October 2010 Newsletter
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FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON
NEWSLETTER — NOVEMBER 2010
Fall Events
September 2010 Meeting for Worship With a Concern for Business
FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON
MONTHLY MEETING FOR WORSHIP WITH A CONCERN FOR BUSINESS
September 12, 2010
Minutes
09/10-1 Opening The Meeting opened at noon with a period of silent worship. David Etheridge and Bill Cousins served as co-Presiding Clerks, Susan Lepper, Alternate Clerk, and Merry Pearlstein, Recording Clerk. Sabrina McCarthy, Harry Massey and visitor Mary Igoe Meyers joined the clerks on the facing bench holding the Meeting in the Light. The clerks read Advices, Queries and Voices related to equality as proposed by the Faith and Practice Revision Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.
Advices
From the beginning of Quakerism in the 1640s, Friends have been aware that every person is equal in God’s eyes. Women played a very important role right from the start. Refusing to doff one’s hat to a person of superior rank was another way early Friends expressed the testimony of social equality. The servants at Swarthmore Hall in England were invited to attend the meetings for worship. In England during this period, “you” and “your” were used only when speaking to a person of higher rank, and peers or persons of lower rank were addressed as “thee” and “thou.” Quakers adopted “plain speech,” using thee and thou to all persons.
John Woolman (1720-1772) spent years convincing Friends and others that enslavement was wrong and that people should be paid for their work. Schools were set up by Friends to educate enslaved children so that they also might have the opportunity to develop their gifts.
In our meetings for worship, God’s message may be delivered through any person attending that meeting. In our meetings for worship with a concern for business, each person present may shed Light on a matter under consideration. We also need to recognize that the young among us need to be listened to as any adult. Out of the mouths of babes may come something that would bring unity among us.
It is important to realize that equality does not mean sameness. Each person is a separate individual and should have the opportunity to pursue her or his own gifts. To deny anyone the right to develop his or her full potential for any reason is not equality. Cultural and other differences among us weave a tapestry that is immeasurably enriched by our diversity. It is the right of every person to be treated with dignity and respect.
We need to be careful that we speak in positive terms when talking about others, especially those who might be different from ourselves or our close community. Adults have a specific responsibility to model Friendly values to children, who do not see other children as different until they are taught that others may be different and in some way may not be as “good” as they are. Speaking in a negative way about a person or group of people may be a form of violence, especially if the statement is not carefully qualified to show the rationale and purpose of the remark.
Queries
In what ways do we respond to prejudice and injustice?
How do we benefit from inequity and exploitation? How are we victims of inequity and exploitation? In what ways can we address these problems?
Do we teach our children, and show through our way of living, that love of God includes affirming the equality of all people, treating them with dignity and respect, and seeking to address that of God within every person?
Voices
…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.
I believe that Meeting for Worship has brought the same awareness to all who have seen and understood the message that everyone is equal in the sight of God, that everybody has the capacity to be the vessel of God’s word. There is nothing that age, experience, and status can do to prejudge where and how the Light will appear. This awareness – the religious equality of each and every one – is central to Friends. Ursula M. Franklin, 1979
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody helps ME any best place. And aint I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm. I have plowed, I have planted and I have gathered into barns. And no man could head me. And aint I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well. And aint I a woman? I have borne children and seen most of them sold into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me. And aint I a woman? Sojourner Truth, 1851
To consider mankind otherwise than brethren, to think favors are peculiar to one nation and exclude others, plainly supposes a darkness in the understanding. For as God’s love is universal, so where the mind is sufficiently influenced by it, it begets a likeness of itself and the heart is enlarged towards all men. John Woolman, Journal
There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female, for you are all one person in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3 v.28 The Oxford Study Bible.
