Let your Light Shine at FMC!

An invitation to consider giving your time and energy
By Lorena Boswell, Resident Friend

“The early Quakers experienced church not as a building but as a people gathered by the Spirit… A way of fulfilling the functions of church emerged among them that early Friends called Gospel Order. They had no paid clergy, and all the members of the meeting bore a share of the responsibility for ministry, as well as for maintenance of the community.” —Marcelle Martin, My Life is Love

When I was new to Quaker Meeting in Humboldt County California, I was invited to join the Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Members of the meeting saw my interest and experience as an organizer around issues of race, poverty and homelessness. I had never considered being on a committee, yet their invitation made sense to me. It was a natural extension of my interest and experience. I said yes and soon discovered the many gifts of committee work. Not only was it an opportunity for me to do work that was important to me, but it also helped me feel more connected to the community that was quickly becoming my own.

Likewise, at the Forum on 2/25 Ann Foster explained that “the smaller settings provided by Forum, Afterthoughts, support committees, and Memorial Committee initially helped me both feel known and helped me get to know others– which over time has helped me feel connected to the larger community.” In fact, she says finding smaller groups within the larger whole of FMC remain the major way she feels connected to FMC. She’s been attending for many years, finding ways to connect, and now is led to pursue membership.

Each of us have many gifts and many ways we shine. The queries Nominating Committee would like you to sit with are:

• What are your gifts and how do you let them shine?
• How are you feeling led to share your gifts with the Friends Meeting at Cambridge Community?
• This is not about pressuring people to do the work of this Meeting, but rather as our book of Faith and Practice reminds us:

“Members ought to feel a sense of rightness of their service — a sense of divine calling. Appointments should not be accepted nor declined lightly. Their acceptance should mean willingness to be regular in attendance, to work with others, and to share and to listen. Preparation for effective service is important, involving the ordering of personal affairs so that it is possible to give fully of time energy and spiritual resources.”  —NEYM Faith and Practice 1985, p 225-6

The Nominating Committee Fair on March 4th will be an opportunity to talk to members of our 23 different committees and explore where you may feel led to serve. If you’ve never thought about it before, please consider deeply. You may be surprised and delighted at where this work will lead you.

2017-18 Annual Staff Evaluations: Seeking Feedback!

Your feedback is needed to help evaluate our staff, and to help them continually improve their performance.

• For principal staff (David Dunphy, Facilities Manager; Amy Mercure, Office Manager, and Greg Woods, Youth Ministries and Education Coordinator) please email your comments to Lorena Boswell. You may also speak with Lorena to share your comments about these staff members.
• For the Resident Friend (Lorena Boswell) only, please email your comments to Debby Colgan. You may also speak with Debby to share your comments about the Resident Friend.
• If you interact with nursery workers or the Center Residents, your input on their work is also welcome; you can send these responses to Lorena as well.

Specifics about job duties are more helpful than general statements about the person. Please consider both what is working well and what could be improved. Please note that our practice is to include the author’s name with the comment when it goes to the staff member unless you request otherwise. The deadline for receiving your comments is Sunday April 15th, but earlier would be appreciated. Job descriptions are available here on the website, as well as from Lorena.

Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback!

End of an Era

As we segue into the modern age with our new electronic newsletter, the very last paper copies of the FMC newsletter are being produced and will be sent via the United States postal service. We hope you will enjoy the new electronic format. If you would like to receive the FMC newsletter directly to your email inbox, please contact the office at office@fmcquaker.org | (617) 876-6883.

Forums are held Sundays at 9:30am in the Parlor

For more information contact Kitty Rush

• March 4: No forum — Intergenerational breakfast
• March 11: Ian Harrington on FCNL Priorities
• March 18: Worship sharing on Advice 11 -“Be alert to how ‘way opens.’ It may be revealed through a door closing.”
• March 25: George Cappacio–Title TBD

Nicholas L. Feather, nephew and cousin of our members Betsy Hewitt, and Tom, Lydia and Ronney O’Connor died suddenly at home, in San Diego, January 6, 2018 at the age of 38. His obituary was published in the San Diego Union. A memorial meeting for worship to celebrate his life is scheduled to take place at FMC on Saturday, May 12 at 2pm.

Head Cook | FRIENDS CAMP
China, ME | Full-time seasonal
Posted Dec 5, 2017

Friends Camp is seeking a head cook (among several other positions) for the 2018 summer. Should have experience in food service for a large group, be interested in making food from scratch, and be a good team player. Generous housing benefit provided in our camp lake house (although living on-site is not required) as well as competitive compensation. Please spread the word!

