From Woman’s Society:
Please join the Woman’s Society Potluck Dinner Monday, August 19 at 6 PM at the Meeting House. All are welcome!
Category Archives: Announcements
Meet Mary Rowlandson, July 19, 2024, 7pm
Meet Mary Rowlandson, presented by Quaker storyteller Katie Green
Friday, July 19 at 7 PM, Durham Friends Meeting
Based on her own account, Mary speaks of her capture by Native people during Metacom’s Rebellion, aka King Phillip’s War, in 1670’s Massachusetts.
This challenging narrative will be followed by discussion on issues that remain important today- racism, theocracy and right relationship with Indigenous neighbors.
It will also be made available by Zoom; please email durham@neym.org for details.
AFSC Briefing, June 29, 3:30pm, Friends School Portland
Invitation:
A conversation with Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee, and
Keith Harvey, Director, AFSC Northeast Region
Saturday, June 29, 2024, 3:30 p.m., Friends School of Portland, 11 US-1, Cumberland Foreside, ME
Learn about AFSC’s life-saving aid in Gaza, support for immigrant rights, and ongoing commitment to confront injustice and promote healing among the Wabanaki communities in Maine.
(Click here for driving directions listed on the school’s website.)
This is a rare opportunity to hear first hand about some crucial and desperately needed work bringing our Quaker witness to life in the world.
Keith Harvey, AFSC’s Regional Director, will update us on AFSC’s work in the Northeast, especially its advocacy on immigration and the rights of indigenous peoples in Maine. Joyce Ajlouny, AFSC’s General Secretary, will speak about AFSC’s work globally, including an update on the work our Meeting has been supporting in Gaza.
Please help us in spreading the word, and RSVP’ing at this link: https://secure.afsc.org/a/conversation-afscs-joyce-ajlouny
Also, we welcome some help! We could really use 2 set-up helpers, 2 break-down helpers, and those of you who feel led to hold this very important AFSC mission and presentation in the light, to do so in person. If you can be one of those helpers, please contact Becky (steelebecky@gmail.com) or Doug (douglas_mccown@yahoo.com).
FWCC’s Quaker Connect Program
Durham Friends is considering applying to participate in FWCC’s Quaker Connect Program. (FWCC is Friends World Committee for Consultation, the organization that links Friends across the globe.)
Members of Durham Friends are encouraged to read these materials and participate in discussions around whether the Meeting should consider seeking to participate.
The three paragraphs below give a brief overview of the program. More information can be found on the Quaker Connect website.
Quaker Connect helps Friends meetings and churches to try new experiments and learn from each other how to connect the depths of our Quaker tradition and the breadth of our Quaker community with the living reality of our local context under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Quaker Connect will be a structured network of Quaker meetings across the branches of Friends
in the Americas. Each participating local meeting will nominate one to three Friends to join a cohort
of other energized Friends in virtual workshops over a two year period. At the heart of the program,
each meeting will choose one signpost of renewal that is lacking in their meeting, one Quaker,
Christian, or FWCC practice to address the need, and take three months to try the experiment, and then initiate further experiments. Robust evaluation and communication processes are essential parts of the program. Quaker Connect is designed to adapt and seed the continuing revitalization of the Religious Society of Friends.
In the United States, the project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations
Initiative. An additional $200,000 grant from the Thomas H. and Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund
will extend the program to Friends outside of the United States—from Canada to Bolivia—and
enhance collaboration among Quaker organizations to support the growth and vitality of the
Society of Friends.
MEIRS Gala Invitation, July 12, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services (MEIRS) is holding its 2nd Annual gala, themed “Connecting Cultures, Creating Community,” on Saturday, July 12, from 6:00 to 9:00 pmin Lewiston at the Agrora Grand Event Center.
Bopnnie Lewis (MEIRS) wrote Wendy Schlotterbeck, “Here is the Gala information for your crew! Let me know if they are interested. I think everyone would have a wonderful time and they would get to meet some incredible people who are new Mainers! Along with the fabulous food there will be dancing and music!!!! We would ask you to come as our guest!”
Thopse interested in attending should contact Wendy. More information on MEIRS available here and also below.
Falmouth Quarterly Meeting & Potluck Dinner, June 8, 2024
Falmouth Quarterly Meeting will hold a community gathering on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at 3pm at the Durham Friends Meetinghouse. All are welcome. We will plan family fun, some worship, purposeful connection time and singing.
Potluck- Quaker Feast at 5:30.
Please come for any or all of the day on Saturday- “Sing and rejoice, ye Children of the Day and of the Light” (G Fox)
Gathering for Friends with a Concern for Gospel Ministry
June 8, 2024, 10:00 a.m. to mid-afternoon
Location, Durham Friends Meeting
Brian Drayton (Souhegan) and Noah Merrill (Putney), following a concern, invite Friends active in gospel ministry to gather for worship and conversation at the Durham (Maine) Friends Meetinghouse from 10 a.m. to mid-afternoon, June 8th, 2024.