It is time for the preachers, the rabbis, the priests and pundits, and the professors to believe in the awesome wonder of diversity…It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter their color; equal in importance no matter their texture. Our young must be taught that racial peculiarities do exist, but that beneath the skin, beyond the differing feature and into the true heart of being, fundamentally, we are more alike, my friend, than we are unalike. Maya Angelou, 1993
And oh, how sweet and pleasant it is to the truly spiritual eye to see several sorts of believers, everyone learning their own lesson, performing their own peculiar service, and knowing, owning and loving one another in several places…For this is the true ground of love and unity, not that such a man walks and does just as I do, but because I feel the same Spirit and life in him…and this is far more pleasing than if he walked in just that track wherein I walk. Isaac Pennington, 1660
09/10-2 Attendance Approximately 55 Friends were present. Presiding Clerk David Etheridge welcomed visitor Mary Igoe Meyers of Toledo, Ohio and Lake Erie Yearly Meeting.
09/10-3 Clerk’s Report Presiding Co-clerk David Etheridge announced that the Membership Committee would be hosting a workshop on membership on October 31, 2010. He also noted that the Religious Education and Property Committees would be meeting jointly on September 26 to discuss classroom space for First Day School during and after renovations. Child care will be provided. David said that he and three other members of the Healing and Reconciliation Committee would be conducting renovation listening sessions during September with Friends who would like to provide individual input into the Meeting’s plans for renovation. Finally, he noted that following the presentation of the report from the Planning Committee regarding proposed renovations, Friends would have an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification of the report. Once questions are answered, Friends would enter into worship sharing until 1:30 p.m. During this time, individual messages would be separated by periods of silence for worship and reflection. David expressed his expectation that the Meeting would be able to discern a way forward “together and soon.”
09/10-4 Report and Proposal from the Planning Committee Ken Forsberg, Clerk of the Planning Committee, submitted and summarized for the Meeting the attached updated report from the Planning Committee, noting his hope that the Meeting could reach unity on an elevator and renovation concept sufficient to allow a capital campaign to begin. Friends were invited to ask questions regarding the report.
A Friend sought and received confirmation that changes to the back garden which had been reviewed and approved by the Garden Committee should be listed as being among those items on which the Planning Committee is in agreement. Another commented that this is the time to define the Friends Meeting of Washington campus: does it or does it not include the Carriage House and Quaker House? A third expressed concern that there were not more members of the Property Committee on the Planning Committee.
A Friend asked where the new stairwell would be located and was told that it would be in the new elevator structure to the west of the main building. Another suggested that the Planning Committee’s report should at least refer to if not incorporate the summary of the nine-year history of renovation discussions which has been posted on the Meeting’s website. In response to a Friend’s request, Co-clerk David Etheridge noted that those persons serving on the ad hoc committee for renovation listening included himself, Gray Handley, Beverly Reader and Merry Pearlstein, all members of the Healing and Reconciliation Committee which, while unrelated to the Planning Committee, has proven to be a source of Friends with good listening and accurate reporting skills. David noted that a number of persons whom he did not name were being considered as additional members of the Planning Committee.
Concern was expressed that a proposed expansion of the Assembly Room into the Children’s Library would eliminate the space currently dedicated to First Day School. There were also concerns as to the adequacy of a foldable partition as a sound barrier. Ken Forsberg noted that these were proposals under consideration and that input from the Religious Education Committee would be considered and incorporated in any possible changes to this space.
A Friend asked what the Planning Committee meant by “agreeing on a concept firm enough to undertake a capital campaign.” Ken Forsberg responded that the Planning Committee seeks the Meeting’s approval of the general concept of the scope of the renovations, the placement of the elevator, and whether there should be a connection between the elevator and the Carriage House and Quaker House; the Committee neither expects nor seeks Meeting approval for lesser items as, for example, paint colors.
Another Friend expressed uncertainty as to the differences between the general concept and the plans that have been posted in the Assembly Room in recent months. Ken Forsberg responded that, beyond a general sketch, no plans have been drawn to show the possible connector between the elevator and the Carriage House and Quaker House. The same Friend suggested that the Planning Committee be made a subcommittee of the Property Committee. She also wondered whether the campaign couldn’t begin right away.
Several Friends voiced appreciation for the remarkable work done by current and former members of the Planning Committee over the years. Several also expressed uncertainty as to what is actually under consideration.
A current member of the Planning Committee who has submitted her resignation noted that she and the other two members who are resigning are doing so for personal reasons and asked that Friends not assume the resignations are symptomatic of a dissident bloc of the committee. She also suggested that having the architectural plans available might be helpful to the discussion; however, it was decided that the presence of the plans would intrude on the spiritual nature of the worship sharing.
