Eastern Hills Friends Newsletter
Worship with us at 1671 Nagel Rd.
Write us at PO Box 54565, Cincinnati, OH
45254-0565
www.easternhillsfriends.org
October 9, 2011
Calendar of Events:
Oct. 15 OVYM
Middle Youth overnight at Englewood Friends; OVYM Teen Overnight at Dayton MM
Oct. 16 Miami
Quarterly Meeting, Dayton (see below)
Oct. 21-23 Salt
and Light event, Louisville, KY
Oct. 25 Salt
and Light event, Community Friends (see below)
Oct. 30 Work
Day
Nov. 6 Monthly
Meeting for Business
Additional Information:
• The
schedule for Miami Quarterly
Meeting in Dayton will be: 9:45 am singing, 10 am worship
followed by program, potluck and business meeting. Martha Viehmann will be
leading an intergenerational program on the Peace Testimony.
• Salt
and Light events will be held in Louisville, KY, Oct. 21-23, and at Community
Friends in Cincinnati, Oct. 25 (potluck dinner at 5:30 pm and program at 7:00
pm). Sponsored by FWCC Section of the Americas, they will be led by Valerie Joy
and Abel Sibonio, both from Australia YM. More information can be found at http://www.fwccamericas.org/events/index.shtml.
Watch for a forthcoming poster of the event.
•
Ministry and Counsel welcomes suggestions for material to be posted on the web
site. Anything that you believe is appropriate should be submitted to them.
• We
encourage members and attenders to purchase Corningware Corelle bowls to add to
the collection of dishes that we use at Jimmy Heath House and for other events.
We need about 50 bowls to complete our set, and we suggest checking the thrift
store.
• We
are accepting contributions of coffee again—caffeinated only, unflavored
preferred.
First Day School 2011-2012
First day school has
begun for Seth, with Franchot Ballingers’s
three sessions on Quakerism, followed by Jim Coppock doing sessions on the
Church of the Brethren and possibly a Black Catholic church. Wilson Palmer will
be doing sessions on Islam. We
still need additional adult Friends. Seth’s adult companion in First Day School
will devote a month to exploring a specific Christian sect, or some other faith
tradition, according to the following schedule:
Week
1 Introduction
Week
2 Further
exploration
Week
3 When
possible, a visit to the group’s worship service
Week
4 Follow-up
discussion.
We would like you to choose
one area from among the following possibilities and sign up to work with Seth
for a month:
• Protestant denominations:
Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, Mormonism,
Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah’s Witness, Episcopalian
• Catholicism
• Greek/Eastern Orthodoxy
• Unitarian Universalist
• Buddhism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Bahai
• Hindu
We encourage adult Friends
to step beyond their comfort zones and agree to accompany Seth on one of these
journeys. Friends need not be expert or even (initially) knowledgeable about
the traditions they chose. Ministry and Counsel will gladly help Friends find
resource materials.
If you are able to help,
please contact Footie Lund. Also, teachers should contact Martha Viehmann for
information about Seth’s schedule, as he frequently goes camping with Scouts,
so he will not be in attendance every Sunday.
Spiritual Practice - from Eastern
Hills Ministry and Counsel:
MEETING FOR WORSHIP WITH
ATTENTION TO BUSINESS
It is a sad fact that
Eastern Hills’ monthly meetings for business are often not well attended by
either members or attenders. No doubt, those who do not attend have their
reasons—some good, some perhaps not so good. Of course, no one can attend all
the time, but expecting regular attendance at meeting for business is not
unreasonable.
It may be that some think
that meeting for business is not as “spiritually” important as meeting for
worship. After all, does God really care if the meetinghouse roof gets
repaired, if the front door gets replaced, or what gets in the newsletter?
Well, probably not. But God does care how we deal with each other in conducting
mundane matters of business as well as at other times. Let’s face it: there are
times that such issues engage our emotions as much as less mundane matters. Of
course, there are also times that bigger issues elicit intense emotions and
convictions and that challenge our spiritual experience and faith. Regardless,
meeting for business is our opportunity to practice being a faith community as
well as to practice Jesus’ call to love each other.
We must do a better job of
conveying this understanding to members and attenders alike. We must all also
understand that if we don’t attend meeting for business, we have denied
ourselves the full experience of worshipping together. We meet monthly in
meeting for worship with a concern for business as well as for weekly worship.
Eastern Hills’ meetings for
business occasionally have their moments of tension and conflict. Generally,
however, they proceed informally and amiably enough, often with humor. None of
us would want to sacrifice these qualities. On the other hand, it might be a
good idea to remind ourselves of some Quaker traditions regarding speaking in
meeting for business.
“Friends should conduct the
business meeting as a meeting for worship with a concern for business. When
there seems to be disagreement, a free expression of all opinions should be
encouraged. Those who speak in meetings for business are advised not to be
unduly persistent in advocacy or opposition, but, after having fully expressed
their views, to recognize the generally expressed sense of the meeting. A deep
and seeking silence can help to reconcile seemingly opposing points of view.
Meetings should be conducted in the spirit of wisdom, forebearance and love.” from “Advices,” New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, 1968
There is no point in
conforming slavishly to the following advices, but it can’t hurt to observe
their spirit. They can stand us in good stead when things do get tough.
“SUNDRY MODERN PROVERBS: being some Friendly Advices on the
Conduct of Quaker Meetings for Business. The Advices are purely unofficial.
They are supposed to have been written by William Bacon Evans.
1. Suitably prepare thyself
for business session by previous group or individual waiting upon the Lord.
2. When feeling led to
speak to matters of business, rise and receive recognition of the clerk before
speaking.
3. If thou hast a real
concern, speak so thou canst be heard by all in the meeting.
4. Seek not for information
in open business sessions which thou shouldst have discovered by reading
reports and minutes.
5. Let not certain Friends
be known for their much speaking. Brevity is as desirable in meetings for
business as in meetings for worship.
6. If thou art tempted to
speak much and often, exercise restraint lest thy speaking be not “in the
Spirit.”
7. If thou are hesitant
about speaking to matters of business when thou hast a real concern, be true to
prompting of the Spirit.
8. Having spoken once to a
matter of business, it is well for thee to refrain from speaking again till
after others have had full opportunity to voice their concerns.
9. Thou shouldst exercise
care lest thy presumed convictions be only “notions” or even prejudices.
10. Beware lest thou
confuse thy own desire with the leading of the Spirit.
11. Should thy concern not
meet with general approval of the meeting, in common courtesy and in true
humility withdraw thy concern that the meeting may act in some measure of
unity.
12. Temper thy speech with
tenderness and forbearance, that Friends may ‘feel’ the promptings of thy
heart.”
from Miriam Brush, for The Art and Spirit of Clerking workshop,
Powell House, Old Chatham, NY, Nov. 1973
Editor: Rick Boyce, 231-9866, richardboyce@fuse.net, welcomes additions
or suggestions for the newsletter.
