To request log-in information for Zoom Worship: Zoom [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: %E2%80%9CWorship%E2%80%9D%20Zoom%20Link%20Request) .

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Remember: hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things,

And no good thing ever dies.

~ Stephen King

The Meeting Calendar

The website committee has met twice to chart our course for the year.  We selected me as the Clerk for the committee.  Mark is still the Meeting’s web clerk. We identified the primary concerns of the Website Committee.  These are the maintenance of the website, and particularly - 

• Its “Outreach” functions
• Recording of Minutes and other key reference documents for the Meeting
• The Newsletter
• Archiving of the Minutes and Newsletter with the archives of New England Yearly Meeting

We want to make sure that the website is accessible, can be maintained by members and attenders of the meeting, and that the existing web presence and links and references that we have built are preserved.

We have taken one set of actions, and decided on our path forward in another area.

Most of our Meeting Minutes and Newsletters have been sent to the New England Yearly Meeting Archives.  We are grateful to the Web Clerk for his efforts.

After reviewing the challenges of maintaining and updating the website in its current form, (primarily the fact that it’s running on a very old version of Drupal), we considered whether the best path forward was to move to a more managed hosting and website plan offered by British Quakers, moving to something like WordPress, or upgrading Drupal with a different hosting provider.  We determined that our best path forward is to move the website to a new host and to upgrade Drupal.  We have some concerns about going to a managed hosting service, since another one (FGC QuakerCloud) recently shut down, and there’s no obvious reason that WordPress would offer us anything that an up-to-date Drupal does not.

Our next action on this front will be to find a new web host, move the Meeting website there, and upgrade to a recent (and supported) version of Drupal.  If this costs more than the Website Committee’s annual budget, we will come back to the Meeting with a request for additional funds.

After we have completed the upgrade, we expect that it would be productive to talk to the Outreach Committee about whether a redesign of some parts of the website would be in order.

If Friends would like to suggest other priorities for the website besides those listed above, or have suggestions for changes they would like to see on the site, we welcome that feedback.

I am very pleased to inform you that Evan Welkin, from North Pacific Yearly Meeting, will serve as our next Executive Secretary, starting July 15.

It seems God is at work with loving and caring ways in FWCC Section of the Americas!  I am so pleased Evan has agreed to join us to serve as Executive Secretary.  I believe he will bring gifts to enhance our vision for the future of our Section.  For this I am grateful.

Evan will be traveling to the World Plenary Meeting in August.  I hope you will have an opportunity to talk with him soon.

“I am honored for this opportunity to continue to serve the Religious Society of Friends on an international level, recommitting myself to be accountable, faithful and principled in seeking continuing revelation together in our global family,” said Evan.

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Since 2022, Evan has worked for FWCC in the Europe and Middle East Section (EMES), supporting communications and development of the EMES Peace and Service Network.  He also facilitated the Global Quaker Sustainability Network for the FWCC World Office.

Brenda McKinney (Friends Church of North Carolina) clerked the search committee.  She said, "We talk about the Section including Friends from the Arctic to the Andes and we received applicants from Canada to Argentina.  Evan Welkin impressed us with his grasp of the breadth of Quakerism, his administrative capabilities including project management, fundraising, and grant-writing, and most importantly, his spiritual grounding and rootedness in Quaker process.  The search committee relied heavily on the leading of the Holy Spirit during the entire process and we felt the prayers of many who are devoted to our very important work in FWCC.  On behalf of the search committee, we thank you for your prayers and let us continue in prayer for Evan as he begins his new role."

Evan Welkin is a member of Olympia Monthly Meeting (North Pacific Yearly Meeting), born and raised in the Cascadia region of the US Pacific Northwest on lands of the Siuslaw, Squaxin Island and Nisqually peoples.  His grandparents Jack and Judy Brown (University Friends Meeting) became convinced Friends through their work with AFSC camps after the end of WWII.

He holds a BA from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, and Masters degree from Schumacher College in the United Kingdom.  He is a graduate of the Guilford Quaker Leadership Scholars Program (QLSP) where he served as a Sojourning member released from Olympia MM to study theological diversity among evangelical, conservative, programmed and unprogrammed Friends in Guilford County.  While in QLSP, he offered ministry at local meetings and churches, supported development of the QLSP Service Committee and received a Clarence and Lilly Pickett Fund for Quaker Leadership grant to survey meetings along the Eastern Seaboard.

He participated in several service learning projects with the North Carolina Friends Disaster Service, advocated for graduates of the Ramallah Friends School targeted by campus violence at Guilford and received a Lyman Fund grant to join a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation to Israel and Palestine in 2008.

He married Federica Faggioli in 2012 and they have two young sons.  Together, they founded an ecovillage, learning center and permaculture project called “Borgo Basino” on the Faggioli family farm near Bologna, Italy.  In his spare time, Evan keeps bees, makes art, and sails wooden boats.

For more information: FWCC Americas announces new executive secretary [5].

The silent vigil for a ceasefire in Gaza continues every Thursday from Noon-1pm at the corner of Main and Center Street.  Make your own sign, use one provided, or just stand in silent witness besides others. This is done in coordination with NH Peace Action.  We suggest that people make signs that convey something about justice for Israel and Palestine.  Also please avoid the word genocide, ethnic cleansing, and similar terms.

Quakers in New England will gather in August for the 364^th year—for worship, spiritual nurture, fellowship, and discernment of our shared calling.

Again this year there are two ways to attend Sessions: in-person at Castleton University and via Zoom.

We encourage Friends to read the details on the Yearly Meeting website before registering [7].

Register to Attend at Castleton [8]

Register to Attend Online [9]

New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) Annual Sessions needs Volunteers for:

• Childcare  (0-4 years old)
• Junior Yearly Meeting (K-6th grade)
• Junior High Yearly Meeting (7th-9th)
• Young Friends (10-12th)
• Spanish Language Interpretation
• Tech Team - Remote and In-Person
• Young Adult Friends Coordinator (beyond High School)

Volunteering at Yearly Meeting is a great way to meet new people, be a part of the gathering, and learn a bit more about what Sessions has to offer.  Sessions gathers Friends together from all across New England and depends on the work of dozens and dozens of Friends.  It simply can't happen without the work of Friends in all types of roles.

Learn more at:  neym.org/volunteer-sessions [10]

We strive to create a beloved community which shows loving concern and actions toward all attenders of the Meeting and all with whom we interact in the wider world.  We demonstrate this care and love by being vaccinated, because vaccination protects the person vaccinated and others with whom they come in contact.  We encourage all attenders to be vaccinated and keep their vaccinations up to date.  We believe this will make our meetinghouse a safer space for attenders whose own network includes people who are at greater risk of death or disability should they get the COVID-19 virus.

We request that you attend via Zoom if any of the following apply:

• You have a fever, cough, or other viral symptoms.  (This is because you can have COVID and spread it before testing positive.)
• If you have had COVID recently, please don't attend in person until after the 5^th day after you tested positive; and please wear a mask until the 10^th day (or longer if your doctor recommends).
• If you know you have been exposed to COVID, please do not attend in person until after testing negative on the 5^th day after exposure.  Then please continue to wear a mask until the 10^th day after exposure.

Otherwise, masks are currently optional in the Meetinghouse unless the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports hospital admissions for COVID as “red” in any county of New Hampshire on the following map: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_new-admissions-rate-county [12]  For further clarification or questions, please contact Clerk [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org.