7 Butty Place, Hamilton, Ontario. L8S 2R5
Clerk: Roberta McGregor
Sunday mornings 9.30 Discussion group 11.00 Meeting for Worship
COMING EVENTS Feb 24 Potluck Supper, discussion on the meaning of membership in the R.S.O.F. 6. for 6:30pm. Discussion at 8:00 p.m
March 5- celebration after Meeting of Bea Fletcher's 90th Birthday. Next Meeting for Worship for Business is Monday, March 6.
Worship and Ministry: A socially reformed life, which rejects all that is inseparably linked with injury to others, will necessarily involve self-sacrifice, but this is not an end in itself and is only demanded when some useful purpose is served.
The limitation of personal expenditure on clothes to an irreducible minimum does not release clothing for another. It may, as things are, impoverish the tailor or dressmaker. The effort should be to promote the participation of all in the abundance of the age rather than the extension to all of the privations of the past.
Shipley N. Brayshaw, 1933 Christian Faith and Practice, Section 534. (submitted by Mona Callin)
Medecins Sans Frontieres wins Nobel Peace Prize James Orbinski, an attender of Toronto meeting who currently heads Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Brussels was currently part of a delegation in Oslo, Norway to accept the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize given to MSF for its courageous work. James spoke at the ceremony, pleading for peace in Chechnya. MSF (Canada) got its start in Friends House, Toronto, meeting rooms. Congratulations to James and his organization for their work and for focussing the attention of the world on the need for peace in the world.
************* Meetinghouse Plants
Hamilton Friends have accepted Mona Callin's offer to look after the plants in the Meetinghouse. The drapes nearest the piano will be kept open to provide light for the plants. Please do not water the plants. Mona will do the watering. Please do not place any plant on the piano.
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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MEMBER OF THE R.S.O.F.?
This may sound like a question just for attenders, considering or perhaps at least wondering about membership in Quakers, but in fact many who are already members of the Religious Society of Friends think about this question from time to time. They may have been asked it by an attender or an inquirer, or they may have had a discussion with others whose view is different from their own, or they may simply be revisiting the leadings that brought them to Quakers in the first place, trying to clarify for themselves what "being a Quaker" really means.
Ministry and Counsel, the body charged with overseeing the spiritual (and often physical) health of the Meeting and those within it (whether members or attenders), has planned a potluck supper with a discussion of this question. What's the difference between being a faithful attender of Quaker Meeting and actually joining the Society of Friends? What's involved in joining? Who starts the process? What happens afterwards? What's involved in membership: how do vocal ministry, committee participation, going to larger Quaker gatherings, teaching First Day School, caring for others and being cared for, speaking truth to power, and many other issues and activities relate to membership or non-membership in the R.S.O.F.? When can one call oneself "a Quaker"?
The potluck and discussion will take place on Thursday, February 24. We ask Friends to come to the Meeting House at 6 p.m. to ready the room for dinner by 6:30. We'll discuss membership and all kinds of related topics as the Spirit leads us, starting after cleanup. We hope that "seasoned Friends" as well as inquirers and longtime attenders will come to share their insights, their questions, and their answers. This is the sort of discussion that rewards all the participants with new Light; the more who come to share, the brighter the Light!
Members of Ministry and Counsel for 1999-2000 are Bev Shepard, Grace Inglis, Don Woodside, and the Meeting Clerk, Robbie McGregor.
********* TREASURERS REPORT
It is a pleasant task to report that Hamilton Meeting ended 1999 in financial good health and our support is widely distributed.
The number of givers increased by 10 to 44 in 1999 over 1998 contributing $21,135 or an average of $480 per family or person. In 1998 the total regular donations were $20,888, with an average contribution of $633. This year we had 11 new givers, 13 who increased their givings from 1998 and 20 who gave somewhat less than the prior year. 55% gave from up to $500, while 23% gave from $500 to $1000.
We ended the year with a surplus of $2,436, after contributing $9,175 to organizations such as Canadian Friends Service Committee, Peace Research Institute and Wesley Urban Ministries as well as our Yearly Meeting.