During worship sharing, a Friend who faces increasingly limited mobility expressed the need for certainty concerning the Meeting’s goals, primary among which is universal access, and how to achieve them.
Another Friend expressed her hope that discussions concerning renovations would result in the enhancement of members’ understanding, appreciating and trusting Quaker process. She recalled that previous changes to the property had been planned and implemented well by various committees to whom the work had been entrusted. She urged Friends to remember that the “steeple house” has never been central to Quaker worship, and she made a plea for the substitution of the phrase “sense of the Meeting” for the term “unity.”
A Friend voiced his hope that the ultimate design would incorporate the beauty and simplicity currently reflected in the Meeting Room. Another thanked past and current members of the Planning Committee for their dedicated service and expressed his sense that the community is working toward greater accessibility and inclusion for everyone. He observed that the current task is the alignment of the Meeting’s goals with its financial resources. Given the decline in annual contributions, he shared his concerns about the Meeting’s ability to raise significant sums in gifts and to meet debt service payments on possible borrowed funds.
The Clerk of the Religious Education Committee shared concerns raised by several parents not in attendance. She hopes for a better narrative to use in response to such questions as: What happened to the School for Friends? Why is child care space no longer available in Carriage House? How would First Day School be impacted by the substitution of a folding partition for the current wall between the Assembly Room and the Children’s Library? Would there be a dedicated space to store First Day School materials? Would putting infants in a portion of what is now the storage room or older children on the third floor (spaces that may not currently meet fire code) put them at risk? She asked that the Meeting give as much consideration to those at the beginning of the cradle to grave spectrum as it does to those nearing its end.
A Friend shared his sense that there was more support for moving forward than might be apparent: Friends seemed generally disposed to add an elevator, become more child friendly, work through Quaker process, and begin to raise money in the near future. He noted that we will not know how much money can be raised until we try, and that plans cannot be finalized until there is a good sense of the amount available to spend.
Another Friend voiced the frustrations of some parents and First Day School teachers that the Meeting’s smallest members might not be receiving adequate consideration. She asked whether the perceived slight reflected the value the Meeting places on its children and expressed her fear that some younger families would choose to go elsewhere if they felt the Meeting were unable or unwilling to meet their needs.
A question was raised but not answered as to why space in the Carriage House was no longer available for child care or First Day School.
A Friend expressed his conviction that the proposed renovations need not be viewed as a burdensome process but rather an opportunity to do things that need to be done. In responding to current needs, we are part of a chain linking those who came before and provided the beautiful assets we enjoy with those who will follow us and inherit what we make of these gifts. He acknowledged the need to define what is included in our campus.
A Friend described her view of the renovations as a leap of faith and an opportunity to be faithful to those who preceded us. She voiced her confidence that the space in which our children ultimately meet would meet fire code and that the community would be enriched by the renovation and decision making process. She stated her intention to support the work with the gifts at her disposal, including financial resources.
Co-clerk David Etheridge noted that this discussion would continue in the October Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business, as well as in the renovation listening sessions being held through the end of this month.
09/10-5 Report from the Personnel Committee Bill Strein, Clerk of the Personnel Committee, reported that the committee has received the resignation of Laura Yeomans as Assistant Administrative Secretary effective September 17, 2010. Laura’s new position as Parish Partner Coordinator of Catholic Charities in Prince Georges County, Maryland will afford her the expanded opportunities for service she has been seeking. Bill thanked Laura for her excellent service to the Meeting, and indicated that the Personnel Committee will be studying the Meeting’s needs and the workloads of other current staff before making any hiring decisions. The Meeting minuted its deep appreciation for Laura’s service.
09/10-6 Report from the Nominating Committee Marcia Reecer, interim Clerk of the Nominating Committee, reported the nominations of Molly Tully and Julia Elliott to the School for Friends Board for terms ending June 1, 2013. She noted that, although Julia is relatively new to the Meeting, she is very enthusiastic about Friends education and has been recruited by Jim Clay, the Director of School for Friends. The Meeting APPROVED these nominations. Marcia also reported that Virginia Avanesyan had been nominated to the Child Safety Committee for a term ending December 31, 2010; this nomination was also APPROVED.
