Allen's Neck Friends Meeting tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1 2010-08-03T02:08:21Z Movable Type 3.34 Summer Events tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.216 2010-08-03T02:00:44Z 2010-08-03T02:08:21Z Sunday Meeting for Worship and First Day School 9:00 AM Thursday, August 19 : Clam Bake at the clam bake grounds across from the Parsonage on Horseneck Road. Summer Conversation: Thursday, August 5th at 7 PM at the Apponegansett Meetinghouse.... Carol Munger In the Neighborhood: the Search for Community on an American Street One Sleepover at a Time. Lovenheim often wondered who his neighbors were and why he knew so few of them. The question became more pressing after a murder-suicide rocked the neighborhood in 2000. How could that happen here, he asked?]]> Mini-Message tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.215 2010-08-03T01:56:30Z 2010-08-03T02:00:25Z In the movie, "Pulp Fiction" Uma Thurman questions John Travolta: "In a conversation are you listening or are you waiting for a chance to speak?" I am trying to do more of the former and less of the latter. Stan... Carol Munger former and less of the latter. Stan Stopka]]> Search Committee Chosen tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.214 2010-08-03T01:52:00Z 2010-08-03T01:55:41Z Minutes from Monthly Meeting for Business July 25, 2010 Bill Reed presided as clerk. There were 14 people in attendance. Polly Harrison substituted for Mike Harrison as Recording Clerk. Treasurer’s Report: Dick Mason reported that he received some suggestions from... Carol Munger Minutes from Monthly Meeting for Business July 25, 2010 Bill Reed presided as clerk. There were 14 people in attendance. Polly Harrison substituted for Mike Harrison as Recording Clerk. Treasurer’s Report: Dick Mason reported that he received some suggestions from our insurance company. These were turned over to Building and Grounds Committee for discussion as to whether to act on them or not. Ministry and Counsel: Jeanne Bird submitted the names of five candidates to Monthly Meeting for the Search Committee for Pastor and they were approved by the Meeting. They are : Susan Czernicka, Mike Harrison, Charles Howland, Bradie Metheny Pat Smith The Search Committee will work out a plan of action and job description to present to the Meeting and possible contenders. Jeanne reminded us that this is a search committee , not a selection committee, as the final choice is made by the members of Monthly Meeting. Ministry and Counsel welcomes the ideas and suggestions from all of us during this entire process. In the absence of a pastor at this time, various Friends have been asked to give a message during Sunday Worship. The following will be speaking in August: August 1 Pam Humphrey August 8 Jim Murphy August 15 Carol Munger August 22 Ann Mason August 29 Janice DeVillers Any one who would like to give a message on Sunday Morning should see Burney. Many of these messages are worthy of a larger audience. The Newsletter Committee would gladly print your message in the Newsletter. It can be hand written; the editor will correct spelling errors. Just write what comes to mind. Give your copy to Carol Munger, (or Jim) or Wendy Howland. The flowers that are in the Meeting Room on Sundays can travel. If you know of someone who can’t get out and would like a visit - take one of the bouquets of flowers along with you. Tell Dawn Stopka ( or Stan) . There are plenty of extra vases at the Meetinghouse. Quakers as Peacemakers tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.213 2010-08-03T01:48:52Z 2010-08-03T01:51:17Z It is a mistake to call Quakers “nonresisters” or passivists.” They do not face any giant evil with a passive attitude. They seek always to organize and to level against it the most effective forces there are. They know as... Carol Munger It is a mistake to call Quakers “nonresisters” or passivists.” They do not face any giant evil with a passive attitude. They seek always to organize and to level against it the most effective forces there are. They know as well as anybody does that instincts and passions are not changed by miracle and that peace cannot prevail where injustice and hate are rampant. They seek to do away with war by first doing away with the causes and occasions for it; that is, by removing the fundamental grounds from which war springs, by eliminating the roots and seeds of it in the social order, and by forming an atmosphere and climate that makes war unthinkable. This means of course, that peacemaking is big business. The forerunners of the Quakers had for some centuries before George Fox been opposed to war. The Waldenses were strict and scrupulous in their refusal to fight or to take life in any way. Many of the small heretical sects before the Reformation had similar views on these matters. The Anabaptists were divided in their conclusions about the right of a Christian to bear a sword and they varied in their practice, though there was a large wing of the movement that refused utterly to have any part in war. The influence of Erasmus, the greatest of the humanists, upon the scattered groups of spiritual reformers was very profound. He discounted the value of dogma and theology and turned instead with freshly awakened interest to the original teachings of Jesus. Every page of the New Testament, he declared, “speaks of little else but peace and concord; and yet the whole life of the greater portion of Christians is employed in nothing so much as the concerns of war...It were best to lay aside the name of Christian at once or else to give proof of the teaching of Christ by its only criterion, brotherly love.” It was no doubt the rediscovery of the message of the New Testament that swung Erasmus so strongly against