LEYM ADVICES AND QUERIES: PARTICIPATION IN MEETING
Do you give sufficient time to sharing with others in the meeting, both newcomers and long-time members, your understanding of worship, of service, and of commitment to the Society’s witness? Britain YM, QF&P, 1.02, 20.
What are we doing to recognize and nurture the skills and spiritual gifts of adults and children in our Meeting? Do we encourage attenders to take part in committees, attend business meeting, and participate in the activities of the Meeting? Do we encourage them to pursue membership when they are ready?
Do we accept our share of responsibility for carrying out the Meeting’s work? Do we support the Meeting financially and in other ways, according to our resources and abilities? How do we share our gifts and what do we hold back from offering?
When faced with personal or corporate decisions, do we join with others in seeking clearness, in asking for God’s guidance, and in offering appropriate counsel to one another?
How do we celebrate the presence of children and young people in the Meeting, nurturing and learning from the gifts they bring? Are we involved in the support, care, and religious education of our Meeting’s children? How do we learn from them and accept our responsibilities toward them?
LEYM’s Advices & Queries, for Use by Individual Friends, Meetings, and Worship Groups is available online at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/aq3f2.pdf.
On the Calendar
- June 13: Sewing circle meets at Roberta Rossi’s. Call Roberta or Judi Buchman for details.
- June 15-16: Workshop/retreat with Merry Stanford, April Allison and Peter Wood. See below for details.
- June 27: Sewing circle meets at the Green House, 315 Eastern Ave., at 1:00 pm. Judi Buchman has details.
News and Notes
- Would you like to work to make love visible? LEYM is sponsoring workdays with Habitat for Humanity on July 24-25, in conjunction with LEYM Annual Sessions in Bluffton, OH. The work will be done in a Habitat ReStore in Lima, OH, and a Habitat house in Delphos, OH. There will be small and large jobs, something for everyone age 16 and over. Organizers hope to have childcare for little ones. Housing and meals will be arranged; costs will be low. Please send an early indication of interest, with names and ages listed, to Nancy Taylor, Ann Arbor, MI. More details about the work project are available at www.habitatlima.org.
- FGC seeks mentors for new meetings. As part of supporting new meetings and worship groups, the FGC New Meetings Project is seeking seasoned, faithful Friends to serve as members of mentoring teams. Friends who can bring an experiential understanding that the Spirit can teach us together, invite people more deeply into God’s presence, and teach the Quaker way, should speak to Mike Holaday for more details about the NMP and the mentoring teams. There’ll be a Mentoring Teams retreat November 15-17, 2013, at Quaker Hill Conference Center in Richmond, IN.
- You can sign a petition to close the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by visiting www.change.org/petitions.
- During the workshop/retreat with Merry Stanford, Friends will gather at the Browne Center for worship, prayer and discussion. To be eligible, a person must have attended meeting for worship during the past year and participated in an individual meeting with Merry and April. He or she must also commit to being present for the whole of the retreat. Eligible individuals have received an email explaining how to register. Attendees should bring a brown-bag lunch on both Saturday and Sunday, and a dish to pass for dinner on Saturday; the main dish (roast chicken) will be provided by the Miller-Seif family.
Minute Addressed to Friends School in Detroit Board of Trustees and Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting, From Birmingham Friends Meeting
May 27, 2013
Dear Friends:
We wish to share the following minute, approved by Birmingham Friends Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends on May 26, 2013. This minute borrows some language from the minute passed by Red Cedar Friends Meeting on February 10, 2013.
Minute:
Birmingham Friends Monthly Meeting wishes to express both its appreciation for the many contributions of Friends School in Detroit and its long history of providing much benefit to the lives of students and families in Detroit and southeast Michigan. We recognize the sacrifices and investments that so many Friends have made through the years in furthering the work of Friends School. We have a strong concern for the current students, teachers and staff members living in the uncertainty of the situation. It is apparent that some Friends have given as much of themselves as they humanly can, and now need to draw back from participation.
Birmingham Friends Meeting has deep concerns about the current sustainability of the school as it faces recurring financial crises. The strategic plan recently prepared by the Board of Trustees does not appear to reflect a future that will significantly alter the existing financial problems of the school. We reluctantly encourage serious consideration of laying down Friends School in Detroit at the close of the 2012-2013 school year. The decision to mindfully lay down the school could thereby release energy for other work with youth that may blossom among Friends.
On behalf of Birmingham Friends Monthly Meeting, Ellen Barnes, Clerk
