7 Butty Place
Hamilton, Ontario L8S 2R5
www.quaker.ca/hamilton
quakers@hwcn.org
Telephone: 905.523.8383
Sept 19 Tamara
Sept 26 Ian
Oct 3 Darlene
Oct 10 Jean
Oct 17 Ruth
Oct 24
Oct 31 Janis
Nov 7 John
Nov 14 Don
Nov 21 Robbie M
Nov 28 Dawn
Dec 5 Christina
Dec 12 Betty
Dec 19 Louise
Dec 26 Andy
Meeting for Worship for Business: Thurs Oct 7 at 7:30
Thanksgiving Day Dinner at the Meeting House Oct 11
Fourth Sundays, Young Adults' Rendezvous
Deadline for George Fox Workshop Sept 30
Half Yearly meeting Oct 30 at Simcoe-Muskoka Meeting (Orillia)
Archives Committee potluck; date to be determined
After several years attending Hamilton Monthly Meeting, and being a faithful member of our Peace and Social Action Committee, Susanne will be moving to Ottawa within a few weeks. We wish her well in her new home and endeavours.
Last February Friends approved a budget predicated on donations of $23,500. So far, we have received $10,038, including $1290 in post-dated cheques for the last four months of the year. I would like to thank all those who have contributed for their support.
Even though donations are traditionally highest in November and December, it seems unlikely that that the we will meet our income target if donations continue at their present rate. Consequently we may have to reduce some of our budgeted expenditures or default on long-term commitments.
The problem is reduced somewhat by the low spending in a number of budget categories. Nevertheless, I believe our budgeted spending on Social Justice donations and subscriptions to the Canadian Friend and our commitment to transfer $2000 towards long term maintenance of the meeting house are all at risk. Last year I issued about 40 charitable receipts. Spread over 40 donors, this year' s income target represents about $600 per contributor. Of course some of our Friends lack the financial ability to contribute so much, consequently we can reach this average only if some Friends contribute substantially more that $600 per year and/or if more Friends make monetary contributions to meeting. I ask Friends to consider whether they are contributing the right amount to support the life of the meeting.
Current or post-dated cheques are the preferred method of making contributions. Cheques may be left for the Treasurer in the donation box or in the Treasurer's section of the hanging folders near the bulletin board in the lobby.
Receipts for income tax will be issued early in 2005
As always, minutes of meeting for worship for business can be found on the Reading Room page of our website. Here is a link to September's meeting.
In my opinion this was the best Yearly Meeting I have attended in the last thirteen years. Two factors contributed to this conclusion:
I estimate there were 25-30 Friends attending the Retreat, which was lead by Barbarajene Williams, Spiritual Director at Pendle Hill. The theme of the Retreat was "Room for the Infinite- Room for the Intimate" and was based on an essay by Thomas Kelly, "Room for the Infinite". For me the Retreat was a peak experience in my spiritual journey, an experience I continued to work on throughout the week. Margaret Ford felt much the same way and thought we should have similar retreats as preparation for future Yearly Meetings.
In the past few years we have tried different models for clerking at Yearly Meeting and this year we tried yet another model and this one worked very well. Rick and Gale worked well together and shared the duties of Presiding Clerk. The four clerks formed the Agenda Committee. The business sessions were carried out in an organized manner and were completed on time. We did not feel rushed, we did not run over time nor did we have to schedule additional sessions!!
Some of the Agenda Items we dealt with were:
There were many Special Interest Groups this year including:
We were especially blessed this year to have Janet Ross Melnyk lead our Daily Bible Study. Our focus was the creation story as told in the first three chapters of Genesis. Janet is a fabulous teacher and her PHD included study of the Hebrew Scriptures in Hebrew. Janet was able to elaborate on the meaning of the words and to explain how the story changed over the many years it took to write Genesis. It was fascinating, and so enriching.
Please ask me if you would like further information or have questions.
CFSC is made up of standing committees that work on issues such as restorative justice; Aboriginal rights; peace-building projects in Africa; conscientious objection and work related to the "war on terrorism". All CFSC work is rooted in Quaker testimonies. Recently your donations funded an Aboriginal Rights Education Kit, a Briefing Paper for Meetings on the issue of AWOL soldiers coming to Canada, and a new project in Israel/Palestine.
CFSC has been the spawning ground for several worthy and well recognized peace organizations including Peace Brigades International and Project Ploughshares.
