Durham Friends Meeting Minutes, January 19, 2025

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Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, January 19, 2025, with  eleven  people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and three by Zoom.

1.     Meeting Opening:

Clerk Nancy Marstaller opened the meeting with a reading by Thomas Kelly.
And the third step in holy obedience, or cousel, is this: If you slip and stumble
and forget God for an hour, and assert your old proud self, and rely upon your own
clever wisdom, don’t spend too much time in anguised regrets and self-accusations,
but begin again, just where you are.
Yet a fourth consideration in holy obedience is this: Don’t grit your teeth
and clench your fists and say, “I will! I will!” Relax. Take hands off. Submit
yourself to God. Learn to live in the passive voice — a hard saying for modern
man — and let life be willed through you. For “I will” spells not obedience.

2.     Approval of Minutes of December 2024  – Ellen Bennett

                        Meeting approved the December minutes.

3.     Rotation of Clerks

        Clerk reviewed the rotation of Clerks through 2025.

              Nancy Marstaller: January, February, March                                                                 

              Sarah Sprogell: April, May, June

              Tess Hartford/Renee Cote: July, August, September

              Ingrid Chalufour: October, November, December

4.     Nominating Report — Wendy Schlotterbeck

Regarding term limits, for this year, people will be asked if they would like to continue their committee work through 2025. Going forward, three-year terms will resume with people being asked at the end of each term if they would be willing to continue. This is an issue that will be  talked about at the retreat to be held February 8th.

Additional retreat topics will include the number of standing committees, Meeting priorities, and how we can best continue our work and meet our needs without overtaxing people.

The full list of position and committee responsibilities within the Meeting was read. Please see attached.

      Meeting approved the list of Meeting members, committee assignments, and responsibilities for 2025.

      Meeting approved the addition of Martha Hinshaw-Sheldon as member of the nominating committee.

Note: If anyone has suggestions about the upcoming retreat, please contact Renee, Tess or Leslie. Further information about the retreat will be added to the Meeting website.

5.     Clerks Group Meeting Care Coordinator Recommendation.

As approved at the December Meeting for Business, the clerks’ group met and agreed to bring forward the recommendation that the position of Meeting Care Coordinator continue through 2025.

             Meeting approved the clerks recommendation, with gratitude.

6.     Ministry and Counsel — Tess Hartford

      The position of Meeting Care Coordinator (MCC) was reviewed.

      The MCC Oversight Committee consists of representatives from M&C, the Communication Committee, and Peace and Social Concerns: Renee Cote, Doug Bennett, and Ingrid Chalufour.

      The MCC Care and Accountability Committee consists of Linda Muller, Martha Hinshaw Sheldon, and Joyce Gibson.

      Meeting approved a process reviewing and approving the MCC position at the December meeting — first to have M&C review and recommend the continuation of the position itself, and second to have the Oversight Committee recommend an individual to take on the MCC responsibilities.

          Meeting approved the proposal for M&C make its recommendation no later than November.

          Meeting approved the proposal for the Oversight Committee to make its recommendation no later than November.

Meeting approved Leslie Manning continue as MCC for 2025

The ability of Meeting attendees to hear what is being said was discussed. The recommendation was made to start with a podium microphone to see if it is adequate to address the issue of being heard, both in the meeting-room as well as on Zoom. It was also noted that speakers need to be reminded to speak within the circle outlined on the floor, not down or into a book, and to project. It was agreed to test a podium mike at the 1/27 meeting, which while unprogrammed, may give us a sense of the usefulness of a microphone.

7.     Makers Group Report — Doug Bennett

Mission of Makers Group was discussed, reinforcing its goal of outreach to the wider community, providing a screen-free place to interact and enjoy broadening our community of friends.

8.     Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour

Ingrid read the report.Please see report.

9.     Trustees — Sarah Sprogell

Please see report. Clerks recommended giving prior approval to Trustees to give the piano to another person if so asked.

                Meeting approved this recommendation

        Sarah Sprogell remains the contact for cemetery issues.

10.   Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller

There was no monthly report. The annual report for 2024 will be brought to the February Meeting.

Respectfully submitted, Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

Attachments HERE

Woman’s Society Meeting Minutes, December 16, 2024

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Friends gathered at Dorothy Curtis’ Home for the Annual December Meeting and Christmas Party.  

Present: Dorothy Curtis, President, Nancy Marstaller, Kim Bolshaw, Linda Muller, Wendy Schlotterbeck, Krisna Evans, Theresa Oleksiw. On Zoom: Susan Gilbert, Secretary.

Cards: Kim will send cards to Friends.

Program and Devotions: Dorothy read a children’s book to us, “Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect” by Richard H. Schneider. Set in the Carpathian Mountains, the author gave human traits to evergreen trees. In beautiful perfection, each tree desired to be cut and placed in the castle for the Queen. One little tree sacrificed its’ beauty and stretched branches to hide a rabbit from wild dogs, gave a wren cover in a storm, and was food for a starving fawn. In this process, the tree’s form became irregular. The Queen, at first critical, acknowledged that living for others made one beautiful in the eyes of God, and chose the little pine for her Christmas tree.

Minutes: Susan read the 11.18.’24 minutes written by Nancy Marstaller. 

Treasurer’s Report: Nancy paid $60. in dues to the Northeast America region of USFWI.  Our account has $180.58. The $80. proceeds from our silent auction will be given to Tedford Housing. 

Tedford Meal: Team A, lead by Kim Bolshaw, brought rotisseried chicken, carrots with ranch dressing and ice cream. January’s dinner will be made by Team B, led by Nancy Marstaller. Durham Friends provide a meal on the first Monday of each month. Contributions of food or money to buy food for the meal are always welcome.

Other Business: Linda Muller reported that the mitten tree yielded 4 hats, 30 pairs of mittens, I scarf, 1 pair of gloves and 1 pair of socks. This was delivered on 12.21for the 12.22 annual Wabanaki solstice gathering as gifts for their youth group. Nancy would like to host another meeting at her home, in March or April. We discussed how the WS could contribute to the Maker’s Night.

Dorothy ended the meeting with a reading from Phillipians 44:

 Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.

After the meeting, names were drawn for our gift exchange, and cookies and tea were enjoyed amid conversation and laughter.

Respectfully Submitted, Susan Gilbert

Agenda and Materials for January 19, 2025 Business Meeting

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The agenda and materials for the January 19, 2025 Durham Friends Business Meeting are HERE.

Jan. 19, 2025 MM Agenda     

Approve last month’s minutes (December 15, 2024)

Approve rotation of clerks

Nominating report

Retreat update

Clerks group recommendation re continuing MCC position this year

Ministry and Counsel

Makers Café group report

Peace and social concerns

Trustees

Finance

“It Is a Gift, And It Is a Choice We Make,” by Doug Bennett

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, January 12, 2025

Christmas is mostly behind us, now.  I had a lovely Christmas, and I hope you did, too.  And because Christmas is a time of giving and receiving gifts, I’ve been thinking about gifts. 

It started with thinking about the three Kings.  This past Monday was the day they finally arrived to present their gifts to the baby Jesus — or at least that’s the day we celebrate their arrival.  A few days later, I imagine, the Magi are still making their way home – and going there by a longer route to avoiding telling King Herod about the location of the Messiah – having been warned in a dream. 

And I’ve been thinking about The Other Wise Man, a fictional character Henry VanDyke dreamed up in 1895.  VanDyke imagined a Fourth Wise Man who sets out to join the three others.  This one – his name is Artaban – carries a sapphire, a ruby and a pearl to give to the Messiah.  Time after time his journey is interrupted by some person in need.  And to help them, he gives away his gems, one after another.  He doesn’t catch up with Jesus until he himself is impoverished, and it is years later.  It turns out he encounters Jesus, finally, only at the Crucifixion.  And he hears a voice say, “Verily I say unto thee, Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” [Matthew 25:40]  This Fourth Wise Man realizes his gifts have been received and accepted.  Artaban never gave the gems to Jesus, but they were appreciated all the more.  That story was a favorite of my father.  He read it to my sisters and I each Christmas. 

So I’ve been thinking about gifts.  Yes, about gifts like gold, frankincense and myrrh, and, yes, about gifts like sapphires, rubies and pearls. 

But much more than that, however, I’ve been thinking about what is a gift, and about what it means to us to give and to receive gifts. 

That journey of the Three Kings was two millennia ago.  Here in Maine, in the present… 

“Present:”  that word means “now” but it also means “a gift.  Now isn’t that interesting?  It isn’t a trick or a coincidence.  Both meanings of “present” have the same original Latin root.   Do we use the word both ways because our ‘now’ is a ‘present’?  a gift?  I think so.  That’s what’s really on my mind this morning:  the present, the here and now, as a gift.  But like the Three Kings, I want to take a longer road to that recognition. 

As I was saying, here in Maine, in the present, the days are again getting longer.  There’s more daylight early in the morning and more again later in the afternoon.  In a few months, warmer weather will return.

You know the basic deal.  This planet earth on which we live rotates on an axis.  One full rotation makes a day.  The axis is canted a little to one side.  The northern half of the planet is currently tilted away from the sun.  That’s why we have shorter and colder days now.  The earth revolves around a medium-size star, the sun.  One full revolution makes a year.  Our planet (and several others) and our sun are part of a much larger collection of stars and planets and other celestial stuff that make up the Milky Way Galaxy.  There are billions of stars in our galaxy, and that galaxy is one of billions (maybe trillions) in the universe.  All the galaxies are moving outward, rapidly, from some ancient center point when and where there was a Big Bang billions of years ago.  Mostly this world where we are is just a lot of rocks and dust in motion, isn’t it?

Still, our planet has life on it, lots of life, including human life.  Probably, there is life on other plants in the universe. But only on a tiny percentage of them.  That human life on our planet is full of all manner of things: politics and science, gossip and exercise, work and goofing off, eating and sleeping.  Courage and wickedness.  All of these and more.  Because of life, it’s a more complicated, more interesting, more puzzling, world. 

What do we make of this world, this galaxy, this universe we live in, with all that it contains, bad and good?  For many people – if they think of it at all – it’s just how things are.  It’s neutral.  It just is.  It’s odorless, tasteless – meaningless.  Sometimes the ways things are delights us; sometimes the way things are troubles us.  Most of the time, the ways things are doesn’t much catch our attention.  It’s just there. 