You may travel in ministry, or your service in speaking as led in worship may be primarily in your own meeting. If you contribute to the vocal ministry under a sustained sense of duty and concern, you are invited to join us.
If you hope to attend, or have questions, please email Brian and Noah.
Diana White Memorial Service, June 22, 11am to 2pm
The Memorial Service and Potluck for our member Diana White will be held Saturday, June 22 from 11-2 at Durham ME Friends Meeting (durhamfriendsmeeting.org) and available on Zoom.
The memorial service will be from 11:00 to 12:15, with the potluck lunch to follow.
Diana, formerly of Farmington and Portland Meetings, was also a clerk of Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy and active in New England Yearly Meeting in several leadership roles. She was the first woman to serve as Treasurer of the Yearly Meeting.
To learn more about her, please read her recent First Day message postyed on this website, “What I Bring to the Spiritual Potluck“.
And join us on the 22nd to celebrate her life and spirit. All are welcome.
Getry Agizah at Durham Friends on Sunday, May 19 and again on Monday, May 20
Getry Agizah will bring the prepared message to Durham Friend’s semi-programmed worship this Sunday at 10:25
and
visit with Woman’s Society Monday evening at 7 PM. Both events are available by Zoom or at the Meetinghouse, durhamfriendsmeeting.org. FMI contact durham@neym.org
Getry is the Programme Coordinator for FUM’s Africa Ministries Office in Kisumu. She coordinates the work of the Friends Church Peace Team, as well as overseeing the Girl Child Education Programme, and guiding the formation of the new Shepherd Boy Scholarship program. She also manages FUM’s relationships with Turkana Friends Mission and Samburu Friends Mission. Her ministry has been financially supported by the Falmouth QUarter for many years.
Getry’s will and heart are in peace work. She has spent the past fifteen years working for peace, both in and outside Kenya in countries like Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, China, South Africa, Guatemala, and Ireland. She has also traveled within the U.S.A. to raise support for Friends Church Peace Teams, visiting Quaker churches and Meetings in many of the States. Her hobbies are traveling, doing reconciliation work, and helping her society to know real peace.
Annual Family Campout, June 8-9, 2024, Now Cancelled
UPDATE June 2, 2024:
Due to a major broken water pump at Betsy’s cottage in Georgetown, we need to cancel the Family Campout scheduled for next weekend- June 8-9. Instead, we invite Friends to gather at Durham Friends meetinghouse on Saturday only (no planned events on Sunday)
For those interested- come at 10am Gathering for Friends with a Concern for Gospel Ministry with Brian Drayton and Noah Merrill
At 3pm all are welcome to a FQM Quaker Community Gathering at Durham Friends Meetinghouse. We will plan family fun, some worship, purposeful connection time and singing.
Potluck- Quaker Feast at 5:30.
Please come for any or all of the day on Saturday- “Sing and rejoice, ye Children of the Day and of the Light” (G Fox)
Also Falmouth Quarterly Meeting gathering.
Our Hearts Are Breaking Interfaith Service, February 28
Braver Angels Workshops at Curtis Library, Feb. 17 and March 9
“Two-Eyed Seeing,” Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project, February 12, 6-7:30 pm
Benefit Concert for New Immigrants, “Neil for a Cause,” March 2, 2024
Durham Friends Meeting will sponsor a benefit concert by Craig Freshley, “Neil for a Cause,” on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 7pm. All contributions will benefit new immigrants and refugees in Maine. Click here for details.
“Walking in the World as a Friend,” from QREC, 2nd Mondays in 2024 @7:30pm
an invitation from the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative:
| Walking in the World as a Friend Discussion & Practice Group |
| Please join us for a free Online Practice & Discussion Group sponsored by Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC). We meet monthly to enrich adult Quaker Religious Education for ourselves and our meetings/churches.Each month will open with worship and a message from the book Walking in the World as a Friend: Essential Quaker Practices. Then we will hold worship sharing to hear from each person, followed by a discussion on any questions, reflections, or implications for us as Friends and our witness in they world, then close with worship. We may discuss practices, such as journaling, spiritual companions, and faith and practice or scripture study, that help us and our meetings/churches.We are using Walking in the World as a Friend for reference. You may purchase the book at CourageousGifts.com or download the PDF HERE for free. You may also watch the videos on YouTube. |
| Monday, January 8, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time Experiences of Living in the Spirit and the role of a Minister (pp 27-30 or relevant videos) Monday, Febuary 12, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time Experiment with Spirit and the Role of the Steward (pp 35-37 or relevant videos) Monday, March 11, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time Essential Quaker Structures as an Ecology of Practices (pp 45-58 or relevant videos) |
| In 2024, we plan to meet the second Monday of the month in January, February, and March and take a one-month break in April. We expect to continue this pattern of 3 months on and 1 month off through 2024. This is spiral curriculum. Every time we engage the themes, we bring more to the reflections and go deeper. REGISTER HERE |
M L King Day Reflections with Tom Hamm, January 15, via Zoom
Earlham Scool of Religion is making available, via Zoom, the lecture Quaker historian Tom Hamm will give: “Quakers and Race in the 1920s.” Registration is required to get the Zoom link.
