Due to Friends & others, impossibly high bail declared unconstitutional in Maryland
Posted by leymworker in News on April 21, 2018
Progress in Baltimore’s court system: the continuing story from LEYM’s 2016 plenary talk at Annual Sessions where we heard stories of discriminatory court practices in Baltimore.
The Sept. 2017 issue of Friends Journal notes that “At the request of a Quaker in the Public Defender’s office” (presumably Natalie Finegar, Deputy District Public Defender for Baltimore and LEYM’s plenary presenter at 2016 Annual Sessions), Quakers from several meetings in the area began attending money bail hearings. Friends who attended bail hearing “found that most low-level bail hearings proceed without any observers except those directly involved, and that defendants with similar history and charges get vastly different bail decisions depending on the judge that reviews their case.”
“Defendants who can make bail are released, but those with few resources must stay in jail until their trial, often three weeks or more. During that wait, the detained might lose a job or psosibly a home…. Since Friends began their court watch, Maryland’s highest court determined that imposing impossible-to-pay money bail for poor defendants is unconstitutional… A large coalition of churches and community groups, spearheaded by Annapolis Meeting, began to work on legislation for the elimination for money bail.”
Friends in the Baltimore, Maryland, area “are continuing their weekly court watch witness after the implementation of new standards for assigning bail.”
Pendle Hill: Silence, Contemplation, and Scripture, Jul 26-29, 2018
Posted by leymworker in Events and Opportunities on April 8, 2018
Kairos: Silence, Contemplation, and Scripture
Jul 26-29, 2018: Thursday evening through Sunday noon.
A spiritual retreat based on the monastic practice of worshiping, working, and studying while experiencing the dynamic of solitude and community living.
The term kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek noun describing an opportune and decisive moment; a combination of time and place that generates the opportune environment for actions, words, and/or movements. This retreat aims to create such a unique space for spiritual growth by combining key practices from Quaker and other faith traditions. This kairos is rooted in meeting for worship and worship sharing, lectio divina (divine reading), silence, community, work, study, and celebration. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in contemplative praying of the Scriptures as they experience the deep practice of worship sharing.
This retreat is designed for nurturing and embracing daily life with courage, simplicity, gratitude, hope, and a deep sense of connection.
FGC Gathering Registration now open
Posted by leymworker in 2018 Gathering, Events and Opportunities, News on April 2, 2018
Dear Friends,
It’s time to mark your calendars to attend the FGC Gathering in Toledo, Ohio from July 1st – 7th!
This year’s Gathering planning committee has put together a powerful line-up of speakers and workshops focused on the theme The Power of Truth. Please check out the fabulous details at www.fgcgathering.org.
Sign up during early registration, April 2 – 11, for the best chance of getting the workshop of your choice (and for the best chance of getting financial aid if needed). Registration will be closed April 12 – 19 and will reopen April 20 for standard registration.
Hoping to see you in Toledo!
In Spirit, light, and truth,
Claire and Paul Tinkerhess
2018 Gathering Co-Clerks
Ann Arbor Meeting
Dear Friends, we need your help!
Posted by leymworker in News on March 23, 2018
Our Yearly Meeting has THREE CRITICAL VACANCIES for 2018. Quaker process and structure relies on our openness to be led to serve. Nominating Committee asks for your thoughtful consideration and help in filling these crucial positions:
Assistant Clerk of the Children & Youth Program at Annual Sessions
CRITICAL FOR THE JULY 2018 CHILDREN & YOUTH PROGRAM – we cannot run the program WITHOUT THIS POSITION!
- Works under Greg Mott, Clerk in 2018
- Becomes Children & Youth Clerk in 2019
This is a TWO-year commitment
Interested? Please contact Greg Mott (mott@findlay.edu)
Assistant Yearly Meeting Clerk/Yearly Meeting Clerk
- Serve as Assistant Clerk in 2018
- Serve as Presiding Clerk in 2019-20
- Serve again as Assistant Clerk in 2021
- This is a FOUR-year commitment
Interested? Please contact Mike Holaday (mikeholaday@att.net)
Database Manager
Under Publications & Archives Committee, but is not necessarily a member of that committee. Three-year term, renewable indefinitely, usually one year at a time.
Tasks include:
- Maintains and updates the LEYM database (in Microsoft Access)
- Provides current contact information for LEYM Friends to LEYM officers and committee clerks
- Provides directory for Annual Records
- Provides to FGC a mailing list for members and active attenders annually
- Prepares annual statistical report forms for monthly, quarterly, and preparative meetings and worship groups and enters the information on the filled-out forms in the database
- Provides current information for the “Find a Meeting” section on LEYM’s website
Interested? Please contact Mathilda Navias (galaxy@woh.rr.com)
Less critical committee vacancies:
- Finance Committee – Clerk
- Ministry & Nurture
- Peace & Justice
- Publications & Archives Committee
Interested? Please contact Clémence Mershon (andre14@earthlink.net)
FCNL 75th anniversary celebration May 12, 2018
Posted by leymworker in News on March 12, 2018
You are invited to join the Friends Committee on National Legislation
at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, on the afternoon of Saturday, May 12,
for a 75th anniversary celebration.
