CMM 2018-01-14 Possible Items for Agenda

Here are some possible agenda items for First Month’s Meeting for Worship with attention to Business, which will be on the 14^th of First Month.  Some of the items from Twelfth Month may have been carried forward.  Some of the proposed items may need further seasoning. They are in no particular order at the moment.  [See also http://quakerspeak.com/quaker-decision-making-consensus/ [1]]

During worship, please hold in your heart the following from Eden Grace’s paper “An Introduction to Quaker Business Practice” [2].

Quakers profess a theocratic understanding of authority. “The primary authority is that of God, as the God whose will is sought, as Christ who presides, and as the Holy Spirit who inspires and empowers. Thus the task of the meeting is to listen in worship, putting itself under that authority, to discern the right way forward on any piece of business.” ^* All human leadership is subordinated to the authority of Christ, the true shepherd of any gathering of Christians. All participants in the Meeting are equally capable of being used by the Holy Spirit, and those who moderate the Meeting are seen as servants of the gathering discernment process.

* Scott, Janet “Business Meetings”, manuscript submitted for inclusion in the forthcoming Dictionary of the Religious Society of Friends, 1999.

• Minutes of Eleventh Month’s Meeting for Worship with attention to Business [3].
• Budget Committee report
  • “How does our Meeting engage its members in the support of the Meeting’s work, its ministry, and the upkeep of its property?” ¹ [4]
• Property Committee report
  • “Does our Meeting serve social and economic justice in its uses of property and money?” ¹ [4]
  • “[Dave Woolpert] talked with AMTP’s creator and former Executive Director Donna San Antonio ... and she has requested there be a commemorative event re: the transfer of the land to honor and acknowledge the role that the Booths played in making this gift possible.  She didn’t think it needed to happen close to the property closing date but we agreed it would be good to have it soon enough to have Lois Booth attend.  Can ... Ruth or Sara ... look into this and come up with some suggested dates?”
• Solar Committee report
  • “We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God’s continuing creation.” ² [5]
• Youth Religious Education Committee report
  • “Children and young people need love and stability. Are we doing all we can to uphold and sustain parents and others who carry the responsibility for providing this care?” ³ [6]
• Outreach Committee report
  • “Are you patterns, examples; do your lives preach among all sorts of people, and to them?  Do you walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one?” - https://neym.org/faith-practice/part-3/queries [7]
• Ministry & Counsel Committee report
  • Query 2. “b) Are we aware of the roles we fill as heirs of the meetings of ministers and elders? What do we do to support each other in the use of our gifts for God’s work? Do we actively seek to identify and nurture these gifts in each other?” https://neym.org/sites/default/files/2015-09-15Minute%20of%20Exercise%20... [8]

Announcements & Events:

2018 Concord Cold Weather Shelter Mon Dec 18, 2017 – Sat Mar 31, 2018 You can volunteer for the 2018 Concord Cold Weather Shelter at https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/2132470/false#/invitation [9].  The shelter is located at St. Peter's Church, 135 North State Street, Concord, NH  03301.  Your participation is critical to the success of this year's effort.  For new volunteers, training on the various shift duties and responsibilities will be provided.

Fundraising for Christine Imbiti at the Kakamega Children's Orphanage has been going very well. Thanks to everyone for helping out! Here is the latest newsletter from Kakamega [10]. Lots of interesting news.

Recently we published a statement in response to the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia [11].  Please also see “Such a Time as This: A Response to Hate and Violence [12]” as well as the “2017 Epistle of New England Yearly Meeting [13]”, Ruby Sales’ Plenary Message [14] on NEYM’s Youtube channel, and the audio recordings of the 2017 Annual Sessions Bible Half-Hours by Marty Grundy [15].  Draft booklet of Bible Half Hour texts [16].

Dec 14 (Thu)   6:00 – 7:00 p.m.  2017 NEYM Bible Half Hour [16] discussion.  Day 3: “Renewal of your minds”. [Audio file [17]]   Printed booklets of the talks for all five sessions are available from MarkBarker [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org.  At the end of each session, we will agree the date and time that is most convenient for the next session.

Dec 14 (Thu)   6:00 p.m.  New Hampshire Poor People’s Campaign meeting at Brookside Congregational Church, 2013 Elm Street, Manchester (Fellowship Hall).  For more information, go to the Facebook events page “Creating a Poor People’s Campaign for New Hampshire”.

Dec 16 (Sat)   7:00 p.m. Carol Sing at the Heaths.  Bring a snack, hearty voices, and instruments!

Dec 17 (Sun) 10:00 a.m. Worship. Closing [18]: Mark, Gini; Boiler cleaning [19]: Mark.  12:30 p.m. Knitting, etc. for All at the Barker's.  Gini will have soup for all and games, etc. for the children.

Dec 19 (Tue)   8:30 – 10:00 a.m.  Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Justice [20] for those reporting to ICE for deportation that day at the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street in Manchester.  This will be followed by the Sanctuary Support Network [21] meeting at Blessed-Sacrament Church, 14 Elm St, Manchester where there will be refreshments.  We have signed the pledge to stand with our immigrant neighbors.  If you have not seen a copy of the revised solidarity statement, it can be found here [22].

Dec 21 (Thu)  4:00 p.m. Homeless Memorial Day, which corresponds to the longest night of the year, is an opportunity to remember people whose lives were cut short by homelessness. This year events will take place in Concord, Keene, Laconia, Manchester, Nashua, Newport, Peterborough, and Portsmouth. 4 pm at State House Plaza. Please bring a candle. Sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, The Friends Program and Families in Transition. Contact: Maggie Fogarty, 603-988-7115, mfogarty [at] afsc [dot] org. Find out the details on the AFSC web page [23].

