Thank you to everyone who helped in the First Day School!

Greg Woods, Youth Ministries and Education Coordinator, has been in his position four months as of June 1st and has been having a great time working with our wonderful First Day School teachers and nursery workers. We have a deeply committed group of volunteers and workers who care for the spiritual and personal growth for our young people all the way from a couple weeks old to 18 years old. We wouldn’t have an amazing program without them.

Nursery:

First Day School:

We give a big thank you to Gail Rogers who served for 7 months as the Interim Coordinator. She has been a great asset in keeping the program going strong between Coordinators, and she has been a fantastic resource while Greg has been getting to know this position.

Lastly, we want to give thanks to our Nursery Coordinator Pearl, whose last day is June 17th. She has been a wonderful presence in the Nursery for the last two years, and she is loved by the children. She has been in Cambridge for a Master’s in Education program at Lesley University, which she graduated from on May 19th. She will spend the summer directing a camp on Cape Cod and then move to Charleston, SC, to be with her fiancé, Liam.

Join us on Sunday, June 10, for cake and refreshments to celebrate the end of First Day School!

Poor People’s Campaign

Several individuals in the FMC community are involved in the local vigils and rallies that are part of the nationwide Poor People’s Campaign. These will continue through most of June. To learn more and/or to get involved contact John Bach 970-209-8346, bolder@fmcquaker.org. Click here for additional information about the Poor People’s Campaign.

FDS Students Make Sandwiches

On Sunday May 20 First Day School and Teen Worship joined and made more than 80 sandwiches for Liam’s Love and the Outdoor Church, two outreach programs serving people living outside in Cambridge. The youth group helped deliver some of the sandwiches and afterwards shared a meal together in Harvard Square.

Boston Pride Parade June 9 12:30pm

Join FMC at the Pride Parade! Our line up location is 800 Boylston Street by the Prudential Center (across from Sir Speedy)

Please gather there at 12:30pm to ensure time to find us. The latest you can arrive and still join the group is 1:15PM. Our group’s marshals will be there earlier (10:25 check-in time) so you are welcome to arrive any time in that window, but after 1:15 the parade will not be held up for you to join us!

Small signs and colorful clothing encouraged! Bring water, sunscreen, and anything else you might need for a long day outdoors. The event is RAIN OR SHINE and the route is 2.27 miles long so comfortable footwear is also recommended.

The FMC 2018 Fiscal Year Ends June 30!

The end of the 2018 fiscal year is almost upon us (June 30, 2018) and our donations are not showing up as reliably as our expenses. As of April 30, we are about $51,000 short of our annual budgeted contributions goal of $230,000. If you value what the FMC community provides you, please help close this shortfall with a generous gift. Thank you from the Fundraising Committee. Please consider a donation to the Meeting if you’ve been putting it off, or an additional gift if possible. There are many demands on our charitable giving, but please consider what the Friends Meeting at Cambridge community provides to you and make a high priority donation before the year ends. —Thank you from the Fundraising Committee

Welcome our new YAF Coordinator!

We are pleased to welcome Miranda Henne as our new Young Adult Friend (YAF) Coordinator. YAFs are loosely defined as being between the ages of 18 and 35ish. She is a professional cellist. Miranda has been a part of FMC for 3 years now, and among many other things, was our cellist in this past winter’s Christmas pageant. Miranda is excited to not only welcome new YAfers and coordinate YAF events, but also to be a bridge and point of connection between our Young Adult Friends and the rest of the Meeting. When you see her around, please be sure to introduce yourself. Her email is yafcoordinator@fmcquaker.org

Save the Date!

FEMS Poetry Slam October 19-21, 2018. FEMS is a grassroots poetry slam movement that hosts a tournament every October in Cambridge, MA. We we were so grateful to launch with FMC in 2017 and are excited for year two alongside the Quaker meeting. Please, mark your calendars for this all ages, gender inclusive tournament celebrating feminine voices October 19-21st, 2018. Please also consider hosting a team or a few volunteers who are traveling from all over the country as well as from abroad in your home! See femslam.com for more information and to register your home as a host. Many thanks, love and light – FEM Slam organizing team.

—Zenaida Peterson, former Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow, is the FEMS Poetry organizer. Find her on Facebook.

