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“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”



~ Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) 

A South African Anglican bishop and theologian.

Known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist.

I am well. I actually got Covid of all things (for the first time) and I am still recovering. Very mild symptoms.  Out of work out of cautiousness.  Other than some tensions with flat-mates, things are well.  I am doing my best to ‘court my inner-warrior’, something that has proven challenging (however necessary) especially growing up with domineering parents.  Although at times living with difficult people is a challenge, this week with no other work to do, I have been able to make some progress doing what Carl Jung might call ‘shadow work’.  This has been helpful as I find myself over-reactive to certain triggers and stressors in my life – including passive aggressive flat-mates.

I also have some other good news.  I was able to get a part-time job in genealogy at a local museum here in Dublin.  I am very pleased, as this will be a sort of breakthrough and (hopefully) pave the way for both a career, perhaps in research, as well as Irish citizenship.

We've had rousing Song Circles these past months, and we certainly need them!  Singing together lifts my spirits and gives me hope, especially songs like "Give Light", "We Will Rise",  "Step by Step", "Lead with Love".  If you don't know these yet, come and learn them!  What song(s) help you get through these chaotic and painful times?  Let me know (603-724-4343) and if you can't lead it yourself, I'll try to learn and lead it.

We meet as usual on the third Friday (June 20) but at 6:30 p.m [2]. at the Quaker Meetinghouse (11 Oxbow Pond Rd).  As always, bring your Rise Again and Rise Up Singing songbooks (or borrow ours).   Bring a little treat to share and a friend and we'll all leave feeling lighter and more hopeful than when we arrived.

At our Spring Party on June 1^st, a few of us got together to talk about a Quaker Basics course to start possibly on Tuesday evenings for one hour at the beginning of July.  We have run this course four or five times over the years using reading materials that are available on the Meeting’s website at https://www.ConcordFriendsMeeting.org/Library#QuakerBasics [6]. 

The readings will be printed as half-letter-size booklets for each participant, so they will feel free to carry them with them, make notes, and highlight passages.  Some past participants have kept their copies for years afterwards.

The Quaker Basics course will meet for six one-hour sessions (tentatively Tuesdays at 7 p.m.) to discuss the readings for that week.  However, we will not necessarily meet for consecutive weeks, so we can accommodate times when participants may be away for holidays or other reasons.

If you wish to join the course, please email MarkB [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: CMM%20Quaker%20Basics%20course) .

Click on each title to go to the website "LibraryThing" for more information.

SOLSTICE SING & PIE SOCIAL at Henniker Quaker Meeting 529 Quaker St. 4:00 pm, Sunday, June 29^th

Join voices in song with friends and neighbors, enjoy the historic ambiance of our 1799 Meetinghouse, and indulge in homemade pies, both savory and sweet.

Free.  All ages are invited and welcome.

For more information call 603-995-4311.

The same day, Dover Quarterly Meeting will join us for Meeting for Worship at 10:30am, Potluck lunch, Dover Quarterly Meeting for Business [12] at 12:30 p.m. (including Vocal Ministry – Andrea Szirbik Groft [13] and an opportunity to walk to the nearby historic Quaker District Schoolhouse), followed by the Solstice Sing and Pie Social.

Come sing with us!!!

Lloyd Lee Wilson's plenary message to 2024 Annual Sessions is now available in pamphlet form, made possible by the Yearly Meeting Mosher Book & Tract Fund, with permission from Lloyd Lee. Brian Drayton contributed an introduction.

You can download your copy on this web page [15] (using a PC or iPhone, but not a laptop).

In April of 2025, I spent some time in the West Bank with a group from Friends United Meeting and Friends World Committee for Consultation, Europe and Middle East Section.

I’m happy to share stories from our time there, and I’m adding this post to my website (http://quakeremily.wordpress.com/ [18]).

Next scheduled online report: Wednesday, June 18, 2 p.m. NYC time, (7 p.m. London time).

In this hour-long online gathering, I’ll be sharing stories and experiences of recent travel to Ramallah Friends School, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and the Tent of Nations.  All are welcome, including your non-Quaker family, friends, and neighbors.  Register here: June 18^th Emily Provance Online Report [19]

The vigil for a ceasefire in Gaza continues every Thursday from Noon-1 p.m.  The vigil meets at (the northwest corner of) North Main Street and Park Street in Concord) [20] on the plaza in front of the State House.  Make your own sign, use one provided, or just stand in silent witness beside others.  This is coordinated by NH Peace Action.  We suggest that people make signs that convey something about justice for Israel and Palestine.

