Category Archives: Events

Meeting for Listening: The Spiritual Life in Our Local Meetings, June 24, 9am to 3pm

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On June 24th, “Meeting for Listening: The Spiritual Life in Our Local Meetings” is an opportunity for Friends across New England to reflect together on the spiritual life in our local meetings:  to dream together; to identify the resources meetings have to offer each other; to unpack themes in State of Society reports, as well as trends from statistical reports; and to explore what’s possible now.

From 9am to 3pm, Friends can gather together in-person or Zoom in. You can register for the event here online. There will be a local cluster participating at Midcoast Meeting House in Damariscotta, ME.  This is a smaller group of Friends connected to the other participants via a shared Zoom connection.  If you are interested in participating from this site, please contact clerkmfm@gmail.com.  If you plan to attend on-site in Concord, please register by June 20th, if possible.

Meeting for Listening: The Spiritual Life in Our Local Meetings

Saturday, June 24, 2023, 9am to 3pm, Concord Friends Meeting (NH) and also via Zoom from Midcoast Meeting.

​Join us for a day of worship, prayer, celebration, and discovery. Come together to explore the gifts and paths that our meeting’s challenges have offered us the past year. Let’s see where Spirit is alive in our communities. 

​We will reflect on the life in our local meetings to see where we can inform the Yearly Meeting on how to best support local meetings through programmatic priorities.

​Together we will:

  • ​Dream together
  • ​Identify the resources meetings have to offer each other
  • ​Unpack themes in State of Society reports as well as trends from statistical reports
  • ​Explore what’s possible now

​A guiding quote for the day will be the following:

​“Friends are most in the Spirit when they stand at the crossing point of the inward and outward life.  And that is the intersection at which we find community. a place where the connections felt in the heart make themselves known in bonds between people, and where the tugging and pullings of those bonds keep opening our hearts.” (Parker Palmer, A Place Called Community, Pendle Hill Pamphlet #212, 1977)

​This meeting will be planned and hosted by the clerk of Ministry and Counsel, the clerk of the Meeting Accompaniment Group, and by the Program Director.

​Participants can participate in this event on-site at Concord (NH) Meeting, via Zoom, or gathered with a local cluster connected via Zoom.

​There will be a local cluster participating from Midcoast Meeting in Damariscotta, ME. If you are interested in participating from this site, please contact clerkmfm@gmail.com. 

​ If you plan to attend on-site in Concord, please register by June 20th, if possible. This will help us comfortably accommodate everyone.

​We are looking for volunteers who are willing to serve as event greeters and tech assistants. If you are interested in volunteering, email Nia (nia@neym.org).

​Questions? Suggestions? To contact the gathering hosts, email Carl Williams (mc-clerk@neym.org)

​Covid Precautions for this event

​All in-person participants over the age of 4 years must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 (with boosters strongly encouraged for all eligible). Friends are encouraged to test at home before the event.  Stay home if you are experiencing Covid symptoms. Participants who have recently tested positive must follow the CDC guidelines for isolation and exposure. Masks are optional and the choice to mask will always be respected. There will be indoor and outdoor dining spaces.

Georgetown Family Campout, June 10-11, 2023

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Durham Friends Meeting and Falmouth Quarterly Meeting invite one and all to a family campout June 10&11, 2023. We will gather on the weekend of June 11-12 at Betsy Meunch’s beach house in Georgetown.

All are invited to come to as much of the weekend as you are able.  There is level space for camping looking out on the water, a private beach.  We will feast, have a campfire, and play; and we will have our spring meeting for sharing the states of our meetings, and the ministry that is rising among us.  Sunday we will worship as a whole community outdoors.

Questions? Rossvall.weiss@gmail.com ; Wendy Schlotterbeck@gmail.com

Report on the All Maine Gathering, May 8, 2023

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At the All Maine Gathering on 5-8-23, we invited Friends to share concerns and queries that they hoped to have brought back to Monthly Meetings.  If a Monthly Meeting engages with any of these concerns and would like to share reflections, please send your reflections to either Fritz Weiss (rossvall.weiss@gmail.com) or Wendy Schlotterbeck (wendy.schlotterbeck@gmail.com) for FalmouthQuarter, or Carole Beal (carolebeal@gmail.com) and Janet Hough (janet.hough5@gmail.com)  for Vassalboro Quarter and we will forward the reflections to all the meetings in Maine.

The following concerns are shared.

