Upcoming Events of Interest

1 September 2023
Categories: Events and Opportunities, News

As we move into Fall, a number of events of interest to Friends are appearing on our calendars. Here’s a summary of a few great opportunities that LEYM Friends are welcome to participate in.

AFSC-hosted Meeting for Worship with attention to Witness and Solidarity

Wednesday, September 13 at 2:00 pm ET

This event is hosted by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Brian Blackmore, AFSC’s new Director of Quaker Engagement, notes in his invitation that:
This is a special time for us to connect with one another as an AFSC community, to celebrate the many successes of our work, and to express our experience of and witness to the pain and suffering in our world. It is also an opportunity for us to listen for that inner voice (however known) which guides our thoughts and our hearts towards new openings and possibilities for peace and justice.

No RSVP is required. Join via this Zoom Link.

Insights and Inspirations: 10 Years as QEW General Secretary with Shelley Tanenbaum

Tuesday, September 19, 7-8:15 pm ET

An online event to honor the ten years Shelley Tanenbaum has guided Quaker Earthcare Witness as General Secretary and three more years she had previously spent as a member and clerk of the Steering Committee. Come for an evening of insights and inspirations from Shelley on what it was like to support QEW in their primary goal: to nurture a spiritual transformation in our relationship with the living world. She will share stories of her personal journey and highlights from her years representing QEW as a Public Friend.

More information and registration at https://quakerearthcare.org/event/insights-and-inspirations-10-years-as-general-secretary/

Warrior Lawyers documentary & talk with producer, Audrey Geyer

Sunday, September 24, 7:00 – 8:30pm ET

This event is happening at the Red Cedar Friends Meeting House and online. Warrior Lawyers gives an overview of the historical, legal, judicial and social issues that shape Native American nations and shows how the nations use traditional culture and values to face challenges and promote sacred justice.  Filmed and produced in Michigan, this film is aimed at an audience of Native and non-Native viewers.  The values of sacred justice can benefit mainstream society, too.  The documentary promotes restorative justice as an alternative to the more punitive criminal justice system in the United States.
See event flyer for additional details. Zoom Access via Meeting ID: 813 4174 1326 Passcode: 183037

Living into your Call: Vocational Discernment Retreat for older adults (60+) (HYBRID) (Beacon Hill Friends House)

Saturday, October 7 from 12-5pm ET

Beacon Hill Friends House is piloting a Vocational Discernment workshop geared specifically toward folks ages 60+ who are discerning how they are called.

​In an article on the National Career Development Association’s website, Nick Gowen writes: “Finding meaning in life can often hinge in part on the benefits that work provides, such as feeling useful and exercising one’s skills and talents. Retired older adults, then, must find new ways to conceptualize and achieve these benefits of work in retirement.” The BHFH vocational discernment program aims to help people with exactly these things: How to feel useful in the world through using one’s skills, gifts, and leadings.

​If you are over 60 years old and interested in exploring these questions of call, this free retreat is for you! Details and registration at https://lu.ma/BHFH2023Call60

“Got a Concern?” Support Sessions hosted by Spiritual Companioning Team

  • November 19, 2023 – 3-4:30pm ET
  • January 21, 2024 – 3-4:30pm ET
  • March 17, 2024 – 3-4:30pm ET

If you currently have a concern you’re sitting with or working on and would welcome and enjoy support with this work, please consider joining LEYM friends as we come together bi-monthly to use a format of spiritual companioning to support us in our specific work and concerns. See new brochure with details or visit the LEYM Spiritual Companioning homepage.

Quaker Call to Action Update

3 August 2023
Categories: Action, Events and Opportunities, News

The Quaker Call to Action group has issued an update and Alert and ask that Friends consider taking action in ways that they are moved to. An upcoming September 28 Zoom call will feature words from Parker Palmer. Here’s the latest announcement from the group.

Update, July 2023

The Urgent Call Steering Committee continues to hold our country’s challenging political environment in prayer. As we anticipate the 2024 election season, we have just issued an Updated Call To Action to the Religious Society of Friends. You can find it and download it here. The original Urgent Call continues to be a vital message. Please consider our updated pleas for action and distribute this email and Updated Call To Action widely for discernment by meetings and individual Friends.

We are committed to continuing our work for truth and democracy through the 2024 elections. We will be organizing periodic National Zoom Calls for Friends to come together for encouragement, learning, and support.

