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Meeting Tasks for this Sunday:
Care of Meeting: Judy H.
Key - Don G.
Setup help - Don R.
Greeter - Wendy B.
Snack - Jeanine H.
Kitchen - Jeanine H
Kitchen help - Karen S
Children's Teacher - vacant
Please contact Carole Teshima at knitpearl68@gmail.com to volunteer on a semi- regular basis.
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for Kristen McLewin
Climb on Board!
Friend Kristin McLewin fell from her horse and was hospitalized the weekend of March 14 with four broken vertebrae! Not fun, folks! The good news is that she came home Tuesday, March 17 and her mom is here until April 5, helping out.
Kristin will need help with meals for several weeks. So jump on board the meal train and let's help out our Friend! Here is the link to a mealtrain for her. Please sign up if you can!
https://mealtrain.com/0znw43
For those of you who are a bit computer phobic - this is easier than you think! Just click the link and pick a date - scroll down a ways if there are no open dates showing on the screen.
MealTrain.com is a free meal calendar tool that makes planning meals among a wide group easy and less stressful.
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Announcements from Friends
From Sharon Trent:
our Interfaith Coalition Representative:
Interfaith Coalition auction - Sat, Mar 28th
(See Community announcements below)
******
Housing Request
for April 10 - 11
Joan Rawls-Davis will be coming to Bellingham for Don and Wendy's wedding, and she will need a place to stay.
Please Contact Mary Ann Percy (earthling27@gmail.com) if you can help
Housing Request
Friend Tom Zylstra
Tom is coming from China to Bellingham in early April for some medical evaluation and treatment for an estimated 3 months. He needs a place (room, neither big nor modern). He can pay as much as $200 or $250 per month, and will also pay food costs, and will cook and help with chores.
He also hopes to buy a cheap but dependable car.
If anyone has or knows of a room and/or vehicle, please contact Tom at cntomclay@gmail.com.
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Query of the Month
"Live adventurously. When choices arise, do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and the community? Let your life speak. When decisions have to be made, are you ready to join with others in seeking clearness, asking for God’s guidance and offering counsel to one another?
Advices and Queries. - #27 in the Little Red Book
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Wedding Invitation
Wendy Beach
and
Don Goldstein
are pleased to invite you to share
the celebration of their marriage on
Saturday, April 11, 2015 beginning at 1:00 pm at
the First Congregational Church of Bellingham,
2401 Cornwall Avenue, Bellingham, WA.
We are planning a Quaker wedding under the care of
Bellingham Friends Meeting, followed by a reception including
circle dancing, contra dancing, and a potluck buffet, for which we invite you to
bring food to share if convenient. Cake and drinks will be provided.
No gifts, please.
The festivities will last until about 4:30 pm.
Please R.S.V.P. to let us know how many will be in your party
by phoning us at 360-671-1395, or emailing Don at dnx6309@gmail.com.
We look forward to the pleasure of your company on this happy day.
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From Ministry and Counsel:
Friends are asked to hold Jenny Davidow in the Light following the death of her cousin recently.
Maya Hatten-Beck has, at least as of Tuesday, not been cleared to return to
Bellingham. The doctors are concerned that her new immune system might need
a bit more support, but we are all hoping that this is just a minor
setback. Please hold Maya, John, Katy and Frieda Hatten-Beck in the Light.
Friends are asked to hold Kristen McLewin in the Light as she recovers at home after breaking four vertebrae (fortunately none affecting her spinal cord!) falling from her horse. Friends who can help by running errands or with other needs, please email Virginia at virginiafherrick@gmail.com and she will let you know when opportunities to help arise. Please sign in to the meal train (see announcement in box above) if you can.
***
*Ministry and Counsel asks the Meeting to hold Don Goldstein and Wendy Beach in the Light as they embark on their honeymoon and plan their April 11 wedding.
*******
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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For all you Climate Activists:
Urgent Action Request on Climate / Energy Legislation
Call senators Wednesday
As early as Wednesday, March 25, the Senate is expected to vote on an amendment to the Budget resolution that reads, “It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment, or conference report that . . . for any year covered by such resolution, includes a Federal tax or fee imposed on carbon emissions from any product or entity that is a direct or indirect source of the emissions.”
ACTION: Please call the offices of your two senators on Wednesday, as early as possible, and ask them to vote “no” or abstain on the Blunt amendment.
After dialing (202) 224-3121, and requesting to be put in touch with your senate office, here is a suggested message:
“Hello, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent living in _______. I just became aware of an amendment submitted by Senator Blunt of Missouri which would create a point of order against legislation that would create a Federal tax or fee on carbon emissions. I happen to think a carbon fee is an excellent idea for the United States, and so I'd like to encourage the Senator to vote against this amendment should it come to a vote. If the Senator cannot vote “no,” I ask that s/he at least abstain from voting. Thank you.”
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William Penn House Under Fire
A Message from
Byron Sandford
Executive Director
William Penn House
Dear Friends,
The Office of Tax and Revenue of Washington, DC has decided that hospitality is not an expression of faith and that our tax exempt status be changed to where 80% of our property value is taxable. The House is assessed at $1,456,430. That is an annual tax of just under $20,000.
We are challenging this and met yesterday with an attorney whose practice is taxes. She has agreed to represent us pro-bono. She would like letters regarding the value to you and/or your meeting as to the importance of William Penn House and its programs. If you can do this send it to me and I will send it to the attorney. Here is information on the issue.