FGC Changing Times Conference, January 18-21, 2024
| Join Us Online January 18-21, 2024 |
| Registration is Open |
| Dear Leslie, Registration is open for FGC’s Changing Times Conference – In these changing times, how is Spirit moving among us? Join Friends from across North America in seeking what messages Spirit offers us as we explore Spirit led growth and transformation. We will have time to deepen our spiritual lives, share ideas across yearly meetings and explore new ones as we meet online. Our schedule will begin with a plenary each day followed by workshops and we will have the opportunity to reflect and consider the day’s events in Reflections Groups each evening. There will be morning worship and chances for fellowship online in the evenings.The main components of the conference are:Our connection to SpiritBecoming an Actively Anti-racist Faith CommunityChanging structures for Changing TimesThe Future of the Religious Society of Friends.Come, take a break, find community, share ideas and concerns and find refreshment as we seek together what messages Spirit offers us. with excitement and gratitude, Ruth ReberRuth ReberSpecial Events CoordinatorFriends General Conference1216 Arch St. #2BPhiladelphia, Pa 19107ruthr@fgcquaker.orgwww.fgcquaker.orgWhy this Conference now? This online conference grew from the seeds of desires expressed by Friends in Gathering Anew Focus groups to have opportunities to share across Yearly Meetings and Monthly Meetings. It is one of four Gathering Anew Experiments to explore meeting Friends needs in these changing times. In consultation, Yearly Meeting Clerks and Secretaries spoke of a deep desire to seek the Divine together. What messages might Spirit be offering to us at this time? Changing Times is a chance to explore together, some of the key questions before us. We are in a time of change, a time full of potential and choices.Who will speak to us?Tuning InFrancisco Burgos, Executive Director, Pendle Hill  Francisco Burgos is the executive director at Pendle Hill and has facilitated spiritual retreats and lectio divina sessions for many audiences. Francisco was a De La Salle Christian Brother for almost ten years, serving in Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, and has been a Friend since 2004. He is a member of Harrisburg Friends Meeting and an attender of meetings including Monteverde Friends Meeting in Costa Rica and Adelphi Friends Meeting in Maryland.Living into Continuing RevelationVanessa Julye,Friends General Conference’s Associate Secretary for Organizational Cultural Transformation  Vanessa Julye, works on increasing awareness of White Supremacy and its impact in the Quaker and sectarian communities. She meets with and provides programs for BIPOC Quakers throughout the world both in-person and virtually. She has been recognized as having a calling to a ministry with a concern for helping the Religious Society of Friends become a whole blessed community. Vanessa speaks on racism focusing on its eradication and the healing of racism’s wounds.Changing Structures in Changing Times Title: Empower, Support, Cross-Fertilize, and EncouragePaul Buckley is a member of Clear Creek Friends Meeting in Richmond, Indiana. Since his graduation from the Quaker Studies Program at the Earlham School of Religion, he has been a traveling minister and a writer on Quaker topics. He is serving as the Clerk of OVYM’s Restructuring Committee. His most recent publication is a 2023 Pendle Hill Pamphlet, Quaker Testimony: What We Witness to the World, the product of twelve years of thought and contemplation on Quaker Testimony. Title: Restorative Quaker Design Rashid Darden is a member of Friends Meeting of Washington and Associate Secretary for Communications and Outreach for Friends General Conference. He is also a novelist who focuses on the Black LGBT experience, whether in contemporary fiction or in urban fantasy. Title: The economic and sociologic context of contemporary Quaker experience and how it informs our future Barry Crossno is a member of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia sojourning with Cleveland Friends Meetings. He serves as the General Secretary of Friends General Conference. He brings to FGC a deep commitment to the future of the Religious Society of Friends and the nurture and care for Friends.Workshops  Each day offers a new selection of workshops focused on the topic of the day. Check out the website for a full listing of topics and leaders.Learn more about the Speakers and Workshop LeadersRegister Now Some workshops have limited space.And please consider making a gift. Your support helps make FGC programs like the Gathering possible and accessible. Whatever the amount, your contribution connects Friends, newcomers, and meetings in spiritually powerful ways. Thank you for nurturing a vibrant Quaker faith!Support Friends. Give Today.Like what you’ve read? Please help us by sharing this Gathering update with your friends and Friends by using the buttons below! |
Joy and Love, from Maine Council of Churches
| For five weeks every year, songs about the incarnation of Christ can be heard playing everywhere—on your radio and TV, at the car wash, in the grocery store. And just about everybody knows the words. They might not be able to tell you what the first book of the New Testament is (just for the record, it’s Matthew), but they can tell you that all is calm, all is bright on a silent, holy night in the little town of Bethlehem where away in a manger the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head while certain poor shepherds lay in fields listening to angels on high singing “Gloria in excelsis deo,” and three kings of the orient bearing gifts traverse afar. Christmas carols are, after all, the best known of all religious music, and these days, most people get the only theology they have from the carols that they sing. This year our Advent blog series will explore a favorite carol each week, listening to familiar words with fresh ears and learning the story of when, where, and why they were written. (We also have an Advent message for December’s National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath available at this link.) |