the spirit and methods of war. This note of opposition to war, which receives its most powerful expression in the great scholar’s Querola pacis, from which I have quoted above, recurs again and again in his writings. He was one of the major shaping influences in the life and thought of the spiritual reformers. They held his view of the freedom of the will; they shared his revolt from theology; they returned with him to the primitive teaching of Jesus, and they felt as he did about the prevailing evils of society and about the wickedness of war. Gentleness, love, grace, light, truth, and the forces of the Spirit are their armory. They had no fixed propaganda. They quietly and simply taught a way of life with which war was entirely incompatible. “What will Christ say,” Jacob Boehme asks the ministers of his day, “When he sees your apostolic hearts covered with armor? When He gave you the sword of the Spirit, did He command you to fight and make war, to put on the sword and kill?” Rufus M. Jones The Faith and Practice of the Quakers p.83 Summer Conversations - June 24 tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.212 2010-07-05T02:47:56Z 2010-07-05T02:57:05Z “Made in America: A Social History of American Culture and Character” By Claude Fischer, UC Berkeley Sociologist Our first Conversation of the Summer was well attended. Dr. Fischer is the author of Made in America: A Social History of American... Carol Munger Jim Munger ]]> How Many Days til Clambake tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.211 2010-07-05T02:41:52Z 2010-07-05T02:46:50Z Our Annual Clambake will be held at the Clambake Grounds on Horseneck Road across from the parsonage on Thursday, August 19. Food Table: donations of home made goods: Jam, jelly, bread, cookies, etc. Garden produce - fresh vegetables, fruit etc.... Carol Munger Food Table: donations of home made goods: Jam, jelly, bread, cookies, etc. Garden produce - fresh vegetables, fruit etc. Craft Table Hand made items: pot holders, aprons, knitted items, jewelry, wood craft, etc. See Barbara Richmond or Charlotte Murphy ]]> Allen's Neck Events tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.210 2010-07-05T02:29:25Z 2010-07-05T02:40:15Z Sundays: 9 AM Worship and First Day School Sunday, July 18, Ministry and Counsel 10:30 Wednesday, July 7, 5:00pm Pot Luck at the Meetinghouse; guest Frank Meeink: Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead. Thursday, July 8, 7 pm Frank Meeink talk... Carol Munger Sundays: 9 AM Worship and First Day School Sunday, July 18, Ministry and Counsel 10:30 Wednesday, July 7, 5:00pm Pot Luck at the Meetinghouse; guest Frank Meeink: Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead. Thursday, July 8, 7 pm Frank Meeink talk at Apponegansett Meetinghouse. Tuesday, July 20, Afghans for the Homeless; 6:30 Thursday, July 22, 7 PM June Carbone talk at Apponegansett Meetinghouse Saturday, July 24, 1 PM Sandwich Quarterly Meeting, Nantucket Sunday, July 25, Monthly Meeting 10:30 AM Partners in Development tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.209 2010-07-05T02:24:44Z 2010-07-05T02:28:56Z I recently returned from a week long trip to Haiti, from June 15th to June 22nd. I traveled with an organization called Partners in Development (PID). Please check out their web site at www.pionline.org. PID has a medical clinic... Carol Munger Corey Gifford ]]> Meditation and Prayer tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.207 2010-07-05T02:07:17Z 2010-07-05T02:11:36Z Quakers have been practicing peace as a spiritual discipline since the 1650’s. Their well-worn path to peace begins in prayer and worship, leads to recognizing God in all people, includes practicing nonviolence, and endeavors to make love the guiding force... Carol Munger Quakers have been practicing peace as a spiritual discipline since the 1650’s. Their well-worn path to peace begins in prayer and worship, leads to recognizing God in all people, includes practicing nonviolence, and endeavors to make love the guiding force in all they do. This path, which is available to everyone, celebrates life’s highest joys and witnesses life’s deepest tragedies amidst the beauty, uncertainty, and violence surrounding us. While practicing peace is not always easy, it is a spiritual discipline that expands love, generates hope, and satisfies our soul’s deep longing for peace. Historically for Friends, the path to peace begins (like mine did) with the practice of meditation and prayer. Listening within changes our perspective on the world because when we open ourselves to a prayerful relationship with God, we are invited to view the world from God’s perspective. And through God’s eyes we see that poverty, violence, and war are not God’s choices for the world, but are willful, human decisions. Over the centuries many people have experienced what educator John Yungblut describes as “an inescapable connection between contemplative prayer and motivation to engage in social reform. It is contemplative prayer that confirms the inseparable unity of all things. It is here that we discover we are not only our brother’s and our sister’s keeper, but that in some profound sense we are our brother and sister.” Recognizing our intrinsic oneness deepens our empathy and compassion for others, exposes acts of violence as self-violating, and reveals all wars as civil wars. Because prayer involves trusting an unseen power and accepting unpredictable results, it is easy to doubt its power and efficacy. Sometimes on snowy evenings, when I am vigiling in prayer lines, and my feet hurt from standing on cold brick sidewalks, I find myself wondering if our witness is being noticed by passersby and whether our prayers are making a difference. Then I remember the many times