Dear Friends, With thanks to Ro for her very capable newsletter takeover last month, we're back to your regularly scheduled Rachel's-end-of-the-month-chaos. Quakers may not celebrate holidays, but I hope you're all taking advantage of the time of year when the strangest outfits provoke the fewest comments. 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 | Date Announcement: Canadian Yearly Meeting Gathering 2023 Canadian Yearly Meeting Gathering 2023 - Saturday to Thursday July 8th - 13th at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg (and online) At Representative Meeting on Saturday 15 October 2022 it was decided that, in keeping with the recommendation from the Change & Sustainable Transformation (CAST) Working Group, we will experiment with a shorter gathering from Saturday to Thursday. The date was moved to July, which aligns with other Yearly Meetings in North America, and will be better for CYM staff and volunteers. There will be a thorough review after the event! | | Survey re: Attendance at CYM 2023 Gathering The next annual gathering of Canadian Quakers will be held from Saturday to Thursday July 8th to 13th, 2023. We hope you will be able to join in this hybrid / blended gathering. The in-person component will be in Winnipeg, and the online component via Zoom. Please take a moment to fill out this very quick survey. The survey will close on November 10th and it will help us determine the financial feasibility of holding an in-person CYM gathering at Canadian Mennonite University. From Program Committee, Finance Committee, Clerks of Canadian Yearly Meeting. Go to survey | | November 11-13th: Candles for COP27: Vigils for Climate Justice "From November 6th-18th of this year, world leaders will gather at the COP27 conference in Egypt to consider their plans to address global heating. Despite increasingly clear evidence of the climate emergency, leaders across the world and particularly in Canada are failing to take the decisive action needed to protect our world, and particularly the most vulnerable members of the global community. Canada has yet to reduce our national emissions, our government continues to approve and subsidize new fossil fuel infrastructure, and we are falling behind in our commitments to fund energy transitions in less developed countries. This cannot continue. In recognition of the need for change, members of ClimateFast and For the Love of Creation invite groups across Canada to host candlelight vigils in their own communities on the weekend of November 11-13. This will be a time to reflect and share our love for our planet, our concern for ourselves and our fellow human beings at risk from climate change, and our hopes for truly transformative action to happen at COP and through each other. This invitation coincides with and complements the call for a Global Day of Action on November 12. Candlelight vigils are already being planned in several places. Quakers are invited to be part of this! We are already part of For the Love of Creation through KAIROS. We encourage people to use their local events to highlight local climate-related issues that are important to them, as well as international issues such as support for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an initiative that Toronto and Montreal Meetings have endorsed. Information on key pan-Canadian asks will be provided in advance of the date. We will amplify each other’s voices by acting on the same weekend. Let’s light up the whole Canadian map! If you or your group is interested in hosting a vigil, please contact lyn.adamson9@gmail.com to add your event details to the national list." Learn More | | November 15th and 17th: RISE: A Quaker Youth Curriculum on Human Relationships and Sexuality "Relationships and sexuality are central to the spiritual work of adolescence. As Friends we seek how to help teens develop healthy relationships and explore sexuality in a safe, affirming way. Over the course of several years, Durham Friends Meeting has developed RISE (Relationships and Integrity in Sexuality and Embodiment), a human relationship and sexuality curriculum for 7th and 8th grade Quakers. This course provides opportunities for middle school youth to explore human relationships, sexuality and what Quaker spirituality offers them at this point in their life. The course is offered in two 24-hour retreats, one at the beginning and one at the end, with three briefer workshops between. Join the conversation to learn more." Register here | | Reminder: November 19th and December 3rd: Representative Meetings There will be online Representative Meetings on Saturday November 19, and Saturday December 3. For more details ask your Monthly Meeting Representative or contact our the Canadian Yearly Meeting Clerks: Ruth Pincoe and Marlyn Manzer at cym-clerk@quaker.ca Agendas are usually posted in advance at https://quaker.ca/business/rm-document/ Join meeting | | Reminder: Nov. 26, Dec. 10, Jan. 21, Feb. 18: Renewing Quaker Community with Ben Pink Dandelion Canadian Yearly Meeting Education & Outreach and Woodbrooke Quaker Studies are partnering to bring Canadian Friends: Renewing Quaker Community In this workshop led by UK Woodbrooke Quaker Studies tutor Ben Pink Dandelion, we’ll explore different perspectives on renewing Quaker community and think about how those approaches speak to us as individuals, as well as within our Meetings and Worship Groups. