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Brian Drayton will be speaking at Putney Friends Meeting about being a recorded minister in New England Yearly Meeting. Putney is considering this topic in regards to the life of the Meeting. Brian will join us on:
All are welcome
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November 9, 2016
Dear Friends throughout New England,
As we gathered for our weekly worship this morning, we held all of you in prayer. From that worship, we feel led to write to you with a message of love, encouragement and support.
In the aftermath of this week’s election, many who are grieving, angry, fearful and isolated are likely to seek refuge and solace in Friends meetings across our region, this Sunday and in the coming weeks. While Friends can’t offer all the answers to those who join us in worship, we can offer them spiritual hospitality—a place where they can experience listening, connection, accompaniment and love. This is a simple and powerful action we can all take in the coming days to lift up a witness to the Light.
Below are some suggestions we hope you’ll consider as you prepare for worship this Sunday:
In our meetings for worship
Many of us who worship together often are also in need of refuge. We respond to stress differently; some may be more able to serve in this way right now than others. Let’s take care of one another, even as we offer hospitality to new visitors. It may help for those who share the care of worship to communicate in advance to ensure that some Friends who are more able to be available are ready to close worship, speak with visitors, or be open to pastoral care needs.
At the rise of meeting, even a simple invitation for those attending to turn to their neighbor and share briefly what is on their heart might be profoundly helpful. Parents of young children may particularly benefit from connecting with one another as they support their kids. Consider whether newcomers who express an interest might be invited to connect with groups in the meeting working to address racism, strengthen interfaith relationships, or address community needs. This can be an important way of helping them continue to find support, purpose and nourishment.
In our surrounding communities
Remember that because of the climate of fear and hostility fed by this election, many who have been explicitly targeted in the campaign—including People of Color, LGBTQ+ people, Muslims, immigrants and people with disabilities—may feel particularly unsafe, excluded or afraid.
More than ever, we encourage Friends to look for opportunities to publicly identify our meetings as places of refuge and sanctuary for our neighbors who might feel under threat. Posting and publicizing commitments to oppose racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and gender-based violence will be more important than ever. Look for opportunities for Friends to partner with and accompany marginalized communities. Participate in ecumenical, interfaith and community events promoting unity, connection, dialogue and mutual respect, and opposing hate and division.
Stay connected with your wider Quaker network
Please share information about upcoming events, as well as news, images, reflections and ideas from your worship, witness and community-building efforts by emailing events@neym.org. Your work will encourage and enliven the work of others.
We are publishing information about local activities on the Events Calendar at neym.org/events, and sharing news and updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NEYMOF, and through the monthly email newsletter. If you or your meeting is seeking additional support or connections in responding to the challenges of this time, please let us know—we’ll do all we can to connect you with resources, either in our wider Quaker networks or beyond. You can reach us at office@neym.org, or by phone at 508-754-6760.
Remember that we and many others are holding you in prayer, and that you are not alone.
In the Love that binds us together as a community of faith and witness,
Anna, Beth, Frederick, Gretchen, Hilary, Kathleen, Nia, Sara and Noah
Your New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Staff
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The theme of the 356th Annual Sessions was ”Being the Hands of God: A Call to Radical Faithfulness.” Doug Gwyn, pastor of Durham Friends Meeting in Maine, offered the Bible half hours each morning. Through stories of early Friends reclaiming the power they encountered in the Scriptures to build a world-changing movement in their time, we heard a call to take up the work of listening for and living in the guidance of that same Life and Power as we seek to be faithful now.
Nearly 600 Friends attended Annual Sessions in Castleton, Vermont. 83 of them–nearly 14%–were attending for the first time, a significant increase from last year. Youth attendance also continues to grow. We celebrated strong representation from each of the New England states, with the largest increase being Friends from Rhode Island. We were also joined by 48 visitors from beyond our Yearly Meeting, including Quakers from Kenya, Cuba and several other yearly meetings within the United States, as well as ecumenical representatives.
Here’s a summary of important news from the week:
We committed to action in the areas of work for racial justice, responding to the climate crisis and support for LGBT people in Uganda.
1. Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people: Continuing work brought to us from the quarterly meetings, New England Yearly Meeting publically endorsed the work of the Friends Ugandan Safe Transport Fund, which supports Ugandans in providing safe passage to other Ugandans fleeing persecution due to sexual or gender identity.
2. Climate Change: Reflecting years of faithful work in our local meetings and the ongoing ministry of many New England Friends, Sessions approved a minute which begins:
“Friends…have heard a Divine call to the witness of addressing climate change. We affirm the overwhelming scientific consensus that greenhouse gases released by human activity are causing climate change, that these changes threaten life on our planet as we know it, and that we have a responsibility to address the very real threats that will impact both rich and poor. Those on earth who have contributed least to this crisis are likely to suffer most from it…”
Responding to a call from Quakers worldwide who gathered at the Friends World Committee for Consultation World Plenary of Friends held in Peru in 2016, we corporately committed to take three concrete actions in the coming year:
a. Support a working group of New England Friends led to participate in bold and prophetic nonviolent direct action consistent with the urgency of the global climate crisis
b. Encourage all local meetings to prayerfully consider how they might further respond to the climate crisis, and to share news with the Yearly Meeting office to enable better communication and support for our collective witness
c. Organize a consultation for New England Friends on our witness for sustainability and our response to the climate crisis in the spring of 2017
3. Racial Justice: Recognizing the urgency of work for racial justice and the ways in which white supremacy affects and is present in our Quaker faith communities, in the coming months the Yearly Meeting will explore concrete steps New England Friends can take to help us more fully realize God’s vision of the Beloved Community. To begin and inform this work going forward, we asked the Permanent Board of NEYM to explore an external audit of our cultural competency. We see that the work of change and recovery from the spiritual disease of systemic racism needs to happen in each of our hearts, within our organizational structures, and in each of our local meetings. Expect to hear more soon about opportunities for your meeting to engage in this work, and please share ways you are already learning, healing and acting for racial justice.