We may think of all-there-is in this neutral, just-there sort of way, but we don’t have to.  There’s a choice here.  We can also see the way things are (however they are) as a gift.  And gifts are special, don’t you think?  Gifts surprise us.  They delight us.  And they connect us better to one another. Gift-giver to gift-receiver. 

Every morning I wake up; every morning you wake up, and there is the world laid out in front of us.  The world in all its splendor and beauty.  Also, of course, the world with all its problems and troubles.  It isn’t all frankincense and rubies.  When we wake, tomorrow morning, how will we receive that world out there before us?  Will we see it as just-what-is?  Or will we see it, the present, as a gift?

It’s a choice, and a very important one I’m thinking. 

A German mystic once said, “the wondrous thing is not how the world is, it is that the world is.”

Every day, in every way I’m surrounded by people who greet the world each morning in that ‘just-there’, neutral kind of way.  It’s very easy – it’s a temptation, I think – to join them in looking at the world this way, this world with its joys and splendors, its brutality and its troubles, its selfishness and its generosity.  The common way is to see it as a just-there world. 

My New Year’s Resolution this year is to awaken each day to the present, to the gift that is the present.  I don’t want to take it for granted.  This world isn’t anything I’ve earned; it’s nothing I deserve.  This world, this being-here, is a most astonishing gift I can imagine. Even when it’s ugly or painful.  I want to live in that present, in the realization of that gift. 

I learned to write thank-you notes when I was a child.  Probably you did, too.  My parents (especially my Mother) made sure my sisters and I wrote thank you notes for each of the gifts we received at Christmas.  I now see the importance of that.

But this present, this world-before-us, is a gift from who?  Who do I thank?  Well, God, of course.  To see the present as a gift is to open the door to recognizing Creation and a Creator.  To receive this gift is to open the door to seeing the world, the present, the all-there-is, as something special, something sacred.  It’s to open the door to being religious. 

It’s a choice to see it that way.  Today it may be an unusual choice, but it is a crucial one. 

And what do we give in return?  Gift-giving is mutual.  You give to me; I give to you.  If God has given us the gift of the present, the gift of the sacred present, what do we give in return?  I don’t think we can improve much on the final stanza of Christina Rossetti’s Christmas Carol, which we sang recently as “In the Bleak Midwinter.” 

What can I give Him,
  Poor as I am? —
If I were a Shepherd
  I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
  I would do my part, —
Yet what I can I give Him, —
  I can give my heart.

                                                Christina Rossetti, A Christmas Carol, 1872

It’s a choice how we see this world: ‘just-there’ or ‘a gift’.  Is this world just ‘stuff’, just ‘this and that’, just rocks and dust and living things?  Or is this world ‘a gift’ – with possibilities and meanings and obligations? Is this world a secular place, or a sacred place, a holy land through and through? 

This gift of life, this gift of the present is the most important gift we receive, and we receive it  every day.  This gift colors everything.  Let us be reverent and thankful.  Let us give our hearts. 

Also posted on River View Friend

Request for Contributions of Medicines and Other Health Products for Cuban Friends

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Mimi Marstaller and Kristna Evans will soon be traveling to Cuba as part of a larger NEYM group to visit Cuban Friends including members of our sister Meeting there. 

They will be taking some medicines and other health products with them because these are difficult/impossible to purchase in Cuba.  Below is a list of the items they have been asked to bring with them.  If you would like to contribute such items, please bring them to the Meetinghouse by February 1.

Thank you.

Acetaminophen, adult

Acetaminophen, children

Paracetamol

Ibuprofen

Aleve (naproxen sodium)

Vitamins for women

Vitamins for men

Vitamins for children

Allergy relief (loratadine)

Omega 3

Vitamin C tablets

Nystatin vaginal tablets

Antidiarrheal (Imodium)

Antacids for heartburn

Triple antibiotic creams

Anti-itch cream (cortisone)

Clotrimazole antifungal cream

Zinc oxide antifungal cream

Muscle relaxant tablets

Muscle relaxing creams

Menthol cream

Mouthwash tablets

Toothbrushes

Anti-dandruff product

Ace bandages

Joint compression support

Blood pressure sleeve

Reading glasses

Amoxicillin

Asthma inhalers

About the Maker Sessions and Maker Café

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Each month, we are holding Maker Sessions and Maker Cafes at our Durham Friends Meetinghouse, generally on the the 4th Thursday of each Month. Each such event is publicized on the DurhamFriendsMeeting.org website and also on the MakerCafe.org website.

Here at Durham Friends Quaker Meeting, we’re trying to provide a welcoming, offline place for folks to hang out, learn, and connect. We want to share our Meetinghouse with a wider community. We want to help neighbors meet neighbors and help people learn how to make things, together.

A US public health advisory was published in 2023 called Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. Among many other factors, the report highlights how screen-based technology negatively impacts social connections. Further, the growing political divide has spooked many of us to stay home and not engage with our neighbors. In response to these trends, we’re trying to help people get out and get together more. With neighbors. In our historic Meetinghouse.

Maker Sessions (5:30-6:30) are held prior to each café and require advance sign-up and typically a materials fee. All materials are provided and you go home with something you made.

Maker Cafes (6:30 to 8:30) are free although donations are accepted for the food, drinks, and for the musicians. The Maker Café is run entirely by volunteers. Please join us.

For questions or to volunteer, please contact Craig Freshley: Craig@Freshley.com.

Maker Session and Cafe, Thursday, January 23, 5:30 to 9:00 pm

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ABOUT the Maker Cafe at Durham Friends Meeting

MAKER SESSION: Learn How to Make Prayer Flags with Nancy Marstaller, 5:30 – 7:30 pm on Thursday January 23, 2025

Advance sign up required. Email Craig@Freshley.com to reserve your spot.

For this session, $5-$10 to be collected on site.

Nancy will provide all materials and instructions. You will be able to take home prayer flags that you made yourself. The Prayer Flags Maker Session will go from 5:30pm until about 7:00pm when the Cafe starts.

CAFE: 7:00 – 9:00 pm on Thursday January 23, 2025

Hot drinks, snacks, and light supper available. All ages, genders, and beliefs welcome. No Charge, donations welcome

Please bring a project of your own to work on. Some knitting? Mending? Painting? Sculpting? Crafting? Carving? And if you don’t bring a project, that’s okay too.

Please don’t bring your phone or other screen-based devices. This is an offline place where we try to connect with what we’re doing and who we’re with.

Live music by The Peterson String Band!

Falmouth Quarterly Meeting, January 25, 2025, 9am

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Falmouth Quarterly Meeting will gather on Saturday January 25th at Portland Friends Meeting (1837 Forest Ave., Portland Maine). Friends are invited to arrive for fellowship at 9:00 for a full day together.

When asked: “What do we most need to do to save the world?” Thich Nhat Hanh replied “What we most need to do is to hear within ourselves the sounds of the world crying.”

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 fellowship.  All are welcome.  Here’s the  zoom link  for those who would like to attend remotely.

The schedule for our time together is:

9:00 arrival, coffee, hot water, bagels and fellowship.

9:30 program – Sharing and exploring, both as individuals and meetings, what these times require. We hope to start by naming what we need, and what are we given.  And then move to considering the question: How we, in this time, can do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with Spirit?

11:45 A brief question about the Quarter’s archives. 

12:00 lunch & visiting. – There will be a pot of soup. Please bring whatever else you might need or would like to contribute.  

1:00 Afternoon Listening and Visioning Session on our yearly meeting’s annual gathering (sessions) Recent years have brought many changes, both internal and external, to the context and circumstances surrounding NEYM Annual Sessions. These include increasing costs, diminished capacity to pay on the part of many Friends and families, reduced and shifting patterns of attendance, increased demand for supportive services and capacities, reductions in volunteer availability, and growing awareness of the need to focus and prioritize limited attention and resources.

In light of all of these changes, the Yearly Meeting’s model of programming, logistics, services, and funding for the event of Annual Sessions is in need of review and reimagining. We will hold a facilitated discussion to inform any future plans.

Durham Friends Meeting Minutes, December 15, 2024

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Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, December 15, 2024, with twelve people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and four by Zoom.

1.   Meeting Opening:

        Ingrid Chalufouropened the meeting with a moment of silence, followed by the introduction of guest Shirley Hager. Shirley joined the meeting to answer questions about a proposed Wabanaki Elder in Residence Program. There was a question about role of the University of Maine, as an institution, in support of the program. The response was that everyone has been verbally very supportive. Moreover, the institution will take no money for overhead costs. There is a Wabanaki Center on the U. Maine campus that would be the location of the Elder program. Will funding to support this come from the world beyond Quakerism? The plan is to start with Quaker Meeting support, and then expand outward. There has already been funding success from individuals outside the world of Quakers..

Discussion was followed by a reading from Active Hope: What. is Active Hope?

“The word hope has. two different meanings. The first involves hopefulness, where our preferred outcomes seem reasonably likely to happen. If we require this kind of hope before we commit ourselves to an action, our response gets blocked in areas where we don’t rate our chances high…. 

“The second meaning is about desire…. It is this kind of hope that starts our journey – knowing what we hope for and what we’d like, or love, to take place. It is what we do with this hope that really makes the difference. Passive hope is about waiting for external agencies to bring about what we desire. Active Hope is about becoming active participants in bringing about what we hope for.

“Active Hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have. It is a process we can apply to any situation….”

from Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone

2.     Approval of Minutes of November 2024  – Ellen Bennett

                        Meeting approved the November minutes.

3.     Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller

Last month’s proposal to move $3,600 from checking to the Sister Meeting Fund to help pay for our travelers to go to Cuba, and carry the maximum donation allowable, was reviewed.

                Meeting approved the transfer of funds.

The proposed 2025 budget was reviewed, noting changes from last month that included: putting $3,600 in Sister Meeting fund, correcting facility insurance and Quickbooks on line amounts, and removing the cost of binding meeting minutes that will most likely happen in 2027.