Marcia reported the resignations of Susan Lepper, Loie Clark and Faith Williams from the Planning Committee, and indicated that the Nominating Committee would be working with David Etheridge and the Clerk of the Planning Committee to fill those vacancies. Marcia also reported the resignation of Tracy Hart from the Child Safety Committee.
09/10-7 Reports from Baltimore Yearly Meeting annual sessions were deferred until a later date.
09/10-8 Minutes The minutes were read and APPROVED.
09/10-9 Adjournment With approximately 45 Friends present, the meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m. to reconvene as way opens on Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 11:45 a.m.
ATTACHMENT: Updated Report from the Planning Committee
Planning Committee Update for Meeting for Worship for Business - 9/12/2010
[Note: for logistical or other reasons, Loie Clark and Judy Hubbard have not commented on this report, so the report represents the input of Ken Forsberg, Susan Lepper and Faith Williams.]
The current Planning Committee – Susan Lepper (co-clerk), Ken Forsberg (co-clerk), Loie Clark, Faith Williams, and Judy Hubbard – has had significant challenges. Over-stretched members, loss of members, and wide differences in approach to decision-making, aesthetics, and priorities have caused the committee to be progressively less functional and able to reach unity, and in August we came to agreement that the current incarnation of the committee was not workable.
Let us be clear: the Meeting is not “stuck.” Planning Committee has just had problems reaching unity in its work to lead the Meeting forward. The Meeting is midway through a process of discernment regarding design choices that is necessary and typical. Making changes to meeting houses is traditionally very difficult for meetings.
The current Planning Committee and one of the Meeting Co-Clerks have conferred and approved the following plan for moving forward:
- Nominating will propose a new slate of members for a newly reinforced Planning Committee. The new committee will (we hope) be larger, ideally with representation from relevant committees.
- Simultaneously, David Etheridge, Co-clerk of the Meeting, has formed a small ad hoc committee to help him take up the fourth charge given to the Planning Committee: “to draw together the threads of a possibly emerging consensus about a comprehensive renovation as these threads emerge from a range of ad hoc discussions within the Meeting.”
The hope is that these two committees can help move the Meeting forward to unity on an elevator and renovation concept sufficient to allow a capital campaign to commence.
Note that we do not need to decide everything about the project now. We need to agree on a concept fleshed out enough for the capital campaign. Once that campaign has proceeded for enough time to provide a clearer sense of how much money we will have at our disposal, at that point we will face decisions about what if any additional funds we want to make available through borrowing or other means, and/or what modifications we might want to make to the project to fit the funding we have available. Once those decisions are made, our architects would proceed with more detailed designs, as directed by our decisions, and subsequently would begin submissions for historical, neighborhood, and regulatory review.
While the current Planning Committee had significant challenges, it nevertheless accomplished a lot on which we want to report. The Committee collected much thoughtful feedback from Friends on the concept proposed by our architects, spent much time and energy considering the concerns and suggestions we received, and collected additional information from our architects and others to inform those considerations.
In our deliberations on the feedback received, we reached agreement on the following recommendations as a committee:
- An addition west of the building still makes the most sense for the elevator location. Various internal locations were (again) deemed undesirable because of crowding, loss of office/meeting/education space, non-central locations and related security concerns.
- The ramping proposed for the Decatur Place Room is not desirable; an entrance through or next to where the vault is currently, with ramping inside the room at its north end, would be better. Our architects think this is workable, and this change will remove necessity for any change to the Decatur Place door to the Meeting House.
- IF childcare, First Day School and other space use considerations allow it, we recommend – as part of the work on the Meeting House itself – expanding the Assembly Room to the north, into the current Children’s Library and hallway, replacing the eastern half of the north wall of the Assembly Room with a foldable barrier so the additional space could still be separated for RE/childcare/committee use as needed. Our architects think this idea has merit and estimate the cost to be reasonable in our view.
- Building the elevator up to the third floor (as depicted in the current plans) would be worth the marginal additional cost (relative to stopping at the second floor).