Summer Potluck Art Show:  Circles & Cycles

Submission Deadline: Sunday, July 1st

Opening Reception: 12:15-1:30pm, Sunday, July 8th

The theme for this summer’s July/August art potluck show is “Circles & Cycles“. The theme does not have to be taken literally but can serve as a starting point or a springboard. You might consider circles and/or cycles as a response to more linear ways of perceiving the world. Choice of media is at the artist’s discretion. Talk to us about our display case availability. The show is sponsored by the Exhibits Committee and open to any person who is part of the Meeting community. Please feel free to contact: George Campbell, Mary Coelho, Marion Foster, Sara Sue Pennell, Brian Stevens, or Richard Wood with any questions that you might have. You can also send an email to: exhibits@fmcquaker.org

Adult Volunteers Needed for Summer Childcare

Sign up to help with summer childcare! From June 17 through September 2, FDS classes are replaced with summer playtime. In good weather, we go to the park. We need two to three friendly and reliable shepherds to sign up for each Sunday morning to work with staff. First Day School classes will resume on Sunday, September 9, 2018. Contact Greg Woods at 413-251-6512 or youthministries@fmcquaker.org with questions and to let him know what dates you are willing to help

Help Review the First Day School Curriculum

This summer Lorena Boswell, Resident Friend, and Greg Woods, Youth and Education Coordinator, are seeking volunteers to review the First Day School curriculum and make updates for the fall.   If you are interested in being part of these ongoing conversations, please contact Greg Woods, 413-251-6512 or youthministries@fmcquaker.org

FMC is Now Composting

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

For June Forums contact Kitty Rush, for July Forums contact Minga Claggett-Borne at forum@fmcquaker.org

• June 3 Cassie Hurd, “The Second ‘A’ in MAAP is Advocacy
• June 10  Worship Sharing
• June 17 Ann Foster, “My Spiritual Journey”
• June 24 Greg Woods
• July 1 Patricia Wild, “Early Quakers”
• July 8 Jonathan Vogel-Borne, “Why are we called Quakers?”
• July 15 Elizabeth Claggett-Borne, “What is a Gathered Meeting?”
• July 22 TBD
• July 29 Raymond Aucoin, “Our leading to worship at Raytheon every month”

Jonathan Gilbert has become the music director of Voices of Harmony, a non-auditioned and welcoming small chorus and musical community in its 8th year! Their annual Spring Sing took place in May. Voices of Harmony meets weekly from September to May for food, rehearsal, sharing and discussion, and welcomes new members in September. More info can be found on Facebook and Meetup as well as http://www.voicesofharmonyboston.org/

Jonathan also appeared in an award-winning and hilarious short video at made by the Robbins Library Book Cart Drill Team. The video won a contest that awarded libraries free book carts. Jonathan works part time at the Robbins Library in Arlington, MA.

Priscilla Ewen and James Hines welcomed their son, Wesley Gordon Ewen Hines, on August 13, 2017. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces.

Joan Borowitz of Cambridge passed away peacefully at a Needham hospice on April 26, 2018, at the age of 63. Born in Boston on February 28, 1955, she was a graduate of Olney Friends School, a Quaker boarding school in Barnesville, Ohio, and Simmons College, Boston. After college, she worked as a hospital administrator in Boston and performed stand-up comedy at open mic nights. Long after her careers ended, she was still much appreciated for her humor in the face of adversity and for her extraordinary gift of friendship. In later years, as a resident in assisted living facilities, she contributed articles to their newsletters and entertained with her piano playing. She was a devoted fan of certain popular entertainers, including Paul McCartney and especially Barbara Streisand. Joan made friends everywhere she went with her wit, her piano playing and her caring generous nature. Her life and the lives of many others were enriched by a vast network of her multiple friendship communities, and especially the love and friendship of her Quaker community. She is survived by her father, Albert; her brothers Peter and Andy, four nieces and a nephew. Her obituary is online . Joan was interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA, on Tuesday, May 1. A memorial at Friends Meeting at Cambridge for Joan Borowitz is 2pm, Monday, June 4, with reception following.

