Eastern Hills Friends Newsletter

March 2012 Newsletter

2012-03-25T23:00:01Z

Worship with us at 1671 Nagel Rd.

Write us at PO Box 54565, Cincinnati, OH 45254-0565

www.easternhillsfriends.org

March 25, 2012

Calendar of Events:

Mar. 30-31 Willson Lectures, Earlham School of Richmond

Apr. 7 OVYM Executive Committee Meeting, Richmond, IN

Apr. 8 Easter Potluck at Alice and Wilson Palmers’, after the rise of meeting

Apr. 14 Shared Journeys Workshop, Mt. Gilead Friends, Bloomington, IN

Apr. 15 Second Hour discussion: FCNL priorities for 2013-2014 Congress

Apr. 21-22 Victory of Light Expo, Sharonville Convention Center

Apr. 26 Jimmy Heath House: Providing lunch, set-up at 11:30, serve at noon

Apr. 29 Workday

May 5 GAPP Cultural Night with Turkish Woman, 7 pm, EHF Meetinghouse (women only)

May 6 Meeting for Business

May 20 Miami Quarterly Meeting, Yellow Springs, OH

Additional Information:

• FUM’s 2012 Chain of Prayer begins Jan. 1 and continues through Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012. More information & a registration form can be found at http://www.fum.org/naministries/ChainofPrayer_index.htm

• Information on the 2012 FGC Gathering is available at http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering.

•The Willson Lectures will be held March 30-31 at Earlham School of Religion, this year featuring Rosemary Radford Ruether from the Claremont Graduate University and School of Richmond. For more information, contact fordma@earlham.edu or call 1-800-432-1377.

• Shared Journeys, a workshop is for partners of any variety who want to recommit to one another, will be led by Shelley and John Newby on Saturday, April 14, 9:30-3:30, at Mt. Gilead Friends Meeting in Bloomington, IN. For information, see the last newsletter or call (812) 679-6835 or e-mail mtgilfr@bloomington.in.us or snewby55@hotmail.com.

• The World Conference of Friends 2012, with the theme Being Salt and Light - Friends living the Kingdom of God in a broken world, will be held April 17-25 at Kabarak University in Kenya (http://www.saltandlight2012.org/). JP Lund from our meeting and Rachel Ernst from Community Friends will be attending. Please hold them in the light while they travel and attend this worldwide meeting of Friends.

• For the first time, Friends will have an outreach presence at the Victory of Light Expo, which will be held April 21-22 (Saturday and Sunday) at the Sharonville Convention Center (http://VictoryofLight.com/). There will be a Quaker booth with free literature and other pamphlets, CDs by local Friends, and “Gems of Quaker Wisdom”—Quaker message jewelry. On Saturday, Paulette Meier will perform a musical set, and, on Sunday, Eileen Bagus will present a workshop and Paulette will assist, singing chants from her CD Timeless Quaker Wisdom in Plain Song.

• April 29^th will be our spring workday. Come prepared to get dirty! If you are unable to attend, please sign up for a project you can do at another time.

• Business meeting has instituted “Free Will” offerings to organizations that we have given to in the past but for whom we no longer feel we have the resources. A different organization will be the object of offerings each month. The schedule of organizations, and amounts we have given in the past, are the following:

April—OH Council of Churches—$25

June—Center on Conscience and War—$100

August—AFSC—$200

October—FCNL—$200

Spiritual Practice - from Eastern Hills Ministry and Counsel:

Expectant Waiting

When we describe our manner of worship to others, do we say that our meeting for worship is unprogrammed? Our worship isn’t really unprogrammed, you know. We just observe a different sort of order of service.

Each Sunday, we begin our worship with three hymns (unless someone feels really iconoclastic and requests a fourth.) Then we enter the silence, a keystone of our liturgy. At a particular time, those involved in First Day School leave the meeting room. In the past as well as the present, clerks have signaled somehow after an hour that meeting for worship is about to end. Meeting officially ends when we shake hands. Of course, our worship is unprogrammed to the extent that we never know if someone might rise to engage in vocal ministry.

Perhaps we can add to our meeting’s spiritual vitality if we don’t think of or describe our worship as unprogrammed or only “silent worship” or worshipping “out of the silence.” Let’s try instead the old Quaker phrase “expectant waiting,” a phrase which honors the silence and its meditative value but which also acknowledges that silence is not an end in itself. Rather, the silence is a door we open to welcome the Divine Presence.

Expectant waiting. Something is going to happen! And there is a good chance that what happens will not be personal only. It will be a ministry that spiritually enriches us all.

Expectant waiting. Can we bring to our worship the same feeling with which we anticipate the arrival of a much-loved friend?

Editor: Rick Boyce, 231-9866, richardboyce@fuse.net, welcomes additions or suggestions for the newsletter.

February 2012 Newsletter

2012-03-19T00:49:39Z

Eastern Hills Friends Newsletter

Worship with us at 1671 Nagel Rd.

