Quaker Organization. as it relates to. Wilton Quaker Meeting

Transcription

1 Quaker Organization as it relates to Wilton Quaker Meeting

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3 Contents Quaker Organization Wilton Quaker Meeting Purchase Quarterly Meeting New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM) NYYM Connect! Aging Resources Consultation Help (ARCH) Powell House Friends General Conference (FGC) Friends United Meeting (FUM) Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) Friends Journal QuakerSpeak Pendle Hill QuakerBooks at FGC

4 Local Meetings Quaker Organizations Local meetings consist of monthly meetings and worship groups. A monthly meeting is the primary organizational unit of Quakers. Worship groups are smaller, less formal and usually under the care of a monthly meeting. Local meetings typically meet for worship once a week and for business, once a month, hence the designation "monthly" meeting. Local meetings are often take the name Friend or Quaker as monthly is sometimes felt to be misleading. Local meetings typically manage their affairs through committees. Unprogrammed local meetings have no paid professional clergy. Pastoral and Evangelical meetings and churches typically have a pastor. Some local meetings have schools under their care. Unprogrammed monthly meetings do not report to a higher body in a hierarchical sense. They often associate with geographical or like-minded groups Regional Meetings Local meetings are often organized into regional meetings, sometimes designated as quarterly or half-yearly meeting to indicate how often they meet to conduct their business. Yearly Meetings The yearly meeting is a gathering of local meetings in a larger geographical area comprising a state or group of states. The yearly meeting is so called because it traditionally meets to conduct its business once a year. Yearly meetings generally have volunteer committees and a paid staff. Many yearly meetings have a retreat or conference center.

5 Quaker Organizations National Organizations The Religious Society of Friends was founded by George Fox in seventeenth century England seeking an alternative to the rigid forms of the Church of England. Over time the society evolved into three major groups: Unprogrammed meetings represented by Friends General Conference (FGC). Pastoral meetings represented by Friends United Meeting (FUM). Evangelical meetings represented by Evangelical Friends Church International (EFI). Other Quaker Organizations Aging Resources Consultation and Help (ARCH) Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) Quaker Media Friends Journal Quaker Speak Pendle Hill Quaker Books

6 Wilton Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Wilton Quaker Meeting is an unprogrammed Quaker meeting. We meet weekly at 10:00 am each Sunday for about an hour of silent worship followed by announcements and hospitality. We believe that we can communicate directly with God and that there is something of the Divine Spirit in every person. Thus, everyone is equal in the eyes of God and ourselves. ALL ARE WELCOME Our Meeting is run entirely by volunteers. We have no paid clergy and we believe we are all ministers. When called upon by the divine spirit we may speak out of the silence during meeting for worship. Wilton Quaker meeting associates with Purchase Quarter, NYYM, and FGC. You can find our more on our website:

7 Connecticut Friends School (CFS) operates a CT licensed Friends Preschool under the care of, and on the campus of Wilton Quaker Meeting. The Friends Preschool accepts children ages 2 through 4. Since 1957, CFS has offered a play-based, child-centered preschool program where children blossom under the care and guidance of nurturing, experienced teachers. CFS offers a responsive program that focuses on each child and customizes program, curriculum and projects based on each unique group of children. In the Friends tradition, our peaceful and nurturing environment inspires children to become confident, empathetic, creative and capable. Our curriculum fosters critical thinking and encourages children to view themselves as problem-solvers. We emphasize: Education of the Whole Child Calm, Peaceful Atmosphere Experiential Learning Culture of Respect

8 Purchase Quarterly Meeting Purchase Quarterly Meeting is an association of Quaker meetings and worship groups in our area including: Amawalk Monthly Meeting Chappaqua Monthly Meeting Croton Valley Monthly Meeting Housatonic Friends Meeting Otisville Prison Worship Group Phillipstown Worship Group Purchase Monthly Meeting Scarsdale Monthly Meeting Sing Sing Prison Worship Group Wilton Quaker Meeting Purchase Quarterly Meetings are held four times a year, rotating among monthly meetings in the quarter. Active committees include Ministry & Counsel, Scholarship, Peace and Social Concerns, and Prison Ministry.

