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,

With the flooding in British Columbia and the weather turning (or already turned) toward winter across other parts of the country, we hope you and your loved ones are safe, warm, and dry today.

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

November 23: Friends Association in Higher Education event: "Freedom from Harm: Resisting Incarceration for All"

Friends are warmly invited to attend an upcoming “Quaker Leadings in Higher Education” event, organized by the Friends Association in Higher Education (FAHE), which will take place on Zoom on Tuesday Nov 23, 7:30-9 EST.

Register
"FAHE" logo: blue, green, red, and yellow squares arranged into a larger square, with a white starburst logo.

CFSC's Get to Know Thee, Friend series continues November 25th + recordings available!

This month's Canadian Friends Service Committee "Get to Know Thee, Friend" event features Roger Davies and Tony McQuail, war resisters and long-time supporters of Canadian Friends Service Committee. This Thursday!

Plus, if you, like your Friendly newsletter editor, haven't made it to any of the sessions, recordings are now available on the CFSC website so you can learn about Friends across Canada whenever suits your schedule!

 More details
"Get to know thee, Friend: A twelve part series in honour of CFSC's 90th anniversary" graphic, with a faint/transparent picture of Friends photographed from behind in the background.

Quakers call for action regarding the discovery of graves at residential schools

Several Meetings, as well as CYM, wrote to the government of Canada to call for action following the discovery of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at the sites of former residential schools. You can see these open letters on the website of Canadian Friends Service Committee.

Read letters
Image of Chief Wilton Littlechild at the TRC’s closing events, wearing tan and standing in front of a backdrop that says "It's Time for Reconciliation."

CYM2022 online

CYM2022 will be held online this year, due to the uncertainty of the pandemic and the need to make decisions in advance. Dates have not been set yet, but our in person dates were planned for the week of Aug 12-20.

Program Committee would like to hear suggestions about potential themes and speakers for our online gathering. Is there someone in your meeting who would make a good speaker? The Sunderland P Gardner Lecture is an opportunity for a presentation and a pamphlet. This year we will have Bible Study over several days. Please send suggestions to the program-clerk@quaker.ca
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.

January 29th: Friendly Exploration--ideas for future Yearly Meeting gatherings

The Change and Sustainable Transformation (CAST) working group of Canadian Yearly Meeting invites you to an exploration of ideas for future gatherings of the Yearly Meeting.

Please set aside Saturday January 29, 2022 at 1:30 Eastern for a couple of hours.

More information to come in January.

 
Sign that says "Quaker Meeting; Religious Society of Friends: all welcome." A big stylized Q with a dove inside it is in the middle of the sign. The sign seems to be on a rural road--there are pine trees in the background.

Canadian Yearly Meeting: the summary of a year & an opportunity for you to make a difference

The end of the calendar year is approaching, 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.

Donate
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Recording available: Canadian Council of Churches "CRISPR-Cas9 and the Theo-Ethics of Gene Editing" event

The Canadian Council of Churches held an event on November 3rd to discuss gene-editing--if you missed the event, you can now view it on YouTube.

"The purpose of this event was to assist participants in thinking theologically and ethically about how gene-editing technology (esp. CRISPR) is challenging our understanding of what it means to be human, and how humans act as stewards of God’s creation. In the past 10 years, CRISPR technology has made a reality of human gene editing as well as creating novel genetically modified plants and animals. Applications include human health, human enhancement, food source enhancement, pest elimination, and the creation of innovative biological weapons. Using both an ethical and theological lens, our panel will guide our conversation on the potential risks and benefits of this new technology."

Watch
Dark red graphic for the event "CRISPR-Cas9 and the Theo-Ethics of Gene Editing: a Panel-Guided Ethical and Theological Dialogue." A picture with a palm holding a red apple and a stylized DNA molecule is in the middle of the graphic.

Reminder: apply by December 1st to be the new Ottawa Monthly Meeting Resident Friend

Ottawa Monthly Meeting is seeking a Friend or active attender to serve as Resident Friend for a one-year renewable term beginning January 1, 2022.

A rent-free apartment is offered in lieu of a salary. The Resident Friend helps the Monthly Meeting fulfill the elements of its life as a community: looks after the Meeting House and garden, books the facilities, and handles telephone and email enquiries.

Detailed guidelines are available upon request.

The apartment is a one-bedroom unit with a private entrance, on the second floor of the Meeting House in the Glebe area of Ottawa. Please apply by regular mail or email outlining why you are interested in the position, what you are doing now, your relevant past experiences, your relationship to the Religious Society of Friends and the contributions you feel you can make to Ottawa Monthly Meeting. Please include at least two references. Send this information by Dec 1, 2021 to:

David Shipley

951 Kincaid Court Ottawa, ON K1V 6N6

tel: (613) 260-2696

email: urbship@magma.ca
Ottawa Meeting House, a relatively modest brick building surrounded by trees.

Reminder: Dec 4th: CYM Representative Meeting

You have one more opportunity to get your fill of CYM Representative Meetings this calendar year: mark your calendar for December 4th!

Representative Meeting brings together representatives of Monthly Meetings, Half-Yearly Meetings, and CYM Committees to make decisions between full CYM business sessions. During the pandemic, Rep Meeting has been held online and more frequently than the standard two times a year. You can consider attending as an observer. Agendas and other documents are circulated in advance and typically posted on the password-protected business section of Quaker.ca. 

Check the CYM Business calendar for other upcoming meeting dates - some of the work that keeps CYM going!

Learn more about the role of Representative Meeting in section 6.4 of CYM's Organization and Procedure.

 
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Reminder: apply for Pendle Hill's Spring Term by December 15th

Pendle Hill has opened the application process for the 2022 Spring Term--apply by December 15th!

"Are you curious about your leadings in life? Are you searching for meaning in your personal and communal journey? Are you discerning how to embrace action with integrity and creativity?"

The Pendle Hill spring term offers the chance to spend ten weeks worshipping, learning, and working at Pendle Hill. Subsidies are available, through Pendle Hill or through CYM.

Learn more
Graphic for the Pendle Hill Spring Term: olive green background, white text reading "Pendle Hill spring term: Mar 1 - May 10, 2022. Are you curious about your leadings in life? The Spring Term, a ten-week residential study program that supports personal and communal renewal, discernment, and action may be for you." There is a logo shaped like a window with a book in front of it, looking out on a lush green lawn and trees; it's a hand drawn style.