Concord Friends Meeting

The Meeting Calendar

Please socially distance for all indoor events and mask when not eating or drinking.

Day	Date	Time	Event
Sat	Apr 30	4:15 - 5:00 p.m.	AFSC witness for peace in front of the state house (see below)
Sun	May 1	10:00 a.m.	Worship in Song in Fellowship Room followed by Meeting for Worship (in-person and via Zoom). For Zoom link, email Zoom [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: %E2%80%9CWorship%E2%80%9D%20Zoom%20Link%20Request) . Closing: Ruth & Greg; Boiler Cleaning: Jonah
Thu	May 5	7:00–8:00 p.m.	Mid Week Worship (no Zoom)
Sun	May 8	10:00 a.m.	Worship in Song in Fellowship Room followed by Meeting for Worship (in-person and via Zoom). For Zoom link, email Zoom [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: %E2%80%9CWorship%E2%80%9D%20Zoom%20Link%20Request) . Fellowship including a pot-luck meal will be followed by a Meeting for Business (in-person and via Zoom). Closing: Kathy C & Faith; Boiler Cleaning: JJ
Thu	May 12	7:00–8:00 p.m.	Mid Week Worship (no Zoom)
Sat	May 14	2:00 p.m.	Richard Cornelius memorial, Keene UU Church (see below)
Sun	May 29	TBA	Dover Quarterly Meeting, on Zoom and perhaps in-person at Dover meetinghouse
Sat-Thu	Aug 6-11	multi-day	NEYM Annual Sessions; Carleton College, VT and Zoom more...

Richard Cornelius - Memorial Service

We have received this letter from Judy Reed, Dick's wife. Though they moved to Keene many years ago, Dick and Judy were active in Concord Friends with their two children Roma and Galya for more than a decade in the 80s and 90s.

Dear Friends and Family,

Our memorial gathering for Dick is coming up soon, on Saturday May 14, at 2:00 PM in the Parish Hall of the Keene Unitarian Church: 69 Washington Street Keene NH 03431.

I know many of you are unable to attend in person, but your support and your affection for Dick has been expressed and is deeply appreciated.

For those who will be present, this will be a gathering of people from Dick’s life, coming together to share thoughts, memories, and feelings through our own words and music. In the manner of Friends (Quakers), there will be no predetermined program and no spiritual leader other than our inner selves. After a short period of silence, members are invited to offer words or music if and when they feel called to do so, leaving a few moments of silence between offerings.

Afterwards, there will be time to mingle and converse informally over an array of tasty vegan refreshments.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have questions.

Love,

Judy (603-357-4905)

AFSC News

New Hampshire

AFSC's Northeast Regional Executive Committee is meeting in Concord, New Hampshire on Saturday, April 30. Committee members plan to take time from their meeting to engage in a silent witness for peace in front of the NH State House from 4:15 pm to 5 pm.

Quakers (and friends of Friends) are most welcome to join us. Let MFogarty [at] afsc [dot] org know if you plan to attend and she will make sure we have enough signs.

Gaza

In May 2021, Israeli air raids destroyed many homes and schools in the Gaza Strip. Our Gaza team has conducted an assessment and is working with school administrators and partners to identify families who could especially benefit from assistance. In the months ahead, AFSC will be raising funds, purchasing supplies, and putting together back-to-school kits [1].

Peace by Piece

Please share. #GiveNOLADay early giving starts is open! Help promote sustainable Black communities by donating to Peace by Piece New Orleans during the early giving period before our annual event on May 3. Funds raised during this time will support the expansion of our community gardens in Hollygrove and fund neighborhood initiatives like rain gardens and community fridges. Donations will also be used to fund our quarterly food giveaways and construction to make our gardens accessible to all neighbors. For more information about Give NOLA Day and PxP NOLA, visit our program page [2].

Quaker United Nations Office

On 27 April diplomats and UN officials gathered for the High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding Financing to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing financing for peacebuilding. In this post, QUNO’s UN Representative, Megan Schmidt, brings forward the learning and messages from her report, Building Peace in Times of Crisis [3], that relate to peacebuilding financing across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Read more here [4]!

West

The West Region News for April-May 2022 [5] features the community farm nurtured by LA Roots for Peace, California Healing Justice’s new report on militarized policing, and a Denver-to-DC bicycle ride for immigration reform.