The first such call will be held on September 28, 2023, 7-9 pm EDT. We are thrilled that Parker Palmer will open this National Call with a message: “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Love, Truth, Justice & the Work of We the People.” You can register for the September 28 National Zoom Call, as well as future calls and training sessions, on our website.

Even though the polarization, promulgation of lies, and threats of violence that permeate our country’s public discourse are disheartening, and even frightening at times, let us continue to hold to our deep faith in the Light and to notice and affirm the Light wherever and whenever we see it. As Friends we nurture hope, trust, and joy through our worship and work together.

Yours in faith,

The Urgent Call Steering Committee

Marian Beane, Bruce Birchard, Sam Caldwell, Gretchen Castle, Mary Ellen McNish, Diane Randall, Jim Waddington, and Michael Wajda, clerk.

No religious dictator will save the world; no giant figure of heroic size will stalk across the stage of history today, as a new Messiah. But in simple, humble imperfect people like you and me wells up the springs of hope. –Thomas Kelly, The Eternal Promise, “Where Are the Springs of Hope?” 1939_

GPQM Upcoming Events

3 August 2023
Categories: Events and Opportunities, Friends Center, GPQM

Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting is hosting some upcoming events that Friends may wish to participate in.

WORSHIP IN BATTLE CREEK, SUNDAY, AUGUST 6:
All are invited to Worship with Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting at our annual summer gathering to remember the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
Sunday, August 6, 11am, at historic Quaker Park, Battle Creek (63 Groveland Street, corner of Fremont). Picnic lunch to follow. Please bring a lawn chair or blanket and a dish to share. Lemonade and water will be provided, and a porta-john will be available.

FALL MEETING AT MICHIGAN FRIENDS CENTER & ZOOM, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16:

Save the date: The Fall Gathering of Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting will take place on
Saturday, September 16, at Michigan Friends Center (Chelsea, Michigan).
After business meeting in the morning, there will be an afternoon gathering with Friends Lake Community and an elder from the Anishinaabe community when the land and water at this site will be blessed and we will acknowledge generations of Anishinaabe people in this region and our intentions of stewardship.
More information and a schedule will be available soon.

Golden Rule Peace Boat visits Ohio and Michigan

1 August 2023
Categories: Events and Opportunities, News, Peace and Justice

In 1958, Quaker anti-nuclear weapons activists were arrested to stop the Golden Rule from sailing to obstruct atmospheric U.S. nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Resulting protests lead to the passage of the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, halting atmospheric testing. The Golden Rule and her crew inspired the later actions by the ships of Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherds. A short film about the boat’s history entitled Making Waves was shown at this year’s annual meeting along with a visit and discussion with Skip Oliver from Veterans for Peace.

The 34-foot wooden ketch is sailing on a 15-month voyage around the “Great Loop” of the central, southern and eastern United States, making 100 ports-of-call to raise awareness about the growing danger of nuclear war and to build support for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The Golden Rule is a national project of Veterans For Peace, which owns the boat.

Schedule of Events in Our Region

On August 4, the sailboat is visiting Erie PA (Wolverine Park Marina) and then it departs for Cleveland OH (Aug 5-8) where numerous public opportunities have been arranged (contact Don Bryant/Francis Chiappa, clevelandpeaceaction@gmail.com, 440-703-0215). The sailboat will be in Toledo (Aug 10-13, Promenade Park Portside Dock 5 or 6, bottom of Jefferson Ave), again with many events planned. After that, beginning on August 13th, the Peace Boat enters Michigan, visiting Detroit, docking at Milliken State Park & Harbor, 1900 Atwater Street, next to Aretha Franklin Amphitheater. In addition to Detroit, public events have been arranged for Ann Arbor and Lansing (at Red Cedar Meeting House!). See image below for additional details.

To see the full schedule of planned events and to track the Golden Rule in real time, visit the Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project website. To find out how you can help the project or make a donation, visit the Donate and Help page.

Summer LEYM-wide Worship Opportunity

28 June 2023
Categories: Events and Opportunities, News

Ministry and Nurture Committee is offering a chance to worship, by Zoom, with other members of LEYM on Wednesday evening, July 26, 2023 at 7:00 pm.

Please enter in worship and join us as we gather virtually. Connect with Friends from across the region like we did in Ashland at Annual Meeting. There will be time for brief announcements after rise of Meeting.

