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Th e Canadian Friend
M arch 2007
Volum e 103, No. 1
Tales of Young
Frie nds
** ALSO INSID E **
Vis iting Is olate d Frie nds
Bringing An End To Torture
W h e re Are O ur Joh n W oolm ans ?
O ur Ne w Colum n: "Long D is tance Calling....."
Th e Canadian Friend (ISSN 0382-7658) is th e m agazine
of Canadian Yearl
y Meeting, and is publ
ish ed five tim es
a year on its beh al
f by th e H om e Mission and
Advancem ent Com m ittee.Th e Canadian Friend is sent
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y Meeting and to
regul
ar attenders.It is funded th rough q uotas and freew il
ldonations of th e m em bersh ip to furth er th e w ork
and w itness of th e R el
igious Society of Friends
(Q uak ers) in Canada.
*Articl
es, Poetry, Ph otos and D raw ings
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com e, and not need sh are
th e th em e of th e issue.Pl
ease send to:
K eith Macgow an, Editor
E-m ail
: cf-editor@ q uak er.ca
Tel
e ph one: (250) 478-2226
9 9 2 H asl
am Ave.
Langford, BC V9 B 2N2
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ication and
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ease contact:
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e ph one: (250) 366-4372
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y Meeting.
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NEW AD D R ESS?PLEASE LET US K NO W.
Pl
ease send updated address inform ation to:
Canadian Yearl
y Meeting
9 1A Fourth Avenue, O ttaw a, O N K 1S 2L1
E-m ail
: cym -office@ q uak er.ca
Tel
: (888) 29 6-3222 and (613) 235-8553
M arch 2007
Volum e 103, Num be r 1
Fr om th e e d itor 's d e sk .........
W h at is a Young Friend?Are you one?W ere you one?
I confess I've been uncl
ear on m y ow n status since first
com ing to Friends in m y l
ate teens. It's an age w h en m any of th e
k ids raised in Meetings w ere drifting aw ay from Friends, but m ore
th an a touch younger th an our average adul
t seek er. So I w as
never real
l
y a teen Friend, but on th e oth er h and it took th e better
part of a decade before peopl
e at gath erings stopped trying to
figure out w h o m y parents w ere.
Canadian Young Friends Yearl
y Meeting once defined itsel
f as
being for Friends up to th e age of 35, and for th ose w h o are
"young at h eart".Th is sounds l
ik e a very expansive definition, but
m uddl
es th e situation furth er. W h ere do you bel
ong if you, l
ik e
m ysel
f, h ave som e years of q ual
ification l
eft under th e
ch ronol
ogicaltest, but suspect th at you w ere l
ik el
y "m iddl
e-aged
at h eart" from som e point sh ortl
y after birth ?W h ere do you
bel
ong w h en even in your ch il
dh ood it w as cl
ear al
lth at se parated
th at stoic toddl
er from a l
ife of ch artered accountancy w as tim e?
Som e radical
s h ave opined th at w e sh oul
d h ave a Middl
e-Aged
Friends Yearl
y Meeting as w el
l
. Maybe even a Senior Friends
Yearl
y Meeting, al
th ough at th at point som eone general
l
y m ak es
th e unk ind suggestion th at perh aps w e al
ready h ave one of
th ose.........
W el
com e al
l
, to th e l
ittl
e issue th at grew :
Find w ith in som e proof, th at even th ough th ey are a sm al
l
group, w ith in a tiny rel
igious society, from a spraw l
ingl
y
inconvenient country, Young Friends are a rem ark abl
y diverse
bunch w ith a m ul
titude of gifts. It w as great fun seeing th e
contributions w h ich cam e out of th e w oodw ork , as Young
Friends set out to tak e over Th e Canadian Friend. I h ope you
enjoy it too.
Many th ank s,
K e ith M acgow an
Th e Canadian Frie nd can be vie w e d online at:
h ttp://w w w .q uak e r.ca/cfrie nd/cfrie nd.h tm l
M arch 2007
In Th is Is s ue ........
Th em e: Tal
es of Young Friends
Journeys and Next Ste ps
b y Katrina McQuail- page 4
W h ere Are O ur Joh n W ool
m ans?
b y Bob McInnes - page 24
W ars and th e Peace Process
b y A nth ony R ich m ond - page 25
Being Young, Engl
ish and Q uak er
Visiting Isol
ated Friends
Sporadical
, Th e Young Friends Sporadic
Publ
ication!
Th e Stick in 'Sm ail
's Bundl
e
b y Daph ne Davey - page 5
b y Terron K.Dod d - page 27
b y Maggie Knigh t and R ach elSingleton-Polster - page 6
W h ere H ave Al
lth e YAFs Gone?
b y A nd rew Gage - page 8
Q uak er Inter-Faith
b y E rin McDougall- page 10
Exciting Youth Leadersh ip Program at Cam p
NeeK auNis
b y R avi Josh i - page 11
Friends and Appeal
s
b y Peter Stevenson - page 12
Mrs.McFee
b y Jane MacKay W righ t - page 26
Faith & Practice Progress R e port
b y Margaret Slavin - page 29
Com ing Togeth er as Friends
b y R ose Mae H ark ness - page 30
Fal
lR e presentative Meeting
b y Sh aun Bartoo - page 14
Creation
b y Jen Deak in - page 15
b y Peter Stevenson and Margaret Slavin - page 31
R eading and R eview s
Th e Ursul
a Frank l
in R eader
New to Q BS
To th e Bl
ack W om an on th e # 15 Bus
CoolO pportunities for Young Friends
page 15
b y A m y Jean Singleton-Polster - page 16
H MAC Education Funds
b y R eb ecca Ivanoff - page 18
Som e Tips on h ow to O rganize a Young
Friends' R etreat
b y R eb ecca Ivanoff and Katrina McQuail- page 19
A Young Friend on CFSC
Trivia
Around Th e Fam il
y
Young Friend Updates
Month l
y Meetings
O th er New s
b y Diana Sh epard Steph ens - page 23
New s & View s
200 Years of Abol
ition
b y Monica Walters-Field - page 24
page 35
page 37
page 39
R egul
ar Item s
From Th e Canadian Friend Arch ives
A Sim pl
y Extraordinary Pl
ace to Grow Up
page 34
page 34
b y Peter E arley - page 21
Clippings courtesy Kyle Joliffe - page 22
page 33
Crossw ord: W h ere th e Friends Are
b y Fred H oltz - page 17
R efl
ections on th e Joys and Ch al
l
enges of
Young Friends R etreats in O ntario
review b y June E tta Ch enard - page 32
D iversions
b y Grace Wolf - page 15
CYM Ideas Brew ing
b y CarolBrad ley - page 30
Em erging Gifts
b y R ick Juliusson - page 14
Cartoon
b y A nne-Marie Z illiacus - page 28
Long D istance Cal
l
ing......
b y Th ea Walm sley - page 12
Your Truth or Mine
b y Molly Walsh - page 27
Torture
Corrections
Cl
assifieds
page 5
page 28
Credits, Upcom ing Th em es and D eadl
ines
page 40
Th e cove r ph oto, from a Young AdultFrie nds re tre atin Toronto, com e s courte s y R e be cca Ivanoff.
Volum e 103, Num be r 1 - Th e Canadian Frie nd
3
Journeys and Next Ste ps
I
By K atrina McQ uail
struggl
e w ith being a Q uak er and m y
invol
vem ent in th e Q uak er com m unity m ore and
m ore each year. Th is is probabl
y because I’ve
been exposed to m any variations of Q uak erism , and
m uch dissent, pious sel
f-righ teousness and excl
usive
beh aviour w ith in th e Q uak er com m unity. It’s al
so
probabl
y because I’m th ink ing about w h ere to appl
y
for m em bersh ip and h aving m ore conversations w ith
peopl
e about w h at being a Q uak er m eans.
I’m a May 2006 graduate from Earl
h am Col
l
ege, a
sm al
l
, l
iberal arts, Q uak er col
l
ege in R ich m ond,
Indiana, USA. R ich m ond is a m ajor centre for
Q uak ers, and tends to refl
ect th e m ore program m ed,
Ch ristian side of Q uak erism . But th at isn’t w h y I’ve
been running into th ese beh aviours. I used to l
ove
being invol
ved w ith Q uak er activities;it w asn’t about
w h o w as doing m ore, or w h eth er or not you w ere a
“better” Q uak er th an m e - it w as about group
interaction, ask ing h ard q uestions, reach ing dee p
w ith in your souland search ing. I l
ove th e search ing
aspect of Q uak erism , probabl
y because th at is very
m uch w h ere I am in m y l
ife.
I am a l
ife-tim e attender of Cam p NeeK auNis in
O ntario. I am a l
ong tim e sem i–attender (th ough l
ess
th an I’d l
ik e) of Canadian Yearl
y Meeting. For m uch
of m y l
ife I w as incredibl
y active w ith in th e O ntario
Young Friends, and am currentl
y som ew h at active
w ith in th e O ntario Young Adul
t Friends. I am al
so
very invol
ved w ith Friends General Conference
Gath ering and w as fortunate to attend th e W orl
d
Gath ering of Young Friends in 2005 as a Canadian
Yearl
y Meeting D el
egate. Before I cam e to col
l
ege, I
attended w eek l
y Meeting fairl
y regul
arl
y, organized
retreats, w ork ed at Cam p NeeK auNis, and w as a
counsel
l
or at FGC. Since being at Earl
h am , m y
Meeting attendance h as dw indl
ed and m y invol
vem ent
in Q uak er activities h as al
m ost ceased.
I h ave to ask m ysel
f w h y, and th e onl
y answ er I
can com e up w ith is th at som e part of m e does not
feelful
fil
l
ed by th e opportunities provided to m e in
R ich m ond, and m y “h om e” m eeting is currentl
y too
far aw ay for m e to be a l
eader, or often even a
4
participant.In som e w ays I cam e to R ich m ond cl
osed
to th e opportunities avail
abl
e to m e. I w as so
entrench ed and invol
ved in m y Q uak er com m unity at
h om e th at I w as not interested in getting invol
ved
h ere. And th en, w h en it becam e too h ard for m e to
m aintain m y l
evelof invol
vem ent in O ntario w ith th e
rigor and academ ic dem ands on m e at Earl
h am , I just
l
et go, instead of transferring m y energies and
invol
vem ent to a Q uak er group h ere. I m iss it, and
w ant to get reconnected, but I w ant it to be an
experience of excitem ent about attending Meeting,
and w anting to stay around afterw ards for fel
l
ow sh ip
and inspiring ideas for oth er activities.
Now I’m at th at transient point of m y l
ife, an
experience I expect th at m any young adul
ts h ave. I’ve
graduated from col
l
ege/university, and th e next few
years are not very pl
anned out.I need a job, so I go to
w h ere th at job is. O r I’m travel
ing, and th en it’s next
to im possibl
e for m e to get connected w ith a
com m unity or feell
ik e I h ave a pl
ace w ith a Meeting.
Th is state l
eaves m e w ith m uch to th ink about. H ow
do w e create a com m unity for our transient Young
Friends?H ow do w e m ak e it so th at w h en w e find a
pl
ace to “settl
e” or cal
lh om e for a w h il
e, w e h ave th e
desire to get connected to th e cl
osest Meeting?
I’m currentl
y th ink ing about appl
ying for
m em bersh ip w ith a Meeting. I h ave been a “m em ber”
(by birth ) of K itch ener Area Month l
y Meeting, and I
l
ove th em and m y h om e w orsh ip group. H ow ever, I
h ave not been th ere in so l
ong I onl
y k now h al
f th e
faces, and feell
ess of a connection to som e of th em
th an I do to m em bers of Yonge Street Meeting w h ere
I attended m ore recentl
y. H ow do I put togeth er a
Cl
earness Com m ittee to support m e in th e process of
appl
ying for m em bersh ip?D o I sel
ect peopl
e th at can
ph ysical
l
y m eet w ith m e, or peopl
e th at k now m e w el
l
or can ch al
l
enge m e, but m ay onl
y be abl
e to m eet by
ph one? K now ing th at I w il
l probabl
y not be in
Canada for anoth er year (I h ave grand h opes of
travel
ing 2007-08), and not k now ing w h ere I w il
lfind
m ysel
f w h en I do, h ow do I sel
ect a Meeting to ask
for m em bersh ip?Sh oul
dIl
ook for a Meeting th at h as
a w eal
th of young peopl
e w ith w h om I m igh t be
M arch 2007 - Th e Canadian Frie nd
draw n into a com m unity?Sh oul
d I try and popul
ate a
Meeting th at is struggl
ing?D o I sel
ect a Meeting
w h ere I sh are sim il
ar bel
iefs and val
ues, or sh oul
d I
find a Meeting th at ch al
l
enges m y ideas and push es
m e out of m y com fort zone?
I w ant to bel
ong to a com m unity th at is active out th ere l
iving th eir bel
iefs, q uestioning w h at th eir
bel
iefs are, and w h y th ey h ol
d th em . I am a firm
bel
iever th at Q uak erism is both a rel
igion and a w ay
of l
ife.I th ink th at anyone can be a Q uak er, and I can
not w ait to com e back to a com m unity th at is l
ess
interested in h ow w e are different, and m ore
interested in h ow w e can w ork togeth er, using our
differences to accom pl
ish greater positive ch ange in
th e w orl
d.
K atrina M cQ u ailis a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living
in Rich m ond, Indiana, w h os e h om e M e e ting is
K itch e ne r Are a M onth ly M e e ting.
Being Young, Q uak er and Engl
ish
by D aph ne D avey
A
s a young seek er, I found Friends w h en I
w as fourteen. I cl
earl
y rem em ber th e first
day I w al
k ed into th e Meetingh ouse. I
breath ed an inw ard sigh of rel
ief: I h ad "com e
h om e." Al
th ough it w as anoth er eigh t years before I
becam e a m em ber, I trul
y fel
t a Q uak er from th at
first day.
grass. After th e w ork , w e enjoyed l
uscious, h earty
m eal
s and l
ots of social
izing. And w e didn’t forget
Meeting for W orsh ip.
Given th at forty years h ave passed since th en, it
says m uch for th e im pression th ese experiences
m ade on m e, th at im ages of th e pl
aces and peopl
e
from th ose w ork cam ps com e cl
earl
y to m ind. I sh al
l
nev
er
forget,
for
instance,
th
e
refugee
m
oth
er
and
I h ave great m em ories of th ose teen years as a
iving togeth er in a one-room bed-sitter,
Young Friend, nurtured so w onderful
l
y by th e adul
ts. daugh ter l
At first, I attended First D ay Sch ool
, but one day I too tim id to venture out. Even h aving th eir room
fel
t I bel
onged to th e adul
t m eeting and joined th e redecorated by us Young Friends w as traum atic
enough . O r th e feisty 80-som eth ing senior citizen
ful
lh our of sil
ent w orsh ip.
w h o w asn’t about to revealh er age to th e re porter
My m eeting, H arrow Pre parative Meeting (about covering our w ork cam p story for th e l
ocalrag. O r
th e size of O ttaw a MM), w as part of a group th e teenage m um s in th e Q uak er-run h ostel
, h appy
com prising W estm inster Month l
y Meeting. It w as a to sh ow off th eir babies, finding tender support
h ive of activity, w ith concerts (I pl
ayed th e fl
ute at from Friends at a tim e w h en society at l
arge w as
one), country w al
k s, trips to join protests, and m any unw il
l
ing to see th at of God in each one of th em .
opportunities for l
earning from socialactivist events.
D aph ne D ave y is a m e m b e r of Ne w Bru ns w ick
I al
so attended Junior Yearl
y Meeting once.
M onth ly M e e ting (Prince E dw ard Is land
W estm inster MM organized a Young Friends
W ors h ip Grou p).
sum m er cam p th at I attended tw ice. But perh aps m y
best m em ories are of th e w ork cam ps th ey
organized.Th ere, Young Friends coul
d get a taste of
Q uak erism in action, l
earn m uch about th e social
conditions around th em , and interact w ith a w ider
In a book review in our O ctober issue, th e
circl
e of Young Friends.
CO R R ECTIO NS
O f th e w ork cam ps I rem em ber, th e settings
incl
uded a h om e for unw ed teenage m oth ers (run by
Friends);th e reh abil
itation de partm ent of a h ospital
;
a bed-sit room in a boarding h ouse;and a seniors’
h ousing estate. W e rol
l
ed up our sl
eeves to cl
ean and
scrub, scrape and paint, m ove furniture, and cut
publ
ish ing inform ation l
isted w as incorrect.It
sh oul
d h ave read:
Titl
e: Constructive Spirit: Q uak ers in
R evol
utionary R ussia
by D avid McFadden and Cl
aire Gorfink el
Publ
ish er: IntentionalProductions, 2004
5
Sporadical
,
Th e Young Friends Sporadic Publ
ication!
W
h at do a dee pl
y spiritualpoem , a Beatl
es
song, and a CYFYM e pistl
e h ave in
com m on? Th at’s easy! Th ey are al
l
subm issions to th e m ost popul
ar Canadian Young
Friends m agazine around, Th e SPO R AD ICAL! W el
l
,
w e real
l
y sh oul
d say th e onl
y CYFYM publ
ication, but
it certainl
y is th e m ost popul
ar!
Sporadicalis th e publ
ication of Canadian Young
Friends w h ich th ey tak e sol
e responsibil
ity for
creating, publ
ish ing— and reading! Each CYM, editors
are nam ed, and th en m agic ensues. Young Friends
(now referred to as YFs) send in th eir poem s, jok es,
draw ings, and w riting, and w e, th e editors, put it al
l
togeth er, ph otocopy it, and send it off to about 50
YFs across Canada (and even som e l
iving abroad!).
Th en th ey read it, l
augh a w h ol
el
ot, and send us m ore
subm issions!
Sporadical started m any years ago, w h en YFs
decided th ey needed a w ay to k ee p in touch across th e
country and betw een gath erings. So started th e
Q uak er Seed: PagalH ow a, l
ater k now n as th e Th e
Al
batross, Th e R adicalSpore, Spork adical
, and m ost
recentl
y th e Sporadical
. Since th en th e Sporadicalh as
been, w el
l
, sporadic, but neverth el
ess a great
com m unication device for YFs. YFs find it h ard to
k ee p in touch spiritual
l
y w h en th e break s betw een
gath erings are so l
ong, and often th ere is onl
y one YF
in a Month l
y Meeting— so Sporadicaldoes its best to
k ee p th e ties betw een YFs strong, and k ee p YFs
invol
ved l
ocal
l
y and national
l
y in Meetings.
From Th e Canadian Friend, O ctober 19 31
Minutes of Young Friends' Meeting:
Th ere w as discussion regarding th e Young
Friends page in th e "Canadian Friend". It w as
agreed th at th is sh oul
d be used m ore regul
arl
y
and th at articl
es w h ich w oul
d stim ul
ate
discussion be w ritten on subjects of
im portance to Friends.
6
So w h o m ak es th is m agazine h appen? At th e
m om ent its editors are, as k now n to Sporadical
subscribers, R idicul
ous R ach elSingl
eton-Pol
ster and
Marvel
ous Maggie K nigh t. Th ese tw o YFs, both
m em bers of Vancouver Isl
and MM, are active YFs
wh o l
ove k ee ping oth er isol
ated YFs in th e l
oop on
just about any topic th at is som eh ow rel
ated to
Q uak erism . Th is is R ach el
’s first year as editor, and
sh e is real
l
y enjoying th e job, particul
arl
y finding
Q uak er jok es for th e m agazine, l
ik e th is one from a
recent issue: “W h y do Q uak er’s pants k ee p fal
l
ing
dow n?Because th ey w ear th eir bel
t buck l
es on th eir
h ats!”. R ach elal
so enjoys draw ing crazy pictures and
general
l
y spicing up th e page w ith h er artful
scribbl
ings! Maggie is into h er second year as editor
and enjoys th e m ore com pl
icated parts of th e
m agazine, l
ik e m ak ing th e pages l
ook nice togeth er,
and ch eck ing for l
ittl
e errors. Maggie excel
s at th is
because of h er l
ove for journal
ism , w h ich sh e h opes
to do ful
l
-tim e at som e point in h er l
ife. Sh e rel
ies on
R ach el for F/friendl
y rem inders about Sporadical
w ork , w h ich som etim es gets l
ost in a m ountain of
grade 12 h om ew ork .
Sporadicalis al
w ays l
ook ing for subm issions, so if
you are a Young Friend, or h ave som eth ing to say to
Young Friends, th en send it to us at
sporadical
@ yf.q uak er.ca, or contact eith er R ach elor
Maggie. Al
so, if you are, or k now of, a YF w h o isn’t
subscribed to th e Sporadicalpl
ease l
et us k now and
w e can update you w ith al
lour m ost recent issues.
Subscription doesn’t cost you anyth ing, save a few
l
augh s (and m aybe tears) rem iniscing about gath erings
w ith YFs past.
So get righ t on it, send us your subm issions now
and be a part of th e nation-w ide Young Q uak er
m ovem ent k now n as th e ‘SPO R AD ICAL’!
