Hamilton Monthly Meeting

Of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
7 Butty Place, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 2R5
www.quaker.ca/hamilton
quakers@hwcn.org
905.523.8383




NEWSLETTER June 2003

Points to Ponder

I wake sweet joy in dens of sorrow
And I plant a smile in forests of affliction
And wake the bubbling springs of life
In regions of dark death
William Blake
(read after MfW by Reuven Kitai)


"Make me a channel of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O God, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
~ Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi


Dates to Remember


Thurs Sept 4: Meeting for Worship for Business, 7:00pm


Coffee List
Contact Dawn Lepard for names in September until updated.

HMM Friends' Summer Plans (and News)

Denise Barron is recovering from a fall and double pneumonia which resulted in a week in Hospital in April.

Dick and Betty Preston are going to Geneva to a UN conference of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, whose theme this year will be "Indigenous Peoples and Globalization", as delegates from CFSC. After that they will spend 20 days exploring the sights in Europe.

Bea Fletcher is in Central Park Lodge, improving, and would appreciate visits. Louise Trepanier has been a faithful, frequent visitor.

Rex Barger (BAR-grrr) plans to creep across the finish line for his 81st year of out-of-womb living on this planet at 1830 on the 16th of July. He popped out at 1:30 in the morning of July 17 on the equator (where it crosses the Congo River for the second time on its way to the Atlantic), but because he enjoys celebrating life in spectacular ways at any time, flexibility in the matter of celebrations prevails.

Darlene James is about to celebrate the significant 5-years "all clear" landmark following a brush with breast cancer. Warm & grateful recall of being held so tenderly "in the light" during the radiation treatment process.

From Don Woodside:
As some of you know, I developed a heart arrhythmia two weeks ago. I have been in the McMaster emergency four times since then. I have been thoroughly assessed, and it seems clear that it is not life threatening, although it is a major worry and preoccupation for both me and my family. I am being well treated, both in the emergency situation and in trying to work out long term medical management. In fact, I am getting to be on first name terms with about half the nurses at the Mac emerg; something I never aspired to! In order to reduce stress, I have stopped working temporarily and also given up all my organizational commitments. Dick Preston has agreed to do the clerking until he leaves in mid July. After that, Ministry and Counsel will be doing the clerking until September. Ministry and Counsel includes Betty Preston, Rick McCutcheon, Carol Leigh Wehking, and Jean Johnson. If you have a concern and need to talk to the clerk, a call to any one of them should clarify who is clerking at that time. I have been deeply grateful for the many good wishes and prayers of Friends in this time of trouble. in love, don woodside

From the Wilson-Yang family:
As of August 1, 2003, our address will be: 466 Sunnyside Ave, Ottawa, ON, K1S 0S9. No phone yet. Christopher's address in Guelph is 2 Chartwell Cres., Guelph, ON, N1G 2T7, as of September. We will also be staying often at my father's house at 106 Pleasant Ave., Dundas, ON L9H 3T4, 905-627-4851. We will be renting at the Sunnyside address for one year.

Bev Shephard reports that

"Robbie and I will attend the FGC Gathering in Pennsylvania, where I will be leading a week-long workshop in sacred chant for the fourth year this summer, and like Caroleigh we will be attending the family reunion in North Carolina in July. Robbie and I will direct Family Camp for the umpteenth time in August, after I've attended Yearly Meeting as recording clerk".

"Diana (Shephard) got her Master's in French literature from U of T last fall and will have received her teaching degree from OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) by the time the newsletter comes out. As part of the requirements for that degree, she recently spent five weeks at Monteverde Friends' School in Costa Rica. Beth is winding up a job as a research assistant for the French Department at U. of Guelph, where she has been helping to prepare the proposal to establish a Master's programme in French at U of G; she's also recently finished (until September) her French teaching job at the Waldorf School in Guelph. Next year will be her fourth as a French major/German minor at U of G".

"Emily (Shephard) is still in Japan teaching English. She is busy and happy but still looks forward to coming home in October. She has sent some wonderful e-mails about her experiences which she'd be happy to have us share if Friends are interested".

"Ben (Shephard) is moving to New Brunswick with his partner, Darci, and - after spending the summer getting buff at a construction job - intends to pursue his education, which has been on hold for some years".

Caroleigh (Wehking) will be running the Family Centre at FGC Gathering in Johnstown, PA at the summer's start. Then she'll be going to a family reunion in North Carolina, the Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada annual conference in Ottawa, and Canadian Yearly Meeting in Quebec.

Anna (Peters) has finished her first year in Photography at Ryerson U, and will take leave from her job at Juice for Life in Toronto to spend the summer working at Summit Camp in Pennsylvania, a camp especially for children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities.

Luc (Peters) will attend Teen Work and Study camp at NeeKauNis, and be staff for Intermediate Camp. He may even go to CYM with Caroleigh.

And last (but not least :))...

This summer Corine van Hoeve will be resting from her duties as editor of the HMM Newsletter. She plans to accompany her companion Tom on weekend adventures in a newly acquired (slightly used) VW camper van.

Meeting for Worship for Business -- Monday June 2, 2003

Click HERE for minutes.

Report on Loans and Donations


Committee members: Carol Leigh Wehking, Ray Cunnington, Kris Wilson-Yang, Helen Brink, John Milton, Dick Preston
The committee to consider loans and donations met and considered the notes from the September 29 meeting, discussed further ideas, and talked with absent members in person and on email after the meeting.
We make the following observations and recommendations:
O: We understand that the "excess" of funds in Meeting's accounting can be used for loans.
O: The clerk's discretionary fund exists as one method of disbursing money on loan or as gifts, for people known to Meeting or known by a member of meeting.
O: Loans which are repaid in some manner other than monetarily (e.g. grounds maintenance) must be deemed gifts for bookkeeping purposes.
O: If individuals donate money to meeting to be designated for a loan or loans, the repayment must stay within Meeting if the donation has been receipted as such.
R: That loans requested which are more than half the clerk's discretionary fund should be referred to Ministry and Counsel. If the clerk wishes to counsel with others, she or he may do so, either through Meeting for Worship for Business, or by the clerk's selection.
R: We should define what "excess" means in our budget. (For example, one year's budget?)
R: We feel that it is not necessary to have a committee to deal with loans requests, but merely a policy in place that requests for loans may to come meeting either through the clerk, or (less preferable) through M & C
O: If an individual wishes to make a loan privately, it should stay private and need not concern Meeting at all.
O: Donations can be made directly to Peace Research Institute Dundas and can be receipted by PRID.

HMM 2003/4 Corrections to Last Month's Directory Updates

Please take a few moments to update your directory as follows:
Mike Leech violinmike2002@yahoo.com
Ramanathapillai, Rajmohan rramanat@gettysburg.edu