee to be allowed to offer for sale at FMW fair trade Palestinian olive oil sold through an Ecumenical organization. Bethesda Friends Meeting is already a part of this ministry. This helps compensate for the U.S. tax monies spent supporting the Israeli economy through the Israeli military. Robert Mertz, the coordinator of the olive oil ministry spoke about its history and the other eight congregations involved in it. The olive oil comes from an organic source through Tent of Nations an organization that supports nonviolent action.
Friends APPROVED allowing the sale of this olive oil at the Meetinghouse.
2015/6-4 Marriage and Family Committee
James Bell, clerk of Marriage and Family Committee, brought the first reading of request for Lydia Pecker and Carl Johnson to be married under the care of the Meeting in October.
This lies over for one month.
The Mike Hubbard and Ryan Ashword wedding was accomplished in good order.
2015/6-5 Membership Committee
Marcia Reecer, co-clerk of Membership Committee presented the second reading of the request for membership of Bertrand Rossert.
Bertrand Rossert’s membership was APPROVED.
Resignation of Kevin Camp was brought forward as he has stated in public that this meeting is not his meeting any longer and he asserts he intends to sue various people in the Meeting. A Friend stated that he was troubled that we had not taken time to inquire if Kevin has resigned. A Friend was concerned we were not asking Friends who leave why they were leaving but instead were ignoring them. A Friend suggested that we not have a public airing of this matter. A Friend asked if in fact Kevin had resigned.
It was noted Kevin Camp placed his desire to no longer be a member in a public on-line forum and in a letter sent to Healing and Reconciliation Committee where he wrote that he is dissatisfied with the Meeting and intends to sue the Healing and Reconciliation Committee and that FMW is no longer his Meeting. He sent an additional email to the Meeting stating he did in fact consider that he is no longer a member of the Meeting and asked for reformation of some of its procedures about expectations of Members (which items were noted by the clerks and may be dealt with later). Membership Committee sent a following communication accepting his resignation and thanked him for his service. A Friend has noted that Kevin is seeking “crowd funding” for his suit against the Meeting.
A Friend suggested that another word should be used rather than resignation because it is a heavy word.
The resignation was ACCEPTED.
2015/6-6 Nominating Committee
Harry Massey, clerk of Nominating Committee presented the following names as resigning:
Steve Brooks – Property Committee
Jean Harman – Property Committee
Josh Wilson – liaison to American Friends Service Committee
The resignations were ACCEPTED with regrets and appreciation.
Harry Massey presented the following names for approval:
Nate Vernon (Attender) - Finance and Stewardship (2017)
Jean Capps (Member) - liaison to American Friends Service Committee
The appointments of
Nate Vernon (Attender) - Finance and Stewardship (2017)
Jean Capps (Member) - liaison to American Friends Service Committee
were APPROVED.
2015/6-7 Finance and Stewardship
Ed Hustead, member of Finance and Stewardship made the second presentation of the 2015/2016 budget. Our fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.
A Friend asked about the Capital Campaign Fund and where it is on the budget. The Capital Campaign Fund is shown in the balance of cash in accounts and various pledges make up the difference. It was noted that the contribution line does not show up a capital campaign contribution because the Capital Campaign is not part of the operating budget. It was noted that the Campaign has, in effect, been going on for some time and some of its monies have already been spent on architects and other issues.
A Friend asked about the value listed for the property. It was noted it was listed, as required by GAPP, as book value.
The budget was APPROVED.
A Friend noted that some years ago we were encouraged to sell some of our buildings because of the deterioration of them over the years. But with good stewardship of the members of the property committee who worked so hard over the years to bring us here Steve Coleman, Steve Brooks, Ken Orvis, Martha Solt and others we are in much better buildings. The Meeting wishes to minute its gratitude.
The minute of appreciation was APPROVED.
2015/6-8 Interim Meeting
Mary Campbell gave a report from Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Interim Meeting held on June 13. The main work of the interim meeting was on implementing the Vision Statement. BYM has received a substantial grant to bring more diversity to the Yearly Meeting. There will be a staff person focusing on this issue working primarily with young people. There was a new ad-hoc working group created called HOPE to focus on the direction of BYM and what the staffing will be. This proved timely as Riley Robinson has resigned as General Secretary of the Yearly Meeting effective June 30. Also Alison Duncan is leaving as youth director. BYM Supervisory Committee is looking for an interim general secretary for 15 months. Call the Supervisory committee if there is someone who would be a good choice. The interim meeting approved a working group on right relationship with animals under Unity with Nature. They approved the Indian Affairs Committee’s minute in support of clemency for Leonard Peltier or at least nearer to his family.
