First Month, 2004

QUERIES for the First Month:
WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR MEETINGS FOR WORSHIP AND BUSINESS?

• Are your meetings for worship and business held in expectant waiting for Divine guidance?
• Is there a living silence in which you feel drawn together by the presence of God in your midst?
• Do your meetings give evidence that Friends come to them with hearts and minds prepared for communion with God?
• Are they a source of strength and guidance for daily living?

CALENDAR NOTES

• Threshing Session on the SEYM Faith and Practice proposed section, Marriage and Ceremony of Commitment. Copies of this section are on the Lotte Graffe Memorial Table at the back of the meeting room.
• Southeastern Yearly Meeting is meeting in Orlando January 16-to January 18. It will conclude in the Orlando Meeting House with George Lakey speaking on New Theory, Old Practice: Nonviolence and Quakers. A simple (but delicious) lunch will be served at 11:30 am and the lecture will follow. Brochure on bulletin board in kitchen.
• Bring your cast-offs and white elephants, your spare change, and your wok or covered-dish. Last year our donation came close to completely funding technical education for one young Guatemalan . And in the process you will enjoy some good food, get your house organized, and have a an evening of fun (guaranteed!)
• We shall begin our study of the Book of Proverbs under the leadership of Don Smith.
• A celebration of food and Spirit among Friends. After a delicious covered dish dinner Cathy Gaskill, a renowned storyteller from Winter Park Meeting, will tell two short stories designed to provoke thoughtful discussion.
• Cathy Gaskill will lead the forum by telling two longer stories and leading a discussion.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5

MEETING NEWS

• We are invited to a Peace Potluck at Emmanuel Mennonite Church on Friday, January 16 at 6 p.m. Steve Fasaci, a Mennonite pastor in Americus, Georgia, and former naval officer (nuclear submarines) will speak about his journey to non-violence. Bring your friends and food to share. Dinner at 6 and program at 7.

• Please hold Maria Victoria in the LIGHT as she recovers from her recent surgery.

  Congratulations, Pat Ulrey, for successfully completing the required study for certification as a CNA. We have it on good authority that you are already rendering comfort and care to your patients.

• QUAKERS ARE FULL OF BEANS! The finance committee has lots of beautiful cloth bags with 13 kinds of beans ready to be made into delicious healthful inexpensive dishes. Four recipes are included. These beans are available at the meetinghouse, for a contribution of at least $3.00 a bag, and all contributions will go to the building fund. For further information contact Laura 372-3972 or Patricia 367-2962.

• Don Smith reports that his wife, Mary Sue, is recovering but still in the hospital (as of this writing). Please hold them in the LIGHT as they go through this difficult time.

• We are sorry to hear that our former very active member, Paul Adams, of Louisville, Kentucky, recently died.

• Please hold Lynn Fregly in the LIGHT as she recovers from the shingles.

• The World Gathering of Young Friends in 2005: 15 years after the last World Gathering of Young Friends in 1985, and almost a decade after the 1991 international Young Friends' Gatherings, young Friends at the 2000 Friends World Committee for Consultation triennial shared a vision of a world gathering for the current generation of young adult Friends.

  Since then, a spirit-led process of discernment and communication has led to the formation of two planning committees, one based in Europe and another in North America. These committees have taken the vision forward, planning for a gathering of over 300 young adult Friends from around the world, to be held in England in 2005. The place chosen is Lancaster University, and the tentative dates are the 8th-16th of August 2005.

  The North America-Based Committee appeals to all Friends to spread the word and to offer whatever support they can, be it spiritual, practical or financial. E-mail betsy-wgyf@yahoo.com or write Betsy Blake, Clerk, First Friends Meeting, 2100W Friendly Ave Greensboro, NC, 27403.

• Morrie Trimmer has signed an agreement with our Architect, Karl Thorne. His drawing of the interior of our new Meetinghouse is on page 4.

• Peace and Social Concerns Committee meets on the last Sunday of January at 9:30 a.m. to set goals for the coming year. All welcome.

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  Please send your contributions to our newsletter to Joan Andrews, Editor: JAndrews13@cox.com ; phone 373-2201; fax 373-2343 OR Gene Beardsley, Special Correspondent: 4416 NW 93rd Ave, GVL, Fl 32653 or phone 462-3201.

  Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
  Luke 10: 41-42

  
  
  

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  Joan Andrews, editor j6and8@aol.com
  converted to HTML by Bill Mitchell, mitchell@math.ufl.edu