“In our Society [of Friends], the committee structure is necessary, right, and good…. We could not operate without our committees and we rarely express our appreciation to them adequately.”

——Merrilie McAfee Towl

Make Friends While Serving Friends

Committees

Serving on committees is crucial to the life and welfare of our meeting — for many of us as central as meeting for worship. In a large meeting like ours, committee service (performed by over 130 of us) is also an excellent way to plant roots, develop friendships, and become more integrated in the community.

Each year the Nominating Committee matches the interests and abilities of members and attenders with the needs of meeting committees. Committee terms begin in July and usually are for three years (they can be shorter). How can you serve? How can committee participation nourish your Quaker practice?

We encourage you to look over this list of committee descriptions. Committee meeting times may be adjustable. Membership on committees marked with a asterisk “*” are generally limited to members of the Religious Society of Friends. For more information about a particular committee or to learn if it is open for visits, please contact the Nominating Committee at Nominating@fmcquaker.org

Groups

Groups are informal associations open to all who are interested in the work of the group. Some groups are temporary and some are long standing, and the interests are wide spread. Meeting times for groups are posted in the the weekly calendar on front page and in the calendar section of the website

Committees

Avison Fund provides recommendations to Meeting for Business on the disbursement of foundation funds to organizations that submit proposals for projects designed to improve the lives of children. We meet on the first Monday of each month at 7pm, September to June.

The Cambridge Friends School(CFS) Board of Trustees contributes skills and expertise to support the school’s philosophy and mission. Trustees are responsible for hiring and actively supporting the Head. They assume fiduciary responsibility and oversee and participate in fundraising. We meet monthly on assorted Mondays at 6:30pm.

Exhibits is responsible for arranging and hanging art shows every two months in the Friends Room. We consider this to be a venue for the Meeting community to get to know one another better. The works on the walls bear witness to how we each interface with the world, the divine, and the ineffable through our chosen form of artistic expression. Themes are often selected in keeping with Quaker precepts. We meet infrequently, usually twice a year. At a meeting we typically plan about six months’ worth of shows. Duties of committee members include showing up once every two months (usually on Monday during the day) to help hang a new show. One Sunday afternoon every two months we have an opening reception for a new show. This involves food contributions along with participating in setup and cleanup.

Fellowship and Outreach encourages community fellowship, welcomes visitors, and reaches out to new attenders. Examples of their activities include greeting people at the door on First Day, developing outreach materials, arranging social gatherings (newcomers’ breakfasts, an annual meeting-wide retreat) and corresponding with newcomers. Visitors are welcome. We meet monthly on first Mondays at 7pm.

The First Day School(FDS) works with the Youth Ministries and Education Coordinator to plan and refine the curriculum from preschool through high school, to recruit and support FDS teachers, and to maintain a caring nursery staff. The committee has care of the religious education and spiritual growth of the infants, children, and youth of the Meeting, manages the Children’s Library, and supports parents in raising Quaker children and nurturing family spirituality. FDS seeks to help children and adults have meaningful worship experiences, and to raise awareness and concern for children and families in the Meeting as a whole. We meet monthly on first Sundays at 12:15pm.

Friends for Racial Justice (FORJ) offers workshops and book and video discussion groups on institutional racism, white privilege, and other racial issues at Cambridge Meeting, in the Society of Friends, and in the world at large. They are willing to assist other committees in understanding how institutional racism affects their work. We meet monthly on second Tuesdays at 6:30pm.

Fundraising seeks to raise funds for the Meeting and works to engage with members and attenders in ongoing ways that cultivate a culture of abundance, and promote giving in all ways, as Friends are able.

Gardening and Landscape plans and coordinates the maintenance of the Meeting’s flower gardens. They facilitate project days and welcome everyone who enjoys gardening, learning about plants, meeting other Friends, and cultivating the soil. Meetings TBA and outside on the grounds.

Library takes care of the selection, cataloging, and circulation of the Meeting’s books and audiovisual materials as well as digitizing the oral history cassettes. They also seek ways to encourage more people to use the library for enrichment of the life of the Meeting. They collaborate on types of and specific books to recommend that Quaker Press publish, FGC Bookstore stock, or FMC obtain and circulate. Visitors welcome. Oral History subcommittee meets monthly on second Saturdays at 10am; Library Business subcommittee meets monthly.

Membership engages with attenders about their spiritual journeys and where membership at FMC might fit. The committee considers applications for memberships; requests for sojourning, transfers, resignations; and transition of adult membership for juniors. It also makes appropriate recommendations to the Meeting for Business and arranges introduction and welcoming of members new to the Meeting. We meet monthly on fourth Mondays at 7pm.

