November Query

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!
(J.G. Whittier, “Brewing of Soma”)

• Meeting for worship is the heart of the Religious Society of Friends. Worship is our response to the awareness of God's presence. Go regularly to meeting for worship, including those times when you feel tired, angry, or spiritually low. Bring your joys, hurts, hopes and fears, and your awareness of the needs of other people. Are you unduly troubled by distractions? Can you let them drop away so you might sink into the holy stillness in unity with your fellow worshippers?
• Come to meeting with heart and mind prepared. How do you prepare? Are our meetings for worship held in expectant waiting for Divine guidance? Is there a living silence in which we feel drawn together by the power of God in our midst? What has helped you to find the quiet center and to hear the promptings of the Spirit?
• Do you attend worship clear of any predetermination to speak or not to speak, and expecting that worship will be a source of strength and guidance? Do not allow a sense of unworthiness or fear of not finding the right words turn you from a true leading to speak. Are you apt to speak too often, too predictably, or too soon after someone else has spoken? Do you receive the spoken ministry of others in a tender and understanding spirit, recognizing that what may not be helpful to one listener may speak to the condition of another? Do you take the time to reach for the deep meaning in the spoken ministry of others?
• Do you respond to the children's special needs during meeting for worship? When they are involved in separate activities, do you uphold them and those who are with them?
• Prayer springs from a deep place in the heart. Vocal prayer, though it may be expressed in imperfect words, can draw those present into communion with God and with one another. What helps you find that inner place of prayer?

October Newsletter

On the Calendar

• Oct 16:

1. Program on "How I Came to Quakerism" as part of annual Basics of Quakerism (Advancement Committee).
2. Post Program Program: Trip to Richard Schwallier's farm, 17537 40th Ave, Conklin, MI, meeting there about 2:00 p.m., to learn about habitat restoration, wind and solar power, wood heat and other earth-friendly technologies, & to glean apples. Organized by our Earth Care committee.

• Oct. 23: Anniversary committee meeting. 5:00 p.m. at the Miller-Seifs.
• Oct. 27: Annual Heartside Ministry Gala. 6:00 - 9:30 p.m. at Noto’s Old World Dining.
• Nov. 20: Program on AFSC Jail Ministries at the Browne Center, following Meeting for Worship, 11:45 a.m.

News & Notes

1. Recently many of you took part in a survey regarding meeting space. Here are the major findings from the survey.

• In an ideal world, a slim majority of 53 percent would favor owning a meetinghouse, while 37 percent favor renting space and the rest have no opinion. Notwithstanding our preference for owning, the Browne Center is well regarded. 90 percent rate it good, very good or excellent on both the amount of space it offers and the appearance, style or atmosphere of the space. Several Friends described it as “peaceful,” “quiet,” and “homelike,” and many appreciate its central location and abundance of free parking. A much smaller majority, 58 percent, rate its community outreach possibilities as good, very good or excellent, making outreach potential its weakest aspect.
• The Meeting is evenly divided as to whether we should be concerned about losing the Browne Center despite reassurances from Aquinas College. 47 percent say they’re not concerned, while another 47 percent say they’re either a little or definitely concerned. Similarly, there is no clear direction from the Meeting as to whether we should consider a change regardless of Aquinas’s plans: 21 percent say we should, 36 percent say we shouldn’t, and 37 percent have no opinion.
• Next year will be not only the GRFMM’s 50th anniversary year, it will be the Year of Interfaith Understanding in the Grand Rapids community, co-sponsored by Grand Valley State University, the Grand Rapids Press and other groups. Watch for tours of sacred spaces, study groups, speakers, interfaith services and other events.

2. Special (earmarked) donations to GRFMM during October will be directed to the Grand Rapids Food Bank. Contact Jana Norlin or Mark Post for details.

September Newsletter

On the Calendar:

• Sept. 9-11: LEYM Spiritual Formation retreat on “Healing in the Manner of Friends,” presented by Richard Lee. Weber Retreat Center, Adrian MI. More information at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com.
• Sept. 17: Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting meeting for business. Friends School (1100 St. Aubin St., Detroit). 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. For carpooling, contact Scot Miller (269-792-9183).
• Sept. 18: Program. Jasiu Milanowski will be the speaker. At the Browne Center, following Meeting for Worship. 11:45 a.m.
• Sept. 30-Oct. 2: LEYM Fall Youth Retreat. Belville, Ohio. For youth 5-14, parents and others. More information at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com.
• Oct. 16: Program: "How I came to Quakerism" & review of the new Handbook. At the Browne Center, following Meeting for Worship. 11:45 a.m.
• Nov. 20: Program. AFSC Jail Ministries. Speaker TBD. At the Browne Center, following Meeting for Worship. 11:45 a.m.

Other Friends Meetings in Our Area:

• Manitou Worship Group For information, please contact Doris Loll at 231-882-7062.
• Fremont Worship Group For information, please contact Theresa Lindsay at theresa.lindsay52@gmail.com.
• Holland Friends Meeting

News and Notes:

• Bring your old Handbooks to the Nov. 6 potluck & we'll have a "build your own" session with newly-revised inserts.
  
• Scot Miller is interested in organizing a Quakerism discussion group and is looking for suggestions for a book or topic to center on for a first meeting, to be held in October. No details have been set yet. If you have suggestions, please pass them along to Scot.
• We mentioned last month that a committee was appointed to survey the membership on the subject of space for our Meeting. Mike Holaday has copies of the survey form. Please take this opportunity to give guidance to the meeting on the subject of meeting space!