Advocacy Corps | FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION
Local Community | Part-time, 9 months
Posted Nov 2017 | Apr 9, 2018

Young adults between the ages of 19-30 get paid to organize their local community around federal legislation. Advocacy Corps organizers connect local activists and leaders with their local member of Congress to affect big, long-term change. Issues: Environment & Energy

Summer Interns | FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION
Washington, DC | Full-time, 8 weeks
Posted Nov 2017 | Mar 5, 2018

Work at FCNL’s office in Washington throughout June and July to advance our witness for peace on Capitol Hill. FCNL offers several paid summer internships that provide a broad introduction to federal policy, grassroots organizing, and nonprofit management. The experience is ideal for people ages 18-23, but some older participants have found it to be meaningful as well.

Special Events at Cambridge Friends School

• All School Meeting for Worship in Tuesday, 3/6 at 8:30am
• The CFS Seminar Series kicks off the spring with 3 events:
  • Thursday, 3/8 – Dr. Jill Walsh speaks about coming of age in the Digital Age and how today’s technology affects youth.
  • Tuesday, 3/13 – Dan Levine of Engaging Minds speaks about helping students learn executive functioning skills in today’s overstimulated world.
  • Tuesday, 3/20 – Michelle Cove of MEDIAGIRLS will present about today’s social media and it’s effect on girls. The focus will be on making social media a positive experience for teenage girls.
  • Click here to register and see the full seminar series:
• The CFS 8th Grade has been hard at work on their drama production of The Crucible. The performance will take place on Wednesday, March 28 at 7pm

Grants from Salem Quarterly Meeting

Deadline to apply:  March 31, 2018

In April, Salem Quarterly Meeting will be making grants of up to $1000 to individuals and Meetings in the quarter. We have more money to offer in grants this cycle! Putting together an application does require some preparation, so it’s not too soon to start.

Here is what we want to support:

1. Programs which encourage outreach (and inreach) in individual Meetings of Salem Quarter, so we know who we are and we share the gift of our faith with the world. Inreach involves getting to know each other better, especially in all things spiritual. Outreach includes publicity, public programs that bring people to the meeting and participation in community events. A well documented proposal will describe a program or action, including dates, and include projected costs and funding sources.
2. Ways to encourage the corporate leadings of our Meetings, of committees within our Meetings and of working groups of individuals who come together from multiple meetings. We are especially interested in proposals which involve interaction among Meetings and individuals in the Salem Quarter community. These should go beyond the regular committee work of the Meeting. New initiatives are encouraged. A well documented proposal will include a letter from the Meeting/Meetings describing the relationship of the leading to the Meeting(s). Such a proposal will also include projected costs and anticipated funding sources.
3. Encouragement for individual leadings and ministries which are grounded in and provide spiritual nourishment for our Meetings. A well documented proposal will include information about how the leading has been tested from the applicant’s spiritual community (Meeting, YAFs.) This could be a travel minute or report from a clearness committee. It will also indicate how the individual and the community intend to be spiritually and practically accountable to each other, whether through a committee or some other means. Proposal will also describe the travels or activities the individual is led to, including time span, costs and any other funding sources. The committee will weigh the ability of the community to financially support travel and ministries in considering size of grants.

How to apply

Click here to download and fill out the application form. Provide information about meeting support of the effort/project to be funded (letter from meeting, report from a clearness committee, minute of the meeting or the Ministry & Counsel). Return the application and supporting documents, by email (as an attached file, not in the body of an email!) to salemQMClerk@neym.org.

Special Events from the NEYM Website

Youth Retreats

• JHYM Retreat Mar 2 to Mar 4 | Wellesley, MA
• JYM Retreat Mar 23 to Mar 25 | Westport, MA

Beacon Hill Friends House, Boston, MA

• Racial Justice & the Beloved Community: Quaker Practices for Interrupting and Transforming Racism Mar 10 | Boston, MA
• Faithful Advocacy: Relationship Building in a Time of Political Division Mar 5 |  Boston, MA

Friends Committee on National Legislation, Washington DC

• FCNL Spring Lobby Weekend Mar 17 to Mar 20 | Washington, DC

Woolman Hill Quaker Conference Center, Deerfield, MA

• Hands to Work, Hearts to God: Handwork & Knitting Retreat Mar 2 to Mar 4 | Deerfield, MA
• Quaker Parenting Workshop Mar 9 to Mar 11 | Deerfield, MA

Powell House Quaker Retreat Center, Old Chatham, NY

• The Power of Enough Mar 23 to Mar 25 | Old Chatham, NY