  • The Eli and Sybil Jones Ramallah School Scholarship Fund of Vassalboro Quarterly Meeting is raising funds to continue to support scholarships as they have for over 12 years.  Checks can be sent to Cynthia Harkleroad, Treasurer, Vassalboro Quarterly Meeting, PO Box 69, Bowdoinham ME 04008-0069.  Please note “Ramallah Friends School” in the memo line.
  • Friends across Maine are invited to take a 1 to 3 hour turn at the Quaker Table in the Social-Political Action area of the MOFGA’s Common Ground Country Fair, held September 22-24 in Unity, Maine. Sometimes we pose or post queries and listen, often we answer questions about Quakers, we offer brochures and stickers, we discuss Friends’ faith and practice, we hear about fairgoers’ experience with Friends Camp, Quaker schools, other meetings around the region, etc. As a theme for posters and connection to Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association values, sometimes we use Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy, from Quaker Institute for the Future or Joanna Macy’s, Active Hope. Three hours in a day earns a free pass to the Fair for that day. Often there are two people at the table at a time. FMI please call, text or email Mark Rains, cell 207-500-9131, mainerains@gmail.com
  • The Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy would like the attached one page summary shared with all meetings. This faithful group has been advocating with the Maine legislature on Government for decades and continues to do good work.  It is not clear where the next generation to carry this witness will come from.
  • Queries on the experience of Responding to a Call.  Throughout Saturday in the conversation and worship the theme of responding to a call was present.  We heard about the powerful response of Friends at All Maine to the invitation to visit Kakamega was still echoing in people’s lives, and had resulted in the remarkable work that is continuing through the Kenya Rising organization.  We invite Friends to share with each other their experience at being nudged, called or whispered to – Where the call comes from? How does it feel ? How do we discern that it is from God or Spirit and not from other human motivations? How did you respond? What barriers and resistance did you feel?
  • Finally, from the morning worship, we are reminded of Marge Nelson’s advice to Friends: “Our job is to kiss frogs.”  (ask someone who attended for more context.)

Love Fritz Weiss, 23.5.12

Discussion with Former Penobscot Nation Chief Barry Dana, May 22, 6pm at Curtis Library

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Recommended by Peace and Social Concerns Committee:

Arts Are Elementary Presents:

A Discussion with Former Penobscot Nation Chief Barry Dana

Mon. 5/22 at 6:00pm

Curtis Library, Morrell Meeting Room

Arts Are Elementary is pleased to bring Former Chief of the Penobscot Nation, culture preservationist, long time educator, artist, and professional basketmaker Barry Dana to Brunswick. He will lead an open discussion about Wabanaki history and culture.

George Lakey Events in Maine

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“George Russell Lakey (born November 2, 1937) is an activist, sociologist, and writer who added academic underpinning to the concept of nonviolent revolution.[1] He also refined the practice of experiential training for activists which he calls “Direct Education”.[2] A Quaker, he has co-founded and led numerous organizations and campaigns for justice and peace.” That is from George Lakey’s wikipedia page

George will be making a number of appearances in Maine over the next few weeks, including a session at the All-Maine Quaker Gathering on May 6 in South China. Here is the full itinerary:

  • April 21: Maine Calling with Jennifer Rooks
    Friday April 21, 11 AM-Noon, Maine Public Radio
    Streaming thereafter on mainepublic.org
     
  • May 3: College of the Atlantic Workshop:
    “Effective Action for Social Change: A Workshop with George Lakey and Sue Inches”
    Wednesday May 3, 2:15-4:00 PM
    Gates Auditorium
    Open to the public
     
  • May 3: Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor
    “Finding Hope in the Face of Polarization and Climate Change”
    6:30 PM
    Open to the public
  • May 4: Wilson Center, Orono
    Thursday Dinner and Dialogue Series
    6:00-8:00 PM
    For more info:  Click
    Open to All
     
  • May 6: All Maine Quaker Gathering
    “Quaker Stories, Past, Present and Future”
    South China Community Church, 9:00-4:00 
    246 Village St, South China
    Open to Quakers and the “Quaker curious”
    Registration: durham@neym.org
     
  • May 7: Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick
    Finding Hope in the Face of Polarization and Climate Change
  • An Intergenerational  Conversation
    4:30-6 PM
    Open to the public

Finance Committee to Hold Discussion, Sunday, April 23 after Worship

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This coming Sunday, April 23, there will be a meeting after Meeting for Worship hosted by the Finance Committee.

For those attending via Zoom, please use the standing DFM worship link.

The Finance Committee asks us to consider if we wish to continue our practice of tithing 10% of bequests to the Meeting’s Charity Fund and to brainstorm ideas for the use of the money from the sale of the parsonage.

No decisions will be made at this meeting; it is for sharing ideas.

If you are unable to attend but have thoughts, please call or write Nancy Marstaller: (207) 725-4294 or marstallern@gmail.com. We hope to see you there. 

All Maine Gathering, May 6, 2023

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THE ALL MAINE GATHERING WILL BE HELD ON MAY 6TH. 

The All Maine Gathering (our first since the pandemic) will be held on Saturday, May 6 from 9-4 at the South China Community Church (formerly the South China Meetinghouse, home meeting of Rufus Jones).  Our presenter will be Quaker activist and teacher, George Lakey, whose most recent book is Dancing With History.

Our theme is “Our Quaker Stories”.

All ages are welcome, but we ask that those under 16  pre-register by contacting durham@neym.org.

The church is located at 246 Village St., South China (parallel to Route 202) about an hour and a half from Portland.

Since we in Falmouth Quarter are hosting this event, we ask that you bring something to contribute to our pot luck lunch. For more information, you can contact us at the same durahm@nedym.org with questions.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Further information:

Falmouth Quarter hosts All Maine Gathering

Friday -Saturday, May 5 – 6, 2023 in person.

South China Community Church
246 Village St
South China, ME 04358

The theme is “Our Quaker Stories, past present and future.”

