G A Z E T T E. Upcoming Events. REGULAR Events. Quaker Birthdays. Sandwich Quarterly Meeting. Sandwich Monthly Meeting. West Falmouth

T H E G A Z E T T E “ a news-sheet, a periodical publication giving an account of current events” West Falmouth Religious Society of Friends Larry ...
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T H E

G A Z E T T E

“ a news-sheet, a periodical publication giving an account of current events”

West Falmouth Religious Society of Friends Larry  Jordan,  Clerk  (508-­‐420-­‐1738;  cell  202-­‐253-­‐7175;  [email protected])  

Upcoming Events

Quaker Birthdays

Sandwich Quarterly Meeting

OCTOBER Fred Wheeler, 6 Molly Cornell, 7 Erica Adams, 21

Sunday, October 23, Sandwich Quarterly Meeting at West Falmouth meetinghouse: Quarterly Ministry and Counsel at 9:00am, worship at 10:00, hospitality at 11:00. West Falmouth presents a program about restorative circles.

NOVEMBER Martin Fido, 18 Louise Luckenbill, 19 Rebecca Edwards, 30 (If your birthday was not listed, please contact Alta Mae)

REGULAR Events Adult Discussion Group, 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays 9AM (October 2, 16, 23, 30; November 6, 20, 27) Discussion Group is talking about “A Language for the Inward Landscape, Spiritual Wisdom from the Quaker Movement” by Brian Drayton and William P. Taber, Jr. Beginning Chpt. 4 on Oct. 1st.

Light Group, 2nd Sunday 9 AM (October 9, November 13)

Peace and Social Order, Fran Lightsom, Clerk (508548-9186), 2nd Sunday at 12:00 (October 9, November 13) rd

Adult Education, 3 Sunday at 12:00 (October 16, November 20)



Sandwich Monthly Meeting Sunday, October 2, Sandwich Monthly Meeting for Business at West Falmouth meetinghouse, following hospitality. Please Bring extra food for hospitality!

West Falmouth Sunday, October 9, 12-2:30, Semi-Simulated Restorative Circles. Instead of Peace and Social Order Committee Meeting, we will have a chance to learn how restorative circles work through a role-playing experience called “Semi-Simulated Restorative Circles.” This is a way of learning to resolve conflicts through improved communication, which is the basis for restorative justice but also useful for all kinds of disagreements. Please bring food for hospitality so that we can have lunch. Friday, October 21st, 5:30pm, Women’s Group at Ellie Armstrong’s. Sunday, October 30, West Falmouth Meeting for Business. This is a change from the 4th to the 5th Sunday for October due to Sandwich Quarterly Meeting on the 4th Sunday at West Falmouth.

Other Events Taize Singing: first Sunday at 6pm at the Meetinghouse. Email Bobbi ([email protected]) if you intend to come. Zen Meditation: Monday evenings (contact Fran Lightsom)

THE BOOK NOOK – Every month a Meeting member or attender is asked to review a book of possible interest to the Meeting in general. This

month’s book is Return to the Teachings, Exploring Aboriginal Justice by Rupert Ross. The author was an Assistant Crown Attorney for the District of Kenora, Deborah Bradley, convenor, rd (508-564-4744) 3 Wednesday Canada, responsible for criminal prosecutions on over twenty remote Cree and Ojibway First Nations, addressing sexual abuse, addiction and ensuing crime. His (October 19, November 16) experience began his exploration of Aboriginal approaches to justice and the Empathy Practice (NVC) visions of life that shape them. Ross describes the devastating effects of Usually 1st Sat. 9:30-11:30 colonialization that wreaked havoc for native communities, and the difficulties of (October 1st at the breaking away from its punitive approach to justice and re-rooting in restorative, Meetinghouse; November 12 healing approaches instead. Ministry and Counsel,

at 24 Althea Rd.) Brenda Nolan, convenor.

