NEWSLETTER October 2003

Hamilton Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Point to Ponder

Dates to Remember

1. Sundays in October: Discussion Group, 9:30 am
2. Mon. Oct 13: Thanksgiving Potluck gather at 4:30 pm for 5 pm meal
3. Thurs. Oct. 16: Potluck Supper, 6 pm "Spiritual Friendship as a Spiritual Practice", presented by Dick Preston and Ian Graham
4. Mon. Oct. 20: Library Survey Deadline
5. Fri. Oct 24 - Sun. Oct. 26 HMAC Meeting
6. Sun. Oct. 26: 'Inner Listening' Spiritual Discernment Workshop
7. Sundays in November: Discussion Group, 9:30 am
8. Mon. Nov. 3: Chuck Fager Lecture, 7:30 pm
9. Thurs. Nov. 6: Meeting for Worship for Business, 7 pm
10. Wed. Nov. 12: HMM November Newsletter Deadline

Coffee List

Looking for back issues of the HMM Newsletter or updates on upcoming events? CHECK OUT WWW.QUAKER.CA/HAMILTON!

Thanksgiving Potluck at the Meeting House

Project for A New Century of Peacework: a Lecture by Chuck Fager Monday, November 3, 7:30 pm
Hamilton Quaker Meetinghouse

Hamilton Quakers are hosting a public presentation by Chuck Fager, peace activist and CO/military counsellor from deep inside the military heartland of America: Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina. His topic is Project for a New Century of Peacework. He will discuss a strategic framework for peace work growing out of his 30 years of peace activism, historial research, and journalism, beginning as a staff member with Martin Luther King in the 1960s.

Fager speaks around the US on peace and conscientious objection to military and civilian audiences. He hears first-hand what the US military rank and file is saying on the inside. His speaking engagements in Canada focus on the role this country's citizens can play in supporting the nonviolent resistance movement against the unilateralist American drive for world domination. He sees many parallels between Iraq/Afghanistan and Vietnam, except that the new war could be longer, bloodier, and more dangerous.

Chuck will lay out the elements of A New Century of Peacework, which foresees no simple or quick solutions, only grounds for hope. He will outline practical local work that can be done to improve the long-term prospects for a better, more peaceful future. Chuck wants to talk with Canadians about how they can help, and what they can offer Americans who are seeking ways out of the madness that has engulfed their nation, and threatens the world.

Help Needed for Home Mission and Advancement Committee Visit October 24 - 26

Discernment Workshop

Library Survey

Nominating Committee Report, June 2003

Committee members and other officers: August 2003-2004

Officers

Committees of Hamilton Monthly Meeting

Ministry and Counsel: (Clerk to be determined) Rick McCutcheon (3), Jean Johnson (2), Carol Leigh Wehking (2), Don Woodside (Clerk), Helen Brink (1)*

*Helen will begin her term in October, 2003. She does not want to be Clerk of Ministry and Counsel in the future.

Visiting Friends: Mona Callin, Betty Preston, Louise Trepanier

Outreach Committee: Ian Graham, John Milton, Dave King, Richard Douglass-Chin

First Day School Committee: Co-clerks: Janis Muller and Sian Baker; Shirley Schellenberg, Martha Stephens

Nominating Committee: Andy Muller, Harriet Woodside, Robbie McGregor

Coffee and Housekeeping Committee: Dawn Lepard, Kathy Brown, Susan Wortman

Maintenance Committee: Co-clerks: Betty Preston and Reuven Kitai; John Milton, Gary Peters, Ben Shepard, Tony Campbell, Louise Trepanier

Garden Committee: Jean Johnson, Louise Trepanier, Dawn Lepard, Betty Flynn

Premises Committee: Clerks of the Coffee and Housekeeping, Maintenance, and Garden Committees

Peace and Social Action Committee: Clerk: Dick Preston; Rex Barger, Helen Brink, Ray Cunnington, Suzanne Goshko, Jesse Husk, Hanna Newcombe, Helen Paulin, Anna Peters, Joanna Chapman, Tamara Fleming

Newsletter Editor: Corine Van Hoeve

Library Committee: Ian Graham, Gary Peters, Ben Shepard

Statistics: Ruth Kitai, Reuven Kitai

Archives Committee: Mona Callin, Robbie McGregor, Robbie Shepard

Telephone Tree: Betty Flynn, Denise Barron, Helen Paulin, Louise Trepanier

Hamilton Committees

West Hamilton Interfaith Committee on Child Poverty: None

2003-2004: Other Canadian Quaker appointments

Representative Meeting: Dick Preston

Co-Clerk, CYM: Rick McCutcheon

Recording Clerk, CYM: Beverly Shepard

Continuing Meeting of Ministry and Counsel: CYM: Carol Leigh Wehking

Camp NeeKauNis Committee: John Milton, Betty Preston, Dick Preston, Kris Wilson-Yang, Beverly Shepard

