Brown background with text reading "Quakers in Canada: News from around Canadian Yearly Meeting." Most of the text is yellow, but the Q is pale green.

Dear Friends,

Well, it seems like every time we think the pandemic might be thinking about winding down, there's a fresh new surprise. In 2022, I'm wishing all of us precedented times, global vaccine equity, and a complete absence of the phrase "out of an abundance of caution."

Thank you for reading Canadian Yearly Meeting's monthly electronic newsletter—we're glad to have you! If you know others who might like to receive this, please feel free to forward this message so that other friends can subscribe at the link below. Your help in connecting Friends across the country is deeply appreciated!

If you'd like to contribute to the newsletter, email newsletter@quaker.ca by the 15th of the month. We may not be able to fit all contributions in, but we'll try!

Sign up

Last opportunity to give to CYM in 2021!

The end of the calendar year is approaching (and with it the deadline for 2021 charitable receipts), and you might be starting to reflect on what the last year has brought. CYM certainly is! It's been a busy year, filled with pandemic disruptions and CYM business, and we hope that you have felt supported and connected to Friends across Canada.

Like all of us individually, CYM is looking at the future and hoping for a world where in-person gatherings feel safe and we can all enjoy the warm bustle of being surrounded by Friends.

You can help to make this world possible: you may not be able to bring an end to the pandemic individually, but your year end donation can support a whole host of CYM activities, including the in-person gatherings that have for so long been a central part of Canadian Quaker life.

In the words of CYM incoming clerk, Ruth Pincoe, "I ask that you hold in the Light and discern a right amount to contribute in 2021 to support the work of Canadian Yearly Meeting." To read about all the things your donations have made possible and can make possible in the future, have a look at the CYM appeal letter. If you have donations left on your to-do list for this year, now is the time!

Donate

An acorn sits on a pale palm, with an out-of-focus sidewalk in the background.

Private Winter Retreats at NeeKauNis

Winter Retreat Space: NeeKauNis has a newly refreshed space for daytime or overnight use. Find yourself at NeeKauNis this winter skiing, sledding, or snowshoeing with a warm place to relax and dry off. Please contact camp.neekaunis@gmail.com for rates, what to expect, and what to bring. Our frugal prices are based on cost-recovery.

Camp NeeKauNis programs will resume in 2022, our 90th Anniversary Year! Please stay tuned to our website at neekaunis.org for more information.

Camp NeeKauNis only receives directed donations. E-transfers can be sent to neekaunis-assistant-treasurer@quaker.ca which is setup with auto deposit. Please look on neekaunis.org for other ways to give and to subscribe to our newsletter.

Picture of the path leading down to the waterfront at NeeKauNis - shown are many green trees, and a fence made out of wooden poles.

CYM is hiring! Applications due January 21st.

Canadian Yearly Meeting is hiring for the General Secretary-Treasurer position! See the posting for the General Secretary-Treasurer in PDF format or on Quaker.ca, Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to cym-office@quaker.ca before 5PM (EST) January 21, 2022. CYM thanks all candidates for their interest, however only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

Friends can also look at the draft Communications Coordinator and the Office Coordinator job descriptions - hiring is not yet underway for these positions, but you may still be interested in learning about them!

Red "we're hiring!" text, with red lines above and below.

Western Half-Yearly Meeting - Meeting for Worship, January 23rd

At Fall WHYM, Friends expressed interest in meeting on Zoom to worship together some First Day during the winter, mid-way to Spring WHYM. Worship has been scheduled on Sunday, January 23rd, 2022. Worship will begin at 9:00AM PST, 10:00AM MST, 11:00AM CST, 12:00PM EST, 1:00PM AST, 1:30PM NST, and last for an hour, followed by a time for socializing. However, some Friends have expressed an interest in worshiping for longer, so the Zoom link will be opened an hour in advance for Friends who wish to begin their worship early. Friends joining at the above times should join quietly.

Friends can join individually, or, if there is interest, an in-person meeting could log-in as a group.

Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83871261258?pwd=cUU3Mm9YVCttZUY1V2RjR1NKM0ZIQT09

Meeting ID: 838 7126 1258
Passcode: Western

Dial by your location
+1 204 272 7920 (Manitoba)
+1 587 328 1099 (Alberta)
+1 778 907 2071 (British Columbia)
(Zoom has no local Saskatchewan number)

Meeting ID: 838 7126 1258
Passcode: 0890538

A dark building pictured from across a bright green lawn, with orange fall colours in the background.

Friendly Exploration on CYM-in-Session, January 29th

Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) has had a tradition of meeting annually (CYM-in-Session) in locations across Canada to conduct our business, share ideas, renew ourselves spiritually, and connect as a community. The Change and Sustainable Transformation (CAST) working group has been considering whether the time has come to change how we gather as a Yearly Meeting. We believe that we can experiment with new ways of gathering our community and doing our work. We invite folks from across the Yearly Meeting to join a “Friendly Exploration” via Zoom. Click below to see the potential formats for CYM!