Write us at PO Box 54565, Cincinnati, OH 45254-0565

www.easternhillsfriends.org

March 18, 2012

Calendar of Events:

Mar. 22 Jimmy Heath House: Providing lunch, set-up at 11:30, serve at noon

Mar. 24 Women’s Group at Alice Palmer’s, 1 pm, to assist Kate Lester in her ministry of making dresses for Haitian orphans

Mar. 25 Meeting for Business

Mar. 25 Stories and Pictures from the Freedom Rides with David Fankhauser, 11:45 am at Community

Friends Meeting

Apr. 1 OVYM Executive Council Meeting

Apr. 8 Second Hour discussion: FCNL priorities for 2013-2014 Congress

May 20 Miami Quarterly Meeting, Yellow Springs, OH

Additional Information:

• Information on the 2012 FGC Gathering is available at http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering.

• 1) Please collect the following for the Quaker Missions Project: foreign envelopes; old domestic envelopes in original condition with stamp attached; new or used domestic or foreign post cards; first day covers; first day issues; old stamp collections; most anything postal (it all has value). The proceeds from the sale of these items support Quaker organizations. 2) To support a new student, Whittier Friends School has a goal of 10,000 “Box Tops for Education” that are found on General Mills products, Progresso Soup, Kleenex and Campbell-Swanson Soup labels. Please place all of the above items in the box on the table in the gathering room, or give them to Henrietta Ballinger.

• Elva Rockwell passed away March 3, 2012. She was 98 years old. There will be a memorial meeting / celebration of her life at 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 7, 2012 at the home of Paul & Graciela Rockwell, 117 Calithea Ln., Hillsborough, NC 27278. Donations may be made in memory of her to Friends Committee on National Legislation at https://fcnl.org/donate/honor/fcnl/.

• Shared Journeys, a workshop is for partners of any variety who want to recommit to one another, will be led by Shelley and John Newby on Saturday, April 14, 9:30-3:30, at Mt. Gilead Friends Meeting in Bloomington, IN. The day will include group time, couple time, playful interactions, deep explorations, and processes that will help us know and love one another more clearly. Partners will leave the day remembering what brought them together, having named what they appreciate about their relationship now, and plans for how they want to intentionally go forward together. Bring a brownbag lunch. Drinks will be provided. Ask about lodging if needed. Fee: $80 per couple. Register by April 7. Location: Friends Meeting House, Moores Pike west of Smith Rd. To register, please send a check for $80 to Mt Gilead Friends Retreat, 3363 Mt Gilead Rd, Bloomington IN 47408. For information call (812) 679-6835 or e-mail mtgilfr@bloomington.in.us or snewby55@hotmail.com.

• The last business meeting decided to institute “Free Will” offerings to organizations that we have given to in the past but for whom we no longer feel we have the resources. A different organization will be the object of offerings each month. The schedule of organizations, and amounts we have given in the past are the following:

March—MARCC—$100

April—OH Council of Churches—$25

June—CCW—$100

August—AFSC—$200

October—FCNL—$200

Spiritual Practice - from Eastern Hills Ministry and Counsel:

The Tibetan Buddhist Lama Yeshe asked, “Does a rainbow exist?” He answered his question thus:

Of course it does, but how? As something arising from the interplay of droplets of water in the sky, sunlight, and our own point of observation. A rainbow, then, is an interdependent phenomenon....

How is my spiritual life also “an interdependent phenomenon”?

Editor: Rick Boyce, 231-9866, richardboyce@fuse.net, welcomes additions or suggestions for the newsletter.

January 2012 Newsletter

2012-01-29T18:30:07Z

Eastern Hills Friends Newsletter

Worship with us at 1671 Nagel Rd.

Write us at PO Box 54565, Cincinnati, OH 45254-0565

www.easternhillsfriends.org

January 29, 2012

Calendar of Events:

Feb. 12 Second Hour discussion: Postponed

Feb. 15 Jimmy Heath House: Providing lunch, set-up at 11:30, serve at noon

Feb. 19 Miami Quarter Meeting for Business, Lexington Friends, Lexington, KY

Feb. 24-25 Wilmington Yearly Meeting Mini-Yearly Meeting

Feb. 26 Meeting for Business

Mar. 4 Miami Center Quarter Meeting for Business

Apr. 8 Second Hour discussion: FCNL priorities for 2013-2014 Congress

Additional Information:

• 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 are accepting contributions of coffee again—caffeinated only, unflavored preferred.

• Friends need to sign up for cleaning the meetinghouse.

• To express appreciation to Doug and Kim Stears for providing our meeting lawncare, please recommend their lawncare service to anyone seeking such work.

• Information on the 2012 FGC Gathering is available at http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering.

• Dick Day, a founding member of EHFM, passed away on January 12^th. A memorial service will be held at the Blacksburg Meetinghouse on Saturday, February 11, 2 pm, at 404 Mt. Tabor Road, Blacksburg. The family suggests that memorials be made to the Blacksburg Friends Meeting or Good Samaritan Hospice, 1160 Moose Drive, NW, Christiansburg, VA.

