Bucks Quarterly Meeting Peace Committee
Pendle Hill - Hold the Vision: Building Bridges from Ideas to Action
Planned Parenthood - Demonstrate
Meetinghouse Needs Volunteers to Welcome Tourists
American Friends Service Committee Donations
Friends Meeting Friends: Friends House Moscow 2004
Pendle Hill Workshop - March 5-7 The Listening Project:
The 16th Annual Quaker Workers’ Retreat
Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Restorative Justice
Pilgrimage to England’s Quaker Country
Witness in Washington War is NOT the Answer
4th Annual China Summer Workcamp
Spring 2004 PYM Weekend Workcamps
The Sixties - Six Weeks of Film & Lecture
Deepening and Strengthening Our Meetings and Faith Communities Working Group
Death Penalty Moratorium, Penna, 2004
Possible Myers/ Briggs Workshop
Snippets of News from the Quarter and Other Places
Meeting for Worship at Pennswood Village
Spring Benefit at United Friends School
The Emancipation Rocklamation Festival
Doylestown Meeting Friends Vigil for Peace
Chandler Hall Worship Services Organizers:
March 2004 |
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7 |
Sun |
2:30-6:30 |
Quakerism 101 with Jonathan Snipes at Newtown - second of 2 sessions. |
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19-21 |
Fri-Sat |
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Building Bridges from Ideas to Action at Pendle Hill. |
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20 |
Sun |
12 noon |
Bucks Quarter Quakers will march in New York. There is also a march in Philadelphia. |
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25-28 |
Thur-Sun |
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Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Be there! |
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31 |
Wed |
7:30 |
Singing at Makefield. |
Looking Ahead |
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April 23-24
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Arch Street Meetinghouse. Forgiveness, Reconciliation & Restorative Justice. |
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April 28-29 |
Witness in Washington - War is NOT the Answer |
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May 31
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Plumstead Friends Meeting will be walking in Doylestown Parade. |
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June 28-July 13 |
Pilgrimage to England’s “Quaker Country.” |
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July 3-10 |
Friends General Conference at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. |
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“I Will Feed them with Justice,” the 2004 Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice. Date is March 5-8, 2004, in Washington, DC. Sponsored by a broad range of denominations and coalitions, including Friends Committee on National legislation, the gathering will focus on Africa, Korea, Colombia, Israel and Palestine, Iraq, Judilee and economic justice, and nuclear disarmament.
Karin Lee, FCNL senior associate for East Asia Policy, and David Culp, legislative representative for the Quaker Nuclear Disarmament Program, are among the featured speakers at the four-day education and lobby event. All sessions for the first three days will be held at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City, across the river from Washington in Arlington, VA. The final day of lobbying will be centered at the Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill.
Info: www.advocacydays.org or 1-202-547-7503.
Group Witness at the March 20, Global Day of Action, 12 noon at Times Square, New York. This event sponsored by MoveOn, International Answer and other organizations, on the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. The message remains the same: Bring our troops home. We will try to march as a group, under the Bucks County Quakers banner. We will meet at 10 am on March 20 at the Hamilton Square Station (which is at the Sloane Exit (West) of I-95, I-295). We will plan to take the 10:17 New Jersey Transit train to New York. The roundtrip ticket costs $15.25. All are welcome to join us. For more information, call Beth Taylor: 215-822-2299.
This is a weekend conference for Young Adults. Join other young adult leaders as we come together to share our witness working toward a just society and better world. You are invited to evoke, support, and challenge your own visions of faith, community, and a transformed world. Plan to hear stories from elders in the struggle, present-day activists and workers in the Spirit, and future leaders and visionaries. Come and create community to hold the vision, so these visions can become reality. For young people ages 18-25, scholarships and matching grants are available. Sponsored by Youth and Social Witness Programs at Pendle Hill, the Adult Religious Education Working Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and Friends Institute. Date is March 19-21, 2004. Info: 1-800-742-3150.
Meeting for Worship at Bristol will be held only on the 3rd Sunday of every month, beginning March 21st, 2004. Meeting for business will be one hour earlier. We would like other Friends in Bucks Quarter to join with us in Worship. Roy Cornell, Clerk. Info: 215-547-9487.