                Meeting approved the budget

4.     Woman’s Society —Dorothy Curtis

Two months ago, a request was brought forward to spend $500 to support the girls’ education fund in Kenya. The request was brought forward again.

                 Meeting approved the request.

        The Memorial Minute for Kitsie Hildebrand was read.

                        Meeting approved the minute, with gratitude.

5.     Trustees Report — Sarah Sprogell

First item brought forward concerns the piano in the Gathering/Community Room. There has been some interest shown in moving the piano to a local classroom. Discussion followed, sharing ideas about the history and potential use of the piano.

The recommendation was made to let this issue season and review it again in January.

                Meeting approved this recommendation.

Update on disbursement of Eileen Babcock bequest. The Meeting will now need an attorney familiar with probate court to work on this matter. Please see report.

6.     Ad Hoc Outreach Group Report – Doug Bennett

A summary of the first Makers event was shared. Twenty people enjoyed wreath-making and one-another’s company. There are plans for Maker Sessions in Jan., Feb., and Mar.  The group debriefed and will meet again before the January event. The next Maker’s Cafe will take place January 23rd.

7.     Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour

Please refer to the report. Clerk of the committee lifted up the overwhelming support from the Brunswick Schools’ Chief Academic Officer and Principal for bringing Wabanaki Studies to all 37 classrooms at the Kate Furbish School. This is the early childhood version of the “Peace Curriculum” described by Colman McCarthy:

“Give peace a chance, yes, but why not get serious and give it a place in the curriculum: peace courses in every school, every grade, every nation. Unless we teach our children peace, someone else will teach them violence.”

8.     Bob Eaton and Wendy Batson’s transfer request

                          Meeting accepted, with regret, the transfer to Brunswick Friends Meeting

9.     Extending Leslie Manning’s Meeting Care Coordinator work

Clerks recommend extending Leslie’s work as MCC through 2025. Two questions are important to drive this process: Do we want to continue the position of MCC? And if so, who should fill that role? It was proposed that Clerks bring the recommendation this year, to continue the position, and that the MCC oversight committee bring a recommendation to have Leslie continue in this role in 2025.

                The Meeting approved this process for this year.

Regarding process, there is nothing in the job description, currently, that indicates the position would be reviewed each year. M&C is asked to consider amending the job description to include regular review and bring it back to Meeting for approval.

10.   Other Business/ Clerk Schedule for 2025

Linda  Muller is stepping out as Clerk of the Nominating Committee. Best practice is to have at least three members make up the Nominating Committee. Members of this committee are proposed and approved by Monthly Meeting. 

M&C has continued discussion about setting aside a day for a spiritual retreat. Current proposed dates are Feb. 8/9. They will be continuing this conversation.

Note that Brown Lethem will ask to transfer his membership to Claremont Meeting.

There was a recent request from a member to share their individual joy/concern to the person next to them, rather than to entire Meeting. Another suggestion is to establish prayer partnerships and re-establishing a prayer box. M&C will consider these requests and bring recommendations.

In lieu of filling the role of Meeting Clerk for 2025, the Clerks’ group propose continuing rotating clerks every three months.

                Meeting approved this schedule. 

Respectfully submitted, Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

Attachments

“Proposal for a Wabanaki Elder-in-Residence at U Maine,” by Shirley Hager

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Shirley Hager, of Winthrop Center Friends Meeting, brought the message to Durham Friends Meeting on December 15, 2024. She outlined the proposal now afoot for creating a Wabanaki Elder-in-Residence at the University of Maine. Initially, this would be a three-year pilot program, costing about $30,000 each of the three years.

The materials she distributed encouraging contributions from Quaker Meetings and individual Friends are below.

Wabanaki Elder-in-Residence ProposalDownload

Agenda and Materials for December 15, 2024 Business Meeting

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The agenda and materials for the December 15, 2024 Durham Friends Business Meeting can be found HERE.

Agenda – December 15, 2024, Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends

  1. Opportunity to ask Shirley Hager questions about the Wabanaki Elder in Residence Program

2. Approval of November Minutes

3. Finance Committee Report

4. Woman’s Society: Kitsie’s Memorial Minute and request for $500 for the Kenyan woman’s education program

5. Trustee’s report

6. Ad Hoc Outreach Group report

7. Peace & Social Concerns report

8. Bob and Wendy Eaton’s transfer request

9. Extending Leslie Manning’s work as Meeting Care Coordinator

Clerking for the next year and a suggested schedule

  • Nancy – January through March
  • Sarah – April through June
  • Tess or Renee – July and September
  • Ingrid – October through December

“Heart of Darkness,” by Shelley Randall

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, December 8, 2024

Heart of Darkness

“Jesus said, “the seeker should not stop until he finds. When he does find, he will be disturbed. After having been disturbed, he will be astonished. Then he will reign over everything. (Gospel of St. Thomas.)

Today is December 8, just shy of three weeks before we hit the winter solstice and the light begins to return, slowly. So we’re in it. The deep dark days before the light returns. Whatever is the point for us human beings around the darkness? How do we make meaning of it for us? Lately we’ve been hearing about hygge, that practice by the people of the far northern climes to honor and even revel in the darkness. We hear about the bears going into hibernation, to rest and renew. In typical western fashion we put a “happy” spin on these days of darkness. I’m all for that. Because as it turns out, I happen to be one of those people that finds the darkness to be quite useful.

Roshi Joan Halifax, a Buddhist Teacher and Abbot, founder of the Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico wrote a book about and coined the term “The Fruitful Darkness”. This is how I choose to approach this time of year.

In the early 1990s Joan Halifax, as an anthropologist and grieving daughter and ex-partner/wife, traveled to Tibet, Mexico and the Western U.S. to experience indigenous sacred practices. She wanted to understand how indigenous cultures manage personal and world wounds through initiation, storytelling, non-duality and ceremony. Roshi Halifax found that the indigenous tribe, the Utes, understand that, “[t[he secret of life is in the shadows and not in the open sun; to see anything at all, you must look deeply into the shadow of a living thing.” (The Fruitful Darkness, p. 5)

Furthermore, she writes that though this process may be difficult there is an ending and a hopeful one at that, “[t]he process of initiation can be likened to a “sacred catastrophe,” a holy failure that actually extinguishes our alienation, our loneliness, and reveals our true nature, our love. That is why we seek initiation: to heal old wounds by reentering them in order to transform our suffering into compassion.” (TFD p. 15)

Dr. Gerald G. May wrote the ominously entitled book, The Dark Night of the Soul. It is an interpretation and application of the writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, two christian mystics living in Spain in the 16th century. Both mystics spoke andwrote extensively about what they name The darkness or The dark night or in SpanishLa noche oscura- the hidden night.

And what is my experience with the Fruitful Darkness, or the dark night of the soul? It is a varied and ineffable experience that once I pass through, becomes difficult to describe. Often I am pulled into this darkness kicking and screaming, hauling out all my attachments to keep at bay the inevitable. I cling to busyness; food; sleep; my various external identities; where I’ve been, who I’ve been with, what I’ve done. Desperate to feel connected and grounded as I begin the descent into the darkness and down the rabbit hole of the feeling of purposelessness and self doubt. Who am I and where do I belong? I wail. I’m not enough, a failure! I cry out. Prostrate on the floor, sobbing, “again God, really, AGAIN”?

I recognize the futility of the external attachments I hold onto as I swim in the vast ocean of confusion and uncertainty. The personal uncertainty becomes the global uncertainty and with that, the overwhelm. And I ask, “Where is God? I don’t feel God! Where is my connection that I so rely on to soothe and comfort me, to reassure me that I’m on the right path, that we/the world is on the right path. I cast about for the energies of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, ArchAngel Michael, Green Tara, my parents, my trees and rocks and animals in whom I find solace. And there is none.

In his book, Dr. May confirms my experience of disconnection when he writes, “[a] much more unsettling experience is the loss of the sense of God’s presence, which can often feel like being abandoned by God. But Dr. May views this place of disconnection as a necessary piece of the transformative process. Much like Roshi Halifax found in her research.

So here I am in the nothing, the emptiness. Silence. I feel alone in the desert of my own humanity, separate from God and from others. And there I stay, roiled in rage; shame; self-loathing; abject fear and loneliness. Images of past betrayals and wounds fill my body and my mind. And there I stay.

Dr. May posits that John of the Cross viewed these dark nights as a gift; That the night involves relinquishing attachments and takes us into territory we avoid and, in the process, transforms us.(TDKS p. 71.)

The goal of the transformation, Dr. May writes, the dawn after the night, consists of 3 precious gifts for the human soul. First, the soul’s deepest desire is satisfied. Freed from their attachments, individuals are able to be completely in love with God and to love their neighbors as themselves. This love involves one’s whole self: actions as well as feelings. Second, the delusion of separation from god and creation is expelled; slowly one consciously realizes and enjoys essential union that has always been present. Third, the freedom of love and realization of union leads to active participation in God. Here one not only recognizes one’s own beauty and precious nature, but also shares God’s love and compassion for others in real practical service in the world.

So back to where I am waiting in the darkness, in the shadows, waiting for the storm of the wounds and betrayals to pass. Waiting for… I’m not even sure what.

Until….until… what?

Until there is a spark of something else. A glimmer of light peaks through the veil of darkness. Perhaps a momentary warmth in my heart. And the warmth grows. I may experience a change in perspective around the story of the betrayal or the wound. I may remember that while I was gnashing my teeth and deep in self pity the little voice inside me sent me nuggets of insight that I know are truth, a glimmer of the truth of who I am, really, authentically. Dr. May again confirms this experience through Teresa of Avila. He says, she especially emphasizes that, “(o)ne sees one’s own true nature with increasing clarity. Each time we approach the dawn when…we begin to glimpse ourselves through God’s eyes, we recognize more of our inherent goodness and beauty. “I can find nothing with which to compare the great beauty of a soul,” Teresa says.” (id. p.100)

My body begins to relax; the sense of absolute uncertainty and self doubt slowly dissipates. My attitude slowly changes, perhaps the lack of certainty evolves into a sense of mystery or even wonder, and, maybe I can lean into those bits of wisdom and with some curiosity.