| O Holy Night O holy night! the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope- the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born! O night, O holy night, O night divine! Truly He taught us to love one another. His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we. Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! Christmas Eve 1906. The clock on Reginald Fessenden’s workbench in Brant Rock, Massachusetts, struck nine. He carefully set the needle of his Victrola down on a spinning record and pointed a homemade microphone into the gramophone horn. When a short aria by Handel finished playing, he stopped the record, and moved the microphone over to his wife, Helen. He motioned to her to begin reciting the words from the second chapter of Luke’s gospel, the story of Jesus’ birth, but she froze in fear and couldn’t speak. Flustered, Reginald brought the microphone up to his own mouth and blurted out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace…to men of good will.” (It should have been “peace, good will toward men,” but close enough!) Then Reginald handed the microphone to Helen, picked up his violin, leaned in as close as he could and played the French carol “O Holy Night.” He sang the final refrain before switching off the transmitter. Somewhere out in the cold, dark, Atlantic Ocean, miles to the east of where Reginald and Helen sat wondering if their experiment had worked, wireless operators on several U.S. Navy and United Fruit Company ships sat in amazement. Before that moment, the only sound they had ever heard coming through their radio headsets were the dits, dots and dashes of Morse code. But on that Christmas Eve, they heard music and the sound of a man’s voice saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” It must have seemed like a miracle! Three days earlier, Fessenden had transmitted a message in Morse code to ships at sea telling them to have their wireless transmitters turned on at 9:00pm on Christmas Eve. He was going to test out his theory that if he combined two frequencies together he would be able to transmit more than just Morse code over radio airwaves—he would be able to transmit music and the spoken word. This theory had gotten him nothing but ridicule—in the press, in the business world, even in scientific circles. He was seen as a crackpot outsider with hare-brained schemes. But on Christmas Eve 1906, it was his voice reciting the gospel of Luke, his violin playing “O Holy Night,” that were heard for the first time over the radio. After his death in 1932, a stone memorial was erected over his grave bearing these words: “By his genius distant lands converse and men sail unafraid upon the deep.” Fifty-nine years before that first radio broadcast, another pair of oddball misfits who lived in France had composed “O Holy Night.” Placide Cappeau, misfit number un, was the wine commissioner of Roquemaure, a small town in the south of France where Monsieur Cappeau didn’t quite fit in. For starters, he only had one hand (his right hand had been amputated when he was 8 years old after a playmate accidentally shot him); then there was the fact that, unlike his devout Catholic neighbors, Placide Cappeau didn’t attend church; and finally, the icing on the gâteau—he was a political radical, affiliated with the socialist movement. But he was known in his village as someone who had a way with words—he enjoyed writing poetry as a hobby. So, when the town church’s organ was renovated and plans were made to include a rededication ceremony during Christmas Eve services in 1847, the local priest asked Monsieur Cappeau if he would write a special poem for the occasion. Cappeau wrote the poem, “Cantique de Noel,” and then, realizing his words really should be set to music for maximum effect, asked his friend Adolphe Adam to compose a song to go with it. Enter misfit number deux: Adolphe Adam, a Jewish musical composer who worked in vaudeville, opera and ballet with a notoriously bad temper and a permanently empty bank account. He had his fifteen minutes of fame as composer of the music for the ballets “Giselle” and “Le Corsaire,” but then a tantrum put him on the outs with the movers and shakers of the Paris opera world, and he spent the rest of his life in bankruptcy. That day in 1847, he accepted his friend Placide’s request and wrote the soaring score we now know as the tune to “O Holy Night.” The combination of music and poem made the carol instantly popular, and soon it was being sung in churches and homes all over France. That is, until French religious authorities got wind of the fact that the carol’s composers were a non-believing socialist and a red-light-district musician with Jewish ancestry. Immediately the carol was banned from churches throughout France. For more than two decades it would not be heard in worship services there, though it continued to be sung in homes and loved by many. It wasn’t until Christmas Eve 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, when a French soldier laid down his weapon, faced the enemies’ guns and sang “O Holy Night,” the Germans responded by singing a carol by Martin Luther, and a Christmas truce began, that the French Catholic church relented and once again allowed “O Holy Night” to be sung in worship. Despite its twenty-year ban in the churches of France, the carol had grown in popularity across Europe and even in America, where a young Unitarian minister who believed deeply in the movement to abolish slavery, was so inspired by the words of the third verse that he felt compelled to translate