New Slate of Officers Takes Effect

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1 July/August, 7 th and 8th Months, 2016 Query: Do we participate actively and intelligently in the political life of our country? Are we conscientious in fulfilling all obligations of state and society that are not contrary to the leading of God? Do we do all in our power to secure civil rights for all? Do we emphasize the single standard of truth, and are we free from the use of oaths? New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice Advice: Friends are advised to work toward removing the causes of misery and suffering. They are urged to support efforts to overcome racial, social, economic, and educational discrimination; to bear testimony against all forms of oppression; to exert influence for such treatment of prisoners as may help reconstruct their lives; and to work for the abolition of the death penalty. New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice New Slate of Officers Takes Effect Clerk Pete McCaughan: Pete has been active in Quaker meetings since he met Renda nearly 50 years ago. He has been Treasurer in several Monthly Meetings and on Finance and House & Grounds Committees. We have every confidence that he will do an excellent job of guiding Wilton Meeting! Assistant Clerk Bob Fatherley: This relatively new member actually has a lengthy history of Quaker memberships and has held weighty positions in several monthly meetings throughout the East Coast. Recording Clerk Renda McCaughan: Renda was born into a Quaker family. Although trained as a microbiologist in college, she has wide experience in the clerical field, stemming from her years as a temp. Treasurer Albert Hsu: Albert has been a very active member for 2½ years now, with an extensive knowledge of the financial field. He was clerk of Finance Committee for several years and so knows WMM finances well. July Aug. 7 Dates to Remember NYYM Summer Session 11 a.m. Purchase Quarterly Mtg Aug. 14 noon NO BUSINESS MEETING Aug. 14 noon Hubert Hirwa speech Wilton Friends Meeting July/August 2016 Page 1

2 Table of Contents Page Query and Advice 1 Editorial on new slate 1 Announcements 2 CFS photos of new Director 3 Open Letter from NYYM re killings 4 Minutes: Meeting for Worship wcfb, 7th Mo. 5-6 Collection of Quotes, Calendar 7 Announcements NO BUSINESS MEETING IN AUGUST As customary at Wilton Monthly Meeting, there will be no Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business on the second First Day in August (August 14). New York Yearly Meeting Summer Session, July The theme for this year s session was Nurturing the Blessed Community at Every Age, and special events were available to observe this theme. Whisper Buddies matched up those who wanted to learn about Quaker process to those who wanted to share their knowledge. NYYM staff, Children and Youth Field Secretary Melinda Wenner Bradley, Young Adult Field Secretary Gabrielle Savory Bailey, General Secretary Christopher Sammond, and ARCH Director Callie Janoff, discussed their programs and how they can bring their support to our meetings. Meetings for Discernment were held on Tuesday. There was the usual plenary Session, led by NYYM staff, held on Wednesday, preceded by a multigenerational worship session. There was even a contra dance on Thursday night! Please see those who attended for more information. A good person is Martha Gurvich. She was so involved with Summer Sessions, she had little time for this issue of Dear Friends so ex-editor Renda McCaughan stepped in. Purchase Quarterly Meeting, Aug. 7 Our Wilton Meeting is hosting Quarterly the first First Day/Sunday in August, Aug. 7th. We are responsible for drinks & desserts. Please contact Missy or Alex on Hospitality Committee to let us know what you can share. We will have Meeting for Worship as usual at 10:00 a.m., with more people than usual, followed at 11:15 by a program led by Judy Meikle. A brown-bag lunch (bring your own!) finishes the abbreviated Quarterly Meeting, since there is no business meeting in August. However, this is a good time to meet other people in our Quarter, so do plan to come and bring a dessert or juice! Healing the Scars of Genocide in Rwanda, August 14, noon to 2:00 pm Stay after Meeting for Worship on Sunday, Aug. 14, for a talk by Hubert Hirwa, a Program Manager of the Alternatives to Violence Project in Rwanda. He will speak at noon about the healing and reconciliation work that he is doing in Rwanda. It sounds fascinating! Sponsored by our Peace & Social Action Committee, we are inviting the public, so spread the word among all your friends. Gillespie House needs volunteers, Sept. 4 A gentle reminder to all to think about doing Gillespie House at least once, just to see what a pleasure it is. It s covered for most of the autumn, but we d love to guide someone who s eager to give Sept. 4 a try. Meeting will provide both equipment and a tried and true recipe (that s very popular with the Gillespie House crowd), and will reimburse you for all groceries. In addition, you ll have a Girl Gillespie Guide available a mere phone call away, who can offer advice and/or be present for shopping, cooking, and serving. Brochure is available from Laura Ferrera with recipes, guidance, and directions. Give it a thought, and hope to hear from you! Submitted by Laura Ferrera Page 2 July/August 2016 Wilton Friends Meeting

