We are living through rapids of change
Strong emotions, feelings, conflicts – stir us up
Loud voices yell
We must do this,
We must do that
I am right, you are wrong –
Go this way – No go that way
Draw those lines sharp and
Don’t ever cross them
Anger, fear, loud voices
create noise
then more noise
- NO ONE IS HEARD

The times demand we must move and choose
- OR ELSE
Climate change, Monetary crisis,
Health care, Immigration, Terrorism
All demand our attention
- OVERLOAD

Big government, big business, big banks
Who is there to trust?
Our old home is gone
A NEW HOME IS NEEDED

Find a quiet space to listen
A space to listen without judgment
A way forward beyond the noise
Beyond the good and bad
Beyond those lines drawn
BEYOND THE FEAR

IN SPITE OF ALL THE YELLING
- WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

We are going through the rapids of change
The rapids demand our attention and action
The rapids require we ride this together

A symphony is waiting to be expressed
Where all voices can be heard and respected
Where fear, and anger, and suffering
Can be known and shared

Meet, see, and know each other
Go thru and deal with the rapids
Plant the seeds of change
A new world sprouts
Roots hold together
A new home
PEACE

All sessions begin at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Joan and Michael Pine. If you plan to attend, please contact Joan at joanormichael@yahoo.com or 847-492-0162.

Thursday, February 11 – Sharing Our Stories and Questions (Joan Pine)
What spiritual paths have led us to the Religious Society of Friends? Where are we now in our spiritual journeys and what are we seeking? What questions about Friends do we hope to have answered in these sessions? How might Meeting support us in our spiritual journeys?

Thursday, February 18 – Worship in the Manner of Friends (Joey Rodger)
Why is our worship “unprogrammed,” and what does that mean? How is Meeting for Worship different from meditation? What’s the difference between “giving a message” and “testifying,” “sharing your experience,” “offering your thoughts,” or just talking? How can individuals know if they have “received a message” or if they should share it? Why don’t we use choirs, organ, religious artifacts, or scholarly sermons? What opportunities do we offer for spiritual growth?

Thursday, February 25 – Beliefs of Friends (Ann Miller, Carol Moschandreas, Joan Pine)
What do Quakers believe about the Divine? What words, images, concepts, and metaphors reflect Friends’ spiritual experiences? Are we “Christian?” How do we regard the Bible? Do we have sacraments like baptism or communion? In the absence of a theological creed, what unites Friends? How are “queries” used? What are participants’ experiences of the Divine?

Thursday, March 4– Business and Decision Making (Mary Theis)
Why don’t Quakers have paid clergy? How are marriages and memorial services conducted? What are Clearness Committees? What is a “leading”? How does the work of the Meeting get done? How is our local Meeting organized? What is “First Day School?” What committees are open to attenders? What is a Monthly Meeting? How are Meeting for Worship and Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business related? How do consensus, unity, and “sense of the Meeting” differ? How are financial contributions received? What is the membership process?

Thursday, March 11 – Friends’ Testimonies (Carolyn Anthony)
What is meant by a “testimony”? What are the traditional testimonies of Quakers and how did they arise? How were they practiced in the past, and how do contemporary Friends try to demonstrate them today? How can these testimonies further our personal spiritual practices? How can we use Quaker tradition to deepen and sustain our ability to live these principles?
What are some ways that we express our commitment to social justice?

Thursday, March 25 – The Wider World of Quakers (Elizabeth Mertic)
What is a “yearly meeting” and what does it do? How do we relate to other Quakers in the Chicago metro area and the nation? What are Friends General Conference, Pendle Hill, Friends Committee on National Legislation, AFSC, Friends World Committee, and QUNO, and what do they offer us? What is Friends Journal? How can you find Quaker Meetings in other locations?

A review of: “Right Relationship” By Peter Brown

written by Hal Mead

Moving from Wrong to Right Relationship

A pursuit of wrong relationship is the prevailing trend of our times. The signs are now well known: climate change, over population, loss of top soil and freshwater, increasing rates of species extinction, deforestation, toxic chemicals, persistent human poverty, unstable world financial system.

Right relationship – One that promotes the common good, rather than only the interests of individuals or a particular class of people. Political commonwealth -wealth is seen as something to be allocated equitably, to be shared in common.

What is A Whole Earth Economy for?

The purpose of the economy is to preserve & enhance the integrity, resilience, and beauty of life.