Rach e lSingle ton- Polste r (w h o live s in D u ncan)
and M aggie K nigh t(from Victoria) are You ng
Frie nds in Britis h Colu m b ia.
Th e cove r of th e O ctobe r 2006 issue of Sporadical
, courte sy R ach e lSingl
e ton-Pol
ste r.
7
W h ere H ave Al
lth e YAFs gone?
by Andrew Gage
R
ecentl
y a Friend rose in Meeting and tol
d h ow
h er daugh ter, th en in h er m id-teens, h ad
attended h er first Meeting for W orsh ip. Th e
daugh ter h ad l
ook ed around at th e grey h eads and
pronounced th at th is w as a “dying faith .” W h ere, th e
Friend ask ed, are younger Friends?
Friends, of a l
ife and society ordered by God’s pow er,
is an inspirational ch al
l
enge to th e m aterial
ism of
secul
ar society. It’s not a vision th at tel
l
s som eone
w h at to bel
ieve, so m uch as h ow to discover h ow to
l
ive.
I cam e to Friends at th e age of 22 and am now 34,
h aving seen m any com m itted Friends m y ow n age
com e and th en disappear from our com m unity. I’m
th e Young Adul
t Friend (YAF –a Friend betw een 18
and 35) w h o didn’t get aw ay. I stayed, m et m y w ife in
Meeting, and h ave becom e progressivel
y m ore
invol
ved at both th e Month l
y Meeting and Yearl
y
Meeting l
evel
s.
At th e sam e tim e, I th ink th at th e R el
igious Society
of Friends in Canada, as a w h ol
e, h as no realsense of
w h o w e are. W e confuse th e Q uak er rejection of
creeds w ith a rejection of a unified vision –fearing
th at an unapol
ogetic faith m igh t excl
ude som eone or
offend som eone el
se. At tim es socialactivism seem s
to be th e onl
y unifying vision of Canadian Q uak ers –
and th at vision is one th at a YAF can get in any
num ber of pl
aces in our society.
Th ere is no doubt in m y m ind th at Canadian
Friends h ave difficul
ty attracting new m em bers
general
l
y; w h il
e Friends' distrust of evangel
ism is
understandabl
e, it som etim es seem s to be tak en to
extrem es, m eaning th at w oul
d-be Friends, both young
and ol
d, are l
eft w ith out a cl
ue th at w e even exist, or
h ow to find us.
YAFs (and oth ers) w h o are l
ook ing for a cl
ear
Q uak er vision are l
eft struggl
ing to piece togeth er a
sense of w h at it m eans to be Q uak er from th e
experiences of past and present Friends. Th e val
ue
of personalexperience and diversity cannot be an
excuse for not providing new Friends w ith tangibl
e
direction and exam pl
es.
In one Meeting, a sm al
lgroup of m ostl
y YAFs
H ow ever, th ere is an eq ual
l
y im portant q uestion of
k excitedl
y about discovering an approach to “Godw h y so few YAFs stay even after th ey do find us. tal
ed socialaction”, but feeldiscouraged th at th ey h ave
Th ere are obvious exce ptions – but in generalw e l
no effective m odel to fol
l
ow. O th er YAFs l
eave,
seem to l
ose even com m itted young m em bers.
unabl
e to find out w h at Friends can offer th eir
Th e answ er to th is q uestion m ay be found in spiritualjourney.
considering w h at it is th at Q uak ers h ave to offer
Th ere is no doubt th at sh ared W orsh ip is a k ey
YAFs. Meetings and Q uak ers provide a num ber of
ives togeth er. It offers a cal
m pl
ace in a
th ings to individual
s –of w h atever age. O bviousl
y part of our l
d from w h ich to l
isten for th at stil
lsm al
l
th ese are different for different peopl
e, but four of busy w orl
v
oice.
My
first
openings
th
at
I
w
as
m
eant
to
be
a
th e im portant needs are:
Q uak er arose from th e sense of jangl
ing th at I started
•
A vision and w ay of understanding
getting w h en I m issed th e occasional Meeting. I
spiritual
ity
suspect th at al
lYAFs w h o stay Friends w oul
d point to
•
Sh ared w orsh ip
W orsh ip as an im portant part of w h y th ey are Q uak er.
•
•
Com m unity
Mentoring of new Friends
I th ink th at m any young peopl
e are l
ook ing for
new w ays to understand th e w orl
d –a Vision. For
m ysel
f, and I th ink som e of th e oth er YAFs w h o h ave
stayed, th e vision of earl
y Friends, and som e m odern
8
I reject th e convenient stereotype th at young
peopl
e are not interested in m ystical or rel
igious
experiences. W h ere th e rel
igious experience is
dynam ic and incl
udes th e young seek er as part of a
vision, it can be very attractive to young peopl
e.
George Fox began h is m inistry w h en h e w as 24. Th e
m ajority of th e earl
y Q uak er preach ers k now n as th e
Val
iant 60 w ere under 25. W h il
e m any m odern young
peopl
e are captivated by th e m aterial
ism of m odern
society, th ere are m any oth ers w h o are desperatel
y
l
ook ing for a spiritualh om e.
I w orry th ough , th at Meetings do not al
w ays do
th e w ork necessary to encourage gath ered Meetings
and to h el
p new attenders, incl
uding young peopl
e, to
centre into th e sil
ence. For individual
s th is w ork
incl
udes personalspiritualpractice, h ol
ding th e space
for a gath ered Meeting, uph ol
ding th ose w h o are
cal
l
ed to Minister, etc. For Month l
y Meetings as a
w h ol
e, it can m ean discussing and expl
oring h ow w e
w orsh ip –th rough personalm entoring and th rough
adul
t education. Giving new com ers a pam ph l
et about
sil
ent w orsh ip is onl
y a first ste p, and does noth ing to
address any probl
em s th at a new com er, or a seasoned
Friend, m ay experience in th e sil
ence.
Com m unity is often l
isted as one of th e Q uak er
Testim onies, and is very attractive in our increasingl
y
isol
ating society. As w e l
ose a com m on vision of th e
Q uak er rel
ationsh ip w ith God, w e m ay find oursel
ves
rel
ying m ore on secul
ar, l
ess w orsh ip-fil
l
ed, type of
com m unity, rath er th an a cal
l
ed com m unity.
H ow ever, w h il
e com m unity is im portant, th e k ind
of com m unity th at Friends Meetings general
l
y provide
is not, by itsel
f, attractive to m ost young peopl
e. W h at
20-som eth ing person enjoys h anging around w ith
peopl
e w h o are predom inatel
y 50+ ? It’s not th at
young peopl
e necessaril
y h ave anyth ing against ol
der
peopl
e –but even th ose rare young peopl
e w h o ful
l
y
appreciate th e val
ue of inter-generationalrel
ationsh ips
w il
lprobabl
y w ant to spend som e tim e h anging out
w ith Friends cl
oser to th eir ow n age.
Th is real
ization h el
ps expl
ain w h y I h ave h ad m any
of m y strongest experiences of com m unity am ongst
Friends at YAFs events. About five years ago,
Vancouver YAFs h el
d m onth l
y potl
uck s and
num bered around 20. Since th en th ose events h ave
fal
l
en aw ay, and th e YAFs w h o regul
arl
y attend
Meeting is probabl
yl
ess th an 10.
YAFs can probabl
y find com m unities el
sew h ere.
A Mentoring rel
ationsh ip w ith a w eigh ty Friend
can be inval
uabl
e for a young person. Not onl
y does
such a rel
ationsh ip introduce th e YAF to a vision,
spiritualeducation and insigh ts into h ow to w orsh ip,
but a true w eigh ty Friend can al
so provide a practical
exam pl
e of h ow spiritualpractice can transform one’s
l
ife. I continue to treasure m y rel
ationsh ip w ith
Friends w h o h el
ped m e understand w h at a God-l
ed
l
ife m igh t l
ook l
ik e.
At th e sam e tim e, h ow ever, Month l
y Meetings
sh oul
d not assum e th at m entorsh ip w il
loccur or th at
th e m entors w h o appear w il
lbe th e righ t ones. Many
years ago a good F/friend –th en in h er earl
y 20s –
w h o h ad recentl
y com e to Meeting w as invited by a
l
ong-tim e attender to participate in using drugs to
discover new spiritualexperiences. My w ife and I h ad
al
ess extrem e experience soon after m oving to a new
Meeting w h en w e w ere invited out for l
unch by a
Friend w h o used th e opportunity to com pl
ain at
l
ength about a w ide range of personaland h eal
th
probl
em s. Th e Friend in th is l
ast case view ed h ersel
f
as som eth ing of a m entor for young peopl
e and
infl
icted a sim il
ar treatm ent on a num ber of YAFs.
Such experiences are enough to drive new attenders
aw ay from any Meeting, and are ul
tim atel
y th e
responsibil
ity of th e w h ol
e Meeting.
I do not m ean to suggest th at YAFs w il
lnot find a
spiritualh om e in Q uak ers, but currentl
y th ere are a
num ber of w ays in w h ich Canadian Yearl
y Meeting is
not adeq uatel
y m eeting th e needs of YAFs. Part of
th e answ er is getting our ow n h ouse in order:
discovering w h o w e are as a rel
igious com m unity,
rath er th an pretending w e’re just a socialcl
ub for
peopl
e w h o m igh t occasional
l
y th ink about spiritual
th ings and l
eftist causes. Part of th e answ er invol
ves
setting up spiritualeducation and m entoring for YAFs
and oth ers. YAFs need to tak e a l
ead rol
e in creating
YAFs program m es th at w il
l answ er th e needs of
young peopl
e.
It is m y prayer th at in th e com ing years it w il
lbe
cl
ear th at Q uak erism is not a dying rel
igion in Canada,
Com m unity,
incl
uding
intergenerational but a dynam ic and resurgent one.
com m unity, is im portant to YAFs. Moreover, regul
ar
YAFs events can h el
p provide th e com m unity th at
Andre w Gage is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living in
young peopl
e are l
ook ing for. H ow ever, if th e m ain
Victoria, B.C., and is a m e m b e r of Victoria
th ing th at Q uak ers do is provide com m unity, th en
M onth ly M e e ting.
9
Q uak er Inter-Faith
By Erin McD ougal
l
A
s a recent resident of Pendl
e H il
l and a
student at Earl
h am Sch ool of R el
igion, I
h ave found m ysel
f dee pl
y invol
ved in th e
w orl
d of Q uak erism in th e l
ast year. I h ave al
w ays
considered m ysel
f a Q uak er, but untilth e l
ast year I
coul
d h ave been categorized as a l
iberal
,
unprogram m ed, non-practicing Q uak er. Essential
l
y, I
w as cul
tural
l
y Q uak er but h ad very l
ittl
e idea of w h at
it m eant to l
ive in faith .
I h ave h ad m any conversations in th e l
ast year th at
h ave focused on th e nature of Q uak erism and th e
struggl
es it faces at th is point in tim e. A coupl
e of
m onth s ago I h ad a conversation w ith m y
grandparents, Ed and Vivien Abbott, w h ich l
eft m e
w ith m ore q uestions th an answ ers. O ur conversation
w as about interfaith dial
ogue and th e need for w h at
m y Papa cal
l
s "spiritualunity" w ith in th e w orl
d and al
l
rel
igions. Th is does not m ean everyone h as to bel
ieve
th e sam e th ing, but th at w e need to w ork at
understanding h ow sim il
ar our bel
ief system s are,
instead of trying to define th em according to w h at w e
disagree on. I agree w h ol
eh eartedl
y w ith h im . But I
th ink th at inter-faith dial
ogue needs to h appen w ith
non-"faith " groups as w el
l
: rel
igion w ith science,
Ath eism w ith God-centered rel
igions, ecl
ectic bel
ief
system s w ith fundam ental
ism . Th ere is so m uch m ore
th at is sim il
ar about our h um an experience th an
different. But by focusing on th e differences, w e
divide oursel
ves, excl
uding oth ers and oursel
ves and
buil
d w al
l
s w h ere th ere needn't be any.
Th e farth er into th e w orl
d of Q uak erism I get, th e
m ore I h ear about th e confl
icts and th e feel
ing th at
(w ith in North Am erica) Q uak erism is dying. W h at I
find m ost disturbing about th ese conversations is th at
th ey are often coupl
ed w ith discussions about h ow
Q uak erism needs to becom e m ore excl
usive as a faith .
Som eth ing th at h as been becom ing m ore and
m ore dee pl
y em bedded in m y understanding of
Q uak erism is th at it w oul
d be fol
l
y to becom e m ore
excl
usive in order to "save th e Society".Th is is one of
m y dee p truth s, som eth ing I find m ysel
f passionate
enough about to engage dear f/Friends in
10
conversations th at troubl
e m e dee pl
y on a soull
evel
.
I h ave been upset and disturbed by th e fact th at I
h ave m ore conversations about "w h at m ak es a person
a Q uak er" and h ow m any Q uak ers aren't "val
id"
Q uak ers at a l
iberalQ uak er university th an I h ave at
any oth er point in m y l
ife. Perh aps th is is because I
am h aving m ore conversations about Q uak erism as a
w h ol
e. But until now , I did not real
ize h ow
w idespread th is idea is. And it h urts m y h eart.
Q uak ers are often invol
ved in interfaith w ork and
bridging som e of th ose com m unication gaps as a
spiritualpractice.Th ere is som eth ing about th is th at is
h ard for m e to fath om . W e speak of bringing oth er
rel
igions togeth er w h il
e our Society crum bl
es around
our ears in North Am erica. FUM, FGC, EFI,
Conservative Friends, etc. H ow different are th ese
groups from th e original H ick site/O rth odox spl
it?
FGCers tal
k about th e difficul
ty w ith Ch ristian
l
anguage in FUM groups; FUMers h ave dial
ogue
about h ow one is not trul
y Q uak er if th ey are not
Ch ristian. Unprogram m ed
Q uak ers
inval
idate
program m ed w orsh ip ...it goes on and on.It's one of
th ose "spot w h at's different" pictures and w e are in
th e m iddl
e of it in a nigh tm arish sense.
As Q uak ers, w e are righ teous about being abl
e to
acce pt al
l oth ers' bel
iefs. W e speak of "w al
k ing
ch eerful
l
y over th e earth and answ ering th at of God
in everyone". Everyone is eq ual
, everyone's
experience of th e D ivine is val
id. Exce pt yours. And
th at one. And th at oth er one. As sects w ith in
Q uak erism , w e acce pt al
loth er faith s as l
ong as th ey
stay on th e oth er side of th e fence. Th ere is an
unconscious sense th at you can bel
ieve w h at you
w ant, th at it's val
id and good but in order to be
Q uak er, you m ust be th is. And "th is" varies from
group to group, Meeting to Meeting, individualto
individual
. "Th is" needs to be varied, as "God"
definitions and rel
igion definitions are uniq ue to each
uniq ue individual
. Th e probl
em begins w h en w e start
h aving dial
ogue about w h at m ak es a Q uak er a
Q uak er, and start draw ing l
ines in th e sand to define
oursel
ves by w h at w e are, and th ey are not. Finding a
Meeting th at speak s to sel
f is im portant, but it
I do not k now th e answ er to th is h eartbreak ing
trend I am w itnessing dail
y. I do not k now h ow to fix
it or m ak e it righ t, or speak m y understanding of
Peopl
e speak of not h aving enough Ch rist Truth to Pow er in th is situation. I don't w ant to
l
anguage, h aving too m uch , of being too pol
itical
, inval
idate anoth er's experience of Q uak erism , but I
about w h at l
iving our faith l
ook s l
ik e, about h ow w e feeltroubl
ed to th e de pth s of m y soulby w h at seem s
sh oul
d be l
iving our testim onies. (And th is doesn't to m e to be a very fast w ay out of al
ignm ent w ith
even begin to deal w ith th e conversations about God for th e R el
igious Society of Friends. Th e m ost I
peopl
e w h o identify as Jew ish -Q uak er or Q uak er- can say is th at I bel
ieve strongl
y in inter-faith dial
ogue,
Musl
im , etc.) Th ese conversations are inevitabl
y not just outside th e w al
l
s of Q uak erism , but w ith in
criticaland focus on th e oth er, rath er th an sel
f.
th em . W e need to be engaging each oth er in a spirit
ding. W e need to l
earn
Som e of m y good F/friends h ave h ad of inter-faith com m unity buil
to
speak
each
oth
er's
God
l
anguages
(and
non-God
conversation after conversation about w h at being a
anguages for th ose Friends w h o do not bel
ieve in
Q uak er m eans. I w as h aving a conversation l
ik e th is l
God).
I
bel
iev
e
th
at
it
is
in
th
is
v
ery
act
th
at
w
e w il
l
l
atel
y and both of th e Friends I w as tal
k ing w ith
find
strength
in
our
rel
igion
once
again.
In
th
e
ash
es
expressed a bel
ief th at one w as not a val
id Q uak er if
f-righ teousness and judgm ent, w e w il
l forge
th ey w ere cul
tural
l
y Q uak er but non-practicing. H ow of sel
rel
ationsh
ips
ov
er
"
insurm
ountabl
e"
differences
and
can w e judge th e m easure of God w ith in anoth er?
l
earn
to
draw
circl
es
big
enough
to
incl
ude
each
oth
er
H ow can w e judge anoth er's experience of th e D ivine
and inval
idate different opinions and stil
lstand by th e in th em .
testim onies of peace, integrity, com m unity and
E rin M cD ou gallis a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living in
eq ual
ity?
Rich m ond, Indiana.
sh oul
dn't be necessary to bel
ieve w h at th e oth er
peopl
e bel
ieve in order to be in dial
ogue w ith th em .
Exciting Youth Leadersh ip Program At
Cam p NeeK auNis!
T
by R avi Josh i
h e Friends' Youth D evel
opm ent Experience (FYD E: "fee-day") is a uniq ue project for a group of 8-10
teens around th e ages of 16-17 years.Th e aim of th e program is to devel
op a variety of sk il
l
s th rough a
co-operative cam ping experience, th e ideal
s of w h ich are based on Q uak er val
ues. O ur program is
strongl
y rooted in th e bel
ief th at com m on Q uak er val
ues (such as sim pl
icity, integrity, and eq ual
ity) go h and-inh and w ith th e val
ues and eth ics of cam p counsel
l
ing, w il
derness outtripping, and com m unity l
eadersh ip. Th e
goal
s and objectives of th is program refl
ect w h at it is about th is Q uak er based l
eadersh ip training experience
th at sets it aside from oth er existing outdoor program s. At th e sam e tim e, th e experientialeducation m odelof
l
earn by doing, sim il
ar to oth er m odel
s of outdoor l
eadersh ip program s, w il
lbe used.
D etail
s
regarding
appl
ications,
fees,
and
registration are al
l avail
abl
e
onl
ine at w w w.fyde.neek aunis.ca.
Ravi Jos h i is a You ng Adu lt
Frie nd in Toronto.
11
Friends and Appeal
s
by Peter Stevenson
T
W h en I l
ater becam e a m em ber, I coul
dn’t h ol
d off
any l
onger, for I k new th at giving financial
l
y to th e
Meeting is an im portant aspect of Q uak er
m em bersh ip. But w h ere to give? My Month l
y
Meeting, Yearl
y Meeting, Friends
General
Conference, Friends United Meeting, and Friends
W orl
d Com m ittee for Consul
tation al
lw ant m oney.
Pl
us th eir individualprojects— Th e Canadian Friend,
Canadian Friends Service Com m ittee, and th e
individual m issions of FUM al
l h ave th eir ow n
appeal
s th ey send out. Look ing to th e future, th e
Consul
tation and R enew al W ork ing Group re port
suggests m ore appeal
s, and in a few years I
expect I’l
lbe getting req uests for m oney
from th e Q uak er col
l
ege I currentl
y attend.
Th
at’s
a
l
ot
of
organizations
to
feel
guil
ty
by Th e a W al
m sl
ey
about not supporting. But as I began to
l
ook at th e financial structure of th ese
Th e re once w as a w om an nam e d Mrs. McFe e ,
organizations, I real
ized th at th ere is one
W h o ne ve r h ad ANYTH ING to do, you se e ,
Meeting th at I coul
d donate to w h ere th e
m oney w oul
d go to al
lth e righ t pl
aces: m y
So w h e n one day sh e w as tak ing a w al
k,
Month l
y Meeting. Pl
us, it’s th e Month l
y
Meeting th at I’m a m em ber of, and it’s m y
Mrs. McFe e h e ard som e l
oud ch e e rfultal
k!
Month l
y Meeting th at sh oul
d be m y core
W h e n Mrs. McFe e l
ook e d ‘cross th e stre e t,
spiritual
, even covenantal
, com m unity. If
m
y
Month
l
y
Meeting
giv
es
to th e Yearl
y
Sh e saw l
ots of k ind-l
ook ing pe opl
e to m e e t!