Friends are most in the Spirit when they stand at the crossing point of the inward and outward life. And that is the intersection at which we find community. a place where the connections felt in the heart make themselves known in bonds between people, and where the tuggings and pullings of those bonds keep opening our hearts.

(Parker Palmer, A Place Called Community, Pendle Hill Pamphlet #212, 1977)

Join us for a gathering of Friends in New England caring for the nurture of spiritual life and ministry in our local faith communities. Together, we will:

• Dream together
• Identify the resources meetings have to offer each other
• Explore themes in State of Society reports and trends from statistical reports
• Discover what’s possible now

Our Yearly Meeting’s primary purpose is to support monthly meetings, to be a vehicle to share resources and experiences among and between us in order to better understand our life in the Spirit and to be able to listen more closely to the Teacher.  With that in mind, we began holding an annual “Meeting for Listening.”

Last year, there was a strong sense of deep sharing, of drawing together.  We left the day having heard about our unique challenges.  We also shared the many places we face common obstacles and celebrate common joys.

Our next “Meeting for Listening” is scheduled for June 21, 2025.  It will be a full-day, hybrid gathering where Friends can gather in different ways: on site at Hartford (CT) Meeting, in self-organized local clusters connected via Zoom, or individually via Zoom.

We gather to share with each other—to reflect on where Spirit is alive in our local worshiping communities.  These insights and reflections will both inform programmatic planning in the year ahead and our annual Funding Priorities.

This year, we will focus on how meetings across our region are leaning into community.  Participants will have the opportunity to explore three themes related to this leaning in:

• Renewal, including welcoming and integrating new attenders and new perspectives, religious education, and visibility in our local communities
• Loss, including smaller numbers, leadership changes, aging membership, and the resulting need to rethink care for buildings, resources, and meeting functions
• “These times,” including the spiritual condition of Friends in relation to the world, witness and engagement, discerning individual and corporate leadings, and the role of eldership.
• Registration is now open. Whether you plan to participate via Zoom or gather with others, you can register for this free-of-charge event at neym.org/Meeting-for-Listening [21].  If you plan to attend on site in Hartford, please register by June 12^th if you can. This will help us comfortably accommodate everyone.

Are you led to host a local cluster in your area?  If rather than traveling to Hartford, you are interested in inviting area Friends (for example, your Quarter) to gather at your meeting’s location in a regional cluster to participate in the gathering together, connected via a shared device or system, we would love to support you in doing so, as much as we are able.  Contact us (mc-clerk [at] neym [dot] org and nia [at] neym [dot] org) to begin a conversation.

Now that summer is right around the corner, it's a great time to start looking ahead to NEYM's Annual Sessions, which will be held at University of Massachusetts, Amherst from August 1st-6th. We are excited to announce that as of June 2nd, registration is now open!

Considering coming to Sessions for the first time? WONDERFUL! The Young Friends community at Sessions will be even more awesome with you as a part of it. Read more about the program here [22] and don't hesitate to be in touch if you have other questions.

Note that this year we will be piloting a new "placement" program for Young Friends at Sessions. Once you have completed your Sessions registration please fill out this short (2-3 minute) survey [23] to select your placement and offer any feedback you have to share.

All Sessions registrations are strongly preferred by July 15^th; after that date our ability to guarantee housing through University of Massachusetts Amherst is greatly reduced. You can register 24/7 online at http://neym.org/sessions [24].

Quakers in New England will gather in August for the 365th year—for worship, spiritual nurture, fellowship, and discernment of our shared calling.

Again this year there are two ways to attend Sessions: in-person at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and via Zoom.

We encourage Friends to read the details on the Yearly Meeting website before registering. [25]

Register to Attend on Campus [26]

Register to Attend Online [27]

Copyright ©2025 New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), All rights reserved.

We’d love to get a few more friends on the closing schedule!  If you can spare 20 minutes after meeting once every 6 weeks or so, please let me know.  It’s an easy way to provide a much needed service to the container that holds our sweet community.  Mostly we just sweep, vacuum, and pretend to clean the bathroom.  I mean clean the bathroom.  Please email me at HeidiB [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org.

There are other online Meetings for Worship that are generally available to Quakers, unlimited by geography, if that would be of interest.  Some of those are listed here.