Support freedom of choice and access to reproductive health care. Join us and a million others for the biggest March For Women’s Lives in history! Transportation is easy and affordable - busses to depart from Doylestown and Oxford Valley areas. For more information and to sign up, visit www.ppbucks.org Date is April 25th, 2004.
The Peace Vigil at the Liberty Bell that began in 1999 continues each First Day afternoon between 4-5 pm. This is a meeting for worship in the manner of Friends that lasts for an hour. Usually, it’s a handful of people. Last week, with a concerted effort, Friends from three states swelled the ranks to 60. John Andres Gallery, of Chestnut Hill Meeting articulates that this vigil is “for prayer, and for peace.” His reflections appear in Pendle Hill Pamphlet #358: Reflections from a Prayer Vigil for Peace.
This is a workshop on repairing, maintaining, and adapting our Quaker Meetinghouses and properties while respecting their historic value. The meeting will be held at the Arch Street Meeting House on May 1st, 8:30 am - 4 pm. This workshop will address many of the concerns Meetings have about how to treat various buildng problems while respectfully maintaining their meetinghouses. There will be a fee of $30.00 which will cover the workshop fee, lunch, etc. Info: 1-610-642-4069.
Philadelphia’s new Constitution Center will open July 4, 2003. We can only guess the impact it will have on the number of visitors to the Fourth and Arch Street Meetinghouse. We need you to help as volunteer guides.
Our Quaker heritage is a gift from the past that the tourists want to experience and explore. They treasure what it stands for: A way of life based on religious freedom, the founding of a nation, etc.
Tour guides and school groups are finding the Arch Street Meeting House a significant addition to their tour of Philadelphia. They don’t have to wait in long lines or go through metal detectors. They get to sit down and share in the dialogue. Last spring over 25,000 visitors came to the meetinghouse (over 1,000 on one day!).
The Quaker message needs to be told and Arch Street Visitors Program needs your help to do it. Call Sandy Sudofsky at 215-627-2667.
We will have another meeting of our Peaceful Hands group tonight. Please join us if you can. A group of us with similar concerns are welcoming others to join us for an evening of peace related conversation. All are welcome to bring your hand crafts, your bills to pay - anything you would normally do with your hands on a Tuesday evening - or just spend the time with us, dialoguing about ways to direct our common energies toward our community, and the world at 7pm. Childcare is available. Friends will meet on the second Tuesday of each month at Quakertown Friends Meeting, Rt 579 & White Bridge Road, Quakertown, NJ 08868. Call for directions: 1-908-537-2719
Needed: 4 bars of soap, 1 plastic bottle of shampoo (in plastic bag), 1 tube of toothpaste, 4 adult-size toothbrushes (in packaging), 1 hairbrush, 1 wide-tooth comb, 1 finger nail clipper, 1 box of adhesive bandages (minimum 40, assorted preferred). Donors are encouraged to include $5 for each kit to help pay shipping costs. Send to AFSC, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479.
Peaceful Hands (Quakertown Friends Meeting) is being laid down for the time being, but the women’s group will continue meeting on the last Tuesday of the month. Info: 1-908-537-2719.
This is a tour to Ukraine, Russia, and Latvia to connect with small Quaker worship groups. Dates: approximately June 9-26. Tentative schedule: Kiev, 3 nights, Moscow, 5 nights, St. Petersburg, 3 nights, Riga 3 nights. Pre-tour planning will include introduction to the Cyrillic alphabet and the Russian language. Approximate cost includes flight from San Francisco $3800. Info: Julie Harlow, 1163 Auburn Drive, Davis, CA 95616. Includes a donation.
Training for Organizers and Trainers
Herb Walters has been active in community organizing and nonviolence for over 25 years both nationally and internationally. As founder and director of Southern Rual Voices for Peace, Herb has helped communities develop successful organizing efforts addressing a wide range of issues, including environment stewardship, community development, militarism, homophobia, and racial, ethnic and religious conflict. Herb is a member of Celo Friends Meeting (North Carolina). Info: 1-800-742-3150.
