2023-11-12 Newsletter of

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“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice,

We are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident 1906-1945)

Newsletter of Concord Friends Meeting

A Monthly Meeting in Concord, NH of the Dover Quarter of

New England Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends

website [2]

Masks are optional in the Meetinghouse. Please refer to the following link for more information. COVID GUIDANCE for In-Person Worship [3].

Calendar - November 12th, 2023

Sunday,

November 12th, 2023 10:00 AM Meeting for Worship

11:30 AM Pot Luck

12:30 PM Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

First Day School Teacher: Elaine

With Children: Sharon

Closing: Ruth & Greg H.

Mid-Week Worship TBD If interested please contact Rich

at klnschmdt [at] gmail [dot] com

Sunday,

November 19th, 2023 10:00 AM Meeting for Worship and Fellowship

FALL CLEANUP

First Day School Teacher: TBD

With Children: Dave

Closing: Jennifer and Sara S.

Steve Schuch in Concert Dec 2, 2023

TICKETS: Donorbox.org/events/521018 [4]

$25 for all, children under 18 free

Last day to buy tickets:

11/30/2023, Midnight, Eastern Time (US & Canada)

(GMT-05:00)

An Evening with Steve Schuch

Saturday Dec. 2, at 7 pm.

Concord Friends Meetinghouse, 11 Oxbow pond Rd. Canterbury, NH

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist,

singer/songwriter and storyteller

Steve Schuch has delighted audiences across the US and Europe. Fusing Celtic/Folk roots with a storyteller’s heart and humor, his artistry touches people on many levels. Irrepressible singing, riveting violin and whales, tales of mud season and black flies, are all part of his wide-ranging repertoire.

Credits include a Grammy nomination, PBS soundtracks, and the Parents’ Choice Gold Award for his Trees of Life recording. Steve’s musical story, A Symphony of Whales, received five national book awards and was featured on NPR’s “Performance Today.” Beyond his solo work, he has performed and recorded with Windham Hill guitarist and producer Will Ackerman, folk legend Pete Seeger, and his own Celtic ensemble, The Night Heron Consort. Sound samples and more: www.NightHeron.com [5]

Steve is passionate about immigration justice. This concert is a benefit for the Asylum Seekers Support Fund of Concord Friends Meeting. Half of the ticket price and any other donations will directly support asylum seekers' legal expenses.

Cookie contribution sign-up for Asylum Seekers Support Fundraiser

Dear Friends~ PSECC is inviting Friends to sign up to contribute cookies and seltzer drinks to share for An Evening with Steve Schuch, fundraiser for Concord Monthly Meeting Asylum Seekers Support.

Friends can sign up by contacting Sharon Kulik at sk342151 [at] gmail [dot] com or by the sign-up sheet in the lobby table at the Meetinghouse. Thank you so much!

Meeting House Fall Cleanup

Our 20 to 30 minute after-Fellowship time on November 19th is just over a week away. If weather permits, we will focus on Fall outdoor cleaning of the grounds around the Meeting House. Dress appropriately and bring your home tools if that is convenient but the Meeting does have some shovels and rakes available.

Capital Campaign Update

We are wrapping up a very successful fundraising campaign. Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund granted us $10,000 in addition to the $1500 mini-grant from Quaker Earthcare Witness. Individuals have donated $18,485 for a total raised of $29,985.

Our goal was $30,000 which would cover much of the expenses not paid for by the federal grant of $15,383 (not expected until after June 2024) and the $20,000 we had available in our savings (designated for a boiler replacement). If we bring in $1667 more, we will cover all expenses. If we add the educated guess of $1000 needed to restore the landscaping (left out of the original income/expenses) the amount to be raised to totally cover expenses is $2667.

A subgroup of the NEYM Legacy Fund committee is meeting with us on Saturday, Nov 17 at 3PM to discuss our grant. We have already informed them of our success and provided a revised income/expense statement that shows that our income at this point nearly covers our costs, but that we do still need $2667. If they grant us more than that, we told them it would replenish our savings reserved for building replacement needs. We will hear back from them in the first half of December.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth, Dave and Juliet

Concord Monthly Meeting

Fundraising Report

for Fire Safety and Geothermal Heating System Upgrades

as of November 5, 2023

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth, Dave and Juliet

Fundraising Report

for Fire Safety and Geothermal Heating System Upgrades

as of November 5, 2023

Actuals

Source of Funding

Capital Campaign

Capital Campaign - Individuals

18,485

Capital Campaign - Grants

11,500

Total Capital Campaign

29,985

Other Source of Funds

Federal Subsidy (30% of geothermal)

15,383

Sale of Boiler Items

689

Replacement Reserve Savings

20,000

Total Source of Funds

66,057

Funds Expended (includes $1000 for landscaping materials)

68,724

Gain/(Loss )

(2,667)

November 26th, 4th Sunday

Ministry and Counsel is planning a time of sharing based around an

exploration of spiritual values. The long Thanksgiving weekend provides a

bit of space and expands our sense of gratitude. Come, enjoy a meal

together, and take some time together, one in the Spirit.

