San
Francisco Friends Meeting
Seventh and Eighth Month 2015
(July/August)
Monthly Newsletter
Seventh and Eighth Month 2015
(July/August)
Monthly Newsletter
The monthly newsletter of the
San Francisco Friends Meeting
(Quakers)
Advices and Queries
Seventh Month - Reaching Out
Advices:
Friends fellowship begins and is nurtured within the home and Meeting. It reaches greater fulfillment as we carry our beliefs into the wider community.
Share your Quaker faith. Take time to learn about other people’s experiences of the Light and, as you learn, give freely from what you have gained. Respect the experiences and opinions of others, but do not be afraid to say what you value. Welcome the diversity of culture, language, and expressions of faith in your Monthly Meeting, the Yearly Meeting, and the world community of Friends. Encourage discourse with Friends of pastoral and programmed traditions, and with members of other faiths.
Friends have a long history of involvement in public and private education, sharing our values with the world and nurturing future generations. Be mindful of the needs of children in your community and of avenues for deepening understanding between peoples.
Queries:
How does my life reflect Friends beliefs and thus encourage others to be interested in the Religious Society of Friends?
Do I respond openly to inquiries about Quaker experience and belief?
What does our Meeting do to make others aware of Friends principles and practices?
What are we doing to help people of various races, cultures, and backgrounds feel at home among us and we among them?
How do we encourage newcomers to return and participate in activities of the Meeting?
In what ways do we participate in the life of the interfaith community and in the wider fellowship of Friends?
Eighth Month - Simplicity
Advices:
"Life is meant to be lived from a Center, a divine Center… a life of unhurried peace and power. It is simple. It is serene. It takes no time, but it occupies all our time."
thomas r. kelly, testament of devotion, 1941
A life centered in God will be directed toward keeping communication with God open and unencumbered. Simplicity is best achieved through a right ordering of priorities, maintaining humility of spirit, avoiding self-indulgence, resisting the accumulation of unnecessary possessions, and avoiding over-busy lives.
Elise Boulding writes in My Part in the Quaker Adventure,
“Simplicity, beauty, and happiness go together if they are a byproduct of a concern for something more important than ourselves.”
Queries:
Do I center my life in an awareness of God’s presence so that all things take their rightful place?
Do I live simply, and promote the right sharing of the world’s bounty?
Do I keep my life uncluttered with things and activities, avoiding commitments beyond my strength and light?
How do I maintain simplicity, moderation, and honesty in my speech, my manner of living, and my daily work?
Do I recognize when I have enough?
Is the life of our Meeting so ordered that it helps us to simplify our lives?
June (Sixth Month) Meeting for Business
June 14, 2015
Meeting for Business began at approximately 1:04 pm with a period
of silent worship with 17 people in attendance.
6-01: Meeting approved minutes for 2015-05.
Clerk's Message and Updates:
Chad Stephenson shared his experiences from the Clerking Workshop that he
attended, along with Steve Leeds, Carol Cruickshank, and Sandra Schwartz at the
Ben Lomond Quaker Center conducted by Arthur Larabee. He has shared some of the
things he learned with the clerks and encourages clerks in the meeting to learn
more.
It was announced that the next Meeting for Business will be August
9, due to Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Annual Gathering in July which will occur
from July 13-18 at Walker Creek Ranch. Many events have been held
recently which Friends may not be aware of, such as: our meeting participated
in Bike to Worship Week in May; each month our Peace & Social Concerns
committee has presented a second hour on a topic; our member, Noel Schwerin directed
a documentary called In an Ideal World about prisons, which was screened at the Black Film Festival in
S.F. this weekend.
Meeting of the Corporation: Clerk
Chad Stephenson convened the annual meeting of the San Francisco Friends
Meeting, Incorporated. The meeting was held in the manner of Friends, four
officers and five directors were approved for the board of the corporation.
(See the separate SFFM corporation minutes attached.)
Recorder’s report (Bruce Folsom):
Bruce Folsom reported that as of May 31, 2014, the meeting had a total of 86
members. Since then we have had two members transfer in, two members
deceased, one member transfer out and two released from membership. As of May
31, 2015 we have a total of 83 members.
Nominating: Chad Stephenson
reported for Nominating Clerk, Beth Bird, that we are bringing forward the
following names to be seasoned for the August 2015, Meeting for Business: Art
Koch to Property and Finance through 2017; Ruth Sheldon to Welcoming through
2017; Tim Schwartz for Treasurer through 2016.
6-02- Meeting approves the release of Paula Joyce as co-clerk from
Hospitality.
Property and Finance: Philip
Gerrie reported for the committee about encampments in front of the building.
These encampments have impacted our ability to find renters and has become a
daily task for the Building Manager. Outreach has been made to local government
agencies and neighborhood allies to assist in the care of the front of the
building. Meanwhile, an architect has been approached to complete a feasibility
study about a redesign of the front of the building so that it is less
attractive to such encampments. The cost of the study would be between
$3000-$4000 which would come from the General Fund, for which Property and
Finance is asking for approval.