Cooperation in mutually beneficial economic dealings is the ethical root of society. The key elements of this kind of cooperation are respect and reciprocity -respect for other people and for the environment.

How does It Work?

Life’s task is to grow in compassion and in a way of living that is helpful to all life, and to the earth systems on which life depends.- the consequences of failing to live in this sacred manner will diminish our own life value and the well-being of the whole earth community.

Trusteeship of earth’s commons

Many laws that limit individual freedom are readily accepted (for example, criminalizing murder or requiring one to stop at red lights), this authority will surely have to expand into new and challenging areas if human society is to work toward living within ecological limits. Laws regulating the number of children people can have would likely face serious resistance, yet that kind of regulatory limit maybe needed to stay within the earth’s ecological limits by reducing population.

Essential to this is a shift from an egocentric – I, me, mine, values perspective, to one of collaborative engagement in pursuit of the common good.

Our Library Collection of Books – sorted by author
Our Library Collection of Books – sorted by title

2007 State of Society Report

2006 State of Society Report

Request form to use the Meeting Hall

2008 EFM Handbook

Silent Retreat Registration Form

“When Friends Attend to Business” by Thomas S. Brown

“An Introduction to Quaker Business Practice” by Eden Grace

Quaker practice and electronic media

Renewable wind energy statement

Your Responsibility:

• Bring a dish to share
• Set up for potluck
• Serve dishes provided by attenders
• Clean up after potluck

Dinner Supplies: Hospitality Committee will provide basic supplies of milk, a loaf of bread, butter and 2 cheese pizzas which you will find in the Meeting House refrigerator. (Birthday cake will now be served First Sunday at rise of Meeting.)

Coffee: Directions for making coffee are posted near the coffee maker. Don’t make more coffee until you check on what returns from post Meeting coffee time. Usually there is enough.

Set Up: Turn on ovens to keep things warm depending on what comes in. Turn on power button for dishwasher to warm up before we eat. Directions are on front of dishwasher. Fill plastic silverware basin with sudsy water and place on dirty-dish pass-through. Set out plates, forks, knives, spoons, napkins, glasses, mugs. Clean tables and put tablecloths on tables. Salt and pepper can go on tables.

Serving: Before serving hold hands and ask someone to give blessing.

Clean up: Small children are to be kept out of the kitchen for safety’s sake; kitchen door can be closed. Please clean up thoroughly, leaving NO leftovers in the fridge or dishes on the drainboards. Tables need to be wiped. Dish towels and tablecloths need to be taken home to be washed and brought back the next week. Empty the coffee grounds, and UNPLUG THE COFFEE MAKER. Turn power off on dishwasher. Turn off exhaust fan over the stoves. Make sure exterior doors are locked and secure.

Donated Money should be put in an envelope or napkin and placed in the collection box with a note that these are donations from Potluck Dinner.

Thanks for all your help.

If you have an asterisk by your name, it means you are responsible for contacting the rest of the group and arranging for supplies. If you cannot keep this commitment please find someone to substitute for you, but please let us know if you have done so.

You have a choice – you can serve pastries, fruit, juice and milk, or pancakes.

Your Responsibilities:

Set up . Turn on power button for dishwasher to warm up before we eat. Fill plastic silverware basin with sudsy water and place on dirty-dish pass-through. Set out plates, forks, knives, spoons, napkins, glasses, mugs. Clean tables.

Coffee: Directions for coffee making are near coffee maker. Coffee supplies are in cabinets next to coffee maker.

Clean up: Stop serving by 9:45. Small children are to be kept out of the kitchen for safety’s sake; kitchen door can be closed. Please clean up thoroughly, leaving NO leftovers in the fridge or dishes on the drainboards. Directions are on the front of dishwasher for washing dishes. Throw in a Tbsp or so of dishwashing powder detergent from under dish sink for each load of dishes. Tables and counters need to be wiped. Put dishes away. Turn off light and fan above stove. Turn off power on dishwasher. Take money from collection plate to repay yourself for your expenses and put any extra money collected in an envelope (or napkin) labeled “pancake breakfast” and place in little wooden collection box on north wall of Meeting Hall upstairs.

