Category Archives: Events

Threshing Session This Sunday, Noon to 1:15pm

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From Nominating Committee, Linda Muller, Clerk

We are a smaller group and still have work to do together….

Friends are reminded to enjoy your bag lunch then gather in the worship room by 12 noon on this coming Sunday, October 22, 2023.

This THRESHING SESSION will be centered on the query:

Can we SIMPLIFY our committee structure in order to do the work of our beloved Meeting together?

Some more specific questions we might consider:

**Are there committees that can be combined, like Finance and Trustees?  If so, should those names be required to have membership in the Meeting?

**Do we need a separate Nominating Committee, and should it require membership?

**Do we need a formal committee for Peace and Social Concerns, or does it function more like a work group with various interest groups that can be voluntary (not nominated).  Should clerk be a member of Mtg?

**Similarly, do we need a formal Library Committee, or is it a work/ interest group? Does it require nomination?

**Do we need a Communications Committee, or rather discreet tasks taken on by individuals (i.e., Webmaster, Newsletter Editor, Friends Note organizer )?
(At this moment, with (newly) no newsletter editor, perhaps we want a trial of having a weekly bulletin instead (an expansion of This Week at DFM)? Do we need a back- up webmaster?)

The more threshing the better so come if you possibly can.  We’ll keep it to an hour, or an hour and 15 min.

And thank you for considering,     — Nominating Committee Clerk, Linda M

Quakers Opposing Zinc Mine near Katahdin; Rally in Bangor October 23

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From Shirley Hagar and the Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy (FCMPP):

Andy Burt will be giving testimony at this hearing in Bangor on Monday, October 23 opposing the Pickett Mine on behalf of FCMPP and in solidarity with the Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseets.

She notes opposition from the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) and adds: I’m hoping we can alert Friends to the importance of the hearing in Bangor where I’ll give our FCMPP testimony. There are links for folks to sign up and more info. NRCM will be offering vans from Portland, Brunswick and Augusta (buses if required) and pizza at the Cross Center for the rally. I have permission to table and pass out info on Q6 at the rally. 

Apparently Wolfden has put together a strong legal team but lawyers for NRCM, the Penobscots and the Maliseets look forward to the cross examination. Very important to have a large showing of community opposition. 

Be great if quarterly meetings could get the word out. NRCM is the hub organizing the rally.

Below are two documents: 1) the flyer announcing the hearing and rally on October 23, which includes a link to sign up, and 2) a fact sheet on the proposed mine. The Wolfden company has been turned down once by the Land Use Planning Commission and now they are back, but NRCM believes that their proposal is no better and contains empty promises.

This is it. This is our chance to tell decision-makers that mining in the Katahdin region is not worth the risk. 

The Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) has scheduled an October 23rd public hearing in Bangor for the zinc mining proposal at Pickett Mountain. Join us for a rally before the hearing to send the message that this is the WRONG mine in the WRONG place by the WRONG company. Bangor Rally & Hearing: The Katahdin Region is No Place for a Mine 
Monday, October 23 
Cross Insurance Center, 515 Main Street, Bangor 
Rally starts at 5:15 p.m. 
Hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. 
Sign Up
This is our best chance to demonstrate the overwhelming public opposition to a mine in the Katahdin region. We know the company, Wolfden Resources, will be there and will bring its supporters to try to tip the balance in its favor.  Join us for a rally and pizza at 5:15 p.m. before the public comment session begins to hear from speakers and to show your opposition. Then at the public comment session, you’ll have an opportunity to speak to the LUPC in person and share why you oppose this mining proposal.  Find more information to prepare your comments on our website — we’re happy to help you with talking points if needed.   This new hearing date in Bangor was scheduled after more than 50 Maine legislators sent a letter urging the LUPC to make the hearings more accessible. This dangerous mining proposal is important to Mainers far outside the immediate region where the mine would be located — and we need to show that to the LUPC. I hope you’ll join us on October 23rd. Sign up here!Sincerely,  
Melanie Sturm
NRCM Forests & Wildlife Director
P.S. If you can’t attend the hearing, you can submit a written comment opposing the mine to the LUPC using our action alert.
pickett-mountain-facts-2023Download

Durham Meeting Contemplative Prayer Group

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[Updated February 2025] On Monday mornings from 9:00am through 9:30am you are welcome to join us for prayer.  The Zoom details are below. Come a little early to greet, gather, and share prayer requests.

