Newsletter of Bellingham Friends Meeting – March 2012
Advices and Queries
The Meeting is enriched when all the community participate actively. The working of the Holy Spirit in our lives is expressed through our ministries: the example of lives lived in the Light.
Do we each take an active part in the life of our Meeting?
How do we recognize the varied skills and spiritual gifts of our members and attenders?
How do we nurture their use and growth?
In what ways are we bringing together all in the community, young and old, in love and fellowship?
Eco-Suggestion for March
Unstuff Your House! While doing your spring cleaning, see how much stuff you don’t need any more. Each week see more stuff go out than comes in! At least, whenever you bring something in, take something out as well.
Speak Truth to Power
Please write or call your members of Congress and ask them not to support subsidies for oil and coal, but instead to support renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, ocean waves, etc.
Schedule
| Date/time | Activity |
| March 25th | Welcome new member Joanne at the rise of meeting2nd hour: Outreach and Welcoming Group – see description below |
| Wednesday, March 28th | Pysanky Egg session from 2:30-5:00 at Sharon’s |
| April 1st | Potluck with members of Lopez Island Preparative Meeting |
| April 1st | After eating, stay to learn how to make Pysanky eggs (or watch) |
| April 8th | Easter Egg Hunt for all ages– please bring decorated eggs and we’ll have egg salad sandwiches for snack |
| Monday, April 9th | Book Group Louise Urrea’s The Devil’s Highway – a true story about crossing the border from Mexico to Arizona |
| April 15th | Meeting for Worship for Business |
| April 22nd | Pending |
| April 29th | Meeting for Worship as usual, but no 2nd hour due to Quarterly Meeting in Ellensburg) |
From the Outreach and Welcoming Group
We are planning to facilitate a Second Hour discussion on March 25th concerning The Needs of Newcomers. During this session we will suggest that there are two kinds of newcomers to our community: those who are new to Quakerism, and those who have participated in one or more Quaker Meetings elsewhere and are only new to our Meeting and perhaps to Bellingham. We will present several queries that may be applicable to the needs of each kind of newcomer, and ask that Friends share their thoughts about how our Meeting can best become more welcoming and inclusive toward them. We especially encourage the participation of Friends in our circle who are themselves recent newcomers of either kind. We hope to learn from all of you about ways in which we can do our work of welcoming more effectively, recognizing that this work really belongs to all of us.
Also on March 25th, we will make available pre-printed nametags plus a variety of types of holders for them, and will outline the logistics that we propose for storing, picking up, and returning nametags. There will also be materials provided, such as colored markers and stickers, for Friends who would like to decorate their nametags to make them more personalized. We have contacted the Children’s Program Committee and heard back that the children would also like to have nametags, and these will also be available beginning March 25th.
–Don Goldstein, Clerk of BFM Outreach and Welcoming Group, dnx57@yahoo.com
From your Directory Editor
The 2012-2013 Directory for Bellingham Friends Meeting, including a list of email addresses as well as the main sections of listings, will be distributed by email before the end of March. There will also be some hard copies made available for those without email or who prefer printed copies. The deadline for sending me corrections or updates is March 27th. If you haven’t yet seen a draft directory to review for corrections or updates, please contact me by phone or email as shown below.
The final directory, including the 2012-2013 list of officers and committee members, will be printed in the usual format during the latter part of April and made available to the community on or before April 22nd. Copies of this full version will also be available in digital form by email upon request. The deadline for sending me corrections or updates for inclusion in the final version is April 17th.
–Don Goldstein, BFM Directory Editor & Publisher, dnx57@yahoo.com, 360-671-1395
Friends Earthcare Committee and Peace & Social Concerns Committee will be merging in April. The new name is Social and Environmental Concerns.
To all prospective First Day School teachers
(which is to say Everyone)
Because we’ve had a lower attendance of late, please continue to sign up but consider that if no children appear you can either save your lesson and teach it another time or give it to someone else to use. Because there are often more children under the age of 8, please consider the possibility of coming with an age-appropriate version of your lesson. We want our youngest to report about a lesson, not just a play period! If you’d like help in finding materials, please ask Sharon.
Meeting for Worship Sundays at 10 AM at Explorations Academy, 1701 Ellis Street, Bellingham
Phone 360-734-0244 Mailing Address P.O. Box 30144 Bellingham, 98228-2144 Website BellinghamFriends.org
Simplicity * Peace * Integrity * Community * Sustainability * Equality