Committee Reports: Ministry and Nurture
The focus for September: To strengthen and foster growth in individual and collective discernment. Following Meeting for Worship on Sept. 25, before singing, the committee invites all to briefly discuss the ministry that was shared in the meeting.

Quakers on the Net: Confronting Hard Truths:
The following is excerpted with modification from “Daring to Confront the Hard Truths,” posted Aug. 20, 2011, in Comrade Kevin’s Chrestomathy (http://caberetic.blogspot.com):

I’m not sure what it is about religious gatherings and the greater organizations to which they belong. They seem to be compelled to sweep as much as they can under the rug. Quakers, of which I am a member, function on a curious premise. We have long fuses with people and notoriously short fuses around politics. This may be because it’s easy to argue about something that is abstract and safe. When real people with whom we have real interactions are involved, we often take the path of least resistance. But ultimately, someone’s got to step up and draw the line. People have postulated for years why this is, and I have a theory or two.

One of them is the dread fear of litigation. Bad press in any form should be avoided. This goes for government agencies, public school systems, and organized religion. It is true that we live in a society where we’d rather pay someone to help us resolve disputes with someone else than step in and do healing and reconciliation ourselves.

Trust and care is what we’re seeking. We have always been in search of these. But the larger we grow as a people, the farther that divide grows. Even in a relatively moderate sized city, we are all too busy running to very specific places on specific paths, such that the only people we really see are those with whom we work closely. And there’s this: It’s less problematic to talk about an issue when we’re certain our position will be validated by others. My father, for example, was proof positive that it is easier to argue about irrelevant topics first, in place of the greater issues that are at the real heart of the matter.

We owe it to ourselves to place the focus where it needs to be, especially if that places us in uncomfortable states. These would have us do the difficult work of looking within ourselves first. Nothing can ever really proceed if brave inward listening is not part of the greater plan. We should not obscure truth by hairsplitting or by speaking only to that which promises little to no pain or even less emotional involvement. We are not robots. We are thinking, feeling, intuitive beings. We now need to act like it.

September Query

QUERIES FOR SEPTEMBER: FAMILIES



Is there a climate of love and trust in our meeting that invites and encourages everyone to be open about individual and family lifestyles, including their satisfactions and problems? How does the meeting support families of all kinds in their attempts to improve communication, family life and the rearing of children in a context of love? How do we help the meeting create a sense of spiritual kinship among those who participate in it?



The family is changing, not disappearing. We have to broaden our understanding of it, look for the new metaphors. —Mary Catherine Bateson



Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know. —Mitch Albom

August Query

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these if charity.
--1 Corinthians, 13:13

Are we charitable with each other? How careful are we of the reputation of others? Do we avoid hurtful criticism and gossip? Do we practice the art of listening to one another, even beyond words? How well are we able to love each other unconditionally? Are we sensitive to each others' personal needs and difficulties and do we assist in useful ways?

With thanks to the Ann Arbor Monthly Meeting.

Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself. --Walt Whitman

August Announcements

On the Calendar:

• August 6: (Note date & time change) Book discussion: Comparing North Pacific Faith & Practice with the Philadelphia YM Faith and Practice, 6:30 p.m., Sarah Cox's house. Contact Scot Miller for additional info.
• August 7: Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting invites you to a gathering of Friends for worship followed by a pot luck on Sunday August 7 at 11:00 a.m. at Quaker Park in Battle Creek. This annual gathering is for worship focusing on prayers for peace in memory of Hiroshima Day. Attenders are asked to bring a chair as well as dish to pass and a place setting. Quaker Park is located between Fremont Street and Groveland Street in Battle Creek.
• August 28: 9:00 a.m., Browne Center. Advancement Committee; Ministry and Nurture Committee.

News and Notes:

• Contact Roberta Rossi if you'd like to be included in her annual September "dig and dispersal" of flowers (purple & violet iris this year).
• We are set to stay in the Browne Center. But a committee was appointed to survey the membership about meeting space - look for the survey in August.
  
  

Other Friends Meetings in Our Area:

• Manitou Worship Group: For information, please contact Robert Foulkes at 231-326-3637 or Doris Loll at 231-882-7062.
• Fremont Worship Group For information, please contact Jo Hoersten at 231-924-8095.
• Holland Friends Meeting

Request from Mark Hepper

Congregational Partnership Program (CPP)

An average of 600 individuals and families become homeless each month in Kent County. This is one of the most emotionally devastating events that can happen to a human being.

CPP is a faith based initiative to assist in ending homelessness. This means moving people from shelters to their own housing, making shelters a short term solution not long term as is the case currently in many situations. CPP asks for a $3500.00 donation (or best effort), two volunteers, and overall commitment from members of participating churchs. The money provides housing assistance. The client is expected to support themselves after the conclusion of the six month program.

Partnering a homeless client with a volunteer has a much higher success rate than just monetary support. The type of assistance received from the volunteer includes :

-Peer support (i.e. providing a listening ear and resource sharing)
-Transportation (i.e. doctor’s appointments, getting groceries, other appointments)
-Employment assistance (i.e. completing job applications, interviewing techniques, resume development)
-Education (i.e. help children with homework and reading to small children). GED assistance
-Household activities (i.e. home organization, time management, assisting with furniture/appliance needs)
-Having fun! Celebrating life events; holidays, birthdays, employment anniversaries.
-Other support requested by client

I (Mark Hepper) have already volunteered for the program and I am working with a young lady with four young children. I am requesting financial assistance from our meeting in the form of fund raising, special offerings, and any other ideas to raise money. I also ask for volunteers to occasionally help with some of the above listed areas for assistance.