Dover Quarterly Meeting Minutes

Friends,

The minutes for Dover Quarterly Meeting for October 29, 2023 are available at https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/Minutes_of_DoverQuarterlyMeeting [6]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/Minutes_of_DoverQuarterlyMeeting

There are two 'attachments' to the minutes:

https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2023-10-29DoverQuarterlyMeeting#Br... [7]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2023-10-29DoverQuarterlyMeeting#BrianDraytonReport
https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2023-10-29DoverQuarterlyMeeting#An... [8]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2023-10-29DoverQuarterlyMeeting#AntiRacismRemonstrance

With love, and peace, and tenderness,

Mark Barker

The Ramallah School in the West Bank was established by Quakers over 100 years ago and remains a Quaker school that serves both Palestinian and Israeli youth. If you don't receive and read the FUM (Friends United Meeting) newsletter, I encourage you to read at least the attached piece by the FUM Secretary on the situation here. If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter which has reports from FUM supported ministry around the world,

click here https://friendsunitedmeeting.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77b72b10d16b6d83e6709ae57&id=16d269ae17&e=977b0da503 [9]

6 November 2023

Dear Friends,

A second-grade student at Ramallah Friends School offers this prayer, “I wish I could share my flashlight with the people in Gaza so they can see when the lights go out.”

Many of us in the Quaker community share a desire to help in meaningful ways as the war continues and as bombs fall relentlessly on Gaza. Friends have a long history of providing care and support for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. When asked, we direct Friends who want to give to agencies, like the American Friends Service Committee, which has staff working on the ground in Gaza, https://afsc.org/topics/gaza-israel [10]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://afsc.org/topics/gaza-israel. We will continue to do so.

Given FUM’s immediate care and concern for Ramallah Friends School, our attention remains focused on the needs of our staff, students, and their families. The war has a direct impact on all Palestinians. Recently, Rania Maayeh, Head of Ramallah Friends School, attended two wakes held by members of our staff who had family members killed in the bombing. To date, twelve RFS families have left Palestine and our school community. This week, a fourteen-year-old boy was killed by occupation forces not far from our campus. We have deep concerns about the radicalization of some of our older students. Many of our RFS families are no longer receiving paychecks. It is unsafe for some of our students and staff members to travel to school because their route passes settlements. The United Nations has reported that since October 7, armed settlers have killed more than 120 Palestinians in the West Bank.

The spiritual, mental, and emotional toll on the members of our students and staff is significant. I check in with Ranya on most days. On Thursday, her comment was, “This is just too much! Too much!”

Amid such trauma and fear, Ramallah Friends School continues to serve in courageous ways. In recent weeks, we expanded our counseling programs to provide emotional and trauma support for our students and staff. We hired two additional counselors, and more are needed. To give our students a voice, our juniors and seniors are participating in a letter campaign to global leaders, including members of the US Congress. As much as possible, RFS is committed to providing our students with a sense of normalcy by providing in-person instruction. When it is not safe, we offer online educational support.

So, what can you do:

· Pray: Rania recently shared a prayer that states, “I no longer pray for peace. I pray for miracles.”

· Write: Join the RFS students and write a letter to the president and your representatives. Appeal for a ceasefire now: https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2023-11/calling-ceasefire-advocacy-toolkit [11]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2023-11/calling-ceasefire-advocacy-toolkit.

· Give: Friends United Meeting is partnering with QUIET (Quaker International Education Trust) and FWCC-EMES (Friends World Committee for Consultation – Europe & Middle East Section) to launch the “Wellbeing Campaign for Ramallah Friends School.” These funds will support RFS counseling and financial aid programs.

Friends in Europe and the UK can give online at https://friendsunitedmeeting.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77b72b10... [12]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/rfs-wellbeing-support
Friends in the US can give at https://friendsunitedmeeting.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77b72b10... [13]. Click or tap to follow the link.">https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/rfswellbeing

I invite Friends to join our second-grade student at RFS in her prayer, “I wish I could share my flashlight…”

I Will Hold The Christ-Light For You

In The Night-Time Of Your Fear;

I Will Hold My Hand Out To You,

Speak The Peace You Long To Hear.

