December Announcements

Greeters: If you are interested in being a greeter, please give Betty Ford or Mike Holaday your name and Betty will contact you every two or three months to see if you are available.

Announcements: If you have an announcement that you want put in the January Newsletter, please send Betty an email.

No book group this month. The group will meet January 14th at Mark Post’s to discuss 2 Pendle Hill pamphlets: Living From the Center and Who Do You Say I Am?

December 5: no potluck

December 7: Sewing Circle at Roberta Rossi's.

December 10: Carol singing, 7:00 p.m. at Betty Ford’s--bring your instruments, voices, and cookies. Betty will provide hot chocolate, coffee and tea. Please email if you need directions.

December 12: Noon--potluck at the Pliml's. Sharing by First Day School and then carol singing. As usual there will be a shuttle service to the house--please park at the Proven Trails lot. Email if you need directions.

December 12: Holland Friends Meeting; 10:30 Meeting for Worship at the Western Theological Seminary, 101 E. 13th St. Information: http://www.hollandquakers.org

December 19: Following Meeting for Worship and before fellowship the First Day School will tell the story of the birth of Christ in word and song. 11:45 Fellowship with coffee, tea, punch and cookies (bring cookies to share).

December 26: 11:45-- a time for fellowship followed by a reflection of and response to LEYM’s 2010 Annual Query on the Use of Queries. Friends traditionally have used queries to deepen spiritual lives, confront difficult questions, and encourage corporate and individual self examination.

• How does your monthly meeting use queries?
• How do you as an individual use queries?
• Do the proposed LEYM Advices and Queries support these uses? How are they useful? How are they not?
• How can they be improved upon?
• Has one or more of these proposed LEYM Advices and Queries profoundly affected you or your meeting?

This year LEYM is preparing a set of Queries for our Yearly Meeting membership to use. This year the proposed Queries are intended to help them while they are in the process of preparing the LEYM’s Queries. They have asked us to respond as a group; any individual who wishes to respond separately may also do so.

January 29: Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting Winter Gathering
Brian Edmiston, a long-time Friend and educator from Ohio will be leading us in exploration of intergenerational worship and ways to better integrate adults and children in the life our of Meetings. The day will include opportunities for young Friends to participate and contribute, so children are not only welcome, but needed! (Childcare will be provided as well, as we expect the children will also want some free play time with each other.)

Please plan to attend and visit the new meetinghouse (Red Cedar, Lansing).

Georgetown United Methodist Church in Jenison is hosting the Interfaith Dialogue group on January 9th and 23rd. Presentations by representatives of Islamic and Judaic faith communities will present on the 9th. Representatives of Hindu and Buddhist faith communities will present on the 23rd. The time will be 6-8 pm for both programs. Also, Scot Miller will be facilitating discussion on "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" on Wednesday evening, January 19.

December Query

• Do we each take an active part in the life of our Meeting?
• How do we recognize the varied skills and spiritual gifts of our members and attenders? How do we nurture their use and growth?
• In what ways are we bringing together members and attenders, young and old, in love and community?

November Announcements

Special Announcement: If you're a member or attender of the Grand Rapids Friends Meeting and you enjoy being a greeter occasionally, or would like to become a greeter, please email Mike Holaday at mikeholaday@att.net. The Advancement Committee will create a rotating list of greeters for the next few months. We'll let you know when you'll be needed. Of course if you have a conflict, you'll be able to trade with someone else on the list.

November 22: Interfaith Thanksgiving, 7:00 p.m. at Temple Immanuel.

November 29: International Day of Solidarity with Palestine (google "Olives for Hope" for more info.)

Service Project: We will be doing a project for one of the Homeless Shelters. We need shoeboxes and items such as toothbrushes, washcloths, deodorant, chapstick, small Kleenex packs, lotion, hats, gloves, socks, t-shirts, handkerchiefs, hand warmers, cards & travel games, stamps, books, restaurant gift certificates. Bring items to Meeting on Nov. 28 or Dec. 5.

November 1: We will welcome Laura Arcila Villa and Mark Hepper as members at the potluck following worship.

November 1: “Being Salt and Light: Friends living the Kingdom of God in a broken world.” Kalamazoo Friends Meeting (508 Denner St.) is hosting this event for Friends World Committee for Consultation on Monday evening, 11/1/2010. Anne Bennett of Britain Yearly Meeting will be speaking on a theme of living our faith in times of brokenness. The event starts at 6:30 pm with light refreshment; if anyone needs overnight hospitality, let Joseph Mills know. Advance registration is requested or contact Joseph & Linda Mills at millrae@juno.com.

November 3, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting will have a “Salt and Light” Program.October 17 program: "Basics of Quakerism" based on the book The Quaker Way.

November 9: Cathi Deyo will give an informal "chat" about her recent trip to Israel and Palestine at the Institute for Global Education, 7:00 p.m. IGE is on Wealthy St. next to the Wealthy Theater.

November 10: "God is Not One" author presentation at Fountain St. Church, 7:00 p.m.

