What is Simplicity?

by Ann Kriebel (who is NOT the Anne Kriebel, former member of Friends Meeting at Cambridge) published in Friends Journal.

True simplicity should connote not poverty but, rather a richness of spirit, a joy in living, the nurturing of creativity, sensitivity to the natural world, and love for all its creatures.

Read the full article here. This article was read and discussed in First Day School.

Making do with More

by Charles Eisenstein

A world without weapons, without McMansions in sprawling suburbs, without mountains of unnecessary packaging, without giant mechanized monofarms, without energy-hogging big-box stores, without electronic billboards, without endless piles of throw-away junk, without the over-consumption of consumer goods no one really needs is not an impoverished world. I disagree with those environmentalists who say we are going to have to make do with less. In fact, we are going to make do with more: more beauty, more community, more fulfillment, more art, more music, and material objects that are fewer in number but superior in utility and aesthetics. . . .

Charles Eisenstein’s book Climate: A New Story was read and discussed by the New Story Group.

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Young Adult Friends Midwinter Retreat 2020

A joyful start to the new year

January 2-5, 2020, Thursday, 7:00 p.m. to Sunday 12:30 p.m.
Woolman Hill Conference Center, 107 Keets Hill Rd, Deerfield, MA

Registration is now open!

FCNL Spring Lobby Weekend 2020

Saturday March 28 – Tuesday March 31 in Washington, DC

At Spring Lobby Weekend 2020, hundreds of students, recent grads, Quakers, and young adults will come to Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress on one critical issue—climate change.

Registration opens in December.

Avison Fund Grant Proposal Deadline: January 6, 2020

Help Us Identify Worthy Projects to Support that Benefit Children!

The Avison Fund Committee is now accepting proposals for the 2020 granting cycle. Proposals must adhere to the fund’s guidelines: grants are made to organizations with year-long projects that support, care for, and enhance the lives of children. Paper copies of the Request for Proposals (RFP) are available in the Friends Center foyer. Electronic copies are available here., Proposals are due on Monday, January 6, 2020, by 5:00pm and must be submitted online to: avisonfundapps@gmail.com.

Please contact committee members at avison@fmcquaker.org with questions or suggestions of worthy, well-managed children’s organizations. NOTE: Up to twenty percent of each year’s disbursements may go to Quaker organizations.

Committee members: Betsy Hewitt, Lance Drane, Cynthia Knowles, Robert Irwin, Elizabeth Dyer

New Directory Coming in January 2020

Deadline for Add/Changes for the FMC Directory is January 12

Please check your entry in the draft directory, now available in the binder outside the FMC office! You can make any changes right on your entry. If you aren’t listed but would like to be, fill out one of the blank forms in the front of the binder. Printed copies of the new directory will be available in the office by late January.

The Clerks Team for 2019-2020

Ian Harrington is serving as Co-Presiding Clerk, Jonathan Vogel-Borne is serving as Assistant Clerk, and David L Myers is serving as Recording Clerk for the whole new year (through June 30). Six Friends are sharing the other Co-Presiding Clerk position. The rotation is as follows:

• September 8 – Ian Harrington
• October 13 – Jan Nisenbaum
• November 10 –Ian Harrington
• December 8 – Minga Claggett-Borne
• January 12 – Ian Harrington
• February 9 – Debby Colgan
• March 8 – Ian Harrington
• April 5 – Ariel Maddocks
• May 3 – Ian Harrington
• May 17 – Patricia Wild
• June 14 – Ian Harrington
• June 28 – Liz Moore

The Meetings for Business in Worship are scheduled for the Meeting House at 1:15 pm on the second Sunday of the month: September 8, October 13, November 10, December 8, January 12, February 9, March 8, April 5 (to avoid Easter), May 3 (to avoid Mothers’ Day) and May 17, and June 14 and June 28.

Contacting the team is easy though, as an email sent to clerk@fmcquaker.org will get to the right people.

Do you have a few extra hours to give to FMC?

Are you interested in finances and/or databases? Or children? or good with tools? or words? or just want to chip in a bit more on Sundays?

I have a few invitations for you to consider

1. We are organizing a small group to meet one time to go over our finances and understand them more deeply and update our projections based on the current deficit FMC is running and the current amount of reserves we have saved. This could be a great opportunity to both help FMC and also understand our finances better.
2. FMC currently uses Filemaker Pro, programmed by David Meyers. We are beginning to research other possibilities. There are two parts to this invitation. The first is to help David and be a back-up Filemaker troubleshooter. The second is to help us research and decide about the possibility of switching. You could let us know what you already know, volunteer to research one option and fill in info on our Google Drive excel chart where we will be gathering information, or be part of the full planning process. In other words, there’s so many different ways to be involved.
3. We have need for folks to be occasional childcare workers when a parent is at a meeting. Sometimes this is on Sundays and sometimes this is during the week in the evening. You’d be one of two adults in the room, so the responsibility would be shared and not solely on you.
4. We have a large facility in need of various things such as the dryer vent cleaned out and other small maintenance jobs. Ideally this would be someone who could come in during regular M-F daytime hours. Do you have a flexible schedule and miss using your hands?
5. Editing the newsletter and announcement sheet. The Publications group just lost a member of their team and is interested in finding someone else to help out!
6. Help on Sundays: Write the Whiteboard announcments in the morning before worship, help with Simple Lunch prep, help organize the food info cards for our monthly potluck, welcome folks to Simple Lunch and facilitate the process.

