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Meeting Tasks for this Sunday:
Care of Meeting: Larry T.
Key - Lorina H.
Setup help - vacant
Greeter - Sharon T.
Snack - vacant
Kitchen - Jenny D.
Kitchen help - Don R.
Children's Teacher - Betty M.
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Friendly Notes
Holding in the Light
- Carole T. - as she begins her recovery from knee surgery on Thursday, July 23
- All Bellingham Quakers - as we undertake a 120 day period of discernment to determine whether or not purchasing the building under consideration is a Spirit-led choice our Meeting.
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Calendar for Bellingham Friends
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Thursday, July 30
SEC Film night
"The Harvest"
7 pm - light refreshments
At the Hopkinson's
This is the 2nd in a series of films on Farmworkers. Stimulating and meaningful discussion followed last month's film, and this one promises to be equally informative!
Please RSVP by clicking here
More than 400,000 children work in American fields to harvest the food we all eat.
Children working in agriculture endure lives of extreme poverty
To read more about the film and the issue, click here
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Sun Aug 2
Annual Picnic
see information on the right.
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Wed., Aug 5,
7-9:00 PM
Midweek Worship
Mary Ann Percy's home
(1 hr worship + worship sharing and/or check-ins).
Friends gather for midweek worship on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays each month.
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Tues, Aug 11
BOOK GROUP
Aug 11
at Joanne C.'s home
The upcoming book is the Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, which is a fictionalized account of the story of Sarah Grimke and a slave she was given as a child , her becoming Quaker and her role in abolition. It's a Library kit and a wonderful read, and the book that inspired Joan to present The Grimke sisters as a QEI biography. To get a copy, contact Susan R.
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Sat., Sept. 12th 2 pm - Sun, Sept. 13th 2pm
Annual Retreat
Camp Lutherwood
(see more information below)
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From Ministry and Counsel:
Honor Our Shared Silence
To honor and nurture our precious silent worship together, please plan to arrive before 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Please enter the hallway outside the worship room quietly, as voices carry. Please silence cellphones and arrange belongings before entering, and keep comings and goings during worship to a minimum.
Thank you.
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Opportunities for Friendly Activists
From your Social and Environmental Concerns Committee
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SUPPORT THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
A huge vote on war and peace is right around the corner. Yesterday, world powers announced a deal over Iran's nuclear program -- and now Congress will weigh in.
Take action when it
Matters Most
click here
and follow the instructions (very easy) so that Friends Committee for National Legislation (FCNL) can help you send a message to your legislators.
If diplomacy is a marathon, we're at 26 miles. Now we need your help to go the last few feet. Many members of Congress will be speaking out today and tomorrow, and everyone will vote in September. What they hear right now from their constituents will influence their position going forward.
Over the past decade, Iran and the U.S. have been on the verge of war many times. FCNL has worked to avert crisis after crisis. In the past two years, sustained diplomacy has put us on a path to avoid another war in the Middle East. Thank you for your help to get us this far, and please act now.
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Support Low Income Housing Residents
Residents of Washington Square Housing are mounting a campaign to ask our Senators to use their influence to pass HR 233: Tenant Income Verification Relief Act of 2015
H.R.233 reduces the burden on persons living in low-income housing, on public housing authorities, and on the United States government by requiring that tenant recertification (Income Verification) need only be completed once every three years instead of once every year. The cost savings to the public housing authorities in both materials and necessary labor to process the verification is substantial. Additionally, the reduction of stress on low-income residents is very significant. (Currently, residents must file a 27 page application every year in order not to loose their homes.) The cost savings to the government, while perhaps inconsequential when compared to the national debt, would be significant to agencies such as Housing and Urban Development.
A Petition will be available for your signature at Meeting for Worship for the next several weeks. .