During this period of prayer, we experience a corporate attention to God through silence, intercessory prayer, exercises of gratitude and communion with each other.  Though we are not tied to a particular order of practice, we include a brief time for greetings, prayer requests, followed by waiting worship, and close with fellowship and final thoughts.

Join us!

Durham Friends is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2814426094

Passcode: ask if you don’t know it: dougb AT earlham DOT edu

Dial by your location
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 281 442 6094
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbozXBQ0OI

“Travelling in Palestine and Israel: Listening to the ‘Living Stories'” at Brunswick Meeting, October 15, 2023, Noon

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Earlier this year Petra Doan and Liz Kamphausen Doan joined a Friends Council on Education study trip to Palestine and Israel. They shared their experiences with MidCoast meeting earlier this summer, but Brunswick Friends have invited them to share  again in Brunswick for anyone interested.

After meeting (which begins at 10:00 in the Morrell Meeting Room of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick) we will provide soup and invite any attenders to bring a small lunch item to share. The presentation is expected to begin at approximately noon. 

Note: this conflicts with Meeting for Worship for Business at Durham Friends Meeting

Fellowship Potluck for Visiting Friends at Portland Friends Meeting, September 28

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Portland Friends Meeting invites us to a fellowship potluck and conversation to welcome three traveling Friends on Thursday, September 28, 2023, 4:30 pm

The traveling Friends are Gail Melix (Sandwich MM), Buffy Curtis (NYYM), and Paula Palmer (Intermountain YM). There will be materials about their ministries, and the conversation will be offered by whomever of them has energy to contribute.

This invitation is especially made to Friends from Falmouth Quarter, and therein neighboring meetings. Joiners are welcome to come for part or the entirety, and at any point in the offerings. 

The fellowship potluck will be held at the Portland Friends Meeting House, 1837 Forest Ave. For guidelines including health/ Covid details, please scroll down this page to review .

Fyi, for potluck contributors who also will attend the convo, please place dishes downstairs beforehand, if possible.

4pm: Doors open – Beth & Brad

4:30pm – Ministry Conversation (casual): Meeting Room – Beth & Brad

5pm to 6:30pm – Fellowship potluck: Basement – Genna & Mey

6:30pm – Clean-up – Everyone!

Upcoming Pendle Hill Programs, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024

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Pendle Hill (a Quaker Retreat Center outside Philadelphia) calls our attention to a few opportunities this fall and this spring. Anna Hill, their bEducation Engagement Coordinator writes:

I’m reaching out to connect about a few upcoming Pendle Hill programs—I especially want to highlight two upcoming fall workshops focusing on Faith and Practice, Deepening at the Root with Christopher Sammond (Oct 5-9) and Friends’ Decision-Making and Clerking with Steve Mohlke and ,O (Nov 17-19). 

Deepening at the Root 

Friday, Oct 5, 4:30pm – Sunday, Oct 9, 12pm, 2023 

Through experiential exercises, small group sharing, large group processing, and worship, this on-campus workshop with Christopher Sammond explores opening to the divine Source in worship, vocal ministry, and leadings for action. We will create a community of deep trust and openness, opening us into deeper communion with each other and the Divine Source. 

Friends’ Decision-Making and Clerking: Participating in Meetings for Business with Joy and Confidence 

Friday, Nov 17, 4:30pm – Sunday, Nov 19, 12pm, 2023 

This is on-campus workshop with Steve Mohlke and ,O is an opportunity for both new and experienced clerks of Friends’ meetings and committees to meet and think together about the role of presiding clerk in the spiritual practice of meeting for business. This workshop will address racism in the context of Friends’ decision-making; we will be lifting up processes that seek to liberate the Spirit among all participants.

The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope (Podcast)

Join Quakers, seekers, and host Dwight Dunston for Season 3 of Pendle Hill’s podcast as we explore the 

practices that enrich our connections to ourselves and to each other: How do we cultivate relationships in spiritual community? How do these relationships and practices support our work for liberation and justice and transform our sense of what is possible? Join the conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! 

The 2024 Spring Term. I also want to let you know that we will be hosting two information sessions for the 2024 Spring Term, our 10-week residential study program March 1-May 10, 2024, in October and November. At the link above, you can find FAQs, faculty information, and more.

Applications are now open for the 2024 season of this 10-week residential study program on Pendle Hill’s beautiful 24-acre campus.