the entire carol into English. It was an instant hit, particularly in the North, during the Civil War. You may not be surprised to learn that this American, Rev. John Sullivan Dwight, was…you guessed it, a bit of a misfit, an outsider! Extremely intelligent, John Dwight had attended Harvard Divinity School and then took his first call. But after only one year, he had to resign because he suffered from what we now know as agoraphobia. After leaving the ministry, he tried living in communes associated with the Transcendentalist movement (think Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson), but eventually found his calling as a writer and music critic, and the founder of an influential music journal. And so, the story of “O Holy Night” is a story of outsiders, outcasts, misfits and broken people: a disabled socialist poet, a bankrupt Jewish vaudevillian, an agoraphobic abolitionist, and a ridiculed crackpot inventor playing his violin into a microphone that might—or might not—be transmitting his song to anyone. That sounds like a story that’s got God’s fingerprints all over it! Outsiders, outcasts, the ridiculed. It’s the story of Christmas, too. Mary: the unwed pregnant teenager. Joseph: the man facing the prospect of raising someone else’s child. Together: part of a community oppressed by the occupying forces of the Roman empire, forced to deliver a baby in a stable and lay him in a feed trough. Then there’s the shepherds: people not welcome in polite company—dirty and smelly, they slept outdoors, were often suspected of being thieves, their testimony wasn’t acceptable in a court of law. What about the magi? Strangers, foreigners from the East, who practiced a mysterious religion and had unfamiliar clothes and customs. The oppressed, the poor, the hurting, the outsiders. That is who comes to the manger. Even as an infant, Jesus was already turning the world upside down. Dirty, smelly shepherds are serenaded by angels from heaven; foreigners who practice a different religion are among the first to be invited to meet the Christ child; and an unwed, pregnant teenager becomes the mother of God. Once again, God chooses the foolish and the weak to transform the world; God stands with the poor, the outsider, the last and the least that they might be first in the kin-dom, that their souls, in the words of the carol, might feel their worth, that their weary hearts might feel the thrill of hope. But God doesn’t stop there. As the final verse of “O Holy Night” expresses so beautifully, God is clear about how we are each called to respond to that thrill of hope, to that great good news that our souls do have worth in the eyes of the Creator. We are to love one another, to abide by God’s law of love and to preach Christ’s gospel of peace. We are called to recognize every enslaved person as our brother, our sister, and to work to break the chains of oppression in all its many forms: poverty, hunger, addiction, racism, loneliness, greed. When we hear the Christmas story, when we listen to the beautiful words and music of Placide Cappeau, Adolphe Adam, and John Sullivan Dwight, we should ask ourselves, “What am I doing to give others the thrill of hope? What can I do to break the chains of oppression? How can I show others the worth of their soul?” There is a weary world out there in need of hope. There are people in need of love and peace and justice. Do we have a song to sing to them, a story to tell them of a new and glorious morn? I believe that we do. I believe that we, like Reginald Fessenden, are meant to sing that song out into the night sky, even though we’re not sure anyone will hear it. We sing because we have faith, trusting that someone is listening, and maybe, just maybe, because they hear us, will no longer be afraid to sail upon the deep. May it be so. All of us here at the Maine Council of Churches wish you the blessings of hope, peace, love and joy this Christmas and in the New Year,  Rev. Jane Field, Executive Director Maine Council of Churches 202 Woodford Street | Portland, ME 04103 www.mainecouncilofchurches.org Click here to read the whole Advent Blog series. |
Woman’s Society Meets December 21, 7 pm
UPDATE: Cancelled due to storm; Rescheduled for Thursday, December 21, at 7pm
This month, Woman’s Society will meet at Dorothy Curtis’s home at 7pm on Monday, December 18.
There will be carol singing, a gift exchange, and a potluck supper.
All are welcome!
Friends School of Portland Potluck and Contradance, January 27, 4:30 to 7:00
“Returning to the Land” Webinars from Toward Right Relationship
UPDATE: Peace and Social Concerns is asking that Friends meet at the Meetinghouse to view these webinars together (and to do the readings suggested beforehand). .
The Peace & Social Concerns Committee at Durham Friends Meeting Invite you to a Webinar Series, January-February 2024:
“Returning to the Land” by Nia To Go There (Cree)
Nia To Go There, PhD will offer a series of four webinars that are co-sponsored by Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples and Decolonizing Quakers (both national Quaker organizations). Nia will recommend short readings for each program.
January 13, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Cultural Perspectives.” Readings for this first session are AT THIS LINK.
January 27, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Seeing with a Native Eye.” Readings for this second session are AT THIS LINK.
February 10, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Colonization.” Readings for this third session are AT THIS LINK.
February 24, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Decolonization.”
Durham Friends look forward to some collective thinking about how we bring the important messages from these sessions home to Maine.
We hope to see you for all or some of these sessions at our Meetinghouse, 532 Quaker Meetinghouse Rd, Durham ME 04222.