And as I reflect back on my experience in the darkness and more importantly what happens at the end of the tunnel of darkness, I realize I am left emptier, but not in the way of feeling like I’m all alone on a desert island. The emptiness more corresponds to a lightening of a burden, like I’ve shed something. My body feels more lithe and flexible, not so stiff and rigid. Have I really healed old wounds as Roshi Halifax suggests? Iknow I was pulled into those places, I felt I had no choice. And I looked at those wounds and betrayals and felt I was once again back in them. I cried and yelled and wrote about them.

It seems that the Apostle Thomas writes about the inevitability of these nights. “Jesus said: that which is hidden will be revealed to you. Nothing hidden will fail to be displayed. (Gospel of St. Thomas 2.)

And then I got to a place where I recognized that I am who I am, a flawed human being filled with petty jealousy, selfishness, resentment, just like every other human being on this planet. And I began to soften my feelings towards myself, the judgement slipping away leaving an expansiveness, a warmth in my heart. It feels good.

How does this happen? Some would characterize it as Alchemy, others would say it is God’s Grace and still others, a miracle. I subscribe to all of the above.

So what is this warming in my heart?

This is Love and according to Teresa and John, Love as it is realized in God. and that this alchemical process, this “authentic transformation leads us to desire.” The desire to love. For John and Teresa, “the essence of all human desire is for love.” (p. 73).

Dr. May writes, “The spiritual life for Teresa and John has nothing to do with getting closer to God.” It is instead a journey of consciousness. Union with God is realized as a result of Love.” “John says the soul arrives at perfect union with God through love. This deepening of love is the real purpose of the dark night of the soul. The dark night helps us become who we are created to be: lovers of God and one another.” (TDNS pp. 46-47).

And that has been my experience. Each time I move through these dark times the process sheds something, perhaps, that thick protection around my heart that I have been convinced helps me. But John writes that the darkness “becomes our guiding night”, and Dr. May extrapolates, The night is dark for our protection”. “Deep in the darkness, way beneath our senses, God is instilling “another better love”. (Id. pp. 72-73.) And furthermore, John asserts that, “[t]his dark night is an inflow of God into the soul.” (Id. 95). And this inflow is the “loving Wisdom of God.” (id. 96)

And having shed a little more of this armour around my heart, I can move into a place of loving myself more, of loving life and God, Great Spirit, Creator more; of loving the flame within me more, and that desire to love others more.

So with that flame of brightness and light in our soul, the warmth of love burning in our hearts, let us rejoice in the darkness, let it transform us and move us into greater wisdom and greater love.

“Awakening to Creator’s Love and Truth,” by Gail Melix/Greenwater

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, December 1, 2024                                       

“Awakening to Creator’s Love and Truth: Transformation beyond the experience of historical trauma and cultural differences”

By Gail Melix/Greenwater, Sandwich Monthly Meeting, Sandwich, Massachusetts

Friends I woke up feeling sick this morning, but so wanted to share my message, so I’m here bedside. I love worshipping with you.

Wunee keesuq Neetop, Good day Friends. It’s wonderful to be back worshipping with you, thank you for the invite…. Nutus8ees, I am, Gail Melix also known as Greenwater. I belong to the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe of Patuxet, Ma., also known by the name Plymouth. I am a member of Sandwich Monthly Meeting located on Cape Cod.

I’d like to start with a thank you to my elders, Leslie Manning and Ken Jacobsen who are holding us and this space in prayer. Ken offered to bring this message for me if I could not make it, and I’m grateful for the offer. Thank you.

 In June of this year I was invited to Durham Friends Meeting and shared a message about what it is for me to be an Indigenous Quaker and to hold two faith communities. I shared with you that I need both, I need both to be whole.

I spoke to you about my deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, my excitement when I discovered the First Nations’ version of the New Testament, my despair over Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools, and the false Christianity that came with colonization to Turtle Island. It felt like there was more to be said, a second part, to bring today, including the power of hope and gratitude. My words have come from a place of unfolding worship from the past week.

What does land mean to Indigenous people? Land means home.

What if the meaning of home is more than the house you live in and the land that you own?

What if home is the Mashpee River running with herring come spring, the circling of osprey, the color of the morning sky over Punkhorn Point, the lay of the land when winter unfolds, the returning of the peepers every spring, the many colors of green in the pines and grass, the scent of warm damp earth and moss under bare feet, the garden waiting for seeds, the wind on the path between Mashpee and Wakeby Ponds, the fire for tobacco offering and prayer.

What if all these things are home? What if the heart of your home is the community you love? What if this is the meaning of home-land?

 Traditional Indigenous spirituality is land-based. The beauty of God’s creation is the visible truth of God’s existence. The web of life on earth includes all living beings, who are our relatives We are connected and interdependent on one another for health and survival. When you realize you belong to a family of…. Life on earth, this is the beginning of right relationship with Nature.  My father would say, “You take care of the Land and the Land will take care of you.” Land is a living breathing spiritual entity central to traditional beliefs, practices, and ceremonies, including song and dance. Everything is sacred. Nature teaches us and heals us; she provides us with opportunities for joy and delight that we can experience through our five senses… Sometimes I wonder if our sixth sense is our God sense, our birthright knowing of who we belong to….

The Harmony Way, a teaching for humanity, has been passed down through generations of Indigenous people as part of the original instructions for how to live in peace. Peace within ourselves and with all of creation, all forms of life. Peace and harmony are partnered and create balance. Without peace there is no justice, and there is no justice without peace. The systems of oppression, injustice, corporate greed, and annihilation of the earth, committed by the sins of cultural genocide, slavery, and white supremacy must stop… When I get overwhelmed with despair from feeling the suffering of the world, I give these concerns and my prayers to God. The Lord sometimes weeps with me. Hope and gratitude balance me. I discern what is mine to do and pray that I stay teachable.

I want to share some ways that I experience and awaken to God’s Love:

When I place my hands on a tree I feel an exchange of energy, a back and forth greeting and response. There is a sense that we are comforting one another. Even as a child I had trouble keeping my hands off my favorite trees and why should I?  Is it a surprise that we should have favorite trees, the same way we are drawn to a closeness and fondness for certain aunts, uncles, and grandparents? 

I acknowledge and honor the relationship that I have with water during my walks by squatting on the bank of the Santuit River and submerging both hands in the water long enough to leave my scent in the river. I anoint my forehead with river water so to carry her scent. I am in the river and the river is in me. After all we are about 70 % water, of course we are related. Kinfolk. Some days I am given to singing or humming to the river.  A Soft singsong that has words or not, maybe humming, is pleasing to do, and appreciated by the object of my affection. If the songs have words, they always express gratitude and may even be the words thank you repeated over and over.  Wampanoags have appointed water keepers, always women, whose service it is to sing to the water.

My relationship with Nature is one of the things that sustains me. There’s a reawakening of my inner child, that wonder and delight of experiencing the natural world. I did not surrender the curiosity and joy of childhood. The delight of being alive in this way is still a part of me. There’s a sense that something is being made right in my world that has created a wider path to my heart.

I see the face of God everywhere on my woodland walks. Over time I’ve come to the path with a greater ability for deep listening, reverence, and joy. Nature has taught me these things. Peace is easier to come by. If we bear witness to both the beauty and the suffering of all our relations we might be led to action, to be a voice for those who have no voice. The survival of life on earth as we know it depends on the relationship that humans have with Mother Earth. We protect what we love. So I come to the path with this question: What will I fall in love with today?

Retired Episcopal bishop and Choctaw citizen Steven Charleston draws on his Native American experience to navigate collective crisis: 

My ancestors did not survive the Trail of Tears-because they were set apart from the rest of humanity. Their exodus was not a sign of their exclusivity, but rather their inclusivity. In their suffering, they embodied the finite and vulnerable condition of all humanity. They experienced what the whole tribe of the human beings has experienced at one time or another throughout history: the struggle of life, the pain of oppression, and the fear of the unknown. Their long walk was the walk of every person who has known what it means to be alone and afraid. But they walked with courage and dignity because they had the hope of the Spirit within them.… 

Hope makes room for love in the world. We can all share it, we can all believe in it, even if we are radically different in every other way. We no longer need to fear our differences because we have common ground. We can hope together—therefore, hope liberates us. It frees us from our fear of the other. It opens our eyes to see love all around us. It unites us and breaks our isolation. When we decide to embrace hope—when we choose to make that our goal and our message—we release a flow of energy that cannot be overcome. Hope is a light that darkness can never contain.

So much of our life involves relationship; the relationship we have with ourselves.. with God, with other human beings, and with Nature. Everything created is Sacred, including humans, and this is one Way that God shows his Love for us. 

When I think of my two faith communities, Indigenous and Quaker, I see the deep similarities and shared core values that far outweigh our differences.  Quaker testimonies and Indigenous values share common ground. From the soil of this common ground, I see a bountiful harvest for us, ripe with the promise of deep friendships, with the accompaniment of our Holy Ones, and the blessings of Creator.  

There is joy in doing the work and despair that cries out for it.

+++

(NRSV) Mark 12:30-31, The Two Great Commandments, Jesus said, 30 ” you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

The Situation in Cuba and in Cuba Yearly Meeting, November 2024

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From the Puente de Amigos Committee

Dear Friends,

Once again we write to inform you about the work of the Puente de Amigos Committee and to ask for your financial support for our Friends in Cuba. 

Conditions in Cuba continue to deteriorate. There is rampant inflation.  Food and fuel are expensive and scarce. Common medicines are unavailable. This is largely due to our government’s decision to name Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism which prevents our allies from trade with Cuba.

 Earlier this fall there were nationwide blackouts when the country’s electrical grid failed due to its ancient infrastructure, lack of fuel and increased use of air conditioning.   People had to discard spoiled meat.   Before those blackouts Cubans already endured six to eight hours a day without power.  Quakers in Puerto Padre moved worship on Sundays an hour earlier because the blackouts tend to be later in the day.  Visitors from New England reported that last summer when there was no power in the night, they heard neighbors outside chatting with one another. No one could sleep in the heat without fans or air conditioning.  When the power was restored, the neighborhood cheered and went to bed. 

Another hardship is the loss of working age people, leaders in the churches.  Many people have come to the US under the humanitarian parole program.  It is sad for those left behind, and it means that they have more work to do. 