9 New York Yearly Meeting New York Yearly Meeting is a fellowship. New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM) is the gathering of over 80 Quaker meetings in New York State, northern New Jersey, and southwestern Connecticut. It is affiliated with both FGC and FUM. New York Yearly Meeting gathers as a body three times a year, in the spring and fall for a weekend rotating through the various regions, and for a week in the summer at Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains, in Silver Bay, New York. The yearly meeting is so called because it traditionally meets to conduct its business once a year. New York Yearly Meeting is an organization. The Yearly Meeting organization includes a large number of committees organized into four sections: General Services Ministry Nurture Witness It also includes a number of staff. The Yearly Meeting also has a conference center, Powell House, located in Old Chatham, New York, and a school, Oakwood Friends School, located in Poughkeepsie, New York. New York Yearly Meeting is a gathered body. At its spring, summer, and fall sessions, New York Yearly Meeting gathers as a body to conduct the business of the yearly meeting. At these times, the Friends gathered are enabled to speak and act on behalf of the yearly meeting as a whole.

10 New York Yearly Meeting Connect! Did you know that New York Yearly Meeting sends out regular communications with tons of information and opportunities? ARCH SUPPORTS FAMILIES INFOSHARE NYYM "GLOBAL" LIST POWELL HOUSE POWELL HOUSE YOUTH PROGRAM QUAKER OUTREACH SPARK THE TOTE BAG YOUNG ADULT FRIENDS YOUTH Sign up at: Through individual consultations, workshops, and trainings, ARCH provides resources to help us all cultivate a community of wellsupported aging friends. ARCH staff has received training in: vigil at the end of life, sharpen active listening skills, complete advanced care directives, locate local aging resources, make a spiritual assessment, set up a care team, and much more.

11 Powell House Powell House is the conference and retreat center of the New York Yearly Meeting, located on 57 acres in Old Chatham, New York. Its mission is to foster spiritual growth after the manner of Friends (Quakers) and to strengthen the application of Friends testimonies in the world. Powell House is a popular place with Wilton Meeting adults and young friends. Upcoming events are listed on the website. They range from Quaker studies, to youth programs for those who wish to grow, share, and care in community, to just plain fun. powellhouse.org/

12 Friends General Conference is an association of fifteen yearly meetings or regional groups, and twelve directly affiliated monthly meetings. FGC exists to increase communication among unprogrammed Friends, to bring Friends together across yearly meeting lines, to enrich the spiritual life of the Religious Society of Friends, and to provide resources and services to Friends and Friends meetings. It is not a governing body. It does not establish policy for its member meetings, or seek to speak for the Religious Society of Friends. The work of FGC can be summarized into three areas of endeavor: Help Friends deepen Quaker worship and practice Support welcoming and inclusive Quaker communities Support Quaker outreach Vision Statement We envision a vital and growing Religious Society of Friends a faith that deepens spiritually, welcomes newcomers, builds supportive and inclusive community, and provides loving service and witness in the world.

13 Friends United Meeting is an association of both Christ centered programmed and unprogrammed meetings with more than 50,000 members in the United States and Canada and more than 100,000 in East Africa and the Caribbean which were its mission fields. As the largest organization of Quakers, Friends United Meeting is decidedly centrist and contains a wide range of Christian Quaker theological outlooks from very progressive and inclusive views to very conservative and traditional beliefs among its individual members, Monthly Meetings or Churches, and affiliated Yearly Meetings. Friends United Meeting commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord. FUM is headquarters is in Richmond, Indiana, and has offices in Kisumu, Kenya.

14 The Friends World Committee for Consultation fosters fellowship among all the branches of the Religious Society of Friends. In the Americas, the Quaker community spans a rich diversity of regional cultures, beliefs and styles of worship. Mission Answering God's call to universal love, FWCC brings Friends of varying traditions and cultural experiences together in worship, communications and consultation, to express our common heritage and our Quaker message to the world. Vision We envision a thriving and integrated network of Friends from the Arctic to the Andes, woven together in transformative faith, learning to love, listen, and witness. FWCC World Plenary Meeting Periodically Friends from all four FWCC Sections gather to tend to FWCC business. The Plenary is surrounded by worship and fellowship with Friends from around the world. All Yearly Meetings and other bodies that are affiliated with FWCC are invited to send representatives.

15 The Friends Committee on National Legislation lobbies Congress and the administration to advance peace, justice, opportunity, and environmental stewardship. Our legislative policy rises out of our belief that there is that of God in every person and that all creation has worth and dignity. Facing profound global challenges and great opportunity, we speak from our faith for a new vision of how the world community can live together more peacefully and justly and with greater care for each other and our shared world. The World We Seek We seek a world free of war and the threat of war. We seek a society with equity and justice for all. We seek a community where every person s potential may be fulfilled. We seek an earth restored.