The All-Maine gathering is an opportunity to celebrate our communities as Quakers in Maine, to build relationships and to share and support our ministries. There are some very exciting possibilities. We will have a rich and wonderful time together. We welcome all ages, Quakers and Quaker-curious! Pre-register or just show up! We especially encourage those under 16 to pre-register so we can plan engaging activities for all by contacting durham@neym.org.

Our presenter will be Quaker activist and teacher, George Lakey, whose most recent book is “Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice,” It is a memoir of a Quaker activist and master storyteller on his involvement in struggles for peace, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, labor justice, and the environment. His life will be the subject of a new documentary film.

The schedule for Saturday is:

  • 9:00 Arrival
    • Visiting – welcoming, coffee/tea and snacks will be available
    • Singing in the meeting room
  • 10:00 worship 
  • 10:30 Morning Program – including George Lakey facilitating a whole community conversation, small group focused conversation with themes of Standing on the threshold: finding clarity to say yes or no, and what sustains and nourishes our continuing faithfulness.
  • 11:30 Break and lunch prep
  • 11:45 lunch and visiting 
  • 1:00 Afternoon program An open invitation to share stories of witness, of discernment, of joy and of struggle.  Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy will bring a concern and we expect to hear of Maine Quakers engagement with climate, racial justice and asylum seekers.
  • 3:00 break
  • 3:20 – 4:00 closing worship

! Friday Evening: !

On Friday some Friends will gather at the Belfast Coop parking lot at 123 High St. Belfast at 5:00 PM and share a picnic dinner and will then join the Belfast First Friday Community Dance and Contra Dance.

Here are the details about contra dancing Friday eve:

Belfast Flying Shoes presents the First Friday Community Dance and Contra Dance Series. The evening kicks off at 6:00 with a warm-up session for the All Comers Band, led by Willy Clemetson & Benjamin Foss and open to all musicians, instruments, and skill levels. Tune list available on the website. At 6:30, Chrissy Fowler & Lisa Newcomb call a community dance featuring music by the All Comers Band. The contra dance featuring a guest caller & musicians starts at 8:00 pm. Shoes will fly in the Fellowship Hall of the First Church in Belfast, UCC, 8 Court St, Belfast ME. Community Dance admission is $1 kids & $2 adults; Contra Dance admission is $15 suggested. Masks available for those who wish to wear them. For the BFS community care policy, First Friday FAQ, and more info:www.belfastflyingshoes.org or  belfastflyingshoes@gmail.com.

For Friday overnight accommodations in Vassalboro Meetinghouse with teens or in private homes, contact: Holly Weidner <weidnerholly@gmail.com>

Cuba Delegation Presentation, April 16, Portland Friends Meeting

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At Portland Friends Meeting House this Sunday, April 16th, at the rise of meeting, the Cuba delegation — Hannah Colbert, Kim Bolshaw, Fritz Weiss and I — will be sharing photos, answering questions, and telling stories about our trip.  Please plan to stay and enjoy lunch with us.

If you feel led to bring a dish, here are some of the common ones we enjoyed: black beans and rice, cole slaw (without mayonnaise – and sometimes with grated beets or carrots), salad of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, plantains – fried and mashed, potato salad with hard boiled eggs, and tropical fruits such as pineapple, bananas and papaya.

 It’s not necessary to bring a dish, and of course, anything you might want to bring is welcome!

— From Susan Calhoun of Portland Friends Meeting

FCNL Seeks Input on Its Reproductive Health Care Stance; Durham Friends to Hold Discernment Session on March 19

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Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is asking for input from Friends and Friends Meetings regarding the stance it should take regarding Reproductive Health Care. We are being asked to discern if we recommend that reproductive health should be included in FCNL’s legislative priorities. 

On Sunday, March 19, Durham Friends will hold a one hour discernment session at the rise of Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business. If it is necessary to schedule another session, we will do so in April, as our recommendation is not due until May 1.

As requested, let us hold this matter tenderly.  There is a virtual opportunity for learning on March 22 at 6:30 PM Supporting Friends Discernment on Reproductive Health. All are welcome.

What follows is the request from FCNL and some guidelines for participation

We greatly value your engagement with this complex issue, and we encourage you to hold compassion for each other during these conversations. Continue to seek Divine Guidance and Spirit’s revelation as you weigh deeply the way forward for FCNL—one that respects the different religious and moral perspectives we all carry.

Your responses are requested by May 1, 2023. Your group can submit them electronically (preferred) at fcnl.org/policycommittee or by emailing policycommittee@fcnl.org. Postal submissions can be sent to 245 2nd St, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Please note that during its discernment, the Policy Committee will give greater weight to group responses over individual responses.

What follows are guidelines for participating in this conversation, resources to support your discernment, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can also join us on March 22 at 6:30 p.m. EST for a virtual event to aid your discernment. Click here to register.

Thank you again for your faithful and spirit-led discernment.

Ebby LuvagaIn peace,Ebby LuvagaClerk, FCNL Policy Committee

Guidelines for Participating in the Reproductive Health Care Discernment

Whether you are gathering in person, online, or in a hybrid format, we hope that your discernment will be spiritually grounded and a result of group conversations. These discussions may take many forms, including discernment by a committee, an informal group, or a First Day discussion topic. Some meetings or churches may adopt a minute expressing the sense of their group, although this is not a requirement.