 And yet we admire the ingenuity of our Cuban Friends as they use contributed funds to create programs that enhance their local communities and that produce revenue for the yearly meeting. Cuba Yearly Meeting relies on a small bus for intervisitation and for income.  The lack of fuel and its high cost mean that people are isolated from each other, even in Havana. Last year we sent funds to replace the tires on the bus.  However, the greater need was to rebuild the engine so the funds went to that cause.  Local people outside the church also use the bus for a fee.  These fees help pay the pastors of smaller Quaker churches. 

 In Gibara, Puerto Padre, and Holguin Friends have rebuilt decrepit schools on their property.  The schools were run down because the government had taken the buildings but hadn’t used or maintained them for decades. Some years ago the government returned the buildings to the yearly meeting.  They now serve as conference centers where our Friends can host church functions.  The churches also rent the space out to community groups.  The result is that these three churches are now self-sustaining and do not rely on the yearly meeting to meet their needs. 

In the past year our delegations have continued to train Cuban Quakers in Alternatives to Violence.  They began in September 2023 and continued with delegations in February and June of this year.  This work has transcended Puente by involving trainers from Texas, New York, El Salvador, and Bolivia.  With the level of distress in Cuba, there is increased social tension, and AVP is a useful tool for churches to offer.  In addition, churches can provide workshops to the community at large and charge for them, bringing in much needed revenue. 

In October a delegation from Hanover Monthly Meeting visited their sister meeting in La Habana.   Jorge Luis Peña, clerk of Cuba Yearly Meeting, was able to travel from the Oriente to Havana in the bus, though it took him 18 hours due to the limitations of the bus. This delegation enriched the bond with their meeting, and they brought back a clearer picture of Cuba Yearly Meeting. One Friend noted a loss of hope among Cubans that conditions can improve. 

Despite their challenges, our Cuban Friends have deep faith, humor, amazing ingenuity and resolve.  They  depend on the bridge of love with New England Yearly Meeting to maintain their faith and resolve, to remind them that we see them and remember them.  Likewise, they inspire us. 

With the incoming Trump administration we and our Cuban Friends fear that conditions in Cuba will worsen further. Many in the new government are  hostile to Cuba.  Previously President Trump limited the amount of money that family members could send back to Cuba, and he limited travel. Hence, the Puente Committee desires to send funds and supplies to our Friends as soon as possible before doors are closed. 

We hope that you will be moved to support this vital work. Please consider making a donation to Puente by making a check out to NEYM with “Puente” in the memo line and sending to our bookkeeper: Roland Stern, 86 Barrett Street, Needham, MA 02492 OR following this link: https://www.tfaforms.com/5028973  Les agradecemos mucho.

Carolyn Stone and Richard Lindo, co-clerks, Puente de Amigos Committee

Silent Auction is On!

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Silent Auction is On!

The Woman’s Society is holding a silent auction to raise money for Tedford Housing, which runs the adult and family shelter apartments in Brunswick.

The auction opened this past Sunday (November 24) and will run until just after Meeting on December 15. Find gifts and treasures! Be generous as you can, as we support our neighbors in need.

Thanks to all who have donated items, and to all our bidders!

Wreath Making and Maker Café at Durham Friends, December 5, 2025, 5:30 pm

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On Thursday evening, December 5, there will be a hands-on wreath making session at the Meetinghouse. Supplies will be provided (or bring your own). Also a light supper. Also Music!

Wreath making, 5:30 to 7:30

Makers helping all who come: Kim Bolshaw and Wendy Schlotterbeck

Cafe, 6:30 to 8:00

Light supper (feel free to volunteer to make something); Music by Craig Freshley

This will be the first of a series of Quaker Maker sessions on Thursday evenings at the Meetinghouse. Watch this website for further announcements.

Pastoral Care Notes, November 23, 2024

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[UPDATE, December 2]

From Leslie Manning, Meeting Care Co-ordinator:

Sue Reilly reports her heart procedure went well and she has been released to her home, with her sister there and support from her son and others. She requests ongoing prayers for a good recovery.

+++

Update: Operation successful, Gene is at home, feeling much better.

Gene Boyington is in the ICU at Midcoast awaiting a pacemaker.  Please hold him and Theresa in the Light, as well as Betsy Muench, who relies on him for so much help and support.

Gene is in Room 405 of Med/Surg aka ICU at Midcoast on the second floor and visitors are encouraged for short visits.  His pacemaker procedure is scheduled for Monday at 1 PM.  Please keep his doctor in prayer, as he is on call this weekend.

A complication for post-op; Theresa has round trip tix to Philly to see Abby and her family leaving Monday for next week.  Her anxiety is best served if she goes, but they are asking that we try to visit Gene once he is released home, since he will be alone.  They do have neighbors, but I suggested that they might want to speak to a social worker and see if they can get him somewhere like rehab for a couple of days post-op.

Anyway, his spirits are good; I will be back tomorrow late AM and again on Sunday afternoon.

Gene is being monitored and well cared for.

Durham Friends Meeting Minutes, November 17, 2024

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Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends DRAFT Minutes, November 17, 2024, Ellen Bennett — Recording Clerk

Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, November 17, 2024, with 15 people in attendance at the Meetinghouse.

1.     Meeting Opening

        To open the meeting, Ingrid Chalufour, Clerk, read the following:

When you act on behalf                                      We just need to practice knowing that

of something greater than yourself,                    and remembering that we are sustained

you begin                                                            by each other

to feel it acting through you                                in the web of life.

with a power that is greater than your own.        Our true power comes as a gift, like grace,

                                                                            because in truth it is sustained by others.

This is grace.

Today, as we take risks                                       If we practice drawing on the wisdom

for the sake of something greater                        and beauty

than our separate, individual lives,                     and strengths

we are feeling graced                                          of our fellow human beings

by other beings and the Earth itself.                   and our fellow species

                                                                            we can go into any situation

Those with whom and on whose behalf we act  and trust

give us strength                                                   that the courage and intelligence required

and eloquence                                                     will be supplied.

and staying power

we didn’t know we had.                                 Joanna Macy, “Grace and the Great Turning,”

2.     Approval of Minutes of October 2024 — Sarah Sprogell* (October recording clerk pro tem)

               Meeting approved the October minutes.

3.     Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller

  1. Third quarter Budget Report: 
    • Income: Note that contributions have improved since last quarter, leading to optimism we’ll meet our budget. In addition, pooled funds have generated more interest.
    • Looking at line items outside of our operating budget, note that Portland Friends meeting has contributed significantly to the Sisters Meeting Account.
    • Charity Account monies have been used to help support a member in need over the winter. Requests for support of this nature will come through Meeting clerks.

b. Proposed 2025 Budget: Think about funding for travelers to Cuba and material supplies that may go, e.g., medical supplies and tech. Right now, there is enough money in the account to pay for the three travelers’ basic expenses, and almost enough to cover $3600 donation for each traveler to carry. In the future, would like to have money remaining in the account to build for the upcoming February trip.

c. Suggestion for an approach to budgeting for funding items outside of the operating budget (Please see report).  Specifically consider approaches for annual capital and charity expenses. It was suggested that we think not of limits for charity and capital accounts, but thresholds, not a ceiling but a floor.

Finance committee proposes adding more money to the Sister Meeting account this year. Also, increasing the amount budgeted in 2025. Idea: Separate travel money from donation money, and fund to ensure that travelers can take the total of $3,600 each for donations for future trips.

The proposal was made to put $3,600 in Sister Meeting Account both for this year and for next year.  Meeting will sit with these proposals to be discussed again in December.

4.     Makers Ad Hoc Committee — Craig Freshley

The proposal to support the Makers activities was made at an earlier meeting: both the use of the Meetinghouse space and $1,000 for an 18-month trial period, plus $200 for signage. Finance suggested the $1000 come from the charity account and for the sign from our maintenance and supplies budget. The charity account has also been used to support leadings for ministry and outreach, and this fits that category well.

Meeting approved use of $1,000 from the Charity Account and $200 for the sign from our maintenance and supplies budget.

5.     Ministry and Counsel — Renee Cote (co-Clerk)

No action items. Renee referenced the Winthrop Friends Guidelines about Winthrop’s new worship practice since they no longer have a pastor that was brought to our attention by Sarah Sprogell. We are reviewing the guidelines (and the brochure). Martha Sheldon has made suggestions for updating our brochure, as well. Will send current information around for people to see.

6.     Trustees Report — Sarah Sprogell

No action items. Please see report.

7.     Nominating Committee — Wendy Schlotterbeck

Please see report. Note particularly the idea of convening a day-long retreat to do some celebration and some visioning moving forward.

8.     Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour

Please see report for description of full array of activities undertaken by this committee. Request that the meeting provide a letter of support to apply for funding from Obadiah Brown foundation. M&C Clerk, Renee Cote, agreed to write the letter.

9.     Items of Interest

  • LACO Christmas Fair is 12/7 and starts at 9 a.m. at the Lisbon Falls Baptist Church.
  • UU Church sponsoring a vigil on 12/14 in memory of the shooting in Lewiston, and in memory of all those taken from us due to gun violence; 2-4 pm.
  • Please look for a sign-up sheet in the Gathering Room to attend and/or assist with the first Makers event, wreath-making, on December 5th.
  • Thanks to Jo-an Jacobus, there will be a Christmas Eve service at Durham Friends at 7 pm.

10.   Closing Worship

Respectfully submitted, Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

Attachments

“Reflections on Quaker Indian Boarding Schools,” by Janet Hough

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At Durham Friends Meeting on November 17, 2024, Janet Hough (Cobscook Monthly Meeting) gave a message that reflected on the research that she and others connected with NEYM’s Quaker Indian Boarding School Research Group (QIBS) have conducted about New Engl;and Yearly Meeting’s involvement with Quaker Indian Boarding Schools in the 19th century.

The report the QIBS gave to Annual Sessions can be found here.

At her encouragement, we also sang a hymn, “Many and Great, Oh God, Are Thy Things,” #16 in our hymnal Worship in Song. Congregational missionaries first published the hymn in a Lakota hymnal in the 19th century. It was translated into English in the 20th century by Philip Frazer, a member of the Lakota people and a Congregational minister.