Memorial Meetings, with support from the wider Meeting community, facilitates memorial meetings. Although each memorial is unique, all are held in “reverent simplicity” in the manner of Friends. We meet periodically as needed.

Ministry and Counsel has the care of Meetings for Worship. The quality of ministry is their continual concern. They have responsibility for the spiritual life of the Meeting’s membership and help to provide individual members with counsel and support. We meet twice monthly on first and third Tuesdays at 7pm.

Nominating submits to Business Meeting the names of members and attenders to serve as officers, committee members, and representatives of the Meeting. They take into account the talents, abilities and interests of these people and the needs of the committees. Meetings are not open to visitors. We meet on one Monday a month at 10:30 am, with extra meetings as needed.

Peace and Social Justice helps put our Quaker principles into action in the areas of peace and justice.

Peace and Social Justice also supports the leadings of individuals: for example, some among us have been led to visit prisons, while others have traveled to areas of international conflict. Recent activities of the Committee include co-sponsorship with other religious communities of International Day of Peace activities on Boston Common; holding a monthly Meeting for Worship at Raytheon, a major weapons manufacturer; organizing the yearly Good Friday Witness for Peace on Boston Common; holding informational gatherings with guest speakers; signing and endorsing in the committee’s name letters and petitions; and organizing fundraising events for special projects.

We meet monthly on fourth Tuesdays at 7 pm.

Personnel serves as a resource for the Resident Friend on personnel related issues, develops personnel policies, considers relevant trends in the wider community for application within the Meeting (such as the minimum wage), and maintains personnel manual. We meet monthly on fourth Thursdays at 7pm.

Trustees take care of the property of the Meeting, both buildings and grounds and invested funds. They manage the maintenance of the physical facility (including center furnishings) and schedule its use. They also supervise the facility’s insurance program and oversee the financial operations. They work with the Treasurer in creating the proposed annual budget for FMC for consideration by the monthly meeting in the spring. They have care of the Ebenezer Pope Fund (financial assistance for persons in FMC and other area meetings facing emergency situations) and the Fund for the Support of Conscience (financial assistance for persons in need for reasons of conscience). We meet monthly on second Tuesdays at 7pm.

Groups

The Artists and Writers Group gathers monthly for mutual support and guidance in our respective artistic endeavors. We not only share, discuss and respond to each other’s work, but often informally discuss ways that artistic expression delights us and draws us deeper into the experience of life. In order to maintain a safe space for all during the pandemic, please explore the fit with us should you have an interest in joining.

Email George Campbell at artists@fmcquaker.org for meeting information.

FMC Disability and Accessibility Awareness and Coordination Group (DAAC)

Click here for a description of the group and what it does.

The Family Worship Planning Group plans the Family Worship intergenerational meeting that takes place at 10:30am on the first Sunday of the month.

The New Story Group is an ecumenical group of seekers searching for spiritual answers to the crises of the modern world. We seek to integrate the wisdom of the past found in Quaker and other faith traditions with the truths found in the scientific age. Visit our webpage here.

The LGBTQ+ Community at Friends Meeting at Cambridge has been on a journey of including, celebrating and advocating for LGBTQ+ individuals for many years. We use “LGBTQ+” here as shorthand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other identities (such as intersex, asexual, questioning and others) that do not fit into a gender binary or heterosexual sexual orientation.

What happens after you send a request to prayers@fmcquaker.org? The Prayer Circle, a small group of 4 to 6 people, meets on the third Monday of the month at 4:00 pm on Zoom to hold these requests in the Light. We welcome anyone who is in need of prayers or who is moved to pray for others.

This small, but dedicated, group produces the weekly calendar and Minutes and Reports. We also administer the FMC database and website. We are always looking for enthusiastic people with skills in writing, editing, layout and formatting in Microsoft Word, as well as FileMaker Pro and HTML/WordPress skills. If you are interested, please contact the Publications Team at publications@fmcquaker.org. We would be so happy to hear from you!

The Quaker Voluntary Service(QVS) Boston Local Support Committee works in cooperation with Beacon Hill, Framingham, Fresh Pond and Wellesley Friends Meetings to support QVS fellows volunteer service in the Boston area. This entails providing housing, placements, and spiritual nurture during their year of service. QVS is a national Quaker organization.

Did you know … some Quakers love science fiction and fantasy?
Did you know reading aloud is fun for adults?

