Category Archives: Events

Friends School Portland Presents Rebecca Traister

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This event is part of Friends School of Portland‘s ongoing Parenting for Peace lecture series, representing the school’s commitment to providing its larger community with opportunities for inquiry and discernment.

 

Rebecca Traister is currently writing a book about women, anger, and social/political change.  She asks herself:  How do I view the reality of women’s anger–as a nation-shaping catalytic, often progressive social force-with my Quaker education that complicated my feelings about the use of aggression?  This talk is about the process of trying to fit the anger so many of us are feeling about power imbalances and injustice into a Quaker framework.  What is at odds with it?  What makes sense?  A discussion period will follow.
Rebecca Traister is writer at large for New York magazine and a contributing editor at Elle. A National Magazine Award finalist, she has written about women in politics, media, and entertainment from a feminist perspective for The New Republic and Salon and has also contributed to The Nation, The New York Observer, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Traister’s first book, Big Girls Don’t Cry, about women and the 2008 election, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2010 and the winner of the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book prize. Rebecca’s most recent book, All the Single Ladies, is described as “a nuanced investigation into the sexual, economic, and emotional lives of women in America.”
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This event is generously cosponsored by Bernstein Shur and USM’s Department of Women and Gender Studies.

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This event is part of Friends School of Portland‘s ongoing Parenting for Peace lecture series, representing our commitment to providing our larger community with opportunities for inquiry and discernment.Have questions? Please visit Friends School of Portland’s website or email info@friendsschoolofportland.org.

Powell House Pastoral Ministry Event

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Tending the Flock:  A weekend to encourage Friends called to pastoral ministry

April 27–29, 2018  Powell House Retreat and Conference Center,  Old Chatham, NY

This is a workshop for those:

  • Who feel called to pastoral concerns for the wellbeing of the Meeting as a body.
  • Who walk alongside individuals and encourage them in their spiritual development.
  •  Who Friends turn to when there are difficulties to untangle, trusting their guidance and care.

Martha Hinshaw Sheldon and Sukie Rice will be attending the conference for Ministry and Counsel.  Others interested should be in contact with one of them.

In keeping with the Powell House commitment to welcome Friends regardless of financial means, this is a Pay-As-Led event.

NEYM Living Faith Gathering, April 14 in Portland

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New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) will hold a Living Faith Gathering in Portland (ME) on April 14.  This all-day event will be held at Cheverus High School in Portland Maine.  Both Wendy Schlotterbeck and Doug Bennett from Durham Friends will be leading afternoon workshops.

The Living Faith Gathering will focus on how Friends are living—and can more fully live—our faith in the world, helping to bring about the Beloved Community for all. Through worship, workshops, small groups, and more, we will be deepening our capacity to foster the relationships of healing and justice so needed at this time.

Living Faith provides child care of ages infant-4 years, and a youth program for elementary and middle school students. High school-aged teens can choose to attend the youth program or the adult program.

NEYM asks that you register in advance.  This is a “pay-as-led” event.

You can learn more about the event on the web site or contact a member of the planning committee at: livingfaith@neym.org (link sends e-mail).  Here’s the schedule

  • 8:45 Registration Opens
  • 9:30 Opening and welcome
  • 9:50 Programmed worship
  • 10:30 Break
  • 10:45 Morning Programs
  • 11:45 Lunch
  • 1:00 Workshops
  • 3:00 Break
  • 3:15 Closing worship and youth program

Jay O’Hara — Message on February 25, 2018

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February 22, 2018

Jay O’Hara will be giving the message this Sunday, February 25. Jay is known among Friends and beyond for his faithful prophetic work on climate change, which has included blockading a 40,000-ton shipment of coal and helping shut down 5 tar-sands pipelines in 2016. He travels in the ministry among Friends in New England under a minute of Sandwich Monthly Meeting on Cape Cod with a “concern for the spiritual foundation that gives Life to Friends’ actions in these times of crisis.”