Spiritual Practice - from Eastern Hills Ministry and Counsel:

STOP

I sometimes hear Quakers or attenders say that Meeting for Worship on First Day is a welcome respite from the week’s demands and urgencies. They relish being able to sit quietly during that time.

If this is you, and First Day is the only day that you allow yourself to sit quietly and open to the silence, you are cheating yourself.

At least once every day this month, stop. Sit. Quietly. Do nothing except to open yourself to God’s presence. For at least five minutes.

Quiet body.

Quiet mind.

Quiet heart.

Don’t say that you don’t have time. You have all the time there is.

Editor: Rick Boyce, 231-9866, richardboyce@fuse.net, welcomes additions or suggestions for the newsletter.

December 2011 Newsletter

2011-12-24T01:20:28Z

Eastern Hills Friends Newsletter

Worship with us at 1671 Nagel Rd.

Write us at PO Box 54565, Cincinnati, OH 45254-0565

www.easternhillsfriends.org

December 23, 2011

Calendar of Events:

Dec. 25 Meeting for Worship.

Dec. 28 Jimmy Heath House: Providing lunch, set-up at 11:30, serve at noon

Jan. 1 Peace Pole, Beech Acres Park, 5-5:30 pm

Jan. 1 Shape Note Singing at Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 10 am - 3 pm

Jan. 8 Second Hour on Integrity

Jan. 22 Meeting for Business

Additional Information:

• 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.

• Friends need to sign up for cleaning the meetinghouse.

• To express appreciation to Doug and Kim Stears for providing our meeting lawncare, please recommend their lawncare service to anyone seeking such work.

• Information on the 2012 FGC Gathering is available at http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering.

Spiritual Practice - from Eastern Hills Ministry and Counsel:

The following query from Aotearoa/New Zealand Yearly Meeting challenges both the Christ-centered and non-Christ-centered.

The Religious Society of Friends is rooted in Christianity, and has

always found inspiration in the life and teachings of Jesus. How do

you interpret your faith in the light of this heritage? Are you following

Jesus’ example of love in action? Are you learning from his life of

sacrifice the reality and cost of obedience to God? How does his

closeness to God challenge and inspire you in the way you live?

Editor: Rick Boyce, 231-9866, richardboyce@fuse.net, welcomes additions or suggestions for the newsletter.

November 2011 Newsletter

2011-11-28T00:13:04Z

Eastern Hills Friends Newsletter

Worship with us at 1671 Nagel Rd.

Write us at PO Box 54565, Cincinnati, OH 45254-0565

www.easternhillsfriends.org

November 27, 2011

Calendar of Events:

Nov. 30 Jimmy Heath House: Providing lunch, set-up at 11:30, serve at noon

Dec. 4 Monthly Meeting for Business, preceded by potluck

Dec. 4 Michael Henson and Paulette Hansel—poetry reading, Cincinnati Friends, 2 pm

Dec. 4 Annual Peace and Merriment Concert, Riley School of Irish Music, Columbia Baptist Church,

3718 Eastern Avenue, Cincinnati

Dec. 11 Second Hour on Integrity

Dec. 11 Musica Sacra concert

Dec. 16 Christmas Gathering: potluck, singing, variety show (?) with the Palmers at 3137 State Route

132, Amelia, OH 45102

Dec. 25 Meeting for Worship.

Dec. 28 Jimmy Heath House: Providing lunch, set-up at 11:30, serve at noon

Additional Information:

• 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 are accepting contributions of coffee again—caffeinated only, unflavored preferred.

• A former member of our meeting, Cecil Rockwell, died November 10^th after a long illness. A memorial service was held at the home of his son Paul in Hillsborough, NC, on November 13^th. Memorial donations may be made to AFSC.

• The Ministry and Counsel Committee of OVYM is using email for this edition of the Faith and Practice discussion. A revision was forwarded to meeting attenders by the clerk. Wilson Palmer is asking attenders to please respond by December 15, 2011, or to ask him for more time if desired.

• Friends need to sign up for cleaning the meetinghouse.

• To express appreciation to Doug and Kim Stears for providing our meeting lawncare, please recommend their lawncare service to anyone seeking such work.

• Henrietta Ballinger reported that funds generated from postage stamp donations were sent to RSWR, FWCC, AFSC, and, through Box Tops for Education, Whittier Friends School.

Spiritual Practice - from Eastern Hills Ministry and Counsel:

Here is salvation for all:

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. ...Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

(Reinhold Niebuhr)

Have you been saved by hope? By love? By forgiveness?

How might you help another find salvation through hope, love, and forgiveness?

Editor: Rick Boyce, 231-9866, richardboyce@fuse.net, welcomes additions or suggestions for the newsletter.

October 2011 Newsletter

2011-10-10T01:31:36Z

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 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.