John Bach (left) was among six individuals arrested on Sunday, May 27, 2018, at Hanscom Air Force Base protesting Hanscom’s role in U.S. nuclear war preparations. The action was reported in Mass Peace Action May 27, 2018, by Cole in Commentary

On June 6, Skip Schiel will leave on an extended trip to photograph Palestinian refugees living in northern European countries, an extension of his 15-year project about Palestine-Israel and his attempt to connect to the global refugee and immigrant crisis. His project is in two parts, Norway, Netherlands, and perhaps Sweden and Belgium to locate, interview, and photograph Palestinian refugees, and then in the fall the second part of his journey—Gaza with the Alternatives to Violence Project, and to photograph refugees living in camps in Gaza and the West Bank.

Skip writes: “I hope you can support my project with prayers, guidance, and funds, as so many at Friends Meeting at Cambridge have done over the 38 years of my participation in our Beloved Community.” If you’d be interested in joining his Levant email list to receive dispatches from the field, please send an email to skipschiel@gmail.com with SUBSCRIBE TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEE PHOTO PROJECT in the subject. Here is a excerpt from his GoFundMe appeal.

…Because the visits to Norway and Gaza are separate but linked, I will begin this two-part project on June 6, 2018 when I fly to Norway. In the fall, when I expect the violent Gaza fence conflict has lessened (until then Israel will probably not grant entry permits), I will enter Gaza, planning to complete the project by the middle of 2019. Despite the recurring turmoil in that region, I’ve always managed entry to Israel, the West Bank and (with one exception) Gaza. I can’t guarantee entry this time, only that I will try my best. Despite the political uncertainties, I intend to maintain focus on Palestinian refugees in the diaspora and internally. As in the past, I will create exhibits, slideshows, blogs, books, and movies. As with all my projects I will post photos and writings on my website and blog—dispatches from the field….

Jim Hannon posted a reflection on the website Medium.com and on the Facebook page of Three Rivers Affinity Groups, a social/political action group he’s involved with in Acton, Concord and surrounding towns. His essay is entitled: This Memorial Day—Resist Honoring War.

Last July, Greg Woods, Youth and Education Minister at FMC, gave a talk to Lake Erie Yearly Meeting, a regional body of liberal unprogrammed Quakers in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It is entitled Reviving Quakerism in the New Millenim.

On Saturday, April 21, Cornelia Parkes and John Calvi, released Friend from Putney (VT) Monthly Meeting, gave a workshop on “Care for the Caregiver: Healing for Body, Mind, and Spirit” at Westport (MA) Monthly Meeting, as an offering of pastoral care by New England Yearly Meeting Ministry and Counsel. Cornelia wrote “Reflections on War, Peace, and Healing” about her experience in preparing for the workshop.

CHILDCARE PROVIDER | FRESH POND MONTHLY MEETING
Cambridge, MA | Part-time
Posted March, 2018

Qualifications: Mature adult minimum age 18, experienced with taking care of and interacting with multiple children infants to teens, the candidate must be able to work as a team with other childcare provider and parents, and respect Quaker values. Hours: Sundays 9:45 AM to 1:00 PM on 3 Sundays a month, 9:45 to 11:15 on 1 Sunday a month and any fifth Sunday. Childcare takes place in the gym at Cambridge Friends School, option of playground in warmer weather. The provider will escort the children to Meeting for Worship for the last 15 minutes of the Worship hour. Competitive salary. For more info call or text Gail Charpentier 857-272-0045.

NEW ENGLAND YEARLY MEETING 358th ANNUAL SESSIONS

Saturday, August 4 — Thursday, August 9, 2018,
at Castleton University, Castleton, VT

This year’s theme is: “In fear and trembling be bold in God’s service.” Each year several dozen individuals from FMC attend these sessions where Quakers from all over New England come together to do business, build community, learn and to refresh their spirits. Part-time attendance is permitted. The costs to attend are “pay as you are lead” so don’t let money keep you away. Extensive programming for youth of various ages. Carpooling can be arranged.