Resources for Guiding your Discussion

You may want to prepare for discernment by reading the pamphlet, A Guide to Dialogue About Abortion. Tools such as this can help your conversation honor the complexity and urgency surrounding this topic.

Tips shared include honoring stories from lived experience, taking short breaks for moments of reflection, and building cultures of trust and understanding. Also refer to FCNL’s Policy Statement, The World We Seek (Section III.2.6), which outlines FCNL’s current statement on abortion issues.

To allow for the inclusion of a diversity of voices, we hope you will include people of different ages, backgrounds, and lived experiences in your discernment. Please identify at least one person who will submit your group’s responses.

Guidelines for Group Discernment

After an opening period of waiting worship, the gathering might begin with a brief description of the discernment process and the purpose of gathering. Participants may share their concerns about reproductive health care based on the queries provided to support their discernment process.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Submit your Group’s Responses

Please respond by May 1, 2023. Your group can submit electronically (preferred) at fcnl.org/policycommittee or by emailing policycommittee@fcnl.org. Postal submissions can be sent to Amelia Kegan, 245 2nd St, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

What information should you record?

Please include the following information as part of your submission:

  • Who is responding? (Group (preferred) or individual. Note your Yearly Meeting.)
  • Who participated? (The number in the group and approximate ages.)
  • What kind of gathering? (Committee meeting, informal gathering, meeting for business, etc.)
  • Who is the group’s contact person?
  • Responses to the queries.
  • Any additional comments on the process your group would like to share?

What happens to the responses after FCNL receives the submissions?

The FCNL Policy Committee, a working group of the General Committee, will read all the responses and meet to consider what meetings, churches, groups, and individuals are telling FCNL regarding reproductive health care. They will share their summary with FCNL staff and the FCNL Executive Committee, then hold listening sessions with the General Committee in the summer of 2023.

The Policy Committee will bring its recommendation to the FCNL General Committee during its Annual Meeting in November 2023.

Throughout the process, the discernment by Friends across the country remains at the center of the committee’s consideration.

Where can I find more information?

You can find the contents of the previous mailing here. If you have additional questions, contact Policy Committee members Ebby Luvaga (luvaga@iastate.edu) and Genie Stowers (gstowers835@gmail.com).

Two Presentations on Wabanaki Matters, March 8 (6:30 pm) and March 17 (noon)

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Peace and Social Concerns calls our attention to two presentations about Wabanaki related matters. Both will be via ZOOM, and both require prior registration.

March 8: Why Tribal Sovereignty? 6:30-8:00 pm, Via ZOOM;

UPDATE: link to introductions here; link to presentation here

A discussion with Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation Ambassador & President of the Wabanaki Alliance.

Maine, alone among all other states in the U.S., does not recognize the sovereignty of the federally recognized tribes in our state—sovereignty honored in the U.S. Constitution and inherent in the Wabanaki people who have lived on and stewarded this land we now call Maine for thousands of years. Bills submitted to the 131st legislature seek to restore Wabanaki tribal sovereignty in a step towards repairing the broken tribal/state relations. Join us in learning why acknowledging and restoring Wabanaki sovereignty will benefit all people who live in Maine.

This event is a collaboration of Midcoast Indigenous Awareness Group, Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick Maine, and Curtis Memorial Library

Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023; Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

This is an online event. Registration is required. Event URL will be sent via registration email.

March 17: Federal Indian Policy: Impacts on the Wabanaki Nations in Maine…And Beyond, Noon to 1 pm, via ZOOM; registration required

A recent report from Harvard University found that “the subjugation of the Wabanaki Nation’s self-governing capacities is blocking economic development to the detriment of both tribal and nontribal citizens, alike. For the tribal citizens of Maine held down by MICSA’s restrictions, loosening or removing those restrictions offers them little in the way of downside risks and much in the way of upside payoffs.” Professor Joe Kalt, co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, will discuss results of the Project’s recent study of the impacts of the unique provisions of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act on the Wabanaki Nations.

Sponsored by Maine Conservation Voters. Registration is required.

Bread Day Gathering, Portland Friends Meeting, March 4, 2023

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Portland Friends Meeting will host a Bread Day gathering for local Friends on March 4th. Arrive between 10:30am and 11am and we’ll end between 4:30pm and 5pm.

We will nourish our bellies and our spirits by worshipping and baking together and building relationships across generations. All ages are welcome, especially youth and families.

This year, Portland’s Bread Day will just be in person, with no hybrid or online component.

Watch this sweet little video about what Bread Day was like last year across the whole Yearly Meeting. Read more about Bread Day here.

RSVP here

Craig Freshley to Offer Workshop at FWCC Section of the Americas Gathering, March 25, 2023

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Durham Friends Meeting member Craig Freshley will offer a workshop at the upcoming meeting of Friends World Committee for Consultation/ Section of the Americas to be held March 23-26, 2023. Flyer here.