- The Servant Song

In Hope and Peace

Kelly Kellum

General Secretary

From NEYM

Israel-Palestine:
- NEYM’s Israel-Palestine Resource Group exist to support local meetings. Their resource page for meetings looking to engage in the topic ishttps://neym.org/israel-palestine-resources-engagement [14]. Click or tap to follow the link."> here and they can be contacted at israel-palestine [at] neym [dot] org
- The group is hosting a Zoom-based conversation with Steve Chase, who has recently traveled to Israel-Palestine, on November 12th at 7:00 p.m. Sign up to get the link https://lu.ma/wl2whc5y [15]. Click or tap to follow the link.">here.

Statement on Conflict in Israel-Palestine

November 3, 2023

These troubled weeks have brought yet again a devastating eruption of the long suffering caused by the conflict in Israel-Palestine. With anxiety and heartbreak, we witness the horrors unfolding in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank, and beyond. The global community of Quakers, of which we are a part, includes Friends with deep roots and relationships in the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. As violence has expanded and intensified in recent days, alongside continuing strife raging across the globe and violence in our own region, we write on behalf of the Quaker faith communities in the six New England states to offer our prayers and raise our voices and hands for the healing of the world.

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) holds that every person has the capacity to receive and respond to the love and guidance of God. All human beings are created and unconditionally beloved by God. We are dependent on one another, and it is through our relationships—as persons and as societies—that our lives make real our love for God and neighbor. We join our voices with all who strive to meet the sacred obligations to acknowledge and honor the belovedness and dignity of every person, every life. We affirm again the declaration of the first Quakers in 1660:

“We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world. The spirit of Christ by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it; and we do certainly know, and so testify to the world, that the spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdoms of this world.”

We are called to reflect and pray more deeply, resisting reactivity, aggression, self-justification, and othering of those we experience as enemies. We must recognize and resist the escalating pressures throughout our human family that attempt to justify atrocities against fellow human beings. We remember that we are each capable of evil, even in the name of good. And we are called to daily examine and reject the seeds of war in our own hearts and living, through God’s help. Promoting adherence to universal humanitarian values, and to the essential use of nonviolent methods to resolve differences, is not simply an option but a necessity for the survival of the human family.

With humility and boldness, we take up and renew a commitment to turn from indulging our own hostile impulses, from the fostering of division within our local communities, and from the rush to violence and escalating cycles of retributive action in conflicts worldwide, and turn toward the courageous work of peacebuilding. We join with people throughout the world calling for an immediate ceasefire and for the provision of desperately needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

We affirm and support the ongoing work of the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the American Friends Service Committee in their advocacy and service in support of a just peace for all. We unite with this recent statement on Gaza issued by wider Quaker bodies and Friends organizations of which we are a member.

Let us each continue to seek paths to participate in the work of peace, in whatever ways and with whatever tools are available to us. We are called to act in faith, with persistence, patience, and courage, as partners with Divine Love in the deep healing of the world.

New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Rebecca Leuchak, Presiding Clerk Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting Secretary RL/NM:sh

[16]

Click here [17]

Introduction

Meeting Care Day

Israel and Palestine with Steve Chase

Reconciliation Leadership Program

Gathering for young adult Friends

Public statement on conflict in Israel-Palestine

We're hiring!

Sessions 2024 update

Legacy grantee survey

Our new Outreach Archivist

Bodine-Rustin nominations wanted

ARCH News

Help from the Archives Committee

Videos, podcasts, and more

For youth from K to 8th grade

A last word

Remember to collect plastic bags and put them in the box in the mechanical room of the Meetinghouse. If you have any questions, contact Sheryl Ingraham at 410-972-1222.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us at:

concordfriendsnewsletter [at] gmail [dot] com

From Past Issues:

Daily Online Meeting for Worship from any place in the World

The New England Yearly Meeting Epistle 2023

The Ben Lomond Quaker Center

Offers a daily online meeting for worship from 7:30-8:00 AM Pacific Time. You can join them from anyplace in the world. online meeting for worship [18]

Yearly Meeting Epistle 2023 [19]

Submissions

Dear Friends,

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Finally, it's best to keep your Zoom links in a handy place in case the announcements are not sent in a given week. Juliet Curran Newsletter Editor

Are you wanting information from past announcements?

Visit this page on our web site: Past Announcements [20]