Spiritual Journeys: 4th Sundays at 9:30

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Spiritual Journeys: 4th Sundays at 9:30

The 4th Sunday of every month, we do a special Adult Sunday School.  We invite a member of the meeting to recount their spiritual journey — in whatever way they want.  The series has been interesting and enjoyable.  Here is the line-up for the first four months of 2018

January 28 — Brown Lethem

February 25 — Paul and Cindy Wood

March 25– Wendy Schlotterbeck

April 22 – Gene Boyington

Spiritual Journeys will return in September

Racism, Privilege and Quakers

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Upcoming Programs at Portland Friends Meeting  1837 Forest Avenue, Portland

An Open-Hearted Inquiry into Racial Identity  Sunday 1/14/18; 12:30-2:00

Facilitators:          Julie de Sherbinin (Portland) and Susan Davies (Vassalboro)

Format:    Interactive workshop for everyone; bring your lunch if you wish

Description:         This workshop offers an entry point into the conversation about racial identity for all Friends, wherever we may be on the journey toward increased awareness, action and racial healing. Julie de Sherbinin and Susan Davies have co-led a number of sessions on inquiry into racial identity in Maine. Both are members of NEYM Permanent Board’s ad hoc Work Group Challenging White Supremacy.

Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity   Sunday 1/21/18; 12:30-2:00

Facilitators:          Julie de Sherbinin

Format:                Film Clips & Discussion; bring your lunch if you wish

Description:         Shakhti Butler’s film delves into the internal components and external relationships that perpetuate the system of racial inequity. We will watch pre-selected clips and focus discussion on responses to the issues posed therein. “Cracking the Codes” is designed for dialogue and is being used at meetings around New England as a catalyst for conversation.

Voices of Color/Color Of Change   Sunday 2/11/18; 12:30-2:00

Facilitators:          Julie de Sherbinin & Dorothy Grannell

Format:     Discussion of selected text & film clips; bring your lunch if you wish

Description:         Further exposure to the heartbreak of racism and the ways it shows up in Quaker communities.  Getting comfortable with the words “white supremacy.” Readings will come from “Black Quakers”; October 2014 volume of Friends Journal (the articles are available online at Friends Journal and some copies may be available in the library)

White Fragility and Dismantling Racism  Sunday 2/25/18; 12:30-2:00

Facilitators:          Julie de Sherbinin, Melissa Brown & Maggie Nelson (Portland)

Format:     Readings/small group sharing/discussion; bring lunch if you wish

Description:         Moving from learning to action ideas on advocating for racial    justice. What holds us back? Where do we start? How do we discern future action?

Privilege Walk  Sunday 3/11/18; 12:30-2:00

Facilitators:          Sophie Szatkowski & TBA

Format:                 Experiential activity for middle school, high school, and adult ages

Description:         A Privilege Walk is a group exercise enabling participants to investigate how a range of types of privilege manifest in their lives. Possible sources of privilege and identity include social, economic, gender-based, age-based, racial, and cultural.  Participants will be invited to discuss their experiences of the Walk after the exercise.

Worship Sharing  Sunday 3/25/18; 12:30-2:00

Convener:           PFM Facilitators

Format:     Worship sharing

Description:         Join with others to both listen deeply and share as led on two key questions: “Racism, Privilege & Quakers – What have we learned personally and as a meeting? Where or what do we do next personally and as a meeting?”

Child Care will be provided as needed for those planning to attend any of the series of programs offered through Portland Friends Meeting on “Racism, Privilege & Quakers”  To ensure that your child has care, please contact Susan Grannell at grannell8@gmail.com  or call 401-413-5951.  Indicate the dates you will plan to attend, you name and the child’s (children’s) name.

Living Faith Gathering – April 14, 2018

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New England Year Meeting will hold its next Living Faith gathering on Saturday, April 14, 2018 in Portland, Maine—and you are invited!