Please contact Ingrid Chalufour at ichalufour@gmail.com with questions or to ask to have recommended readings forwarded to you.
Unprogrammed Worship, Christmas Eve (December 24), 5pm
beginning 5pm
Meetinghouse Use Guidelines, 2024
Durham Friends Meeting continues to monitor the health risks associated with COVID and other infectious diseases, and adjusts these guidelines for Meetinghouse use from time to time.
We hold worship services at our Meetinghouse every Sunday. On the 1st, 2nd and 3d Sundays (First Days) of each month, we also provide the opportunity to participate via ZOOM.
We use air purifiers in the worship room. Please use them for all meetings and events. You may temporarily move an air purifier from the worship room to another room that you are using for a smaller meeting. Please return it to the Meeting room after your event. We also ask that you turn on overhead fans when using the worship room
Masks are no longer required in the Meetinghouse. For the safety of those choosing to continue wearing a mask, there is a section of the Meeting room where we ask that no one without a mask should sit. We have a supply of masks available at the entrances to the meetinghouse.
We ask that those who feel If you feel even the slightest bit unwell, please stay home and join us on Zoom. If you come down with Covid within 3 days of attending a meeting at the meetinghouse, please contact us so that we may let others know.
Fellowship before and after meetings is encouraged. We are continuing to be cautious about serving food, but coffee and tea are available after Meeting for Worship.
COMMITTEE AND OTHER MEETINGS
Meetings and events should be scheduled on the Durham Friends Meeting calendar. Committee clerks can schedule meetings; others need to contact our Trustees for scheduling events. At present the trustee to contact is Sarah Sprogell. There is a link to the calendar on the Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends website. Note if it is a Zoom meeting, in person, or hybrid.
These guidelines apply to all members and attenders, as well as families or any group seeking to hold memorial services or similar events.
Training to Be a Volunteer in Support of New Mainers
From the United Way of Mid Coast Maine, lifted up by Peace and Social Concerns
For those interested in volunteering with the New Mainers in Brunswick!
I am pleased to announce that we will be holding a public volunteer orientation on December 11th and December 14th at Curtis Memorial Library in the Morrell Meeting Room from 2 pm until 4 pm on both days.
The orientation will include:
- Overview of New Mainer Needs/ Background
- Cultural Competency
- Expectations of Volunteers
- Panelist discussion with community organizations
- Opportunity to sign up for volunteer opportunities
Please sign up for one of the two days at this link: https://volunteer.uwmcm.org/event/
Again, thank you so much and I hope to see you in a few weeks. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!
Best, Maggie Cummings, Community Response Coordinator, United Way of Mid Coast Maine
34 Wing Farm Pkwy, #201, Bath ME 04530
Phone: 207-295-3876
Main Office: 207-443-9752
Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples: Upcoming Online Webinars and Workshops
Peace and Social Concerns commends these online programs being sponsored by Friends Peace Teams:
Upcoming ONLINE Webinars and Workshops December 4, 7pm EASTERN, 4pm PACIFIC: “Assimilate or Be Exterminated” by David Raymond (Mi’kmaw descendant). For much of their existence, the Quaker Yearly Meetings of Turtle Island and Britain pursued the eradication of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures and matriarchies as a means to save Indigenous Peoples from the supposed necessity of extermination (mass killing). David Raymond will examine Quaker writings and deeds from the late 18th century to the present and will offer reflections on the impact of the truth on his faith journey. Co-sponsored by Decolonizing Quakers. REGISTER HERE. January-February 2024: “Returning to the Land” by Nia To Go There (Cree) Nia To Go There, PhD will offer a series of four webinars that are co-sponsored by Decolonizing Quakers. We recommend registering for all four, although this is not required. Nia will recommend short readings for each program. January 13, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Cultural Perspectives.” REGISTER HERE. January 27, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Seeing with a Native Eye.” REGISTER HERE. February 10, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Colonization.” REGISTER HERE. February 24, 3:30-5 pm EASTERN, 12:30-2 pm PACIFIC: “Returning to the Land: Decolonization.” REGISTER HERE.  “Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples” Workshop In this 2-hour participatory program, we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States. The story is told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. We engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussions. And we are invited to consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity. Facilitated by TRR’s Native and non-Native teams. Appropriate for high school students and adults. Two opportunities to join: January 21, 4-6 pm EASTERN, 1-3 pm PACIFIC. REGISTER HERE. February 18, 4-6 pm EASTERN, 1-3 pm PACIFIC. REGISTER HERE. During the Holidays:Visit Tribal Museumshttps://www.indian-affairs.org/tribalmuseumsday-public-map.html Give Gifts from Native American Artists and Businesses For your holiday shopping (and all year round) please consider purchasing gifts from Native American and Indigenous artists and businesses. Here are some websites where you can browse: 10 Buffalos Art by Shana Yellow Calf Lukinich, Northern Arapaho in Wyoming Earrings from Native HarvestNative Harvest for Ojibwe-made gifts (baskets, jewelry, maple syrup, more) Partnership with Native Americans: Buy Native, American Indian Services, 12 Indigenous-Owned Businesses to Shop this Holiday Sacred Circle Gifts and