Learn more at: neym.org/sessions

Special Events from the NEYM Website

To see all events go to https://www.neym.org/news-events

• Racial Dialogue Capacity-Building Workshop June 9 • Wellesley, MA
• United Society of Friends Women-New England June 10 • Durham, ME
• 8th Grade Retreat June 15-17 • Jaffrey, NH
• Clerking Workshop June 16 • Hanover, NH
• High School Seniors Retreat June 16 • Amesbury, MA
• Archives Workshops June 22 • Amherst, MA
• Quaker Spring June 25-30 • Barnesville, OH
• FGC General Gathering July 1-7 • Toledo, OH
• Beyond Diversity 101-Race July 6-10 • Chester, CT
• Westport Friends’ Annual Book Fair July 7-15 • Westport, MA
• Annual Sessions August 4-August 9 • Castleton, VT
• Quaker Religious Education Conference and Retreat August 17-19 • Old Chatham, NY
• Art Camp August 31-September 3 • South China, ME

Friends General Conference 2018 Gathering

Location: University of Toledo, OH
Dates: July 1-7, 2018
Theme: The Power of Truth
Taste the vibrancy and the variety that is available by immersing yourself in this community of Friends for a week. We eagerly look forward to welcoming you — in person — to the 2018 FGC Gathering!

Registration is open for the 2018 Gathering!

Climate Justice: What It Requires of Us All – Putting Equity at the Center of Our Movement

Tuesday, June 19, 7:30 pm-9:30 pm
Beacon Hill Friends House
6 Chestnut Street, Boston
We are excited to announce that on June 19 BHFH will host the Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, Associate Minister for Ecological Justice at Bethel AME Church and noted Boston environmental justice advocate, who will speak on “Climate Justice: What It Requires of Us All – Putting Equity at the Center of our Movement.” Rev. Mariama will talk with us about the history of the phrase “climate justice”, what it really implies for different segments of society, and concrete suggestions for how we can all shift in a more just direction while taking action on climate change.

More information to come on Facebook and Eventbrite

Midsummer BBQ

July 14, 2018, 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Beacon Hill Friends House
6 Chestnut Street, Boston
The residents of the Beacon Hill Friends House (BHFH) invite all members of the FMC community to their annual Midsummer BBQ. Come between Noon and 4PM to enjoy food, fellowship, and community in our meeting room, two courtyards, and rear roof deck. Located just steps from Boston Common at 8 Chestnut Street, Boston, BHFH is a center for education and witness, the meetinghouse for Beacon Hill Friends Meeting, and a home for 22 adults who spend up to four years in our intentional residential community grounded in Quaker principles.

Friends Historical Association

Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists
June 22-24, 2018 in Amherst, MA
The Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists (CQHA) meets every other year. This year, the conference will be held at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, from June 22–24, 2018, at the UMass Campus Center, with on-campus options available. Registration may be found online. The 2018 CQHA Conference will begin with a set of archives-oriented sessions at midday on Friday, June 22. History sessions will run from 12:00 noon on Friday, June 22, through 1:00pm on Sunday, June 24. Registration for the conference ONLY is $125 per person. For a detailed description of the Friday Archives sessions and 2018 CQHA Conference schedule, as well as lodging options in Amherst, please see the CQHA website.

Post-Conference Bus Tour of Historic Quaker Sites

June 24-26, 2018 in Providence, RI
An optional post-conference Bus Tour of Quaker Sites will run from the end of the conference on June 24 to 5:00pm and will be based in Providence, RI. Bus Tour participants are limited to 40; the Friends Historical Association is subsidizing the tour to reduce transportation costs. Registration for the tour ONLY is $100 per person. For bus tour registration and lodging in Providence, please see the CQHA website. For questions, contact FHA at fha@haverford.edu.

John Bach had the following letter to the editor published in the Boston Globe on Sunday, May 27, 2018.

In 1968, there was a shadow over Harvard’s protests

Re “1968: The year the tempest hit Harvard” (Page A1, May 20): Perhaps more than any other university, Harvard produced the architects, engineers, and mechanics of the murderous war in Vietnam, from a president to secretaries of state and defense to national security advisers. These were men of enormous power, prestige, and wealth. They were feted on campus and across the country. You would recognize their names (Kennedy, Kissinger, McNamara, Bundy). One shared the Nobel Peace Prize.

At the same time, Harvard probably produced more imprisoned war resisters than any other university. I personally knew five of them in the federal prison system. These were modest young men who transposed their Harvard experience into true public service at great sacrifice, a fitting testimony to their education. To my knowledge, no administrator ever visited them in prison.

Then as now, the question remains: Who did what with their Harvard experience, and of whom should Harvard be prouder?
John Bach
Arlington
The writer is the Quaker chaplain at Harvard.