Living Faith is an initiative of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (NEYM) bringing together Quakers from across our region to nourish our faith, grow our communities, and strengthen our witness.

These semiannual, day-long gatherings include large group worship, fellowship and community-building, workshops led by dynamic Friends, an integrated youth program, and opportunities to connect on shared concerns.

Our April 14th Living Faith Gathering will focus on how Friends are living—and can more fully live—our faith in the world, helping to bring about the Beloved Community for all. Through worship, workshops, small groups and more, we will be deepening our capacity to foster the relationships of healing and justice so needed at this time.

Living Faith provides child care for ages infant through 4 years, and a youth program for K through 6th-grade students. Seventh-graders through high-school students can choose to attend the youth program or participate in the adult program and workshops.

In keeping with our Quaker community’s commitment to remove barriers to participation, this is a Pay-As-Led event.

Registration will open in early March, so save the date—April 14th!

 Workshop Proposals Invited
We are looking for Friends interested in leading  workshops at the event. We hope to offer a wide range of opportunities that explore and enrich how we share and live our faith, including the social, political, economic and communal dimensions of our spiritual lives.

Interested in leading a workshop? Click here to learn more and submit a workshop proposal.

Questions? Contact a member of the planning committee at livingfaith@neym.org. We hope to see you there!  In faith and service,

the April 2018 Living Faith Planning Team – Lisa Graustein (clerk), Jay O’Hara, Sarah Cushman, Elizabeth Hacala, Hannah Zwirner Forsythe, Noah Merrill

International Welcome Dinner, January 5, 2018

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By Peace and Social Concerns Committee (Linda Muller, Cindy Wood, soon to include Ingrid Chalufour and Brown Lethem)

As we all enter this upcoming new year, 2018, we want to engage all the Meeting in an International Welcome Dinner. The date is set for Friday, January 5. People are welcome to arrive between 5 and 6 pm.

We are seeing many in Durham Friends Meeting, in the wider Quaker community, and the community here in our region of Maine, connecting with folks from other cultures, other nations. For many, this is a great enriching experience and we want to build on that. We encourage all connected with Durham Meeting, hosts and exchange students to attend. Be sure to invite recent immigrants you have come to know as friends to join us.

The goal of the dinner is to relax, begin to develop some familiarity, and enjoy food from many cultures together. We are putting together a brief program to accompany this.

It will be a potluck; we ask each individual and/or group attending to bring a dish from their culture… even longtime Mainers have roots from other places. Linda’s family harkens mostly from Switzerland, as an example. Having dishes from each of our heritages will really make the evening fun.

We’ll have sign-up sheets for help with set up and clean up when time gets closer. This announcement is to help us all plan ahead for attending. Snow/blizzard date will be the same time, the next day, Saturday, January 6.

How Do We Build Peace?

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September 25, 2016  – Program presented by Doug Bennett

This forum will provide a look at peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts of the United Nations, and of the work of Quakers to support and strengthen those efforts through the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO).  We will also consider what we can do to build peace.

Doug Bennett is a member of QUNC, the Quaker United Nations Committee, which oversees the work of QUNO.  QUNC members are appointed by the American Friends Service Committee and by Friends World Committee for Consultation.

Visioning meetings with Craig Freshly

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By Margaret Wentworth
The first step in seeking a new pastor is to decide what sort of person we want and what we would expect him or her to do. So on January 12 and 26, we will hold two visioning meetings, facilitated by Craig Freshly. We will start with a potluck right after meeting, and hold the discussions from 1:00 to 2:30. This is an opportunity to help the Meeting decide what our needs are, and how we can go about fulfilling them. Please plan to come!