Meeting, and Yearl
y Meeting gives to w ider
Q uak er bodies and supports its ow n
So sh e crosse d th e stre e t, care ful
l
y,
com m ittees, th en w h y is everyone ask ing
And th ough t: w h at k ind pe opl
e to be frie nds w ith m e ! m e for m oney?W h y doesn’t everyone just
give to th eir Month l
y Meeting?
Sh e sudde nl
y stare d up at a sm al
lbaby grouse ,
h ere h ave been appeal
s for m oney around m y
fam il
y’s h ouse for as l
ong as I can rem em ber,
and general
l
y th ey w ent straigh t from th e
envel
ope to th e paper recycl
ing bin. W h en I w as
sixteen, I participated in a Friends United Meeting
w ork cam p and Triennial in K enya, and w h en I
returned h om e, I began receiving m y first funding
appeal
s of m y very ow n. W h en m y parents found
out, th ey frow ned and said th at "th ey sh oul
dn’t be
ask ing m oney from a sixteen-year-ol
d".H ow ever, as I
began m ak ing m y ow n m oney and as I began to see
m ysel
f as an adul
t, I started th ink ing about giving.
Mrs. McFe e
I h ave h eard tw o m ain responses to
th is, one organizationaland one personal
.
Sh e w e nt up to som e one and h e ard h e rse l
f say
At th e
organizational l
evel
, th e
Consul
tation and R enew alW ork ing Group
I’d l
ik e to be com e a Quak e r today!
h as re ported th at peopl
e sim pl
y give m ore
m
oney
w
h
en
th
ey
are
ask
ed,
and
th e m ore
And to th is day Mrs. McFe e ,
specific th e project is, th e m ore th ey give.
H as ne ve r m isse d one m e e ting you se e .
W h at ever h appened to give “according to
your m eans” 2 Cor: 8? Th e appeal
Th e End
paradigm just creates th e scenario of
Th e a W alm s le y is a You ng Frie nd (age 9 ) in Bu rnab y, B.C. w h oever h as th e best ad cam paign gets th e
m ost donations.
For h e pe rch e d upon a sign re ading “m e e ting h ouse ”
12
Th e second reason I h ave h eard is th at each Friend
h as th e righ t to give h is m oney to w h erever h e desires,
and th at if som eone h as a particul
ar interest in a
com m ittee, l
ik e NeeK auNis or FGC, th en h e sh oul
d
be abl
e to donate directl
y to th at com m ittee. Th is
l
eads to anoth er dangerous situation, w h ere th e
com m ittees th at h ave th e w eal
th iest supporters get th e
m ost m oney. For a secul
ar exam pl
e, often w h en a
fam il
y m em ber dies, th e surviving fam il
y w il
ldonate
m oney to a h eal
th foundation rel
ated to th e deceased
fam il
y m em ber’s il
l
ness. According to Statistics
Canada, about five th ousand peopl
e die a year from
diabetes and about five th ousand from suicide.
Fam il
ies th at h ave diabetes in th em h ave th e l
arge
Canadian D iabetes Association to provide support.
H ow ever, suicide, w h ich fal
l
s disproportionatel
y upon
l
ow -incom e and aboriginalfam il
ies, is al
m ost entirel
y
unre presented am ong Canada’s national NGO ’s.
Th ere is no such th ing as th e Canadian Suicide
Prevention Foundation, probabl
y in part because of
financialineq ual
ities am ong bereaved fam il
y m em bers.
I h ave al
so h eard from Friends w h o l
ive too far
aw ay to attend th eir Month l
y Meetings th at th ey don’t
w ant th eir m eeting to decide w h ere th eir m oney
sh oul
d go since th ey aren’t a part of th e decision. To
m e, al
lth ese responses indicate a l
ack of faith in our
corporate process. Friends h ave al
w ays bel
ieved th at
corporate discernm ent trum ps individualch oices. If
you bel
ieve th at CYM needs m ore m oney, th en bring
it up in your Month l
y Meeting.If everyone donates al
l
th ey can to th eir Month l
y Meetings, and th eir Month l
y
Meetings can’t afford to give m ore to CYM, at l
east
w e k now th at th at’s our financiall
im it and w e w on’t
need to w aste m oney and energy on appeal
s.
W h en Friends m ak e decisions in spirit-l
ed w orsh ip,
w h eth er about m oney or about anyth ing el
se, w e need
to tak e th ese decisions seriousl
y. H ow m any of us sit
in w aiting w orsh ip w h en w e donate m oney
individual
l
y?H ow do you decide w h ere to donate
your m oney?At th e very l
east, I urge you to tak e th e
tim e to sit in sil
ence before donating, so m oney
doesn’t end up going to w h oever h as th e best ad
cam paign, but goes w h ere it needs to go, l
ed by th e
Lord h im sel
f.
Pe te r Ste ve ns on is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living
in Rich m ond, Indiana, and is a m e m b e r of
Ve rnon M onth ly M e e ting.
13
Your Truth or Mine
by R ick Jul
iusson
D
o not callm e a liar,” I m e nace . “I’m te lling
you th e truth .”
“No, I k now th e truth ,” h e counters. “I saw th e
truth .”
My 4-year ol
d and I are arguing in th e m iddl
e of
th e cafeteria at Pacific Luth eran University about a
m atter of grave im portance: h is juice. At h is req uest
(and w h il
e h is m oth er w asn’t l
ook ing) I m ixed al
lfour
juices togeth er to m ak e a cacoph ony of fl
avours in a
cl
oudy, sw irl
ing froth .Gal
en’s sure I onl
y put in tw o.
I’ve tried reassuring and gentl
y expl
aining, tried
brush ing it aside and tel
l
ing h im to l
et go, but by now
I h ave som eh ow identified th is crow ded, noisy
cafeteria as th e gol
den opportunity to teach h im a
l
esson about trust and accusations.
“D o not accuse m e of l
ying,” I h ear m y dad’s
stern voice com e out of m e.“Th e truth is I put in al
l
four juices.”
“I saw you put in tw o. Th at’s th e truth ,” h e
m aintains.
W e sal
l
y back and forth a few
tim es, frustration and anger and
defensiveness
escal
ating,
w h en
suddenl
y a m em ory from Austin,
Texas th ree years ago com es to m ind.
It w as a th resh ing session about th e
pros and cons of a potentialproperty
for a new m eetingh ouse th at I k new
w as perfect. After suffering th rough
som e ol
der Friends doubts and fears, I
passionatel
y
and
convincingl
y
expl
ained th e eigh teen or so reasons
w h y th is w as th e righ t ch oice. I sat
dow n, rel
ieved and exh il
arated by th e
strong expression th at w oul
d surel
y
m ak e it al
l cl
ear. Th en out of th e
sil
ence, an el
der gentl
y said, “Th ank
you, Friend, for your portion of th e
truth .”
14
Suddenl
y I real
ize th at I’m cal
l
ing Gal
en a l
iar just
as m uch as h e’s cal
l
ing m e one. I final
l
yl
isten to h is
w ords –“I saw you onl
y pour tw o” –and real
ize th at
it’s entirel
y true to h im . Th e gol
den teach ing
m om ent, it turns out, is al
lfor m e, and I sh are it w ith
h im .
“Gal
en, I’m sorry. I see th at you are tel
l
ing th e
truth . You onl
y saw m e pour in tw o juices, righ t?
W el
l
, w h at h appened is th at you som eh ow didn’t see
m e pour in th e oth er tw o, but I did. So w e’re both
tel
l
ing th e truth .”
And just l
ik e th at, th e argum ent is over. I’ve
respected h is truth and h e instinctivel
y reciprocates
by trusting m ine. Th e cup isn’t h al
f ful
l(or h al
fem pty) w ith one of our versions, but is now
overfl
ow ing w ith our m utual understanding and
respect. And w ith a disgusting m ixture of cranberryorange-appl
e-grape sw am p w ater th at Gal
en th ink s
del
icious.I’l
ll
et th at rem ain as h is truth .
Rick Ju liu s s on is a m e m b e r of Vancou ve r
M onth ly M e e ting.Th is s tory originally
appe are d online in FGConne ctions .
Cartoon by Sh aun Bartoo, age 12 Burnaby, BC
R
Creation
To th e Black W om an on th e #15
bus , Se pte m be r 16th , 2004
by Jen D eak in
by Grace W olf
ecentl
y I've been th ink ing a l
ot about l
ife and creation:
Are th ey gifts to be expl
ored and experienced?O r is l
ife a
diam ond in th e rough , w h ere w e're pl
aced on earth to
w ork th rough th e h ard tim es, stress, toil
s and snares, so w e can
th en em brace joys and h appiness. I'm proud to be in a tim e w h en
w e can ch oose m any, m any w ays to express oursel
ves.
I’m s orry I s tare d atyou for a long tim e :
th e s taring
m ade you low e r your h e ad and be s ilent.
You’d jus tm ove d ove r for th e old Ch ine s e m an,
h is plas tic bags fullof bottles
We l
ive each day w ith a different understanding of our l
ives, to s itdow n ne xtto you;and w h e n h e didn’tnotice ,
and of th e peopl
e we l
ove. Each day w e cel
ebrate th at by l
ittl
e
You told h im “s itdow n!
th ings w e do: sh aring m om ents w ith oth ers, saying th ank you,
And re s ta m inute ”
h ol
ding som eone's h and.
I've l
earned h ow to l
ove unconditional
l
y w ith out borders, and I
am grateful
. Above al
lI th ank God for th e abil
ity to be abl
e to do
th at.I al
so th ank God for each day, and each l
earning experience.
I w antyou to k now : I did nots tare in
Je n D e ak in is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living in Langford
B.C., and is a m e m b e r of Victoria M onth ly M e e ting
nor to q ue s tion your ch oice
Th e Canadian Frie nd, De ce m be r 19 05: "A Young Quak e r"
I'm a young Q uak er, but you sh oul
d cal
lm e a "Friend,"
A fol
l
ow er of Fox, a bel
iever in Penn:
I bel
ong to th e ch urch of Joh n Brigh t and E.Fry,
And h ope a good Q uak er to be til
lI die.
Il
ik e to be a Q uak er, for a Q uak er is pl
ain,
And h e scorns any ch eating th at m igh t bring h im gain,
And h is prayers al
th ough sil
ent, sh al
lever ascend
For God's bl
essing to fal
lon th e ch il
dren of m en.
W oul
d you l
ik e to k now w h at I'm a young Q uak er for?
W el
l
, th ey never k e pt sl
aves nor k il
l
ed m en in w ar;
Th ey are l
ed by th e Spirit al
lth e w ay th rough ,
So don't you th ink you'd better be a good Q uak er too?
CYM ID EAS BR EW ING...
ignorance
nor to s h am e you,
I s tare d be caus e
w h e n I s e e Truth
and Com pas s ionate
K indne s s
s h ooting outof s om e body’s e ye s
and
m outh
and ve ry pore s ! I
Stop
and tak e notice
Grace W olf is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd in
Victoria, B.C.
Al
lYoung Friends: W e h ope you can al
lm ak e it to
Canadian Yearl
y Meeting at K ings Edgeh il
lSch oolin
W indsor NS, From Aug 3 to Aug 11 2007. Mark
your cal
endar now ! Som e Young Friends h ave al
ready
suggested som e interestin' activities such as using a
cl
ay oven for pottery/ ceram ics/ cl
ay statues of
Q uak er Superh eros, etc. W oul
d YFs l
ik e to bounce
around som e ideas?H ere are som e received so far.
Idea # 2: W ednesday afternoon CYM fiel
d day:
Instead of a Picnic som e YFs h ave suggested a
Gam es/ Sports/ Ch al
l
enges afternoon w ith a BBQ .
W h at k ind of gam es/ch al
l
enges -- any suggestions?
W oul
d CYFYM l
ik e to tak e th e l
ead for th e
W ednesday afternoon event ?
Program Com m ittee and LocalArrangem ents
Com m ittee w il
lassist w ith suppl
ies and facil
ities if
YFs can be th e organisers.
Idea # 1: Cl
ay O ven Pottery
W h at suppl
ies w il
lbe needed?A k il
n/oven, cl
ay, gl
aze,
potters w h eel
?
? W e'l
lneed an experienced potter.
Suggestions and Ideas pl
ease! Contact MelEarl
ey
(m el
earl
ey@ gm ail
.com )
or
Carol
Bradl
ey
(program m e-cl
erk @ q uak er.ca)
15
CoolO pportunities for Young Friends
by Am y Jean Singl
eton-Pol
ster
Gath e rings :
*Canadian Young Friends Yearl
y Meeting: H el
d yearl
y
concurrent w ith Canadian Yearl
y Meeting, th is gath ering is
a m ust for al
lCanadian Young Friends.
*FGC: A fantastic w eek -l
ong event for Friends of al
lages.
Th e h igh -sch oolprogram m e is h uge com pared to CYFYM
and th ere is a seem ingl
y endl
ess l
ist of activities! Th e next
gath ering is June 30-Jul
y 7, 2007, R iver Fal
l
s, W isconsin.
Ch eck it out at w w w.fgcq uak er.org
*EMEYF: Europe and Middl
e East Young Friends
gath ering for ages 18-30ish , usual
l
y h el
d in th e spring. Th e
next event is in Aprilin Moscow ! em eyf.q uak er.eu.org
Sch ool
s:
*UK : Friends' Sch ool
.O ne of 9 Q uak er sch ool
s in th e
UK , Friends' sch oolis l
ocated in Lisburn, North ern
Irel
and.Th is sch ooldoes boarding and day sch oolfor
students aged 11-18. w w w.friendssch ool
l
isburn.org.uk
*Irel
and: New tow n Sch ool
.Located in W aterford, Irel
and,
New tow n is a day and boarding sch oolon a beautiful
cam pus. A sh ort m eeting for w orsh ip is h el
d every day and
m em bers of W aterford Meeting are stil
linfl
uentialin th e
sch ool
. w w w.iol
.ie/%7Enew tow nw /index.h tm l
*Austral
ia: Th e Friends' sch ool
.Located in H obart,
Tasm ania, it teach es grades K -12 under Q uak er principl
es.
Th e sch ooloffers grades 11 and 12 in th e International
Baccal
aureate program m e.
w w w.friends.tas.edu.au/h om e.ph p
*Th ere are num erous day sch ool
s and boarding sch ool
s for
K -12 and h igh sch oolin th e USA and al
so Friends' sch ool
s
in Africa, Pal
estine, UK and m ore. Ch eck out
w w w.friends.org.uk /q uak ers/q sch ool
s.h tm
Unive rs itie s : (jus ta fe w of m any!)
*Earl
h am Col
l
ege.A l
iberalarts col
l
ege in R ich m ond,
Indiana USA. Sch ol
arsh ips are avail
abl
e. w w w.earl
h am .edu
*Friends University. A non-denom inationalCh ristian
University in W ich ita, K ansas. O riginal
l
y run by Q uak ers,
now run by an inde pendent board, w ith Q uak er m em bers
on th e Board of Trustees. w w w.friends.edu
*Guil
ford Col
l
ege. A sm al
ll
iberalarts col
l
ege in
16
Greensboro North Carol
ina. About 10% of th e student
body are Q uak ers. w w w.guil
ford.edu
*H averford Col
l
ege.A w el
lestabl
ish ed l
iberalArts col
l
ege
in Ph il
adel
ph ia, Pennsyl
vania. It consistentl
y rank s am ong
th e top 10 l
iberalarts col
l
eges in th e USA and al
th ough no
l
onger Q uak er run, th e Q uak er ph il
osoph y stil
linfl
uences
col
l
ege l
ife. w w w.h averford.edu
*Sw arth m ore Col
l
ege. A l
iberalarts col
l
ege just outside of
Ph il
adel
ph ia, in Sw arth m ore, Pennsyl
vania w ith Q uak er
origins. w w w.sw arth m ore.edu
*W oodbrook e Q uak er Study Centre. A Q uak er Study
Center (D UH !) in Birm ingh am , UK . O ne can w ork , study,
or just visit W oodbrook e, and its cl
ose l
ocation to th e
Cadbury factory, am ong oth er th ings, m ak es it w el
lw orth a
sh ort or l
ong visit! w w w.w oodbrook e.org.uk
Spe cialEve nts /O pportunitie s :
*Q uak er Youth Pil
grim age.H el
d every oth er year, (th e
next is in 2008), a group of approxim atel
y 25 Young
Friends from around th e w orl
d travelin eith er th e USA or
Europe to retrace th e ste ps of founding Q uak ers. Th is l
ifech anging pil
grim age is absol
utel
y am azing.You w il
lcom e
aw ay w ith Friends th at w il
ll
ast a l
ifetim e.
fw ccam ericas.org/w h atw edo/youth .h tm l
*W orl
d Gath ering of Young Friends.Th e W orl
d
Gath ering of Young Friends brough t togeth er Q uak ers
from al
laround th e w orl
d ages 18-35. Th is is a dee pl
y
spiritualevent. Al
th ough th e next W GYF m igh t not be
until2025 (h opeful
l
y sooner!) ch eck out th e e pistl
e, ph otos
and even audio recordings from th e gath ering in 2005 at
w w w.w gyf.org
*Youth Q uak e: A nationalconference in th e USA
(Canadians are w el
com e!) usual
l
y h el
d after Ch ristm as,
every th ree years.It is open for Q uak er Youth ages 14-20
and com es h igh l
y recom m ended by Am erican Young
Friends! Ch eck out w w w.youth q uak e.org
*W ool
m an sem ester. A h igh sch oolsem ester in Cal
ifornia
w ith focus on peace studies, outdoor activities, academ ics
and m uch m ore! Financialassistance is avail
abl
e. Students
can attend for grades 11 or 12, for a term .
w w w.w ool
m an.org/w ool
m an.h tm l
W ork /Vol
unte e r opportunitie s :
*W oodbrook e Q uak er Study Centre: O pportunities to be a
R esident Friend or Gardening Friend at th is great study
centre in Birm ingh am UK are avail
abl
e for ol
der Young
Friends. Ch eck out w w w.w oodbrook e.org.uk for m ore info!
*CFSC Internsh ip.Tim e is spent in Toronto at Friends
H ouse and al
so in South ern O ntario w ork ing on service
projects. Appl
ications are for anyone betw een ages 20-29
and interns w oul
d be expected to m ak e a 3 m onth
com m itm ent. A m onth l
y al
l
ow ance is provided. Ch eck out
cfsc.q uak er.ca
*Q UNO . Program m e Assistant jobs are avail
abl
e for
Young Friends to appl
y for in eith er Geneva or New York at
th e Q uak er United Nations O ffice. Th e job is a one year
com m itm ent and m ore inform ation is avail
abl
e at
w w w.q uno.org
Am y Je an Single ton- Polste r is a You ng Adu lt
Frie nd living in Vancou ve r, and a m e m b e r of
Victoria M onth ly M e e ting.
I
K atrina M cQuailand Am y Je an Singleton-Polste r atop
Pe ndle H illatth e W orld Gath e ring of Young Frie nds 2005
H MAC Education Funds
n th e sum m er of 2005 Canadian Young Friends Yearl
y Meeting approved grants to send Peter Earl
ey of
H al
ifax and Gal
en Fick of O ttaw a to Pendl
e H il
l
, th e Q uak er study centre in Pennsyl
vania in Novem ber.
Th ese tw o Young Friends w anted to l
earn m ore about cl
erk ing a Meeting and Pendl
e H il
lw as offering a
cl
erk ing w ork sh op.But th e grant from CYFYM onl
y covered th e registration fee for th e w ork sh op.Th ey h ad to
find th e m oney for th eir travelexpenses from oth er sources. And th is is w h ere th eir h om e Meetings and H om e
Mission and Advancem ent Com m ittee cam e in to offer h el
p.
Th e H om e Mission and Advancem ent Com m ittee (H MAC) of Canadian Yearl
y Meeting h as various funds to
h el
p Friends and Attenders dee pen th eir understanding and experience of Q uak erism . If you’d l
ik e to find out
m ore, go to th e H MAC pages of th e Canadian Yearl
y Meeting w ebsite or contact th e current Grants and Loans
O fficer of H MAC: Fred H ol
tz, 116 W est Lodge Avenue Toronto, O N M6K 2T5 416-538-0802
h m ac-grantsl
oans@ q uak er.ca
From th e Canadian Friend, 19 41, by R uth O rvis,
Te (sic) begin w ith w e adm it th at th e responsibil
ity
Young Friends Editor:
of being a Q uak er is a great one. Som e of our ol
der
Friends h ave h ad to steer our Q uak er sh ip th rough
It h as been som e m onth s since w e h ad a l
ook at th e som e very troubl
ed seas and h ave, th erefore,
probl
em of our Young Friends and th eir rel
ationsh ip devel
oped a paternal attitude tow ard it and are
to th eir Month l
y Meetings. To m e th is w as an unw il
l
ing to rel
inq uish auth ority to any w h o h ave not
im portant concern tw o years ago but w e seem no proved th em sel
ves to h ave a good steady sense of
nearer a sol
ution.
responsibil
ity, for fear our sh ip w il
lstrik e once again
on oth er rock s or even on th e sam e rock s........