16 Founded in 1917, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social relations and systems. ENDING DISCRIMINATION Sanctuary Everywhere Youth Undoing Institutionalized Racism Movement for Black Lives Communities Against Islamophobia BUILDING PEACE Peace policy: Shared security Advocating for peace in Israel-Palestine DEFENDING IMMIGRANT RIGHTS Sanctuary Everywhere Immigrant detention and deportation U.S.-Mexico border militarization ENDING MASS INCARCERATION Prison privatization Mass incarceration resources Solitary confinement BUILDING ECONOMIC JUSTICE Economic activism Economic inequality

17 Who We Are AVP is a grassroots, worldwide movement dedicated to building peace in ourselves and in our homes, schools, institutions and communities. We seek to release everyone s innate power to positively transform ourselves, and in so doing, transform the world. What We Do Our workshops use the shared experience of both participants and facilitators to examine how injustice, prejudice, frustration and anger can lead to aggressive behavior and violence. We explore our innate power to respond in new and creative ways. How AVP Helps An AVP Workshop facilitator s view: AVP is about people from all different backgrounds coming together to be in community. When I see participants making themselves vulnerable by sharing and being open to change, I am inspired to manage my own conflict better. We are all transformed, and that transformation ripples outward throughout our communities. In Prisons, In Communities, With Youth, and Trauma avpusa.org

18 Quaker Earthcare Witness is a network of Friends (Quakers) in North America and other like-minded people who are taking spirit-led action to address the ecological and social crises of the world from a spiritual perspective, emphasizing Quaker process and testimonies. WE ARE CALLED to live in right relationship with all Creation, recognizing that the entire world is interconnected and is a manifestation of God. WE WORK to integrate into the beliefs and practices of the Religious Society of Friends the Truth that God's Creation is to be respected, protected, and held in reverence in its own right, and the Truth that human aspirations for peace and justice depend upon restoring the earth's ecological integrity. WE PROMOTE these Truths by being patterns and examples, by communicating our message, and by providing spiritual and material support to those engaged in the compelling task of transforming our relationship to the earth.

19 QVS is an 11-month experiment, living at the intersection of transformational spirituality and activism. Young adults work full-time in professional positions at community based organizations addressing a wide range of issues, while living in a cooperative house and worshiping with, and being mentored by, local Quakers. OUR VISION We envision a society in which young adults are empowered to discern and live into their gifts and callings. We believe in the power of spirit-led individuals to create communities of solidarity, equity, and compassion. We imagine a world of transformed relationships with the Divine, with each other, and across communities. OUR MISSION Quaker Voluntary Service enables lives of prophetic service. We support and empower young adults to explore their spirituality and vocation while living in intentional Quaker community. We increase the capacity of social change organizations and we partner with Quaker meetings and churches, building new leadership for the Religious Society of Friends and the world beyond.

20 QUAKER THOUGHT AND LIFE TODAY FRIENDS JOURNAL is an independent magazine serving the Religious Society of Friends. It is published eleven times a year and continuously online by Friends Publishing Corporation. It serves the Quaker community and the wider community of spiritual seekers through the publication of articles, poetry, letters, art, and news that convey the contemporary experience of Friends. FRIENDS JOURNAL has an active website where recent articles and book reviews may be viewed. Archived editions of past issues are available to subscribers on this website. Sample copies are available in the library.

21 QuakerSpeak is a Quaker YouTube channel. We interview Friends of all different backgrounds and ask them the core questions of our faith. QuakerSpeak interviews are personal and intimate. We seek to give viewers worldwide an experience that is entertaining, informative, inspiring, challenging, inviting, unifying and collaborative. QuakerSpeak is a project of Friends Journal in collaboration with many Quaker organizations. New videos come out every Thursday. You can subscribe at: quakerspeak.com/

22 Pendle Hill is a Quaker study, retreat, and conference center welcoming all for Spirit-led learning and community, located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. Our vision, to create peace with justice in the world by transforming lives, is moved forward in worship, presentations, weekend workshops and retreats, short courses, and remarkable conversations. Pendle Hill Pamphlets For over 80 years, Pendle Hill has expanded understanding of Quaker life and witness through pamphlets and books. Each publication arises from the writer s spiritual experience, religious concern, or special knowledge of an important contemporary theme. Pendle Hill Pamphlets are available in the Wilton Quaker Meeting library. pendlehill.org/

23 QUAKERBOOKS is a ministry of Friends General Conference that carries books, pamphlets, ebooks, curriculum, and the like. Its purpose is to help Friends and others live their lives as expressions of the Quaker faith, serve Quaker values, and learn about the Quaker way past and present. QUAKERBOOKS also carries products such as greeting cards, blank journals, apparel and more that are sustainably sourced, use little/no energy, respect and ideally support the natural world while also supporting the enjoyment of a more simple, natural lifestyle. quakerbooks.org

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