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on ways that strengthen renewal. Saturdays, November 26, 2022, December 10, 2022, January 21, 2023, February 18, 2023. Costs expected to be approximately $50. Register by emailing e-and-o-clerk@quaker.ca | | Camp NeeKauNis Camp House Rentals Camp NeeKauNis is a Quaker camp located on traditional Wendat (Huron) and Anishinaabe land, near Waubaushene, Ontario (about 90 min north of Toronto). Cozy up this fall at the Camp House! Friends came together this past weekend to close up our main camp and prepare the Camp House for our off-season rentals. Which means the Camp House is available starting this weekend! The Camp House can accomodate 4-6 people with 2 bedrooms, each with a double bed, and a pull out couch by the wood stove. Fire wood is provided and the kitchen is fully equipped. The main property is available for your use - whether that be getting out for a fall walk or enjoying stargazing at night. No matter the weather you will have a warm place to snuggle up and dry off if needed. The Camp house has great spaces for relaxing, reading, doing puzzles or arts & crafts and for playing games as a group! If you are interested in booking the Camp House for day, weekend, or weekly use please contact Milena at camp.neekaunis@gmail.com to book. She will be able to tell you what to expect, and what to bring. Please note that our frugal prices are based on cost-recovery and we don't have cleaners so we expect our guests to clean the house before departing. Day use with house access: $50; Overnight: $125; Weekly (7 nights): $750. We hope you'll consider the NeeKauNis Camp House for your next getaway! Email Milena | | Friendly Fridays "In October of 2020, Gordon Thompson, former Co-Chair of the Canadian Friends Historical Association (CFHA), began hosting 'Friendly Friday.' The sessions are an outreach program of CFHA, consistent with our mission: 'to preserve and communicate the history and faith of the Religious Society of Friends in Canada'. We are currently reading Chapter 5 of the Journal of George Fox (John Nickalls edition) as a group. The text has been divided into short manageable sections which are displayed on-screen. Each passage is read aloud by a participant and each reading is followed by a period of reflection, consideration and comment. We have found that a deep and patient listening to Fox spoken aloud tends to flow naturally into personal insight and comment that has much in common with worship-sharing. Collectively we come to a deeper understanding of the profound ministry of Fox and the early Friends, and are encouraged to consider how this ministry may provide instruction and perspective to our contemporary experience. Gord Thompson passed away in January of this year, and we miss his contribution very much. However, we know that Gord would be pleased that we are continuing with the program, offered every two weeks for the foreseeable future. New participants and visitors to Friendly Friday are always welcome. For more information including registration, email Donna Moore at friendlyfriday@cfha.info" Email | | Quaker report on the Canadian Council of Churches Governing Board Meeting CYM member Ruth Pincoe attended in person the (hybrid - Zoom and in person) Canadian Council of Churches Governing Board Meeting held May 18-20, 2022 at St. Paul University (Ottawa). CCC reported the following Highlights and Decisions: "At our semi-annual Governing Board meeting of the Council, we: - Rejoiced in the blessing of gathering in-person for the first time since November 2019.
- Received governance and program reports from all bodies of the Council; the Council’s 2021 Annual Report; updated Personnel Policy, Financial Policy, and Fundraising Manuals; and an updated Privacy Policy.
- Adopted the 2021 Audited Financial Statements, appointed Graham Matthews as auditor for 2022, and adopted the 2023-27 Strategic Plan of Project Ploughshares.
- Participated in a special learning session around the theme of “Hope in a Troubled World” led by Project Ploughshares. [...]"
Read more | | Final reminder: Quaker Parent Mutual Support Groups Co-sponsored by Friends United Meeting, New York Yearly Meeting, and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Quaker parent mutual support groups provide a supportive forum in which Quaker parents can talk about their parenting and their faith. These groups are open to any Friend currently raising children under the age of nineteen. They are free. The groups will meet for one hour every other week for a total of twelve gatherings between November 2022 and April 2023. They will be conducted in English and on the Zoom platform. In past years, the groups have included Friends from many Yearly Meetings (and isolated Friends) across the theological spectrum of Quakerism. Parents celebrate one another’s successes and provide fellowship for one another through difficulties. Each group has two co-facilitators whose own children are no longer living at home. The co-facilitators are responsible for structuring the conversations, emailing reminders about meetings, and so forth. Curious to know more? You can read reflections on the first year of the groups on coordinator Emily Provance’s blog, and on the second year of the groups on FUM’s blog. Please email coordinator Emily Provance your questions using the form at the bottom of this page. The registration deadline is November 1, 2022. Register | | CYM Contributions Corner Did you know that CYM is part of a worldwide network that increases Quaker influence in peace and human rights efforts? CYM receives most of its financial donatons in this, the last financial quarter of our fiscal year. Have you made a donation for 2022 yet? Donate | | | | | |
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