Canadian Friends Service Committee, CYM: Tamara Fleming

Home Mission and Advancement Committee, Southern Ontario Representative: None

Recommended to CYM to nominate to a committee needing financial expertise: Peter Cross

Project Ploughshares delegate: Hanna Newcombe

Yonge Street Half-Yearly Meeting Coordinating Committee: Carol Leigh Wehking

HMM Outreach: Gandhi Peace Festival -- Saturday, October 4, 2003

Our website, www.quaker.ca/hamilton has pictures of the event. ed. note: in consideration of Friends whose computers are unable to download photos, they have not been included in the newsletter.

Quakers: Listeners First

Submitted by Ian Graham

My experience of a Quaker Meeting was completely unlike what I expected. My stereotype placed Quakers somewhere between Old-School Mennonites and Charismatic Pentecostals. Instead what I experienced was a totally unique worship that cannot be adequately described by comparing it to other worship services. The closest religious comparison I can make is a monastic service without the formality. The best way to describe a Quaker Meeting is to compare it to other cultural examples, for instance, if the Quakers were a grocery store they would be "No Frills", if they were a baseball team they would be the Expos, and if they were a television channel they would be community access. The Quakers hold a unique niche in the organized worship of God and offer a distinct alternative to the traditional concept of "Church" .

The Hamilton Quakers Meeting is situated on a quiet side street in the Ainslie-Wood neighborhood. The building is simple and non-descript. A small plaque on the wall stating "All Are Welcome" greets the visitor.

As I entered the building I was unsure of what was expected of me as a visitor. There were no greeters or ushers to guide me to a seat. I gingerly entered the sanctuary in order to avoid disturbing the quietness of the meeting. My impression of the sanctuary was that it was purposely austere. The were no pictures, stained glass, or any other notable decorations. The absence of any Bibles or songbooks was immediatley evident. A visual survey of the congregation revealed an informal dress code, with many wearing jeans and sneakers. The composition of the congregation was largely white, middle aged and older, with roughly equal numbers of men and women (26 total).

The meeting was completely silent for many minutes until suddenly the children's service was called without a word. The children and their minders, without notice, left the pews and exited the sanctuary for another part of the building. The silence continued for anywhere between 5-10 more minutes when suddenly a member stood up and shared some insight about the need for openness to God's purposes for each person. The insight was met with continued silence and no apparent acknowledgement. The silence-insight-silence activity continued for approximately another 10-15 minutes. The service concluded its silent portion suddenly when everyone began greeting one another with 'Good Morning". The Clerk of the Meeting, a position comparable to a meeting chairperson, invited anyone to offer any insights that were not spoken in the first portion of the service. Following the second portion of the service, announcements were made by anyone who felt inclined to share any information. Among the information shared was several invitations to join or be part of speaking engagements, peace advocacy committees, and church activities such as building upkeep and after service coffee-time. The primary worship service was fully concluded when the Clerk declared it over. The sanctuary immediately became a social space and many people came over and greeted me in a very welcoming manner.

My questions of the members concerning a lack of liturgy in the service and no apparent creeds were met in both a very positive and knowledgable manner. I was impressed with the thoughtfulness of the responses as well as the self-recognition by at least one member that reconciling spiritual seeking and biblical truth is a difficult process without a form of agreed common creed. On the other hand, I was satisfied with the answer that the Quakers strive to be true to the spirit of the biblical teachings and this is what guides their search for God in their lives.

My observation of the Quakers service was that its primary form is decidedly one of reflection and silent prayer. At first the silence seemed oppressive because there was no indication when and if it would end. It was a completely unfamiliar format from anything in my experience and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do to be part of it. Over time the silence did encourage self reflection and I was able to enjoy the experience more fully.

In speaking to a member following the service I expressed my interest in the silent worship style and was told that the silence acts as a form of deprogramming from what he termed "The Cultural Trance". The concept of "The Cultural Trance" is a recognition that most people go about their daily lives without consciously being aware of what truly motivates them. The member likened the Quaker silence to the work that formal education does when it tries to distinguish between "Fact and Fiction". In the Quaker context the conscious effort to discern God's higher purposes for the individual from the mundane realities of life is done through the medium of silent reflection and prayer.