Art Native Owned (Etsy) A List from Good Housekeeping Business Insider’s list of 41 Native-owned businesses New York magazine’s list of 24 Best Gifts from Indigenous-owned Brands Parade Magazine, 24 Indigenous-Owned Businesses Support Native Media and Organizations Subscribe to these Native e-newsletters and support them: Native News OnlineIndian Country TodayThese and other Native organizations will appreciate your donation: National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, boardingschoolhealing.orgThe Mission of NABS is to work to ensure a meaningful and appropriate response from responsible agencies for those Native American individuals, families, and communities victimized by the United States’ federal policy of forced boarding school attendance and to secure redress from responsible institutions in order to support lasting and true community-directed healing. Native American Rights Fund, narf.orgFounded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide. Seventh Generation Fund, 7genFund.orgSeventh Generation Fund promotes and maintains the uniqueness and sovereignty of our distinct Native Nations by offering advocacy, small grants, trainings and technical assistance to Indigenous communities. Indigenous Environmental Network, ienearth.orgIEN is an alliance of grassroots Indigenous Peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation by strengthening, respecting, and maintaining traditional teachings and natural laws. Indigenous Law Institute, ili.nativeweb.orgThe Indigenous Law Institute assists American Indian and other Indigenous communities to work toward a future of restoration and healing. They do this by working to develop a radically new basis for thinking about Native rights, from a Traditional Native Law perspective, and by contending that Native nations and peoples have an inherent right to live free of all forms of empire and domination. American Indian College Fund, collegefund.org The American Indian College Fund transforms Indian higher education by Funding and creating awareness of the unique, community-based accredited tribal colleges and universities, offering students access to knowledge, skills, and cultural values which enhance their communities and the country as a whole. IllumiNative, illuminative.org IllumiNative is a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of—and challenging the narrative about—Native peoples. Indigenous Language Institute, ilinative.orgThe Indigenous Language Institute provides vital language related service to Native communities so that their individual identities, traditional wisdom, and values are passed on to future generations in their original languages. Indian Land Tenure Foundation, iltf.orgThe ILTF serves American Indian nations and people in the recovery and control of their homelands. Follow Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples on social mediaConnect to us on Facebook and Instagram! Upcoming events are regularly posted on social media and to our website: https://friendspeaceteams.org/upcoming-events DonateIf you’d like to donate to support the work of Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples, you can send money online here — be sure to choose TRR — or you can mail a check to Friends Peace Teams and write “TRR” on the memo line: Friends Peace Teams, 1001 Park Ave., St. Louis, MO 63104. Thank you! Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples is a program of |
Interested in Traveling to Cuba in Spring 2025?
Are you interested in traveling to Cuba to visit our sister meeting in Velasco? Or are you interested in supporting those who go? We’re excited to share that Durham and Portland Meetings will be sending a delegation to visit Velasco Cuba in early Spring 2025 as a part of the Puente de Amor between New England Friends and Cuban Friends.
If you are interested in going or helping those who go, or just want to find out more, please contact Fritz Weiss (rossvall.weiss@gmail.com, 802-299-7660) by January 1.
The Portland/Durham/Velasco Sister Meetings committee will organize an informational session in January to talk about details. Members of the delegation we sent in February 2023 will be with us.
Donations to the Food Security Project for Bolivian Families
UPDATE 23.11.20 from Emma Condori Mamani, Director of FIBC
I am writing to you to share the joy about our successful Seed Potatoes Food Security Project done through Friends International Bilingual Center. Bolivian young Friends and I were able to distribute the seed potatoes until Nov. 11th, 2023. With the favor of God, 309 Bolivian families who live in the highland, received 125 pounds of seed potatoes per family. We, Bolivians, thank God with all our heart for this service work project. Also, we thank Friends who donated for this food security project. We bless Friends who have prayed for us, and they are still praying for the rain now. We are grateful to God for giving love and courage to Bolivian young adult Friends who did volunteering work for this project. And our gratitude to our Friends who support us to run the FIBC by giving donations, so we can do work to take care of others.
We will continue working on this Food Security Project if God opens the way to do this work. Families are happy because they were able to sow the potatoes this year. They will have to wait for the harvest until next March, though. Meanwhile, there is a need for food to sustain their families. So, we will start distributing potatoes, oil and sugar to families in January, 2004 as part of our third stage of the Food Security Project.
There are four brief articles as reports in order to share the wonderful stories and the photos about this seed potatoes project. The Seed Potatoes reports can be read on our website: “Projects button”. Quienes somos | FIBC (centrobilingueinternacionalamigos.org). Enjoy reading them!
We send our gratitude to the Durham Friends Meeting for their generosity by supporting our Food Security Project with $1,300. And blessings to all of you.