Date: January 29, 2022 Time: 10:30AM PST, 11:30AM MST, 12:30PM CST, 1:30PM EST, 2:30PM AST, 3:00PM NST

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8671213216?pwd=VlRCRHhpSFFhRHllS2dBcHNnc1kvdz09

Meeting ID: 867 121 3216
Passcode: CYM1955

Dial by your location
+1 613 209 3054 Canada
+1 647 374 4685 Canada
+1 647 558 0588 Canada
+1 778 907 2071 Canada
+1 438 809 7799 Canada
+1 587 328 1099 Canada

Meeting ID: 867 121 3216
Passcode: 5144807

Read ideas

A dark-skinned person wearing white lies down on a bed to have a video call on a laptop.

Calling all Indigenous Friends! Conference on Decolonizing, February 5th

The Decolonizing Quakers working group invites Indigenous Friends of Turtle Island (Quakers who are direct descendants of Indigenous peoples of "North America") to gather with tom kunesh (Lakota/mixt) to discuss the term "decolonizing" and to seek agreement on its meaning and goals among Indigenous Friends.

The discussion will take place on Zoom on Saturday, February 5, 2022, starting at 10:00AM PST, 11:00AM MST, 12:00PM CST, 1:00PM EST, 2:00PM AST, 2:30PM NST, and lasting approximately 4 hours. Pre-registration required. Questions can be directed tom@kunesh.net.

 Register

A small pond or stream, surrounded by the rust and yellow and green colours of fall.

Online Quaker Conversation Circles and more, starting February 12

Restore your souls, rebuild your Meeting. CYM Education & Outreach has decided to focus on offering restorative Quaker practices in 2022 – with the first session involving Quaker Conversation Circles.

This first event will take place on Saturday, February 12, 2022, with a 90-minute online workshop that introduces Canadian Quakers to Conversation Circles from the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative. Come and learn about this exciting new way to hold deeper conversations about topics that matter to you and your Meeting.

Other events will include more sessions of Hope is a Practice, with Tracey Martin, and sessions on Diversity and Inclusion in Quaker Meetings. For more details on these events, and the Zoom link, click below.

See More

A drawing of a woman wearing a long dark skirt and a white shirtwaist and adjusting headphones on her head.

Quaker Voluntary Service applications for 2022-2023 due February 28th

Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) applications are open for the 2022-2023 Fellowship year.

Grounded in the Quaker faith tradition and open to people of all backgrounds, QVS is a year-long Fellowship program in which young adults (age 21-30) build intentional community, work full time at social service and social change agencies, and explore themes of spiritual and personal growth with local Quakers.

QVS addresses racial, economic, and gender justice by helping partner organizations increase capacity to fulfill their missions and provide young adults with invaluable experience and training that equips them for a lifetime of social change work. QVS currently has houses in Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Portland OR.

Applications for the upcoming 2022-2023 year (beginning in late August 2022) are due February 28, 2022.

For more information, check out QVS’ website where you’ll find a Fellow job description, Fellow testimonials, current service partners, and the application portal. If you have any questions please feel free to email christinad@quakervoluntaryservice.org

Learn more & apply

Quaker Voluntary Service logo, which is brown and green and has a stylized tree in a circle.

Book the dates - CYM2022 online from August 6-13, 2022

In 2022, CYM-in-session will again take place online from August 7-13, with a possible pre-CYM retreat on August 6.

Our Sunderland P Gardner Lecture will be given by Dr. JoLee Sasakamoose, a Friend who is also Anishinabe (Ojibwe) from M’Chigeeng First Nation in Ontario. She is an Associate
Professor in Educational Psychology and Counselling at the University of Regina. JoLee works on improving First Nations health systems through quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Bible Study session will be led by Colin Saxton, who is Friends United Meeting (FUM) director of North American Ministries. He had previously served as FUM general secretary from 2012 to
2018.

We encourage Friends to start thinking about giving Special Interest Groups, and, as in 2021, proposed SIGs should be supported by a minute from your monthly meeting.

You can expect more details, and online registration, in January.

More information

A laptop screen points towards the viewer, displaying a white background with "join us online" in orange. A dark green notebook sits next to it, and a living room is blurrily visible in the background, with a black couch and white walls.

CYM Archivist Hired

Michelle Tolley has been hired as the CYM Archivist! Michelle has worked at Pickering College in the past and is completing a master’s degree in Library and Information Technology. The Archives committee hopes to open the CYM Archives in the spring of 2022. Stay tuned for an announcement on when Monthly Meetings can start submitting records again!

Picture of several drawers of very old file folders.

No Canadian Friend this month

You may have noticed the lack of Canadian Friend in your mailboxes this month. You haven't missed it - it's just delayed. Something to look forward to in the new year! Submissions for the next Canadian Friend will be due February 15th.

Cover of the Winter 2021 Canadian Friend, which is a colourful representation of leaves in a circle/square, with their stems pointing inwards.