Christmas Offering To Go to Ramallah

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By Clarabel Marstaller

The offering taken at our Christmas program, December 22, will go to Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine. The Girls School was started first, the result of a girl in Ramallah asking Eli Jones (visiting from South China, Maine, in 1869) if he would open a school for girls in Ramallah (a small school for boys existed in Ramallah at that time). Schools were started in homes and in 1882 a building was completed — which was the start of the Friends Girls School. Meanwhile, a boys’ school was held in a home in Ramallah. In 1914 a building was in place. However, it was used as a hospital during World War I, first by the Central Powers and, as England prevailed, by English troops. In 1918 it began serving its original purpose. Today the girls’ school is the Lower School and the boys’ school the Upper School, both coed. New England Friends were very much involved in the early years of the schools. Joyce Ajlouny, director of Ramallah Friends School, visited our Meeting a few years ago. The schools are very up-to-date in their academic and technological life, thanks to their value in the Mideast. Our offering will help them meet the challenges they face.

Swap Before You Shop on Dec. 1

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By Brenda Masse

Special Events will be hosting the Durham Friends annual Re-Gifting Swap on Sunday, December 1, during refreshment time after Meeting for Worship. Please bring GENTLY used items to swap and get a jump-start on your holiday shopping! It is a great way to save the earth and your wallet! See Brenda Masse for further details.

Christmas Potluck and Program

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By Dorothy Hinshaw

The Christian Education Committee would like to announce that the Christmas Potluck and program will be held on Dec. 22, Sunday evening, at 5:30 p.m. The Christmas tree 2013snow date will be the next day, Monday. Supper starts at 5:30 p.m. and the program at 7 p.m.

Reminders

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Contemplative Prayer Group will be meeting on the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at 24 Cedar St., Brunswick. There will be a Christmas Eve worship service at 7 p.m. on Dec. 24.

Prayer on Civil Discourse – Nov. 1

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On Nov. 1, the Maine Council of Churches will be holding a day of prayer on civil discourse for the election. MCC invites congregations across Maine to participate in a public prayer service to promote civil discourse and prayerful discernment in public life the weekend before Election Day. For more information, please contact: info@mainecouncilofchurches.org or call 207 772-1918.

Kenyan Crafts Marketplace

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A Christmas Crafts Fair Selling Kenyan Made Goods to benefit the Kakamega Orphans Project

Saturday November 9th 10:00 to 2:00 St. Jude’s Church 134 Main Street, Freeport

Handbags, scarves, woven bowls, carved wood animals, Christmas tree ornaments, nativity scenes, soapstones and more…. Great Gifts! St. Jude’s is located on the corner of Main and School Street, Freeport across from the post office. Parking in the rear. For information, please call 318-8531 or email: sukierice@comcast.net

Clerking Workshop

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By Daphne Clement
Margaret Cooley, Clerk of New England Yearly Meeting Ministry & Counsel, will lead a clerking workshop on Sunday afternoon, March 10. This gathering is open to all Meetings in the Falmouth Quarter (or anywhere in Maine if you don’t mind traveling). The goal of this workshop is to help us facilitate our Committees and Monthly Meetings in a more gathered and Spirit-Led way.
Where: Durham Friends Meeting, 532 Quaker Meeting House Road, Durham, ME 04222.
For Whom: All Meeting and Committee Clerks now serving and for anyone who thinks they might ever become a clerk serving their Meeting.
When: Durham Friends gather for waiting Worship at 10:25 a.m. (we are semi-programed). Workshop participants are welcome to worship with us. We will then serve a simple lunch (soup and bread) and gather from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If you have questions or require hospitality please contact Daphne Clement at 207-353-6354.

Falmouth Quarterly Meeting at Durham July 28

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By Margaret Wentworth
The schedule for the upcoming meeting of Falmouth Quarterly Meeting is quite different from the usual. We
will be meeting here at Durham but we won’t be starting in the morning as we normally do. This is the schedule for
the day:
12:30 p.m. Soup and snack
1:00 p.m. M&C
2:00 p.m. Worship
3:00 p.m. Business
4:00 p.m. Play! Bring a canoe or kayak to paddle Runaround Pond, |
or wear sturdy shoes to hike Cox’s Pinnacle
5:30/:45-6:45 Picnic begins
7:00 p.m. Program with Ray Sirois: “Enlightened by the Science of Climate and Water
— Empowerment for a Sustainable Future”
These times are flexible except the 7 p.m. start of the evening program. Please join us for what promises to be
an enjoyable and memorable day.

