Lake Erie Yearly Meeting

The 6th Annual QUAKE THAT ROCKED THE MIDWEST is coming up January 18-21 of 2008 in Evanston, Illinois. Young Friends from Northern, Illinois, Ohio Valley and Lake Erie Yearly Meetings will be attending. Registration deadline is December 15, 2007, cost is only $40 per person. Check out this flyer and registration materials for more information.

Lake Erie Yearly Meeting invites you to name up to two representatives of your Meeting's or Worship Group's Ministry and Nurture (or otherwise named) Committee to attend a consultation. This consultation is being designed, based on responses to the survey (available on the M and N webpage) to assist participants in nurturing the spiritual life of the Meeting.

The consultation will begin at 7 P.M. on Friday, November 16, and end at 1 P.M. on Sunday, November 18, following the noon meal. We will gather at the Weber Center, a retreat center of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, in Adrian, Michigan. Information about the Weber Center, and directions, can be found on their website at www.webercenter.org.

Our weekend program will be led by Mary Ann Downey, of Southern Appalachia Yearly Meeting and Association, Atlanta Meeting. Mary Ann will lead us in a program that will allow the participants to learn, hear and discuss each other's joys, questions and challenges in being faithful spiritual nurturers.

More information is available at
http://www.quaker.org/leym/mncommittee.html

Greetings Everyone!
Here is the info for our Fall Paddle In Hell (Michigan). It is a little earlier this year, so maybe the weather in Hell won't be so 'frightful'

Where: Starting at the Hell dam (yes, really
Date: Saturday, 9/29
Time: Beginning @ 10:30 am
Duration: Paddling the full chain and back took 3 hrs plus stopping for lunch, followed by ice cream at Screams .
Cost: $37 per vessel (includes up to 3 people per canoe or one per kayak)


Please contact me ASAP to reserve; catherine.deyo@gmail.com
I hope you can come!
Be Well,
Cathi Deyo

The Quaker House Residential Community associated with Ann Arbor Friends Meeting seeks applications for a new resident, starting immediately. This socially diverse community lives in a beautiful six-bedroom house adjoining the Meetinghouse. Residents share meal costs, weekly cooking and cleaning responsibilities (4-6 hours), and regular attendance at house and community meetings; a monthly financial contribution is also expected. An application form is available on the Ann Arbor Meeting web site: www.annarborfriends.org. Interested Friends can also phone the Resident Hosts, Yes (846-6545) and Terri (418-8632), or email qhrc_apply@umich.edu.

September 7-9, 2007, Pendle Hill offers a weekend workshop, "Faithful, Effective Work for Peace and Justice," which will include presentations by staff from the American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Quaker Initiative to End Torture, and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, including Mary Lord, Jim Cason, Scilla Wahrhaftig, Joan Broadfield, Jennifer Bing-Canar, Peter Lems, and Oskar Castro. Those gathered will share ideas, information, and strategies for a year of faithful - and effective - work for peace and justice.
For more information, call Pendle Hill at ext. 3, 610-566-4507 or 800-742-3150 or email registrar@pendlehill.org or visit the website, www.pendlehill.org.
Use this link for more details on this program.

Two LEYM Spiritual Formation Retreats have been scheduled in Michigan at the Leaven Center September 7-9, 2007 and May 2-4, 2008 with Kristina Perry and Callid Keefe. A registration form for these 2007-2008 events is available for download here. More information on the Spiritual Formation Program is available on the LEYM website.

There will be a work day at Friends School in Detroit on Saturday, May 12th from 9 am to 12:00 noon. Work will include repairing and preparing garden beds for planting, spreading compost, painting a wall, spreading wood chips and repairing playground equipment. Please bring your garden tools, shovels, weeders, wheel barrows and rakes and paint brushes. All gardeners, handy people and their toolboxes are welcome.

Come celebrate the 50th anniversary of the formation of GPQM at our Spring
Gathering, on Saturday, May 19, at Michigan Friends Center (near Chelsea).
In the morning session, Stephen Angell, professor of Quaker history at
Earlham School of Religion, will speak on "The Essentials of Quakerism".
Julie Breidenstein will again provide a delicious lunch. This gathering
offers a wonderful opportunity for worship with Friends throughout Michigan,
Quaker fellowship, and enjoying MFC's lovely rural setting in springtime.
The schedule follows:

9:00 Registration
9:30 Meeting for Worship
10:30 Talk by Stephen Angell
11:15 Discussion
Noon Lunch
1:15 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

The Spring 2007 Bulletin and the 4-page insert that provides registration and consent forms for the LEYM Annual Meeting are now available on our webpage. See the Annual Meeting Info page to get it.

