Community Companion Quaker House: 3960 Winding Way, Cincinnati, OH 45229-1950 (513) 861-4353 www.communityfriendsmeeting.org https://www.quakercloud.org/cloud/community-friendsmeeting Volume 21, Issue 9 September, 2015 Presiding Clerk: Lisa Cayard Interim Assistant Clerk: Mary Anne Curtiss Recording Clerk: Paul Buckley Assistant recording clerk: Rachel Gill Treasurer: Lynn Funck Ministry and Counsel: Ken Bordwell Lisa Cayard (ex officio) Frank Huss Deborah Jordan Tim Leonard Sunny Rhein (SA) John Sniegocki Newsletter: Deborah Jordan Email: djordan@fuse.net Editor & photographer unless noted Jean Crocker-Lakness j.crockerlakness@gmail.com Submissions for the October newsletter due by: Monday, September 28, 2015 to Jean Crocker-Lakness SA= special assignment Calendar All events and meetings take place at the Meeting House unless otherwise noted. Singing 9:45 am, Meeting for Worship 10 am Second Hour or Carry in Potluck @ 11:40 am Sept. 6 Meal Carry in after Meeting for Worship: FUN Committee appreciates and encourages locally own food when possible. Community Committee asks that if you bring something that needs to be heated before eating, please attach brief instructions to your container. Also, it's helpful to mention the name & ingredients of the dish - thanks! Meeting for Worship with attention to Nature: see page 4 Sept. 10 & 11 Justice and Peace: A Call to Local and Global Community Conference at the Peace Resource Center- Wilmington College: see page 3 Sept. 13 Second hour: Meeting for worship with attention to Business. Beginning of First Day School Sept. 16 Mental Health and the Body: see page 4 Sept. 17 Film screening of Quakers: That of God in Everyone see page 4 Sept. 19 Fall Renewal: see page 5 Sept. 20 Second Hour: Rhonda and David Pfaltzgraff-Carlson report on their trip to Japan Sept. 27 Second hour: TBA Midweek Meeting for worship Thursdays at 7pm In This Issue: Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 6-8 Summary of the Minutes from the August Meeting for Business, Who was John Rankin? Justice and Peace: A Call to Local and Global Community Conference at the Peace Resource Center- Wilmington College Mental Health and the Body, Nature Walk. Film screening Fall Renewal 2015 Minute on Violence in U.S. Systems Ripley/Maysville road trip Group photo of the Maysville/ Ripley road trip. Photo provided by Elyse Benke Caretakers: John Sniegocki and Elizabeth Groppe Childcare: Rachel Piepsny Ninth Query from OVYM Book of Discipline, 1978: General Business Procedure Do you hold your meetings for business in a spirit of worship? Do you seek the guidance of God, rather than acceptance of a previously formed opinion? Do you help one another in your search for unity by speaking briefly and without repetition? Are you tender and considerate of differing views, coming to a decision on when you have, with Divine assistance, found a sense of Unity?
Community Companion September, 2015 page 2 August 9, 2015 Business Meeting Summary, submitted by Paul Buckley, recording clerk Fourteen Friends opened the meeting with a period of silent worship during which the clerk read a section on the inevitability of differences within any group of people and the need to listen to each other to find God s will for the community from Listening Spirituality, Volume II: Corporate Spiritual Practices among Friends, by Patricia Loring. Treasurer s Report: At the end of July 2015, there was $2,117 on hand in the General Fund. This is 5% of the annual budget, less than our target of 6%. Of the $3,148 in July expenses, $1,000 was a transfer from the House & Grounds budget to the Greening the Meetinghouse Fund to be used for solar panel installation. Our total funds on hand actually increased from $103,246 to $108,819. This includes $12,885 in the Greening the Meetinghouse Fund. Two members returned the traveling minute that was given to them for their journey to Japan. A full report on their travels will be made during a second hour on September 20, 2015. The endorsements on the back of the letter were read. Adult Religious Education Committee Report: The joint presentation with Cincinnati and Eastern Hills Meetings, Quaker Diversity: Leadings, Service & Ministry, took place on Saturday, August 8. It was a great success. A formal report will come to next month s business meeting. The House & Grounds Committee has five bids to paint the meetinghouse. It is planning a work day, mostly to prepare for the painting, in the fall. A member asked that his membership be transferred to Cincinnati Friends Meeting. Ministry & Counsel Committee recommended approval. The request was approved. The Solar Panel Working Group is working with the Stewardship Committee on the capital campaign to raise funds for installing solar panels on the meetinghouse. The target is to raise $25,000 by August 19. The Peace & Social Concerns Committee re-edited