The Workshops at the gathering will be held on Saturday, March 25, from 1:30 to 5:00 pm. Here is how Craig’s workshop is described:

Craig Freshley

Together We Decide: Practical Tools for What the World Needs

Of course there are moral reasons for collaboration and inclusive decision making, yet in this dynamic and interactive workshop Craig will explain the practical benefits for helping all voices be heard. And he’s going to teach us how to do it. By telling stories and explaining techniques, Craig will equip you and inspire you to help your own group make decisions together so tensions resolve and way opens for peace and prosperity. Handouts and other resources provided.

+++

The event will be held in North Carolina (in person registration here) and you can also attend via Zoom (online registration here). The gathering is offered on a pay-as-led basis.

Maine Quaker Visitors to Cuba

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Left to right: Hannah Colbert, Sue Nelson, Fritz Weiss, and Kim Bolshaw are traveling to the NEYM “Puente de Amor” (“Bridge of Friends”) from February 15 through February 27. May we join with them spiritually, through prayer with light and love. They will visit our sister Meeting, Velasco Friends Meeting.

NEYM Living Faith Gathering, April 1 in Portland

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We are excited to announce a next chapter in the ongoing experiment of daylong opportunities for spiritual nurture and intergenerational relationship, what we have called “Living Faith.” On April 1, 2023, after a four-year absence, we are looking forward to greeting Friends again in Portland, Maine. More details and registration info is coming soon. In the meantime, please mark your calendars!

A refresher on Living Faith: the Living Faith gathering is an opportunity for Friends new and old (and the Quaker-curious) to get to know one another, hold multigenerational worship together, participate in interactive workshops, eat tasty food, share the different ways we experience and live our faith, and build community. Age-appropriate youth programming and childcare will be available, in addition to some parts of Living Faith programming being intergenerational, like worship. More about a teen-specific offering below.
 

Workshops sought for Living Faith

We are now seeking workshop proposals for the April 1st Living Faith gathering in Portland, ME. Our 90-minute workshops provide an opportunity for adult and teen Friends to explore their Quaker faith, connect around an area of interest, and make meaningful connections through activities, conversations, or worship. Do you have a workshop idea? Experienced and emerging facilitators alike are invited to submit a workshop proposal by February 5th. Details here.
 

Living Faith teen retreat

New this year is a weekend retreat for teens built around participating in Living Faith together. Youth age 13-18 are invited to arrive on Friday evening, sleep over on site on Friday and Saturday nights, and participate alongside adults and families at Living Faith on Saturday. There will be time on Friday and Saturday nights for teens to connect with one another, share what the experience was like for them, and have fun with their peers, with support from a few adult staffers. Contact Maggie Fiori (Teen Ministries Coordinator) for more info.

Preparing for Your Demise, January 29, 2023 at noon

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After Meeting for Worship on Sunday, January 29, Cush Anthony and Tess Hartford will lead an educational seminar on “Preparing for Your Demise.”

The program will begin at noon, and is being sponsored by Ministry and Counsel.

Here is a summary of their advice.

Preparing for your demise; an outline for an educational seminar

1. Make a tentative plan. If you are married, assume you survive your spouse. Identify the person best suited to be in charge of carrying out this plan.

2. Discuss the plan in depth first with the person you selected to carry out the plan. Then discuss it with each of your children as well as with any other individual whom you believe would want to know or should know about the plan. Would this plan meet the needs of each of them? Have I selected the best person to be in charge of carrying out my plan? If so, give out written authorizations you expect would be needed. Then give each of your children and others you believe should be informed about your plans a written copy of what you have set down as your plan.

3. Identify likely medical issues that may arise. Prepare an Advance Directive based on state law, stating what you would want done in the event you become unable to make appropriate decisions to control your own medical treatment. Give a copy to all physicians who have been or who are likely to be looking after your health. Talk about it with them, to get their stated agreement with what you want, and make notes about the conversation. Even a brief letter of confirmation is a good idea to avoid problems and misunderstandings down the road.

4. Prepare an inventory of your assets and your debts for use by your next of kin. Prepare any needed written authorizations for financial institutions. Make sure appropriate documents can be found when needed. Be sure to include information about credit cards which should be cancelled, and where any safe deposit box key is located.

5. In your plan make clear if you believe that part of your plan should be carried out after you die by someone different, designate who that should be, make sure appropriate authorizations are in place, and make sure that all other next of kin candidates agree to that.

6. Do you want your eyes or other organs to be made available to people who need them? If so, fill out an organ donation form, and have that ready to give to a funeral director as well as to your primary care physician. If you plan to give your whole body to a medical school, make alternate plans as well in case the entity will not accept the gift at the last minute.

7. Select a funeral director who is willing to carry out your wishes at a reasonable cost. Make sure you agree on a price for the needed services and put your agreement in writing signed by both parties.

8. Cremation cannot take place until at least 48 hours have passed since death. Make sure your body can be stored somewhere for a short time if that becomes necessary. Identify who will transport your body to the crematorium. Also state your plan for disposition of the ashes.

9. If you are selecting to have your body interred, where that should take place, and who to contact to make arrangements about that. If you wish to have a green burial, make that clear and make sure that is an option at the location you select.

10. Start an obituary that can be completed later and then given to newspapers. Indicate where you want it to be published.