3 Connecticut Preschool introduces its new director, who started July 27. Kathy McGorty Kathy talking to some of the preschool parents Wilton Friends Meeting July/August 2016 Page 3

4 Quakers speak out about the killings in Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, and Dallas An open letter to Communities of Faith in the United States encouraging peaceful discourse, nonviolent action, and unity My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed.... Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? Lamentations 2:11-13 (Bible, New International Version) Each time there is another death, it shatters the numbness that all is well in our land. Each time another innocent black man is killed by our police, it shatters the illusion that all is well, that we as a society do not live in the middle of an ongoing nightmare. Each time another black man is killed by police, we respond with vigils, with prayer, with statements, giving vent to our grief. But with each killing, the next seems more inevitable. So, far too often, we do what we have done far too many times before, grieving the violence and injustice while feeling helpless to prevent either. This is not enough. Grief upon grief upon grief all too easily can turn to impotent rage. This is not just our police. And this is not one enraged and violent man seeking vengeance. This is all of us. We are all of us embroiled in a system that has to change. How many more will have to die before we have the courage to change it? How many must die before we do something other than grieve, make memorials, hold vigils, or rage? We, the people of New York Yearly Meeting, grieve the loss of so many black men, now at least 144* in this year alone, killed by our police. We lift up the names of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, remembering these most recent deaths among too, too many deaths. And we decry the killing of our police in Dallas Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa and the hatred that lies behind that violence. We reject the simplistic answers that lead to blame, hatred, and violence. We seek instead to better understand and to root out the seeds of racism within ourselves, to understand how we are all, every one of us, a part of the problem of systemic structural racism in this country, of which the killing of black men and the Dallas police are the most painful and immediate symptoms. We invite all people of faith to join us in looking in the mirror that these killings hold up before us. We invite all people of faith to grieve, and to mourn, not just these killings, but for our broken, torn, and bleeding country. And then we invite people of faith to seek repentance for our collective sin of structural racism, to learn its roots in each of our lives, and to pray for Divine guidance as to how to act to heal our broken nation. We know that violence begets more violence, creating a never-ending cycle of violence and retribution. We reject all justifications for violence, and support all those who strive non-violently for social justice, and who exercise non-violent freedom of speech and civil disobedience. We know the power of love to heal our brokenness. In this time of heightening tensions, we call on all people of faith to actively promote peaceful discourse, non-violent responses to violence, unity in our communities, justice, and peace. We urge all people of faith to work constructively with their local police, promoting justice and encouraging the retraining of our police so that lethal force is not the first recourse to a perceived threat. May God have mercy on us. Lucinda Antrim, Clerk Christopher Sammond, General Secretary New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Page 4 July/August 2016 Wilton Friends Meeting

5 WMM Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business July 10, 2016 Present: Virginia Auster, Missy Conrad, Bob Fatherley, Christopher Fatherley, Martha Gurvich, Ty Griese, Albert Hsu, Eva Menoher, Jeffrey Menoher, Doris Munger, Marie O Neill, Renda McCaughan (recording clerk), Pete McCaughan (clerk) (13 people) Treasurer Albert Hsu gave the report. Finances as of 6/30/2016: Year-to-date income as of 6/30 is about $111,765.66, 98% of our annual goal. This means we fell short of our income target by -$2, But our expenses are about $84,286.15, 74% of our annual budget and thus we achieved a surplus for the fiscal year of $27, The financial reports as of June 30, 2016, the end of our fiscal year, were distributed at the meeting. Copies may be obtained from the treasurer at treasurer@wiltonfriends.org. Fund Balances as of 6/30/2016 are: Peace & Service General Operating Fund: $53, Working Capital Fund: $84, Discretionary Fund: $2, Special Leadings Fund: $2, ) Syrian Refugee Families: Virginia Auster gave a report. A Syrian family is coming to live in Connecticut (Westport group). Their house in Norwalk is cleaned and furnished, thanks to Albert and other volunteers. Virginia has been baby-sitting; child care is always needed both there and in Wilton. Get in touch with her or Madeleine Wilken if you can help. (Question: Can we meet the new family? Virginia thought that would be possible later, after they got settled.) 2) Solitary Confinement Project: We have formed a steering committee for SURG. All interested Friends and attenders are invited to join this letter-writing planning committee. Potential speakers are also being arranged for the fall and winter from either AFSC or Yale regarding solitary confinement and what we can do about it in Connecticut. 3) On August 14, 2016, Sunday, from noon to 1:00 pm, Hubert Hirwa will present a program. He is the representative of AVP/HROC (Alternatives to Violence Project/Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities) in East Africa. Please contact Diane Keefe if you can help with publicity or provide hospitality. Gillespie House has been supplied during last several months; the sign-up sheet is in the kitchen. We now have a pre-planned menu available for use. Recorder Minute Brianna Higgins, an associate member of WMM, has requested full membership. Meeting approves. Wilton Friends Meeting July/August 2016 Page 5