the minute on the relationships between the military and prison industrial complex that was presented to the June monthly meeting for business. The amended minute was approved. The Music Committee is working to schedule a piano tuner. The Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions were held July 29-August 2 with a theme of Transforming the World with Love. Total attendance was down a bit from last year, but thirty-one of the attenders were from CFM. The clerk read excerpts from the OVYM Epistle. A total of about $3,900 in individual donations helped meet the annual sessions expenses. This is more than double what was contributed last year. OVYM adopted a minute calling on the yearly meeting and its members to give up investments in fossil fuel extraction companies. This process started at Community Friends with our Earthcare Committee. The monthly meeting approved our own divestment minute and sent it to Miami Quarterly Meeting. Following a workshop to educate members of the quarterly meeting, it was approved and forwarded to the yearly meeting, where it was approved earlier this month. Who was John Rankin and why was there a road trip to his house? A National Historic Landmark, the home of Presbyterian minister John Rankin who is reputed to have been one of Ohio's first and most active "conductors" on the Underground Railroad. In addition, he wrote Letters on American Slavery, first published in book form in 1826, and among the first clearly articulated antislavery views printed west of the Appalachians. Letters on American Slavery became standard reading for abolitionists all over the United States by the 1830s. From 1822 to 1865, Rankin, along with his wife and children, assisted hundreds of escaped slaves in their trek to freedom. Located on the Ohio River, John Rankin's home were considered one of the first stations on this route of the Underground Railroad. It was here that Harriet Beecher Stowe heard the escaping slave's story which became the basis for part of her famous work, Uncle Tom's Cabin. John Parker, wrote of Rankin, "At times attacked on all sides by masters seeking their slaves, John Rankin and his sons] beat back their assailant, and held its threshold unsullied. A lighted candle stood as a beacon which could be seen from across the river, and like the North Star was the guide to the fleeing slave."
Community Companion September, 2015 Page 3 Justice and Peace: a Call to Local and Global Community The 40 th Anniversary Conference of the PEACE RESOURCE CENTER AT WILMINGTON COLLEGE Co-sponsored by the Ohio Humanities Council and the Dayton International Peace Museum FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC When: Thursday, 9/10/15 and Friday 9/11/15 Where: Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio (Register for the Keynote Dinner by 9/2/15!) All events will take place in the Boyd Cultural Arts Center, Kelly Center (across from the Boyd Cultural Arts Center), or the T. Canby Jones Meetinghouse in the Quaker Heritage Center (adjacent the Boyd Cultural Arts Center) Keynote Speaker: Norma Field, Robert S. Ingersoll Professor Emerita, University of Chicago Plenary Speaker: Elyssa Faison, Associate Professor of Japanese History, University of Oklahoma Plenary Speaker and Community Activist: Kazu Haga, Coordinator, East Point Peace Academy to register for the dinner and the schedule go to: http://www.wilmington.edu/the-wilmingtondifference/prc/40th-anniversary/ For questions or further information, please contact the Peace Resource Center (prc@wilmington.edu /937-481-2371 ) About the Peace Resource Center In 1975, at the height of the Cold War, peace activist and writer Barbara Leonard Reynolds (1915-1990) founded the Peace Resource Center (PRC) at Wilmington College with an historic five-day conference, Hiroshima 30 Years After: A Call to Global Community devoted to creating awareness about the effects of nuclear weapons on civilians and the need for global peace through the messages of the hibakusha, or the Japanese survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For over four decades, Wilmington College s Peace Resource Center has been faithful to Reynolds vision and has continued this mission not only through its unique archive of historical materials related to the Japanese experience of the atomic bombings and global pacifism, but also through its more general conflict resolution programming on campus and in the surrounding community. Fall 2015 marks the fortieth year of the PRC, and in order to both commemorate and advance its peace-building work, we have planned a two-day conference, Justice and Peace: A Call to Local and Global Community (9/10-11/2015) which, in the spirit of the founding conference, gathers together public intellectuals and peacemakers to examine the meaning of peace and its relevance to a new generation of youth and activists.
