Smithfield Friends Newsletter March 2000 Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895 Vol.12________________________________________________________________________ No.117 Parsonage: 762-5726 Internet: http://www.oftedahl.com/SmithfieldFriends Clerk: Bruce Kay Recording Clerk Susan Furry Pastor: Marnie Miller-Gutsel Treasurer:RichardFrechette Ministry&CounselRhoda Mowry Newsletter: Randy Oftedahl CALENDAR FOR MARCH/APRIL EVERY SUNDAY 10:30 am: MEETING FOR WORSHIP First Day School Child care for infants and toddlers LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH: Unprogrammed Worship and Pot Luck Lunch OTHER WORSHIP UNDER THE CARE OF SMITHFIELD MEETING OR RI/SMITHFIELD QTLY. MTG. SECOND SUNDAY OF MONTH 7:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship at Uxbridge Meetinghouse, Uxbridge, Mass EVERY WEDNESDAY 6:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship and discussion at ACI(Maximum) Other events Sunday, March 19 Peace and Social Concerns meeting following worship Weds., March 22 7:30 PM: Meeting for Healing at the Meetinghouse Saturday, March 25 New England Yearly Meeting Sessions Committee meets at Smithfield Meetinghouse Sunday, April 2 Monthly Meeting for Business NEWSLETTER DEADLINE Weds., April 12 7:30 PM: Meeting for Healing at the Meetinghouse Weds., April 26 7:30 PM: Meeting for Healing at the Meetinghouse All are Welcome and Encouraged to contribute material for the Smithfield Friends Newsletter Letter from Marnie Dear Friends, Lent has begun--a time for self examination and repentance. In Mark, Jesus'very first message is the call to "Repent, and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15) But Jesus wasn't just concerned about individuals. He called whole groups to repent. And recent events make such a call very pertinent. The latest is perhaps the most terrible of all--one little child shoots another. And this is not just one more bizarre aberration that has nothing to do with us. I entirely agree with the newspaper columnist who wrote that if we say we are surprised by these events, we are in denial. Our culture needs to repent. We must look at what our society is doing that produces such events. Everything about this was tragic: the little girl's death was horrible, but in its way, the little boy's life was even more so, with a father in prison and a drug addicted mother. When his mother was evicted, the child was sent to live with an uncle in a crack house, full of guns and drugs. With the country awash in guns, and the media offering a steady diet of programs that show the way to solve problems is to wave them around, how could this little boy have learned any other way to live? This did not have to happen. It is a grotesque distortion of the Constitution to claim that it gives everybody the right to have a private arsenal, and public opinion polls show that the majority of the citizenry supports more stringent gun control. However, big campaign contributors in the gun lobby get their way, because we don't want to restrict "free speech" and "money is speech"--surely one of the most chilling and anti-democratic principles ever to be enunciated by the courts. It is evil. This did not have to happen. Yet how many of us simply shrug off the culture of violence that is peddled by the media, in spite of the injury it does to the most vulnerable children--the ones most likely to be without parental supervision. We like to think it's "not our problem" when other parents fail to act wisely or responsibly--yet the horrific results of such failures extend far beyond those particular dysfunctional families, as was clear in this Michigan case. This did not have to happen. Our elected officials are keen to support the "war on drugs" when it involves thrilling battles to cut back supplies, but resist putting money into reducing demand through research and treatment programs. "Wars" are always more exciting than common sense. This did not have to happen. We live in the richest country in the world, which is in one of the greatest spells of prosperity it has ever known, yet we resist paying for the educational and social services that could help to lift and keep children out of such vile and degraded circumstances. This little boy had come to the attention of social services, but it appears to have been a case of too little, too late. Why do we permit this to happen? The "good news" of Jesus was that "the Kingdom of God is at hand." To seek it, we must repent--turn away from what we're doing, and turn to a better way of doing things, as a society. It seems overwhelming, but only if we think we must do everything about everything, and get results immediately. But for Lent, for our country, just pick one thing--gun control, campaign finance reform, racism, whatever--and do one thing about it. In this way, Friends, let us seek the Kingdom together. Love, Marnie Thank you, Friends! Ruth E. Smith wishes to thank the Monthly Meeting for honoring her on the occasion of her 90th birthday. Sincerely, Ruth E. Smith Meeting For Healing Meetings for healing are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, at 7:30 PM