The timed schedule of events for the LEYM 2007 Annual meeting (June 14-17) is now available online as a a pdf. You can get it from the Annual Meeting Info page of the LEYM website (see the link to the Spring 2007 Bulletin)

Are you interested in spreading the word about your Quaker meeting? In helping newcomers to your meeting? In reaching out to and retaining young people?

There will be a weekend retreat for FGC Friends outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from March 30 to April 1 of 2007. Lake Erie Yearly Meeting has been asked to send two representatives. FGC will cover the cost for room, board, and registration, so your only cost would be transportation. The weekend is being organized by FGC's Advancement & Outreach Committee. To find out more, please contact Mathilda Navias, the clerk of LEYM's Advancement & Outreach Committee, at galaxy@woh.rr.com or (419) 448-0578.

Quaker Roots in the Rainforest:
LEYM's pilgrimage to Costa Rica Spring 2007

You are invited to join us as we travel down to San Jose and Monteverde, Costa Rica, to explore our Quaker roots in this region and enjoy the natural beauty of the area. We will travel to a coffee cooperative, spend time at Monteverde Friends School, and worship with local Friends. We'll also have plenty of time to see the sights!

To qualify for this trip, participants must either be a Quaker or an attender at a Quaker meeting. S/he must be at least 14 years of age. Youth will be responsible for helping with fundraising activities leading up to the trip to offset costs. Costs will approximate $1350, and youth are encouraged to raise as much of that as possible on their own, or through their meetings. Youth are also advised that they should quickly begin the process of obtaining a passport if they do not already have one, as this can take time.

Costs will cover flights, local transportation and excursion expenses, and meals. Youth are encouraged to bring spending money. Housing will be at local hostels, and youth are expected to observe local rules and regulations. Youth are encouraged to write a brief report of their visit for possible publication in Quaker press.

Application materials are available here. Note that the application deadline has been extended.

For more information, contact:

Kri Burkander kri@burkander.com or 734-652-5782

The 5th Annual QUAKE THAT ROCKED THE MIDWEST is coming up January 12-15 of 2007 in Evanston, Illinois. Young Friends from Northern, Illinois, Ohio Valley and Lake Erie Yearly Meetings will be attending. Registration deadline is December 15, 2006, cost is only $40 per person. Check out this flyer and registration materials for more information.

Young Quakes are cordially invited to the LEYM Young Friends' Fall Retreat
(see pdf version of flyer here)
Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers" but how, really, does one "make peace"? Friends have long witnessed and worked for peace in the world and in daily life. Come see what the Bible has to offer for understanding what peace is and how it comes about. Bring a Bible, and if you have time, read Matthew 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount) before you come.

Presenter: Susan Jeffers, from Ann Arbor Meeting held at the Pittsburgh Meetinghouse, Pittsburgh, PA

October 20-22, 2006 Cost: $40 (see registration form here)

We will be staying at the meetinghouse, having opportunities for workshop, worship, and play together and with the meeting community.

Any questions/concerns, call or email Kri 734-652-5782, kri_noel@yahoo.com

Come together with Friends and help Raise the Roof on Red Cedar!

Take out your calendars & get ready for a celebration as Friends together on Saturday, November 4, 2006, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Michigan Friends Center invites Friends from Michigan and beyond to share a hot chili dinner on a cool autumn evening, followed by a concert by three extraordinary young musicians from Ann Arbor Friends Meeting: Eric Tinkerhess, cello; Antonia Silverio, violin; and Nathan Flanders, piano. Friends from Red Cedar will share information and answer questions about their progress toward a home of their own, including their hope of "building green," and a craft table will be on hand, so come prepared to do some early holiday shopping.

The event is being hosted by Michigan Friends Center as a fundraiser on behalf of Red Cedar's dream of building their own meetinghouse, and as a way of treasuring the presence of a growing community of Friends in Michigan. All food, time, and talent has been freely given, so all proceeds will go directly to Red Cedar's Meetinghouse Fund.

Tickets are $10-50 sliding scale. Someone in your meeting is probably selling tickets, but you can also contact Pam Hoffer (phoffer@umich.edu or 734-662-3435). Reservations are extremely helpful for planning. There has been a donation to partially subsidize tickets for those for whom the cost is prohibitive; we hope families will take advantage of the sliding scale.

Especially for GPQM youth, we will fire up the sauna and prepare a big campfire by the lake front, a short walk from the Center on the grounds of Friends Lake Community, which surrounds the Michigan Friends Center.. Bring a bathing suit, towel, and guitars for around the campfire. There is a beach house next to the sauna for changing.

