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LAFAYETTE MINUTE: UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS BAN TREATY
Added 04/19/2018 by
The following Minute was approved by Lafayette Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends on January 21, 2018.
We, Quakers of Lafayette Friends Meeting, Lafayette, Indiana, United States, support the new United Nations General Assembly’s Nuclear
Weapons Ban Treaty. In accordance with the Quaker Peace Testimony, Quakers have worked tirelessly for abolition of nuclear weapons ever since United States airplanes dropped two of these secretly
produced bombs on August 6 and 9, 1945. The bombs destroyed both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, and the world has not yet recovered from all that those two bombs destroyed.
This treaty may seem imperfect to many Friends because it does not seek the elimination of nuclear energy as well as weapons. It is, however, the longest step world governments have taken toward the
actual elimination of these weapons from our already wounded earth.
There is much work yet to do if we are to achieve actual abolition, to which our own government is adamantly opposed. The United States Congress has allocated a trillion dollars, already being used,
to modernize our own nuclear arsenal over the next thirty years. Very few of our citizens are even aware of this new United Nations treaty since the major media have not reported on its development or
discussed publicly its impact.
We request that all Friends and Quaker Meetings, which are so led, join to make this Treaty more widely known. Let us show our fellow citizens that the door to abolition of nuclear weapons is open.
Let us proceed together as the Spirit leads and as the Way opens.
WENDY WATERS-CONNELL HAS RESIGNED FROM QUAKER HEIGHTS
Added 12/12/2017 by
Wendy Waters-Connell has resigned her position as Executive Director of Quaker Heights. After 18 years in the position, she will leave at the end of January to take up the position of Executive
Director at the Hamilton YWCA. In her resignation letter, she wrote, "It has not been an easy decision. The position is calling at my heart for many personal and professional reasons. I leave
Quaker Heights for this small not for profit which is in need of major fund raising and growth to thrive into the future...I take with me deep and rewarding friendships [and] the embedded memory
of how I was always treated at Quaker Heights...with endless support and respect. These are the lessons which will be the very foundation of what I take to the YWCA."
Sydney McBride, currently the Assistant Director, will be taking over the Executive Director position upon Wendy's departure.
INDIANA FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION (IFCL) UPDATE
Added 05/27/2017 by
Now that the 2017 Indiana General Assembly session has concluded, the Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation (IFCL) would like to report to Friends on the legislative accomplishments of our bipartisan
Quakerly lobbying. We are positively surprised and elated by the effective influence that our faith-based IFCL organization has been able to have at the Statehouse - both in terms of substantive impact
on legislation, and in terms of building personal relationships and mutual respect with lawmakers (on both sides of the aisle) that should pay rich dividends for years to come.
Indeed, lawmakers (up to and including the Governor) have sought us for conversations and advice. We want to share IFCL's good news with you, and to thank you for your interest and support of IFCL -
now flourishing in its 46th year. To read the legislative summaries, visit the Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation Website.
WORLD RELIGIONS THROUGH THEIR SCRIPTURES
Added 02/03/2017 by
Learn about the history and social impact of world religions through their scriptures with experts representing several of the world’s religious traditions.
One example of the "widespread illiteracy about religion that spans the globe," said Diane Moore, director of Harvard Divinity School’s Religious Literacy Project to The Huffington Post.
To combat this illiteracy, Moore and five other religion professors from Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School and Wellesley College are kicking off a free, online series on
World Religions through the Scriptures, open to the masses. The courses are being offered via an online learning platform called edX, which Harvard University launched with
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2012. For those interested in earning a certificate of achievement at the end of the series, edX offers a non-audit track for $50.
Full class details and sign-up information are available on the World Religions Class Page
WAYNESVILLE QUAKERS DOCUMENTARY
Added 12/1/2016 by the
Walk in the Light: a History of the Waynesville Quaker Historical District, is a half-hour documentary about Waynesville Quakers and Miami Monthly Meeting, produced by members of Miami Monthly Meeting.
Copies of the DVD are available from Miami Monthly Meeting. You can also view this documentary on the Walk In The Light
You Tube page.
2016 YEARLY MEETING REPORT FROM FCNL
Added 06/20/2016 by
The 2016 Yearly Meeting Report from Friends Committee on National Legislation has been received. Please read the FCNL Report.