17
R efl
ections on th e Joys and Ch al
l
enges of
Young Friends R etreats in O ntario:
by R ebecca Ivanoff, w ith input from Aden Spurr, K atrina McQ uail
, Erin McD ougal
l
, and R avi Josh i
Y
oung Friends retreats are an excel
l
ent w ay to
buil
d com m unity, find com m onal
ity, ask h ard
q uestions, pl
ay and w orsh ip togeth er. Th ese
Young Friends gath erings are a gift to m any young
Q uak ers and th eir friends, as w el
las to th e future of
th e Society of Friends. H ow ever, in Canada, retreats
h ave th eir ow n specialch al
l
enges. O ver 10 years of
attending and h el
ping to organise Young Friends’
retreats in O ntario, I h ave seen th at m ost of th ese
ch al
l
enges arise from h ow w e are few in num bers,
exce ptional
l
y spread out geograph ical
l
y, and al
so from
th e w ay in w h ich Young Friends are organised.
W h en w e gath er togeth er, w e are em braced into a
com m unity th at m any of us h ave k now n since w e
w ere l
ittl
e;th ese are som e of our best friends and w e
k now th ey w il
lbe for our l
ifetim e. W e are friends in
both senses (both sm al
land capitalF) and retreats
provide a pl
ace to expl
ore friendsh ip and w h at it
m eans to each of us. But m any q uestions arise from
th ese gath erings. H ow do w e al
l
ow th e organic and
spontaneous form ing of friendsh ip, w h il
e activel
y
fostering Q uak er val
ues? H ow do retreats create a
sense of sh ared purpose and spiritual
ity?
W h en w e com e togeth er, h aving spent m any
m onth s aw ay from each oth er, and h aving spent m uch
tim e, effort, and resources to get togeth er, w e often
just w ant to h ang out, tal
k, l
augh , tel
l stories
inform al
l
y, and sh are fel
l
ow sh ip during m eal
s and
gam es, such as w ink or board gam es. W e crave a few
m om ents to catch up w ith individual
s, and w e crave
th e group experience. Th e m ore structured events
som etim es seem to infringe on th ese experiences.
W h at is th e bal
ance?I, personal
l
y, h ave al
w ays l
oved
th e w ork projects at retreats. W e h ave so m uch fun,
l
ending a h and and giving back to th e Month l
y
Meeting w h ere w e are staying. H ow do you fit
everyth ing into just one sh ort w eek end?
At retreats, a com m unity th at provides a rel
axed
and open environm ent in w h ich peopl
e feelacce pted
is form ed very q uick l
y. But h ow do w e create a
18
com m unity for th ree days in w h ich w e feel
com fortabl
e enough to be ch al
l
enged and to ch al
l
enge
peopl
e? Al
so, h ow do w e create a space th at is
w el
com ing to peopl
e w h o are not as q uick to open up
and form friendsh ips?It can be an overw h el
m ing
experience to attend a retreat w h ere th ere are m any
peopl
e, intense rel
ationsh ips, l
ots of spiritual
search ing and grow th , and sl
ee p de privation. R etreats
are both a point of first contact for m any young
peopl
e to Q uak er val
ues and com m unity, as w el
las
th e reason m any ‘birth righ t’ Young Friends rem ain
w ith in th e com m unity. H ow do w e m ak e retreats a
genuine experience of Q uak erism ?
H ow do w e encourage m entoring of Young
Friends by ol
der generations of Friends?Many oth er
rel
igious youth groups are l
ed by ol
der l
eaders in th e
com m unity. Young Friends are fairl
y uniq ue because
w e are inde pendent and sel
f-organised. H ow do w e
ensure th at Young Friends create a safe space w ith out
putting l
im itations on th e retreat experience?H ow do
w e bal
ance th e need for structures and outside
support, w h il
e k ee ping in m ind th at in th e past w e
h ave fel
t th e need to nurture a feel
ing of ow nersh ip
w ith in th e Young Friend group itsel
f?Young Adul
t
Friends need to tak e on a m entoring rol
e w ith in th e
Young Friend com m unity, but ol
der adul
t Friends al
so
need to be invol
ved. Th is m eans not onl
y th e parents
of Young Friends, but al
lFriends.
I strongl
y bel
ieve th ere is a need for both Young
Friends (YF) retreats and Young Adul
t Friends (YAF)
retreats, because w e h ave differing needs and
q uestions. It is not necessaril
y an age difference, but
m ore to do w ith w h ere you are in l
ife.H ow ever, I al
so
feelth at YAFs need to be present at YF retreats.Th at,
h ow ever, raises th e q uestion of h ow often retreats can
h appen. If YAFs need th eir ow n retreats as w el
las to
be Friendl
y Adul
t Presences (FAPs) at YF retreats,
th en th at is a l
ot of tim e com m itm ent, especial
l
y
w h en w e are eith er in sch oolor w ork ing.
I trul
y l
ove th e rece ption a group of Young
Friends receives from a Meeting on First D ay on a
retreat w eek end, especial
l
y w h en w e attend sm al
lrural
Meetings. I w atch as Friends m arvelat th e cl
usters of
Young Friends th at drag th em sel
ves to Meeting First
D ay m orning, often exh austed from th e w eek end th ey
h ave just spent togeth er. I w oul
d l
ik e to th ink th at
seeing th is dynam ic and l
oving group trul
y revital
izes
th e Meeting and gives som e h ope for th e future of
Friends. My experiences h ave l
ead m e to bel
ieve th at
Young Friends R etreats endeavour to create a
com m unity and fel
l
ow sh ip w ith in a safe, l
oving and
supportive environm ent, one w h ich provides th e
fertil
e soilfor th e grow th th at is needed in th e Society
of Friends. Th e q uestions I raise are presented in an
effort to m ak e retreats a rich er, ful
l
er and m ore
Q uak er experience. I h ope th at each one of you w h o
reads th is refl
ects on your rol
e in h el
ping to answ er
th ese q uestions.
Re b e cca Ivanoff is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living
in Rich m ond H ill,O N, w h os e h om e M e e ting is
Yonge St.M onth ly M e e ting.
Som e Tips on h ow to O rganise a Young
Friends’ R etreat
by R ebecca Ivanoff and K atrina McQ uail
R
etreats h ave h el
ped th e Young Friends in
O ntario create an exceedingl
y supportive and
cl
ose com m unity, but th at does not m ean
th ey are easy to set up or som eth ing to be tak en on
l
igh tl
y. Th ey req uire th ough tful organisation and
com m unication. Bel
ow are som e tips on organizing
retreats th at w e h ave found usefulw ith in th e O ntario
Young Friends.
pl
anning, publ
icity, FAP (Friendl
y Adul
t Presence)
recruitm ent, w ork project, speak er, contacting th e
Meeting?D o you h ave adul
ts you w oul
d l
ik e to ask to
be FAPs for th e event?D o you h ave/w ant FAPs to
h el
p support you in th e pl
anning process?Perh aps an
ol
der Friend coul
d be ch osen to act as a m entor in
regards to th e pl
anning and organization of th e
retreat?
Th e Date : For an event, you m ust m ak e sure you
pl
an in advance. Pick several possibl
e dates— ask
De fine th e Eve nt: Th e idea for an event can around about sch oolvacations, confl
icts w ith oth er
com e from a group of Young Friends (such as th e activities. W h en w as th e l
ast YF event— do peopl
e
regionalgroup) or from som eone w h o w oul
d l
ik e to h ave th e need and th e tim e to get togeth er again?D o
h ost a Young Friends retreat (an individualYF). Th e you need to ch eck to m ak e sure th e space is avail
abl
e?
group or th e particul
ar YF needs to define th e event. Are reservations needed?Th e O ntario Young Friends
W h at activity do you h ave in m ind?D o you w ant to h ave been h aving th ree retreats a year; O ctober,
get togeth er to attend a specialevent?To be togeth er January, and April
.
w ith no particul
ar purpose in m ind?To visit a cul
tural
Th e Location: Suggest pl
aces th e group can
or oth er centre of attraction?To do service w ork ?D o
you w ant th e retreat to be focused around a specific stay— in a Meetingh ouse?In som eone’s h om e?Can
Q uak er testim ony?Th is m ay h el
p you pick a speak er, you arrange th e necessary transportation to and from
ic transportation be used to get
etc. D o you w ant to h ave a th em e for your gath ering, th e event?Can publ
ltransportation be needed during th e event?
such as a spiritualretreat?O r a w ork -w eek end?K ee p th ere?W il
(Additional
FAPs req uired, or FAPs w ith cars).
in m ind th at a retreat is different th an a party to w h ich
Young Friends and oth ers are invited.
Activitie s : W h at k inds of activities do you w ant to
w ays h ad
R e s pons ibil
ity: W h o w il
l tak e responsibil
ity? h ave?In th e past, th e YFs in O ntario h ave al
a
w
ork
proj
ect
on
Saturday
m
orning
at
th
e
Meeting
W h ich YFs w il
lparticipate in th e pl
anning and acce pt
H
ouse,
as
w
el
l
as
a
speak
er
on
th
e
Saturday
nigh t.
responsibil
ity for som e of th e jobs to be done: food,
19
Speak ers h ave been Friends from th e l
ocalMeeting, a
particul
ar YF, or a spirituall
eader or activist from th e
l
ocal com m unity. Th e O ntario Young Friends al
so
h ave a Meeting for W orsh ip w ith a Concern for
Business.
onl
y if need arises. (General
l
y th is com es at th e
req uest of an organizing YF).
Publ
icis e : Mak e a l
ist of inform ation th at needs
to be on publ
icity. Pl
an a fl
yer th at tel
l
s al
l th e
im portant inform ation. W h o, w h ere, w h at, w h en?
Expe ns e s : Estim ate th e costs. W il
l participants W h at th ey need to bring: spending m oney, special
oth es, bedding? Provide necessary m aps to th e
pay a sm al
lam ount to cover costs of th e event?W il
l cl
ier. Give a
you ask your Month l
y Meeting for financialassistance? event. Identify a contact person on th e fl
ine. Mail
/em ail publ
icity w el
l in
W h o w il
l pay for gasol
ine if cars are used for sign-up date deadl
ocalMonth l
y Meetings
transportation?W il
lFAP’s h ave to pay th eir ow n food advance of event. Send to l
and entry fees, or w il
lth e YFs subsidize th eir stay for inviting th eir Young Friends.
th e event?W h at m eal
s w il
lyou provide and w h ich w il
l
Eve nt: H ave fun; create com m unity!! H ave a
youth s be expected to pay for th em sel
ves? Th e
guidel
ine setting m eeting th e first nigh t, so th at as a
O ntario Young Friends h ave a $20 participation fee;
com
m
unity you can tal
k about and set th e guidel
ines
w ith financialassistance given upon req uest for both
th at w il
lh el
p create a safe space (no drugs, al
coh ol
,
participation and travelcosts.
excl
usive activities, respect, etc). Establ
ish a
ist (w ith nam e, destination, tim e out and
Support: Enl
ist a Month l
y Meeting as a sponsor gatek ee per’s l
tim e in) for peopl
e l
eaving Meeting property. Set up a
of your event by going to th eir Business Meeting w ith
e w h ere peopl
e can sign up for at l
east 2 dish
a proposal
. R eceive th eir support and invol
ve th em (at tim etabl
l
east k ee p th em appraised) of th e pl
anning of th e team s over th e w eek end. H ave a discussion about
w h en and w h ere th e next retreat w il
lbe h el
d, and w h o
retreat.
w il
lbe organising it.
Frie ndl
y Adul
t Pre s e nce s (FAPs ): R ecruit FAPs Som eone m ay w ant to w rite an articl
e about th e
"Friendl
y Adul
t Presences” – adul
ts invited to be
e to
present at a specific youth event. It is suggested th at event, or th e group m ay decide to w rite an e pistl
lFriends about th eir event and w h at h appened at it.
you h ave at l
east tw o adul
ts over th e age of 21. tel
d be sent to th e Canadian Friend
D uring al
l youth events no few er th an tw o FAPs Perh aps a re port coul
y YF New s” section!
sh oul
d be present at al
ltim es -- one m al
e and one for a “Friendl
fem al
e -- th rough out th e duration of th e event.
Re b e cca Ivanoff is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living
Al
th ough not a necessity, FAPs w il
lprobabl
y com e
in
Rich m ond H ill,O N, and w h os e h om e M e e ting
from th e sponsoring m eeting.
is Yonge St.M onth ly M e e ting.K atrina M cQ u ail
is a You ng Adu ltFrie nd living in Rich m ond,
Consider finding FAPs w h o are not parents of th e
Indiana, w h os e h om e M e e ting is K itch e ne r Are a
participating youth if possibl
e. Inform a prospective
FAP about th eir rol
es and responsibil
ities. Mak e sure
you h ave enough drivers and cars. Mak e cl
ear w h at a
From Th e Canadian Friend, Se ptem ber
FAPs financialobl
igation w il
lbe.
19 32. Epistl
e of Canadian Young Friends'
Additional R ol
es and R esponsibil
ities for FAPS:
Conference:
FAPs sh oul
d be interested in being invol
ved w ith
"W e th e Young Friends of Canada, in
teens and be pre pared to h ave fun! O ne FAP needs to
session for our frst conference h el
d at
col
l
ect and retain em ergency m edicalrel
ease form s
Cam p Neek aunis (m eeting pl
ace of
(w ith YFs h eal
th card num bers, parents' rel
ease, l
ist of
friends) extend greetings.
al
l
ergies, etc). Th e youth are th eir ow n program
creators. Th ey h ave th e ow nersh ip and responsibil
ity
W e bel
ieve th is l
ovel
y ten acre Cam p
for th eir success or w aning. Adul
ts present at youth
near W aubaush ene w il
lbe th e m eans of
events w il
lfacil
itate, suggest, enabl
e, and encourage
binding togeth er al
l groups of Young
w h en needed. Th ey are a presence of support. Adul
ts
Friends."
w il
l"ste p in", direct, guide, offer advice and counsel
20
A Young Friend on CFSC
by Peter Earl
ey
I
th e acronym s, num bers, and nam es being th row n
around it w as a l
ittl
e overw h el
m ing at first and, m ind
you, it stayed th at w ay for som e tim e. D uring th e
m orning session, as new m em bers, w e w ere tol
d we
sh oul
d decide w h ich standing com m ittee w e w oul
d
l
ik e to sit on as soon as w as possibl
e, and th at th e
afternoon session w oul
d give us a ch ance to ch eck out
each com m ittee. Th erefore it w as no surprise th at
new m em bers w ere approach ed during l
unch by
various m em bers of each com m ittee, w h o proceeded
to sum up th eir favorite points about w h ich ever
Th e opportunity to serve on CFSC w as first com m ittee th ey w ere on, betw een bites of th e
presented to m e at Canadian Yearl
y Meeting 2004 in w onderfulfood th at al
w ays seem s to com e from th e
W indsor, Nova Scotia. D uring
k itch en at Friends H ouse. Th e
th e course of th is Meeting I
.....I assum e d th at w h e n I second day of th is m eeting w as
w as ask ed by th e Canadian
real
l
y w h ere I started getting a
sh ow e d up I w oul
d be
Young Friends Yearl
y Meeting
grasp of w h at w ent on at a CFSC
Nom inating Com m ittee if I
tre ate d l
ik e a te e nage r m eeting, and realized, just as a I
w oul
d be interested in serving
predicted, it w as som eth ing I
w h o w al
k s into a
on CFSC as th e Young Friends
definitel
y enjoyed.
re presentative. At th e tim e I boardroom onl
y to face
W h en ask ed to w rite an articl
e
real
l
y didn’t k now m uch of
th
e
stony
e
xpre
ssion
of
about CFSC from th e perspective
w h at w ent on at a CFSC
a youth I w as initial
l
y at a l
oss,
m eeting, but after a few tal
k s som e m iddl
e m anage m e nt of
because
I'd
q
uick
l
y
found
during
w ith various Friends I got a
type . Th ank ful
l
y I w as m y first CFSC m eeting YF’s are
vague idea and decided th at it
treated w ith as m uch respect as
w as definitel
y som eth ing I
not....
any oth er m em ber of th e
w oul
dl
ik e to experience.
com m ittee. Th is w as by far th e
Th e th ough t of CFSC real
l
y vanish ed from m y m ost am azing th ing for m e. As th is w as m y first
m ind untila few m onth s l
ater w h en I received an m eeting regarding Q uak er service, I assum ed w h en I
em ailabout th e upcom ing m eeting. At th is point I sh ow ed up I w oul
d be treated l
ik e a teenager w h o
started to get very nervous.I stil
lh ad just a vague idea w al
k s into a boardroom onl
y to face th e stony
of w h at CFSC did, and I h ad yet to h ave any idea of expression of som e m iddl
e m anagem ent type.
w h at I, as th e YF re p, w oul
d be responsibl
e for. After Th ank ful
l
y I w as not, and m y experience h as yet to be
a fl
igh t th at seem ed to drag on forever, and a subw ay anyth ing cl
ose to th at. W h at m ak es it unl
ik e m ost of
ride th at I th ough t w oul
d never stop, I final
l
y arrived th e experiences in m y h igh sch ooll
ife, is th at th is is
at Friends H ouse in Toronto. I im m ediatel
y ch eck ed one situation w h ere every person in th e room h as
in w ith th e R esident Friend and w ent to sl
ee p. Th e consciousl
y ch osen to be th ere. Th is is w h y I l
ove
next m orning I aw ok e to th e h ustl
e and bustl
e of a CFSC so m uch ; unl
ik e a l
ot of th ings th ere is an
l
arge group of Friends trying to get in th eir m orning infinite w il
l
ingness to do.
coffee and toast w h il
e carrying on several
Pe te r E arle y is a You ng Frie nd living in H alifax,
conversations at once.I fel
t righ t at h om e.Later in th e
w h e re h e atte nds H alifax M onth ly M e e ting.
day as w e settl
ed dow n to m eet for business, I got m y
first taste of th e w ork CFSC does. I m ust say, w ith al
l
’d say I’m norm alfor a 17 year ol
d, in th e sense
th at I th ink I suffer al
lth e sam e probl
em s anyone
el
se m y age does: sch ool
w ork , band practice,
finding tim e to h ang out w ith friends and al
lth e oth er
great stuff th at goes in a h igh sch oolw orl
d. W h at I
feelse parates m e from from th e norm is th e tim e I
h ave spent serving on Canadian Friends Service
Com m ittee (CFSC). I h ave been given a new and
m uch broader perspective on a l
ot of issues th at are
current w ith peopl
e m y age.
21
From Th e Canadian Friend Arch ives
Cl
ippings courtesy K yl
e Jol
iffe
From March 19 37, titl
ed "A Young Friend
W atch es": For tw o m onth s now w e h ave been
intensel
y interested in th e issuance and response to
"Th e Greatest H ope of th e Society" as found in Th e
Canadian Friend. W e al
so noted th at onl
y tw o Friends
th ough t th at th e greatest h ope l
ay in th eir young
peopl
e, and, as far as w e can judge, th ese Friends are
not k now n, visibl
y anyw ay, to us. For th ese Friends
and for oth ers w h o did not voice an opinion, w e w ish
to ack now l
edge th e responsibil
ity th ey h ave given us.
W e, as Canadian Young Friends, are not insensibl
e
to th e spirit of Q uak erism . W e m ay do th ings th at at
tim es, to you w h o are ol
der, seem anyth ing but
Q uak erl
y;w e possibl
y h ave brok en dow n barriers th at
h ave w ith stood at l
east a generation;w e h ave m ade
m oves th at m ay h ave seem ed rash and not properl
y
th ough t out and w e m ay h ave appeared to be carel
ess
w ith an ol
der person's opinion. But w e beg of you,
h ave faith in your Young Friends.
If you coul
d gath er w ith th em at som e of th eir
inform alm eetings or even th eir business m eeting you
w oul
d probabl
y be am azed at th e am ount of com m on
sense and w orl
dl
y k now l
edge th at th ey can propound.
If you coul
d be w ith th em at som e of th eir w orsh ip
m eetings, especial
l
y at Cam p Neek aunis w h ere th ey
k now th e responsibil
ity of th e Meeting is al
lth eirs,
and you coul
d h ear th e spl
endor of th ose young
Q uak ers' th ough ts;if you coul
d be near as som e one
of th em l
ends a h and in th at q uiet Friendl
y Fash ion,
w h y th en you w oul
d h ave m ore faith in your Young
Friends.
----------------From O ctober, 19 53, excerpt from a description
of a paneldiscussion: ...Anoth er q uestion w as "W h y
are Young Friends in Canada so inactive?
" W e found
th at th e l
ack of activity w as th e resul
t of th e different
Meetings being distant and scattered and al
so an
unfortunate l
ack of interest on th e part of Young
Friends.