11. Make tentative plans for a memorial service. Do this in conjunction with the Meeting’s Ministry and Counsel Committee. There are many details that should be worked out jointly with the Meeting33 far ahead of time

    Falmouth Quarterly Meeting, January 28, 2023, 9:30 to Noon

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    I hope you will be able to join Falmouth Quarter as we meet on zoom on Saturday.  Falmouth Quarter is the gathering of the five quaker meetings in southern Maine.

    Our focus is paying attention to what is exercising us, what we are feeling passionate about or called to. 

    We will also consider the minute on indigenous sovereignty forwarded to the Quarter by Portland and Durham Friends. – Fritz Weiss & Wendy Schlotterbeck

    Here is the zoom link (it is the regular worship link for Durham Friends).

    Topic: Falmouth Quarterly Meeting
    Time: Jan 28, 2023 09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2814426094?pwd=REtES3Q3K0loZDBvTkFwS3RoVzRXdz09

    Meeting ID: 281 442 6094
    Passcode: 1775
    One tap mobile
    +13092053325,,2814426094# US
    +13126266799,,2814426094# US (Chicago)

    FQM Minute on the Inherent Right of Tribal Sovereignty of the Wabanaki

    Minute on the Inherent Right of Tribal Sovereignty Of the Wabanaki People and the Support for Bills before the Maine State Legislature that would Recognize and Implement Tribal Sovereignty

    Members of Falmouth Quarterly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) unite in urging full support by the Maine State Legislature for bills that encompass the consensus recommendations reached in 2020 by a Task Force composed of Maine legislators, State officials and Wabanaki leaders, i.e., bills that acknowledge and support the sovereignty of the Wabanaki Tribes and Nations within Maine.
    The terms in the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (MICSA) and the Maine Implementing Act (MIA) have proven disastrous for the Tribes. These bills are designed to address those wrongs. For example, they would correct a fundamental denial embodied in the 1980 federal Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (MICSA) that has prevented Wabanaki Tribes in Maine from benefiting from over 150 federal laws passed during the last 40 years, laws that were designed to assist and support Tribal health, safety, well-being and self-determination. As a result, Indigenous peoples in Maine suffer from disadvantages not found in any other state.
    Unlike the 570 federally-recognized Tribal communities on lands outside of Maine, Wabanaki Tribes and Nations contend with restrictions and complicated regulations imposed by the Maine Implementing Act (MIA). Tribal communities outside Maine are subject to Federal Indian Law. Current bills before the legislature would make Federal Indian Law applicable to Tribes and Nations within Maine. It should be noted that Federal Indian Law, while supporting greater Tribal self-determination, enables states to enter into productive relationships with Tribal nations that not only benefit the Tribes, but also the surrounding non-Native communities and the State. It has been shown time and again, throughout the country, that when Tribes are prosperous the surrounding rural communities prosper as well. This bill is our opportunity to create this reality for Wabanaki communities and for Maine as a whole.
    The current situation imposed by the State on Wabanaki peoples is morally and ethically wrong.
    Wabanaki communities only want what Tribes in other states enjoy—greater freedom to control their own destiny and to thrive. The bills addressing the shortfalls of the MICSA and the MIA provide the means to make this possible.
    This Minute reflects the Quaker testimony of the sacredness of all individuals and our witness to support the inherent rights and dignity of Indigenous communities.

    End-of-Life Interest Group, New England Yearly Meeting

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    New England Yearly Meeting is hosting a monthly resource group from January to May on end of life issues.  Details and registration information follow:

    Join New England Friends for an End-of-Life Interest Group. We seek to explore spiritual, emotional, and practical aspects of facing our final days.

    We will meet via Zoom 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on the second Thursday of the month for 5 months, starting on January 12th. 

    Facilitated by Patti Muldoon, NEYM’s Aging Resources Consultation and Help (ARCH) Coordinator. 

    This series is offered free of charge.

    Click here to register.

    If the group is at capacity and you are seeking to register, email arch@neym.org to join the waitlist.

    Questions? Email arch@neym.org

    Falmouth Quarter to Meet January 28, 2023, 9:30 to noon on ZOOM

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    SAVE THE DATE

    Falmouth Quarter will meet on January 28, 2023 from 9:30 to noon on zoom.

    We are creating a space to share our Passions – What is exercising us, upsetting us, firing us up.

    “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”

    We invite you to think about the concerns which are alive for you and to think about these queries

    ·  “What are you called to, what are you upset about, and how are you filled?”

    ·   “How do I recognize this passion, this hunger and thirst as a spiritual condition?”

    ·   “ What is the meeting called to, what is the meeting  upset about and how is the meeting filled?”

    Prayer Vigil with a Concern for the Families Losing Shelter Due to the Ending of the Emergency Assistance, at the Statehouse, December 7, 2022, 9:30 to 11:00

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    An announcement form Peace and Social Concerns Committee.

    There will be a prayer vigil with the concern for the families losing shelter due to the ending of the emergency assistance which has been paying to shelter families in hotels which is being held at the statehouse on December 7th, here is the essential information.