Supporting this work more widely, we further committed to raise funds in support of the efforts of Friends General Conference—a North American association of Yearly Meetings in which we hold membership—to also undergo a cultural competency audit.
Legacy Gift Committee: With joy, Friends heard reports from the first year of grants distributed from the Legacy Gift funds. Grantees—including local meetings and individuals across New England—updated us on the fruits of their work through displays and small group conversations. For a complete list of recipients and the ministries being supported, and for more information, visit neym.org/legacy-gift. The next deadline for applications to the NEYM Future Fund is November 1. Please send questions and inquiries to legacy@neym.org.
Public Statements: Friends reviewed the public statements made on behalf of New England Friends in the past year, and offered guidance to the presiding clerk and secretary for how to approach this work in the coming year. We heard strong support for continuing to lift up a clear and timely witness on issues of concern for Friends in these times. Monthly and Quarterly Meetings will be notified whenever such statements are made. Meetings are encouraged to share their news and work with the Yearly Meeting office in order to help us all stay connected and increase the visibility of Friends witness in the world. A summary of all statements is available on page 11 of the 2016 Sessions Advance Documents.
Living Faith Gatherings: Responding to calls for more opportunities for nurturing spirituality, fostering community and strengthening witness, New England Yearly Meeting is planning two daylong Saturday gatherings over the next year. Friends from across our region are invited to gather on November 5 at the Friends School of Portland, Maine; and on April 8 at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island. To learn more, get involved with planning or share your gifts at this event, contact livingfaith@neym.org or visit neym.org/livingfaith.
Archives: We heard that the NEYM Archives have been successfully relocated to the W.E.B. Dubois Library at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Attention will now turn to gathering records from local meetings and making the Archives more fully available both on site and online.
Budget: Sessions approved the fiscal year 2017 budget for the Yearly Meeting as an organization. This budget continues progress toward financial sustainability while eliminating reliance upon subsidy from Legacy Gift funds. We are not yet clear how new federal rules ensuring more equitable pay will impact our budget, but look forward to aligning our finances with our commitment to fair employment practices for Yearly Meeting staff. In the coming year, the Ad Hoc Long Term Financial Planning Committee will support development of multi-year budgeting and planning.
Friends Camp: We celebrated the 12-year tenure of Nat Shed at Friends Camp, and approved the appointment of Anna Hopkins as the new Director. We gave thanks for the completion of a review of governance and administration at Friends Camp, renewed our commitment to diversity and inclusion at the Camp, and heard hopes for even more integration of Friends Camp with the other vibrant youth ministries of New England Friends.
Working Paper on Membership: The Committee revising the book of Faith and Practice of New England Yearly Meeting presented a working paper on membership in the Religious Society of Friends for consideration and feedback from local meetings and individuals. The document reflects significant progress in our conversation about commitment and what it means to be a part of our Quaker faith community. The working paper on membership can be downloaded at neym.org/sessions/addocs16.
Further details, video & audio recordings and minutes will be posted soon at neym.org/sessions. To receive news and updates on the life and ministry of Friends across New England, subscribe to the new monthly email newsletter at neym.org/mc-signup.
“How deeply we are connected.”
A Prayer in response to the shootings at Pulse in Orlando.
Friends believe there is that of God in all people. To intentionally harm another—with our actions, our words, or our policies—is to separate ourselves from God. We are here to love one another and to be loved as God loves us, and as Jesus teaches. We are not whole without each other.
To those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual and queer, whose place of safety has again been targeted and attacked, we stand with you in love. We pray for love big enough to hold us all.
We seek to create a world in which all people are unconditionally loved and cared for, as God unconditionally loves and cares for each of us.
We call on people of all faiths, and no faith, to recommit to the work of ending homophobia and transphobia within our faith communities, our neighborhoods, and our nation. The rhetoric of exclusion, of separateness, and of hate creates a culture that gives rise to acts of terror. We know the power of God’s love is great and that we are called to make manifest that love in the face of hate. We believe that God never calls any person, communion or community to hate or to engage in violence.
We know God’s love extends fully and unconditionally to all who are GLBTIAQ, to all who are Latinx, to all who are Muslim, to all who some in our culture would denigrate or deny full humanity.
We stand with all those who call for this moment in our nation to be a catalyst for greater love, stronger community, and a justice that heals and unites. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King).
Fritz Weiss, Presiding Clerk
Sarah Gant, Clerk of Permanent Board