Updates to International Friends' Response to Ukraine/Russia Conflict

Article of Interest

Quakers in Britain statement on Feb 24: https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/quakers-condemn-attack-on-ukraine [6]

Donations

The Ukraine Refugee Children's Fund has made its first bulk purchase, providing items needed to meet personal care needs for several refugee single mothers and their young children, one of whom has oncological issues. The fund's Facebook Page has photos of the recipients, the items that were purchased, and the itemized receipt they got at the checkout counter. A generous donation was made this week from here in NH, representing the contributions of several donors. Anyone interested in participating in a future donation, contact Kathi C (kathi [dot] connors [at] gmail [dot] com).
FWCC - Europe and Middle East Section (EMES) have published this link to information about how to donate to Quaker work supporting Ukrainian refugees https://fwccemes.org/news/quaker-support-for-ukraine [7]. This includes examples of how money might be spent by Quakers in Estonia, Georgia, Hungary and Poland.

Friends' Meetings for Peace

Meetings are still occurring, including the Daily International Meeting for Worship for Peace, sponsored by Friends House Moscow. See our webpage In Support of Friends Concerned with Suffering Due to Ukraine-Russian Conflict for specifics about donations and meetings.

See our webpage In Support of Friends Concerned with Suffering Due to Ukraine-Russian Conflict [8] for specifics about donations and meetings.

Friends,

In the face of what looks to be a long, brutal, and potentially escalating war, the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement has adopted the following wise statement. May it inspire us all.

Joseph

Statement of The Ukrainian Pacifist Movement Against Perpetuation of War

(Adopted April 17, 2022)

Ukrainian Pacifist Movement is gravely concerned about the active burning of bridges for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on both sides and signals of intentions to continue the bloodshed indefinitely to achieve some sovereign ambitions.

We condemn the Russian decision to invade Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which led to a fatal escalation and thousands of deaths, reiterating our condemnation of the reciprocal violations of the ceasefire envisaged in the Minsk agreements by Russian and Ukrainian combatants in Donbas prior to the escalation of Russian aggression.

We condemn the mutual labeling of parties to the conflict as Nazi-alike enemies and war criminals, stuffed into legislation, reinforced by the official propaganda of extreme and irreconcilable hostility. We believe that the law should build peace, not incite war; and history should give us examples of how people can return to peaceful life, not excuses for continuing the war. We insist that accountability for crimes must be established by an independent and competent judicial body in due process of law, in the result of unbiased and impartial investigation, especially in the most serious crimes, such as genocide. We emphasize that the tragic consequences of military brutality must not be used to incite hatred and justify new atrocities, on the contrary, such tragedies should cool the fighting spirit and encourage a persistent search for the most bloodless ways to end the war.

We condemn military actions on both sides, the hostilities which harm civilians. We insist that all shootings should be stopped, all sides should honor the memory of killed people and, after due grief, calmly and honestly commit to peace talks.

We condemn statements on the Russian side about the intention to achieve certain goals by military means if they cannot be achieved through negotiations.

We condemn statements on the Ukrainian side that the continuation of peace talks depends on winning the best-negotiating positions on the battlefield.

We condemn the unwillingness of both sides to a ceasefire during the peace talks.

We condemn the practice of forcing civilians to conduct military service, to perform military tasks, and to support the army against the will of peaceful people in Russia and Ukraine. We insist that such practices, especially during hostilities, grossly violate the principle of distinction between militaries and civilians in international humanitarian law. Any forms of contempt for the human right to conscientious objection to military service are unacceptable.

We condemn all military support provided by Russia and NATO countries for militant radicals in Ukraine provoking further escalation of the military conflict.

We call on all peace-loving people in Ukraine and around the world to remain peace-loving people in all circumstances and to help others to be peace-loving people, to collect and disseminate knowledge about a peaceful and nonviolent way of life, to tell the truth, that unites peace-loving people, to resist evil and injustice without violence and debunk myths about necessary, beneficial, inevitable, and just war. We don’t call for any particular action now to ensure that peace plans will not be targeted by hatred and attacks of militarists, but we are confident that pacifists of the world have a good imagination and experience of practical realization of their best dreams. Our actions should be guided by hope for a peaceful and happy future, and not by fears. Let our peace work bring closer the future from dreams.