IF YOU CHOOSE PANCAKES – Supplies for about 30 people:

• 1 to 2 boxes pancake mix.
• Eggs
• 1 gal. lowfat milk, orange juice
• oil
• Butter, Margarine, or Spread
• 1bottle of syrup
• 1 jar applesauce
• bananas or melon if you want

CHECK SUPPLIES FIRST – even the week before. You don’t have to buy all this every month. Look in fridge for open pancake mix, butter, eggs, syrup, orange juice. Don’t buy it if we have it. Look in northwest corner cabinet – to right of microwave for mix, syrup, applesauce. We don’t have to stockpile this. We only cook pancakes once a month. Pancake griddles are in drawer under stove. Use nylon not metal spatulas. There is spray Pam somewhere. Potholders in drawer to left of stove. Put plates on pass through.
And thanks for all your help.

The first step is to ask our Caretaker whether the space desired in the Meetinghouse might be available on the date(s) and time(s) requested. Then either our Caretaker or one of the Trustees will provide the “Request for Use” form which must be completed and returned for consideration. The requestor will be notified as soon as a decision has been made.

The sponsoring member of Evanston Friends Meeting is expected to attend the entire event and be responsible for overseeing the use of facilities and the security of the building. The organization is expected to make a donation to help defray EFM’s utilities and maintenance costs. Groups that wish to use the Meetinghouse regularly for a period of time or groups planning an event that is not normally held in a church may be asked to provide a “Certificate of Insurance” that names EFM as a co-insured during the time of use. This temporary addendum to any liability policy is provided routinely by insurance agents, usually for a nominal fee.

Please do not request use of the Meetinghouse for private social events or parties to which only certain F/friends and/or family members are invited. However, the Meetinghouse may be used for social events that are open to all members and attenders and that are sponsored by a standing committee of EFM or another Friends Meeting.

Alcoholic beverages are not permitted in the Meetinghouse or on the grounds.

Trustees cannot approve use of the Meetinghouse for events designed to make a profit for an individual or group that lacks nonprofit status. Even for nonprofits, any food service fundraiser advertised to the public would violate Department of Health ordinances.

The Meetinghouse cannot be used as sleeping space for travelers and other groups seeking overnight accommodations.

(An exception is made only for the annual Youth Quake, whose well-supervised schedule includes a traditional “lock-in” that is typical of youth activities in other faith communities.) Meetings of EFM’s committees, whether scheduled or unscheduled, and meetings of small groups related to committee functions (e.g., clearness committees, Friendly Dinner groups) do not require submitting a form for approval of Trustees. However, it is important to ask the Caretaker whether the room(s) desired will be available.

Confusion and disappointment (as well as a chilly room) can be avoided by ensuring that all meetings are noted on the calendar.

Care of the individual:

The Committee supports and develops the leadings of individuals in the Meeting with regard to peace, social justice and earth care issues. This includes but is not limited to the following:

• Communicating to the Meeting a clearly defined process for responding to the concerns and leadings of individual Friends.
• Inviting, encouraging, and monitoring the concerns and leadings of individual Friends.
• Convening and overseeing clearness committees to help individuals sort out their concerns and leadings through a process of discernment.
• Convening and overseeing support committees to provide practical advice, assistance, and resource coordination to individuals who are actively pursuing clear leadings.
• Networking among individuals and groups both within and beyond the Meeting that are focusing on similar issues.
• Providing a mechanism for discerning when an individual leading has taken on a corporate focus.

Care of the Meeting:

The Committee supports and develops the Meeting’s corporate peace, social justice and earth care witness. This includes but is not limited to the following:

• Providing periodic updates of the Meeting’s involvement in peace, social justice and earth care issues.
• Educating the Meeting about current peace, social justice and earth care issues through maintaining a bulletin board and display space, preparing announcements and reports for Meeting for Business, and organizing Second Hour presentations and discussions.
• Informing the Meeting about issues that develop out of leadings and actions of individual members and attenders.
• Discerning patterns among individual members and attenders that may be indicative of a corporate leading.
• Developing and overseeing a process through which the Meeting can discern corporate leadings, including the preparation of draft minutes for consideration by Meeting for Business.
• Overseeing the development of corporate leadings, including collecting and disseminating relevant information, convening task forces and committees to pursue Meeting involvement, taking direct action, organizing events, and laying down such concerns.
• Appointing liaisons to wider Quaker bodies such as Friends Committee on National Legislation, American Friends Service Committee, and Quaker Earthcare Witness to assure that relevant concerns of EFM are brought to the attention of these groups and that issues these groups wish to have communicated to Friends are brought to the attention of EFM.
• Each July appointing a representative to the Camp and Conference Fund Committee and to the Friendly Hand Fund Committee.
• Each October preparing and submitting an annual budget to the Treasurer.
• Each autumn nominating and awarding an annual Peace Award to recognize the contribution to peace, social justice or care of the earth by an individual or organization.

