Dear Friends, It's almost February March and the Rideau Canal is not yet open; all of Ottawa-Gatineau has been plunged into despair as a result. This is absolutely not a subjective take, whatever any of your other Ottawa-Gatineau contacts may say about "enjoying not having frostbite" or "thinking it's more pleasant to wait for the bus when it's not so cold." 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 | News of Annual Gathering, July 8-13th, 2023 Calling all parents! Our Children and Youth Program Coordinator Nathalie Brunet is looking to connect with parents who are planning to attend the Annual Gathering with their young ones. Reach Nathalie at youthprogam@Quaker.ca to start the conversation about what’s in store for children and youth programming. Intergenerational Community Gathering One of the new events at the in-person component of this year’s Annual Gathering will be the Intergenerational Community Gathering, being put together by the CYM Change and Sustainable Transformation Committee (CAST). Through its consultations with Friends, CAST has learned that Friends want more opportunities to - learn about Friends history and practice
- connect as a community
- nurture our Young Friends
- support parents with young children
- find welcoming ways for those new to the Friends community
The Community Gathering promises to be a light and lively time for F/friends of all ages to share Quaker stories, songs, games, and worship. Reminder: Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Call for Submissions This is your continuing invitation to develop your Special Interest Group (SIG) concepts. The SIG time slots will be 90 minutes. Please forward your request for a SIG slot together with a minute of support from your Monthly Meeting, or organization (or explanation of isolated Friend status). Please indicate SIG is for in-person or online delivery. Please ensure that the CYM Program Committee receives proposals by late May via this form. For emerging information | | Apply by March 3rd: young people can join Quakers at the United Nations The Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva invites young professionals to join a 12-day residential program to learn about international politics and some of the most pressing issues of our day. The program will take place in-person for the first time since 2019. The application deadline is March 3. Learn more | | March 5th: Western Young Friends/Young Adult Friends reflection sessions Calling all Young Adult Friends (YAFs) and Young Friends (YFs) throughout western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia). You are warmly invited to participate with other YAFs and YFs in reflection on the role and importance in your life of attending regional face to face Quaker gatherings. These groups (three) will meet via Zoom or in person for 45 minutes on Sunday March 5th at 1 pm Pacific / 2 pm Mountain / 3 pm Central. Registration is not required. Please bookmark https://viquakers.ca/WHYM-focus for emerging details, Zoom links, etc. We ask that this invitation be shared (by YFs, YAFs, Meeting Clerks, contacts, etc) with all families and young Friends by any available means (fb, instagram, phone, etc). Read more | | Canadian Friends Service Committee is hiring--apply by March 7th! CFSC is hiring for an exciting new position: a Government Relations Representative! "The Government Relations Representative is responsible for representing Friends’ (Quakers) interests in Ottawa. This is a dynamic position that requires the implementation of a government relations strategy, cultivating relationships with elected officials, senators, staffers, civil servants, and other relevant stakeholders in Ottawa. The position requires a self-starter excited about representing the different areas of work of CFSC. The position will work collaboratively and closely with our existing staff team." This position is full time, and open to those based in Ottawa or willing to relocate to Ottawa. Read the full job description and application information at the link below. Read more | | March & April: Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival The Black Quaker Lives Matter film festival has already begun, but there are still several events you can join in this "groundbreaking exploration of Black Friends who made a difference throughout both USA and world history." Screenings dedicated to Quakers of Color are being held from 4 February to 8 April, starting at 10am PST, 11am MST, 12pm CST, 1pm EST, 2pm AST, and 2:30pm NST. Read more | | Atlantic Friends Gathering 2023: heads up to Young Friends! The 2023 Atlantic Friends Gathering will be held in person at Camp Geddie, Merigomish, NS, on the Victoria Day weekend (Friday, May 19—Monday, May 22). There will be a Zoom option covering the main elements of the program for those unable to attend in person. The theme this year is “Delights of the Spirit,” which will offer a variety of creative arts, crafts, performance, and meditative activities for Friends to choose from, both indoors and outdoors. There will also be a Children’s Program (covering babes to teens), Family Night (creative entertainment), other communal program elements, and of course Meeting for Worship. Full details and and online registration will be posted in due course on our website at https://atlantic.quaker.ca/afg. We warmly encourage Young Friends from the Atlantic Region or further afield to