----------------From O ctober 19 12, by F.J. Sutton and May
Mil
l
igan, President and Secretary of th e Young
22
Friends Ch ristian Association: O n l
ook ing over th e
m inute of th e Yearl
y Meeting of Friends h el
d June,
19 12, I notice th at no m ention is m ade of th e
m eeting h el
d by th e Young Friends. As th is is
probabl
y an oversigh t, I tak e th is opportunity of
l
etting th e m em bers of Canada Yearl
y Meeting of
Friends k now th at th e Young Friends Association is a
l
ive and grow ing concern and th at th eir object is to
m ak e th e Yearl
y Meeting of 19 13 th e l
argest and m ost
enth usiastic in our h istory.
----------------From D ecem ber 19 24, "Young Friends Activities":
A carl
oad of young Friends from both branch es in
Norw ich attended Genesee H al
f-Yearl
y Meeting h el
d
at Col
dstream , O ct. 25-26. Th ey h el
ped th e Young
Friends th ere in th e program of th eir Meeting.Th is is
once th at th e th ree groups of young Friends h ave m et
togeth er and a very favourabl
e re port is given of th e
fel
l
ow sh ip.
W ANTED - Fifty young Friends to pray dail
y for
th e w ork , in K ingston Month l
y Meeting. O ur God
pays big dividends. Send your nam e and address to
K enneth C.H il
l
, Burgessvil
l
e.
Th e Junior Fel
l
ow sh ip Cl
ass and th e Interm ediate
Cl
ass one S. S. at W ool
er m et for a socialevening at
th e h om e of Edith and Cora Val
entine. Th e tim e
passed very q uick l
y in gam es, contests, m usic, etc.Th e
m ystery supper w h ich th e girl
s served caused m uch
m errim ent. "Som eth ing usefuland ch eap" h ad served
to th em a "tooth pick " and "a tem ptation of ol
d" w as
an appl
e.
----------------From Jul
y 19 27, by Joh n H .H obart: D ear Friends
- It is difficul
t for m e to give you any m essage so soon
in our new year. I h ave h ow ever, for som e years past,
fel
t a very realconcern for th e future of Q uak erism in
Canada.
Fol
l
ow ing th e w ar, first in Engl
and and l
ater in th e
United States, th e Society seem ed to tak e on a new
l
ife of fresh vital
ity: Q uak er ideal
s w ere transl
ated
into action over a battl
e-scarred Europe and th e
Q uak er m essage m ade an insistant appealto m any
th ink ing m en and w om en, w h o, disil
l
usioned by th e
w ar, w ere seek ing a new and m ore Ch rist-l
ik e w ay of
l
ife.
Al
th ough th ere w ere and stil
lare, signs of an
aw ak ening interest, w e in Canada, seem ed to h ave
m issed th is new enth usiasm .As Young Friends, th e
future of Q uak erism in Canada is in our h ands.H ave
w e as a Society a definite contribution to m ak e to th e
spiritualprogress of th is country, and if so, are w e
m ak ing th at contribution w orth il
y?In answ er to th e
first part of th e q uestion, I bel
ieve th at w e h ave a
uniq ue contribution to m ak e.Th e second part of th e
q uestion is a direct personalch al
l
enge - dare w e
acce pt it?
Th e task is no l
igh t one, th e w ay a l
ittl
e uncertain;it
cal
l
s for th e exercise of a divine faith and th e courage
of our youth , and above al
l
, w e m ust every one of us
sh oul
der our sh are of th e responsibil
ity and h el
p.
K yle Joliffe is a m e m b e r of Yonge St.M onth ly
M e e ting.H e is also th e au th or of a h is tory of
You ng Frie nds in Canada, "Se e k ing th e
Ble s s e d Com m u nity", availab le from Q u ak e r
Book Se rvice .
A Sim pl
y Extraordinary Pl
ace To Grow Up
M
by D iana Sh e pard Ste ph ens
y first trip to Cam p NeeK auNis in
W aubaush ene, O ntario w as w h en I w as tw o
m onth s ol
d. Tw enty-eigh t years l
ater, I’ve
never m issed a sum m er. Som eh ow , I’ve al
w ays found
a w ay to m ak e it to at l
east one program m e. Yes, it’s
partl
y h abit –sum m er w oul
dn’t be sum m er w ith out
Cam p –but it’s m ore th an th at. Cam p h el
ped raise
m e, teach m e, sh ape m e. I w oul
d be an entirel
y
different person w ith out it - and, I th ink , a m uch
l
esser one. Every tim e I get back to Cam p, I feelm y
better sel
f renew ed.
I don’t rem em ber m y first few Fam il
y Cam ps as a
baby, but it’s cl
ear from th e ph otos th at I enjoyed
m ysel
f. As a toddl
er, I spent at l
east one w h ol
e cam p
topl
ess. I w as best friends w ith a l
ittl
e boy w h o l
ater
brough t h is ow n l
ittl
e friend to Cam p and brok e m y
h eart (w el
l
, tick ed m e off anyw ay). I w as intim atel
y
fam il
iar w ith al
lth e im portant parts of Cam p: th e
cl
im bing set, th e sw ings, th e path to th e beach , th e art
room , th e k ybos. My dad w as th e k ing of sw ingset
rides, purveyor of th e fam ous Tornado. I pl
ayed h ard
and h ad th e w ind k nock ed out of m e for th e first tim e
fal
l
ing off th e m onk ey bars into th e sand –a terrifying
but strangel
y exh il
arating experience.
Th ere w ere m any oth er firsts for m e at Cam p,
especial
l
y since I w as a H om esch ool
ing k id. It w as th e
first pl
ace I stayed w ith out m y parents for m ore th an
one nigh t, for Junior Cam p. Th ere, I al
so w ent to m y
first dance - m y cabin-m ates even l
ent m e l
ip gl
oss –
and got m y first crush . Cam p is w h ere I l
earned to
pl
ay badm inton (at age 10 m y serve w as dubbed “th e
1000-w att serve”), soccer, Ul
tim ate, euch re, Speed,
and al
lvarieties of W ink . At age 11, for Tal
ent Nigh t,
I perform ed m y first sel
f-ch oreograph ed dance w ith a
dear friend –sh e is stil
lm y dear friend today, and I’m
stil
lch oreograph ing. At Interm ediate Cam p, I h ad m y
first official boyfriend (w e l
asted 3.5 days) and
subseq uentl
y m y first k iss. Cam p is th e first pl
ace I
ever sl
e pt under th e stars, sk inny-dipped, cried for
h appiness, fel
lin l
ove. Th e th ings w e do at Cam p are
sim pl
e, universalth ings, but som eh ow extraordinary
w h en surrounded by th e l
ayers of beauty.
Beyond rites of passage, l
ife l
essons are el
oq uentl
y
l
earned at Cam p. As ch il
d care staff, I passed al
ong to
m y ch arges al
lth e piggyback and spinny rides I’d been
given by m y m any Cam p parents. As k itch en staff, I
l
earned th at doing w ork w el
lis m uch easier and m ore
satisfying th an trying to avoid w ork . I l
earned w h at it
is to bond w ith your friends –bond so th at you k now
th at righ t th en, your friendsh ip is th e best and m ost
im portant th ing in th e w orl
d. I l
earned th at w h en th e
pl
anets al
ign just righ t, th ose bonds can encom pass a
w h ol
e group. Th at even dee p pain, suffered togeth er,
h ol
ds joy as w el
l
. Th at given th e righ t atm osph ere, w e
can al
l access w ith in oursel
ves infinite w el
l
s of
k indness, generosity, em path y, and l
ove.
It seem s fitting th at l
ast sum m er, on August 6th , I
cel
ebrated m y first w edding anniversary w ith m y
h usband at Cam p. As you probabl
y guessed, w e can
h ardl
y w ait to tak e our ch il
dren th ere som eday, to
begin th eir sim pl
y extraordinary Cam p education.
D iana Sh e pard Ste ph e ns is a You ng Adu lt
Frie nd living in Gu e lph , and a m e m b e r of
H am ilton M onth ly M e e ting.
23
200 years of
Abol
ition
I
by Monica W al
ters-Fiel
d
am w riting to rem ind Friends of th e upcom ing
tw o h undredth anniversary of th e first significant
l
egisl
ation passed in th e British Parl
iam ent th at l
ed
to th e abol
ition of sl
avery.
O n March 25, 1807 a l
aw w as passed th at abol
ish ed
th e transatl
antic transportation of Africans for sl
avery
to British Col
onies. Th ough th is l
egisl
ation did not
abol
ish sl
avery, it w as an im portant first ste p to
abol
ition.
It is im portant to note th at individualQ uak ers in
1688 in Germ antow n, Pennsyl
vania started w h at w as to
becom e th e abol
itionist m ovem ent by protesting th e
notion am ong Friends and th e w ider com m unities th at
one h um an being coul
d ow n anoth er. A cause w h ich
British Q uak ers w oul
d continue to ch am pion in
parl
iam ent, 9 of th e original12 m em bers of th e British
Anti-Sl
avery Society being Friends.
Th ough sadl
y th ere is no national pl
atform to
com m em orate th e ending of th is tragic and unjust part
of h istory, it is im portant to cel
ebrate th e ending of th e
sl
ave trade and to recognize th e brave contributions
abol
itionists, both bl
ack and w h ite, individual and
groups, gave to th is end.
As a descendant of th e transported Africans and as
a Q uak er, it is m y h ope th at Friends w il
lincl
ude in th eir
pl
ans events th at w il
l not onl
y com m em orate th e
anniversary of th e end of th e sl
ave trade but w il
lal
so
form al
l
y and publ
icl
y recognize th at th e l
egacies of th e
transatl
antic sl
ave trade reverberate stil
lin term s of th e
uneq ualtreatm ent and discrim ination of peopl
e.
I h ope th is serves to open th e door to
contem pl
ation, dial
ogue and w orsh ip w ith in Month l
y
Meetings on th is m atter.
M onica W alte rs - Fie ld is a m e m b e r of Toronto
24
W h ere are our
Joh n W ool
m ans?
I
by Bob McInnes
'm beginning to see a rem ark abl
e paral
l
el
betw een peopl
e's reaction to th e revel
ation
of cl
im ate ch ange causes and effects and a
diagnosis of cancer.For th e cancer patient th ere is
usual
l
y a period of denial
, fol
l
ow ed by a frantic
search for "cures", and ul
tim atel
y, in m ost cases, a
resignation to one's fate. In th e exam pl
e of
cl
im ate ch ange, w h at is at stak e for m ost peopl
e in
North Am erica is th eir privil
eged w ay of l
ife,
de pendent on h igh energy use, h eavil
y fossilfuel
driven.
Th ere are pow erfulinterests preach ing denial
,
incl
uding such h eads of state as George W. Bush .
Few of us can real
l
y visual
ize th e drastic ch anges
req uired in our l
ife styl
es to stop th e h um an
aggravation of th is trend. In George Monbiot's
"H eat: H ow to Stop th e Pl
anet Burning", h e
suggests "air travelw il
lh ave to end, renew abl
e
energy sources - but not nucl
ear ones - w il
lh ave
to provide al
lour pow er; w h il
e our h om es w il
lbe
turned into insul
ated castl
es capabl
e of
w ith standing th e m ost severe m eteorol
ogical
assaul
ts".
So are Friends stil
lin th e denialstage?I fear
so, especial
l
y w h en I l
ook at th e organization of
our Yearl
y Meeting. It is l
argel
y de pendent on th e
jet pl
ane to function. Efforts to curb travelh ave
been m inim al and insistance on one annual
national gath ering continues. In reading a
sum m ary of th e C'n'R re port, I feel m ore
furniture sh uffl
ing on our "Titanic" rath er th an
any serious redirection.
I stil
lh ave h opes th at Friends m igh t provide
th e spirituall
eadersh ip th at a radicalreorientation
req uires.W h ere are our Joh n W ool
m ans?
Bob M cInne s is a m e m b e r of Saanich
Pe nins u la M onth ly M e e ting.
W ars and th e Peace Process
Anth ony H .R ich m ond
I
n h is Sw arth m ore Lecture (19 9 3), Sydney Bail
ey
em ph asized th at as Q uak ers, w e m ust recognize
th at th e road to peace is a l
ong one.According to
Project Pl
ough sh ares, in 2005 th ere w ere 32 active
arm ed confl
icts around th e w orl
d, th e m ajority in
Africa and Asia. Th is w as despite th e fact th at since
19 9 6, th e sam e num ber of confl
icts h ad ended.
Al
th ough th e im m ediate th reat of a nucl
ear
h ol
ocaust h as receded w ith th e col
l
apse of th e Soviet
Union, oth er types of w ar h ave prol
iferated: pow er
struggl
es of eth no-rel
igious and tribal groups
responding to gl
obalforces, and reaction of m ajor
pow ers to th e th reats th ese re present. Today, even th e
use of tacticalnucl
ear w eapons, or oth er w eapons of
m ass destruction, cannot be rul
ed out, and space
research continues to expl
ore th e practicalpossibil
ities
of bal
l
istic m issil
e defense and offense.
From Mach iavel
l
i to Mussol
ini, from Cl
ausew itz
to
Ch urch il
l
, from H egel to H itl
er and from
Th eodore R oosevel
t to George W.Bush , w ar h as been
regarded as a natural and necessary extension of
dipl
om acy and pol
itics, in pursuit of sovereignty, and
th e defense of nationalinterests. For m any, w ar is
even a m oralim perative;it is regarded as a righ teous
pursuit of individualand col
l
ective destiny, a crucibl
e
th at form s a nation. Th e US ‘w ar on terrorism ’ is th e
l
atest m anifestation of th is.
‘m il
itary-industrial com pl
ex’, identified as a serious
danger by President Eisenh ow er in 19 61, sh oul
d be an
anach ronism in th e 21st century.
Th e contem porary gl
obalsystem is in a state of
transition. Partl
y as a reaction against th e th reatening
nature of rapid ch ange and th e insecurity generated,
peopl
e are reverting to ol
d sources of col
l
ective
identity and m oralsupport, incl
uding th ose based on
l
anguage, rel
igion and territorial attach m ent.
National
ism , in w h atever form it tak es, peacefulor
m il
itant, req uires us to m ak e a distinction betw een
oursel
ves and th e ‘oth ers’. J.P. Sartre said ‘L'enfer
c'est l
es autres’. It w oul
d be fairer to say ‘L'enfer c'est
nous-m êm es’. W e m ak e our ow n h el
lh ere on earth
w h en w e al
l
ow our h um anity to be over-ridden by
Bal
l
istic Missil
e D efense tech nol
ogy, corporate
econom ic interests, th e desire to revenge past
atrocities, and m isguided efforts to overth row
tyrannicalregim es by m il
itary force. As Moh am m ed
El
baradei noted in h is 2005 NobelPeace Lecture, th e
nations of th e w orl
d are spending $1 tril
l
ion annual
l
y
on arm am ents, but onl
y $80 bil
l
ion on aid to
devel
oping countries. Poverty rem ains one of th e
m ain root causes of viol
ent confl
ict al
th ough th ere
are m any oth er contributing factors.
W h at can w e as Q uak ers do to advance th e cause
of peace?W e can l
obby pol
iticians, i.e. “speak truth
to pow er”, al
th ough th ose in pow er are l
ess incl
ined
Th e United Nations h as establ
ish ed various th an ever to l
isten. As individual
s w e can w itness by
tribunal
s and th e International Crim inal Court to refusing to participate in w ar and supporting th ose
investigate crim es against h um anity. H ow ever, th e w h o resist. W e can refrain from w ork ing or investing
gl
obalcom m unity h as not succeeded in ful
fil
l
ing th e in com panies th at m anufacture arm s. Som e m ay
aspirations of th ose w h o establ
ish ed th e United decide to w ith h ol
d a proportion of th eir taxes th at
Nations after W orl
d W ar II, w h ich w as to abol
ish w ar pay for th e m il
itary. W e can activel
y support th ose
as an instrum ent of pol
icy al
togeth er.
w h o are w ork ing to assist th e num erous refugees,
displ
aced persons, th e injured and th ose traum atized
Th ere w il
lbe no gl
obalsecurity, and no peace for
by th e w ars th at h ave ravaged th eir country.Above al
l
,
th e U.N. to k ee p, untilste ps are tak en to de-m il
itarize
w e m ust m aintain and procl
aim our traditional“peace
th e w orl
d system . Th e U.N. Com m ission on Gl
obal
testim ony” w ith out discouragem ent.
Governance in 19 9 5 proposed a de-m il
itarization fund
to provide assistance to devel
oping countries in
Anth ony Rich m ond is a m e m b e r of Yonge St.
reducing th eir m il
itary com m itm ents. Eventual
l
y, th e
arm s trade m ust be el
im inated and m ade extinct. Th e
25
Visiting Isol
ated Friends
W
by Jane MacK ay W righ t, w ith inspiration from Fred H ol
tz
h en I sol
d m y h ouse in Toronto and
m oved to Manitoul
in Isl
and, I becam e an
Isol
ated Friend. Since I w as serving on
H om e Mission and Advancem ent Com m ittee
(H MAC), w h ich h as a h istory of concern for Isol
ated
Friends, I th ough t I w oul
dl
ook up som e of th e oth er
Isol
ated Friends in m y new “neigh bourh ood.” Bette
Logan, w h o resides in Toronto but l
ik es to travel
,
agreed to com e w ith m e. It w as th e fal
lof 2004, and
in th e north one pays attention to w eath er, especial
l
y
w h en w inter approach es. As it turned out, th e snow
found us, but th e w arm th and generosity of Friends
w e visited m ade up for th e w intery driving.
W e h ad been abl
e to reach m ost of th e peopl
e on
our sm al
lcontact l
ist by ph one and set up dates for
our visits. O ur first stop w as th e h om e of K ath ie
H orne in Parry Sound. I h ad k now n K ath ie w h en sh e
w as active in Toronto Month l
y Meeting and I l
ook ed
forw ard to seeing h er again. W e h ad a w onderfulvisit,
catch ing up and sh aring new s of Toronto Friends.
Th e day w e visited h appened to be K ath ie’s birth day,
so w e brough t a sugary cak e and al
late a big piece.W e
decided to get togeth er again, and I returned l
ater th at
sum m er for a series of Meetings for W orsh ip at
K ath ie’s h om e. Th ough a notice in th e l
ocalpaper
inviting inq uirers to join us didn’t stir any responses, I
did get K ath ie back on th e l
ist to receive Th e
Canadian Friend and connected h er to a Friend from
Toronto w h o visits Parry Sound regul
arl
y.
After our visit in Parry Sound, Bette and I
continued north to Sudbury. W h en w e got to th e city,
th e roads w ere a sl
ippery, sl
ush y m ess. Th e next
m orning, a Sunday, th e sl
ush h ad m el
ted and th e sk ies
w ere cl
ear. W e m ade our w ay to th e h om e of an
el
derl
y w om an w h o w as one of six rem aining
m em bers of Canadian Yearl
y Meeting under th e care
of H MAC. I h ad arranged th at w e w oul
d h ol
d
Meeting for W orsh ip w ith h er. Later, over coffee, w e
l
earned th at sh e h ad w ork ed around th e w orl
d for th e
United Nations as a transl
ator, and h ad com e to
Sudbury as a Professor at Laurentian University. W e
w ere fascinated by th e very interesting l
ife th is el
egant
w om an h ad l
ed. Sh e h ad joined Friends during th e
Vietnam w ar w h en teach ing in th e United States.
26
Bette and I th en proceeded dow ntow n to m eet
Joh n R uth erford and h is partner D iana O ’D onnel
l
,
w h o ow n and operate th e Bl
ack Cat, a cafe-book store
in th e centre of Sudbury. W e fol
l
ow ed th e coupl
e to
th eir favourite restaurant w h ere th ey treated us to a
very pl
easant l
unch .Joh n h as been a m em ber of Iow a
City Meeting, but h ad not h ad tim e recentl
y for
attendance at Meeting for W orsh ip. H ow ever, th e
coupl
e and th eir fam il
y appreciate being abl
e to stay at
Friends H ouse w h en th ey are in Toronto. W e w ere
engrossed in conversation w h en our h osts l
ook ed out
at th e grey w eath er, com m enting th at it l
ook ed l
ik e
snow. Bette and I set off w ith out del
ay on th e tw o
and a h al
f h our journey to m y h om e.
It w as very good h aving Bette w ith m e, not onl
y
for th e com panionsh ip, but for h er sh ared interest in
everyone w e visited. W e h ad l
ots of tim e for
conversation a day l
ater as w e drove to Saul
t Ste.
Marie, a drive of over four h ours from m y h om e. As
w e drove farth er al
ong th e Trans Canada h igh w ay,
snow started to fal
l
. Eventual
l
y w e w ere again in th e
m iddl
e of a bl
izzard. Th at evening w e careful
l
y m ade
our w ay to th e h om e of Patrick Capper, anoth er
Isol
ated Friend w h o h ol
ds m em bersh ip under th e
care of H MAC. W e th ink h e w as surprised to see us
m ak ing our w ay th rough a snow storm to visit h im .
