You are invited to the 2018 Lake Erie Yearly Meeting Fall K-12 Youth Retreat

Friday, September 28, 7:00 pm – Sunday, September 30, 2018

Location: Templed Hills UCC Camp, 5734 Durbin Rd. Bellville, OH  44813

Click here for complete information and a registration form.

Since 1996, the Quaker Missions Stamp Project has collected and sold used postage stamps and used the proceeds to fund Quaker organizations. Currently, Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) is the sole recipient. RSWR is an independent Quaker not-for-profit organization pursuing the abundance of God’s love through wealth redistribution. RSWR funds micro-enterprise projects with marginalized women in Kenya, India, and Sierra Leone.

Send in your stamps!

The stamp project is happy to accept used stamps of many types from all over the world. Please note that while in the past we have accepted and sold collectibles in addition to stamps, we are now only able to process and sell stamps. In order for the stamps to be salable, please follow these guidelines:

US stamps:

Cut or carefully tear the corner bearing the stamp(s) from the body of the envelope. If more than one stamp has been used for postage, remove the stamps as a group on the paper (do not remove separately). Leave a border of 1/8-1/4 inch around the stamp or group of stamps.

Especially desirable are:

– Harry Potter or other popular culture stamps (television, movies, singers, comic books, etc.)
– Stamps bearing values greater than 50 cents
– Zazzle and personalized stamps

Please do not send USA flag stamps, USA nonprofit stamps, or USA stamps from mail sent before 2000. These cannot be profitably sold.

Foreign stamps:

If the envelope is intact, send the complete envelope, Otherwise, cut or carefully tear the corner bearing the stamp or group of stamps, leaving a 1/8-1/4 inch border.

Mailing address:

In 2017, Indianapolis First Friends Meeting became the new home for the stamp ministry.

Mail stamps to:

Stamps for Right Sharing
c/o Indianapolis First Friends
3030 Kessler Blvd. East Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46220

If you have questions about the stamp program, please contact RSWR at (765) 966-0314 or rswr@rswr.org

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.”

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)

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