downstairs in the Meeting House. Upcoming dates are March 22 and April 12. All are welcome First Day School Committee The First Day School Committee will meet on Weds., April 5 at 7 PM at the Kay's home. Be a Greeter! We're a Friendly Meeting! Help us show it by signing up to be a greeter, and plan to arrive about 10:15 on the date you have selected. It's a great way to meet our visitors as well as old F/friends. Think Summer!! Brochures for Friends Music Camp and our own NEYM China (Maine)Camp are here. Look for fliers in the basket in the foyer. Cornel Young Case--Healing Service Announced Rev. Carl Balark, Jr., pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Providence, has announced that a Community Healing Service will be held on Sunday, March 19, at a location to be decided, probably at Ebenezer. All those who have felt a concern over the shooting of Cornel Young, Jr., are invited to attend, and Rev. Balark would very much like to have representatives attend from all the area denominations. Ecumenical Fellowship Breakfast There's still time to make reservations for the annual Ecumenical Fellowship Breakfast, sponsored by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches. It will be held at 7 AM on Sunday, March 26, in the Venus de Milo Restaurant in Swansea, MA. The speaker this year will be Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Chaplain to the United States Senate. The breakfast will end in time for people to return to their home churches for worship. Tickets are available at $10 a person; call the Council office in Providence for reservations--86 1-1700 Easter Musicians Needed Easter is April 23, and we are beginning to plan the music. Practices won't begin until April, but it's not too early to think about whether you might like to contribute your voice or instrument to the occasion. Contact Marnie if you're interested. Smithfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Minutes of Meeting for Business February 6, 2000 2000-1 Opening Minute Smithfield Monthly Meeting met in a regularly scheduled meeting for worship with attention to business on February 6, 2000. Friends began with a period of waiting worship. In the absence of both the Presiding and Recording Clerks, Rhoda Mowry presided and Ronald Belliveau recorded the minutes. The meeting for business scheduled for January 9 was cancelled because of the illness of many members of the meeting, during an outbreak of flu. 2000-2 Nominating Committee Report Paul Mangelsdorf presented the report of the Nominating Committee. Friends approved the nominations, and requested that, before the March meeting for business, each committee meet and choose its Clerk if none has been appointed by the meeting 2000-3 Membership Record Book In May of 1998 (minute 98-39) we agreed to use our Membership Record Book until the beginning of 2000, and then start a new book and entrust the old book (started in 1817) to the yearly meeting archives. Friends agreed that we will enter a final up-to-date membership list in the old book. Karin Sprague has located a person who can restore the old book and make us a new one, and will bring us an estimate of the cost in March. 2000-4 Chamber of Commerce Insurance Coverage The Chamber of Commerce requires that we send someone to attend a thirty-minute session on safety, in order to continue receiving a discount on insurance through them. Friends asked Marcel St. Germain to attend the session. 2000-5 Treasurer's Report Richard Frechette presented a financial report for the year ended Jan. 31, 1999. In the general fund, revenues totaled $24,990.99, and expenses $22,086.43, for a surplus of $2,904.56. Richard noted that an unanticipated long-term capital gains distribution from the Pax World Fund, and higher-than-budgeted contributions turned an anticipated deficit into a surplus. He noted, however, that, the increased cost of workers compensation insurance and health insurance for the pastor will lower the surplus in the current year. Friends accepted the financial report (the full report is attached as part of these minutes). 2000-6 FWCC Triennial and Pendle Hill Seminar Marnie Miller-Gutsell is a delegate to the Triennial of Friends World Committee for Consultation, to be held this July in New Hampshire, and an associated seminar at Pendle Hill. She estimates that the total cost of her attendance will be $800 to $900, and requests help from the meeting. Friends approved that two-thirds of the costs will be provided by the meeting. 2000-7 March against the Death Penalty Marcel St. Germain spoke about a "Prison Dharma Walk", being led by a Buddhist nun, from Norfolk, MA to Waynesboro, PA. The prayer walk, while focusing of the scheduled execution of Mumia Abu Jamal in Pennsylvania, is intended to focus attention on the Death Penalty in general. The walkers are scheduled to be in Rhode Island on March 13 and 14. Friends agreed to offer the use of the meeting house for the walkers to spend the night, and Marcel offered to coordinate this matter. Friends also referred the matter of the walk to Peace and Social Concerns Committee for consideration of further involvement by Smithfield Meeting. 