In my observation session there was no liturgy and little formality to the worship. This observation was confirmed in speaking to members after the service. I was told that the Quaker philosophy is to corporately worship while silently meeting. A pamphlet provided by the Hamilton Quakers Meeting entitled 'Your First Time in a Quakers Meeting?" explains the silence-insight-silence process described earlier "the silence may be broken if someone present feels called to say something which will deepen and enrich the worship...The silence is broken for the moment but it is not interrupted".

My impression of the service was positive. I would describe the service to be one that emanates from the people and a genuine reflection of the spiritual development of the congregation. I felt that the service could use a central theme such as a biblical passage to focus meditation. On the other hand, I do not feel that the worship was less edifying without the biblical reading. It was refreshing to see that a congregation of Christians could be moved exclusively by their discernment of the Holy Spirit. The contrast between the traditional Church service and the Quaker Meeting is thought provoking and opens the mind's eye to the myriad number of variants possible in the practice of corporate worship.

One other observation not related to the worship but of importance to note is that the congregation does not offer a collection plate for the upkeep of their Meeting space. Instead, they have a non-descript box located in the lobby of the Meeting space where members or visitors can make offerings without pressure, peer or otherwise. I inquired about the efficiency of this method and was told that the Meeting never runs a deficit despite what described was described as a "downwardly mobile" congregation. This demonstrated, in my opinion, an exclusive reliance on God to provide for the monetary needs.

In my opinion I believe that some aspects of the Quaker style of worship would be an asset to my denomination's (Presbyterian) format. I would without hesitation add more silent reflection and shave some of the corporate prayer spoken out loud from our services. As well, the lack of emphasis on the collection of money for the upkeep of the building, and other activities is something that should be seriously looked at as an alternative to the collection plate method. I believe that the Quaker style of worship makes a notable contribution to the wide spectrum of variation in the Christian tradition and should be experienced at least once by every seeker of God.

Recycling - Our Blue Box

I'm frequently the person who sorts the materials that have been put into our blue boxes and gets the box out to the curb for Monday pickup. As I usually pass close to the Meeting House twice a day, it's easy for me to see that the emptied box is returned to the Meeting House. I would like to remind Friends to place in the blue box all discarded materials that can be recycled in Hamilton, and NO materials that cannot. The things that can be recycled are detailed in the pickup calendars that every Hamilton household receives; the list is too long to reprint here. If you don't live in Hamilton, please ask someone who does if you have doubts about whether something you propose to recycle will in fact be picked up.

However, please be careful when deciding whether something should be discarded. Please don't put into the blue boxes things which have a better place to go. Here are some items I have recently found in our blue box which didn't belong there.

• Styrofoam - can't be recycled in Hamilton
• Envelopes of purple coneflower (echinacea) seeds - if Friends don't want them, they could be strewn in the hydro right-of-way or offered to a kindergarten or any of a number of better uses. Seeds are not on the recyclable list.
• Quaker pamphlets - not sure why they were there; they didn't seem especially outdated. They could be offered to Friends, given to new attenders, given to local libraries, put in doctor's offices - again, there are much better places than the blue box.
• A hardback book (a Bible atlas) - not recyclable, and definitely useful in our Meeting.
• Snapshots of Hamilton Friends - these could be offered to Friends shown in the photos; some of them are of "occasions" and could be of interest to the honourees.
• If YOU feel that something no longer belongs in the Meeting House, it might be a good idea to check with others before discarding it, and it would definitely be a good idea not to put it in the blue box if it's not recyclable. Let's use care, sensitivity, creativity, and good sense in dealing with things we think we should get rid of.

Request for Paint

I work with people who are recovering from a mental illness. One woman is very poor. She lives in a home in great need of repair and this adds to her depression. She would like any bits of house paint, either indoor or outdoor. She is quite artistic and mixes paint together. She then paints her walls by combining what she has or using faux techniques like sponging to extend the paint. With winter coming, some freshly painted walls will cheer her up. If you can help, please contact me to arrange pick-up.

Ten Thousand Villages International Craft Sale

"All crafts are obtained from developing -world countries, and are bought outright from the local craftsperson at a fair price. All proceeds will return to developing-world producers. A tea room will also be available for a light lunch or snack."

Thurs Oct 16, 10 am to 8 pm
Friday Oct 17, 10 am to 8pm
Saturday Oct 18, 10 am to 4 pm.
For more info call Norma Candy 905 627 4820

In the month of October, contemplate the following in your spiritual routine:
"I am most alert to my daily blessings when...."
"Something for which I am grateful, but rarely give thanks..."
"Thank you Bountiful One..."
Rupp, Joyce. The Cup of Our Life: A Guide for Spiritual Growth. (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press) 1997, pg 147