2015/6-9 Baltimore Yearly Meeting Indian Affairs Committee
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Indian Affairs Committee asked Friends Meeting of Washington, DC to consider their minute approved April 2015:
Like all Quakers, Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends is called by God to act with integrity, and out of this grows a concern for justice. Historically, Friends have worked toward reforming the criminal justice system and advocating on behalf of those who are unjustly imprisoned. We have historic ties with American Indian Nations and hold an ongoing concern that American Indian individuals and Nations receive justice within American governmental systems.
Called by the Spirit and led by our Witness for integrity, equality, and community, Baltimore Yearly Meeting asks for the release from prison of Leonard Peltier, in accordance with the plan drawn up by the National Congress of American Indians (see attachment). As this plan describes in detail, appellate courts acknowledge misconduct during his prosecution and court records reflect that no clear evidence exists to indicate who shot two FBI agents on June 25, 1975. In spite of a record of good behavior in prison for more than the requisite 15 years, Leonard Peltier was denied parole in 2009.
Leonard Peltier, a writer, artist, and Nobel Prize nominee, is elderly and in ill health. We, along with an international community of those dedicated to the pursuit of justice, ask that he be allowed to rejoin his family and live his last days in peace.
A Friend noted he was a newly appointed person for a prison advocacy group and he would be happy to help with Leonard Peltier.
2015/6-10 Milestones
Death of long time member William Robert Gronewald was reported. Harry Massey was asked to write a Memorial Minute for him in consultation with Clem Swisher.
Other business
2015/6-11 Religious Education Committee
Betsy Bramon, member of Religious Education Committee, presented their annual report a copy of which is attached. There is a lot going on at FMW with regard to religious education, with a nursery; age-appropriate programs for lower and upper elementary children; tweens and teens classes; special events; and adult education programs. Spiritual play and the curriculum is being looked at again. Michael Beer is going to be working with the children in the future as the new Youth Program Coordinator.
The adult event programs are going to be expanded in the future. Child Safety discussions are ongoing.
A Friend asked how the committee has changed Betsy Bramon’s life. She said it was a way to get known and to know others and she has found it a rich experience.
The clerk noted that the vibrancy of the Meeting now is great thanks, in part, to the Religious Education committee working as a catalyst.
The report was ACCEPTED with thanks.
2015/6-12 Committee of Clerks
Dan Dozier, alternate clerk, gave the report of the May 31 2015 meeting of the Committee of Clerks. They accepted the Personnel Committee’s recommendation of renewal of Debby Churchman as the Meeting’s administrative secretary. The Personnel Committee will be reviewing the employment practices of the Meeting including compensation.
The Committee of Clerks also acknowledged the Child Safety and Welcoming Guidelines were moving forward.
The report was ACCEPTED.
Friends APPROVED the minutes as improved.
After a period of silence the meeting closed at 2 pm with 20 persons in attendance to reconvene as Way Opens on July 19, 2015.
Friends Meeting of Washington (FMW)
Report of the Religious Education Committee for June 2014-June 2015
Presented at the June Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business
Committee members: Kim Acquaviva (Clerk), Michael Beer, Betsy Bramon, Jane Connor, Anita Drever, Nicole Else-Quest, Carl Johnson, Carrie Mitchell, Virginia Avanesyan (Youth Program Coordinator and ex officio committee member)
The Religious Education committee cares deeply for the spiritual lives of the children in our Meeting and we rejoice in how much they bring life and Spirit to our Meeting. FDS and youth programs at Friends Meeting of Washington have continued to grow and deepen in the twelve months since our last report, thanks to the ongoing commitment of our community. The following describes our progress and programming during the period from June 2014 through June 2015:
Nursery – Head of Nursery: Makai Kellogg
The Meeting offers child care to our littlest attenders – those from birth through 4 years of age -each week during 10:30 Meeting for Worship as well as during the monthly Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business. Our nursery continues to serve a growing body of Quaker families and visitors to FMW, thanks to the ongoing leadership of Makai Kellogg, Childcare/Nursery Coordinator. Makai supervises all staff in the nursery and ensures the hygiene and physical safety of the nursery environment in addition to welcoming families in the sensitive and warm manner we have become accustomed to. Our nursery is well staffed a rotating team of paid caregivers providing care to a growing number of young children in the Meeting. We continue to provide skilled childcare for special events at FMW and are grateful to the Meeting for approving the larger Religious Education budget last year that has made this possible.