CFSC responds to needs and requests from individuals and Monthly Meetings across the country. There are 22 Friends coast to coast who serve on CFSC. We are YOUR service committee.
The library has added about 75 titles over the summer, come in and browse! Here are some examples.
Truth of the Heart: An anthology of George Fox. By Rex Ambler meant to do two things; make the clearest and most profound writings of George Fox from the whole range of his works, and to display them in such a way as to show the connections between them... gain a picture of Fox's whole vision. ... with glossary of 100 words that had different meaning for Fox than for readers 300 years later... short essay making sense of his teachings as a whole, linking the themes of the anthology.
Teaching Kids to Love the Earth sharing a sense of wonder... 186 activities for parents and other teachers... from family based nature workshops in MN and WI... inspired by Rachel Carson... more important to begin with feelins about the natural world than knowledge of it
Shaggy Locks and Birkenstocks: Exploring Liberal Quaker Theology by Chuck Fager. Who and what shaped modern American liberal quakerism? What kind of theology does it have and where did it come from? essays report on pioneering research which points beyond the 'age of amnesia' among liberal Friends... exploring the past of vital religious movement.... intelligent shaping of its future.
A Quaker Declaration of War, by Chuck Fager. A personal statement of the need for Quakers to stay the course in actively practising the peace testimony, including the cultivation of the 'deep center' and deepen our life as a worshiping community. a blueprint for galvanizing Quakers in a renewal of the peace movement for the 21st century.
Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble by Lester Brown. Modern civilization is in trouble, we have created a bubble economy, output is artificially inflated by overconsuming the earth's natural capital... nowhere more evident than in food sector... wake up call soon... Plan B is worldwide mobilization to stabilize population and climate.
On Forgiveness: How can we forgive the unforgivable? By Richard Holloway. 'there is only forgiveness where there is the unforgiveable'... a paradox that forms the basis of the book
Little America (novel) by Henry Bromell. Terry Hooper's father, quaker raised, Yale educated, sometime poet, now retired (?) State Department veteran, in the middle east intrigues of CIA involvement in a power politics and deception. Is Terry's father an honorable man?
The Last Safe House: A story of the Underground Railroad by Greenwood (novel). The story of a family in St Catharines Canada West in 1856 whose lives are changed when they are asked to help Eliza Jackson, a black girl escaped from slavery, families are fictional but the background is factual, based on information from many reliable sources.
It's a Meaningful Life, it just takes practice by Bo Lozoff Discover the 'vast lane' in this one of a kind spiritual handbook for living a meaningful, thus joyful life.
Here I stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, love, and equality by Bishop John Spong. .. a lifetime struggling to discover and create a more just , loving , and authentic Christian faith. ... has inspired praise and gratitude among the marginalized... as well as hostile resistance from traditional and conservative christians whom he has boldly challenged.
Faith: Stories short fiction on the varieties and vaguaries of faith by C. Curtis. Important gathering of writers explores the diverse world of faith in all guises: Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Quaker and Confucian as well as Jewish and Christian. ... investigates the boundaries of faith and ritual today... form an illuminating prism of the religious experience in today's world
The Environment, by Allen Allaby. lavish illustrations discover the fascinating world of natural cycles, systems and natural processes. Clouds, plants, animals, etc, achieve their own balance, easily upset by human activities
Close to the Bone: Life-threatening illness and the search for meaning by Jean Shinoda Bolen. explores what it means when serious illness brings one 'close to the bone', close to the soul's needs.
Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic by Osho. Osho is one of best known and most provocative spiritual teachers of the 20th century, born in India in 1931, influence is expanding to people of all ages around the world. introduced 'dynamic meditation' a revolutionary active technique... uncompromising 'in your face' approach were often misunderstood in his lifetime.
Aunt Harri Walks the Line by Ray Wiseman (novel). Aunt Harri packs a punch that's inspiring rather than jolting. If nothing else, it will help uplift the spirit in this age of anxiety and depression. ... ironic, humorous.
Please consider Quaker books you would like to donate to the Meetinghouse library. A core collection list has been prepared, copies are in the Library Binder, on the catalog table for you to take home. Same list is on www.quaker.ca/hamilton. Tax receipts can be given if requested.
We are marking the fourth Sunday of each month as a day when the young adults, members, attenders, and visitors, can expect to meet more of their cohort. Jesse Husk has offered to maintain the email list for young adults, if you wish to be added, please send email to quakers@hwcn.org and it will be forwarded to her.
