On the Calendar
- Feb 27-8: Freedom, Slavery and the Underground Railroad in Michigan: lecture by Veta Tucker.
Pew Grand Rapids Campus: Wednesday, February 27, 4:30-6 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center
Allendale Campus: Thursday, February 28, noon-1:30 p.m., Pere Marquette Room, Kirkhof Center - Manitou Worship group is not holding meetings during March.
- Robert Foulkes from Manitou Worship Group and member of Cork (Ireland) meeting, will be at the Foinse Research Station during March.
- Mar. 15-16: Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting mid-winter gathering, Ann Arbor Friends Meetinghouse, 1420 Hill St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104. To register, reply to Scot Miller (r.scot.miller@gmail.com, or 269-792-9183). Be sure to register by Mar. 1 if you choose to have the lunch provided on Saturday, Mar. 16 ($7 suggested donation), or if you need childcare.
- Mar. 24: Next open Finance meeting to discuss the budgeting process
- Feb. 10: Meeting for worship with attention to business, with a special focus on the Meeting’s finance and budget process. Please see the message from Assistant Clerk Wayne Norlin below.
- Feb. 15-17: Next visit by Merry Stanford and April Allison. To arrange a time to meet with them, please contact Amy Ranger.
- Feb. 17: Worship at the Bradley Indian Mission, near Bradleyville. 6:00 p.m., followed by potluck. For more information, please contact Jenn Seif.
- Feb. 17-18: The Kaufman Interfaith Institute presents lectures by Dr. Jeffrey Shandler, Rutgers University. On Sunday, Feb. 17, at 3:00 p.m., Dr. Shandler speaks on “The December Dilemma: Christmas in American Jewish Popular Culture,” at the Loosemore Auditorium, GVSU Pew Campus. On Monday, Feb. 18, at 3:00 p.m., Dr. Shandler speaks on “The Holocaust on American Television” in 114 Lake Michigan Hall, GVSU Allendale Campus. For more information, please contact Prof. Rob Franciosi at francior@gvsu.edu, 616-331-3069.
- Feb. 19: The Kaufman Interfaith Institute cancelled
- Holland Meeting will now hold worship on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sunday of every month, rather than just the second Sunday as they've been doing for the last couple of years. The new schedule will start March 3. Yet to be decided is which Sunday to have business meeting. Greg Murray's note: "I hope this increase in meeting frequency will help us to keep more connected with one another and to lead more vibrant spiritual lives, since we all agree that our experience of corporate silent worship is more satisfying than that when we're alone. Please mark your calendars with the new schedule!"
- Congratulations to Emma Seif! Emma’s story “Walk in the Light” was chosen by a panel of five judges as the best among 295 youth division entries in the first annual Write Michigan author’s contest. Emma read an earlier version of the story to a very appreciative audience at the GRFM’s 50th anniversary celebration. The story is told in the form of letters exchanged by Quaker cousins, one in Michigan and the other in South Carolina, during the Civil War. You can read it at www.writemichigan.org/vote.html. Click on the Youth Entries tab. Emma will receive an award on Mar. 19, and her story will be published.
- Ministry and Nurture has a concern for those who need any kind of assistance in the meeting. If you know of someone who should be brought to M&N’s attention, please contact Mark Hepper.
- The Adult Religious Education study group is studying a curriculum for young Quakers entitled “A Quaker Response to Christian Fundamentalism.” It may be adaptable for an adult audience. The group is planning a gathering soon. For more information, please contact Jenn Seif.
- GPQM’s mid-winter quarterly gathering will feature speakers Chuck Fager and Paul Buckley. Fager is a Quaker author and activist best known for his studies of the American civil rights movement. Buckley is an author who focuses on prominent early American Friends. Fager will speak on the topic “Mystics, Psychics, Skeptics & Critics—The Roots and Evolution of FGC Quakerism,” at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening, Mar. 15. See his special “preparatory quiz” below. On Saturday, Mar. 16, at 10:00 a.m. Buckley will speak on “What does Elias Hicks have to tell contemporary Friends about how to live a faithful life in the face of the world’s temptations?” On Saturday afternoon at 1:30, Fager and Buckley will discuss “Diversity and Unity Among Contemporary Liberal Friends.”
A Note on the Meeting’s Budget, from Assistant Clerk Wayne Norlin
Friends,
On January 20, our Meeting's Finance Committee hosted an open discussion regarding our need to develop a process for creating a new Meeting budget. A number of ideas were discussed, and a common theme began to emerge that would involve the Meeting's committees in proposing line items for the budget. While some very thoughtful suggestions were put forth, these ideas need to be explained and explored more completely with a wider group before taking further steps toward an actual budget structure.
Our next Meeting for Worship with attention to Business will be held on February 10. At that time we will again be addressing the Meeting's budget process. I encourage all of you to attend and help us seek guidance from the Spirit on these and other matters that are so important to the life of our Meeting community. I hope to see you then.
Thank you,
Wayne Norlin, Assistant Clerk
[Note: Next Finance Meeting is March 24 following Worship]
Thinking of going to the GPQM mid-winter quarterly? Take Chuck Fager’s FGC Pop Quiz and read Paul Buckley’s description of the crucial role played by Elias Hicks in events that shaped the structure of the Religious Society of Friends in America in the early 19th century.
Chuck Fager’s FGC Pop Quiz
1. Where did Quakers take the first steps toward what became Friends General Conference?
(a) Philadelphia, PA; (b) Michigan. (Hint: It wasn't Philly.)
2. If the original FGC Quakerism were a cocktail, what would go into it?
(a) A double measure of 100-proof social reform; (b) On the rocks of humanist skepticism; (c) With a dash of mystical something-or-other (vermouth was suggested but there's no consensus); (d) And a jigger of pure resistance to church hierarchy; (e) Shaken, not stirred, into a strict teetotaler's mug, and (f) Topped with a big slice of Pre-New Age Spiritualism. (g) All of the above.
3. Which Quaker organization did not adopt a Uniform Discipline for its member Yearly Meetings? (a) FUM; (b) FGC; (c) FWCC. (Hint: It's not a or b.)
4. Where did you find SPICE in the first 100 years of FGC faith and practice?
(a) In a jar in the kitchen, unless it was Old, then ... (b) It was an aftershave.
5. How long did it take for FGC to have a woman clerk?
(a) 20 years; (b) 40 years; (c) 60 years; (d) 70 years.
6. FGC observed its centennial in 2000. When did it observe its 50th anniversary?
(a) 1950; (b) 1942. (Hint: It's not a.)
7. Two of the following measures apply to 33% of FGC Friends. One applies to 99%. Can you spot the 99% marker?
(a) Friend Identifies as Christian. (b) Friend has read all or most of the Bible. (c) Friend listens to NPR.
Paul Buckley on ‘What does Elias Hicks have to tell contemporary Friends?’
The 1827-28 separations are critical in determining the course of development for each of the current branches of the Religious Society of Friends. In fundamental ways, the events leading up to and flowing out of those divisions shaped the Society. Elias Hicks was at the center of the surrounding controversies and is often credited (or blamed) for the separations. To truly know who we are today requires an understanding of the events of the 1820s and of Elias Hicks. Unfortunately, much of what we think we know about Hicks is wrong. Working from transcripts of his journal and letters, Paul Buckley will introduce this fascinating, complicated man, examining the significance of his views to the Society of Friends both then and now.