come to this popular annual regional gathering. Young Friends who need financial support for travel and registration should first approach their Monthly Meeting for support before approaching CYM Education & Outreach for funds. For this reason, we are sending out this early announcement to try and reach as many Young Friends as possible. Young Friends can contact any member of the AFG Planning Committee for more information: Jessica Tellez (Clerk), Halifax MM, jessicatellez2@gmail.com Brenda Blom (Co-Clerk), New Brunswick MM, bbblom@mac.com Daphne Davey, PEI Quaker Meeting, ddavey@eastlink.ca Helen Lofgren, Halifax MM, hlofgren@ns.sympatico.ca Mary Petrie, Truro WG, NS, marypetrie43@outlook.com AFG website | | CFSC's Indigenous Voices on Reconciliation project Do you ever feel that you’d like to advance the work of reconciliation, but you’re confused or unsure where to begin? You have questions but don’t know who to ask. To help you out, we’ve spent the past three years asking Indigenous partners questions about reconciliation. Are you curious about their responses? The good news is that we brought a videographer with us to capture the conversations. More good news, new videos are being added over the coming weeks! Meet some of our Indigenous friends and partners and hear from them directly. Watch the videos | | Register by March 28th: Quaker 101--Introduction to Quakers and Friends' Ways CYM is offering an online Quaker 101 course “Introduction to Quakers and Friends’ Ways” in 6 sessions starting April 1. This is a Friendly (pun intended) course for people interested in learning about Quakers and the ways of Canadian Friends. The course is meant to be an experience, more so than an academic course. There is no testing or examination! The facilitator Jackie Bonner will meet with participants once a week, for six weeks, for approximately an hour and a half to worship, discuss, and reflect on various topics. The cost of the course is $100. If cost is a barrier to entry, participants are encouraged to contact their local meeting for financial assistance. For more information on what this course covers and who it's aimed at, click below: Learn more | | Watch JoLee Sasakamoose's Sunderland P Gardner lecture, "Guided by Ancestors" Did you miss 2022's CYM Sunderland P Gardner lecture, given by JoLee Sasakamoose? The recording is now available online! To introduce the talk, JoLee wrote “Numerous teachings, ceremonies, and experiences within Ojibwe spirituality and Quaker testimonies instruct us on how to behave and interact in the world to foster balance and peace and manage our ultimate responsibility to care for Mother Earth (Aski). Quaker testimonies encourage spiritually-led activities that challenge us to assess ourselves and our communities carefully. Meanwhile, the Ojibwe medicine wheel is a multidimensional wheel that contains life lessons and instructions about behaving, interacting, and communicating. I was born at the intersection of both of these traditions. I will talk about how harmonizing these principles provided a supportive atmosphere and a solid foundation in ethics that have protected, guided and safeguarded a life of social activism.” Watch here | | CYM Business Docs Thanks to the work of the CYM Presiding Clerk, Ruth Pincoe, all of the minutes for the CYM in-session and Representative Meetings and reports for 2022 have been compiled into two documents. They can now be found on the business side of the CYM’s website on the subpage CYM Business Docs under minutes. Read more | | Celebrating one year of Tasmin Rajotte in the Secretary-Treasurer role! February 23 marks the first anniversary of Tasmin Rajotte’s employment with CYM as General Secretary-Treasurer. And what a year it’s been! She had to hit the ground running. Tasmin’s first big challenge came with the need to prepare for the Accountant’s retirement in June at the same time as CYM’s financial administration needed to be completely revamped... Read more | | Nomination season is here! CYM's updated nominations package is now available. If you know of anyone who would be great in a given role, are looking for your next volunteer gig, or even just want to take a look under the hood at the variety of positions that keep CYM going, have a browse. Nominations are discerned by your Monthly Meeting or the relevant CYM Committee, so bring nominations to your Monthly Meeting, or contact nominating-clerk@quaker.ca if you aren't connected to a local Meeting. Read more | | Reminder: 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 winter at the Camp House - now available for rentals! 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 | | 2023 CYM dates to remember: - Saturday 4 March: CYM Meeting for Worship for Business (10:30am – 1:30pm PST, 11:30am – 2:30pm MST, 12:30pm – 3:30pm CST, 1:30pm – 4:30pm EST, 2:30pm – 5:30pm AST, 3:00pm – 6:00pm NST).
- Saturday 27 May: CYM Representative Meeting
- Saturday to Thursday 8–13 July: CYM Hybrid 2023 CYM Gathering
- Saturday 30 September: CYM Meeting for Worship for Business
- Saturday 18 November: CYM Representative Meeting · Saturday 2 December: CYM Representative Meeting
View calendar | | You can support CYM! Your donations help make CYM's activities possible, from holding CYM in session, to running online courses, to sending Friends to represent us at wider Quaker bodies. Donate | | | | | |
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