We’d love to hear your voice! Join us as we gather to experience stories together, out loud and in real time. You don’t have to be a Quaker, you don’t have to have a beautiful reading voice: as many will read as choose to, and as time allows. Bring an old favorite or a new discovery to share, or just come and listen …

Please bring science fiction or fantasy short stories rather than novels — we have one novel going at a time and it’s a group choice — but don’t worry about how short: if it’s too long for one sitting, we want you to come back again and continue!

We meet 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. See you there!

Here is an annotated list of some of the books we have read as promised in our Forum on November 28 – “The Spirit in Speculative Fiction” with Betsy Roper and Richard Ristow.

To participate in the Zoom event, click this link or call 1-646-558-8656 and provide the Meeting ID 335 209 895 and passcode 398431.

For more information, contact Betsy Roper or Jonathan Gilbert at scififantasy@fmcquaker.org.

The Wednesday evening sharing circle is comprised of the formerly incarcerated and those who care about them. Following a format specifically designed for “returning citizens,” the evening begins at 6pm with a home-cooked meal accompanied by informal conversation. At about 7pm, we sit around lit candles in a safe, non-threatening forum in which each participant can express his or her current concerns, to be listened to patiently and without judgment, and to offer the same in return to others. This simple yet profoundly affirming process is based on mutual respect, equality and love for one another. Although many Friends might find the Sharing Circle to be meaningful to them, we have limited capacity and it is important to remember for whom the Circle was created.

Young Adult Friends(YAFs) are between 18 and 35(ish) years old. You are welcome to join our monthly potluck, where we’ll enjoy food and fellowship. We meet fourth Sundays at 6:15pm.

Ad Hoc and Consultative Committees, Concern Groups and FMC Reps to other organizations

In addition to committees appointed by a nominating process there are several Ad Hoc and Consultative Groups appointed by the clerks. The current (2020) contacts for these groups as well as Concern Groups and FMC representatives to other organizations are listed here.

From September to June the Ad Hoc Spiritual Education Group provides programs for new and experienced seekers. For current offerings please consult the Weekly Calendar or Featured Events on the home page of the FMC website.

Click here for a list of the 2021-2022 offerings.

The Zoom Tech Hosting Team was formed in response to the COVID -19 pandemic when Friends Meeting at Cambridge closed its doors and began to meet on-line. As the meeting facilities have gradually opened for on-site meetings, the Zoom Tech Hosting Team has continued to support hybrid meetings.

Contact: fmczoomtech@googlegroups.com

Child Safety Policy

Friends Meeting at Cambridge (FMC) has a strong commitment to ensuring that all members and attenders, including children and youth, are treated with respect and consistently experience FMC as a community that is safe and spiritually nurturing. Over the past two decades, FMC has provided educational opportunities, adopted policies, and developed protocols that affirm that commitment and seek to proactively reduce the risk child abuse.

In our faith community, it is all of our responsibility to keep our children safe. This brochure provides a summary of key safety procedures, as well as some thoughts on how we can all work together to create a safe and nurturing space for young people. A trifold version of this brochure is available here and in hardcopy at FMC.

While we are dedicated to reducing risk, we are sadly aware that abuse of children and youth occurs in religious communities as well as in the wider society. As such we have a moral, and a specific legal, responsibility to respond to any concerns related to the abuse of a child. For more detailed information about our plans for such a response, please see our Policy on Child Safety and the accompanying protocols. These set forth FMC’s administrative, personnel, and program expectations for reducing the risk of and responding to any concerns of abuse.

Contact: carc@fmcquaker.org

The proposal for the Blue Sky Group that was brought to Meeting for Business in Worship in September, 2024 can be read in its entirety here

The three main responsibilities of the group are:

  1. Determine which business before the Meeting is essential and how to respond. This may include appointing business sessions and temporary clerks for those sessions if/when needed.
  2. Add members to the Blue Sky Groups as needed.
  3. Plan and carry out threshing sessions, group meetings, presentations and other activities with the goal of helping the Meeting community grow in love, trust, and joy.

We have been asked to carry out these responsibilities until at least June of 2024 when the process will be reviewed.

See also Blue Sky FAQ.

Pastoral care at FMC is facilitated by group of meeting members who have been trained in the Community of Hope method of pastoral care. They provide the following types of care and support to individuals within our community:

  • Friendly visits to someone’s home or a visit to someone in a hospital or nursing home
  • Accompaniment to a medical appointment
  • Prepare and/or deliver meals
  • Conversations to assist in determining the need for a Support or a Clearness Committee
  • Supportive visits and listening presence during a challenging life experience
  • Send cards on behalf of FMC

If you, or someone you know within our FMC community, might benefit from one of these care and support activities, please let us know. You may reach the program by emailing your request to the pastoral care group.