Dec 22 (Fri)  7:00 p.m. The Carol Sing at Weare Friends Meeting [24] at the West Henniker Meetinghouse at 529 Quaker Street, Henniker, New Hampshire, which was built in 1799.  The meetinghouse is heated by a wood stove and has no indoor plumbing.  (However, it does have an indoor composting toilet.)  There will be dessert-type treats after the sing to which you may contribute.  Friends are advised to dress in layers and bring a candle or flashlight to light the handouts of the carols

Dec 24 (Sun) 10:00 AM Worship. Closing [18]: JJ, Sara; Boiler cleaning [19]: JJ.

Late afternoon Caroling at Havenwood followed by All Ages Worship and pot luck dinner at the meetinghouse. Details to follow.

Dec 24 (Sun)  Every Sunday is Civil Rights Sunday in Portsmouth, with a vigil at 3 p.m. in Market Square organized by Occupy NH Seacoast. More details here.

Dec 30 (Sat) Kwanzaa, a Celebration of Culture and Consciousness, will be observed in a program from noon to 3:00 PM at Brookside Congregational Church, 2013 Elm Street in Manchester. Sponsored by Manchester NAACP, NH Black Women's Health Project, and UJIMA Collective. For information, call 603-264-2874.

Dec 31 (Sun) 10:00 a.m. Worship. Closing [18]: Greg, Ruth; Boiler cleaning [19]: Greg

Jan  2 (Tue)    8:30 – 10:00 a.m.  Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Justice [20] for those reporting to ICE for deportation that day at the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street in Manchester.

Jan  4 (Thu)   6:00 – 7:00 p.m.  2017 NEYM Bible Half Hour [16] discussion.  Day 4: “Discernment”.  [Audio file [25]]   Printed booklets of the talks for all five sessions are available from MarkBarker [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org.  At the end of each session, we will agree the date and time that is most convenient for the next session.  Because of snowstorm, rescheduled for Jan 11, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Jan 4-7, 2018 (Thu-Sun) Young Adult Friends Midwinter Retreat [26] at Woolman Hill in Deerfield, MA. The theme is “Intention.” Here's a little more about the theme:

For Quakers, there is a constant striving to live intentionally; to connect one’s spiritual experience and inner wisdom to our every outward action.  Friends use spiritual practices, worship, and relationships in community to learn how to live lives that are more aligned & harmonious – when we do this we experience clarity, relief, peace, and joy.

At our Midwinter Retreat, we’ll create a space where we can explore what it means to live with intention in a variety of ways: trying out new spiritual practices, building supportive friendships, getting real about obstacles, and making space to examine our own experiences.  We will also spend some time exploring what it means for our own retreat community to be a space of shared intentions.

The program is designed for young adults with any level of background knowledge about Quakerism.  Beyond the structured program, this gathering is a time to make connections, relax, eat, play, laugh, walk in the woods, and start the new year off right.

YAF Retreats provide an opportunity for individuals in similar life-stages to gather around a theme.  We worship, sing, have small groups for worship-sharing, go for hikes and walks, play games, talk about our spiritual lives, and build community.

The cost is a sliding scale $0-$120, pay what you can.  At Midwinter we also have a coffee house (you don’t have to have a talent, so show us your not-talents!) and a gift swap (spend no money on the gift that you bring to swap – something you already have lying around your house, something you make, etc.)  Hopefully there will be snow and some sledding, in addition to the wonderful conversations and worship opportunities.

Here are links for the website event page [26], the NEYM Young Adult Friends Facebook page [27], and the registration form [28].

We hope to see you there!  Please let F/friends know.  And email me, Hilary Burgin, at hilary [at] neym [dot] org for more details.

Jan  8 (Mon) “State House Watch Radio” makes its annual return at 5 p.m. on WNHN-LP, 94.7 FM in the Concord area and wnhnfm.org everywhere. For the second year, we will usher in a new season with Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky as our guest.

Jan 14 (Sun)  7:00 p.m. Taizé [29]:  The Concord Unitarian Universalist Church holds a Taizé Service of Meditative Singing [30] on the second Sunday of each month through April 2018 at 7 p.m., 274 Pleasant Street, Concord.  Ruth attended the November sing and will be going to the coming ones.  Join her.

Jan 16 (Tue)   8:30 – 10:00 a.m.  Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Justice [20] for those reporting to ICE for deportation that day at the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street in Manchester.  This will be followed by the Sanctuary Support Network [21] meeting at Blessed-Sacrament Church, 14 Elm St, Manchester where there will be refreshments.  We have signed the pledge to stand with our immigrant neighbors.  If you have not seen a copy of the revised solidarity statement, it can be found here [22].

Jan 25 (Thu)   6:00 – 7:00 p.m.  2017 NEYM Bible Half Hour [16] discussion.  Day 5: “the good and perfect will of God”.  [Audio file [25]]   Printed booklets of the talks for all five sessions are available from MarkBarker [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org.  At the end of each session, we will agree the date and time that is most convenient for the next session, when we will be restarting Quaker Testimonies (‘Quakerism 201’): “This is Our Testimony to the World” [31] by Peter Blood.

^1. See http://www.pym.org/faith-and-practice/queries/11-stewardship-of-resources/

^2. See http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/1/ [32] № 42

^3. See http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/1/ [32] № 24