- Covering the proposed path from Decatur Place to the proposed new main entrance is unnecessary, but could be added later if needed.
- A ramp in the front of the Meeting House outside the Terrace Room, from the terrace to the door outside the south entrance to the Meeting Room, would have some additional accessibility convenience but not enough, in our judgment, to justify the added cost and aesthetic disruption of the front of the building.
- If the proposed additional stairway stays in the design, we should still keep the existing stairway (between the hallway outside the south end of the Meeting Room and the downstairs hallway) because of the beauty of the existing stairway and the usefulness of having two stairways for traffic flow up and down.
Major items on which we did not reach unity, or that have arisen as points of concern that need further threshing:
- What design is desirable for a connector from the elevator to the Carriage House and Quaker House, and how much of it to include in this project (as opposed to some future project). The Meeting approved exploring this option at the July MfB, and we now have information and proposed drawings from the architects for further consideration.
- The overall size and/or location of the proposed new lobby and stairway.
- Whether to include conversion of the SW window of the Meeting Room into a door into the new stair lobby. This is proposed by the architects to ease traffic flow and way-finding between our two large spaces. We have new material from our architects to help with discernment on this question.
- The desirability of the location of the proposed new main entrance to the Meeting House on the west side of the building (with path leading there from the property entrance on Decatur Place).
- How much of the upgrade work proposed by the architects for the Meeting House should be included, especially in light of the upgrade needs in the Carriage House and Quaker House. This question was one we didn’t get to considering. We note that a significant portion of the work proposed is work on the Meeting House that is not directly necessary to add the elevator or prevent flooding, but is instead deferred maintenance and upgrades (including highly desirable life safety upgrades such as installing sprinklers) that it would seem wise to do as long as walls are being knocked out and construction teams mobilized.
Many details in the proposed plans are small enough that they will be dealt with at later stages of the process and do not need to be wrestled with now.
The current cost estimate for the project of $3.8 million applies to the plan as currently proposed by our architects. As the design issues listed above are settled, and other ways to reduce costs are found, that estimate will be adjusted up or down as appropriate.
While no design will please everyone, our goal remains to arrive at a plan that most of us can unify around, take ownership of, and find common, joyful purpose in, and that with such a plan, we can all turn our attention from plans and buildings back to nurturing ourselves and one another, and to letting our lives speak in a world that needs us.
FMW NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2010
FALL EVENTS
Property Committee Work Day
The Property Committee will hold a work dayon Saturday, October 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Everyone is invited to participate and help. It does not matter what your skill level is, there are lots of jobs and tasks that F/friends can complete. For F/friends who have not participated in a work day, this is an excellent way of meeting other FMW Quakers and providing the Meeting with service. For F/friends who feel that committee work is a big commitment, try a work day-it is just a few hours. Thinking there are F/friends in the Meeting that you don’t know? This is a great way to get to know F/friends and make new F/Friends. For more information, talk with any member of the Property Committee or call the FMW Office.
William Penn House
The William Penn House, a Quaker Center on Capitol Hill hosts monthly potluck dinners with a speaker and discussion afterwards. In addition to the monthly potlucks the William Penn House provides low cost accommodations and Quaker centered programs and seminars. On Sunday, October 3, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. the topic is The Peaceable Pocketbook: Toward Spirit-Led Household Finance. Robinne Gray is the guest presenter. Theologian John Wesley admonished the faithful to “earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” Contemporary religious commentator Jim Wallis of Sojourners reminds usthat “a budget is a moral document.” How might today’s Friends navigate demands and desires to move into sufficiency, sanity and Spirit in financial matters? What tools are available to help us be intentional about our saving, spending, and giving? This program invites participants into an open and supportive dialogue about how we might increasingly make financial choices that are in line with our deepest values – and explores how Friends might help each other in that journey.
Robinne Gray joined the staff of Baltimore Yearly Meeting in Sept 2008 as its first Development Director. Originally intending to become a librarian, she began her fundraising career at Cornell University, where she served on the board of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy (CRESP). More recently, Robinne was on the development staff at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She worships regularly at Friends Meeting of Washington.