6 Discussion followed about associate membership and the process by which an associate member becomes a full member. One friend suggested that associate members should transfer to full membership unless they opt-out as they may not understand the implications of membership or of declining to be a member. NYYM automatically changes the associate to a full membership when the young person becomes 18 years of age. Wilton Monthly Meeting waits until the young person turns 23 before asking that person whether he or she wishes to become a full member, in a series of three letters. WMM removes an associate from membership if three letters over three years go unanswered or the associate declines to become a member. A member pointed out a discrepancy in the WMM Handbook, where it appears that both ages 18 and 23 are used. It was noted that it is sometimes hard to contact associate members as they often move away from WMM. Is contacting their parents a regular part of the locating process? Another friend asked if some young men are becoming members just to have a way to avoid the military. Further, how do we convey to these young people the rewards and responsibilities of membership? A friend urged the Meeting to reconcile our differences with NYYM. The matter was referred to M&O, to review our practice, reconsider our differences with NYYM, reconcile the apparent contradiction in the Handbook, and to return to Meeting for Business with recommendations. Library Members of the committee are meeting regularly this summer, adding to our catalog and shelving new books. Look them up! Members are Laura Ferrera, Renda McCaughan and Doris Munger. Meeting closed with worship at 12:30 pm. New books in our library waiting to be read. Page 6 July/August 2016 Wilton Friends Meeting

7 A Collection of Quotes: FAITH: "When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen: There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly." ETERNITY is not a country beyond the grave, a land over which the sun never sets and the tale of the years is endless. Eternal life is a state of a man s soul; it is life s deepest reality unfolding itself before his astonished eyes. J. Anker Larsen It is so clear that it takes long to see. You must know that the first which you are seeking Is the fire in your own lantern And your rice has been cooked from the very beginning. Mumondwan Calendar Aug. 7 10:00 am Meeting for Worship Aug. 7 11:00 am Quarterly Meeting at Wilton Monthly Meeting Aug :00 am Meeting for Worship 11:45 am NO Meeting for Business Noon Hubert Hirwa, talk on AVP in Rwanda, open to public Aug :00 am Meeting for Worship 11:45 am NO Friendly Forum Aug :00 am Meeting for Worship Committee Meetings: First Sundays: Phys.Stewardship at 9:00 am, Finance at 11:30 am Second Sundays: First Day School: 9 am. Third Sundays: LRPTG 9 am; A&O 11:30 am. Fourth Sundays: M&O 8:45 am Clerk Pete McCaughan Asst Clerk Bob Fatherley Recording Clerk Renda McCaughan Treasurer Albert Hsu Advancement & Outreach Clerk Becky Bunnell Finance Committee Clerk Jeff Menoher First Day School Clerk Ty Griese Long Range Planning Clerk Becky Bunnell Ministry & Oversight Clerk Laura Higgins Nominating Clerk Virginia Auster Physical Stewardship Clerk Christopher Fatherley Peace & Service Clerk Diane Keefe Newsletter Editor Martha Gurvich Submissions to the newsletter are due by Aug. 24. Wilton Friends Meeting July/August 2016 Page 7

8 Wilton Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends 317 New Canaan Road Wilton CT First Class Mail Dear Friends Page 8 July/August 2016 Wilton Friends Meeting