Here’s the Zoom Link. Meeting ID: 813 4304 9993 Passcode: 419099

Light shining through grove of pine trees

Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting Gathers on May 20th

10 May 2023
Categories: Events and Opportunities, GPQM, News

It’s almost here! On Saturday, May 20, Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting will gather in person at Ann Arbor Friends Meeting house for our Spring Quarterly Meeting. Hospitality will start at 9:30. Business begins at 10:00 a.m., with a presentation by Friend Brad Shaw at noon. BRING A BAGGED LUNCH if you need one.

The business meeting and presentation will be available hybrid. Friends are encouraged to sign in just before 10 a.m., so they don’t miss out on anything. The Zoom link can be requested from gpqmcommunications@gmail.com.

Agenda

  • Query related to stewardship of resources: How do I simplify my needs, making decisions that balance self-sufficiency and fair sharing of resources?
  • Roll call
  • Approval of minutes
  • Treasury report
  • Finance Committee
  • Nominating Committee
  • Friends Center report
  • Michigan Quakers for Environmental Action
  • Announcements
  • Break
  • Presentation: Brad Shaw, Red Cedar Friends: “Lessons from Quaker History: Activism within the Socioeconomic Realities of the Status Quo”

Detroit Friends Have a New Meeting House!

27 April 2023
Categories: Monthly Mtgs, News

Dear Friends,
The members and attenders of the Detroit Friends Meeting are excited to announce that after ten years of being on a relocation journey, a way opened in Fourth Month! We have a new spiritual home! We purchased an existing building at 19309 Greenfield Road in the City of Detroit. We are hoping to begin renovations immediately and move into the building in the early summer.

We are pleased with the building’s location and potential to provide service to the neighboring community, while giving us an opportunity to attract new attenders. However, the building will require extensive renovations over a two-year period. We anticipate being able to purchase and renovate the building with our original fundraising goal. Many in our meeting felt a level of comfort that repurposing along with the planned use of energy efficient materials and equipment will have less impact on the environment. That said, these efficiency upgrades are not a luxury. Repurposing the building with new energy saving measures is a necessity to drive down operating costs, enabling us to maintain the building within our existing annual budget of approximately $18,000 a year. Also, in Detroit, water and sewage bills are based on impermeable space like parking lots, so removing most of the existing parking lot to create a permeable surface with rain gardens is a cost saving reduction as well. Our fundraising efforts will continue over the next year to meet our anticipated needs for renovations and additional costs.

Various committees are beginning to work on the physical acknowledgment of the land, ways to serve the community, creating a welcoming space for those in the community, fundraising, and hiring minority contractors and companies to complete many of the major renovations needed.

We want to express our deepest gratitude to Lake Erie Yearly Meeting, monthly meetings, and individuals within our LEYM faith community for your generosity, support, and encouragement that has been instrumental in helping us reach this point.

Our main vision and commitment to ensure that an active and engaged Quaker presence will continue in the City of Detroit for future generations to benefit from… has now become a reality!

We welcome each one of you to visit our new meeting house in the near future. We are full of gratitude for each one of you who helped make this possible. We have felt your loving care from miles away.

If you would like more information about the new meeting house, please feel free to contact a member of the Development Committee. Kevin Howley, khowley@aol.com, Peter Dale, PeterDale67@gmail.com, Mark Michener, michman@comcast.net, or Sharon Ottenbreit, sharonottenbreit@gmail.com

Akron FM Minute on Abolition of the Death Penalty

18 April 2023
Categories: Action, Monthly Mtgs, News, Peace and Justice

Akron Friends Meeting adopted a Minute on the Abolition of the Death Penalty at their April 16, 2023 Business Meeting and asked that it might be shared with other Friends, especially those in Ohio where abolition legislation is being considered. In addition using to the direct link above, you can find the Minute over at the LEYM Resources for Peace and Justice page alongside other sample minutes.

We note that Lake Erie Yearly Meeting has previously minuted their opposition to the Death Penalty and encourages Friends to press the case for abolition (see LEYM 2007 minute here).

Spring LEYM Bulletin Now Available

29 March 2023
Categories: Bulletin, Events and Opportunities

The Spring LEYM Bulletin, which provides much information and registration materials for the 2023 Annual Meeting, is now available online (see leym.org/leym-bulletins/) and in the mail to meetings and worship groups. Please note that the registration deadline for Annual Meeting is May 10, and the gathering will take place at Ashland University, in Ashland, Ohio, June 15-18. We hope to see many of you there!

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