The Quaker Workers’ Retreat is on May 19-21, 2004. (Wed-Fri) This is a unique opportunity for paid workers within the Religious Society of Friends to come together to share experiences, concerns, strengths, and hopes. We meet for rest, reflection and spiritual refreshment. Through mutual nurture we find renewal and replenishment for the work ahead. This year we are fortunate to have Patricia McBee as our guide. Pat is a member and former clerk of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.
General information about the Retreat. Accommodations will be in Nelson Lodge of the Kirkridge Retreat Center at the top of the hill on PA Route 191, a few miles south of Stroudsburg and a few miles north of Bangor, in northeastern Pennsylvania. Rooms are double occupancy with two single beds. Bring comfortable clothing for indoor and outdoor activities. Hiking and birding is great in the Poconos. Bring musical instruments and songbooks for evening get-togethers. Opening session of the retreat will begin at 2pm. Plan on arriving by 1pm. Retreat ends with lunch at 12.:30. Cost is $199. Info: 215-241-7224
The program will be at Arch Street Meeting House, April 23-24. The people involved: Sulak Sivaraksa, Buddhist peacemaker from Thailand; Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, member of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Paula Green, founder of the Karuna Center and international facilitator of reconciliation; Joseph Sebarenzi, former speaker of the Rwandan parliament, genocide survivor and conflict transformation trainer; Miki Jacevic, facilitator with Women Waging Peace, and others.
Registration $180 ($150 if paid by March 26, 2004) $90 for full-time students. The registration fee covers all keynote addresses, facilitated workshops, musical entertainment and share meals. Info: 215-627-2667. Conference info: www.phpeace.net or 800-742.3150 ext. 142 or www.pendlehill.org.
On June 21 to July 5, 2004. This year’s installment of the biennial tradition will include visits to some of the Friends Schools in Great Britain. Contact Debora Sines Pancoe and Craig Pancoe at 215-887-0995 or
cpancoe@verizon.net
FCNL Lobby Days, April 28-29
Now, more than ever, Congress members need to hear from their constituents. During these lobby days, FCNL staff will teach participants how to lobby Congress on such topics as peace and human rights. The training and dinner will take place at the William Penn House in Washington, DC, which is co-sponsoring the lobby days with the Friends Committee on National Legislation. The event cost $25. In addition, participants will provide and pay for their won transportation, accommodations, and some meals. For more information or to register, contact FCNL staff member Jennifer Chapin Harris. Call (202)-547-6000 x 140 or (800-630-1330 x 140. Contact the William Penn House for accommodations, 202-543-5560, 515 E. Capitol St., SE, Washington, DC 20003.
The program is from July 26th - August 22nd, 2004. Help tutor local children in English. Experience life in rural China. Learn about current social, political environmental and economic issues, sharing your own special skills and experience. You will go to Beijing, Hunan province, to rural Central China. Applications due by April 15, 2004. Info: 215-241-7236. Workcamp Coordinator Arin Hanson.
Next summer, PYM Education & Religious Education will again sponsor a pilgrimage of Friends to “1652 Country” in the north of England. Join us to visit Quaker meetings, historic sites, and the lush, countryside where George Fox and the first Friends inspired many to join them in worship. The trip runs from June 28 to July 13, 2004, a week later than previously announced. We will stay in the beautiful Glenthorne Country Guest House located in Grasmere in the Lake District. During the first week of the trip we will travel as a group to the Quaker history locations. The estimated cost of $2,000 covers lodging, meals, and transportation for the organized portion of the pilgrimage. The second week will be organized by YOU-on your own at your own expense. Info: 215-887-0995.
March Workcamp: 5-7
March Workcamp: 19-21
April Workcamp: 2-4 Almost Full!
April Workcamp: 30-May 1
May Workcamp: 7-9
There is a cap of 15 participants for each Workcamp. To register email: arinh@pym.org or 215-241-7236
This will be at the Bucks County Free Library, at 150 S. Pine St., Doylestown. There will be six weeks of film and lecture. Professor James W. Hilty will talk about the politics of reform Kennedy/Johnson Administration, on Mar 23. On March 30, Freedom Bound Struggle for Civil Rights. April 6 Vietnam, The Lengthening Shadow. April 13, the War at Home. April 27, the Counterculture. May 4, 1968: Rage and Reaction. These events are from 6:30 to 8:45. Info: 215-348-0332x132.