H e w el
com ed us w arm l
y h ow ever, expl
aining th at h e
w as raised as a Q uak er in Britain and h ad w anted to
retain ties w ith Friends, al
th ough th ere h ad been no
Meetings for W orsh ip in Saul
t Ste. Marie for several
years. H e h ad com e to th e city original
l
y as an
engineer w ith Al
gom a Steel
, and w as about to retire.
W e w ere interested to l
earn about h is enth usiasm for
pennyfarth ing cycl
es, and th at h e h ad m et Jack Sm it, a
Friend l
iving in El
l
iot Lak e, w h en pre paring h ik ing
trail
s.Snow bl
ew around us th e next m orning as Bette
and I l
eft Saul
t Ste. Marie, but by th e tim e w e reach ed
Manitoul
in Isl
and it w as cl
ear again.
It h as been som e tim e since w e got togeth er, but
as w inter arrives again I th ink of th is first excursion
to m eet som e of m y new “neigh bours”.
Jane M acK ay W righ tis a m e m b e r of Toronto
Th e Stick in
'Sm ail
's Bundl
e
Faith and Pratice
Progress R e port
by Terron K .D odd
From Mol
l
y W al
sh , Cl
erk
im buk tu is a city, and in com m on w ith
cities everyw h ere it is ful
lof noise, not
of m ach inery, but of peopl
e w ork ing
and pl
aying and cel
ebrating and arguing. You
don't h ave to go very far out into th e desert,
th ough , before you find a sil
ence so
overw h el
m ing th at few peopl
e coul
d failto be
aw are of a presence m uch greater th an h um ans
and al
lth eir activities. Peopl
e w h o spend m uch
tim e in th e desert are apt to th ink a l
ot about
God.
Th e Faith and Practice D evel
opm ent Com m ittee h el
d its
Novem ber 2006 m eeting in O ttaw a, fol
l
ow ing
R e presentative Meeting. O ur fifth and finaldraft ch apter,
"Faith fulLives", is now in th e h ands of Month l
y Meetings.
Th e com m ittee eagerl
y aw aits your responses to th is draft
so w e can pre pare our broch ure for distribution at CYM in
August. Th e deadl
ine for responses is March 30, 2007. As
usualth ese can be subm itted by e-m ailor Canada Post (see
addresses bel
ow ). H ere is a l
ist of th e draft ch apters w h ich
w il
lm ak e up th e body of th e book .
Faith in Action (2002)
Foundations of Faith (2003)
Th e Meeting Com m unity (2004)
Th e Lifel
ong Journey (2006)
Faith fulLives (2007)
T
In th e desert to th e north of Tim buk tu, not
too m any m il
es distant and not al
w ays in th e
sam e pl
ace, l
ives a Tuareg k ee per of fl
ock s by
th e nam e of 'Sm ail
. I th ink h e is som e k ind of
rel
ative by m y daugh ter's m arriage. W e w ent to
visit h im w h il
e I w as in Tim buk tu, m aybe just
to see a realdesert nom ad's cam p. W h en w e
got th ere just h is w ife and daugh ter or
granddaugh ter w ere h om e. W h en h e arrived,
h e got out a sm al
lbundl
e of rol
l
ed up cl
oth and
opened it. Inside w as a stick h e h ad cut
som ew h ere and k e pt because it h ad a m eaning
to h im . It w as m aybe 3/4 inch in diam eter and
about ten inch es l
ong. Near one end sm al
l
branch es grew out of it , but th ey curved back
and, near th e oth er end, w rapped th em sel
ves
around each oth er and around th e trunk from
w h ich th ey grew. H e said (th rough tw o stages
of interpretation), "Th is rem inds m e of th e
h um an race. Th ey al
lstarted out from th e sam e
beginning and m aybe som eday th ey'l
l al
l get
back togeth er."
In th e fal
lof 2007, th e com m ittee w il
lreview th e entire
project and consider th e addition of an introduction and a
brief h istory of h ow Canadian Yearl
y Meeting’s D iscipl
ine
h as evol
ved. D eterm ining th e final sh ape of th e book
(form at, graph ics, etc.) w il
lbe our next great ch al
l
enge. W e
are excited by th e progress w h ich h as been m ade and w e are
gratefulfor th e k een interest sh ow n by m any Meetings and
individual
s.
Addresses for subm ission of m aterialand responses:
E-m ailzil
l
i@ interpares.ca
Post: D ana Mul
l
en, # 2003-3360 South gate R oad, O ttaw a,
O N K 1V 9 A6
If onl
y th e l
eaders of nations h ad th e
w isdom of a desert sh e ph erd w h o travel
s by
cam elor by foot and cannot read nor w rite.
Te rron K .D odd live s ne ar W h ycocom agh ,
Nova Scotia.H is m e m b e rs h ip is u nde r th e
care of H M AC.
Bibl
e Study, Busine ss Me e ting, Ch il
dre n, Disce rnm e nt,
Eq uity & Dive rsity, Eth ics & Ste w ardsh ip, Fam il
y Life ,
Grie f & H e al
ing, Grow ing O l
de r, Living O ur Faith ,
Marriage , Me e ting Com m unity, Ministry & El
de rsh ip,
O utre ach , Pe ace & Nonviol
e nce , Jail
s & Justice ,
Quak e r H istory, Quak e rism , Se xual
ity/Se xualEth ics,
Sim pl
icity & Ecol
ogy, SpiritualGrow th , Unive rsal
ism ,
W orsh ip, Re l
igious Education.
27
Torture
T
by Anne-Marie Z il
l
iacus
orture is a painfulconcern to m any Friends.
W h en th e Q uak er m ovem ent began in
Engl
and in th e 17th century, m any Q uak ers
spent years in abom inabl
e prisons rath er th an deny
th eir faith . Th is h istory l
aid th e basis of th e Q uak er
approach and gives strength to our w ork .
Last year saw th e beginning of th e Q uak er
Initiative to end Torture. In th e m onth s since th at
founding conference, Friends al
lover th e US h ave
been doing publ
ic education on th e topic of torture,
tak ing l
eading parts in th e dem onstrations to cl
ose
Guantanam o and th e Sch oolof th e Am ericas (SO A),
and w ere very invol
ved w ith th e dem onstrations on
January 11th against th e pol
icy announced by th e
Am erican president to increase troops in Iraq .
Th e vast m ajority of Canadians are al
so steadfastl
y
opposed to torture, but th ey need to h ave a w ay to
ensure th at th is opposition strength ens Canada’s w eak
com m itm ent to preventing torture. It is untenabl
e
th at th e FederalCourt of Canada rul
ed in O ctober
2006 th at it w as l
aw fulfor Mah oud Jabal
l
ah , one of
th e m en detained on a security certificate h ere in
Canada, to be denied protection as a refugee even
th ough “th ere is th e possibil
ity th at Mr. Jabal
l
ah w il
l
be subject to torture or even th e death penal
ty if h e
w ere to return to Egypt,” and uph ol
ding th e statem ent
by im m igration m inistry del
egate R .B. Th ornton th at
th e al
l
eged “danger” th at Mr. Jabal
l
ah is supposed to
pose to Canada “outw eigh s th e risk … th at h e faces
upon rem ovalto Egypt”.
It is up to al
lof us in Canada to l
ook at our ow n
conscience and ask oursel
ves w h at w e are w il
l
ing to do
to end th is h um an righ ts nigh tm are. To h el
p us, th ere
w il
lbe anoth er Q UIT conference, h osted by O ttaw a
Month l
y Meeting (w ith funding from Canadian
Friends Service Com m ittee and th e social justice
organization Inter Pares) April27th to 28th 2007. It
w il
lbe a cal
lto Canadians to act to preserve, defend,
m aintain and extend civill
iberties and h um an righ ts
before th ey disappear, before th ey are w h ittl
ed aw ay
increm ental
l
y.
Joh n Cal
vi, w h o is th e m oving force beh ind Q UIT,
28
w il
l be th e facil
itator of th e April conference in
O ttaw a. H e w il
lbe joined by H ector Aristizabal
,a
Col
om bian actor/psych ol
ogist w h o is a survivor of
torture. H ector w ork s w ith th e Th eatre of th e
O ppressed and h as done a l
ot of w ork in opposing
th e SO A. At th e conference h e w il
lperform h is
th eatricalpl
ay “Nigh tw ind”, w h ich de picts th e nigh t
h is l
ife w as forever ch anged by h is capture,
im prisonm ent and subseq uent torture at th e h ands of
SO A graduates.
Each of us h as an individualresponsibil
ity to act
to bring an end to torture. W e need to counter th e
rising com pl
acency around torture as w e see m ore and
m ore of it in m edia, w h ich trivial
izes torture and
ignores th e fact th at Canada is h ol
ding peopl
e on
security certificates and al
l
ow ing Canadian troops in
Afgh anistan to transfer prisoners of w ar to th e
Afgh an governm ent. H ow can w e abol
ish torture
w h en it is seen as a form of entertainm ent? Utne
R eader just publ
ish ed an articl
e on a virtualre prise of
Cl
assifie ds
For re ntin Arge nta, BC. In s m allh om e s te ading
com m unity, ne ar Arge nta M e e ting. 3-be droom h om e ,
w ood/e lectric h e at, garde n, gre e nh ous e , rootce llar, h ot
tub, s urrounde d by fore s tand m ountains . $650/m o. 250366-4372.
M AK E FR IEND S, M AK E M USIC: Frie nds M us ic
cam p atO lne y, age s 10-18. 2 or 4 w e e k s um m e r
program e m ph as izing m us icalgrow th , caring
com m unity. For broch ure , vide o: FM C, PO Box 427,
Ye llow Springs , O H 45387, U.S.A.
Could you us e old copie s of Th e Canadian Frie nd for
outre ach ?W e h ave e xtra copie s of s om e back is s ue s ,
and w e 'd be h appy to s e nd you s om e if you h ave an
outre ach ide a th e y'd be us e fulfor. ContactSe án
H e nne s s e y at:
cf-bus ine s s m anage r@ q uak e r.ca or Th e Canadian
Frie nd, Arge nta, B.C. V0G 1B0
th e Stanl
ey Mil
gram O bedience Experim ents, w h ich
ask ed students to control torture on a person in
anoth er room , not k now ing th at th e torture w as fak ed.
Apparentl
y virtualtorture experiences l
ik e th e ones in
th e new study can l
ead to th e sam e k ind of traum a
th at participants in th e originalstudy underw ent.
LO NG D ISTANCE
CALLING.......
D
By Margaret Sl
avin
o I h ave to be l
ie ve in th e pe ace
te stim ony in orde r to be a Frie nd?
Th e Aprilconference w il
lbe an opportunity for
Friends to com e togeth er to w ork on th is issue al
ong
Not according to our O rganization and Procedure.
w ith peopl
e from oth er faith com m unities, peopl
e
“Suitabil
ity for m em bersh ip is not determ ined by tests
w h o w ork in socialjustice organizations, and students.
of creed or practice”, and “Unity is essentialupon th e
As Q uak ers, th e abol
ition of torture is a spiritual
spiritualand practicalnature of Ch ristianity, th e real
ity
concern, not just a pol
iticalaction, and w e w il
lh ave to
of direct divine com m union in w orsh ip, and th e
be in it for th e l
ong h aul
, k now ing th at it coul
d tak e as
presence of th e Inner Ligh t, or th at of God, in
l
ong as th e w ork to abol
ish sl
avery. Th is conference
everyone”. No m ention is m ade of h aving to be a
w il
l concentrate on th e spiritual base w e need to
pacifist before you can be a Friend. Pacifism is a
sustain th is w ork , th e h ard w ork of addressing th e
testim ony, or fl
ow er, from th e root experience of
w orst parts of our h um anity. Torture cannot be
Inner Ligh t. Lik e al
lour testim onies, it is a discovery,
condoned.
and needs to be rediscovered and re-ow ned by each
For m ore inform ation on th e April Q UIT individual and each generation. At present m any
Friends are engaged in refl
ection on “R esponsibil
ity to
conference in O ttaw a, contact Anne-Marie Z il
l
iacus.
Protect”. Friend D ick Preston in a discussion paper
Anne - M arie Z illiacu s is a m e m b e r of O ttaw a
ask s anguish ed q uestions: “Is th e categoricaldenialof
th e use of w eapons, by anyone, a w ith draw alfrom th e
contem porary w orl
d, in principl
ed h opes th at th e
destroyers and th e survivors w il
lsom eh ow be l
ed to
l
isten m ore effectivel
y to th e divine?W h at of th e
m il
l
ions of victim s?Are th ey l
oved, but w orth l
ess
th an our abstract principl
es of utter non-viol
ence?
”
Can arm ed intervention, th en, ever be righ t?O r is th is
just one m ore w ay of avoiding th e h ard w ork of
w aging peace?Societies break dow n w h en th ere is not
enough justice: food, sh el
ter, h ope and respect.
Friends h ave noted th e recent difficul
t decl
aration of
th e Mennonite CentralCom m ittee: “W e w il
lnot cal
l
for h um anitarian m il
itary intervention. … W e w oul
d
rem ain sil
ent, not to disengage or avoid action or to
Em ploym e ntO pportunity
l
egitim ate viol
ence, but in recognition of th e tragic
O ffice Adm inis trator
and am biguous nature of th e situation.” (Peace O ffice
New sl
etter, Vol
. 36, No. 3) Th e cl
osest w e Friends
h ave com e to th is is th e l
ine in th e peace statem ent
CFSC w illbe s e e k ing a ne w O ffice
approved l
ast August th at says: “Mil
itary sol
utions
Adm inis trator (h alf-tim e pos ition) in 2007, to
sim
pl
y
do
not
w
ork
.
”
Th
e
peace
testim
ony
is
not a
s tartno late r th an 30 Se pte m be r. Th e pos ition is
locate d in Toronto, O N. Inte rvie w s w illlik e ly “belief” but an ongoing spiritual struggle, m ade
sh arper by th e terribl
e confl
icts of our tim e.
Canadian Frie nds
Se rvice Com m itte e
be in M ay. To re ce ive an application pack age
for th is pos ition w h e n available (lik e ly e nd of
M arch ), pleas e e m ail
<pe rs onne l@ cfs c.q uak e r.ca>
Do you h ave a q ue stion?Se nd it to
w rite aw ay@ ne xicom .ne t or m ailto 206
Pe rry St., Pe te rborough O N K9 J 2J2.
O ur th ank s to Sue D ym e ntfor th e colum n logo.
29
Com ing Togeth er as
Friends
Fal
lR e presentative
Meeting
by R ose Mae H ark ness
by CarolBradl
ey
"Prayer ..... SpiritualPow er" w as th e th em e of th e
St.Law rence Fal
lR egionalGath ering h el
d O ctober 1315 at W aupoos Farm , near O ttaw a. Friends from
Montreal
, Th ousand Isl
ands, Peterborough and
O ttaw a attended. Th e program m e devel
oped by
Th ousand Isl
ands Meeting perm itted us to expl
ore
togeth er various form s of prayer.
O n Saturday m orning, a form of body prayer
(cal
l
ed paneurh yth m y) w as l
ed by R osem arie
McMech an.Th is form of dancing prayer, devel
oped in
Bul
garia, continues to gath er severalth ousand dancers
each sum m er to a m ountain setting for a joyful
cel
ebration of l
ife. It w as raining, so w e h ad to enjoy
l
ife inside th e l
odge at W aupoos.Fol
l
ow ing a period of
sil
ent w orsh ip, Bert H orw ood introduced an exercise
in w h ich w e l
ook ed at our inh ibitions and reservations
about prayer. Bert al
so l
ed us in a m editation
w ork sh op based on R ex Am bl
er’s book , “Ligh t to Live
By” (avail
abl
e at Q uak er Book Service). Bert w as al
so
responsibl
e for tw o l
abyrinth s set up at W aupoos and
an introduction to using th em as a form of
prayer/m editation.
After a sh ared l
unch , w e h ad a ch oice of a
l
abyrinth w al
k , w orsh ip sh aring on prayer or a
discussion on em erging form s of prayer w ith Jean
D ean. Al
lof th ese periods w ere a bl
essing w h ich w e
brough t to our business m eeting in th e l
ate afternoon.
O ne item of business w as an update from th e
McMech ans on projects w h ich Canadian Friends h ave
supported in Uganda. Th is year th e tw o Friends
ch urch es in Uganda h ave form ed th e Ugandan Friends
Service Com m ittee, som eth ing th e McMech ans h ave
encouraged in th eir w ork w ith Ugandan Friends.
F
riends from Meetings across Canada
gath ered in O ttaw a to conduct th e
business of Canadian Yearl
y Meeting, in
th e first of its tw o m eetings betw een sessions of
CYM as a w h ol
e. In attendance w ere
re presentatives from m ost Meetings, and from
m ost Com m ittees. Susan Stevenson as Cl
erk
h el
ped us consider feedback to th e Consul
tation
and R enew al Com m ittee about th e interim
recom m endations th at affect R e presentative
Meeting. O th er im portant m atters incl
uded
privacy issues concerning Minutes and m ail
ing
l
ists, and announcem ent of a new draft ch apter of
Faith and Practice for March . W e w ere rem inded
th at th e Youth Program for CYM 2007 in
W indsor, Nova Scotia, is in need of an overal
l
coordinator. W e com pl
eted our agenda on
Saturday and m et w ith O ttaw a Month l
y Meeting
in w orsh ip on Sunday m orning. Sincere th ank s
w ere expressed for O ttaw a’s w onderfulh ospital
ity,
as dates w ere set for m eeting in H am il
ton May 4
to 6, 2007. Pl
ease see th e R e presentative from
your Meeting for detail
s on th ese and oth er issues.
l
ed to th e singing of rounds in both Latin and
Engl
ish . As several of us pre pared to return to
O ttaw a, th ose rem aining for th e Sunday program m e
w ere busy rearranging ch airs for circl
e dancing.
W h il
e th e adul
ts h ad enjoyed a day of spiritual
refresh m ent, th e ch il
dren w ere invol
ved w ith a
num ber of adul
ts in a variety of activities too. Th e
food for th e w eek -end w as coordinated by Montreal
Friends (it w as del
icious!) w h il
e CarolD ixon did th e
registration - very efficientl
y! Al
lin al
l
, th is gath ering
l
y dee pening tim e. I w as
Before supper w ith th e l
ocalR om an Cath ol
ics w h o w as a h appy, spiritual
lw h o
m eet for a m ass at W aupoos on Saturday afternoon, im pressed by th e generosity of spirit of al
e experience
w e sh ared in a com m unity vocalprayer for h eal
ing l
ed contributed to m ak e it a very w orth w h il
by Marguerite K l
uensch . In th e evening Steve Fick for Friends.
h el
ped us to experience th e spiritualbenefits of beauty
Ros e M ae H ark ne s s is a m e m b e r of O ttaw a
and w onder in singing ch ants, severalof th em w ritten
by Bev Sh e pard of H am il
ton Month l
y Meeting. Th is
30
Em erging Gifts
by Peter Stevenson and Margaret Sl
avin
(R e port from th e w eek end consultation of
Em erging Gifts, sponsored by th e Travel
l
ing
Ministries Program of Friends GeneralConference,
and h el
d in Pittsburgh , PA, Novem ber 10-12, 2006)
In term s of th e purpose of th is w eek end, if it w as
to com e up w ith w isdom , I th ink w e fel
lsh ort. If it
w as to open a l
ine of th ink ing and som e dial
ogue, it
w ork ed. H ere are som e underl
ying ideas th at eith er
brough t about th e consul
tation or w ere brough t up
during it:
1.Everyone h as gifts.
2.Peopl
e’s gifts are not being used for th e service of
th eir Meetings.Too often th ey are l
ying dorm ant.
3.Th e responsibil
ity for nam ing and nurturing gifts
ul
tim atel
y fal
l
s on th e Meeting.
4.Th ere w as a desire for Meetings to provide
accountabil
ity for peopl
e devel
oping th eir gifts.
5.In order to do th ese th ings w e need stronger
Meeting com m unities.
h as been a tradition of rel
easing Friends to l
ive into
th is gift, of el
dering Friends w h o are perceived to not
be m ak ing space for th e care of th eir gift, and so on.
Som e of th is form al
ity, or m ost of it, feel
s
foreign, and perh aps needs to be treated w ith caution.
Everyone h as gifts— everyone is cal
l
ed into th is l
ife to
l
ive out som e th ings w e need to do. Let’s not get too
m uch ego invol
ved h ere and l
et’s not run aw ay from
ch al
l
enges eith er. Let’s stay steady and on course, and
l
et’s h el
p one anoth er to do th at, w h eth er individual
l
y
or as a com m unity. Anoth er w ord for th is is sim pl
y
respect.