1 Wakantanka taku nitawa tankaya qa ota;
mahpiya kin eyahnake ça,
maka kin he duowanca;
mniowanca śbeya wanke cin, hena oyakihi.

2 Woehdaku nitawa kin he minaġi kin qu wo;
mahpiya kin iwankam yati,
wicowaśte yuha nanka,
wiconi kin he mayaqu nun, owihanke wanin.

1 Many and great, O God, are thy things, maker of earth and sky.
Thy hands have set the heavens with stars;
thy fingers spread the mountains and plains.
Lo, at thy word the waters were formed; deep seas obey thy voice.

2 Grant unto us communion with thee, O star-abiding One.
Come unto us and dwell with us;
with thee are found the gifts of life.
Bless us with life that has no end, eternal life with thee.

Active Hope Reading Group — An Invitation

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From Peace and Social Concerns Committee:

As we all seek to find our own path forward in the current environment, we invite you to join us in reading Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. 

We will be meeting on the 4th Sunday in January, February, and March at 9:30 am.

A section of the book will be discussed at each meeting.

To learn more about the book follow this link.

Agenda and Materials for November 17, 2024 Business Meeting

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The Agenda and Materials for the November 17, 2024 Business Meeting for Durham Friends can be found HERE.

Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends
Agenda – November 17, 2024

Ingrid Chalufour, Clerk

  1. Approval of October Minutes
  2. Finance Committee Report
    • 3d Quarter Budget Report
    • Proposed 2025 Budget
    • Budgeting for Things that are Off-Budget
  3. Makers Ad Hoc Committee – Item brought forward from October meeting
  4. Ministry and Council Report
  5. Trustees Report
  6. Nominating Committee Report
  7. Peace & Social Concerns Report

Woman’s Society Minutes, October 21, 2024

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Durham Friends Woman’s Society Meeting Minutes 10.21.’24

Members gathered at the Meeting House and joined on Zoom

Present: Dorothy Curtis, President, Kim Bolshaw, Linda Muller.  On Zoom: Susan Gilbert, Secretary.

Cards: Kim will send cards friends.

Program and Devotions: Program and Devotions: We took turns reading from the USFWI Blueprints  ‘24 – ‘25 Edition,“God Still Speaks”, the program “Holy Surrender” by Gabrielle Bailey. Isiah 43:2, Hymn “It Is Well With My Soul”.  Gabrielle tells how in dealing with serious health concerns she learned to surrender and trust in God’s loving presence. 

Minutes: Susan read the 9.16.’24 minutes. 

Treasurer’s Report: In Sept. we received $115. more for jam and jelly donations for a total of $525. $35.38 was paid for Blueprints and $515. was sent to LACO. Thank you Dorothy Curtis! Our balance is now $65.58. Blueprints are $5 each and dues $5. per person. We still need to pay dues by the end of November. We have cash to buy new tablecloths and need to decide exactly what is wanted, size and how many.

Prayers: For Friends.

Tedford Meal: Nancy Marstaller’s Team E brought beef stew, potato-leek soup, rolls, cider, apples, and dessert. November’s meal will be brought by Leslie Manning’s Team F. Volunteer contributions of food or donations are always welcome. 

Other Business: Linda Muller requested donations of 25 pairs of nice quality mittens or gloves  for the Wabanaki youth who gather at the Meeting House. The Wabanaki group leader is Heather Augustine. There will be a “Mitten Tree” for a display, and handmade gifts or cookies would be welcome, as well. 

Dorothy ended the meeting with a quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe:

In all ranks of life, the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and the beautiful things God makes are His gift to all alike.

Respectfully Submitted, Susan Gilbert

Falmouth Quarterly Meeting Minutes, October 26, 2024

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Falmouth Quarterly Meeting

Hosted by Durham Friends Meeting

26 October 2024

Present:

Durham: Sarah Sprogell, Leslie Manning (treasurer), Martha Sheldon (online), Wendy Schlotterbeck (co-clerk online), Kim Bolshaw

Portland: Fritz Weiss (co-clerk), Ann Dodd-Collins (recorder), Jessica Eller, Paula Rossvall

Windham: Janice Beattie, Julianne Moore, Nancy Doolittle

Guests: Shirley Hager (Windham Friends), Diane Dicranian (Midcoast, representing MCC)

Opening: We opened with a time of open worship, honoring Jan Hoffman whose gifts enriched so many of us and her husband Ken.  Both were well known throughout New England Yearly Meeting and beyond.  They passed within a week of each other.

Land acknowledgement:   We meet on land that is a part of the ancestral homelands of the Wabanaki.  We are the beneficiaries of the brutal taking of this land by European Colonists.  We acknowledge this and acknowledge that the Wabanaki are still here. We know and grieve that there are many whose names we do not know, whose stories we will not hear and whose sacred songs will not be sung again.  We are responsible to the land and to our neighbors to attend to what has been damaged and to listen to what they have to tell us.

Sharing news from each meeting:

Windham: Janice read her report (attached). 

  • With just a few dedicated people, Windham Friends no longer does bean suppers or the Christmas crafts fair, but this year they participated in the local historical society’s Fall Festival and raised enough money to pay the bills.
  • It was suggested that the women who make crafts at the Windham Correctional Center could perhaps be invited to help with a future Christmas fair.
  • Prayers are always coming from Windham Friends to us and they welcome prayers from us for them.
  • It was suggested that Windham could invite Friends from the quarter to help with bean suppers in the tradition of neighbors helping each other.

Durham:  Leslie Manning is the meeting care coordinator. 

  • Durham is experimenting with clerks from the four standing committees serving as DFM presiding clerk in rotation. 
  • They are smaller than they’ve been and they are concentrating on outreach. 
    • Durham is active with Brunswick Area Interfaith Council (BAIC) and Lisbon Area Christian Outreach (LACO). 
    • The Social Justice Book Project, which places books in classrooms, has been in place for several years. 
    • The Peace and Social Concerns committee is working on raising awareness of Wabanaki people in Maine and supporting legislative actions and has become involved with a group in Brunswick working on the same issues.
    • Durham is doing active outreach at Bowdoin and Bates Colleges and a number of Bowdin students have attended.  They have also welcomed people who live locally and people who are curious.
    • In lieu of memorial services, Durham is holding its second Meeting for Grieving in early November.
    • Peace is very much on Durham minds; two members have taught at Ramallah Friends School.  Durham asks to be held in prayer – personal and public events are breaking their hearts.

Portland:

  • Youth programming has been a challenge as we try to figure out how to re-engage after the pandemic and identify leadership.  They now have one person coordinating an intermittent teen group meeting and the youngest kids now have someone offering once a month programming.  Middle school children currently join the younger children.  It was a joy that NEYM scheduled fall retreats for Junior High Yearly Meeting (JHYM) and Young Friends (YF) at Portland Friends.  Many of the YFs were teens who had never attended a meeting but were local and/or from Friends Camp.
  • Sunday, October 27 was shared worship with the Friends School at Portland. 
  • PFM is seeing new people who have recently moved to the area and are exploring worship services almost every Sunday.
  • PFM celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day with a native foods inspired potluck followed by a video on landback and time with Sandra Bassett (Passamaquoddy, Sipayik) who offers at Passamaquoddy language class at Portland Friends and is involved in the Wabanaki studies program in the Portland Public Schools.
  •  Portland Friends continues to be a partner of Greater Portland Family Promise.  The teenage youth group planned several activities with Family Promise teens over the summer, and we are currently supporting three Family Promise families at Clark House.
  • PFM also connects with the wider community through Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC), the Gun Safety Coalition, and the Portland Area interfaith group
  • Durham and Portland are sister meetings with Velasco Friends Church in Cuba and will be sending three members to visit Velasco and Cuba Yearly Meeting in February 2025.
  • Members don’t feel a coherent sense of identity at PFM and ask for prayers for that.

Treasurer’s report (Leslie Manning):

The attached report is amended to reflect PFM’s increased contribution.  Leslie reported that we do not hold on to our money.  In October we decide how to send our money into our community. 

Decisions on expenditures will be made after Diane and Shirley speak.

Maine Council of Churches, (Diane Dicranian, Quaker Representative to the Maine Council of Churches):

Diane’s letter and report are attached.  She pointed out that while Maine Quakers support MCC, executive director Jane Field does the work.  MCC has committed to supporting Jane full time for three years, but they need financial support from their faith communities to continue that commitment.  At the same time New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) has reduced their contributions to all outside organizations including the state councilsto zero.

            Diane also reminded us that she will complete her term with MCC next year.  The quarters in Maine will need to appoint a representative next year and MCC would like a Quaker representative from Falmouth Quarter if we can find one.

            We APPROVED a Minute of appreciation for Diane for her faithful work on the Maine Council of Churches, especially during the challenges of covid.

Consider approving a Minute from Winthrop Center in support of Shirley Hager and an emerging Wabanaki Elder-in-Residence Program at UMaine.  Both Vassalboro Quarter and Falmouth Quarter will be considering this request:

The Minute from Winthrop Center and an update on the Elder-In-Residence proposal are attached. 

Shirley spoke about her leading.  While working on The Gatherings she had the opportunity to meet with and witness the work of Wabanaki women who became Elders-In-Residence at the University of New Brunswick and Saint Thomas College in Fredericton, NB.  At a memorial service for Wayne Newell 2-½ years ago, she talked with his son Chris who said money is great but you can’t buy relationships and it is relationships that keep kids in school.

Shirley feels that the soil for this project had been prepared over years and her conversation with Chris Newall planted the seed.  Read more about Shirley’s leading in Winthrop Center’s Minute of Support.

            As a quarter we are being asked to send our support for this proposal to NEYM’s Right Relationship Resource Group (RRRG) and to the Legacy  Gift Committee.  We are also being asked to contribute as individual meetings. Portland Meeting has invited Shirley to bring her proposal the PFM on 11/10.  Supporting Native American students is an example of reparations.

            Following a time of discussion and comments, we APPROVED our support of the pilot project.  Fritz Weiss will send the Winthrop Center minute to NEYM’s RRRG and the Legacy Grant committee.