Your Resident Friend LJ Boswell (with Ella) at fmcresidentfriend@gmail.com

Special Schedule for Fires in the Meetinghouse in December

Due to the Christmas pageant there will be no fire on December 15.
There will be fires during the morning Meeting for Worship on December 1 and
December 29. There will also be a fire for the New Year’s Eve service at 11:00pm on December 31.

Wear Slippers Inside at FMC

Make a Fashion Statement! This is a gentle reminder to bring slippers to FMC to save the wear on our floors and rugs, especially during wet and/or snowy days. We don’t wish to cause hardship for anyone, but for those of us able to bring a change of foot gear, every little bit helps. Some slippers to borrow are available in the Meetinghouse and in the entryway to the Friends Center. Put your wet/salty/snowy footwear in the plastic trays.

Pastoral Care at FMC

Our FMC Community of Hope provides 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
• Preparing and/or delivering 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
• Sending 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 PastoralCare@fmcquaker.org.

Do you enjoy reading the FMC Newsletter?

Consider joining the Publications Team that brings you the monthly FMC newsletter. Various talents are welcome: proof reading, event creation, reporting, photography. This is a great way to get to know the meeting. Contact us at fmcbulletin@hotmail.com and see what we can do for you!

Cornelia Parkes, Holly Lapp, Amy Mercure

Simple Lunch Needs Additional Helpers

The almost-weekly Sunday Simple Lunches started in November 2015. Participation these days is usually large and always appreciative. The Lunch Crew has a number of very fine cooks, and gets a lot of help from lunch-eaters in setting out chairs, rinsing dishes, and putting away tables. Sometimes we are a little short-handed in the cleanup department—running the dishwasher, putting away leftovers, clearing the serving table, washing pots and pans. We invite Friends to consider joining us occasionally to do your preferred activity: cooking, putting out food and dishes, welcoming, running the dishwasher (great fun and training is available to supplement the written instruction sheet). Contact David L Myers at lunch@fmcquaker.org.

Give to Friends Meeting at Cambridge!

“ … make us sure of the good we cannot see and of the hidden good in the world…”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

As we start into the holiday season and enjoy the love and peaceful blessings of family and friends in this otherwise tumultuous world, let us pause to be reminded of the sturdy grounding in spirit and connection we get from our FMC community. To make an end of year gift click below or go to fmcquaker.org and click on “Contribute.”

You can also drop off a check or cash at the FMC office or in the secure slot in the office door if the office is closed.

The Material Aid and Advocacy Program (MAAP) that operates from the basement of the Meetinghouse needs donations of winter clothing including coats, hats, scarves and gloves/mittens. Items do not need to be new but should be in good condition. Travel-size toiletries are also very much needed (bar soap, shampoo, conditioner, combs, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, packets of tissues, Band-Aids, etc.). Drop off items Tuesdays or Thursdays between 9:00am and 3:00pm, or put them on the tunnel hall bench near the MAAP door after hours. For more information and to volunteer, contact Cassie Hurd at cassie@maapma.org.

Long-time member Christine Connaire passed away Thursday, September 5, 2019, at the Miriam Boyd Parlin Hospice Residence in Wayland. She is survived by her two children, Celia Connaire and spouse John Budish, of Brick, NJ, and Colin Connaire and spouse Nicole, and her grandchildren, Gillian, Brady, Meaghan and Molly of Grosse Pointe Park, MI; and by her sister-in-law, Eileen Connare, brother-in-law, Robert Connaire, her nieces & nephews, Jay Condrick, Maura Condrick, Stephanie Fox, Susan Condrick, Mike Condrick, Carolyn McAvinn, Kate Canny, Rob Connaire, Jeff Connaire, & Michael Connaire, She was predeceased by her first husband, Joseph Connaire, and second, Jonathan Fine. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Joslin Diabetes Center https://www.joslin.org/giving/memorial_gifts.html

Our beloved member Mehmet Rona passed away on October 18, 2019. A Memorial Meeting for Worship to celebrate his life will take place on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at 2pm. A reception will follow. Donations of sweet and savory finger snacks are requested.