Central to the healing process is heart talking. Diane LeResch describes (p.179): “Sacred justice is going beyond the techniques for handling conflicts: It involves Semi-Simulated going to the heart. It includes speaking from the heart, from one’s feelings… It is Restorative Circle Practice, helping people ease, move beyond, transform the intense hurtful emotions like Usually 3rd Sat. 9:30-11:30am anger into reorienting and reuniting with that which is more important than the (Demonstration Sunday, issues of the conflict.” th October 9 at the Meetinghouse; Saturday November 26th at 24 Althea Rd.) Brenda Nolan, convenor

West Falmouth Business Meeting, 4th SUN, 10/30 (5th Sunday in October) Clerk – Larry Jordan (508-420-1738) Recording Clerk M. Cornell Treasurer L. Kreidermacher Auditor Nancy Holland Directory/e-mail List Brenda Nolan Building & Grounds Molly Cornell Quaker House Trustees Karen Hunter Meetinghouse Committee Larisa Davidson, Cynthia Rankin, Anita Thacker Cemetery Overseers Sally Fritz Library Committee Nan Garrett-Logan Peace and Social Order Fran Lightsom Archives Carolyne Jordan Religious Education (Youth) 508-540-7652) Molly Cornell, convenor

Aboriginal languages are relatively devoid of judgmental nouns. Ross heard over and over again “that as humans it is not our role to judge. “ The team at the Community Holistic Circle Healing (CHCH) Program at Hollow Water described in their “Position Paper:” “People who offend against another … are to be viewed and related to as people out of balance—with themselves, their family, their community and their Creator. A return to balance can best be accomplished through a process of accountability that includes support from the community through teaching and healing. The use of judgment and punishment actually works against the healing process. An already unbalanced person is moved further out of balance.” Ross concludes his book with the Teaching of the Four Colours: The oldest group are the people of the black colour whose unique gift has to do with the power of sound in Creation; the next oldest group are the people of the red colour, the Aboriginal peoples of the Americas whose special responsibility involves preserving the health of Mother Earth, her lifeblood the waters, and the plant, animal and human realms; the special gift of the people of the yellow colour has to do with understanding the workings of the human mind and body; and the special gift and responsibility of the people of the white colour, the youngest group, has to do with bringing about effective communication and understanding between all the peoples on Mother Earth, without which there can be no real sharing of the gifts that each bring. White people are seen as boisterous adolescents who act primarily on impulse and do not yet understand either the richness or the fragility of life, much less their responsibility to keep it in good health. Ross hopes his book will “help facilitate communication between the colours so we can all come together to make a healthy whole.” Brenda Nolan

Climate Change and the Environment The book review (Book Nook) and the following two articles deal in vastly different ways with the overriding topic of our times: Climate Change and the environment. The first is an invitation posted by Jay O’Hara regarding a forthcoming event:

Friends Gathering with a Concern for Faithful Prophetic Climate Action: Where: Framingham Friends Meeting (841 Edmands Rd, Framingham MA) When: Friday, Oct 28, 6pm – Sunday, Oct 30, noon Why: Responding to the corporate call from NEYM Sessions to faithfulness around the climate crisis, the newly formed Prophetic Climate Action Working Group invites Friends carrying similar concerns to join us for a weekend of worship, discernment and planning. TO REGISTER: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-­‐cf4HQ_DrPSpQgOG0fSEN9NlGGmw88m_o__aXZMc0WGZJBw/viewform

Dear Friends, We write to you amid another year of record-breaking temperatures, wildfires, arctic melting and floods. The time for urgent action that may yet prevent the worst possible outcomes of catastrophic climate change is upon us, and still global leadership has not dealt adequately with the crisis. For the past two years, Friends laboring with a concern for climate change and climate justice have gathered at Woolman Hill to listen to God’s call for us in these unprecedented times. We have grappled with our complicity and humbly waited for guidance. For years, New England Friends have been led in diverse ways: to green their Meetings and their personal lives, to submit to a voluntary carbon tax, to advocate for public policy among many others. Some Quakers have been called to engage in prophetic acts of public witness. This summer at New England Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions, Friends united under “a Divine call to the witness of addressing climate change,” and named their support for an emerging working group to take leadership in fostering prophetic acts of public witness related to climate change. A group of us who were at NEYM sessions this year met on Labor Day and felt led to join together as a team of Friends called to work together around these issues. We – the Prophetic Climate Action Working Group – invite you to continue this journey with us. If you have engaged in public witness on climate, or you feel a nudge to a deeper public witness, we invite you to join us at Framingham Friends Meeting on the last weekend of October. What do we mean by prophetic witness? We believe that prophecy takes the form of words and actions. God calls individuals to live in the tension between the Realm of God on earth and the human world as it exists – inviting others into the possibility of living into a new way of being together. As Friends, we believe that our witness is not simply to make a statement on one social cause or another, but to witness in lived experience the transformative power of the Light. Our actions can be a sign of God’s invitation to live in the life and power that take away the occasion for domination and oppression, consumption and fear. Our purpose will be to worship together and experience God’s voice for us, to help those present discern their individual calling to faithful public action, and to join together with others who feel drawn to similar action. (Please note, we will not be gathering to discern what NEYM is called to do corporately.) We invite you to arrive Friday evening and plan to stay through First Day worship with Framingham Friends. We will arrange food, and Friends are free to sleep in the meetinghouse or tent on the grounds. We will arrange hospitality with local Friends if you are coming from a distance and would like a bed to sleep on. Please let us know you will be coming by filling out the registration form available here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-­‐cf4HQ_DrPSpQgOG0fSEN9NlGGmw88m_o__aXZMc0WGZJBw/viewform In Faithful Love, Peter Blood-Patterson, Minga Claggett-Borne, Louis Cox, Brian Drayton, Katherine Fisher, Alice Grendon, Dunan Herman-Parks, Meg Klepack, Jay O’Hara, Wendy Schlotterbeck, Ruah Swennerfelt