Community Companion September, 2015 Page 4 Mental Health and the Body: Taking Good Care of Ourselves A presentation of yoga, running, martial arts, and other forms of movement. We will have time for discussion and sharing. 7pm to 9pm, Wednesday September 16, 2015 Community Friends Meeting 3960 Winding Way Cincinnati, OH 45229 To RSVP or for more info, contact: Deborah Jordan Call or text: (513) 328-8178 PLEASE RSVP by Sept. 14 th No Charge, Donations Welcome **************************************************************************************************************** ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** Meeting for Worship with Attention to Nature Next First Sunday Monthly Nature Walk - Sunday, September 6, 2015 - AKA Meeting for Worship with Attention to Nature This Nature Walk will feature a Water Talk by Ishi Buffam along the Mill Creek - Ishi will be talking about the significance and history of the Mill Creek in Cincinnati. We will be leaving after fellowship & refreshments. ************************************************************************************************************ Cincinnati Friends Meeting is honored to announce the upcoming release of Quakers: That of God in Everyone, a feature-length film documentary produced by Rebel Pilgrim Productions and written by Donne Hayden. The film chronicles the rich history of social activism and faith of Quakers, with a focus on Quakers in Southwestern Ohio as they lived their commitment to Quaker testimonies that changed our community, nation and the world. Cincinnati Friends Meeting, celebrating our 200th anniversary this year, is featured in the film, as our Quakers from throughout Wilmington Yearly Meeting. The film will be screened as part of the 2015 Cincinnati Film Festival on Thursday, September 17at the old St. Michael's Church in Price Hill (Cincinnati), 2104 St. Michael Street. The screening is scheduled to begin between 7:00-7:30 p.m.
Community Companion September, 2015 page 5 Community Friends Meeting - Fall Renewal 9am to 4pm Saturday Sept. 19, 2015 at the Meetinghouse The program will be on the door before worship or consideration of practices/ways of being outside worship which prepare us for going deep when we gather for Meeting. The program will be presented by Stephanie Crumley - Effinger, Director of Supervised Ministry, from Earlham School of Religion. Cost: $15 includes catered vegetarian lunch. Or pay what you can afford. Childcare provided Please register by: Sept. 5 th so we can plan for the meal and childcare Questions: Talk to Ministry and Counsel Members Registration: Lisa Cayard Email: lisacayard@embarqmail.com or turn in form below Tentative Schedule: 8:45am Gather and enjoy morning refreshments. 9 am to 11:30pm Program 11:30am to 1:00pm Catered Lunch and Break 1:00pm to 1:45 pm Intergenerational games 1:45pm to 4:00 pm Program Community Friends Fall Renewal Sept. 19th Please register with Lisa Cayard by Sept. 5th Name(s) Childcare needed? Names and Ages of children Payment
Community Companion September, 2015 page 6 Community Friends Meeting Peace & Social Concerns Committee 2015 Minute on Violence in U.S. Systems Approved at the August 9 Meeting for Business Over the last two years, our committee has been examining and revealing the nature of our nation's criminal justice system and the relationship between the military and prison industrial complex to Community Friends Meeting. As a result of our study, we have come to the following conclusions: We live in a nation that mistakenly uses violence to achieve peace. Our military kills, maims, and injures the minds of people, including those who make up our armed forces, Our police apprehend and sometimes kill people, frequently without due process, Our criminal justice system uses deception, argument, and punishment to correct offender's behavior while excluding victims, families, and communities from the decision making process, Our penal system violates the dignity of inmates, and Our economic system, in conjunction with the above systems, directs further wealth and status to over-privileged people while extracting labor, monies, and dignity from the underprivileged. As Friends, who believe that all are equal in the sight of God, we hereby state that we cannot affirm the sanctity of these systems in their present form. While we do not believe that their ideologies are in alignment with a God of mercy, we contend that they can be restored by the redemptive Light of Christ. As such, we call upon God to transform them until they be made fair and right and avail ourselves as instruments to be used by God in their redemption. For more information about our sources and findings, click on the Minutes tab on the Resources page of the Community Friends Meeting web site. Road Trip to Ripley reported by Elyse Benke We had a beautiful day for our Road Trip to Ripley and Maysville - we arrived at the Rankin House when it opened that morning, and enjoyed the beautiful view of the Ohio River. We were greeted by many buzzards circling overhead on the breezes from the river. Cindy gave us a tour of the Rankin home, and then some of us took the steep stairs and steps down to the streets below, and walked to the John Parker House. Dewey gave a great talk, and then we spent some time looking at the exhibits. We then went on safari to find the Orr farm just outside of Maysville; the Orrs had a picnic table set up for us, and after a short tour of their home, we enjoyed our picnic lunch. Karen had great tarts for all of us that seemed to make some of us giddy. After lunch, we went for a walk in the cow pasture, where Deborah led us in a dance called "The Poo Shoe Shuffle" - it's like the Hokey Pokey, except we were mostly bent over laughing. We then went to the cow barn where we bestowed blessings and kisses on the calves. The Rankin House and the view of the Ohio River. Photos by Elyce Benke
Community Companion September, 2015 page 7 Above photos by Elyce Benke. And George Fox said My heart did leap for Joy Right photo- the Rankin Stairs Historical photo marker photo by Eira Tansey
Community Companion September, 2015 page 8 Photos by Elyce Benke. Above left- Orr house and picnic table. Above right walking to the cow pasture. Below left little cow kisses Below right listening to the music box in the Orr s house. The Orr s have been attenders at Community Friends Meeting.