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BFM Annual Retreat 2015
The 2015 BFM Annual Retreat will take place at Camp Lutherwood, on Lake Samish just south of Bellingham, beginning about 2 pm on Saturday, September 12th and ending about the same time on Sunday, September 13th. Most, if not all, of us will be staying overnight in one of two modern lodges with beautiful lake views and cozy kitchens/small meeting areas. Camping space is also available.
This year’s annual retreat includes time for several simultaneous interest groups from 7:30 to 8:30 pm on Saturday evening.
Request for Proposals for Interest Groups at 2015 BFM Retreat
The Retreat Planning Committee (Mary Ann Percy, Carole Teshima, Wendy Goldstein, Mark Hersh, and Don Goldstein) invites Friends to develop short proposals (1-2 paragraphs) for interest groups that somehow connect with our overall retreat theme of “Spiritual Deepening” and submit them to the committee not later than August 15th. Depending on the number and nature of the submissions, we expect to select between 3 and 6 proposals for inclusion in the retreat, and will announce the list of interest groups selected by about September 5th. The assumption is that you are willing to facilitate any interest group that you propose.
Interest group activities could be either individual (e.g., sharing a poem to express your experience of spiritual growth) or something requiring a group process (e.g., improvisation exercises). Your proposal should include a sentence or two explaining how your activity or subject matter relates--for you--to Spiritual Deepening.
Send proposals by email to committee clerk Don Goldstein or deliver them in hard copy to any committee member.
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The July Metamorphosis is out!
Click here
To read it now.
You should have received an email copy. If you did not, email the editor and ask to have your name added to the list!
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Friday Peace Vigil
When
Every Fri, 3:45pm – 4:45pm
Where
104 W Magnolia St, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA ()
Description
The Nation's oldest weekly Peace Vigil. Paricipants gather weekly at 4:00 pm with signs in front of the Federal Building on the Corner of Magnolia and Cornwall Streets.
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Upcoming Second Hours:
Aug. 2 – Worship & Picnic in the Park. Please bring a dish or beverage to share, plates, cups, and utensils. It is also helpful if you bring extra chairs, as the picnic benches aren’t comfortable for some Friends during Worship. We also need volunteers to bring tablecloths.
Aug. 9 - MfWfB
Aug. 16 - Proposal for BFM Decision-making Process/F&P Draft Chapter on Discernment
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Experience FGC - the Gathering from the comfort of your own home!
For a Limited Time Only - you can watch Dr. Tieraona Low Dog
Plenary Session from the 2015 Friends General Conference
Available only until July 24th
Click here
You can also view all the 2015 FGC Plenary sessions including
Parker Palmer
(this one will be available a little longer)
Click here
for access to all 2015 FGC gathering Plenary sessions
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Highights from the July Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business:
- Accepted for seasoning: Lopez Island Preparatory Meeting application for Monthly Meeting status.
- Accepted for seasoning: Jessica Bee's application for membership.
- Meeting house search: The meeting agreed to make a contingency offer on a building which could serve as a meeting house and a "Quaker Community Center". The contingency offer would allow several months for the meeting to consider and reach consensus on the suitability of the building for our needs, needed adaptations, the feasibility of financing, and the human resources needed to maintain the property.
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Announcements
for/ From
Bellingham Friends
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July 22, 2015 1:30 pm
TS Eliot's Four Quartets
Stephanie Manzo and Don Reinke announce a reading of
Little Gidding, the Fourth of
TS Eliot’s Four Quartets
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 1:30 PM at
Sharon Trent’s and Don Reinke’s Home
1160 Saint Paul Street
Childcare will be provided, as will be lunch (if you RSVP)
Please let Don Reinke know of your lunch needs.
donreinke@hotmail.com
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Welcoming Personal Donations to Help Assist Port Townsend Friends
Our Meeting approved a donation of $200 to Port Townsend Friends to help add a kitchen to their new meetinghouse. Don Goldstein will send the check along with individual donations that Friends would like to add (Individuals have added $100 so far). If you would like to contribute, please bring your donation to Don at meeting next Sunday, or contact him (671-1395 or dnx6309@gmail.com) to make another arrangement.