Treasurer’s Report, part 2

We APPROVED a budget for the coming year which includes these disbursements:    

Friends Camp                         $  50

                        Friends School                        $ 50

                        Maine Council of Churches    $200

                        College Guild                           $ 50

                        Jones Fund (VQM)                 $100

                        Nibezun                                   $ 50

                        Clerks Discretionary               $100

                                                                         $600

The quarter will have a balance of approximately $100. We encourage monthly meetings to consider contributing more to the Quarter.

Confirm dates for coming year:  We APPROVED meeting, God willing, on January 25 and April 26. The date for our summer meeting will be determined later.  It was also noted that All Maine Gathering will be the first Saturday in May and that Vassalboro is hosting.

January 2025 program: Leslie Manning volunteered to help plan the program.  Our co-clerks will find additional people to help with the planning.

Sharing about the Bible Half Hours from annual sessions: Jessica Elder led a rich conversation about NEYM’s Bible Half Hours which were offered by Genna Ulrich of Portland Friends Meeting.

            Jessica was not a part of the eldering team helping Genna prepare for the Bible Half Hours, but because she sensed she needed to be open to where she was called during Sessions, she was able to step in when one of Genna’s elders developed covid.  Genna came to Quakerism as a young adult.  They had offered inspirational vocal ministry and had developed welcoming booklet at Portland Friends, but being called to do the Bible Half Hours was a new experience.  Junior High Yearly Meeting changed their schedule to allow kids to attend and they, as well as Young Friends, showed up to support and listen to Genna and reported their experiences in their Epistles, reporting that for the first time they felt they belonged at the Bible Half Hours. It was amazing to feel the body accept and hold their messages. 

            Each day began with Genna grounding us in our bodies.  The theme of seeds and plants and gardening was reflected throughout the messages.  Genna’s use of different translations of the Bible, of presenting old stories in a different way made the Bible accessible and human.  Attenders felt like they were being invited into understanding the text not just with their heads but with their whole bodies, to explore the passages for themselves rather than being told what they meant.

            Jessica closed the conversation by saying how much it felt like a blessing to be invited to hold Genna and the space for the Bible Half Hours.  Videos of the Bible Half Hours are available at: https://www.youtube.com/@newenglandquakersneym3058.

Martha Hinshaw Shelton’s Letter and Queries:  One of the essential responsibilities of a Quarter is to pay attention to and nurture the spiritual health, experience and  ministry in the monthly meetings of the Quarter. Last April Martha Shelden (Durham) submitted a report on her experience as a recorded minister with queries for Friends and Meetings. We set the report aside to engage with more deeply when we had an opportunity. 

Martha led into the discussion of her queries by speaking about her reactions to the Bible Half Hours – a powerful recitation, rich, incredible depth, amazing insights into Biblical theology – which she found quite moving.  Martha tends to like to encourage people, to foster gifts, and was tempted to do that with Genna although she does not know them.  She was struck by Jessica saying Genna wanted to share without ego.  As Quakers we tend to focus so much on community and silent expectant waiting that we tend to overthink and ego gets in the way, but that isn’t necessarily bad.  Gifts are present with or without ego.

Questions for the Meeting on calling, gifts of the Spirit, vocation, Spiritual journey Ubuntu.  I am because of your love.  Question for meeting and for self:  Whose love brought you to where you are now? 

The importance of spiritual mentors, being invited to live into what we are being called to.  It’s a chain of people who loved us in our woundedness and saw us as whole when we felt broken.  All the ways God shows up in you and you show up in the world.  

Notice pivotal moments in your spiritual journey, moments in how you walked with God. What pivotal experiences have you had that have influenced your life to date?

Life experience, ordinary people, family, extraordinary people who touch one’s life in amazing ways. Faith, people, friendships, and chosen activities can be a lifeline no matter what happens. 

“You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy by your countenance. At your right hand are delights, even to the end.” (Psalms 15:11)

What are your leadings?

A leading can become a way of life.  A leading is living with one’s imperfections and trying to be better.  Serving as a helper, being useful, building community can lead to a leading.

Leadings are more like an unfolding, a result of responding to need.  Something comes across the path and it seems the right thing to do and there is time and space to do it.

Martha responded that she had clearness to come to Ireland.  She wanted to be a part of a reconciliation community but that has changed and she’s not sure where she fits now. Sometimes we need to ask the question, “Were my leadings wrong?”  At this moment the one clear thing is it’s time to hibernate, to sort her life out. 

What fears go in the way?  What successes and joys encouraged you along?

In School of the Spirit, many students are doing active deep listening about what God is calling them to next. An early woman Friend resisted her call to ministry for seven years.  She wrote, “I knew I was being disobedient”. Fear shows up in an unwillingness to surrender to God’s call.  Fear is understandable, but to continue to say No when you’re invited to say Yes is something different.

Where had the Spirit taken you and where is Spirit taking you now?

Sometimes a spiritual journey feels like a sideshow.  We may be called to one thing but we’re busy doing another.  Walking with the spirit is not necessarily looking straight ahead but at the sides.   

It doesn’t seem like following Spirit should be directional but very “tributarial.”  As we do our work, Spirit may come to us and we may put those thoughts “in our pocket” to consider later.

How many times do we say Yes because it is expected of us.  “Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay.” (Matthew 5:37)       

Listen to your inner guide, stay connected.

What music makes your soul soar? When did you smile down to your toes? Who has encouraged you?  To do what?  How?  When?

If you can define what makes your soul soar, what makes you smile, you know what your leading is. 

What do others see in you? Does it suit with your own assessment? 

Grace/God/Spirit shows up in the least expected places. And whenever it shows up we need to recognize it and be grateful.

Is there a benefit in recognizing the gifts of the Spirit in IYM?  Encouragement?  Allowing for a person to focus on a leading of the Spirit?

Witnessing leadings at the yearly meeting level is inspirational and gives a profound meaning to and appreciation of the importance of the yearly meeting which can be carried back to monthly meetings. 

Ministry as vocation.  Defines self.  How much is your occupation your identity?  Who are you when no longer in a job?  

We ended our day with a moment of closing worship, with gratitude for those who are on this journey with us.

Attachments:   Report from Windham Friends Meeting

                        Treasurer’s Report

                        Letter from Diane Dicranian, Quaker Representative to MCC

                        Maine Council of Churches Report

                        Minute of Support for Shirley Hager to VQM and FQM

                        Update on UMaine Wabanaki Elder-In-Residence Proposal

Attachment, Report from Windham Friends Meeting

FALMOUTH QUARTERLY MEETING – Durham

October 26, 2024

Report from Windham Friends Meeting

Psalm 46:1 says. “God is our refuge and strength – a very present help,” His word is our guidepost at all times and in all circumstances.

Recent considerations in our times of fellowship – in worship, endeavors and through experiences, both as individuals and as a faith community, have included the following perspectives: 1) Looking to God with TRUST… 2) Standing in the assurance of our FAITH,,,3) LIVING by our faith with confidence. We’ve endured many things through time. Our own membership has depleted, but we find support in our greater community and in pure commitment in the hearts and minds of dedicated Believers – giving of their time, effort, treasures, and talents in motivation of faith and trust.

As always, the focus of Windham Friends Meeting for worship is on the awareness of God’s loving care in our lives and that of our fellow beings throughout time. For that we’re grateful and willing to walk in his Light as His children. We, as part of the town community, take delight in participating in the 3rd graders Windham History tours by sharing the Quaker story. Also Windham Friends is very grateful for financial help in the care, repair and upgrades needed for the Meetinghouse from the Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund this year as well as for those who worked diligently to bring it all to fruition.

In recent weeks we have endured loss in the passing of two beloved and dedicated members, Sandra Wain who departed this life in her 70’s very suddenly and unexpectedly, and Elsie Haskell, having reached age 96 who met her demise with grace and fortitude. God Bless them Both. Our lives and the life of this faith family are a testimony of what God has done for us, and we know He is with us all the way.

Sincerely, Janice Beattie, Pastor Windham Friends Meeting, October 26, 2023

Attachment, Treasurer’s Report

Falmouth Quarter  Treasurer’s Report 

As of 9/30/24

Opening Balance 10/1/23    Checking     230.00                   Savings   516.52  total   746.52

Deposits  Brunswick                                    50

                Durham                                      100                                             

                Portland                                     200

                So. ME                                         50

                Windham                                      50 

                Restricted                                 1000   +1250

Transfer                                                     450                                       (350)

Interest                                                         .46                                                                                                                                                    

New balance in Savings   266.98

Disbursements    

                 Friends Camp                               50

                 Friends School                              50

                 Peace Teams                               100

                 ME Council                                    50

                 College Guild                                 50

                 Jones Fund (VQM)                      100                                           

                 Nibezun (Clerks)                            50

                 Brunswick (Clerks)                        100

                 ME Community/Lewiston               100                      

                 EQAT (AMG 2023)                         100                        

Restricted (An Iliad)                                       1000                        (1750)

New Balance  in checking                             80

Balance  (combined)                                  346.98                                              

                                             ********************************************

Proposed Budget for 2025                                                                        

Income       450                                                                                                              797

Donations  (600 )                                                                                                            197 

Clerks Fund  (100) (discretionary)                                                                                    97  

Attachment, Letter from Diane Dicranian, Quaker Representative to Maine Council of Churches

Good morning  Friends

I hope this letter finds you well and in good spirits. I’m excited to share with you the latest report on our activities with the Maine Council of Churches (MCC). It’s been quite a journey, and I wanted to give you a heads-up on some of the highlights.

You know, I usually compare congregants because it’s difficult to compare how much we do in the community. But let’s face it, our spirit has no price. We Quakers have always punched above our weight when it comes to making a difference, right?

Now, you might be wondering, “If Quakers do so much, why expand the Executive Director job?” Well, here’s the reason: Our Executive Director, Jane, is on speed dial with the Governor and Maine CDC. She’s one of the few people who could bring 10 major religions together for a prayer service, all thanks to her, and the Council’s reputation.