Lower Elementary – Coordinator: Virginia Avanesyan
The Lower Elementary (LE) class at First Day School supports the religious education of children ages 4 to 6 years old. This class has seen strong support and attendance by children of FMW members and attenders, as well as parents of School for Friends. The LE class has a dedicated group of parents who volunteer to lead the class, with other volunteers joining the class as their schedule permits. There are always two teachers - the lead and their support – for each class.
Upper Elementary – Coordinator: Virginia Avanesyan
The Upper Elementary (UE) group focuses on the religious education of children ages 7 to 11 years old. We had a variety of guest speakers including one about Bayard Rustin. Attendance has averaged about 6. There are always two adult leads/teachers for every First Day, and we continue to have a large number of volunteers who help make the UE class a dynamic and Spirit-filled learning community for our youth.
Overview of Programming in Lower and Upper Elementary Classes
Some notable activities this year included a fundraising effort for the Capital Campaign of the Meeting, named Coins for Quoins in which we raised roughly $600. We had a garden/spring festival in which we planted a vegetable garden in the Front Garden. Friends of many ages participated in a Ski trip, 2 retreats at Catoctin Camp, and the Shoebox project.
Our youth benefited greatly from the knowledge, experience, and passion shared by our special guests, and we are deeply appreciative of the gifts of time, talent, and Spirit each of them shared with our youth.
The two elementary classes, while still distinct, have had several classroom experiences with one another as we cross bridges, exploring what we might be able to do with people our own age and what we might be able to do with people older and younger. Our youth continue to learn about how to care for the building we share with so many other Friends, making a paper "fire" for Thanksgiving, decorating the windows for our Spring Simple Meal with School for Friends, and daydreaming about new ways to play in the gardens that surround us.
Junior Young Friends/Tweens & Teens – Coordinator: Kim Acquaviva
The Junior Young Friends group (AKA “Tweens and Teens”) have continued their chaotically melodious, Spirit-filled jam sessions of the Quaker Ukulele Collective each First Day in the third-floor room where we meet. Although there are always two or more adults present, the Quaker Ukulele Collective continues to be essentially a leaderless initiative of the tweens and teens. Some weeks, the tweens and teens want to talk and eat donuts – other weeks, it’s all about the ukes. It’s been a joy to watch the tweens and teens work collaboratively to experience the creation of music in a wholly unstructured and joy-filled way. The Tweens & Teens give particular thanks to the steadfast volunteers who have given their time, energy, and enthusiasm to the group throughout the year.
Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Our Yearly Meeting (BYM) continues to have a very active youth program that includes regular weekend retreats at Monthly Meetings throughout BYM for those in 6th through 8th grade – Junior Young Friends – (see http://jyf.bym-rsf.net) and those aged 14-20 – Young Friends – (see: http://yf.bym-rsf.net/). The BYM programs enable the teens to get to know other younger Friends from all over the area while practicing lived Quakerism through the regular retreats they have. The next gathering for both Young Friends and Junior Young Friends is Annual Session (http://www.bym-rsf.org/events/annualsession). It takes place from August 3rd-9th at Frostburg State University. Rising 6-8th graders stay in dorm rooms with their parents, but gather throughout each day for various activities. Rising 9th graders have the choice of participating in the middle school program or the high school program. Rising 10-12th graders and FAPs stay in rooms all on the same floor, and build a lived community like a conference. If they are 18 years old, high school graduates have the choice of participating in the high school program, or the Young Adult Program (18-35 years old). Friends may contact Alison Duncan, BYM Youth Programs Manager, at youthprograms@bym-rsf.org for more information.
Adult Religious Education Study Group – Coordinated by John Scales
During the past 12 months, the study group met generally once or twice a month on Sundays before the Meeting for Worship. It benefitted by the contributions of new, as well as long-standing members, as they shared in their readings and led discussions.