Emma Condori Mamani, Director of FIBC
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ORIGINAL POST 23.07.19. At its July 16, 2023 business meeting, Durham Monthly Meeting approved a donation of $500 from our Charity Fund to the Food Security Project for Bolivian Families. This can be supplemented by additional personal donations.
Friend Emma Condori Mamani, the Director of the Friends International Bilingual Center of Bolivia, brought the message to Durham on July 16th, and attended our Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. She shared details about the FIBC’s emergency food project for Indigenous communities in the Bolivian Highlands.
If other Friends are led to contribute, earmarked donations made payable and mailed to Durham Friends, received by August 1, will be included in one check. An overview about the project plus contact information are found in the flyer.
We are grateful to Emma for her ministry and to New England Yearly Meeting for making it possible for Emma to travel among Friends and meetings in New England, as she is the Bible Half Hour presenter at our annual sessions in August.
“Why Peace with Justice? Reflections on a Quaker Delegation to Israel/Palestine” with Steve Chase via Zoom on November 12, 2023
On November 12, from 7-9 PM, Steve Chase (formerly of Putney Meeting) will present his reflections and observations from his summer trip to Israel and Palestine with Max Carter.
His most recent article in Friends Journal can be found here:
Steve is also the author of the Pendle Hill Pamphlet 445, “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions? A Quaker Zionist Rethinks Palestinian Rights” as well as “Letters to a Fellow Seeker”. All are welcome.
Please register for this event at https://lu.ma/wl2whc5y
This event is sponsored by the Israel-Palestine Resource Group of New England Yearly Meeting which is under the care of the Permanent Board. To contact us, please write to israel-palestine@neym.org. Our resource page is available here:https://neym.org/israel-palestine-resource-group
We hope to see you on November 12.
Don’t forget to register https://lu.ma/wl2whc5y.
It’s the only way to connect on Zoom.
— From Leslie Manning, Durham ME and 3 Rivers Worship Group, Convenor
Registration for Friends Camp Opens November 4, 2023 for Summer 2024
Registration for Friends Camp for summer 2024 opens on November 4. Click here to register. More information follows.
Woman’s Society Minutes, October 16, 2023
Announcement: Woman’s Society will meet next at 7pm on November 20 at the Meetinghouse, with zoom participation as an option.
Minutes, Durham Friends Woman’s Society October 16, 2023
Present: Qat Langelier, Dorothy Curtis, Kim Bolshaw, Nancy Marstaller
- We plan to hold our next meeting in person at the meetinghouse, with zoom as an option, Monday November 20 at 7 PM.
- We are sending thinking of you cards to several Friends.
- We just received the new Blueprints, but not everyone has them yet. Kim read a program from the ’21-22 Blueprints: Cynthia Steele’s In the Midst of it all, His Eye is on the Sparrow. Cynthia is now president of the USFWI.
She spoke of working as a nurse during the pandemic, and shared scripture verses that helped her during that time. Those verses spoke of seeking and accepting God’s blessings, and the opportunities we have to rest in God if we feel anxious or overwhelmed.
Friends had different reactions to the restrictions imposed by the efforts to control the pandemic. One liked the time to work outdoors and be with children, while another felt crowded in her small home with children and visitors staying for a time. Relationships could be strained at times, leading to misunderstandings, and it was hard to watch when family members were not as careful as hoped. We agreed with the reminder from a Friend: We need to be friends of each other, as well as Friends of the Truth/Jesus.
- Dorothy read her Triennial travel minute, which was signed by Cynthia Steele. She will make a copy for our minutes binder.
- Dorothy just finished a quilt for Skai Soltys- newborn son of Tess Marstaller and Jaime Soltys. Tess is Nancy’s niece. Nancy mailed the quilt today, as they live in San Francisco. Another recent quilt Dorothy made was for Cindy and Paul Wood’s son; he and his wife recently had a baby boy.
Qat mentioned that both her sons still love and care for their quilts!
- The treasurer’s report was accepted. We have received money toward 1 membership and 3 Blueprints and a late auction payment. The $800 earned from the auction has been sent to the LACO Food Pantry. $46 was paid for Blueprints and their postage.
Membership dues for USFWI are $10 this year. Blueprints plus postage is $6.50. We have $185 in our account. From the $200 given in memory of Kitsie Hildebrandt we approved donating $50 each to SASSMM, Wayfinder Schools, and New Beginnings.
- Nancy will lead the program next month.
- We will pray especially for friends with health concerns.
- Minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.
- On Saturday Oct. 14 the USFW-Northeast region met on zoom with 12 present. They shared their experiences at the Triennial. No date or place has been set yet for the spring meeting.
- The October Tedford meal was chili, cornbread, vegetarian soup, fruit, cider, and ice cream.
- Dorothy closed the meeting with this poem by Grenville Kleiser:
THANK GOD
Thank God for dawn,
The songs of birds,