We spent $600 on library and subscriptions, and $587 on Newsletter and Outreach. The accumulated surplus of $16,463 includes $1,217 remaining from a designated gift for Outreach, $412 in the Piano Fund and $400 for Youth Retreats. A reserve, currently proposed at 6 months operating costs and CYM allotment, of $5,300 leaves $9,134 of the surplus available for program.
Friends can suggest projects, events or causes that Hamilton should support by contacting the Clerk or Treasurer. We also have a bequest from the Elise Dunford Estate, the income from which is designated to be used for support of refugees. Suggestions are welcome; please contact our Trustees, Betty Preston, Helen Brink or Tony Butler.
************ Tea and Coffee Rota
Feb 13 Margaret Vallins 526-7869 Feb 20 Janis Muller 523-7265 Feb 27 Bushra Mansour 529-0079 Mar 5 Don Woodside 522-8048 Mar 12 Helen Brink 628-8307 Mar 19 Mona Callin 335-9865 Mar 26 Ian Graham 336-0163
OPIRG EVENTS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ OPIRG Red Hill Valley Working Group
SAVE RED HILL VALLEY FROM ROY GREEEEEEEEEEN!
CHML Radio "Talkline" host Roy Green is conducting a poll on the
station's website related to the expressway. The question is: Agree
or disagree with the statement: "Any further delay in the building of
the Red Hill expressway link is detrimental to the future of
Hamilton." If you would like to express your opinion, go to the
website at
WASTE REDUCTION WORKING GROUP
Recycled Art Contest and Auction March 31, 2000 6:00 PM, Council
Chambers, Gilmour Hall, McMaster University Submissions Needed!!
artwork must be created with only items that would otherwise be
recycled. submission deadline: March 23, 2000 submit artwork to
OPIRG McMaster, Hamilton Hall 210
three adult and child prize categories:
artistic merit
most recycled material
most original
(so that's six prizes in total)
entries will be displayed in the 2nd floor study lounge of the
Mills Library from March 27 to March 31.
Gala and Auction March 31 6pm - Council Chambers. Entries will be
judged and winners will be announced. Live Entertainment, great
artwork, and Fabulous prizes!! With the artists' permission artwork
will be auctioned off at the gala. a portion of the funds raised will
be donated to a local environmental activist group. Artwork will be
judged by two - three independent judges. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Global
Economy got you going in circles? Try this: come hear Naomi Klein on
NO LOGO Thursday March 9th, 7 pm Hamilton Public Library Free
Admission presented by different drummer books and Bryan Prince,
Bookseller.
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OPIRG McMaster HH210, McMaster University (905) 525-9140 ex. 27289
e-mail - opirg@mcmaster.ca website - http://members.tripod.com/~OPIRG
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FINDING PEACE AMIDST
CIVIL WAR IN COLUMBIA
Two Peace Brigades International (PBI) volunteers are on a
cross-Canada tour to speak about their experience providing protective
accompaniment to communities threatened by the civil war in Columbia.
Here are three upcoming events in our area:
Friday, Feb 11, 1.00 p.m.
York University Campus,
305 York Lanes
Hosted by: Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC)
Sunday, Feb 13,
5.00 p.m. Potluck Dinner, 7.00p.m Talk
Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave.
Toronto,
Hosted by Canadian Friends Service Committee,
Peace Brigades International.
Monday, Feb 14, 7.00 p.m
University of Toronto,
International Student Centre,
33 St. George St,
Hosted by Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG)
Canadian Columbian Association,
Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America.
Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a non-partisan organization that
provides non-violent accompaniment to human rights workers.
****************
Using the Q-Card
On my routine morning walk, I pass familiar faces with cheerful "Good
day" or "How are you". Now I may extend an invitation to a Potluck or
other occasion. My Quaker Greeting Card has my name and phone #. At
routine coffee breaks, I see and talk to regulars and to other less
frequent coffee break folk. Here again I may sometimes suggest a feast
of fun and friendship via my Q. card.
Larry Pogue
****************
The Presence of God
There does not have to be speaking, however, for a meeting to be a
worth-while occasion. A meeting should not be judged by who speaks or
how many people speak or even completely by what they say. It should
be judged most by the spirit in which people worship, silently or
vocally, and by what that experience does to the daily lives of those
who thus come together.
From "Going To Meeting" by Leonard S. Kenworthy
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last updated: February, 2000
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John Milton