November Announcements

Call for greeters! PLEASE NOTE!
As we mentioned last month, when the Webbers leave for Florida on Nov. 1 our greeters group will consist only of the folks you see in the Greeter schedule. The Holadays leave for Arizona for two weeks in mid-December. We always welcome new greeters! Duties are light. 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

• Nov. 9-11: LEYM will hold a teen retreat at the Red Cedar Meetinghouse, for youngsters in grades 9-12 and their folks. The theme is “Meeting for Healing in the Manner of Friends.” The workshop will be facilitated by Red Cedar MM’s Merry Stanford and Richard Lee. There is a $20 per person registration fee, which includes the program and all meals. Register online at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGNYRTRfOFctZE81S0U0YXo3NUV0ZVE6MA

• Nov. 13: The Institute for Global Education will hold its annual meeting and potluck at 5:00 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1100 Lake Drive SE, Grand Rapids. To register (not required but helps the event planners), contact Whitney Ehresman at IGE, 1118 Wealthy St., SE, Grand Rapids, or RSVP online at www.facebook.com/IGE.Coordinator. IGE is seeking board members; please contact Judi Buchman (judi.buchman@gmail.com) if you’re interested.

• Nov. 18: Friends are invited to worship and potluck at the Bradley Indian Mission, 695 128th Ave., Shelbyville, MI, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. For details, please contact Scot Miller (313-401-6961, r.scot.miller@gmail.com).

News and Notes

• Ministry and Nurture advises that its focus for November is on helping the meeting come to terms with and reconciling the divisions in the meeting. M&N is connecting with people who have not been to meeting in awhile, with a view toward moving toward reconciliation, possibly through a worship sharing.

• If you missed the October program on Oct. 21, it featured the first step in a four-part Appreciative Inquiry. We reflected on what it is about the meeting and our connection to it that gives life. Ron Irvine and Jenn Seif facilitated. Please contact Ron (ron@ronirvine.net) for an excellent summary of the discussion, or see previous posts. And please plan to attend the next step in the November program on Nov. 18.

• Feel like making a joyful noise unto the Lord, or at least stretching out your vocal cords? Join the Quaker singers after meeting on the fourth Sunday of the month. Judi Buchman and others hope to revive this old GRFM custom, starting in November.

November Queries

LEYM ADVICES AND QUERIES ON: ECONOMICS

May we look upon our treasures and the furniture of our houses and the garments in which we array ourselves and try whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in these our possessions.

John Woolman, Plea for the Poor, p. 255.

Are we careful that our use of financial resources is in accordance with our values of peace, honesty, simplicity, and concern for all of creation? Do we resist the desire to acquire possessions or income through unethical investment?

Does our stewardship of personal and Friends meeting financial resources promote active support of those forced to live with less?

Are we actively educating ourselves about the wide disparities in economic and social conditions that exist among groups in our society and among nations of the world? Are we using what we know to promote economic and environmental justice at home and around the world?

Do we take care not to judge others, or ourselves, by the world’s criteria of wealth and status? How do we answer that of God in those who have fewer possessions than we do? … in those who have more? What tools and practices do we use to foster awareness of our personal and corporate biases? In what ways do we oppose prejudice and injustice based on outward condition or belief? How do we deepen our sense of empathy for others?

From Advices & Queries, for Use by Individual Friends, Meetings, and Worship Groups (Lake Erie Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends: Ann Arbor, 2012). Find the whole document online at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/aq3f2.pdf, or in printed form in the GRFM library at the Browne Center.