Oct 21 Appreciative Inquiry Program notes

On Sunday, October 21st, for the Grand Rapids Friends Meeting program we began a process called Appreciative Inquiry. This is a dynamic and generative planning process that is based on these assumptions:
~ What we ask questions about is what we have conversations about.
~ What we have conversations about is what we give our attention to.
~ What we pay attention to and focus on is what we nurture.
~ What we nurture is what grows.
~ So rather than focusing on what's broken and needs to be fixed, we intentionally focus on "what works."

On Sunday, we began with telling the stories about:
What is it about the Meeting and your connection to the Meeting that "gives life"? (a summary of what was recorded on news print is being sent out including intergenerational family, community and togetherness, worship, clearness committees, and Meeting for worship with attention to pets). If you were not there, please add your stories to these "appreciations" by responding to the first four Appreciative Questions below and emailing ron@ronirvine.net

We will continue with the process of Appreciative Inquiry for two more meetings. Next month we will proceed to "wishes for / images of the future" as we "dream and envision 'what might be.'"

Appreciative Questions
High point experiences:
Describe a time in your life (during participation with GR Friends) when you felt alive and engaged.

Valuing:
What do you value most about this Meeting and your place in this Meeting

Core life-giving factors:
What are the core factors that give life to this Meeting; the unique attributes of this Meeting, without which it would not be the same?

Wishes for/images of the future:
What three wishes do you have to enhance the vitality of this Meeting? Imagine this Meeting five years from now, healthy and vibrant – what does it look like?

The 4-D Cycle:
Discovery: Appreciating and Valuing the Best of "What Is"
Dream: Envisioning "What Might Be"
Design: Dialoguing "What Should Be"
Destiny: Innovating "What Will Be"

Finance Committee events

Programs facilitated by the Finance Committee:
Dec 16, 2012
Jan 20, 2013

Finance Committee meetings, following Meeting for Worship:
Dec. 20, 2012
March 31, 2013
June 30, 2013

October Announcements

Call for greeters! Our greeters group fluctuates over time, but it’s dwindled considerably in the last year. With the Webbers leaving for Florida on Nov. 1, we’ll be short-handed through the winter. We always welcome new greeters! If you feel led to share in this important contribution to the life of the meeting, please let Mike Holaday know (616-975-4192, mikeholaday@att.net).

On the Calendar

• Oct. 7: Jenn Seif and Scot Miller invite Friends to participate in worship and a potluck at the Bradley Indian Mission, 695 128th Ave., Shelbyville, MI 49344, at 6:00 p.m. The worship is held with a concern for continuing observances of the day called Columbus Day. Folks who are not familiar with the manner of Friends have been invited.
• Oct. 30: The Triennial Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue will feature Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, Dr. Cynthia Campbell, and Dr. Omid Safi, in an all-day conference at GVSU’s Eberhard Center. Lunch and dinner will be served. Advance registration (before Oct. 1) is $40. Information about the conference schedule and speakers is available at http://www.gvsu.edu/2012interfaith/2012-triennial-jewish-christian-muslim-dialogue-24.htm.

News and Notes

• Ministry and Nurture asks that you continue to work toward facilitating understanding in the community and our meeting during the month of October.
• The October program, following meeting for worship on Oct. 21, will feature a facilitated discussion reflecting on our past 50 years, the aspects of our heritage we’d like to maintain for the future, and what we’d like to change. Jenn Seif will facilitate, with Ron Irvine.

October Queries

ADVICES AND QUERIES ON: SOCIAL JUSTICE

For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me. Matthew 25:35-36.

The pioneering quality of Quaker social work is largely due to the character of the meeting for worship. Silent waiting worship permits a fresh and direct facing of facts under conditions in which the conscience becomes sensitized. … The worshiper is seeking God's guidance for his actions. … A concern develops and with it a sense of uneasiness over a situation about which something needs to be done. Howard Brinton, Friends for 350 Years, 2002, p. 177.

Be not content to accept things as they are, but keep an alert, sensitive, and questioning mind. Understand and maintain Friends’ witness for truth, simplicity, and non-violence, holding up your personal life to these testimonies. Encourage inclusiveness and discourage discrimination. Cherish diversity.

Do we seek to transform the world with our actions in the spirit of love? How can we balance our desire for independence with our need for interdependence with all creation? Are we reaching out to others, providing hope and aid to the homeless and the hungry?

Have we objectively considered the causes of discrimination and are we ready to abandon old prejudices and think anew? Do we, as individuals and as a Meeting, do all in our power to end governmental, social, economic, environmental, and educational injustices in our community, acting to alleviate suffering and pain?

What can we do to address the excessive rates of incarceration of certain segments of our society? How are we acting to improve the conditions in our correctional institutions and to promote the health and well-being of those confined there?

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The advices and queries for October are taken from the new advices and queries document adopted at the July 2012 annual sessions of LEYM. The document is in 16 sections; we publish one section each month. Friends can find the entire document online at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/aq3f2.pdf