Speaking of that prayer service, it was televised with a lot of press coverage, a pretty big deal. We managed to get leaders from all seven of our member denominations, plus the Roman Catholic bishop, a representative from Maine’s Jewish community, and a Muslim Imam.  Susan Davies represented us in a prayer filled morning that included Quakers with the other religions. Talk about diversity in action.

Other important issues we are involved in are tribal sovereignty, gun safety initiatives, education concerning white nationalism, safe and fair elections,  topics of interest to all of us.  When there’s a spare minute we’re even expanding our media presence. It’s all in the report, so give it a read when you get a chance.

We, the Maine Council of Churches need financial backing. I know, I know, money isn’t our favorite topic. But think of it this way: a little support can go a long way in amplifying our voice and helping us do even more good in our community.

Falmouth Quarterly Meeting Friends would you go back to your Meetings and recommend an increased donation to the Maine Council of Churches?

Please take a look at the report, and let’s talk about it. Your thoughts and ideas are always welcome. After all, we’re in this together. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Consider asking for an increased donation to better serve Maine’s marginalized communities.

Thank you.

Diane Dicranian, Quaker Representative, Maine Council of Churches “

Attachment, Maine Council of Churches report     

Report to Maine Quarterly Meetings on Maine Council of Churches

By Diane Dicranian, Representative to Maine Council of Churches

 Introduction

As your representative to the Maine Council of Churches (MCC), I am pleased to present this comprehensive report covering our activities over the past 18 months, with a particular focus on our work with indigenous issues and the involvement of Maine Friends.

Strategic Changes and Unique Position of MCC

Over the past year and a half, MCC has undergone significant shifts in strategy and perspective:

1. Base Development Focus: The board decided to concentrate on developing our base of supporters, aiming to expand our reach and impact.

2. Executive Director Role Expansion: We’ve expanded the Executive Director’s responsibilities to enhance the Council’s capabilities and effectiveness.

3. Cross-Denominational Collaboration: MCC’s nature as a coalition of denominations allows us to facilitate partnerships and conversations across faith communities, a unique strength in our advocacy efforts.

4. Legislative Focus: As well as serving he Governor’s office and may legislators we’ve communicated, educated and involved you in Maine’s legislative process

Maine Friends and Indigenous Rights

Maine Friends have taken a leading role in MCC’s work on indigenous issues:

1. Wabanaki Alliance Coalition: MCC is a member of the Wabanaki Alliance coalition. Andy Burt, a Maine Friend, serves as MCC’s official representative at coalition meetings and on our Public Policy Committee.

2. Close Partnerships: We’ve maintained close working relationships with key figures like John Diffenbacher-Krall, the retiring Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance.

Constituent Outreach: Andy Burt has guided MCC’s efforts to assist the Alliance in identifying churches in key districts for constituent meetings with legislators, supporting the push for tribal sovereignty recognition.

3. Educational Initiatives: We’ve hosted Zeke Crofton MacDonald, Tribal Ambassador for the Houlton Band of Maliseets, for trainings and workshops.

Cross-Denominational Efforts on Indigenous Rights

MCC has facilitated important collaborations:

Coordinated meetings between United Methodist Church leadership and John Diffenbacher-Krall.

1. Brought together United Methodist and UCC Maine Conference leaders to build cooperation on indigenous rights advocacy.

2. Our Public Policy Committee serves as a space where Quaker and Episcopal efforts with the Alliance intersect, primarily through Andy Burt and John Hennessy.

Other Key MCC Activities

Lewiston Shooting Commemoration: On October 1, we organized a statewide prayer service for the one-year anniversary of the Lewiston mass shooting. Susan Davies, Clerk of Maine Friends, represented our community at this televised event.

1. Gun Safety Initiative: We’re partnering with the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, including Quaker Rob Levin, on a new referendum initiative for red flag laws in Maine.

2. Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition: As a partner organization we are involved in MPAC activities when invited. We often publicize and support their activities, A recent Legacy Grant was obtained by a member of Portland Friends to bring a new telling of “The Illiad” both inside and outside the Maine prison system.

Impact on Quaker Testimonies

MCC’s work aligns closely with several Quaker testimonies:

1. Peace: Our involvement in gun safety initiatives and commemoration services.

2. Equality: Efforts towards tribal sovereignty recognition.

3. Community: Cross-denominational collaborations fostering a broader sense of spiritual community.

4. Integrity: Ensuring Quaker voices are heard in policy discussions and public events.

5. Justice: In many sectors of life in Maine we equip you to fight for those on the margins.

Looking Ahead

As we continue our work, Maine Friends have opportunities to:

1. Further integrate Quaker perspectives into MCC’s policy advocacy work.

2. Expand our role in facilitating cross-denominational cooperation, particularly on indigenous rights.

3. Utilize MCC’s networks to increase awareness and engagement with Quaker-led social justice efforts.

Conclusion

The Maine Council of Churches continues to provide a valuable platform for Maine Friends to engage with other faith communities, amplify our voice on important issues, and live out our testimonies in collaboration with others. Our work with the Wabanaki Alliance coalition and on Indigenous rights is particularly significant, ensuring that Quaker values and perspectives remain an integral part of this crucial work in Maine. Your continued support and engagement with MCC activities are essential as we work towards justice, peace, and equality in our state.

Attachment, Minute of Support for Shirley Hager to VQM and FQM

Minute of Support for Shirley Hager’s Leading Regarding an Indigenous Elder-in-Residence Program at the University of Maine

Winthrop Center Friends, October 6, 2024

In July of this year, Shirley shared background with Winthrop Center Friends about a leading which has been growing over several years. In her experiences with co-creating The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations book, with the Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy, and with Wabanaki peoples, Shirley has witnessed Indigenous students using their college educations to make lasting differences within their communities and indeed within the State of Maine and beyond. She has also been aware, through conversations over the years with Wabanaki individuals, of the many obstacles in the paths of Indigenous students trying to complete their education. She has had opportunities to observe efforts to support Native students staying in school, most particularly Elder-in-Residence programs at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  In these programs, students are supported by people of their own culture, Elders who best understand their unique needs as they seek to survive and thrive within a “foreign” (i.e., “white” and “Western”) university culture, and who help them stay connected to their culture while pursuing their education. Experience has also demonstrated that the program (Elder-in- Residence) builds success within the greater university system, fostering mutual trust and understanding cross-culturally, both with other students and with non-Native faculty and staff.

Shirley reached out to the University of Maine Native Studies chair, Darren Ranco, and Matt Mullen, University of Maine Development Office, who agreed about the program’s need and potential, and who expressed excitement about such a program at the University of Maine. They have proposed a three-year pilot program as a “doable” start, with a budget of $30,000 per year, with the hope that such a program might become endowed in the future. 

Shirley imagined her leading as strongly in alignment with Quaker values and desired her efforts to be held by her Meeting, Winthrop Center Friends. She asked for our prayerful support as she imagined outreach to the wider Quaker community, envisioning this pilot program to be supported by Friends in Maine. Friends voiced support of Shirley’s leading, and the Meeting was in unity in supporting Shirley to continue to pursue this effort. We now consider her leading as under our care.

Further, at a subsequent special called Meeting for Business on August 11, 2024, Winthrop Center Friends pledged $6,000/year for the next three years, for a total of $18,000, which constitutes 20% of the amount needing to be raised. Individuals in the Meeting pledged funds as well—an additional $3,000 for the first year.

We, as a Meeting, are aware that the program will greatly benefit Indigenous students, enhance the diverse culture within the University system, and, indeed, blesses us with an important opportunity for which we have prayed for clearness; our pledge fulfills our commitment to share our faith, extending beyond our Meeting, to the wider community. We thank Shirley for sharing this opportunity with us, as we continue to hold her and the proposal in the Light.

We ask Vassalboro and Falmouth Quarterly Meetings to consider endorsing this leading, encouraging monthly meetings’ support, and to consider writing a minute of support to be sent to New England Yearly Meeting and to members of the NEYM Legacy Gift Committee and the Right Relationship Resource Group. The aim of this would be to further seek the possibility of funding for this project and to offer it as a potential vehicle for reparations.

Approved, Falmouth Quarter 10/26/24

Attachment, Update on Wabanaki Elder-In-Residence Proposal

UPDATE on UMaine Wabanaki Elder-in-Residence Proposal

September 30, 2024

Shirley met with Darren Ranco of Native Studies at UMaine and Matt Mullen, Assoc. Director of the UMaine Foundation, on Friday, September 27, for an update on fundraising for the Elder-in- Residence program and to share the questions that were raised at VQM’s Fall Gathering after her presentation.

Fundraising:

As of Friday, $12,000 has either been received or pledged for the first year of operation (which would likely begin in Spring Semester of next year). This amount gives Darren confidence to begin planning the program to, at a minimum, commit to salary compensation for one month during the year. The goal is still $30,000 for the first year, which would allow the Elder to be present for a longer period of time, and also provide program funds and the ability to pay travel and perhaps lodging expenses if necessary (depending upon where the Elder lived).

A total of $29,500 has so far been pledged for the full three years of the proposed pilot program, meaning that, beyond the first year, an additional $17,500 has been pledged. This means that we are roughly one-third of the way to the goal of $90,000 for the three years!

Responses to questions raised:

Neither the UMaine Foundation, nor the University, will be taking any of the funds for overhead. This means that every dollar donated will be available for the program.

The proposal, which states that the pilot would be for two months each year, doesn’t mean that it would necessarily be two sequential months full time. The pilot will be a work-in- progress—a chance to see what works well. The structure of the work week will also depend upon the person hired—their schedule, where they live, etc. If the full amount is raised, you can think of it as a two-month equivalent during the year.

How would this position differ from, or add to, what the Wabanaki Center already does? This position would add an additional layer of student support to what currently exists. Especially it creates intergenerational support for students, which is so valuable. Both Darren and Matt mentioned that it could add a synchronicity to the support they provide—an Elder might pick up on needs of a student and be able to refer them to other support in the University or beyond. They also both agreed that the position will serve to strengthen cultural ties for the students and would be a resource for the University as a whole.

Winthrop Center Friends will be bringing a minute to VQM and to FQM at their next meetings, asking for the endorsement of the Quarters (as was suggested at Fall Gathering) and also asking the Quarters to send a minute to NEYM asking for Yearly Meeting support.