Returning to our roots
FCNL celebrates 75 years working for the world we seek.
For more information, contact Anna McCormally
Anna@fcnl.org
202 903-2522
Pendle Hill: Retreat, Rebalance, and Recharge, May 18-20, 2018
Posted by leymworker in Events and Opportunities on March 2, 2018
A weekend with John Calvi
Let the beautiful quiet space of Pendle Hill embrace you as you slow down and get in touch with your own goodness. Give your body a chance to soak in the stillness and your mind some time to float above the body and away from the noise of the world. Learn simple laying-on-of-hands healing, easy full-body clothes-on massage, and face and foot massage. Create a life map to see where in your life goodness has shown up large and real for you. As you give and receive gentle touch reverently and see your life path in a new way, you will be refreshed and restored you to your center.
FGC e-Retreat on worship starting March 4, 2018
Posted by leymworker in Events and Opportunities on March 2, 2018
What is Quaker worship? Is there a “right” or “wrong” way to do it? Join seasoned Friends and those interested in learning about the Quaker Way for FGC’s Spiritual Deepening Silence & Light eRetreat, where we will explore and practice the experience of Quaker worship and silent waiting. Over the course of 6 weeks, you and your online spiritual community will explore Quaker thought and practice as we prepare for an encounter with the Light. FGC is pleased to introduce Phil Fitz as our facilitator for this eRetreat. Phil has served as a leader for LEYM’s Spiritual Formation Program.
March 4 – April 13, 2018 (six weeks, $35 pay-as-led participation fee)
Week 1: Welcome, Introductions, Personal Spiritual Practice
Week 2: Stillness and Silent Times
Week 3: Deep Listening
Week 4: The Light Working in Us
Week 5: Rhythms of the Inner Life
Week 6: Relationships & Spiritual Community
This eRetreat will also be offered September 9 – November 2, 2018 (eight weeks, $45 pay-as-led participation fee)
Reserve your spot for the Silence & Light eRetreat (top right of the page)
Spiritual Deepening is a program of Friends General Conference (FGC). FGC helps Friends deepen Quaker worship and practice, and supports welcoming and inclusive Quaker communities.
Operations Manager Job at Friends World Committee for Consultation
Posted by leymworker in Job Openings on February 23, 2018
The Section of the Americas office in Philadelphia is seeking a full-time Operations Manager. This person will join the Executive Secretary in managing the wide-ranging activities of the Friends World Committee in North, Central and South America. This is an exciting opportunity to serve Quakers and help FWCC fulfill its mission.
For more information on the role and how to apply, click the link below.
Quaker Contemplative Retreat April 5-8, 2018
Posted by leymworker in Events and Opportunities on February 10, 2018
Join us for “Contemplation and Joy: A Contemplative Retreat in the Manner of Friends,” led by April Allison of Red Cedar Meeting and Roger Hansen from April 5-8, 2018. The retreat, offered through The School of the Spirit, will be held at the Siena Center in Racine, Wisconsin.
The Siena Center is located on Lake Michigan, and the lakefront should be beautiful as we move into the season of rebirth and growth. The center is accessible for those retreat participants who need a barrier free venue.
At its heart, the retreat is a time when we can simply be with God, attend to the divine stirrings in our souls, and open to grace. During this retreat, participants will experience the distinctly Quaker manner of knowing solitude in community. There will be individual silent time for prayer, reflection, rest, walks, and contemplative interaction with scripture and other spiritual resources.
Sinking down into the silence, we may want to give voice occasionally to what is encountered there. Thus there will also be opportunities for speaking out of the silence in a reflection group, as well as an invitation to meet one-on-one with a retreat leader. In our sharing, our souls touch and we find ourselves gathered in blessed community.
April Allison and Roger Hansen are now offering their fifth contemplative retreat in Wisconsin. Roger (Milwaukee, Northern Yearly Meeting) has helped to lead retreats in Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania, and has formed spiritual nurture groups in several monthly meetings. April (Red Cedar, Lake Erie Yearly Meeting) is contemplative by nature and justice seeking by conviction. She is a SotS board member and a spiritual director.
You can find more information and register online through the School of the Spirit website. We offer a flexible fee schedule.
We hope to see at the Siena Center in the spring. And, of course, if you know of others who may be interested, please spread the word.
Pendle Hill: Compassionate Listening, May 12, 2018
Posted by leymworker in Events and Opportunities on February 8, 2018
Leader: Yael Petretti
May 12, 2018: 9:30am to 5:00pm
“I can’t talk to him/her/‘them’ . . .”
Do you have friends who voted for the “other” candidate?
Do you dread family gatherings because you and your uncle disagree about just about everything?
Frustrated in the face of so much polarization and knowing that we need to revive civil dialogue if we are to resolve the problems that confront us — personal and political?
We can dig ourselves out of this painful polarization.
Compassionate Listening was developed by Quakers and is used around the world — and at home — in conflict situations. In this Compassionate Listening workshop , you will learn to:
- Suspend judgment
- Maintain balance in the heat of conflict
- Listen and speak from the heart with kindness and honesty
- Practice being present to the speaker
- Heal alienation, lower tension, and eliminate violence.