All F/friends, neighbors and family members are welcome to come to the potluck at William Penn House. William Penn House is located at 515 East Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC 20003.
It is an alcohol and tobacco-free facility. For more information about William Penn House, “Google” William Penn House to reach their web page.
Inquirers Class
Everyone is invited to attend the last two sessions of the Inquirers Class held on Monday, October 4, and Monday October 11, 2010. All are welcome- newcomers and not-so-new-comers who are interested in knowing more about Quakers, FMW and the Religious Society of Friends. The class meets in the Decatur Place Room at 7:30 p.m. and will be led by Michael Cronin. For more information contact the FMW Office or Michael Cronin.
FMW’s Senior Center in October
Programs of slides or talks are held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. The program for the month is:
October 13 Carol Coffee Turkey II
October 27 Maurice Boyd Music of Lerner and Loewe
Interim Meeting
All FMW F/friends are invited to join Friends at Richmond Friends Meeting on Tenth Month, 16, 2010 (October 16, 2010) to conduct the business of Baltimore Yearly Meeting through its committees and Interim Meeting. Richmond Friends Meeting will provide hospitality including accommodations on Friday and/or Saturday night, (if needed) and lunch and dinner on Saturday. Friends attending “Yearly Meeting Day” find warm community and a deeper understanding of Friends concerns affecting all of us in our region. Attending Interim Meeting is an excellent way to know about the wider Quaker fellowship and to meet Friends in the Religious Society of Friends. Anyone interested should contact Baltimore Yearly Meeting.
Committee Fair
On Sunday, October 17 at the rise of Meeting the Nominating Committee is hosting a Committee Fair in the Assembly Room. At the Fair, FMW Friends will hear about the work of committees from the people who serve on them. This is a wonderful way to deepen your connection with Friends Meeting of Washington community.
Two committees that requested advance publicity are the Library Committee and the Marriage and Family Committee.
The Library Committee is responsible for organizing the books, magazines and brochures in our library and for making them accessible to people for reading and research. It selects and acquires brochures from Pendle Hill as well as new books. It formulates the rules that guide the care and use of these materials. The committee also seeks ways to stimulate interest in new and old publications that relate to our Quaker testimonies.
The Marriage and Family Relations Committee consults with those who request a Meeting for Worship during which a union of marriage or commitment under the care of the Meeting takes place, makes certain that no obstacle exists which would make the union inadvisable and makes a recommendation to the Meeting accordingly. This Committee expresses the continuing concern of the Meeting for the well-being of the union and the family relationships within it. The Committee supports families in all their forms. Books and pamphlets on these and related topics are provided and members of the Committee endeavor to give help in thinking through difficult marital, commitment, family or personal problems to any who seek such assistance. It may form clearness committees, if requested, with respect to marriage or commitment, separation or divorce, or adoption or birth. Changes in marital, commitment, or family status of a member are recorded in the membership files.
Questions about what other committees do? Come to the Committee Fair with your questions.
Religious Education Documentary Film
FMW Religious Education Committee invites F/friends to view a documentary film,
Brother Outsider on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 1 p.m. in the Assembly Room. This documentary film is about the remarkable life of Quaker Bayard Rustin. Did you know that the 1963 March on Washington at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech was principally organized by openly gay, African-American Quaker
Bayard Rustin? Rustin lived his life openly and without apology, whether serving three years in federal prison for refusing to register for the draft or living in an inter-racial gay relationship, long before the gay liberation movement started in America. Rustin also brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement, and helped mold King into an international symbol of peace and nonviolence. Friends who knew Rustin will be invited to share their memories of him. Showing this film concludes a book study by the Adult Religious Education group of Lost Profit: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, a biography written by John D’Emilio. For more information contact Justin Connor.
Living Our Queries
Discover how the monthly queries, advices and voices connect with our daily spiritual experiences. This Adult Education program will continue on Sunday, October 24 at 9:15 a.m. Every month Friends will share how the query for the month can help us live our faith. We convene in the Quaker House Living Room. (Please check the office calendar as the location may change). Friends with a special passion or commitment to a query are needed to facilitate the discussions. The calendar is:
October 24 Social Concerns
November 21 Peace
For more information contact Justin Connor. To read our current queries visit the Baltimore Yearly Meeting website.