PREMIER OF THE FILM QUAKERS: THAT OF GOD IN EVERYONE
Updated 01/01/2016 by the
Cincinnati Friends Meeting is honored to announce the upcoming release of Quakers: That of God in Everyone, a feature-length film documentary produced by Rebel Pilgrim Productions and written by
Donne Hayden. The film chronicles the rich history of social activism and faith of Quakers, with a focus on Quakers in southwestern Ohio as they lived their commitment to Quaker testimonies that
changed our communities, nation and world. Cincinnati Friends Meeting, celebrating its 200th anniversary, is featured in the film, as our Quakers from throughout the Cincinnati and Wilmington
Yearly Meeting area. The film will be screened as part of the 2015 Cincinnati Film Festival on Thursday, September 17th at the old St. Michael's Church in Price Hill, 2104 St. Michael's Street.
The screening is scheduled to begin between 7:00-7:30 p.m. Cincinnati Friends Meeting will host a formal premiere of the film in October at a location and date to be announced.
QUAKER DIVERSITY: LEADINGS, SERVICE AND MINISTRY
Added 01/01/2016 by the
Community, Cincinnati, and Eastern Hills Meetings met to explore some of the many varieties of service found among Friends in an all-day gathering on Saturday August 8, 2015 at Cincinnati Friends Meeting
(8075 Keller Rd, Cincinnati). The event provided Friends in the region with an opportunity to understand different forms of ministry within the Religious Society of Friends, from preaching on Sunday morning
to serving on a meeting committee to providing service in the wider world-any work that arises from a divine call.
Four Friends served on the panel. Lloyd Lee Wilson is a recorded minister in North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) and is known for his various publications. Represented by her son Evyes Dusenge (a student at Guildford College), Rachel Bugenimana (unable to get a visa for the event) was born Rwanda and lived through the 1994 genocide. Rachel serves at the Friends Peace House in Kigali. Evyes also spoke about his own ministry. Martha Viehmann is a member of Eastern Hills Friends Meeting and has served as recording clerk of her meeting and on the Yearly Meeting's Middle Youth and Planning Committees. Recent Earlham College graduate, Sarah Medlin, brought the perspective of a Young Adult Friends to round out the panel.
The day opened at 9AM with bagels, coffee, and other light food. In the morning, each presenter described his or her ministry and in the afternoon, talked about the spiritual process that led them to that particular service. There was also time for questions and comments from the audience. A simple lunch was provided during which queries about ministry were discussed. The event ended at mid-afternoon after closing worship. Recordings of the speakers can be downloaded from the Special Events Page and photos of it are available on the Photos Page.
YEARLY MEETING APPROVES DIVESTMENT FROM FOSSIL FUELS, AFFIRMING HOPE
Updated 01/01/2016 by the
Ohio Valley became the third yearly meeting in the United States to approve a divestment minute during our annual sessions, following divestment minute approvals by Northern and Pacific yearly meetings
earlier this summer. The minute (see: below) calls for withdrawing investments in coal, petroleum, and natural gas within five years. Virtually all scientists agree that burning these fossil fuels is
the primary cause of global climate change. On July 30, 2015, after a threshing session introduced by Bill Cahalan, Dylan Jordan Cahalan, and Marjorie Isaacs, Steve Angel, clerking for Rex Sprouse,
asked if Friends were ready to approve the minute brought forwarded by Miami Quarter, which had itself approved divestment this past May. The many responses of, "Approve" were followed by positive
suggestions including: individual and monthly meetings work on divesting from fossil fuels and generally invest in socially responsible ways.
NASA scientists' announcement on 7-25-15 that the hole in the Ozone is clearly beginning to close gave timely support. Cooperative global banning of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigerators and aerosol cans, directly caused this moon-sized hole to shrink. That same week the Union of Concerned Scientists exposed deliberate efforts of some fossil fuel companies to inspire false doubt about climate change. "I think it's amazing how quickly this this all happened-the power of Light!" said Miami Quarter co-clerk Veronica Frost.
We now have the technology through clean power such as solar and wind. The shrinking of the ozone hole demonstrates that global cooperation can improve the atmosphere. The ending of Apartheid, promoted by world-wide divesting from South Africa, shows that global awareness can promote good political decisions. Now divesting from fossil fuels can help focus world awareness on the impact of fossil fuels on climate change.