Another environmental project within West Falmouth Preparatory Meeting: Steve Gates is working with the newly-formed Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative (CCCCC) to develop new educational tools for helping Cape Cod residents understand what needs to be done to reduce future global warming. Steve was introduced to CCCCC by Genie Stevens. Details on the new organization are at http://coastalstudies.org/ccccc/. The first part of the project is to develop a tool to help consumers determine their “carbon footprint,” or the equivalent amount of CO2 that would be emitted by their use of fossil fuels. The tool is designed to help consumers see how they can reduce their footprint in a cost-effective manner. Steve has finished a first prototype of the tool and would like to get early feedback from Meeting attendees; please see him after the Meeting if you’d be willing to volunteer. The second part of the project is to develop a set of benchmarks so Cape & Island residents can see how their towns are doing in reducing their carbon footprints.

Sunset Photo by Bobbi Bailin      

A Sentimental Journey The opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture by Carolyne Lamar Jordan A day of new birth was the poignant feeling that came upon me when Larry and I approached the Washington Mall nearing the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. It was a clear day and we could see down the mall with this magnificent structure juxtaposed near the Washington Monument.

 

It felt like a family gathering as folk from all over the country and the city lined up for this first chance to enter the structure, among them many familiar faces greeting us by surprise as we walked into the building. Inside the museum, six levels of exhibits tell the story of the distinct role of AfricanAmericans in the building and advancement of the American nation. There is much too much to see in one visit. We started on the lowest level that documents the slave trade with such artifacts as shackles used on slave ships, and moved on through contributions of African Americans to the Revolutionary War, abolition movement, Civil Rights movement, contemporary American achievements and more. As we moved along, I was impressed with how this exhibit is a joyful, hopeful statement just as the words of James Weldon Johnson’s song (the Negro National Anthem) that says in part: “Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; …” When you see the statues, the remnants of cloth, the photos and utensils … you know the places we have been. There is not just one statue or one exhibit, but so many that are compelling – the shawl that Queen Victoria gave to Harriet Tubman, Phillis Wheatley’s book of poetry, the Pullman car and the Pullman porter’s powerful story that chronicles the economic development of the African American community in a segregated America. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (of which my father was a member) was the first labor union open to African Americans unconditionally, and set a model for the entire labor movement by winning an open election amongst Pullman Company employees. The extensive coverage of the Civil Rights movement, and numerous examples of creativity, perseverance, dedication and service is simply awe-inspiring. We can’t give an adequate accounting here. It does not matter your age or time and place as you view the items, it does not matter your race, or social status as this story is a chronicle of all of our interdependent lives in the but American history during each of the periods seen.