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Musqueam Community & Long House Tour
Sept 20
A special invitation from Vancouver Friends Meeting
Full, but you can still be on the wait list
The meetinghouse of Vancouver (BC) Monthly Meeting, along with most of the city, sits on the traditional lands of the Musqueam people (part of the Coast Salish people, along with the Lummi and many other groups), which have never been ceded to British Columbia or to Canada. Vancouver Friends have arranged for a guided tour of the Musqueam Community on Sunday afternoon, September 20th, beginning at 2:30 pm. Bellingham Friends are invited to join them, with an initial limit of six Friends from outside Vancouver Meeting (more places may open up later).
The cost of the tour is covered by Vancouver Meeting. Directions will be forthcoming, along with a code of behavior for visitors. Please sign up if you are certain to attend.
To sign up or ask questions, please contact Kirsten Ebsen at orcasandfishes@gmail.com
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Sunday August 2, 2015 10AM -2PM
Come One; Come All
Annual Bellingham Friends' Outdoor
Meeting for Worship
and Picnic
- Where? Fairhaven Park in large shelter on right (when entering from Chuckanut Drive); across from tennis courts which are on left
- What to bring? Chairs if you prefer that to the picnic tables/benches, food (including serving utensils) or beverages to share, your own utensils, plate, cup, napkin,
- Extra Utensils to share extra paper napkins, extra plates, table cloths,
- Games frisbees, other outdoor games you enjoy
- Offer to help? We will need more than 1 person for childcare; please sign up! (at meeting)
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Looking ahead to wider Quaker gatherings:
Quaker Earthcare Witness
(QEW) Fall Steering Committee Meeting:October 22 - 25 at Ben Lomond Quaker Center near Santa Cruz, CA
if you are thinking about attending these or other Quaker meetings and are deterred by the expense, don't forget many Quaker gatherings offer financial aid and the Meeting has our own scholarship fund as well. Contact clerk of Ministry and Counsel, Virginia Herrick, for more information.
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Announcements from the Wider Community
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Transportation Equity Discussion
at WPJ
When
Wed, July 29, 7pm – 10pm
Where
The Whatcom Peace and Justice Center ()
Description
This discussion is not organized by WTA. We are inviting you to participate in a small starter conversation about Transportation Equity and WTA service in our community. The goal is to pull together the voices of both existing bus riders, as well as those that could use WTA’s buses if they were more equitably allocated. Information and data will be shared to assist the community’s participation in WTA’s upcoming strategic planning. We want WTA to hear from a variety of voices on this topic before their public input process is closed. We will decide at this meeting if people would like to form a more formal advocacy group for bus riders. Please feel free to extend this invitation to other bus riders! Seniors, teens, veterans, county residents, riders with access needs. Thank you!
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Concert in Elizabeth Park
Thursday, 6 pm
SUMMER PARK CONCERT SERIES:
Bellingham's Columbia neighborhood at Elizabeth Park.
Every Thursday through Aug. 27.
http://www.cob.org
6:00 pm - 8 pm
Free concerts sponsored by The Eldridge Society, in partnership with Bellingham Parks and Recreation. Hot dogs will be available for purchase, and picnickers are encouraged to recycle and compost. Donations to enable The Eldridge Society to continue to pay the performers will be gratefully accepted at the concerts.
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Concern of the Month for July
2015 Totem Pole Journey
Lummi House of Tears Carvers is planning another Journey this August. This year's Totem Pole will be gifted to the Northern Cheyenne, Lame Deer, Montana, whose sacred lands would be devastated by the coalmine at Otter Creek, at the proposed Tongue River rail line. There will be stops at key tribes along the way, and public events in Bellingham, Longview, Portland, and Billings Montana.
Master carver James Jewell at work
For those who would like to donate directly, click here to make on-line donations:
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