    The vigil will be from 9:30 – 11:00 if you can stay for the whole time. The Statehouse will be crowded and parking will be scarce, plan on allowing time to find parking.  If you would like to ride with me I have room for 2 – 3 people.

    Please sign up so we will have an idea of numbers. https://www.facebook.com/events/514397463980578?ref=newsfeed

    Portland Friends Meeting adds: Also, as a reminder, there will be a zoom call on the 7th in the evening for PFM to consider how we might be called to respond to this crises.  Mary Tracy will re-send this invitation closer to the date.

    A detailed instruction sheet follows for the vigil.

    IMPORTANT  INSTRUCTIONS for Vigil and Witness on Dec. 7

    If you plan to come to the State House in Augusta for the “Neighbors Need ME” Prayer Vigil and Public Witness on December 7th at 9:30:

    ●       Please contact your state representative and your state senator via email BEFORE December 7 just to let them know you will be there.  It will be a very busy day at the State House, as all 186 legislators are being sworn in and will likely have family members with them.  You are letting them know about your participation in the prayer vigil/public witness so that when they see our group in the Hall of Flags, they will know what we are there to pray for and bear witness to, and that a constituent of theirs is present. 

    To get the name and/or email address of your state representative, click HERE.

    To get the name and/or email address of your state senator, click HERE.

    Sample email:

    Dear Representative [or Senator] ________,

    I am a constituent of yours from [name of town] and wanted to let you know I will be at the State House on December 7 as part of the Neighbors Need ME Prayer Vigil and Public Witness in the Hall of Flags.  As a person of faith/goodwill, I feel compelled to bear silent, prayerful witness to the impending humanitarian crisis our neighbors in Maine face if they lose their housing when rental assistance programs end, eviction moratoria are lifted, and emergency hotel accommodations close their doors.  All this is happening while our state’s shelters and warming centers are full beyond capacity, and winter weather is settling in.  On December 7, I will join with other faithful people from across Maine to pray that the Legislature and the Governor work quickly to develop humane and practical solutions that are coordinated statewide before it is too late.

    Signed: _________

    ●       Faith Participants are invited to wear the colors of Advent, a season of yearning, hope, and expectation in the Christian tradition: blue and/or purple. 

    ●       If you are a person of goodwill, we invite you to wear red—a red scarf, a red shirt, a red coat– for we seek to “love our neighbors” wherever they are and however long they have been in Maine. 

    ●       Try to arrange to carpool with others traveling to Augusta. Because it is swearing-in day, it is likely the State House parking garage will fill up early, as will the lots immediately adjacent to the building.  You may need to arrive 45 mins early.  It is difficult to tell how much time to allow because of the swearing-in.  parking info

    ●       When you enter the State House, be prepared to wait in line to go through the security checkpoint where you will be asked to remove your shoes before walking through a metal detector.

    ●       After clearing security, walk straight past the welcome center to the main corridor of the building, then turn either right or left to take the stairs or elevator to the second floor and the Hall of Flags.  Look for our group, including many clergy wearing vestments, and many participants wearing red or the Advent colors of blue/purple.

    ●       As noted, this will be a very busy day at the State House.  Crowds will be bustling through and across the Hall of Flags as legislators go to caucus meetings; bells will begin to ring loudly when the House and Senate are being called to convene; there will be a busy swirl of activity and noise all around us as we pray silently in the midst of it all.  We invite you to learn from our Quaker siblings who practice the art of stillness and silence in prayer.  Our silent, prayerful witness will be a striking contrast to what is going on all around us.  And that’s kind of the point!

    ●       If anyone asks you why we are there, or what we are praying for be prepared to briefly answer – for me I’ll say something about the families in Portland being evicted because the Emergency Rental Assistance funds are ending and that in Maine we don’t expect families to sleep outside in the winter.  You can direct them to the Neighbors Need ME website and Facebook page for more information.  You can also invite them to speak to Rev. Allison Smith or Rev. Peter Swarr, two of the key organizers of this coalition who will be present at the vigil.

    ●       If you are approached by the media, please direct them to Rev. Allison Smith or Rev. Peter Swarr.

    ●       If you would like to read more about this crisis as a way to get informed, and a way to inform your prayers, we recommend the report by the Commission to Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Land Use Regulations and Short-term Rentals https://legislature.maine.gov/doc/9239 , in particular Recommendation #7 on page 21.

    ●       During the vigil, you should receive a stamped postcard to fill out and mail to Governor Mills as soon as you get home.  It will let her know you were present at the vigil, and that you’re a person of faith and/or goodwill who is deeply concerned about the housing crisis facing your neighbors in need.  Ask the Governor to work with the Legislature to immediately develop a statewide coordinated response plan instead of the current patchwork of local municipalities trying to manage this dire emergency on their own.  We need State leadership in this crisis!

    Again, for our Witness to be as effective as possible, please do three things:

    1.  Contact  your state representative and your state senator via email BEFORE December 7 to let them know you will be there.  Ask them to immediately respond to this dire humanitarian crisis with a State-wide coordinated response for our neighbors who need housing and assistance in difficult times.
    2. Contact Governor Mills as soon as you get home to ask her to develop a State-wide coordinated plan because our neighbors all over Maine are suffering and need our help. 
    3. Ask your friends and family to contact their legislators and the Governor. 

    Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves, November 15, 7-9 pm [Updated]

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    sponsored by New England Yearly Meeting, Beacon Hill Friends House and Friends Peace Teams

    UPDATE: The recording of The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves, as well as guidance for its use, is now available at: https://bhfh.org/the-quaker-indigenous-boarding-schools-facing-our-history-and-ourselves.

    Register here for this hybrid event.

    Financial Basics Webinars with Everence, October 26, November 2, 9, 16, 2 pm and 8 pm

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    Everence, partnering with New England Yearly Meeting, is offering a series of webinars designed to support you in your personal finance journey. Everence is a faith-based stewardship agency, grown from a Mennonite tradition, which supports New England Yearly Meeting and its members who are seeking to integrate their faith and values with their finances. Everence provides charitable, investment, insurance and banking services for both individuals and organizations. Webinar dates and topics include:

    ·         Oct. 26: Understanding Medicare: Hear about how (and when) to sign up for Medicare; what it covers (and doesn’t cover); Parts A, B, C and D; and plans that supplement Medicare.

    ·         Nov. 2: Estate Planning Basics: Learn how an estate plan can ensure that your wishes for family and financial assets will be carried out upon your death. Hear about the key elements of an estate plan, including wills and trusts, powers of attorney and life insurance. Discover key stewardship questions to be asking as you prepare your plan.

    ·         Nov. 9: Basics of Investing: Learn the basic principles of investing, including hearing about the various types of investments, the power of compounding, managing risk and diversification. Along the way, consider the role your faith plays in making decisions about investing.

    ·         Nov. 16: Maximize Your Generosity with a Donor Advised Fund: Explore how this flexible “charitable checking account” can help you streamline your charitable giving. Find out about the many types of assets than can be gifted and how a DAF can help you manage both the gifting process for tax purposes and the distribution component of when you want to support the organizations you care about.

    Each event in this “Webinar Wednesday” series is offered at 2 and 8 p.m. For more information or to register, click on the title links. If you have questions, contact Everence Stewardship Consultant Lyle Miller at lyle.miller@everence.com.

    Falmouth Quarterly Meeting, October 15, 2022

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    [Updated] Falmouth Quarter will meet on October 15th from 10:00 – 1:30 at Durham Friends Meeting.

    We invite you – all of you – to come to share about the abundance you have found in these hard times. 

    We are imagining our entire time together as a meeting for worship, with sharing, art, laughter, reading, cider, and business. 

    The schedule for our time together is:

    10:00 – gather in worship – Singing,  fellowship, perhaps some Juice and coffee and snacks and sharing

    10:30 – Brief meeting for business to approve the budget, approve donations for the year, to confirm the dates we will be meeting and to consider what program we might like to bring to the Quarter in January. 

                  During the business meeting, those who would rather make cider will be setting up and operating the cider press.  The books that Durham meeting has been donating to pre-schools and early elementary classrooms will be out for reading.

    11:00 – We will be making windsocks with an invitation to inscribe the wind socks with messages about where we have felt God moving in our meetings and in our lives.  There will be times of open sharing of these messages.  Each meeting is invited to think about what the meeting will share and inscribe upon their windsock.  Cider making will continue, book reading will continue.

    12:30 – Picnic lunch – bring something to share or bring your own.

    1:30 –  Wrap up; close worship. Please take your windsocks home to fly them from your porch, or from your meeting house so the wind can spread the messages to the world.

     “We didn’t find what we were looking for, but look at what we found.” (Wendall Berry)

    Fall 2022 Meeting for Healing Schedule, Portland Friends Meeting (with update)

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    Update: In November and December, there will be an in-person option at the Durham Friends Meeting on the 1st Thursday of the month. Doors will open at 6:45p.m. For questions, contact Mey Hasbrook.

    Fall Meeting for Healing schedule: 7PM on 1st & 3rd Thursdays (mostly)

    The Portland Friends will hold its Meeting for Healing this Fall, on Zoom, on 1st and 3rd Thursdays at a slightly different time: 7:00 pm. (For September the Meeting for Healing will be on 2nd and 4th Thursdays.) You are welcome to join worship for part of the time or to worship with us without the Zoom connection. The Divine connects us all.

    Fall Meeting for Healing schedule, Thursdays at 7PM

    September 8 & 22

    October   6 & 20

    November  3 & 17

    December  1 & 15

    If you have any questions or need the Zoom link, please feel free to reach out to

    Chris Davis: goblinshark@gmail.com or

    Beth Bussiere-Nichols: beth.bussiere@gmail.com

    Meeting for Worship for Healing is an old Quaker tradition. Our goal with this meeting is to focus on the physical and spiritual illnesses of the current world. It’s not intended to be the same as a full meeting for worship but instead is meant to be focused on communal prayer. We are often blessed with a time of deep silence. Messages may arise but should be de-centered from our ego.

    An invitation to Worship in clamorous times. We are living through a time when we are inundated with words.  We invite you during worship to sink deeply below the political messages, below the personal efforts to put things into words, down to the Silence, down to the Living Waters, down to the Source that connects us all.

    All are welcome!