This dinner follows a daylong program at MFC led by Susan Jeffers on how peace churches trace the roots of their pacifist beliefs in the Bible; see www.michiganfriendscenter.org for more information. Directions to MFC can also be found at the website.

The dates for this exciting high school age Friends event are October 6-9 2006, and the location is outside of Little Rock, AK. We're encouraging interested folks to discuss carpooling or getting flights together. It'd be great to have some LEYM folks there. Time is of the essence if you want to qualify for early registration discounts (apply by Sept. 9) or scholarship requests (submit request by Sept. 15). A few more details -
This year's theme: Honoring Our Faith
Honor - honesty or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions
Faith - being sure of what one hopes for and certain of what one does not see; commitment to a religious tradition or community
Explore the connections.

The engaging team of presenters are Hope Braveheart (Baltimore YM), Aaron Fowler (Great Plains YM), and Elizabeth Lyzenga-Waterman (New England YM).

How much: $160.00 for registrations (get form here) postmarked by September 9th, $190.00 for registrations postmarked after September 9th. Scholarship aid requests must be postmarked by no later than September 15th.
Full details available at the FGC event info page http://fgcquaker.org/religious-ed/youngquakes/

Here's a listing of upcoming events planned for Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting Friends.

September 16, 2006:
Fall GP Quarterly Meeting at Friends School in Detroit
Registration and fellowship -- 9:30 to 10:00 a.m.
Meeting for Worship -- 10:00 a.m;
Program -- 10:45 a.m "How Students at the Friends School in Detroit Learn to Live Quaker Values" (Dwight Wilson)
Lunch and fellowship to follow
Meeting with Attention to Business -- 1:00 p.m.

September 15-17: Fall GPQM-Grand Rapids Meeting Family Camp, Highland Recreation Area
(See registration form as a pdf file)

January 20, 2007: Winter Youth Outing -- Full Blast, Battle Creek Michigan

February 24, 2007: Mid-Winter Quarterly Meeting -- Grand Rapids Monthly Meeting

May 19, 2007: Spring Quarterly Meeting -- Michigan Friends Center/ Stephen Angell - Earlham School of Religion, speaker.

May 25-28, 2007: Spring Family Camp -- Paris, Michigan

July 14, 2007: Canoe the Chippewa River -- Mt. Pleasant

For further information, contact Cathi Deyo at deyo@gmail.com

FGC expects to fill four positions by the end of 2006. All include excellent benefits.

Conference Associate beginning October 2006, works as an administrative associate with the Conference Coordinator and works closely with the Junior Gathering Coordinator on the annual FGC Gathering. There are occasional smaller conferences that needs logistical support. The Conference Associate assists with preparation of the Gathering Advance Program and web information, and has primary responsibility for registration (both advance and on-site), housing assignments, and the on-site Information Desk. This position provides primary staff support for the conference standing committee and two or more subcommittees. Travel approximately seven weekends/year, plus two weeks at Annual Gathering. Strong organizational, interpersonal and computer skills are essential. Full Time. Excellent Benefits. Application deadline 9/01/06

Major Gifts and Planned Giving Manager beginning January 2007. Duties include developing and implementing a planned giving program, cultivating and soliciting major gifts and planned gifts, and assisting with major development campaigns. Travel approximately 50% time. FGC will consider experienced candidate working from home, with substantial time in Philadelphia office. Professional development experience, writing, and relationship skills essential. Major gift, campaign, and planned giving experience preferable. This is an exciting opportunity to become part of FGC's dynamic development program. Will work closely with Associate Secretary for Development and Interpretation and other staff. Full Time. Excellent Benefits. Application deadline 10/01/06.

Youth Ministries Coordinator beginning January, 2007. Working on FGC's exciting new Youth Ministries Program in cooperation with a new committee balanced between youth/young adults and older Friends, the coordinator has much responsibility for providing appropriate programs to Friends and Friends' meetings. These include holding conferences and retreats, supporting travel in the ministry by younger Friends, creating and maintaining a Quaker youth website, and helping to educate and support monthly meetings in efforts to strengthen true multi-generational communities. Strong organizational, computer and interpersonal skills, including demonstrated ability to work with young and adult young Friends, are essential. Full Time. Excellent Benefits. Application deadline 11/01/06.

Associate Secretary for Programs beginning January, 2007, will be part of FGC's new administrative leadership team (General Secretary plus three Associate Secretaries) which will provide spiritually grounded staff leadership for FGC. This position includes supervision of several program coordinators, work with several committees, collaborative consideration of important challenges and opportunities facing FGC, and communicating with staff and committees about such issues and initiatives. Seasoned, spiritually grounded Friends with substantial administrative and supervisory experience sought as candidates. 60% Time. Excellent Benefits. Application deadline 11/01/06.