Friends shared issues and thoughts that this topic brings up; time
will be set aside to have further discussion on these issues. We were not able
to come to a decision on funding for the study and will season it until a
future meeting.
The Building Manager spoke of his ongoing distress and requests
help from the community on the daily responsibility. And others felt more
discussion would be needed to be able to approve the funding for the
feasibility study. If there are any members who would like to help convene a
called meeting on the issue before our next Meeting for Business in August,
please contact our Clerk.
Rausch Street.: Amy Baker,
treasurer, reported on the request from last month that we approve refinancing
the construction loan that we took out in 2014. The upper flat is now rented,
and that income and the modest rent on the lower unit can be anticipated to
cover the monthly loan payment as well as regular building expenses, with some
left over for gradual repayment of the additional amounts provided from the
deBeers bequest.
6-03 - The San Francisco Friends Meeting and its Officers approve
the Rausch Street Committee refinancing the loan taken for the purposes of
renovating the property at 46-48 Rausch St. in San Francisco through a loan of
$300,000 to cover the following: $215,000 loan pay off; $10,000 for closing
costs; $23,000 remaining construction costs; $22,000 for future construction
costs; and $30,000 reserves required by lender. The Officers of the
corporation, also meeting on June 14, 2015, specifically authorize Amy Baker,
Treasurer, to sign on behalf of San Francisco Friends Meeting, Inc. in this matter.
Ministry and Oversight: The
rotating clerk, Steve Leeds, reported for the committee that we have three
membership committees currently meeting for David Cowen, Cheryl Hendrickson and
David Breitzmann. The annual Memorial Day Weekend retreat was very well
attended, counting all who participated, more than 60 Friends came to Quaker
Center during the Annual Memorial Day Retreat of 2015: two babes-in-arms were
in attendance and several of the participants were in the “retirement age
bracket” and a total of 14 children enlivened the scene. The Retreat
Sub-Committee seeks an on-site coordinator/convener; while there are some
Friends who have expressed interest, anyone else who might be interested should
contact Robert Kovsky or Ministry and Oversight. Revision of the Meeting
pamphlet that is provided to newcomers in the lobby is almost complete. The
updated meeting directory is scheduled to be available in September. Update
requests are still being accepted, contact Ministry and Oversight with any
requests for updates. Lloyd Lee Wilson, author of “Encounter with the Taproot”
published in Quaker Arts Online, Issue #1 Summer 1998, among many other books, will present for a second hour on July
19, 2015 at 1:00 pm. He is also scheduled to attend and address PYM
annual session.
6-04 Meeting approves the transfer of Blake Arnall to Orange
Grove Meeting
Peace and Social Concerns: David
Breitzmann, co-clerk, reported that the committee has been discussing how we
relate to food; Martha Larsen attended the Interfaith Council’s program on
“Responding to Homelessness on Our Doorsteps” and Devin McCutcheon is looking
into more ways we can work with municipal actors regarding social needs of our
local community.
The News Committee will need to correct the times for the food
pantry hours to 9:30am-1pm for setup and distributions, and 1pm - 3pm for
cleanup. Friday Food Sharing has found itself in the position of having so many
donations that they are in a position of looking at ways of using the money in
their budget through shared programs.
Meeting closed with worship at approximately
3:50 with approximately 17 people in attendance.
News
from Our Meeting
Cheryl Hendrickson will be facilitating discussions after nightly showings of Anna Deavere Smith's "Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education." Devere Smith will recount stories taken from interviews she has conducted in order to reveal the complexities of the school to prison pipeline.
The show runs from July 11th - August 2nd at the Berkeley Rep. More information about the show can be located at http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1415/9293.asp
Cheryl Hendrickson will be facilitating discussions after nightly showings of Anna Deavere Smith's "Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education." Devere Smith will recount stories taken from interviews she has conducted in order to reveal the complexities of the school to prison pipeline.
The show runs from July 11th - August 2nd at the Berkeley Rep. More information about the show can be located at http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1415/9293.asp
News from Friends
2015 July News from Ben Lomond Quaker Center
Quaker Camp for rising 4th to 6th grade
kids, and Service Camp for rising 7th - 9th grade teens, are
right around the corner for youth, Quaker or otherwise, from Aug. 1 -
8 with Camps Director, Anna Lisa Chacon. For more information visit
http://www.quakercenter.org/summer-youth-camps/ or
call Bob or Kathy Runyan, CoDirectors at Quaker Center at 831-336-8333 with questions.
Discover the best family vacation around! Family Work
Camp is only $60 - $140 for the full week, which includes meals and
lodging. All ages are welcome! We’ll work on improvements to Quaker
Center facilities while building community among us. This week
of July 27th – August 1st will include working, cooking, eating and
playing together. Please register online athttp://www.quakercenter.org/family-work-camp/.