Three session workshop led by Ian Graham, Discovering George Fox: What he wrote and taught.
We will use the anthology by English Quaker scholar, Rex Ambler, "Truth of the Heart", recently published by QuakerBooks, Britain Yearly Meeting. Ambler read all of Fox's correspondence (over 200 letters and epistles) to extract the essential teachings and advice. He attempts to show the coherence in Fox's message.
We will explore how successful he was! What were the key ideas for Fox, what did ideas like Truth, Light, Life, Power, Seed mean? What did he have to say to the individual, to groups, to society at large? Contact Ian at igraham6 (at) cogeco (dot) ca if you are interested by Sept 30.
Class size: about 10 preferred.
Dates: October to December. Final schedule based on preference of registrants. Please indicate if you prefer weekend, Sunday, weeknight or weekday.
NEW at HMM! In October we will begin read-aloud sessions for Friends and friends who experience difficulty in seeing, or who would like to be read to for any other reason. We will start with a book, but may later include newspapers or periodicals. Contact Carol Leigh or Denise to talk about this or to indicate interest. We will most likely begin on Sunday afternoons at the Meetinghouse, but this is not firm yet. When we are settled as to what will happen, those who have indicated an interest will be called back, and it will also be announced after Meeting on Sunday. ALL WELCOME.
South Berkshire Monthly Meeting approved on August 1, 2004, a minute of support for Canadian Friends and Canadian Friends Service Committee. The minute affirms SBMM's appreciation for the care and compassion with which CFSC and Monthly Meetings in CYM have responded to the conscientious objectors who have left the military and come to Canada. It calls on other Meetings to voice similar support. The minute includes this paragraph (including information added in parentheses by Beverly Shepard), directed especially to American Friends but certainly of interest and use to Canadian Friends as well:
"Furthermore, we urge Friends to contact Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (pm@pm.gc.ca) and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Judy Sgro (Minister@cic.gc.ca) to encourage them to uphold Canadian sovereignty, to observe the United Nations' recognition of conscientious objection to military service, to acknowledge the threat of persecution faced by those who refuse to fight and thereby to grant refugee status to conscientious objectors."
(Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Judy Sgro, Hill Office, House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Fax: 613- 947-8319)
SBMM will be taking the minute to Connecticut Valley Quarterly Meeting on October 3. Friends in SBMM welcome comments or suggestions from Monthly Meetings in Canadian Yearly Meeting. To read the full communication from SBMM, contact Beverly.
We staffed an HMM display table at McMaster U Student Clubsfest again this year. Traffic was steady, we met lots of students. Thanks to John Milton for helping out.
McMaster Students for dinner. About 20 students signed up for a dinner with a Quaker family. Now we need the families. Are you willing to invite one or two students into your home, give them a home cooked meal? Enjoy a discussion about campus life, their interests, things spiritual or social/political? Please contact me soon, and I will given you a name to make contact.
A rain-proof brochure holder will be attached to the outside of the building near the entrance exterior of Meetinghouse. We hope this will provide information to the occasional walkers passing by our door who may be curious about Quakers.
Fall 2004 program events including regular and scheduled events we are offering in the Sept to December trimester will be updated on the website. Check for your news.
Quakerism workshop will be offered in October, called Discovering George Fox: What he wrote and taught (using Rex Ambler's anthology of Fox called Truth of the Heart) (three sessions)
A Meetup.com discussion group in Burlington will start for people to discover what Quakers is about in Burlington. It is not a "worship group" but if things work out, it could be the genesis of that.
Bless our friends, bless our food
Come O Lord and sit with us,
Bring your love and surround us.
Friendship and peace,
May they bloom and grow.
Bloom and grow forever.
Bless our friends, bless our food, bless our dear land forever.
Simon W. is looking for a room and board arrangement in a house. Light housekeeping requested. No pets, non smoking, quiet neighborhood. West Hamilton , Dundas, Ancaster.
To engage in prayer for healing is not necessarily to ask for cure. It is to seek wholeness of the other, to seek their absolute good, for grace, strength, courage and joy, whether the response is cure or transition, or sustaining throughout long term illness. Our part is to become vulnerable, let down our barriers, the weapons around our own hearts, in order to become clear, open channels for God's creative energy. Such intercession is not a casual matter and we must recognize that the Power that can transform and heal may, willy-nilly, do its Divine work on us.
Muriel Bishop, 1989
Taken from the new "Draft Chapter on The Meeting Community", now available at Meeting.