Job descriptions for these positions are available at http://www.fgcquaker.org/info/jobs.html To apply for any of these positions, send resume & letter to General Secretary, FGC, 1216 Arch Street, 2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107, or Bruce Birchard at bruceb@fgcquaker.org

Nationally known musicians Madcat and Kane will play a benefit concert at Michigan Friends Center in Chelsea on July 22, 2006. Starting at 6pm, the festivities benefiting Michigan Friends Center will include delicious food from local organic producers to buy for supper and a silent auction of non-material gifts (see next paragraph for more details); concert follows. Chelsea musician and Friends Lake Community member Dale Osborn will open for Madcat and Kane. This is a chance to hear these wonderful musicians playing some terrific blues harmonica and guitar in the intimate setting of the Michigan Friends Center, surrounded by friends from many area groups. Reservations are important! Tickets will be $20 per person or 6 tickets for $100. Get a bunch and bring some friends! For tickets: Contact Nancy Paul at nsimmonspaul@yahoo.com or by phone at (734) 475-0425. For directions and more information about Michigan Friends Center in Chelsea, MI visit their website,
http://www.michiganfriendscenter.org .

We hope Friends and friends will come and have a wonderful time. The preconcert silent auction includes things that will bring people together...so we have, for instance, a water color painting lesson, a consultation from a gifted interior designer, a day sail with Steve Morehouse on his boat, a weekend at the Hoffer's cabin at Friends Lake, a gardening consultation, massage certificate, and we are maybe going to have the gift of a violin concert from an amazing young violinist, daughter of a member of Friends Lake... and more interesting items. It may well be sold out; these musicians have a real big set of fans in the area, so reservations are pretty critical...and we sure would prefer to see Friends there!

The dates have been set for the 2006-07 Spiritual Formation Program retreats to be held at the Leaven Center in Michigan. The dates are September 8-10, 2006 for the Fall retreat and May 4-6, 2007 for the Spring retreat, both with Phil Fitz and Beckey Phipps (NEYM). A registration form is available here, and the full Spiritual Formation Program brochure can be found here. A bit more information follows on the retreat process for those unfamiliar with it.
In the autumn, Friends and attenders from the various monthly meetings and worship groups throughout Lake Erie Yearly Meeting gather for the first of two retreats to begin their commitment to a year in supportive community.
During this retreat we reflect on our spiritual yearnings and discern personal spiritual practices that nourish, support, and further our intentions toward Spirit. Both in community and in solitude we listen faithfully to the Inner Light, and seek to support and encourage one another in this discernment process.
As part of the retreat program, each local group begins building its local meeting schedule, agrees on any local group expectations, and selects readings for the year.
The concluding retreat in the spring provides a worshipful opportunity to share insights, and to evaluate and enlarge on the program, as we have lived it out in our daily lives.

On the first Sunday in August (August 6th 2006) there will be a GPQM Meeting for Worship at 11:00 a.m. and a picnic beginning at noon. Check with Joe Mills (GPQM Treasurer) of Kalamazoo meeting if more information is needed.

The LEYM 2006 Annual Meeting program is included in the just published Spring Bulletin. Use this link to get a copy of the Spring 2006 Bulletin with Registration Forms appended to the end. If you already have a copy of the Spring Bulletin, you can download just the Registration Forms.

The LEYM Youth are getting together at two events, one April 28-30 (Spring Retreat) in Okemos, Michigan and the other June 9-11 (Senior Send-off Celebration) at the Michigan Friends Center. A flier on the April event is available (see also the accompanying details and small print) as is a flier on the June event (with accompanying details and small print). Sign-up for the April event is due by April 10, so you'll want to act fast if you're interested in attending.

The speaker in the morning session of the Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting at the Michigan Friends Center (near Chelsea) on May 20, 2006 will be Paul Buckley from Indianapolis, Indiana and the Earlham School of Religion. He will speak on: Quaker Simplicity in the 21st Century: Who Are We Trying to Impress?” The agenda is still being firmed up, but if we follow the pattern used last year, registration will be at 9:00 a.m. and Meeting for Worship at 9:15, Paul Buckley at 10:00 with discussion of the talk at 11:00 or so and lunch at noon, followed by the business meeting in the afternoon.