Evanston Friends Meeting donates to Quaker bodies as well as to compatible organizations in which at least one of our members is actively involved. Our donations are not intended to substitute for or replace gifts from individuals and families. Additional personal gifts to these charities are encouraged.

Friends World Committee on Consultation - This organization fosters worldwide communication and cooperative action among all branches of Quakers. Quaker United Nations offices in Geneva and New York depend upon this international scope. Our IYM representatives to the 2004 Triennial in New Zealand reported that our support is crucial.

Friends Committee on National Legislation- With headquarters are across from the Capitol, FCNL publishes a newsletter and web page explaining legislative issues and opportunities for action. FCNL’s lobbyists stay close to members of Congress and their staffs.

Quaker House - Located near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, this center offers ’s talk at IYM in 2002 is in our library.

American Friends Service Committee - This long has been the major channel of Quaker voluntary service to war-ravaged and impoverished people around the world. It works to eliminate the causes of suffering as well as to deliver food, clothing, bedding, and hygiene kits to those in need.

Right Sharing of World Resources – Friends’ contributions fund self-help grants to entrepreneurs in third world countries who have proven potential to improve the economy in their local communities. Our Simple Lunches and annual used-items sales also support this cause.

African Great Lakes Initiative – This project sends Friends Peace Teams to conduct training in alternatives to violence, healing from trauma, and reconciliation between oppressors and victims of violence, thereby strengthening the witness of Friends in Rwanda, Brundi, and Uganda. They sponsored a work camp in Brundi last summer.

Quaker Earthcare Witness – These Friends advocate policies for an ecologically sustainable world.

William Penn House - This center in Washington D.C. makes overnight accommodations available to Friends who are visiting the nation’s capital for
educational and related purposes.

Earlham College - This nationally-known Quaker institution of undergraduate education, located in nearby Indiana, is the alma mater of several members of Evanston Friends Meeting.

Earlham School of Religion - This institution offers theological and religious studies to Quakers and others, including recorded ministers and pastors of Friends churches.

Ramallah Friends School – This courageous school in the manner of Friends continues to be an educational beacon of hope for Palestinian children.

Friends Journal - This monthly journal reflects the perspective of Friends General Conference through informational and inspirational articles. Subscriptions pay only partially for publication and distribution.

Christian Peacemakers - Members of Mennonite churches, Brethren churches, and the Religious Society of Friends travel to areas of violent conflict to become a visible physical presence as a witness for peace. Two trainers gave the program at our regional gathering in 2004.

Fisher Memorial Ministries – Conducted by a neighboring African-American church with which EFM has had a long-term collegial relationship, this project offers the homeless and ex-offenders practical help in returning to productive lives. Members of EFM have been providing technical assistance.

Center for Middle East Studies - This component of North Park University sponsors lectures by and dialog among representatives of ethnic groups in the Middle East to further international understanding and diplomacy.

Evanston Interfaith Action – Any faith community in Evanston can join this coalition by sending two delegates and making a donation. While providing a network of services to the hungry and homeless, it also aims to increase interfaith understanding. Our bulletin board has a list of its soup kitchen and shelters.

Family Matters - This organization teaches and promotes nonviolent conflict resolution among families and youths in the low-income area north of Howard Avenue. It has worked with children and teachers in our First Day School and has received our Peace Award.

North Suburban Peace Initiative - This organization mobilizes religious bodies and peace groups in Chicago=s northern suburbs to act for peace and disarmament. It received EFM’s Peace Award.

Evanston Community Development Association – EFM is a Supporting Member of this coalition to increase affordable housing in the community and to give minority residents job training through the purchase, renovation, and re-selling of houses.

Emergency USA – This independent organization for international war relief operates clinics and hospitals to treat civilians in war zones and areas of prior violent conflict.

The Religious Society of Friends

Friends General Conference

Illinois Yearly Meeting

Western Yearly Meeting

Friends United Meeting

Pendle Hill

Camp Woodbrooke

Friends World Committee for Consultation,
Section of the Americas

General Quaker Information

Friends General Conference Book Store

Pendle Hill Book Store

Other Quaker Meeting Sites

To Find a Quaker Meeting in North America

Northside Friends Meeting

Oak Park Friends Meeting

Lake Forest Meeting

57th Street Meeting

Downers Grove Meeting