2000-8 Newport Peace March Marcel St. Germain explained that a peace march is planned for October of this year and asked whether New England Yearly Meeting could be a sponsor. Was any decision made? 2000-9 Ministry and Counsel report Rhoda Mowry announced that our meeting will participate in the Friends United Meeting Chain of Prayer again this year. We have been assigned noon to midnight on Saturday, May 6. She reminded us that we plan to hold a public fundraising dinner on April 29 to raise money for the meeting budget (minute 99-64). -Respectfully, Ronald Belliveau Acting Recording Clerk Names marked with * have agreed to be either Clerk or Convenor. Presiding Clerk Bruce Kay Treasurer Richard Frechette Recording Clerk Susan Furry Newsletter Editor Randy Oftedahl Ministry and Counsel Committee to end of 2000 Rhoda Mowry * Martha Smith to end of 2001 Susan Furry to end of 2002 Connie Bair-Thompson (starts June 1, 2000) Eunice Strobel Susan Kay Ex officio: Bruce Kay, Presiding Clerk Marnie Miller-Gutsell, Pastor First Day School Committee Helen Ducharme Susan Kay Cindy Keene Barbara Landi Sara Landi Martha Smith Karin Sprague * Building and Grounds Committee Ronald Belliveau Dorothy Bushnell Harry Bushnell Suzanne Frechette Paul Mangelsdorf III Scott Sprague Marcel St. Germain Daniel Warren * Finance Committee Diane Gauthier Barbrie Paul Mangelsdorf III * Rhoda Mowry Martha Smith Richard Frechette, ex officio Library Committee Mary Lou Conca Diane O'Hara * Karin Sprague Music Committee Ronald Belliveau Connie Bair-Thompson Richard Frechette Bruce Kay Martha Smith Sarah Landi Daniel Warren Peace and Social Concerns Committee Deborah Chick Mary Lou Conca Richard Frechette * Marcel St.Germain Martha Smith Robert Sumner-Mack Scholarship and Campership Committee Suzanne Frechette * Martha Smith Child Care Coordinator Randy Oftedahl Flowers Coordinator Eunice Strobel Greeting Coordinator Marnie Miller- Gutsell Hospitality Coordinator Marnie Miller-Gutsell Retreats Coordinator Marcel St. Germain Smithfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Minutes of Meeting for Business - March 5, 2000 2000-11 Opening Minute Smithfield Monthly Meeting met in a regularly scheduled meeting for worship with attention to business at 12:15 on March 5, 2000. Sixteen people were present and Bruce Kay presided. We began with a period of waiting worship. 2000-12 Minutes of February 6, 2000 The minutes for last month were not approved at that time, and are not yet in finished form. Friends agreed to review them next month. 2000-13 Memorial Minute for Dorothy Mowry For Ministry and Counsel, Eunice Strobel presented a memorial minute for Dorothy Mowry, here attached. Friends approved the minute and agreed to forward it to Rhode Island Smithfield Quarterly Meeting, and to send a copy to each of her children. 2000-14 Ministry and Counsel Request for Additional Member Rhoda Mowry presented a concern from Ministry and Counsel that they would like to have another member. Friends requested the Nominating Committee to bring to our April meeting for business a recommendation for an additional member of Ministry and Counsel. 2000-15 Committee Clerks The Clerk asked for a report from each committee of whether they have met and chosen a committee clerk, as requested last month. Committee members reported appointment of clerks as follows: Ministry and Counsel Rhoda Mowry Building and Grounds meets next Sunday Finance Paul Mangelsdorf First Day School Karin Sprague Library has not met Music has not met Peace and Social Concerns Richard Frechette Scholarship and Campership no member present Friends noted with regret that no representative to the Youth Services Group was appointed because that group no longer exists. 2000-16 NEYM Sessions Committee The Yearly Meeting Sessions Committee will meet here on March 25. Marnie Miller-Gutsell will open the building, and volunteers from the Meeting will provide desserts. 2000-17 Memorial Garden for Dorothy Mowry Friends asked Suzanne Frechette and Rhoda Mowry to make final arrangements for a small memorial garden in memory of Dorothy Mowry, and authorized them to spend the funds that have been contributed in her memory. Friends agreed that a notice about these plans would be included in the newsletter, including an invitation for Friends to contribute materials or additional funds for this purpose. 2000-18 FWCC Triennial and Pendle Hill Seminar Marnie Miller-Gutsell reported that the total cost of her attendance at the Friends World Committee for Consultation Triennial and the associated seminar at Pendle Hill on Identity, Authority and Community (a continuation of the seminar she attended in England three years ago in connection with the FWCC Triennial) will be about $1170, more than she estimated at our February meeting for business (minute 2000-6). Friends agreed that our Meeting will provide $6000 and hope that the Obadiah Brown Fund will provide the rest. If Obadiah Brown Fund is unable to meet this request we will consider trying to increase our contribution. We will hold a special fundraiser for this purpose, recognizing that if we do not raise enough special funds we are committed to making up the difference from the Meeting's budgeted funds. 