Eldering Workshop
On Sunday, October 31 at 9 a.m. in the Quaker House Living Room the Ministry and Worship Committee is offering a workshop on ELDERING in Quaker Faith and Practice – Curse or Blessing? This workshop will provide a short introduction into the history and practice of eldering that will attempt to answer the question: How did eldering get such a bad “rap”?
There will be a “case study” presentedwhere a committee came to a virtual standstill after two its members, one an energetic nontheist Friend, and the other an outspoken evangelical Quaker locked horns. An eldering team was on the scene. Margaret Benifiel has developed guidelines for clearness committees that foster deep listening and open minded questions. We will form small groups and participate in role play. Finally, there will be discussion about positive and negative eldering experiences.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
FriendsWilderness Center
In October, the friends Wilderness Center has scheduled several activities that all F/friends are invited to attend. OnSaturday, October 2, 2010, Poetry in the Trees will be lead by Friends Wilderness Poet Ron Weber. All area poets and poetry lovers will gather for a day reading and discussing poetry in the Treehouse, (or Niles cabin if it rains). The general theme will be nature poetry and the human spirit, or changing seasons. The program will start at 10:00 a.m. Come early for a self guided hike in the woods. Bring a bag lunch and water if you wish.
On Saturday, October 9 a program will be presented by Michael Moore, a long time Quaker and former Methodist pastor. This program, Council of all Beings, is based on three books: Thinking Like a Mountain by John See, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, Arne Naess, and
Dailan Pugh; Coming Back to Life” Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World by Joanna Macy; and World As Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal by Joanna Macy. This program will be held in the Treehouse, and Friends are encouraged to bring a bag lunch and water or soda.
On Saturday, October 23, Friends Wilderness Center will host its Semi-Annual Work Day. The work day will start at 10:00 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. There are many jobs from window washing to cutting, splitting and stacking wood. The Treehouse is still under repair, so Friends who can hammer a nail, or want to learn are encouraged to help. Participants will be provided a free lunch.
For the programs presented at the Friends Wilderness Center, a donation of $10 is suggested. Friends Wilderness Center is located in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. For more information go to their website or call the FMW Office.
Keeping Love Alive-Relationship in Depth
On Saturday, October 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. the Marriage and Family Relations Committee is sponsoring a Couple Enrichment workshop for Quaker couples at FMW. Relationships need support and nurturing in order to stay vibrant and to grow. This Couple Enrichment workshop will apply our Quaker faith and practices to:
· Help couples assess their relationship
· Learn and practice relationship skills that deepen intimacy and facilitate creative use of conflict
· Commit to continued relationship growth in the spirit
The workshop helps couples affirm common values and priorities and, using Divine Assistance, effectively handle differences and stress that we experience in our daily lives. Participants will worship together and work individually and in small groups, using Couple dialog, the centerpiece of Couple Enrichment. The workshop will be facilitated by Joan and
Rich Liversidge. They have led Couple Enrichment events for over 25 years among Friends. They are members of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting. To register, send a $50 check to Friends Meeting of Washington, with a notation that this is the Couples workshop. Send checks to
2111 Florida Ave, NW Washington, 20008.
Thinking About Race
The following three acclaimed booksoffer readers a close and informative look at the lives of African American women. Donna McDaniel, co-author of Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship, has sent out these recommendations to Friends:
1) Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America by Charisse Jones and Kumea Shorter-Gooden reveals the double lives that many African American women (and men, as well) lead in moving between white and black worlds. The content is based on descriptions from over 300 African American women about how they shift identities between white/corporate and black/cool—“life between the isms,” as one reviewer put it.
2) The Help, a novel by Kathryn Stockett, is a more personal examination of the intersection of black and white lives from the perspective of employer and employee.
3) My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love, and Forgiveness is a very personal memoir of how the author, African American woman journalist Patricia Raybon, struggles with her hatred for the privileged class (a stunning look at the familiar “white privilege” from an astute African American) and her ultimate realization that her seemingly impossible challenge is to replace her hatred with love. Her work is truly as it is described—“an inspiration to others on a voyage of racial reconciliation.”