Falmouth Quarterly Meeting

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By Margaret Wentworth
Falmouth Quarterly Meeting will meet at Portland meetinghouse on April 28. The schedule is:
 8 a.m.Ministry & Counsel (M & C members from all meetings are invited)  10 a.m.Meeting for Worship  11:15 a.m. Meeting for Business Noon(ish) Lunch, provided by Portland Friends 1:30 p.m.Program concerning prison reform, with emphasis on the problems of solitary confinement. There will be a video.
There will be a youth program on sustainability facilitated by Wendy Schlotterbeck. We will be watching a movie and building stick sculptures. Childcare will be provided.
Quarterly Meeting gives us all an opportunity to meet and worship with Friends from other meetings, and can be a great time of fellowship and inspiration! Do plan to come for all or part of the day.

Plants for the Woman’s Society Yard Sale

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Wow, what an early spring we are having! If you are dividing/growing plants and have extra, please consider donating them to the yard sale. We have pots available in the horse-shed. This year’s sale will be on Saturday, May 26, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. We ask that you bring plants no earlier than May 20, and you may bring them up to the morning of the sale. Please label with type, color if you know it, and any special growing considerations (shade, sun, vigorous spreader, etc.). Thanks for all your past support. If you have questions, see Nancy Marstaller.

Spring Gathering of New England USFW

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By Dorothy Grannell, of Portland Meeting and USFW-NE
The Spring Gathering of United Society of Friends Women – New England is being held at Durham Friends Meetinghouse on Saturday, May 12.
The schedule is:  10 a.m. Welcome  10:15 a.m. Worship  11 a.m. Program (Several women who
have returned from the 6th World Conference of Friends at Nakuru, Kenya, will speak.)
 12 p.m. Business meeting, including: Plans for gathering at NEYM Sessions and fall gathering; previous minutes and other items from officers of USFW; decide on special appeal for next newsletter; news from Cuba and other women’s groups in New England.
 12:30 p.m. Lunch
4 of 6
 1:30 p.m. Program continues  3 p.m. Closing
All are welcome!

Yard Sale!

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By Angie Reed
The Woman’s Society annual yard sale is right around the corner. The date this year is Saturday, May 26. As usual, it runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is a major event in the calendar of the Meeting and Woman’s Society. It takes the whole meeting to pitch in and work together to make this event the success it always is. A signup sheet for volunteers will be hung closer to the date.
Donations will be gratefully accepted beginning Sunday, May 13. We have a large gathering at the Meetinghouse on Saturday, May 12, and there just won’t be room for donations until Sunday.
It is now time to think about clearing out those knick-knacks that have been stored away … or, perhaps, still usable items from the children’s array of playthings, or from the utensil drawer of the kitchen. Books and other media are welcome.
Your imagination has no bounds, with one
exception: We cannot stress enough, please do not donate things that are not smaller than a small microwave. This year we are putting out the word more than ever before. This means, among other things, no furniture. We cannot take microwaves either. Most, if not all, of them are still on the table at the end of the day. This policy and notice have been made stronger because large items have been donated despite our annual request.
This yard sale is primarily organized and run by the female members of the Meeting who have difficulty handling large items. Often, Women’s Society gets charged a disposal fee to get rid of large items which decreases revenue raised by this yard sale.
If people with donations have any questions or concerns about this, please see a Woman’s Society Member.

Seder Supper

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Ministry and Counsel and Christian Education April 5, at 6 p.m. All are welcomed. Families will be co-sponsoring a Seder Supper on Thursday, especially are invited.