Watch this new Quaker Speak video starring Greg “My Spiritual Journey with disability.” In reconciling his disability with his understanding of the nature of God, Quaker Greg Woods stopped questioning “what God did or did not do” when he started seeing himself as a part of the body of Christ.

Greg Woods, Youth Ministries & Education Coordinator
youthministries@fmcquaker.org or 413-251-6512

Jose Luis Calderon and Karen Gregorio from the Monthly and Yearly Meetings of Santidad, Guatemala, visited Yanire (Yani) Zamora in Cozumal, Mexico. They held a meeting for worship together on Sunday, November 17, 2019.

What Does Love Look Like in Challenging Times?

Our Theme for the Year

December 1: “Noticing Patterns of Oppression and Faithfulness” with Camilla Dickinson, Wendy Sanford, and Ben Warner will reflect on this important work at NEYM’s sessions this August—and what this practice might look like at FMC.

December 8: “Love Crossing Borders.” Judy Goldberger, revered member of Beacon Hill Friends Meeting, will talk about her immigration-justice leading.

December 15: “Seeking the Truth in Love: Reflection and Discernment” with Richard Ristow

December 22: “Who is Jesus to You? What does the Christmas Story Mean to You?” with Susan Davies and Mary Gilbert will share their answers; forum attenders will, too.

December 29: No Forum. 5th Sunday Extended Meeting for Worship in the Meetinghouse.

For more information or to present a forum contact Patricia Wild at forums@fmcquaker.org

Emma Turcotte (center) presents about impact investing on behalf of Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF), her QVS site placement. Emma served as the Communications and Programs analyst for LEAF during her fellowship with QVS in 2018-2019.

Picture and text appeared on the back cover of Friends Journal, December, 2019.

Beacon Hill Friends House Holiday Party

Sunday, December 15, from 12:00pm-4:00pm

Friends are invited to the Beacon Hill Friends House holiday party after worship on Sunday, December 15, 12-4pm at 8 Chestnut Street, Boston. Join residents and F/friends of the House for a cookie swap, music, fellowship and cheer. More info at bhfh.org/events.

Winter Flowering: In Touch With Your Whole Self

Woolman Hill, Sunday, December 29 – Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Each person may engage in whatever combination of solitude and community time feels comfortable. Activities are indoors and outdoors and may include: periodic mindfulness of our relationship with the Universe throughout the day: the Divine Monastic Hours of Prayer using Advices and Queries concerned with the cosmos, interfaith sacred readings, and poems; daily Meeting for Worship; Quaker Opportunities: the practice of Spiritual Friendship with facilitator and/or other participants; celebratory and lamentation improvisational chanting/singing and movement; New Year’s Eve bonfire: letting go of the past and moving into the future, followed by Meeting for Worship; walks in the woods, meditations with nature, journal writing, lectio divina, or whatever you wish.

The standard rate for this retreat is $320, with a sliding scale of $220-$420. The fee includes program, lodging and food from Sunday dinner through Wednesday lunch. Commuter rate is $220. Register online here.

Retreat on Eldering and Healing

Powell House, Friday, December 6, 6:00pm, through Sunday, December 8 at 1:30pm

This weekend will be devoted to learning about eldering and healing within the Quaker tradition. Facilitated by Friends with gifts of eldering and healing, we will explore the history of these practices while building our skills and capacity to use our gifts in these areas. There will also be ample time for community building, rest and renewal, and fun on the beautiful Powell House campus. Friday night dinner available by request and all other meals through Sunday lunch are included in the cost for the weekend. For more information visit here.

The Winter Solstice: Light on the Longest Night

Powell House, Saturday, December 21, 2019, 2:00pm – 8:00pm

What—or who– brings you light in this darkness? Can we find Light? What does the stillness offer? How will you spend this winter season? “The winter solstice marks the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. Join us at Powell House for music, art, worship, community; capped with a luminary walk to our bonfire! Activities will be indoors and outdoors.

$50/per person for the retreat includes snacks and dinner.
Stay overnight for an additional $30/person.
Register by December 10, 2019

Visit here for more information.

Annual New Year`s Celebration 2019-2020

Powell House, December 31, 2019 through January 1, 2020

Cherish Friends and Family – New Year’s Celebration at Powell House.

Hosted by PoHo Staff, this multigenerational conference is one of our most popular. We can only house 90 people, so register early! At this annual event, we can have activities for all ages – it’s up to you. There are workshop slots for YOU to offer an activity, so give it some thought before you arrive. Last year there was cookie making, energy work, enneagrams, musical collaborations, tai chi, Pilates, a clay workshop, and a walk to Dorson’s Rock, among others.

Register by December 15th: $420/families; $210/adults; $100/youth 13-22; $50/infants-12; Commuters= 1/2 price
After December 15th: $440/$220/$110/$55
Visit here for more information.