War is a crime against humanity. Therefore, we are determined not to support any kind of war and to strive for the removal of all causes of war.

Our work depends on your tax-deductible contributions. Please consider making a donation here at: https://www.cpdcs.org/donate/ [9]

Campaign for Peace Disarmament and Common Security | 4 Washburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472

Update to Concord Friends Current COVID Status

Effective April 24, 2022 please be aware of the following update to our current COVID status regarding mask requirements in the Meeting House. Following meeting for worship, individuals are asked to please continue to wear masks in the Fellowship Room while participating in fellowship and potluck events. Please only remove masks while actively eating and drinking. Friends are encouraged to eat outside and to physically distance. If you choose to eat inside, please choose a well-ventilated place to sit, such as near an open window.

Doors to the common hallway should remain closed during times when the Fellowship Room is in use. Masks are required during singing in the Fellowship Room.

Minutes

The draft minutes of the April Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business are available at https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2022-04-10_CMM_Minutes [10]. Of note is 1) the proposed budget for fiscal year beginning in June that was presented in detail to be acted on in May, and 2) the Meeting's now-approved land acknowledgment.

The following items have appeared previously in emailed announcements.

NEYM Annual Sessions, Save the Date Aug 6-11

Friends, an exciting update on plans for Sessions 2022:

At this writing we are expecting that, after two years' absence, Friends will be able to joyfully gather together, in person, at Castleton University for the Annual Sessions of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, August 6–11. All of us, especially youth staff, are looking forward to welcoming children, youth, and their families to what will be for many the first time together in two years.

We are aware that not all will be comfortable or able to gather in a large group and are planning some hybrid events so that those who so choose may participate again by Zoom.

Friends responsible for Sessions planning continue to wrestle with balancing a desire for a good number of different events/activities with the awareness that the busyness of Sessions can feel like “too much.” And with how to provide meaningful experiences for both in-person and remote participation. While in-person and remote can in no way be “equal,” our hope is all Sessions participants will find spiritual comfort and meaning, and will come away from the experience a bit richer.

Add to this the exhaustion of staff and volunteers from two years of the extra burden of planning events in an unfamiliar platform, now needing to plan hybrid (in-person and virtual) events, and you will understand that this year’s Sessions will likely be based on a simpler schedule.

While the schedule and details are yet to be resolved we do have news to share:

We have a new clerk of the Sessions planning process: Phil Veatch of Fresh Pond Meeting has stepped into the role that Rebecca Leuchak was filling until a new clerk had been named. Rebecca is now released to live into her new role of Rising Clerk of the Yearly Meeting. A veteran Sessions attender, Phil is catching up and getting ready for the busy season of Sessions planning.
Our theme for Sessions 2022 is "This is the hour: How does the Spirit find you?" This grew out of our sense that Friends’ condition, as we gather, will reflect two years of living with the pandemic. We all are carrying myriad conditions, among them: joy, grief, longing, outrage, happiness. “How does the Spirit find you” invites you to acknowledge the many and sometimes seemingly contradictory feelings. But “This is the hour” is a query in the form of a statement. What is this the hour for? Concerns have been brought to Sessions in recent years about the state of our earth, systemic racism, the history of our relationship with Native Americans, and more. “This is the hour” invites us to consider what this is the hour for.
The Bible Half Hours will be given by Regina Renee Ward. Regina Renee is someone for whom the Bible is not just a foundational document for our faith tradition, but is a living, breathing, guide to daily living. She has given Bible Half Hours at Friends General Conference and Pacific Yearly Meeting, and was a presenter at the Walking with the Bible series offered by Woolman Hill Quaker Center and the Beacon Hill Friends House.

Watch for further news and the official Sessions invitation coming soon, but for the time being, mark your calendars!

Bruce Neumann, Presiding Clerk

clerk [at] neym [dot] org

Phillip Veatch, Clerk of Sessions Planning

sessions [at] neym [dot] org

Are you wanting information from past announcements?

Visit this page on our web site: Past Announcements [11]

Are you wanting to donate to Concord Monthly Meeting?

Visit this page on our web site for more information: Donations [12]

2022-04-28 Announcements for