News of Friends.

Julie M writes, "Dear Friends,  As some of you know, I've been battling leukemia since January and was fortunate enough to get into remission for a bone marrow / stem cell transplant.  June was busy planning, July I was in the hospital for the treatments and transplant, and August has been recovery rounded out by another hospital stay at the moment for a few graft versus host issues. Good news: we're still on track for a cure.  Although I haven't had a chance or the energy to be there, I'm with you in spirit.  I also wanted to thank you for the messages that come through during worship as they have tended me well these past few months.  Looking forward to rejoining when / as I'm able." ❤️✌

Coffee and Tea Lovers 

If you find it not too inconvenient to bring a mug with you to meeting and then take it home to wash, you would be upholding two important concerns of the Meeting: first is our commitment to keep our use of resources to a minimum; the second is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as we maintain social distancing by not congregating around the sink in the kitchen.  We will continue to provide paper hot cups for anyone who needs one.

Ministry and Counsel Report

September 2021

Looking for more or different opportunities for sharing and fellowship? We will be sending around a questionnaire so you can indicate what kinds of small groups are of interest. Possibilities include fellowship and caring support, books or topics to discuss, short courses and whatever ideas you can imagine.

Care of worship: As we make this massive transition to hybrid worship, we wanted to remind Friends that some aspects of Quaker worship remain constant. All people are welcome and affirmed, whether they are in person or online, your presence is precious to us. Other thoughts on how we share in worship came to mind.

A thought from Ministry and Counsel about vocal ministry:  All present, are invited to give vocal ministry out of the silence as led by the Divine.  It is an awesome experience to feel the call to speak for the Holy.  Of course, the Divine message is filtered through the lens of the speaker’s human vocabulary, thoughts, and experiences. Yet, we hope that something of the Spirit that is too deep for words comes through in the messages we give and receive.  Once a speaker has finished, the message no longer belongs to the speaker; it belongs to the beloved community. Each hearer receives the message and lets it work within.  The message may be understood in ways that the speaker never intended. That is okay, it no longer belongs to the speaker.

For this reason, we ask that Friends refrain from mentioning the name of any particular speaker in later messages in worship or in afterthoughts.  Hearing one’s name in this way tends to make the speaker feel self-conscious, tying them back to a message they have released. Sometimes a message will cause a stirring in a hearer who will feel the awesome power of the Spirit compelling vocal ministry, building on an earlier message.  This can be given without reference to the name of the previous speaker.  After worship, we may want to share what resonated for us from the messages in meeting; this also can be done without naming the speakers. Observing a silence of at least two minutes gives us all time to absorb that message before the next message is given.

Fourth Sunday.  We would like to offer the Fourth Sunday in September (the 26^th) as a time for those Friends who attended New England Yearly Meeting to share what they have learned, new insights, or other thoughts they experienced. Of course, this is meant for all of our attenders to listen to and draw inspiration from, not just those who attended the sessions. You can, in fact, listen to recordings of Bible Half Hours and Plenary presentations here. https://neym.org/sessions/recordings-annual-sessions-0 Other Fourth Sundays are in the works- stay tuned!

Technology Committee. We add a special thanks to the technology committee for all their care in making hybrid worship a reality! We love how they keep thinking of ways to make it better. Please let them or us know if you think of ways to make it better too! Life is an experiment right now.

Brian Drayton Offers.....

Brian Drayton (Souhegan, NH, Friends Meeting) is offering monthly mid-week opportunities for Zoom-based worship-sharing and conversation. Open to all, the opportunities are limited to 20 at a time. If we get full, a waiting list will be kept, in case a regular attender can't make it a particular session.

Sessions for the fall will be on the third Weds of each month, Sept-December, at 8 pm., (Thus, Sept. 15, Oct 20, Nov 17, and Dec 15th).. One week before the event, Friends will receive the Zoom link, and a short quotation from a Friend modern or ancient. Attenders will be asked to read the selection beforehand and reflect in private on a few short questions. Each gathering will open with quick greetings and a brief introduction to the quotation, followed by 15 minutes of conversation about the text. The rest of the time will be spent in worship-sharing. The aim is for the conversation to be slow, spacious, and centered. The final 5 minutes will be silent, before we depart from our miniature retreat. To RSVP, please send an email to Brian Drayton <brian_drayton [at] terc [dot] edu> with Midweek Meditation in the subject line.

An Invitation from AFSC-NH

Dear AFSC friends,

It’s been a year like no other for the American Friends Service Committee of New Hampshire. We’ve made a successful transition to new leadership with Maggie Fogarty as Director, Grace Kindeke as Program Coordinator, and Lidia Yen as Grassroots Organizer Intern. We’ve strengthened our collaborations and work in immigrant rights, economic security, youth organizing, State House watching and policy advocacy. We are focusing more intentionally on abolition of carceral systems and what that could mean in New Hampshire. With funding from the NH Charitable Foundation, we were able to establish a half-time Decarceration Organizer internship and hired Anthony Harris, who is a co-founder of Felon to Freeman and will work as part of AFSC’s Healing Justice Network. We brought on nine new Support Committee members, most of whom you met last Fall; they are important links to many of the collaborators and communities we work with as well as Friends Meetings in New Hampshire.