Over more than a decade of its meetings, it has considered a wide range of topics of interests chosen to enhance appreciation of contributions Quakers and others make to individual spiritual growth and society. Sessions over the years have addressed Quaker history and Quaker leaders (e.g. George Fox, John Woolman), social activists with Quaker backgrounds (e.g Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Bayard Rustin), and writers with Quaker influences (e.g., James Michener, Thornton Wilder, Walt Whitman). Religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism have been considered in terms of their tenets and differences and similarities to Quaker beliefs and approaches.
June 2014, Since June 2014, we have had great programs led by our members. For example:
- The group had two special programs: In June, Patrick Lynam presented Larry Ingle’s Quakers in Conflict: The Hicksite Reformation, which concerns the schism in the Philadelphia Meeting. The split between evangelicals and “traditional” Quakers occurred suddenly in 1827 and remained in effect until 1955, when the two sides reconciled. He made a fabulous presentation of what is considered essential Quaker history in understanding the still present nature of our practices and (sometimes different) views.
- In December, Rob Callard led a program seeking answers to these questions: "The Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--are Jesus's biography. But who wrote them, and when? We'll discuss modern historical scholarship to gain some perspective on the early Christian church. "
- And in between these programs and since, John Scales, Blair Forlaw and others have focused on Quaker history in areas which Quakers originally came to in America from England, Barbados and other places. They have included Boston, the eastern and western shores of Maryland, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Rhode Island, among others. This history –in each place starting with arrival and running through the colonial period, the European wars the American Revolution, the war of 1812 and the civil war and beyond - has shown how Friends dealt with and led on issues of the peace testimony, slavery, women's rights, and issues of faith and practice.
The group will continue on Quaker history and practices and in Christian and other faiths in the coming year. Early in 2016, the group will inquire further into Islam and the various realities and perceptions of it.
Ongoing Child Safety Discussions
We feel much gratitude in our hearts to those in our FMW community who are working to translate our shared commitments and hopes into a brief and actionable safety and welcoming policy for the Meeting. The foundational work for this effort was ably led by Marsha Holliday and the Child Safety Committee, leading to the ultimate approval of a Child Safety Policy by FMW’s Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business in 2013. As members of the RE Committee, we continue to hold in the Light those who endeavor to explore ways to know the people who worship with us, and in the case of those who may be perceived as a threat to the community, understand their situations well enough to manage possible dangers while understanding our own fears and concerns so as to remain open and welcoming. We feel fortunate to be part of a Meeting community in which difficult issues like this are explored, discussed, wrestled with, and prayerfully considered.
Youth Programs Coordinator Transition
Virginia will be stepping down from her position as YPC in June 2015 to focus her time and energies on full-time work within the school district where she is currently employed. Virginia helped the RE Committee recruit Michael Beer to take over the position upon her departure, and she has been actively engaged in mentoring Michael during this period of transition. Over the summer, Virginia will be compiling a set of lesson plans for use in the FDS program in the coming year – a task the RE Committee feels strongly will be a worthwhile investment in ensuring the ongoing quality of our programs moving forward. We are grateful to Virginia for all that she has done for the children of FMW and we look forward to her continued involvement as an FMW parent in the months and years to come.
Summer Plans for the Transition
This summer, FMW will offer spiritual development activities and play for the elementary grades as well as nursery care for the youngest friends.
Conclusion
The Religious Education Committee is excited about the progress and programming in FMW’s youth programs over the past 12 months, and we look forward to another vibrant year of religious education. We remain grateful to the Meeting for its generous financial support of our nursery, First Day School, and staffing. Thank you to all who have made our programs a success during the 2014-15 year!