Slave block on which slaves were sold

The book of poetry by Phillis Wheatley, a Boston slave

Members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters



West Falmouth Preparative Meeting for Business: Ninth Month 25, 2016 Friends gathered for worship with attention to business following morning worship and hospitality. Attending: Larry Jordan (clerk), Bobbi Bailin, Sally Fritz, Brenda Nolan, Erica Adams, Bernie Nolan, Louise Luckenbill, Marilee Wheeler, Fran Lightsom, Cynthia Rankin, Eric Edwards, Joyce Johnson, Carolyne Jordan and Molly Cornell. Opening reflection and silence A William Rotch of Nantucket was asked to furnish a cache of bayonets for the Revolutionary War. When he declined, he was brought before a court. From his account of this session: “I sunk them in the bottom of the sea, I did it from principle, I have ever been glad that I had done it, and if I am wrong I am to be pitied.” The chairman of the Committee, Major Hawley (a worthy character) then addresses the Committee, and said “I believe Mr. Rotch has given us a candid account, and every man has a right to act consistently with his religious principles, but I am sorry that we could not have the bayonets, for we want them very much.” The Major was desirous of knowing more of our principles on which I informed him as far as he enquired. One of the Committee in a pert manner observed “then your principles are passive Obedience and non-resistance.” I replied, “No, my friend, our principles are active Obedience or passive suffering.” —William Rotch 1814 quoted in NEYM Faith and Practice, Interim Edition, p.40 Clerk’s Business: (1) With Meeting’s approval, the clerk will continue conversation with the party requesting use of the meetinghouse for a Sunday afternoon wedding next year. (2) Molly Cornell reported that she has been in touch with Carmina Mock about use of the meetinghouse for yoga classes for residents of Emerson House. We can expect classes to begin in mid-October. Meetinghouse Committee: Cynthia Rankin reported that the committee plans to meet to discuss the problem of lack of volunteers to do clean-up after hospitality. As a temporary option while Meeting ponders the questions related to dishwashing sanitation, the committee encourages us to provide both plastic and paper plates, and both metal and disposable utensils. The matter of installing a dishwasher is unresolved. A Friend advised us not to loose sight of the fact that food is a function of hospitality as well as sustainability. Treasurer’s Report: The following balances were reported as of September 25, 2016: MH checking Acct = $8,918.09 NEYM Pooled Fund = $ 87,797.96 QH checking Acct = $ 12,890.75 Note: funds included in MH checking Account are Operating = $9,144.03 Cemetery = $7,556.53 Repair Res = $1,217.53 Clerk’s Fund = $1,000.00 General Sufferings Fund = $1,000.00 Nominating Committee: Brenda Nolan reported that the committee met at the Annual Picnic, and appointed Sally Fritz to replace Eric Edwards on Monthly Meeting Nominating Committee. The clerk will let the convener of SMM Nominating Committee know who our representatives are. Ministry & Counsel: Louise Luckenbill reported that the committee has met regularly. Adult Education is continuing through November and will present biographies of Thomas Kelly and Douglas Steere. M&C appointed a clearness committee for membership for Erica Adams. The committee, which consisted of four members of West Falmouth and one member of Yarmouth, reached closure on the process on September 19 and recommends that Erica’s membership be forwarded to Sandwich Monthly Meeting for approval. “We find her to be part of our community, and that her life of teaching and service are in harmony with Quaker values.” Meeting approved. Larry Jordan will report to Monthly Meeting in October. Sally Fritz reported that SMM M&C considered Erica’s membership process and approved. She will report this to Monthly Meeting.

Buildings & Grounds: The committee met during hospitality today to get organized. Jonathan Joyal will serve as convener. A priority this Fall is to remove invasive vines from the stone wall surrounding the burial grounds. The ad hoc landscape committee plans to meet on 9/27. Quaker House Trustees: Molly Cornell is working with the meeting treasurer and Quaker House scheduler to develop an annual budget and usage report in order to help us make informed policy proposals for the facility. Another meeting to discuss Quaker House management and policy will be held as soon as the information is available. All Friends are encouraged to participate. Cemetery Committee: Sally Fritz met with Grafton Briggs (from Baker Monument) concerning the safety of the unstable stones in our burial grounds. Grafton proposes to use monument putty to stabilize the thirty or so unstable stones for a cost estimate of $1,500 (fifteen hundred dollars). He can do the work before frost this Fall. Meeting approved the expenditure and thanked Sally for her persistence and hard work on our behalf. Peace and Social Order: Fran Lightsom reminded us of the semi-simulated Restorative Circle training to be held following hospitality next Sunday (October 9). Calendar Announcements: Sandwich Monthly Meeting: October 2 in West Falmouth Sandwich Quarterly Meeting: October 23 in West Falmouth. Nonviolent Communication: first Saturday (contact Brenda Nolan) Taize Singing: first Sunday at 6 pm (contact Bobbi Bailin) Emerson House Yoga: Mondays from 2:30-3:30 pm (contact Molly Cornell) Zen Meditation: Monday evenings (contact Fran Lightsom) Narcotics Anonymous: Friday evenings (contact Sally Fritz) Meeting closed with quiet, purposing to meet next on October 30 following the rise of morning worship, as way opens. Respectfully submitted, Molly Cornell, recording clerk

The Gazette is published by West Falmouth Quaker Meeting’s Peace and Social Order Committee. Brenda Nolan, format and transmitter. Questions, corrections go to [email protected]