And we did all this in a different world – the time of COVID 19. We’ve complied with CDC, AFSC and NH guidelines; we’ve worked from home; we’ve lived on zoom and organized on zoom; we’ve interviewed and hired almost entirely on zoom. We’re only now emerging in very limited ways and will slowly discover just how much our work lives may have changed permanently. We reach out to those who have suffered and mourn those we’ve lost. At the same time, we look forward.

Please join us for our annual fall gathering and fundraiser on Saturday, October 2 at 7 PM, for “The Journey to Abolition: Love as the Roadmap Towards Justice and Liberation,” with special guest Nyle Fort. Nyle is a minister, activist, and scholar. He works on issues of social justice in a variety of capacities, including through activist scholarship, faith-based organizing, and large-scale social movements. He recently completed a Ph.D. in Religion and African American Studies from Princeton University, and he currently teaches at Columbia University.

We’ll be virtual again this year – the Delta variant, increasing infection rates, policies and limitations of potential venues, concern for all of us, and a contagion of uncertainty all point away from an in-person event at this time and toward zoom. We’re so grateful, though, that it’s possible to gather virtually, and we promise you a fabulous event.

Will you consider donating $500 or more to be an event sponsor?

A few specifics about what we’ve been up to this past year: 

• We’ve moved into new work that expands our longstanding commitment to end immigrant detention into a broader abolitionist framework to #FreeThemAll. 
• We convened the Coalition for a People’s Budget for New Hampshire, gathering a diverse community of partners to demand a state budget that invests in our communities and requires the wealthiest Granite Staters to pay their fair share. 
• We supported immigrant-led campaigns to defeat anti-immigrant bills and to expand access to driver licenses for undocumented immigrants. And we made sure our Members of Congress knew that we expected their support for the broadest possible pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants. 
• We raised our voices in support of truth-telling about White supremacy. 
• We expanded our team of hosts for the State House Watch radio show to include some activist friends who created their own informative and interesting segments.

Will you support our annual celebration by becoming an event sponsor with a donation of $500 or more?

Please send a check (payable to AFSC-NH, with ‘event sponsor’ on the memo line, mail to 4 Park Street #304, Concord NH 03301), donate online, or make a pledge by September 10 so we can include your name(s) in the invitation we will send out on September 13.

So many thanks for your very generous support,

Lindsay Dearborn, for the AFSC-NH Support Committee:

• Margaret Hawthorn 
• Anne Saunders 
• Lina Shayo 
• Asma Elhuni 
• Dr. Candace Cole-McCrea 
• Emelyne Adios 
• Ginny Cole
• Alissandra Rodriguez-Murray 
• Dan Pontoh 

The following items are repeated from prior announcements.

CROP Walk (to eradicate hunger) October 9

As you may remember, the CROP Walk is an annual fundraiser held nationally to alleviate the challenges of disease, disaster, and displacement that leave people hungry locally and internationally. Local congregations form teams and members make donations to support those teams. Over the years, CFM has been a strong contributor to this effort.  This year's CROP Walk is currently planned to return to an in-person walk starting from the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) on Clinton St. in Concord.  People will begin gathering at 12:00 with a kick-off rally at 12:30 and the walk beginning at 1:00.

To Join as a Walker and/or Support the Team

1. Click here: https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/concord-friends-meeting
2. Click Join The Team to sign up as a walker (you will be able to donate if you’d like from this link), or
3. Click Make a Donation to donate via credit or debit card. 
4. Note that donations online can be made anonymously if you wish.
5. Alternatively, you can donate by writing a check payable to CWS/CROP Walk and mail to: Sheryl Ingraham,  4 Fogg Street, Concord, NH. 03301

If you would like to support the CFM team financially, donations can be made in two ways:

1. Click here: https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/concord-friends-meeting to donate via credit or debit card.
2. Write a check payable to CWS/CROP and mail to Sheryl Ingraham,  4 Fogg Street, Concord, NH. 03301

Note that donations online can be made anonymously if you wish.

Please contact Sheryl Ingraham if you have any questions: (410) 972-1222 orsheryl [dot] ingraham [at] gmail [dot] com (  sheryl [dot] ingraham [at] gmail [dot] com)

Epsom Lunch - Solidarity Walkers for Immigrant Justice

Hello friends!

Please see the below information and all-call for volunteers to help host the 9/23 lunch in Epsom for the Solidarity Walkers for Immigrant Justice! Reply to this email to request more information or confirm that you are able be part of this fun volunteer team! Feel free to specify how you'd like to be involved and please forward the email to anyone else who might be interested!  A follow-up email with additional details we will then be sent to the group of volunteers soon!