_____________________________________________________________________
(This ends the Minutes and Reports from June 2015)
June 28 – July 5: Quaker Workcamps: Community Gardens
Community gardens not only make nutritious foods more readily available, but help provide healthy water filtration to the watershed. In addition, maintaining community gardens is a social event that helps build community relations. Activities will not be limited to gardening, and may include riverbank cleanup, picnics, and fellowship breakfasts. This Workcamp is designed primarily for high school students, although all ages are welcome. Participation can be for the entire time or for portions of the time. It is a great opportunity to see the vibrant DC community that few people see while also celebrating July 4. Cost is $525 for the week (or $80/day) and includes lodging. Adults wishing to participate are also welcome and encouraged to consider joining in “chaperone” capacity. In line with gardening, this Workcamp will be a very organic process depending on interest. Financial assistance is available. For complete information, see the Quaker Workcamps website. www.williampennhouse.org/2015Workcamps
July 1: The Grate Patrol will prepare sandwiches and soup to take out to the city’s vulnerable people starting at 5:30. For more information, contact Steve Brooks at sbrooks@uab.edu
July 4: Come to SOME and help make breakfast for our vulnerable neighbors. Starts at 6:15 a.m. For more info, contact Betsy at betsy.bramon@gmail.com
July 5 to 11: Friends General Conference (FGC) Annual Gathering
The FGC Gathering this year will be at the Western Carolina University near Asheville
NC. The theme this year is “Seeking Wholeness.” The Gathering is a chance to be together
with over 1,200 Friends. There are many opportunities to address spirit, mind, and body.
Look up the program for this year at www.fgcGathering.org You can enjoy lots of activities:
singing, dancing, good food, and good conversation. You really ought to go to a
Gathering at least once. Early registration for the Gathering opens April 2. There are both
half-gathering and part-time attender options for adults. Financial aid is available.
Of special note is that there will be a pre-gathering event and five days of Couple
Enrichment Leader Training at the Gathering. To learn more, www.fgcquaker.org/ce-training
or marshaquaker@gmail.com There are also pre-gathering Saturday retreats for Adult Young Friends (18-35); New Meetings; People of Color and Their Families; and Quakers and Business.
Monday, July 9, and weekly for nine weeks: Financial Peace University (FPU). Within the first 90 days of Dave Ramsey's most popular class, the average family pays off $5,300 in debt and saves $2,700. Through video teaching, class discussions and interactive small group activities, FPU presents biblical, practical steps to get from where you are to where you've dreamed you could be. This plan will show you how to get rid of debt, manage your money, spend and save wisely, and much more! FPU classes meet for around an hour and a half each week for nine weeks. Contact Jennifer Forrest at 540-818-0038 or jennforrest@gmail.com For more information: http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu
July 12, 3:00 pm: Mary Jane Simpson Scholarship Tea, to celebrate our wonderful scholarship candidates as they prepare for college. For more information, contact Anne Kendall, akendall@wakekendall.com
July 15 – 29: Pine Ridge Workcamps: For the 6th consecutive year, we will be going to South Dakota to do service and be in fellowship with residents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. This life-changing experience is open to people of all ages. Dates are July 15 - 29 (with optional extension to August 2 for people who wish to participate in the Sundance we help prepare for). Workcamp colleague Mike Gray has led Workcamps to Pine Ridge, SD for almost 3 decades, developing deep connections in the Lakota reservation. We spend two weeks engaged in projects that support sacred traditions while addressing the challenges of the present with a vision for the future. This is a great experience for those who enjoy beautiful places, as we camp on the edge of the Badlands, and like to explore new landscapes and painful parts of our history and present. Some Workcampers may be interested in staying for Sundance Ceremony that we help prepare for. This takes place through the first weekend of August. We help coordinate transportation and meals, but this is not part of the workcamp as it is a sacred ceremony and an honor to be a part of it, not a service program. If this part is of interest, there are nominal additional fees. For complete information, see the Quaker Workcamps website. www.williampennhouse.org/2015Workcamps
July 18: Friends Wilderness Center, 2:00 to 8:00 pm: Let your creative spirit play in the woods at FWC as we create our own outdoor 'sculptures' and then share dinner and a showing of the film 'Rivers and Tides' about the work of nature artist, Andy Goldsworthy. This is quality time at its best. Playfulness, creativity, fellowship, beauty revealed, and good food to boot! Please join us for a day of co-creation in the lovely woods at the FWC. If you have any questions concerning any of our programs, please email Sheila at snbach@earthlink.net or call 304.728.4820. We ask that you let us know if you are coming to any or all of our events and reservations for a meal are required.