November 16: "Dropped Stitches" sewing circle 7:00 p.m.

November 21: Program after worship on "Dealing with problems in the workplace," facilitated by Bev Holaday & Ron IrvineNovember 12th: The Book Reading Group will meet at 7:00 at Scott Giese's. We will read the rest of Seeking Truth Together: Enabling the Poor and Saving the Planet in the Manner of Friends. The Giese’s invite anyone who would like to come early to share supper with them.

November 21: Carolyn Diem, beloved member of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, died Tuesday, October 26, at the age of 89 after a long illness. There will be a memorial meeting for her on Sunday at 3:00 pm in the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting (1420 Hill Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103). A reception will follow. All are warmly invited to attend.

November Query

• What efforts are made to help all Friends feel valued by the Meeting, and confident that their concerns will be heard?
• How is the meaning of Meeting for Worship communicated to the children and newcomers among you?
• What do you think children can get out of Meeting for Worship?
• What ministries and gifts can your children contribute to the life of the Meeting?

October Announcements

October 28: Ann Wright will be in Muskegon this Thursday at Unity church. Follow signs from I 96 & US 31 to the Lake Ferry on Laketon Ave. She is a retired Colonel of the US Army and will be speaking on the Middle East and our foreign policy. She also participated in the Flotilla off the coast of Israel.

October 30: There will also be a non-violent training by the Michigan Peace Team (Jasiu Milanowski will facilitate) on Saturday in Muskegon. Participants are needed; contact Gloria Switzer at gswitzer12@comcast.net.

October 31: Laura Arcila Villa and Betty Ford will share information they learned while attending a program on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

November 1: “Being Salt and Light: Friends living the Kingdom of God in a broken world.” Kalamazoo Friends Meeting (508 Denner St.) is hosting this event for Friends World Committee for Consultation on Monday evening, 11/1/2010. Anne Bennett of Britain Yearly Meeting will be speaking on a theme of living our faith in times of brokenness. The event starts at 6:30 pm with light refreshment; if anyone needs overnight hospitality, let Joseph Mills know. Advance registration is requested or contact Joseph & Linda Mills at millrae@juno.com.

November 3, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting will have a “Salt and Light” Program.October 17 program: "Basics of Quakerism" based on the book The Quaker Way.

November 1: We will welcome Laura Arcila Villa and Mark Hepper as members at the potluck following worship.

October 15: The Book Reading Group will meet on the 3rd Friday of October at 7:00 at the Scott Giese's. We are reading Seeking Truth
Together: Enabling the Poor and Saving the Planet in the Manner of Friends. We will read the first half of the book for the October meeting.

October 22: Steven Donahoe from Washington, D.C. will be in Fremont Friday to speak about national legislation priorities. He will be at 8885 W. 32nd St. for a potluck luncheon at 11:30 a.m. He will also be present at the IGE on Wealthy St. in Grand Rapids about 3:30.

October 23: The First Day School committee announces a potluck-picnic for Saturday noon in Johnson Park (at the log cabin) in Grand Rapids (corner of Wilson and Butterworth). If you’d like some exercise first, meet at the trailhead for Kent Trails (go past John Ball Park and turn left into the entry parking lot for the trail. There is plenty of parking, a rest room and shelter.) For more info, please contact Judi Buchman or Mark Post.

October 24: "Tearing Down the Walls: Christian & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" on Saturday, 7-9 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational UCC Church, 4010 Kalamazoo SE.

“God in America,” a three-part series that “examines the potent and complex interaction between religion and democracy, the origins of the American concept of religious liberty, and the controversial evolution of that ideal in the nation's courts and political arena,” will air on PBS Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 11-13. The series is sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust, the Fetzer Foundation and others, and features documentary footage, historical dramatization, and interviews with religious historians.

October Query

• Do we regard our time, talents, energy, money, material possessions and other resources as gifts from God to be held in trust and shared according to the light we are given?
• How do we express this conviction?
• What are we doing as individuals and as a Meeting to use and thereby perfect our gifts?
• How do we encourage others to use theirs?

August Queries & Announcements

Query:

• 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 other's personal needs and difficulties and do we assist in useful ways?

August 8: The Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting for Worship will take place on August 8th in Peace Park in Battle Creek, 11:00. Noon: picnic potluck.
Directions: Quaker Park is on Fremont and Groveland Streets, three blocks north of the YMCA. Google map.

August 13: Friends Book Group will meet Friday at 7:00 Friday at the home of Betty Ford.

August 16: Noon Meeting for Business; Financial Committee and Program Committee will report.

August 22 & 29: After worship, Fellowship followed by singing from Worship in Song.

September 18th: U.N. International Day of Peace Observance will happen on Saturday from 10:00 until 6:00. There will be a Peace Festival during the Eastown Fair. On Sunday, September 19th, there will be an Interfaith Peace Service in the Dominican Chapel on the Marywood Campus. This year's question is, "Tell us how your religious tradition reaches out to others to achieve World Peace."