Nom inating Com m ittee and being approach ed by
sam e: H ere, th ree th ings com e into pl
ay:
1.fil
l
ing sl
ots
2.discerning and nam ing gifts
3.ack now l
edging l
eadings
Nom inating com m ittees need to get to k now
peopl
e and try to m atch up gifts and positions,
D iscerning gifts: Everyone h as gifts th at th ey bring
encouraging th e fainth earted but respecting th ose
to th eir Meetings, w h eth er it is being confrontational
w h o h ave th e gift but no sense of l
eading for
or a good l
istener, or perh aps it’s a gift for w ork ing
particul
ar w ork . Th ere is no sh am e in eith er l
eaving a
w ith ch il
dren. It can h el
p, especial
l
y if a person in
position unfil
l
ed or in a person’s deciding to tak e a
Meeting or in your l
ife in general
, is annoying you, to
job because “som ebody h as to do it.” In th e l
atter
l
ook at th eir beh aviour as a gift. It k ee ps your vision
case, if th e person h as a strong l
eading (passion?
) to
fresh and your h eart open if you do th is. It w as often
h ave th at program go forw ard, th ey m ay w el
lacce pt a
said during th e consul
tation th at everyth ing w as a gift.
tedious piece of it and do it w ith joy because it
But if everyth ing is a gift, w h ere is th e rol
e of
advances th e l
arger cause.
el
dering?And h ow can w e discern w h at is appropriate
beh aviour?
It w as said at th e consul
tation th at w e cannot
nam e gifts if w e don’t k now one anoth er. I m ust say
Nam ing gifts: O nce you genuinel
y do see th e
th at I th ink m any Young Friends don’t feell
ik e th ey
person’s beh aviour as a gift, or perceive th e gift in it, it
are real
l
y active participants in th eir m eeting
is h el
pfulto tel
lth em th is. E.g. You h ave a gift of
com m unities. W h en w e grow up in a m eeting, w h at
presence,” rath er th an, “W h y don’t you ever give vocal
are w e grow ing into?Is it real
l
y a corporate faith
m inistry?
” W h en Meeting nam es and nurtures gifts,
com m unity?Th e idea th at th e rol
e of our m eetings is
peopl
e h ave m ore support in devel
oping th eir gifts for
to support our individualspiritualpath s is becom ing
service to th e Society.
m ore and m ore preval
ent. I suspect th is is rel
ated to
our
rel
uctance
to
provide
accountabil
ity
for
our
gifts:
Apparentl
y th ere is a Friends’ tradition of form al
l
y
nam ing gifts, w ith th e m ost attention h aving been “You h ave your ow n spiritualpath . I don’t w ant to
so rel
ated
given to nam ing th e gift of vocalm inistry. Th e gift, im pose anyth ing on you.” I suspect th is is al
to
Young
F
riends
not
feel
ing
connected
w
ith
th
eir
w h atever it is, in th is tradition w oul
d be
consecrated— a form of tak ing it seriousl
y— and th ere Meetings.
31
Book R eview s
Th e Urs ul
a Frank l
in R e ade r: Pacifis m as a Map
Auth or: Urs ul
a M.Frank l
in
Publ
is h e r: Be tw e e n th e Line s , Toronto, 2006
(370 page s )
Th e s e as s e m bled w ritings on pacifis m
re flect Urs ula Frank lin's Quak e r faith and
practice , cre ative problem -s olving s k ills, and
h e r life e xpe rie nce s as a s cie ntis t, e ducator,
citize n and h um anitarian.
Follow ing a ve ry length y introduction
w h e re in M ich e lle Sw e narch uk s e e k s to
illum inate th e principles th at inform th e
auth or's alte rnative proje ction of th e w orld,
th e book is divide d into four m ain parts . It
e ncom pas s e s a totalof 40 articles , including
unpublis h e d pape rs and m anus cripts , as w e ll
as pre vious ly publis h e d m ate rial. Th e s e are
follow e d by a s pe cial s e ction called "From
Urs ula's book s h e lf" w ith a lis t of "th e book s
w ith allth e m ark s and s lips s tick ing out— th e
w ork s m uch cons ulte d and ch e ck e d."
In true Quak e r s tyle, th e s e articles , w h ich
fe ature Urs ula's fe m inis t, e nvironm e ntalis t,
pacifis t, and cre ative s ocialth ink ing, alw ays
bring th e focus back to th e individualrath e r
th an leaving it to th e e xpe rts and th e
politicians .
H e r analys is , ins igh ts , and pe rtine nt
q ue rie s h e lp us find a m ore pacifis t dire ction
at th is tim e of living in "violence as an
e nvironm e nt." Sh e fe e ls th e ne e d for
com m unity, and for clarity of vis ion and
k now ledge , are bas ic tools in follow ing s uch a
dire ction.
ne e d a s oph is ticate d pe dagogy, appropriate ly
fas h ione d and taugh t w ith in th e fullconte xt
of a te ch nologicals ocie ty … If a s ocie ty is to
m ove tow ards pe ace and gre ate r s ocial
jus tice , w e ne e d corre s ponding m ove s in th e
prioritie s of e ducation and re s e arch ."
O ne article, "Spe ak ing truth to planning"
w as firs t publis h e d in Frie nds Journal in
19 78, afte r h e r talk at Frie nds Ge ne ral
Confe re nce . It is one th at h as a bas is of
h aving pacifis t-m inde d citize ns h e lp s h ape
th e politics of th e place s in w h ich th e y live ,
and re m inds us "th at planning is one of th e
arm s of pow e r, re ach ing into th e future …
convince d th at it is pos s ible to de ve lop a nonviolent approach to planning … m ak ing plans
th at do not re s ult in oppre s s ion, th at do not
violate th e s piritual or political fre e dom of
oth e rs ".
Th is book doe s act as a m ap, filled as it is
w ith page afte r page of articulate plans on
h ow and w h y pacifis m can w ork , and h ow
and w h y w e m us t pe rs e ve re in th is dire ction.
"W h at doe s it tak e , not to avoid w ar, but to
prom ote pe ace ? ... H ow doe s one m ove
tow ards jus tice ?Ste p by bloody s m alls te p."
Urs ula Frank lin's fire and e nth us ias m ,
along w ith h e r articulation of th e s m alls te ps ,
can w e lls e rve as an e nrich ing guide book for
activis ts . I e ncourage e ve ryone w h o h as e ve r
cons ide re d pacifis m as a pos s ible m ap to a
s ane r future to re ad th is rich collection.
R eview by June Etta Ch enard, Pel
h am
Executive Meeting
H e r advice for a pos s ible ne w orde r h as a
focus on e ducation, re s e arch and planning. It
is bas e d on citize n politics , th e ir de finition
and ch aracte r, and th e im portant diffe re nce s
be tw e e n th e m and th e politics of political
partie s . Sh e w rite s , "Th e s e ye ars also
convince d m e th at allcitize ns , but particularly
th os e w h o w ant to ch allenge th e s tatus q uo,
32
New to Q BS
T
h e fol
l
ow ing titl
es h ave been added to our
stock . For a com pl
ete l
isting of Q BS book s,
see our 2006-2007 Q uak er Book Service
Catal
ogue, w h ich w as incl
uded in th e Jul
y 2006
edition of Th e Canadian Friend and is al
so avail
abl
e
on th e CYM w ebsite, w w w.q uak er.ca/q bs.
Th e Ursul
a Frank l
in R eader: Pacifism as a Map by
Ursul
a Frank l
in (Betw een th e Lines, Toronto, 2006).
H ere are com preh ensive tal
k s on peace, tech nol
ogy,
w om en’s issues and education, draw n from over forty
years of research and training by a l
eading Canadian
Q uak er, ph ysicist, Massey l
ecturer, and Pearson Medal
of Peace recipient, w ith a w ide back ground
introduction by Mich el
l
e Sw enarch uk , th e Executive
D irector of th e Canadian Environm ental Law
Association.(Ed: See ful
lreview in th is issue) ($24.9 5)
Th e Q uak er Bibl
e R eader edited by PaulBuck l
ey
and Ste ph en W. Angel
l(Earl
h am Sch oolof R el
igion
Publ
ications, R ich m ond, Indiana, 2006). A book for
Friends, as PaulBuck l
ey says in h is Introduction, on
“h ow to read th e Bibl
e…Th ere just isn’t one w ay for a
Q uak er to read scripture… Th e R el
igious Society of
Friends h as spaw ned a w ide variety of
approach es…outw ardl
y different, but each firm l
y
rooted in Q uak er Faith and Practice.” Th irteen
ch apters present penetrating interpretations by a
range of Q uak er-rel
ated auth ors, from D on Sm ith , an
astroph ysicist, to Janet R oss, a H ebrew sch ol
ar and
professor of th eol
ogy and com parative rel
igion, now
teach ing at McMaster University in H am il
ton,
O ntario (29 0 pp;$29 .9 0)
Th e Mystery of Q uak er Ligh t by Peter Bien
(Pendl
e H il
lPam ph l
et 384, 2006). Peter Bien expl
ores
th e th eol
ogy and poetry of Friends’ favorite rel
igious
sym bol
. Ligh t h as been th e central m etaph or in
rel
igious l
ives and w orsh ip th rough out th e ages (30
pp;$7.50)
Portrait in Grey: A Sh ort H istory of th e Q uak ers
by Joh n Punsh on (Q uak er Book s, London, 2006).
Th is is a revised edition of a popul
ar study of th e
distinctive h istory and w ay of l
ife of Q uak ers, as th e
R el
igious Society of Friends devel
oped and expanded
around th e w orl
d, and it describes h ow Friends h ave
contributed to intel
l
ectual
, business and sociall
ife.
(320 pp;$30.00)
33
W h ere th e Friends Are
For a h int, l
ook at th e bottom of th e page.Answ ers w il
lappear in th e next issue.
Acros s
1. Th e m os tbilingualprovince
3. O ur anglicize d Be rlin
4. Exporte r of s om e Currys ?
5. Te utonic
7. M anila's is lands
9 . Form e r York
10. Th e pe ace fuloce an
11. Satiric s logan: As _ _ _ _ _ as
pos s ible unde r th e
circum s tance s
13. So nice th e y nam e d ittw ice
14. W h e re you'd find th e
Tricolore
17. Fam e d for re ggae
19 . Country w ith th e m os t
Quak e rs
20. Large prairie s
23. O riginalYe arly M e e ting in
Europe
24. Th e only pe nins ula in
CY M
25. Fe de ralis tAlexande r or
Sk ate r Scott
26. W h e re th e k angaroos
roam , and th e q uolland th e
bandicoots play
27. Stok e r of Flam e s
28. Large s tcity in th e am e ricas
29 . Ch illy cre e k
32. Th e s m aller ch ina
33. Type of s addle
34. NotSouth e rn
36. Bujam bura is it's capital
38. Eve re s tco-ow ne r
39 . Spanis h s avior
41. "City of Ch am pions "
43. Sm alles tof th e gre atlak e s
44. Scatte rgood te rritory
46. Afte r England, butbe fore
unde rpants
47. R ive r in "H e artof
D ark ne s s "
50. D e law are city
52. M ountain Gorilla h ide out
53. Update d Albion
54. Country th atinve nte d $5 bills?
56. Surrounds Colum bus
57. Cook 's s ucce s s or
58. Varie ty of ink
60. Elizabe th Gray Vining's m os tfam ous
te ach ing job w as h e re .
61. Europe 's m os tpe opled is land (s h ortform )
62. Inca ce ntre
63. Victoria's Bytow n
64. Se tting of "Th e M os q uito Coas t"
65. AK A Ne w Z e aland
D ow n
2. Birth place of dynam ite
4. O lde s tM e e ting in Canada
5. Be lize Ne igh bour
6. D o th e Quak e rs h e re alllive in La Paz?
8. City of broth e rly love
12. H yundai h om e
15. Silve r to Cice ro
16. Th e prairie s tate
18. Angry country?
21. State once called "a valley of h um ility
be tw e e n tw o m ountains of conce it"
22. W h e re O range is popular
27. In th e m iddle of th ings
28. W h e re Quak e rs found th e cloud fore s t
30. W h e re Sm urfs cam e from
31. Com e s be fore baby be ars B and C?
34. O bs tacle be tw e e n North Am e rica and Japan
35. H om e to K h m e rs
37. Be tw e e n th e range s
40. Big nam e in dre s s ing
42. Low e r th an 56 acros s
45. CY M 's valley
48. Country fam ous for its s pam
49 . W h e re Z anzibar m ove d to
51. Source of th e Nile
55. Th e longe s ts tre e t
59 . Itis ofte n bak e d
Cre ate d by Puzzlem ak e r at
D is cove rySch ool.com
Quak e r Trivia
1. W h atis th e Norw e gian Quak e r s e rvice
organization called?
2. From w h atinde pe ndantM e e ting did
Frie nds com e to Canada to found H alcyonia
M onth ly M e e ting?
3. W h at's th e activity re fe rre d to as "W aiting
upon th e Lord" now com m only called?
4. W h ich m onth w as 1s tm onth to th e e arly
Frie nds ?
5. W h atprovince h as a h ock e y te am called
th e Quak e rs ?
Ans w e rs on page 37
Allth e ans w e rs re fe r to e ith e r M e e tings in Canada, Ye arly M e e tings abroad, or countrie s w h e re Frie nds live . W arning: Th is puzzle m ay contain re ally
bad puns . Th os e w ith an allergy to in-jok e s m ay w is h to cons ultth e ir ph ys icians firs t.
34
AR O UND TH E FAMILY
Young Friend Updates
(com pil
ed by K atrina McQ uail
)
Ch ris Abbott is l
iving on Sal
tspring Isl
and in BC
(al
ong w ith Corey and K evin), and is finish ing h is l
ast
year of h igh sch ooland considering h is options for
next year. K evin Abbott is in grade 7, l
oving pl
aying
footbal
land getting used to th e isl
and l
ife. Corey
Abbott is in h igh sch ooland continuing to create
beautifulth ings out of al
lsorts of m aterial- paper,
beads, etc. Ayesh a Am in is at Long Isl
and U, in NY,
studying InternationalStudies and French . Pl
ans to
graduate in '09 .
D on Bow yer is l
iving in Toronto, w ondering w h at
com es next. Marcus Bow yer w as h ired by th e O PP in
Se ptem ber (l
ook out O ntario) and is m arrying Tanya
Al
tm an in O ctober 2007. Ch ris Bow yer is l
iving in
Leam ington, O N, w ork ing in greeh ouses and
attending a Unitarian Ch urch . Teresa Bow yer is
studying Art and Engl
ish at Concordia University in
Montreal
. Col
in Brisco is l
iving in New foundl
and;
graduated from th e adventure tourism program at
Col
l
ege of th e North Atl
antic, starting a bik e sh op
(Cycl
e Sol
utions) w ith a coffee sh op in Corner Brook .
K ofi Brough ton is l
iving in O ttaw a, in h is l
ast year of
H S, pl
anning on going to university for Bioch em isty
or K inesiol
ogy. Jul
ianna Buck is l
iving and w ork ing in
Toronto. Engaged and getting m arried in O ctober
2007.
Eth an Ch iddick s h as invented a tim e m ach ine and
is now w ork ing on a garl
ic press th at isn't im possibl
e
to cl
ean. El
ias Ch iddick s is finish ing h igh sch oolnext
year and th ink ing about h is post-secondary options.
Grace Col
em an is in h er th ird year at U. W isconsin,
studying International Studies and Psych ol
ogy.
W ork ing on th e side. Justin Coutts is l
iving in
Sparta/Guel
ph , w ork ing on h is GED. Mel
issa Curtis
is k ick ing it in Sparta. Finish ing up h igh sch ool
,
pl
anning on attending Guel
ph University in th e fal
l
.
R ace D 'Atri is going to sch oolin Toronto and
l
iving in a trail
er.Sarah D ick is l
iving in Cal
gary, tak ing
th e Education program m e at th e U th ere. Scott is in
Edm onton doing a fine-w ood-w ork ing program so
th ey are doing th e l
ong distance th ing! Nath an D ick is
l
iving in Cal
gary com pl
eting h is degree in com puter
science. Caitl
in D ick is active pl
aying bask etbal
land
attending Lak el
and Col
l
ege in Ll
oydm inister, AB. Ben
D orm an is l
iving in Montreal
, getting into th e acting
and snow boarding scene.
Sam Egan-Sh eardow n is l
iving in R ich m ond H il
l
,
attending th e Toronto W al
dorf Sch ool
. R ach elEganSh eardow n is in h er first year of H S at th e Toronto
W al
dorf Sch ool
.
Gal
en Fick is going to U of Guel
ph , pl
aying and
coach ing w ater-pol
o am ong oth er th ings. R eyk ia Fick
graduated from Trent in '06, in International
D evel
opm ent Studies and International Pol
itical
Econom y, about to start travel
ing around Central
Am erica w ith h er sister Lil
ia. Lil
ia Fick graduated
from th e Meeting Sch ool(H S).
Gabriel Gossel
in is studying Com m unication
Studies and Com puter Science at Concordia
University in Montreal
. K el
l
y Grah am is in h er l
ast
year at W esttow n H S, in Pennsyl
vania. K endra
Grah am is attending Al
dersh ot H S, w ork ing at Tim
H ortons and figure sk ating a l
ot.
Marik a H aspeck is w ork ing at th e K el
ow na Motor
Inn, h eavil
y invol
ved in al
laspects of th eatre (sets,
reh earsing, etc), pl
anning to go to U of A in
Edm onton in th e fal
lfor a conjoined BMus and BEd.
D aph ne H em il
y is going to sch oolin Montreal
, doing
h er usual100,000 th ings w h il
e being am azing. Jul
ie
H em il
y is w ork ing on an upper-cl
ass h orse farm in
th e m iddl
e of now h ere, near O ttaw a. Etienne
H ennessey-Lem ieux just got back from BC, l
ook ing
for a job to support h is travel
l
ing h abit. D ecl
an H il
l
w il
lsoon com pl
ete h is Ph D at O xford and w il
lbe
publ
ish ing a book based upon h is w ork . K ath erine
H ope is l
iving in Vernon and pre paring for an
extended trip dow n to New Z el
and to w ork and visit
w ith rel
atives. Liam H usk is l
iving in O ttaw a. Jesse
H usk is l
iving in London, doing h er m asters in
Psych ol
ogy?
?
?
35
R ebecca Ivanoff graduated from University of
Guel
ph in anth ropol
ogy and ecol
ogy, l
iving in
R ich m ond H il
l and w ork ing at a vet cl
inic, w h il
e
w ondering h ow best to h el
p out in th is w orl
d.
H annah Ivanoff is attending University of Guel
ph ,
l
iving w ith
great h ousem ates and studying
InternationalD evel
opm ent. Ben Ivanoff is l
iving in
R ich m ond H il
l
, is in Grade 10 at th e Toronto
W al
dorf Sch ool
, pl
aying l
ots of m usic (bass and
piano).
R avi Josh i is l
iving and w ork ing in Guel
ph (w ith
Grayden), doing com puter and w eb stuff.ND P!
Ch ris K ing is l
iving in Toronto, going to h igh
sch ool
. Maggie K nigh t is serving on Cam p
Com m ittee w h en funds al
l
ow h er to m ak e th e trek
out, and is th e gram m ar q ueen w h o needs to be
prodded to rem em ber to do anyth ing for Sporadical
.
Facing th e ch al
l
enge of grade 12 academ ics com bined
w ith too m any extracurricul
ars--yearbook , ch oir,
soccer, and l
ots and l
ots of environm entaland social
justice activism . O h , and university and sch ol
arsh ip
appl
ications. Matt K reh er just cam e back from
Guatem al
a. Studying Ph ysiol
ogy and Psych ol
ogy at
th e U of W estern O ntario, l
iving in London. Sarah
K reh er just cam e back from Guatem al
a. Sh e's in h er
senior year at North Toronto Col
l
egiate Institute
(H S). Jordan K rugelis l
iving in Toronto, attending
George Brow n.
Grayden Laing is l
iving and doing h is art in
Guel
ph . Ch eck out h is w ebsite. LN Laing is l
iving
w ith h er l
ongtim e boyfriend in th e W estern United
States. El
izabeth Lam m e is in h er l
ast year studying
Psych ol
ogy at SUNY Genesco, w ork ing as a
D om estic Viol
ence Program Assistant.Justin Lew is is
in h is first year at U Louisiana, w ork ing at a ritzy
restaurant.
Erin McD ougal
lis in h er first year at th e Earl
h am
Sch ool of R el
igion, nurturing h ersel
f. Em il
y
McD ougal
l is finish ing up h er university degree,
dream ing about/pl
anning travel and expl
oring th e
joys of textil
es (k nitting, sew ing, etc). K atrina
McQ uailis l
iving in R ich m ond, IN. Graduated from
Earl
h am (Business and Non-profit Managem ent),
w ork ing as th e assistant to th e President of Earl
h am .
R ach elMcQ uailis just finish ing up at U W aterl
oo,
engaged to R obin Sanders, w edding set for June 2008.
36
Th ink ing about w h at sh e w ants to be doing next.
D oug Morris is l
iving in Toronto.
Sara Nasr is th e new Assistant R esident Friend at
Toronto Meeting's Friends H ouse.
Maureen Paul
y-H ubbard is at U W isconsin,
studying Engl
ish , Psych ol
ogy and R el
igious Studies.