Link to an article in the March issue of the Hill Rag on the tax exemption challenge between William Penn House and the DC Tax office: click here
Click here for an NBC news segment on William Penn House.
The response from Friends nationwide has been wonderful. Thank you!
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Upcoming Second Hours
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April 5 - Potluck- Easter - Hard boiled eggs are always welcome - just sayin'
April 12 - MfWfB
April 19 – QEI – Friends History (Allen Stockbridge)
April 26 – Quarterly Meeting
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Bellingham Friends Calendar of Events
Wed., April 1, 7-9 PM
Midweek Worship
at
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.
Future dates will be on April 15, 29 etc.
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The Retreat Planning group needs your help to select the best date for our retreat by filling out this doodle.
(In case you missed MfWfB - The venue had to be moved from Quaker Cove to Camp Lutherwood because of difficulty with accommodations, and the date needs to be reset.)
If you have not completed a "doodle" before,
FEAR NOT!
Just follow the steps below, and may the Force be with you.
First: Have your calendar handy.
Second: Click the link above or cut and past this address in your browser: http://doodle.com/e6gxkesthty2mygt
Third: Enter your name in a box to the left .
Forth: Put a check mark in the box under each date you think you would be available. (This is NOT a commitment - it is just a poll)
(If you could not possibly come on any of the dates listed, click they box that says "no options work for me".)
Fifth: click "save"
Congratulations! You are now
Doodle proficient!
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Spring Quarterly Meeting
April 24 - 26
Registration for the Spring 2015 session of Pacific Northwest Quarterly Meeting (PNQM) is now open.
The location is Lazy F Camp and Retreat Center near Ellensburg.
The theme is:
“Lift every voice: Music and spirituality”.
To register online, go to pnqm.org and click on the “Register now” link near the top of the page. You can download the registration information packet in PDF format, and also a separate document containing the registration forms, in either Word or PDF format, in case you choose to mail in (postally or electronically) your completed registration form.
PNQM has a “pay what you can” policy. The information packet includes a page listing suggested fees (the average amounts the Quarterly Meeting needs to receive in order to cover expenses). You can also receive a further discount by registering early, by March 25. The final registration deadline is April 12, after which there is a late registration fee and neither accommodations on site (other than camping space) nor availability of the children’s program for your children can be guaranteed.
If for some reason you need a printed registration packet, there will be a few available at Meeting beginning March 15th.
--Don Goldstein, BFM’s liaison with PNQM
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Looking ahead to wider Quaker gatherings:
PNQM Spring Quarterly Meeting – April 24-26, Ellensburg, WA: Theme: Lift Every Voice – Music & Spirituality
Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering of Friends – July 5-11, Western Carolina Univ., NC
North Pacific Yearly Meeting (NPYM) Annual Session - July 15-19, Whitworth Univ., Spokane
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) Fall Steering Committee Meeting:October 22 - 25 at Ben Lomond Quaker Center near Santa Cruz, CA
Bellingham Friends are reminded to contact Ministry and Counsel for assistance reaching clearness about attending, and/or availability of financial assistance for attending any Quaker event.
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Metamorphosis
(Each month’s Metamorphosis is available on our website (www.bellinghamfriends.org ) the Wednesday following Meeting for Business. A few of the many offerings in the current issue are:
March - in your mail box now!
- Interfaith Hope Auction and a leading of Sharon Trent
- AFSC article : Nine Ways to Connect our Meeting to the Work of American Friends Service Committee: Some GREAT suggestions here - in case you are pondering YOUR next leading. .....(Personal note: Your E-News editor is especially intrigued by the Art exhibit "39 Questions for White People")
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Announcements from the Wider Community
Interfaith Coalition Annual Hope Auction
Saturday, March 28, 2015 ~ 5:30 p.m.
Best Western Lakeway Inn & Conference Center
Bellingham, WA
Tickets are $45 a person for a delightful evening and an excellent meal.
Call 734-3983 to order tickets.
"Party with a Purpose"
See Announcement above from Sharon Trent for ways Friends can participate.
World Issues Forum
Coordinator: Shirley Osterhaus
April 8
“The Politics of Immigration in the Age of Mass Incarceration”
Silky Shah, Co-Director of
Detention Watch Network
April 8, noon-1:20 Haggard Hall 253
In recent years immigrants have become the fastest growing population behind bars. Since the 1990s immigration policy has become increasingly linked to the growth of mass incarceration, private prisons, and police and border militarization. ... The presentation will give an overview of the immigration detention system, current policies and practices put forth by the administration and Congress, and the movement to resist the mass incarceration and deportation of immigrants.
For more information click here
April 18
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.
A message on mental health and Whatcom County Jails by Sheriff Bill Elfo.
Mental Illness, Addiction, and the Whatcom County Jail
Click here
to read this informative statement
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Celebrate Nature!
Guided Field Trip Opportunities!
March 28, Saturday,
900 AM to 3:00 PM
Garry Oaks of Samish Island
To reserve a spot contact Jim Duemmel, by phone at 733-3448 or by email at JimDuemmel@q.com. We will meet at the Fairhaven west side Park & Ride (at end of 32nd St.) at 9:00 AM.
If you would like to organize a Quaker carpool to an outdoor event, (Meeting for Worship with Attention to Nature) just send a message to the editor !
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