Rise Again: A Weekend of Joyous Song with the authors of
Rise Up Singing, Annie Patterson and Peter Blood from Sept.
4-6th has reached capacity. Send an email to mail “at” quakercenter.org to get on the
waiting list.
Come explore the spectrum of Quaker belief and practice ranging
from the practical to the theological to the controversial with Tom Gates
facilitating, Growing into Paradox: Discovering the Dynamic Center of
Quakerism from October 2nd – 4th. Find out more and register
early at http://www.quakercenter.org/dynamic-center-of-quakerism/.
Contact Us
Our redesigned website (http://www.sfquakers.org) has gone up and it is made for the 21st century, with a focus on newcomers to Meeting, including an interactive Google Map to our Meetinghouse, a section for first-time attenders, a guide to regular Meeting events, and a link to our newsletter. New features include videos from the QuakerSpeak video series about our faith practice, a 150-year history of Quakers in San Francisco (thanks to historian/archivist/member Bruce Folsom), and a link to our new Twitter feed (@sfquakers) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sfquakers). We hope this outreach will better serve the Meeting's communications for better in-reach and outreach for our Quaker community. We look forward to improvements to the site in the future--please feel free to contact us with suggestions at news@sfquakers.org.
Submissions to the newsletter are due by the next-to-last First Day
(Sunday) of each month in the News Committee mailbox at the meetinghouse, or by
e-mail to news@sfquakers.org. This newsletter is also
available for reading or downloading on our website at http://www.sfquakers.org/news.html.
Members of the News Committee are Kate McCarley (clerk, editor), Chad Stephenson (web servant), and Catherine Fox (production)
Google Groups for SF Quakers
The group named "San Francisco Monthly Meeting" is for sharing announcements or other news with the meeting community. If you wish to be added to the group, please send a request to clerk@sfquakers.org . You will also need to create a free Google user ID and password, if you don’t already have one, you can create one at https://accounts.google.com/signup?service=mail . The address of the group is sfquakers@googlegroups.com
A Google group for Bay Area Quakers is available at http://groups.google.com/group/bayareaquakers. The group is for Bay Area Quaker meetings, churches, and organizations, as well as individual Friends, to share news of events and activities that would be of interest to Quakers and the general public. Events do not need to be strictly Quaker. For more information, contact Tom Yamaguchi, tomyamaguchi@mac.com
Help on using Google Groups is also available at: http://groups.google.com/support
Calendar of Events for
Seventh Month (July) 2015
(all events at 65 9th St., unless noted;
*see details elsewhere in newsletter)
*see details elsewhere in newsletter)
Sunday
|
Monday
|
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Friday
|
Saturday
|
28
9:15a Non-Violent Comm. Practice Group 9:30a Bible Study 11a Meeting for Worship |
29
|
30
|
1
6p Meeting for Worship |
2
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
3
|
4
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
5
9:30a Bible Study 11a Meeting for Worship, Community Potluck following |
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
10
|
11
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
12
11a Meeting for Worship |
13
|
14
|
15
6p Meeting for Worship |
16
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
17
|
18
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
19
9:30a Bible Study 11a Meeting for Worship |
20
|
21
|
22
6p Meeting for Worship |
23
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
24
|
25
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
26
9:15a Non-Violent Comm. Practice Group 11a Meeting for Worship |
27
|
38
|
29
|
30
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
31
|
1
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
†San Francisco Friends
School, 250 Valencia St. ‡Federal Building, Golden Gate Ave. and Larkin
St.
Calendar of Events for
Eighth Month (August) 2015
Eighth Month (August) 2015
(all events at 65 9th St.,
unless noted; *see details elsewhere in newsletter)
Sunday
|
Monday
|
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Friday
|
Saturday
|
26
9:15a Non-Violent Comm. Practice Group 9:30a Bible Study 11a Meeting for Worship |
27
|
28
|
29
6p Meeting for Worship |
30
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
31
|
1
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
2
9:30a Bible Study 11a Meeting for Worship, Community Potluck following |
3
|
4
7p Property & Finance Mtg |
5
6p Meeting for Worship 7p Ministry & Oversight |
6
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
7
|
8
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
9
11a Meeting for Worship 1p Meeting for Business |
10
|
11
|
12
6p Meeting for Worship |
13
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
14
|
15
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
16
9:30a Bible Study 11a Meeting for Worship |
17
|
18
|
19
6p Meeting for Worship |
20
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
21
|
22
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
23
9:15a Non-Violent Comm. Practice Group 11a Meeting for Worship_______ 30 9a Extended Mtg. for Worship |
24 ________ 31 |
25
|
27
|
27
12p Peace Vigil‡ 7p Potluck & Quaker Study |
28
|
29
10:30a-1p Food Pantry |
†San Francisco Friends School, 250 Valencia
St. ‡Federal Building, Golden Gate Ave. and Larkin St.