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"Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of tears!… We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
~Julia Ward Howe, 1870
From her Mother’s Day Proclamation for Peace, found at PeaceAlliance.org.
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Supplemental Meeting/s for Worship: Exploring Possibilities
Friends have long met more than once a week for worship. A mid-week meeting is most common (often held on a Wednesday), and was part of Ithaca Monthly Meeting (IMM) until the Covid lockdown.
IMM's Ministry and Worship Committee focuses on worship on First Day Worship services; any supplemental Meetings for Worship will be more informally organized by the people in forming any given worship group.
An open-ended survey is being taken to gauge interest in one or more “supplemental Meeting/s for Worship” to complement our First Day worship services at the Third Street and Hector Meetinghouses.
Supplemental Meetings for Worship (MfW) could serve several purposes:
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The more often any of us worship, the more gathered all the times we worship together can be (including at Meeting for Business, start and close of Committee meetings, etc). This was brought home to many of us during the recent workshop with Christopher Sammond, “Opening to the Heart of Worship.”
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Now that masks are encouraged but optional on Sunday mornings at the Third Street Meetinghouse and Hector Meetinghouse, people who need a high level of protection from infections may prefer to attend a small, well-ventilated MfW where people are both socially distanced and carefully masked. While it would be wonderful to have at least one supplemental MfW with clear policies to minimize the risk of infection, other supplemental Meetings for Worship could have more flexible policies.
- Not everyone finds it possible to worship with us on Sunday mornings. Thus we want to consider other times and days of the week.
I agreed to coordinate the initial discussion both because I long to again worship with Friends in person (but need to continue to minimize my exposure to viral infections), and because I miss Mid-week Worship at the Burtt House/Friends Center for Racial Justice.
I am only gathering general information at this stage. A more specific survey re: what times and locations would work for you will be sent to people who express an interest in one or more general meeting options. I will then connect people with similar interests with each other so that they can make specific plans.
If you are reading this IMM Newsletter online, you can click this link to take the survey.
If you are reading a paper copy of the newsletter, please contact Margaret McCasland by phone at 607-216-1091 (10 am - 8 pm) or by email at <mamccasland@gmail.com>.
–Margaret McCasland
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Farmington Scipio Regional Meeting
Spring Gathering
June 2-4, 2023
Ithaca Meeting is part of Farmington Scipio Regional Meeting (FSRM), which is all of the Quaker Meetings from Syracuse down to Elmira, and the rest of New York west from there. We have three gatherings a year. Spring Gathering is the weekend long event, and is a great time to get to know Friends in our region!
Our theme for this year is Restoring Our Friendships. We envision time for renewal, recreation, and listening for Spirit together as we meet in person for the first time since 2019.
We will gather first in person at Watson Homestead (in Painted Post, NY), June 2-4 from Friday supper through Sunday worship, and then we will travel home, and gather again via Zoom for regional Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business from 4:00-6:00 pm.
More details will be shared via announcements and the IMM listserv, or you can contact Angela Hopkins, Antonia Saxon, or Bronwyn Mohlke for more information.
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This column was compiled by Melanie-Claire Mallison, IMM's representative to New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM). A collection of activities happening in the Yearly Meeting and available to all Friends will be a regular feature in this newsletter. | |
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Help Create the Youth Program for Summer Sessions!
An Invitation to Become a Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) Volunteer
JYM Sessions for youth will be held Saturday, July 22 through Wednesday July 26 during Summer Sessions at Oakwood Friends School.The JYM Coordinators are seeking Friendly adults to work with our young Friends. JYM volunteers meet with their assigned group Saturday afternoon, every morning Sunday through Wednesday, and gather for other JYM activities during the week. The schedule for the week is open, so the JYM volunteers will help us create the program!
If you are drawn to be a JYM volunteer, a resource person, or an organizer, please contact jym-coordinators@nyym.org to start the conversation.
— Susan Stillman & Ellie Rosenberg for JYM
SAVE THE DATE!
NYYM Summer Sessions
Saturday-Thursday, July 22-27, 2023
Hybrid (at Oakwood Friends School and online)
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Three Quaker Earthcare Witness Events During May
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a North American organization that is coordinated by people from all over North America. They have a very small staff (currently 2 people), and much of their work is done by volunteers on their very large (up to 50 people) Steering Committee. I became a member of the QEW Steering Committee last year when New York Yearly Meeting named me as a representative to QEW.
The Steering Committee meets twice a year for 4 days, and we had our most recent gathering the last weekend in April. While I have attended portions of Steering Committee gatherings for quite a few years, this was the first gathering where I attended nearly every session.
QEW asks all Steering Committee people to either be or to recruit a liaison to their Monthly Meeting. I will serve as liaison until I find someone else who is interested in keeping up with what a liaison does. With this newsletter article, I am fulfilling the major duty of MM liaisons: letting you know about events QEW is sponsoring this month. Each month I will also introduce one of the many resources they offer. This month I am going to highlight QEW’s monthly Worship Sharing.
–Margaret McCasland
Full descriptions of these events (and other events) are available at the QEW website or to read Margaret's full article at our Ithaca Monthly Meeting website.
No Faith in Fossil Fuels: A Climate Finance Summit
with GreenFaith and Quaker Earthcare Witness
May 8 @ 12:30 pm - May 12 @ 1:30 pm EDT
From May 8-11, people of faith will gather to learn about how banks and asset managers continue to invest in the fossil fuel industries that are destroying communities in the U.S. and around the world – and then find out how to hold these financial institutions accountable. Together, we can commit to taking the bold steps necessary to effect real change.