PAUL BUCKLEY is known among Friends for his work with various Quaker organizations and for his articles and workshops on the history, faith, and practice of the Religious Society of Friends. In 1998 he undertook a mid-life career change and earned a MA in Quaker Studies at the Earlham School of Religion. His books include: Twenty-First Century Penn: A Translation of Five of William Penn’s Theological Works into Modern English, Owning the Lord’s Prayer - A Meditation on That Prayer, and in 2006, The Quaker Bible Reader - A Collection of 13 Essays on How Friends Read Scripture from Across the Quaker Spectrum, which he coedited with Stephen Angell. Paul lives in Indianapolis with his beautiful wife, Peggy. He has three amazing adult children and one astounding granddaughter.

QUAKER SIMPLICITY in the 21st Century; Who Are We Trying to Impress?
Simplicity, as understood by modern Friends, grew out of the early Quaker practices of plainness and moderation. Those "peculiarities" served as a spiritual discipline, informing Friends’ relationships with the world, with each other, and with God. We will explore the evolution of the early Quaker testimony into today’s practices and contemporary ways in which simplicity shapes our lives as Friends.

Presenters: Julia Bandow, Lars Leichert; Don Smith
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2006
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (bring a sack lunch, beverages and snack provided)
Fee: $25 or $10-$25 as able
Coordinator: Peggy Daub

This workshop will examine the coexistence of spirituality and science and how they both affect our lives. Together we will explore the scientific method and share how science influences our spirituality. No formal scientific training is required.

Julia Bandow is a member of the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting and holds a Ph.D. in microbiology. She is a Principal Scientist at Phizer Global Research and Development.

Lars Leichert attends the Ann Arbor Meeting and is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan.

Don Smith is a Physics Professor at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina and until recently was part of the Ann Arbor Quaker House community.

A Michigan Friends Center workshop Sponsored by the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Ann Arbor Meeting

Time: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Presenters: Dr. William Thomson and Charlotte Whitney
Cost: $10-25 as able ; Bring a sack lunch. Beverages and snacks provided.
Coordinator: Carolyn Diem

This workshop will examine both the theory of nonviolence and the practical application of nonviolent methods in daily life, in both local and global contexts. The basis of nonviolence will be explored through the teachings of Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gene Sharp, and others. We will look at historical situations in which nonviolence has worked to change politics and social culture. The workshop will have a hands-on focus, using several exercises, small group discussions, and role plays from interpersonal to global scales.

Dr William Thomson is a clinical psychologist and Professor Emeritus of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He has done extensive volunteer work in the Middle East, particularly in Israel-Palestine and Iraq.

Charlotte Whitney is an associate director of the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program at the University of Michigan. She is a nonviolence trainer with the Michigan Peace Team and has conducted training sessions in Israel.

Contact the program coordinator to register or for further information.
Carolyn Diem: (734) 761-9908; carolyndiem@gmail.com

Presenter: Peter Wood
Date: Saturday, March 25, 2006
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(Continental breakfast and noontime meal provided)
Fee: $25 or as able; register early in order that the meal may be planned.
Coordinator: Don Nagler

Peter Wood is a psychoanalytic counselor in Lansing, Michigan and a member of Red Cedar Meeting in East Lansing. The workshop will focus on learning different modes of mindfulness from both Thich Nhat Hanh and Christian traditions: “watching the breath”, “walking meditation”, “mindful eating” (in silence); “lectio divina”, etc. –instruction, discussion, practice. A fine workshop for beginners, but people of all stages of practice are welcome. Wear loose comfortable clothing.
Call Phone number - (734) 475-1892 or go to http://www.michiganfriendscenter.org to register.

Presenter: Winkie Covintree
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Fee: $7.50 per person and $20 per family or as able. Light refreshments provided.
Coordinator: Laura Scott

This is an afternoon workshop that provides an opportunity for individuals and families to make art together using some of the natural resources of Friends Lake. Adults and children accompanied by adults are welcome.

Each project is suitable for all ages. The first project is the construction of paper mache bowls. Young children usually like making big bowls, and these bowls made by layering paper mache inside a “bowl mold” can be made using almost any size. Please bring bowl(s) to use as molds, if possible. They will not be permanently contaminated! Extra bowls will be available as well. The second project, nature printing, uses objects from nature to experiment with and could result in personalized designs and note paper. These natural objects might be brought from home or collected at Friends Lake on the day of the program.

Winkie Covintree has been teaching art at Friends School in Detroit for the last nine years. She also teaches calligraphy workshops and classes, mostly to adults. She enjoys teaching basic concepts and techniques and then encouraging students (of all ages) to go their own way with them.

For information about the program feel free to contact the program coordinator, Laura Scott at (734) 213-0273.