Pl
anning to Graduate in '09 . H el
en Paul
y-H ubbard is
attending O l
ney Friends Sch ool in O h io, doing
gym nastics and pl
aying cel
l
o! Em m a Paul
y-H ubbard
is in h er first year at Bel
oit Col
l
ege, m ajor undecl
ared.
Lil
y Pe pper is studying Ph il
osoph y at McGil
l
University. Anna Peters W eh k ing is back from British
Col
um bia, th ink ing about next ste ps. Luc Peters
W eh k ing is in H am il
ton, busy being a pool boy.
Francis Prescott is attending th e U of Guel
ph ,
studying Pol
itical Science and Psych ol
ogy. W il
l
Prescott is l
iving in Guel
ph . D avid Purk is is going to
York University, l
ook ing at Mass Com m unications.
Th ink ing about tak ing a year off to travel
.
MacK enzie R ing graduated from U of W indsor in
Th eatre, is currentl
y travel
ing th e w orl
d. Al
ec R ing is
going to R yerson, studying Engineering. Jon R ossiter
is engaged and is doing th e Co-op program in
Mech anicalEngineering at U of W aterl
oo.
Justin Sainsbury is l
iving in Guel
ph , finish ing up
h igh sch ool
.Ben Sh e pard is l
iving in New Brunsw ick ,
l
oves th e ocean and nature (goes on h ik es to cl
im b
rock s, w atch tides and seabirds, etc.), is in th e
construction business but h opes for a ch ange;h e is a
w ebsite designer but h asn't got h is business up and
running. Em il
y Sh e pard is about to tak e an advanced
course in teach ing Engl
ish as a foreign l
anguage,
w h ich sh e h as al
ready done, incl
uding a year in Japan;
sh e's presentl
yl
iving in H am il
ton and w ork ing for th e
O ntario Ministry of Labour, w h ere sh e is greatl
y
appreciated; sh e's
very invol
ved
in l
ocal
environm ental groups and l
oves to k nit. D iana
Sh e pard and Sean are h appil
y m arried and cel
ebrated
th eir first anniversary at Cam p;sh e's teach ing French
in th e el
em entary panelfor th e Upper Grand R iver
Board of Education but h opes to get a secondary
posting for next year;sh e is in a bel
l
y-dancing troupe;
Sean is a m anager at Ch apters;th ey l
ive in Guel
ph
and l
ove it. Beth Sh e pard w ork s at a bak ery in
Guel
ph w h ich as m uch as possibl
e uses organic, l
ocal
or fair-traded, w h ol
e grain and natural foods; sh e
l
ives in a l
ittl
e h ouse w ith a co-w ork er and tries to get
in som e art (a l
ong-tim e l
ove) and croch eting w h en
sh e can;sh e sings in a ch am ber ch oir and h as al
so
done bel
l
y-dancing. Nori Sincl
air is attending Mt.
R oyalCol
l
ege in Cal
gary, h oping to pursue a degree
in Journal
ism /Com m unication Studies. Living in rez,
but intends to find an apartm ent for th e fal
l
. W il
l
l
ik el
y be h om e (Nanaim o, BC) for part of th e
sum m er. W ants to finish a degree in a few years and
l
onging to travelm ore. Cal
gary is col
d, btw... Am y
Jean Singl
eton-Pol
ster is h eading off for exch ange to
Cape Tow n University in South Africa from UBC for
a sem ester.R ach elSingl
eton-Pol
ster w as acting in h er
sch ool
's production of Annie, pl
aying rugby, doing
bal
l
et, and w ork ing h ard at sch oolso sh e can get into
Pearson Col
l
ege. Sh e is one of th e editors for th e
Sporadical
, one of th e YF re ps on Program m e
Com m ittee for YM, a YF l
istener, and on CYFYM
Nom inating Com m ittee. As for th e rest of h er spare
tim e sh e l
oves sail
ing, back pack ing, rock cl
im bing,
running, reading, and just h aving fun. Jesse Sm ith is
getting h is Masters in one year in O ttaw a. Jagger
Sm ith recentl
y m arried Sarah in O ctober 2006, l
iving
in O ttaw a, getting h is Masters. R ob Sm ith is
attending university in O ttaw a. Aden Spurr is l
iving
in Vancouver, BC. Look ing for an apartm ent, w h il
e
l
iving in a h ostel
. W ork ing at R obert H el
d Art Gl
ass
studio. Tristan Spurr is w ork ing at th e O ril
l
ia Bik e
Sh op, bik ing, and l
iving at h om e. Sarah Jane Spurr is
just back from travel
l
ing th e w orl
d, w ork ing near
O ril
l
ia, O N. Jil
l
ian Spurr is attending H S in O ril
l
ia,
l
iving at h om e. Ben Spurr is going to university in
Toronto; pl
aying m usic w ith h is band, Th e Coast.
Peter Stevenson is in h is second year at Earl
h am
Col
l
ege. Sam Stevenson is l
iving in th e w oods in
New Mexico. R ye Stevenson is currentl
y l
iving in
Q uebec City. Em il
y Stew art-W il
son is l
iving in
R ich m ond H il
l
, O N, going to th e Toronto W al
dorf
Sch ool
. Graem e Stew art-W il
son is l
iving in
R ich m ond H il
l
, O N, in h is l
ast year at th e Toronto
W al
dorf Sch ool
. Marc Sum m er-Sm ith is studying
Ph il
osoph y at th e University of Toronto and
w ork ing as an Autom otive Tuner at Neetronics.
Eppa Turniw an is currentl
y l
iving in Cal
gary
going to sch oolfor m assage th erapy. Sh e m oved
th ere in D ec '05 after graduating from St Francis
Xavier University w ith a BSc in H um an K inetics.Sh e
finish es m assage th erapy in March and th en is
travel
l
ing to H aw aii w ith h er fath er. Is th ink ing of
getting into th e fil
m industry after th at.
Ivan Verl
aan is going to York University, in
Fil
m /Cinem a Studies, l
iving in Toronto. Peter
Versteeg is going to be a fath er in May, l
iving in
O ttaw a. Beth any Von Bezol
d is attending a
m idw ifery program in Cal
ifornia for 2 m onth s, th en
to British Col
um bia to w ork at Cam ph il
l before
h eading back to Cal
ifornia to w ork at a sum m er
cam p.Mak ing pl
ans to go to university in th e fal
l
.
Al
an W al
sh is finish ing up h is l
ast sem ester at
Sw arth m ore in PA (in Math em atics and Statistics and
Econom ics), l
ook ing for jobs. Tom W al
sh is doing
an M.Sc. in Com puter System s at th e University of
Toronto. Ch ris W il
k is getting m arried in June, and
stil
lw ork s at Stantec Consul
ting... and um m ... w ent
to K uw ait a few m onth s ago to train som e peopl
e at
th e Ministry of Publ
ic W ork s on pavem ent testing
eq uipm ent.
Ch ris Yang just got back from Ch ina, w il
lbe
l
iving in Guel
ph . Sarah Young is at Q ueen's Canada
in O ttaw a, in h er 2nd-to-l
ast year of Geol
ogical
Engineering. Aynsl
ey Young is at Q ueen's Canada in
O ttaw a, finish ing up h er l
ast year Nursing,
Astronom y and Astoph ysics.
Col
dstream Month l
y Meeting
In earl
y Novem ber, Col
dstream Meeting w as pl
eased
to h ost th e Continuing Meeting of Ministry and
Counsel
. It w as gratifying to sh are m eal
s and
fel
l
ow sh ip w ith Friends from disparate parts of
Canada.
Trivia Ans w e rs
Sh eil
a H avard, w h o
h as been an AGLI w ork
cam per
in
Bududu,
Uganda for th e past tw o
sum m ers, m ade a return
trip
to Uganda in
D ecem ber. Sh eil
a never
travel
s l
igh tl
y on h er
ventures, and th is trip
w as
no
exce ption.
Incl
uded in h er 80
pounds of l
uggage w as a
fax
m ach ine,
seeds,
dresses
sew n
by
Col
dstream
Meeting
From page 34.......
1. K ve k e rh je lp
2. Fritch ley Ge ne ralM e e ting, atth e
tim e an inde pe ndantgroup of Frie nds
in th e UK .
3. M e e ting for W ors h ip
4. M arch . Early Frie nds us e d num be re d
m onth s ins te ad of us ing pagan nam e s ,
and prior to 1752 England and it's
colonie s s tarte d th e ir calendar ye ar w ith
M arch .
5. Sas k atch e w an - Th e Sas k atoon
Quak e rs play in th e North
Sas k atch e w an Junior H ock e y Le ague
37
w om en, and m edicine. Sh e reconnected w ith friends
sh e h as m ade in Uganda, and visited th e site of a
pl
anned w ater tank , a project financed in part by
Col
dstream Meeting. Sh eil
a al
so donated th e cost for
extra l
arge eaves trough s so w h en h eavy rains com e,
th e w ater can be col
l
ected. Ch ristm as found Sh eil
a,
al
ong w ith h er personalporters, m ak ing th e trek up
Mt.K il
im anjaro.
New Brunsw ick Month l
y
Meeting
Effective im m ediatel
y, D aph ne H ark er h as l
egal
l
y
ch anged h er nam e to D aph ne D avey.
Louis Paul
, of W oodstock -H oul
ton W orsh ip
Group, died Novem ber 7.
O n D ec. 6th , th e second annualTw el
fth Nigh t
Maril
ee R eim er, D oug H atfiel
d and R ita H atfiel
d
dinner w as h el
d. Besides enjoying a pot l
uck supper w ere w el
com ed into m em bersh ip in New Brunsw ick
togeth er, Friends and guests sh ared th eir various in th e fal
l
.
tal
ents in th e form of stories, poem s, personal
th ough ts and w ritings, sk its, personalantecdotes, and
songs.
In m id-January in St. Cath arines, Friends from
Pel
h am Executive Meeting gath ered for a w inter
retreat to review th e Interim R e port of th e
At its Se ptem ber Meeting for W orsh ip for Consul
tation and R enew al (C'n'R ) W ork ing Group.
Business, Edm onton Month l
y Meeting joyousl
y After identifying topics th at w ere of particul
ar
w el
com ed Jul
ie R obinson into m em bersh ip. Jul
ie is a interest to m em bers present, discussions focused on
poet and l
ives w ith h er partner, Jeff D udiak , a th ose areas. Notes from th e m eeting are being tak en
m em ber of Pel
h am Meeting, and th eir son York , w h o to a Meeting for W orsh ip for Business w h ere th e
is 6.
m eeting w il
ldecide on w h at form a m eaningfulinput
to th e C’n’R process m igh t be.
Pel
h am Executive Meeting
Edm onton Month l
y Meeting
H am il
ton Month l
y Meeting
Th ere w ere fifteen participants at a retreat
Novem ber 11th . It began w ith break fast and ended
w ith a sim pl
e supper, and encom passed w orsh ip, l
arge
group discussions, sm al
lgroup discernm ent, free tim e
for w al
k s, rests, and inform altal
k s w ith f/Friends, and
a Cl
arem ont D ial
ogue. Th e subject of th e retreat w as
th e Life and H eal
th of O ur Meeting. Th e next retreat
w il
lbe in th e spring, and th e th em e is based on th e
Fool
ish ness of God and our cal
las Q uak ers to th is
Fool
ish ness.
MontrealMonth l
y Meeting
Montreal Month l
y Meeting is pl
eased th at its
m em bersh ip is grow ing. D avid Mil
l
ar (form erl
y of
Victoria Month l
y Meeting) h as recentl
y h ad h is
m em bersh ip transferred to Montreal
.
Ch antal Fournier h as been acce pted into
m em bersh ip of MontrealMonth l
y Meeting. Sh e w as
w el
com ed at a sm al
lgath ering fol
l
ow ing Meeting for
W orsh ip on January 21st.
Both new m em bers are activel
y invol
ved in th e l
ife
of th e m eeting.
38
Toronto Month l
y Meeting
Eva K antor cel
ebrated h er 9 8th birth day on 30
Se ptem ber. Eva is an Associate Mem ber of Toronto
Month l
y Meeting, h aving com e from Buenos Aires
w h ere sh e w as a founding m em ber of th e Q uak er
group w h ich m et from 19 43-19 83.
Vernon Month l
y Meeting
Bob H aspeck , a l
ong-tim e attender of Vernon
Month l
y Meeting and W estern H al
f Yearl
y Meeting,
died on O ctober 13, 2006. A m em orialm eeting w as
h el
d for Bob in Vernon on O ctober 22, 2006.
Trudy W ensveen, at 9 1 Vernon Meeting's ol
dest
m em ber, h as m oved to Gol
den, BC.
Victoria Month l
y Meeting
W e w el
com e tw o new m em bers: Toni Bacon and
Jen D eak in.
W e h ave a new W orsh ip Group, in Pow el
lR iver on
th e Sunsh ine Coast.
Victoria Month l
y Meeting w il
lsoon be ch anging
its nam e to Vancouver Isl
and Month l
y Meeting, once
al
larrangem ents h ave been m ade. Th e part of our
Meeting l
ocated in Victoria itsel
f is al
so ch anging its
nam e. Form erl
y cal
l
ed Fern St. Meeting, it is now
k now n as Victoria Friends Meeting.
Victoria Friends Meeting continues study groups
on Q uak erism , currentl
y l
ook ing at Marc Forget's
pam ph l
et "Tow ard a New Vision of Justice".
Lana R obinson of D uncan W orsh ip Group is th e
new Sub-regional coordinator for th e Vancouver
Isl
and and Gul
f Isl
ands part of th e K AIR O S
Netw ork .
Friends GeneralConference
FGC h as begun col
l
aborating w ith youth w ork ers
from Pendl
e H il
land Ph il
adel
ph ia Yearl
y Meeting to
foster strong connections am ong Young Adul
t
Friends (YAFs, ages 18-35) both l
ocal
l
y and national
l
y.
For m ore inform ation contact em il
ys@ fgcq uak er.org
or visit h ttp://w w w.q uak eryouth .org
Canadian Yearl
y Meeting
NationalListeners
Listeners are avail
abl
e to l
isten to any Canadian
Friend discl
ose h arm done on m atters of sexual
O ur annualIsl
and Gath ering h ad 35 persons in h arassm ent or abuse, or any oth er topic a Friend m ay
istener, th e first ste p is
attendance, around th e th em e: "Tow ard Com m unity". need to discuss. If you need a l
to approach a trusted Friend w ith in your Month l
y
W e m et at Victoria Meetingh ouse.
Meeting (MM), or to go to your MM Ministry and
Counsel
. If th is path is not com fortabl
e, you m ay
Yonge Street H al
f-Yearl
y Meeting (H YM) w as h el
d contact a National Listener. Listeners seek to be
ace of spirit-centred openness, to
th e 28th day of Tenth Month at Yonge Street Meeting present from a pl
h
ol
d
th
e
cal
l
er
and
th e situation in th e Ligh t, and to
H ouse. Th e day w as a cel
ebration of th e bicentenary
isten w ith tenderness. K now ing th e h eal
ing th at
of Yonge Street Month l
y Meeting th rough w orsh ip, l
com
es
from
sim
pl
y
being
h
eard,
w
e
offer
you
a safe
fel
l
ow sh ip, and presentations of h istoricale pisodes.
and
confidential
space
in
w
h
ich
to
speak
.
O
ne
cal
l
Tw o re-enactm ents assisted us in putting oursel
ves
lyou need. If not, w e h ave th e task of
into th e past: one th at incl
uded W il
l
iam Penn m igh t be al
discerning
w
ith you w h at a next ste p coul
d be:
regarding th e rel
ationsh ip betw een Q uak ers and First
w
h
eth
er
a
com
m
ittee
of
care,
of
cl
earness,
or
of
Nations peopl
es, and th e second of Tim oth y R ogers,
ov
ersigh
t
m
igh
t
be
appropriate;
or
h
ow
to
find
oth
er
a Q uak er instrum entalin th e establ
ish m ent of settl
ers
e resources.
at New m ark et and of th e Yonge Street Meeting. Th e possibl
Th
e
National
Listeners for adul
t Friends are:
re-enactm ents fol
l
ow ed m orning w orsh ip in w h ich a
*
Ed
Bel
zer
(9
02)
384-2730
Friend read from th e q ueries of th e m en's and
E-m ail
: bel
zer@ ns.sym patico.ca
w om en's Meetings for Business of 1806 and from th e
*
D
oroth
y
J
anes
(416)
9 29 -8812
q ueries now in use by Canadian Yearl
y Meeting
E-m
ail
:
doroth
yj@ idirect.com
(CYM). Before and after w orsh ip and at l
unch and
ey R obertson (250) 763-569 8
dinner, Friends m et, tal
k ed, and brow sed at th e *Lesl
E-m ail
:l
essism ore @ tel
us.net
Q uak er Book Service item s, a displ
ay about th e
*
J
ay
Cow
sil
l
Tel
e
ph
one:
(306)
652-2407
privatisation of w ater, and th e Fair Trade coffee, tea,
E-m ail
: jm c59 0@ m ail
.usask .ca
ol
ive oiland ch ocol
ate avail
abl
e.
Yonge St.H al
f-Yearl
y Meeting
H MAC
W eb O versigh t Com m ittee (W O C) of H om e
Mission and Advancem ent Com m ittee is pl
eased to
announce th at th e sel
ection process for a w eb
designer h as been com pl
eted. Th e new face of
q uak er.ca w il
l be designed by Bruce D ienes, our
current w ebm inder.W O C w el
com es ideas for content:
q uotations, pictures, im ages, etc. suitabl
e to be put on
th e w ebsite.Subm it to w oc@ q uak er.ca.
Additional
l
y, th e fol
l
ow ing NationalListeners for
Young Friends are now al
so avail
abl
e:
*K el
l
y Ack erm an (204) 774 2282
E-m ail
: q uak erk el
l
o@ gm ail
.com
*R ach elSingl
eton-Pol
ster (9 05) 685-1022
E-m ail
: tw infl
ow er@ tel
us.net
W h enever possibl
e, pl
ease contact us first to
arrange a m utual
l
y convenient tim e to speak l
ater.
39
M arch 2007
Volum e 103, Num be r 1
For th is is s ue
Editor:
K e ith M acgow an
EditorialSupport:
Ste ph anie D e ak in, Sh e rryllH arris , Judith M onroe
Som e of our uncre dite d contributors and corre s ponde nts :
D on Alexande r, R os e M arie Cipryk , K ate Collins Th om ps on, D aph ne D ave y, Grae m e H ope , Sus an M os s , Arnold R anne ris , Lana R obins on, H olly Turne r, M olly W alsh
Pleas e h e lp! Your articles , poe try, draw ings and ph otos are ne e de d!
Subm is s ions are ne e de d, and do noth ave to be re late d to th e is s ue 's s tate d th e m e . M ate rialfrom Young Frie nds is
particularly w e lcom e . Pleas e s e nd alls ubm is s ions to th e e ditor, w h os e contactinform ation is on th e ins ide frontcove r.
W ritte n s ubm is s ions s h ould typically be be tw e e n 15 and 650 w ords .
Th e m e s , de adline s and q ue rie s for upcom ing is s ue s
* D ue date :
M arch 15, 2007 (for th e M ay is s ue )
Th e m e :
M E NTA LH E A LTH ISSUE S: FE E LING D E SPA IR , FIND ING H O PE
"Try to find a s piritualw h olene s s w h ich e ncom pas s e s s uffe ring as w e llas th ank fulne s s and joy. Praye r, s pringing from
a de e p place in th e h e art, m ay bring h e aling and unity as noth ing e lse can. Le tm e e ting for w ors h ip nouris h your w h ole
life . W h ath as be e n your e xpe rie nce or your M e e ting's e xpe rie nce in de aling w ith m e ntalh e alth is s ue s ?W h e re h ave
you fe ltde s pair?W h e re h ave you found h ope ?" - Quak e r Faith & Practice 1.02.10
* D ue date :
M ay 15, 2007 (for th e Sum m e r is s ue )
Th e m e :
Q UA K E R W AY S A ND CULTUR E
Look ing atth e w e ird or w onde rfulth ings Quak e rs do, notbe caus e of be lie f, butbe caus e th e y've alw ays be e n th atw ay.
* D ue date :
Th e m e :
Augus t26, 2007 (For th e O ctobe r is s ue )
CA NA D IA N YE A R LY M E E TING IN SE SSIO N
Th e Canadian Frie nd can be vie w e d online at: h ttp://w w w .q uak e r.ca/cfrie nd/cfrie nd.h tm l
Th e Canadian Frie nd ack now ledge s th e financials upportof th e
Gove rnm e ntof Canada th rough th e Publications As s is tance Program
tow ards our m ailing cos ts .
PUBLICATIO NS M AILAGR EEM ENT NO . 40012338
R EGISTR ATIO N NO . 09 887
R ETUR N UND ELIVER ABLE CANAD IAN AD D R ESSES TO :
TH E CANAD IAN FR IEND
AR GENTA BC V0G 1B0

pdf - Quakers In Canada

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