Click here for a detailed agenda and/or to register
A Holistic Approach to Earthcare Along the Blue Ridge
May 8 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT
With Kimberly Benson and John Flower
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia, Friends Wilderness Center and the China Folk House Retreat are aspiring toward bridging divides in humanity, building community with nature, and lifting all toward the Light and a brighter future. Join Kimberly Benson and John Flower for a conversation on redefining conservation to include cross-cultural connections and building compassion and respect for all life, and how they’re making this happen on the ground. They write, “Humans have a tremendous ability to rationalize and justify exploiting what we ‘other.’ We need to remove the illusion of separation among people and between people and nature.”
Register here
Last but not least, Quaker Earthcare Witness hosts monthly online worship sharing groups:
May Worship Sharing with Quaker Earthcare Witness
May 23 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT
In worship sharing, we gather in small groups to focus on a particular question (or questions) to explore our own experience and share with each other more deeply than we would in normal conversation. It seeks to draw us into sacred space, where we can take down our usual defenses, and encounter each other in “that which is eternal.” We welcome all to join us!
Click here for more information or to register.
I attended my first QEW monthly Worship Sharing this April and found it “spoke to my condition” and was very heartening because of the deep sharing. A new query is offered every month.
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Community Happenings with Ithaca Friends
This section includes notices or special events Ithaca Friends are involved with. These messages are the type generally shared to the Community@immrsf.groups.io listserv.
Crossing the Veil and Coming Back to Life
Saturday, May 6, 2023, 7:30 pm
First Baptist Church, 309 North Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY
Neil Golder is sponsoring the presentation of an ensemble theater piece based on true stories of people who have reported near death experiences. The stories follow a travel journey narrative starting with the “moment of death” when the characters have been declared clinically dead or experienced a medical crisis that brought them to the edge of death. This leads to a crossing of the veil between life and death and profound experiences and visions of life in the post-mortem realms. The journey concludes with a return to physical life and the challenges of sharing the experience with others and integrating it into their lives. The piece is a new work conceived by Robert Cornett and led by Ted Pugh. The ensemble is Eddie Allen, Robert Cornett, Laurie Portocarrero, Vincent Roppolo, Dasana Smyth.
There is a suggested donation of $10 - $25 - no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
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Dish-to-pass: Family and Potluck Sundays
Ministry and Worship will continue potlucks on the last Sunday of the month. We will also provide childcare on these Sundays, to encourage family participation in both worship and potlucks. Our next potluck will be on Sunday, May 28 and we will be prepared to offer childcare during Meeting for Worship that day. We invite Friends to continue to join this Ministry of sharing food together.
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Where are Monthly Meeting minutes?
The minutes from Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business can be found on the right-side column of our website. | |
This Month's Calendar of Ithaca Monthly Meeting | |
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Meeting for Worship
Sundays, 10:30 am
Ithaca Friends gather for unprogrammed Meeting for Worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30 am. During warmer months (generally from Easter to Thanksgiving) Friends have three options for attending Meeting for Worship:
- In-person at our Hector Meetinghouse
- In-person at our Third Street Meetinghouse
- Remotely via Zoom, for a hybrid Meeting for Worship with Friends at the Third Street Meetinghouse. You can join by Zoom by clicking the gray button or
- Meeting ID: 372 632 479
- Passcode: friends
You can also join by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering Meeting ID when prompted.
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Men’s Fellowship
Thursday, May 4, 6p
First Thursdays, Friends, join us at Ithaca Bakery on Route 13! Quaker men—and anyone who wants to hang out with Quaker men—are warmly invited.
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Earthcare Committee
Sunday, May 7, 12:30p
The Earthcare Committee typically meets at 12:30 on the first Sunday of each month. For further information contact Betsy Keokosky at evk1@cornell.edu.
This committee meeting is open to all who would like to attend. Please feel free to come and bring your own concerns or interests. At this time we are meeting via Zoom; use the gray button below or:
- Meeting ID: 891 7172 6300
- Passcode: earthcare
You can also join by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering Meeting ID when prompted.
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Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Sunday, May 14, 12:30p
Please send agenda items to the Clerk by the preceding Monday. (Contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter.)
- Meeting ID: 372 632 479
- Password: friends
You can also join by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering Meeting ID when prompted.
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Women’s Fellowship
Friday, May 19, 7:00 p
Bring your knitting, wear your best sweatpants, and join us for an informal hangout. We'll be meeting online during the colder months.
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Peace and Social Justice Committee
Sunday, May 21, 12:30p
This is an “open” committee, meaning that all are welcome; participation does not go through the Nominating Committee process. Please feel free to come and bring your own concerns or interests. At this time we are meeting via Zoom; use the gray button below or:
- Meeting ID: 874 5684 8390
- Password: peace
You can also join by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering Meeting ID when prompted. If you have any questions, please call Garry Thomas at 607-273-7567.
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Dish-to-Pass Brunch
Sunday, May 28, 12:30p
All are welcome to join in food and fellowship. Food contributions are welcome but stay even if you forgot.
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120 Third Street • Ithaca NY 14850
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Barbara Chase, Clerk
clerk@ithacamonthlymeeting.org
607-272-3601
Pat Sewell, Treasurer
treasurer@ithacamonthlymeeting.org
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Melissa Travis Dunham,
Newsletter editor
mtravisdunham@gmail.com
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