August 3 to 9: Baltimore Yearly Meeting Annual Session
Baltimore Yearly Meeting will gather from August 3 to 9 this year at Frostburg State
University in Frostburg MD. The theme is “Living into Right Relationship,” focusing on
the need to live in harmony and balance with ourselves, our community, and the natural
world. You can learn more about workshops and interest groups in the Spring Interchange
which will be coming out very soon or on the Baltimore Yearly Meeting web site:
www.bym-rsf.org/events/annualsession
_________________________________________________________________________
THINKING ABOUT RACE (Summer 2015) – from Waking Up White -- and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving, 2014
Author Debby Irving will spend two days at Friends School of Baltimore in September. Over the summer, Trustees and faculty of Friends School, and perhaps also parents and students, will read Waking Up White in anticipation of her visit. The book is divided into 9 parts and 46 short chapters. Titles of some of the parts give a sense of what she covers: “Childhood in white,” “Midlife wake-up calls,” Why didn’t I wake up sooner?” “Inner work,” “Outer work,” and “Reclaiming my humanity.” Each chapter ends with queries to answer or a statement to reflect upon, and she encourages readers to journal their responses and reflections. Here are the queries at the end of chapter 6, “From Confusion to Shock:”
“The late historian Ronald Takaki referred to the history taught in American schools as ‘The Master Narrative,’ the version of history told by Americans of Anglo descent. Think about what you did not study. Did you learn about Lincoln’s views on enslaved black people? Anti-immigration laws of the nineteenth century? America’s laws regarding who could and could not gain citizenship? The Native Americans who had once lived on your town’s or school’s land?”
This column is prepared by the BYM Working Group on Racism (WGR) and sent to the designated liaisons at each Monthly and Preparative Meeting for publication in their newsletter or other means of dissemination. The WGR meets most months on the third Saturday, except July & August, 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 clerk David Etheridge, david.etheridge@verizon.net.
After Pride Weekend, in which FMW and other Quaker Meetings marched in the parade and staffed a booth at the Festival, I received this in my email box:
Three cheers for Gene Throwe and all his efforts to make PRIDE Weekend such a success!!
HIP-HIP-HORRAY!! HIP-HIP-HORRAY!! HIP-HIP-HORRAY!!
Our marching in the Pride Parade gave Friends Meeting of Washington lots of exposure!! Shouts of "Quakers Rock!!" and "Yea, Quakers!! could be heard along the parade route, thus, proving that correcting our absence from the event was the right thing to do. We should always participate in the Pride Parade.
Gene: You are AWESOME!! Thank you for all your efforts and planning!
And sheltering under the Quaker tent during the intense rain of the thunder storm just made the Festival that much more memorable.
Quaker Pride!!
--John Simpkins-Camp
I second that—Gene clerked a small committee which contacted all of the local meetings, ordered that gorgeous sign, put together a huge batch of appropriate literature, bought Quaker Oats power bars to distribute, and then provided the person power for two days of action. BTW, he’s the guy in the photo who’s holding the yellow sign. Quakers don’t do pride—too creaturely—but if we did, we’d definitely give it to Gene. Thank you, Friend.
And a big thanks to the Virginia Avanesyan/Michael Beer Transition Team, as they gracefully switch roles. Virginia has served well and ably as our Youth Programs Coordinator, and is now going back to full-time teaching. Michael is taking up her mantel and is already coming up with fantastic ideas for next year’s First Day School. We are so blessed to have these Friends in our midst, as well as wonderful Friends to serve as teachers and supporters for our First Day program.
It’s that time of year when folks are transitioning and traveling. Jim Bell’s daughter, Emma F. Kelley-Bell, graduated from Sidwell on June 5th. Grant Thompson went to New Mexico. Neil Froemming went to visit his grandkids in New York. Susan and Charlie Bien went to a family reunion in Ohio. Kim, Kathy and Greyson went to Greece. Ken, Anita and Zy went to Wyoming. The Young Adult Friends went camping. And I scooped up my grandkids and took them to Utah. That pretty much left Patty Murphy to hold down the fort (if Quakers had forts, or held things down). Thanks, Patty.
BTW, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Shannon Zimmerman was punched by a kangaroo as she sojourns in Australia. She explains:
I was whacked in the face in my Tae Kwon Do club and got a black eye that way. But in my defense, he was a black belt and very good. So, like a genius, I decided to post the picture on Facebook and whine that I got sucker punched by a Kangaroo - thinking no one would believe me and forgetting that many of my friends’ perceptions of Australia my not be terribly realistic and they think I have to swim across crocodile infested waters to reach my university every morning. So everyone believed my little story that I was mauled by a kangaroo and the poor black belt gets no credit at all.
We’re onto you, Shannon!
- Debby