Do you find yourself seeking space and community in which to share the daily rhythm of learning, work, and worship? Pendle Hill’s Spring Term offers a greenhouse – a protected space for Friends and other seekers to bring leadings, ideas, questions, and other seeds of the “already but not yet” – to nurture these visions into being, through the daily rhythm of study, work, and worship in community. Learn more about this program and all it has to offer, and reach out ot admissions@pendlehill.org with any questions.

Spring Term Info Session (October) Oct 11, 2023, 7:30pm-8:30pm ET via Zoom 

Spring Term Info Session (November)  Nov 11, 2023, 2pm-3pm ET via Zoom 

Falmouth Quarter to Meet, October 28, 2023, 9:30 to 2:00 pm, Windham Friends Meeting

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All are invited to the October gathering of Falmouth Quarter on October 28th at Windham Friends Meeting.

Love Boldly, Share Deeply

UPDATE (posted October 23, 2023)

Love Boldly, Share Deeply

Falmouth Quarter will meet on October 28th from 9:30 – 2 at Windham Friends Meeting

The schedule for our time together is:

9:30  – Gather 

10:00 – Meeting for business: The Agenda will be: 

·       Receive Treasurer’s report.  (treasurers report)

·       Approve the 23-34 budget and specify this year’s donations.

·       Confirm the dates for 2023-2024 Quarterly meetings.

·       Consider what program to bring to the Quarter in January.

·       Receive Durham’s recommendation to record Leslie Manning’s gifts in ministry. NEYM Faith and Practice recommends naming several Friends to visit with Leslie and to bring this recommendation back to the quarter. 

·       Approve nomination of Dennis Redfield and Doug Bennett to the Beacon Hill Friends House Corporation. 

·       Share news from each meeting. 

 If you have additional items for the business agenda, please forward them to Fritz Weiss @ rossvall.weiss@gmail.com.

11:30 break, brown bag lunch.  

12:30 Afternoon program: Sharing experiences from the 2023 annual sessions of New England Yearly Meeting – especially the two plenaries.

— a plenary with Joseph Bruchac (an Abenaki storyteller) & Jesse Bruchac (an Abenaki language teacher), and 

— the Bible half-hours with Emma Condori Mamani, a Bolivian Friend who spoke recently at Durham Friends Meeting. 

–       A plenary with Anna Fritz (cello) (examples of her ministry are available at: https://annafritz.com/

2:00 Wrap up, closing worship.  

ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Falmouth Quarter will meet on October 28th from 9:30 – 2 at Windham Friends Meeting

We invite you to come and share about the life and spirit in your meetings.  Our hope is that our entire time together is a time of worship, with laughter, business, connections and handcrafts.  

Windham meeting is preparing for their annual craft fair and would welcome donations of homemade items, knitting, or crafts for the fair.   Those who knit or crochet are encouraged to bring your materials and work on projects while we meet.  Windham is not welcoming White Elephant items this year. 

Our schedule is: 

9:30  – Gather in worship – Singing,  connection, perhaps some Juice and coffee and snacks and sharing

10:00 – Meeting for business to approve the budget, approve donations for the year, to confirm the dates for 2023-2024 Quarterly meeting, consider what program we might like to bring to the Quarter in January and to share news from each meeting.  If you have additional items for the business agenda, please forward them to Fritz Weiss @ rossvall.weiss@gmail.com.

11:30 break, potluck lunch.  There is a stove and microwave to heat up items and an electric tea kettle to heat water.

12:30 Sharing experiences from the 2023 annual sessions of New England Yearly Meeting – especially the two plenaries.

— a plenary with Joseph Bruchac (an Abenaki storyteller) & Jesse Bruchac (an Abenaki language teacher), and 

— the Bible half-hours with Emma Condori Mamani, a Bolivian Friend who spoke recently at Durham Friends Meeting. 

–       A plenary with Anna Fritz (cello) (examples of her ministry are available at: https://annafritz.com/

2:00 Wrap up, close worship.  

Questions, ideas, comments or concerns can be forwarded to the co-coordinators of Falmouth Quarter:

Fritz Weiss (rossvall.weiss@gmail.com) and Wendy Schlotterbeck (wendy.schlotterbeck@gmail.com)

The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves, September 10, 2023, 12:30 to 2:30 pm

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The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves; A presentation by Paula Palmer, Gail Melix, and Andrew Grant on Sunday September 10 from 12:30 to 2:30. 

Join us in the Durham Friends Meetinghouse. We will gather as a community to participate in this event by Zoom. Bring a picnic lunch.

Peace & Social Concerns

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