Memorial Meeting for Thomas Hedberg

Thomas's Memorial Meeting will be this Saturday, June 18, at 11:00 AM at the Meetinghouse, and on Zoom, under the care of our Meeting. A modified potluck featuring all Thomas's favorite foods will occur directly afterward at Lynda's home in Canterbury Center*. Lynda is providing pizza and sliders, Mac n Cheese and drinks; contact Gini B to let her know how many to plan for and to let her know which of Thomas' other favorite foods you might provide (e.g. pasta salad, potato salad, coleslaw and crudite items). Thomas also loved desserts...apple pie, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, brownies etc. Of course anything else anyone might want to bring is very welcome, like potato chips, popcorn, pretzels and snack type items. Also bring a lawn chair.

Spring Party Sunday, June 19

The location for the annual Spring Party on Sunday, June 19 will be at the home of Chris and Jane H in Manchester. We are grateful to them for stepping up to offer their home and large yard with a nice play area, chickens, and gardens. After the rise of Meeting, we'll drive there and begin with an outdoor potluck and then have the annual Spring Basket Hunt (complete with confetti eggs). There will be plenty of time for fellowship and outdoor fun. Bring a lawn chair or camp chair along with your potluck contribution and place setting (to make cleanup easy for the hosts).

Our traditional Spring Baskets hold small treats that are contributed by party attenders. Contributions can be found items from nature (feathers, pretty rocks, shells); or small candies like Kisses or M&Ms; pencils; stickers; small toys - lightly used (like bouncy balls, yo-yos, toy cars); or inexpensive items like glow in dark bracelets. We also need small used items adults might like. The object is not to buy a lot of things but recycle or find items. Baskets will be personally 'created' by the YRE committee members, but hidden by participants. Plan on a max of 6 children and up to 20 adults.

Dual Memberships and NEYM

At our last Meeting for Business the subject of dual memberships came up; that is to say, can one be a member of our Meeting and also a Buddhist or Catholic or whatever? The answer is "Yes" with a caveat. Jonah has shared the most recent wording from the Membership chapter of NEYM Faith and Practice, which was given preliminary approval in 2019. We believe it has not received final approval. The relevant section reads in part: New England Yearly Meeting recommends against a Friend holding membership in two different faith communities…

If an individual requests membership in the Religious Society of Friends, and at the same time wishes to retain membership in another tradition, to have dual membership, it is important for their clearness committee to explore with them their reasons for this and its implications. https://neym.org/faith-and-practice/membership [1]

Yemen War Powers Resolution and FCNL asks for help in NH

FCNL has been working this year on this very important issue. We are heartbroken at the suffering of the Yemeni people and see this as a humanitarian crisis. Peace Action has partnered with us to try to convince our members of Congress to support this. They are some of the ones FCNL is having a hard time getting on board. Most of the Cosponsors so far have been directly convinced by FCNL advocacy, so we know this will work. We have members in both Congressional districts, but we are most worried about Chris Pappas. You don't need to know all the politics of the war, just that negotiations are the only way to end the conflict and bring aid to these starving children. The War Powers Resolution will bring pressure to do just that. A simple plea along those lines from a constituent is the most convincing thing. A child is dying of starvation every 75 seconds. Please email or call. Also please read the NH Peace Action letter here [2]. - Sara

An Urgent Call to the Religious Society of Friends on Threats to U.S. Democracy

To Friends Throughout the United States:

Greetings in the Spirit of Love.

We write to share with you the attached [3] “Urgent Call to the Religious Society of Friends” concerning the current extensive threats to our U.S. democracy. We are led to speak out against the lies, extremist movements, and anti-democratic actions that are the opposite of our Quaker understandings of integrity and Truth. This Call was prepared by a group of nineteen Friends.

We encourage your prayerful discernment of this “Urgent Call” and ask you as individuals, monthly meetings, yearly meetings, and Friends organizations to consider how you might be called to act with integrity in response to these concerns.

We also are inviting all concerned Friends and friends to join us in the first of a series of national conversations on these issues to be hosted by the Earlham School of Religion on either Monday, July 25 (7 to 9 PM, Eastern time), or Sunday, July 31 (3 to 5 PM Eastern time). You can find more details and register at quakercall.net.

We are an ad hoc group of Quakers who believe in the power of Truth and who have faith in the witness of Friends. We know that the individual and collective actions of Friends and friends can have a powerful impact in our communities and in our individual faithful journeys.

Please distribute this email, along with the Urgent Call, as widely as possible. We welcome your questions, suggestions, and resources at info [at] quakercall [dot] net.

In faithfulness,

The following items have appeared previously in the Newsletter.

Asylum Seekers' Support Fund

Friends, and friends of Friends have been donating to this fund during the past few weeks. So far $1,960.00 has been contributed. At the bottom of this newsletter you can see what this fund can do to assist those seeking asylum, to diminish there fear and sense of isolation, as well as the "ask" with instructions on how to give. Whether or not you can contribute, can you send this information to five friends and tell them how or why you support this cause? The info is also available in a flyer format here [4] that can be easily downloaded and sent on to others. Many thanks.

Towels

Kathi Connors writes that the Resource Center of Concord Coalition to End Homelessness offers unhoused persons the use of their showers. They try to provide a clean towel and washcloth to each person, to be placed in a basket after use to be laundered. They are in dire need of these items right now to the point that several persons went without towels during last Fridays drop-in hours. I am collecting towels and washcloths to donate to them, and am willing to pick them up from donors. Please, no bath sheets or hand towels. Contact me by email, please, if you have a donation. If you don't have Kathi's email you can reply to WebClerk [at] concordfriendsmeeting [dot] org [5].

Registration for NEYM Sessions

is now open. Visit this web page [6] for more information and to register.

Are you wanting information from past announcements and newsletters?

Visit this page on our web site: Past Announcements [7]

Are you wanting to donate to Concord Monthly Meeting?

Visit this page on our web site for more information: Donations [8]