I have been introduced as a Quaker and someone says: “Oh, were you one of those people who stood outside the square in prayer during the Viet Nam (or Panama or Gulf or Afghanistan or Iraq) war? It always renewed my hope to drive by and see you all standing there in witness!” I am then reminded again that in practicing peace through individual and collective meditations and prayers, we gently ruffle the cosmic waters of the world’s conscience, generating ripples that affect people’s lives in ways that we may never know and creating peaceful outcomes we cannot imagine. Practicing Peace, Catherine Whitmire New Program for First Day School tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.208 2010-07-05T02:04:48Z 2010-07-05T02:19:42Z Minutes from Monthly Meeting for Business June 27 , 2010 Meeting approved of a donation of $200 to Inter-Church Council. Christian Education: Dawn Tripp reports that the age disparity among the First Day School children has become an issue. Christian... Carol Munger Minutes from Monthly Meeting for Business June 27 , 2010 Meeting approved of a donation of $200 to Inter-Church Council. Christian Education: Dawn Tripp reports that the age disparity among the First Day School children has become an issue. Christian Education and Ministry and Counsel will begin a search for an individual or individuals to commit to developing a program for our older children (ages 11 and up). The search will include both volunteers and the possibility of hiring from outside the Meeting. The committees will report next month with further details. Ministry and Counsel:At the end of last month, Peter Crysdale left our meeting after nine years of pastoral service. We truly appreciate the care and concern Peter demonstrated during his time here and will miss his stimulating sermons. We look forward to hearing about his future of good works. Ministry and Counsel is in the process of collecting candidates for the search committee for a new pastor. We welcome suggestions from members and attenders. The committee will present candidates for approval at July’s monthly meeting. Peace and Social Concerns: Meeting approved the expenditure of up to $ 2500 to cover expenses for this year’s Summer Conversations. The meeting would also like to make it clear that it will not approve of more than $1000 for next year’s series. Allen's Neck Events tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.206 2010-06-10T01:47:55Z 2010-06-10T01:52:56Z Sunday: 9 AM Worship and First Day School Sunday, June 13: First Day School cooks for Market Ministry Sunday, June 20, 10:30: Ministry and Counsel Sunday, June 27, 10:30: Monthly Meeting Saturday, June 26, 9:00 AM Sandwich Quarterly Meeting; Mattapoisett,... Carol Munger Sunday: 9 AM Worship and First Day School Sunday, June 13: First Day School cooks for Market Ministry Sunday, June 20, 10:30: Ministry and Counsel Sunday, June 27, 10:30: Monthly Meeting Saturday, June 26, 9:00 AM Sandwich Quarterly Meeting; Mattapoisett, 9 AM Use of the Sword tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.205 2010-06-10T01:43:35Z 2010-06-10T01:46:58Z Our actions help create the future...Every use of the sword multiplies future uses of the sword. Those that build their lives behind a sword-based defensive wall will stimulate in their neigh-bors and enemies symmetrical responses, as they equip themselves to... Carol Munger Ron Mock ‘05 ]]> Integrity tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.204 2010-06-10T01:39:10Z 2010-06-10T01:42:57Z George Fox cannot be understood apart from a recognition that the driving force of his life at this time was for complete integrity. With a passion that defied logic he demanded for himself and for others a life of holy... Carol Munger George Fox cannot be understood apart from a recognition that the driving force of his life at this time was for complete integrity. With a passion that defied logic he demanded for himself and for others a life of holy obedience in even the smallest details of life. A Living Faith Wilmer A. Cooper Friends of Kakamega tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.203 2010-06-10T01:34:08Z 2010-06-10T01:38:39Z Dear Allen’s Neck Friends, First let me apologize for being so long in writing to you. I have had a number of family emergencies this Winter that have made it impossible for me to write. Now, I want to thank... Carol Munger Dear Allen’s Neck Friends, First let me apologize for being so long in writing to you. I have had a number of family emergencies this Winter that have made it impossible for me to write. Now, I want to thank you for sending the $900 so that Purity can finish high school this year! ( If any of you wants to go to her graduation, she would be so excited!) You all have been so generous and so faithful to Purity, it has meant the world to her. Mirembe, (peace) Sukie Rice Friends of Kakamega, 51 Hunter road, Freeport, ME 04032 Dorothy says there was a great deal of hustle and bustle in early January getting the high school kids back to school with new uniforms, shoes, books, etc. This year is especially important to Purity as it makes or breaks her dream of becoming a police woman. (No pressure here.) I’ll let you know when we have our deadline for letters to be sent to kids with the trippers. I’m sure letters of encouragement from you will be welcomed. Thank you for being such an important part of this project and Purity’s life. Wishing you many blessings. Our Prayers tag:www.allensneck.org,2010://1.202 2010-06-10T01:31:59Z 2010-06-10T01:33:46Z We hold in the Light The Family of Jeff Lawrence, son of Richard and Ellma Lawrence, who died May 13, 2010.... Carol Munger We hold in the Light The Family of Jeff Lawrence, son of Richard and Ellma Lawrence, who died May 13, 2010.