Chandler Hall Hospice is offering a five-week hospice volunteer training program beginning March 15, 2004. The training is every Monday and Wednesday from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. The series will prepare volunteers to work with people faced with terminal illness and their families. The content of the program includes the hospice concept, family dynamics, symptom control, interdisciplinary team functions and bereavement. Volunteers are an integral part of the hospice team. They assist hospice patients with errands, visit recreational pursuits, personal care, and chores. Info: 215-860-4000.
Arlene Kelly wants your Meeting(s) to know that we have adapted the project experience to address the realities of smaller meetings. We have discerned that smaller meetings require a more intimate approach. We are prepared to now to offer this approach for smaller meetings so that your meetings can also benefit from an experience that can be a rich and fulfilling one for your faith community. Info: 215-241-7018 or arlenekelly@earthlink.net
In order to keep the struggle for a moratorium on executions in the public consciousness, Pennsylvania Abolitionists is organizing thoughout the state from February 27 - March 4. Moratorim Week will consist of educational and activist-oriented events with a consistent theme: to demand that Governor Rendell impose an immediate moratorium on executions. Actions will include public demonstrations, lectures, debates, and more. Demonstrations and Vigils on
March 4th, in Philadelphia, 11:30am-1:00pm at Rendell’s southeast office, Broad & Walnut, Info: 215-724-6120 and Bethlehem, 12 noon - 1:00pm at Rooney’s Office, 7 West Fourth Street. Info: 1-610-691-8730.
Wrightstown Meeting’s Worship and Ministry Committee is considering offering a Myers/Briggs Workshop in the near future if enough Friends are interested (probably on a Saturday or Sunday). Qualified MBTI administrator Debra Schoroeder Thompson, PhD, will present a brief history of theory, group exercises, time for reflection, and an option to complete the MBTI survey prior to the workshop with a 50 minute individual consultation following for only $50 per person. A minimum of ten participants is required. For info on MBTI, email: debraschroederthompon@msn.com (1-610-584-4892). To express interest in attending or planning the workshop, contact Maria Myers, 215-968-4948, email: m.a.myers@earthlink.net
On April 18th help celebrate their 40th Anniversary with a program featuring The Capitol Steps performing political satire at its best. Festivities will begin at 4pm at Bucks County Community College, Newtown. To receive an invitiation, please call 215-785-4594 or send an email to capitolspeps@ppbucks.org.
BQM Singing Group will meet at Makefield Meeting on March 31st.
The first planning meeting for the September 18th, 2004, Peace Fair at Buckingham will be held on March 11, 7:00 pm, at Buckingham Meeting. Help is always needed. Contact Judy Kashoff at 215-766-7887.
Meeting for Worship is at Pennswood Village every first day morning at 10:30 am at Barclay Lounge. We would like other Friends in Bucks Quarter to join with us in Worship.
Spring Benefit at United Friends School. There will be an auction of goods and services. Date is April 24, 2004. Tickets: $10 in advance, $20 at the door. Auction info is 215-536-3202. www.UnitedFriendsSchool.org
The Emancipation Rocklamation Festival will be on May 8th, 2004, at Snipes Farm. This is a benefit concert for the American Anti-slavery group, fighting international slavery, sponsored by the Music Club of Moorestown Friends School and Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse. Bands needed. Info: 215-295-7560.
Middletown Friends Meeting at Langhorne now has midweek Worship from 7-8 pm every Wednesday. The third Wednesday is Worship Sharing at 7pm.
Trail of Mourning & Truth, Dover to DC Memorial Procession on March 14-15. Interfaith Gathering and walk from Camden, DE Meeting to Dover Air Force Base followed by motor procession to Wash. D.C. Info: Brandywine Peace Community, 1-610-544-1818, www.brandywinepeace.com
Doylestown Meeting Friends continue their vigil for peace, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Tuesday, at the corner of State and Main Streets, and invite members from other meeting to participate.
March – Makefield
April – Middletown
May - Newtown