2000-19 Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People Robert Sumner-Mack, a member of Peace and Social Concerns Committee, explained that he is a member of the Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People, a joint project of the American Friends Service Committee and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (initiated by the Rhode Island Committee for Nonviolence Initiatives). Over the last ten years the economic sanctions have caused the death of about a million Iraqis, especially children, elderly, and other vulnerable people. The Campaign will raise funds for humanitarian goods which will be shipped with United Nations approval if possible, and without approval if necessary (which might be prosecuted as a violation of United States law.) Richard Frechette reported that Peace and Social Concerns Committee recommends that Friends participate as individuals, and also communicate with their Congressional representatives requesting that sanctions be lifted. Peace and Social Concerns also recommends that this Meeting corporately support the Campaign with a contribution, which might be interpreted as a violation of US law. Several Friends expressed support for this recommendation but felt that a decision to take an action which might be prohibited by law is so weighty that it requires broader consideration. Friends requested Peace and Social Concerns to arrange for a threshing meeting on the subject in the near future, and to write an explanation of the issue for our newsletter. The recommendation will be brought to our meeting for business again after a threshing session has been held. 2000-20 Opposition to the Death Penalty For Peace and Social Concerns, Richard Frechette requested that a member of our Meeting be named to testify against two bills for reinstitution of the death penalty being considered in Rhode Island, based on our minute (1997-104) opposing the death penalty. Friends appointed Randy Oftedahl as our spokesman for these hearings. 2000-21 Support for Transitional Housing For Peace and Social Concerns, Richard Frechette reported that Rhode Island has no half-way houses, which reduces the possibility of successful reintegration into the community for people leaving prison. The Rhode Island legislature is currently considering establishment of transitional housing for women. Friends asked Richard Frechette, Deborah Chick, and Bruce Kay to write a letter to the Rhode Island legislature, to be signed by the Clerk on behalf of the Meeting, expressing our support for transitional housing. 2000-22 Transfer of Invested Funds For Finance Committee, Richard Frechette recommended that our Meeting transfer $70,000 from the New England Yearly Meeting pooled funds to the Pax World Fund. Friends approved this transfer. 2000-23 Absence of Presiding Clerk Bruce Kay will not be able to preside at our April 2 meeting for business. friends asked Rhoda Mowry to preside if she is free on that day; if not Bruce Kay will find another substitute. 2000-24 Closing Minute Friends closed with a period of grateful silence, purposing to meet again for business on April 2, if consistent with the Divine Will. Respectfully, Susan Furry Recording Clerk Smithfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Dorothy Lapham Mowry memorial minute approved March 5, 2000 Dorothy Lapham Mowry, one of our oldest members in age and membership, passed away on March 13, 1999 at the age of eighty-nine. She was born to Thomas and Irene Lapham, the second of four children, on August 8, 1909. The family lived in Union Village and from here, Dorothy began her life-long membership in Smithfield Monthly Meeting. She attended Northfield Seminary for Girls, a Quaker boarding school in Western Massachusetts. In September of 1931 she married Stanley H. Mowry of Primrose. The pastor at that time, D. Elton Trueblood, married them in a simple Quaker ceremony. They moved to Primrose, where they raised their three children, Stanley Jr., Richard, and Rhoda. At the time of her death, her family included ten grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Dorothy belonged to the Ladies Aide Group and was always ready to help in any way with bazaars, suppers, and yard sales. She served as the Flower Coordinator for many years, frequently bringing fresh-cut flowers from her own garden to brighten the meeting room. she really enjoyed her home and made all feel welcomed. her grandchildren especially looked forward to tea with grandmother followed by a lively game of checkers. She had much energy and a cheerful spirit. She could rile up quickly and be laughing the next minute. We miss her upbeat personality. Let the Light Shine At birth God gave us wondrous Light That shines in us today This Light will ever brighter grow When we follow in His way. But should we leave God's upward path Or even go astray It will go from spotlight to a candle Growing dimmer day by day No Light to light our daily path We stumble in the dark No Light to help our fellow man Or on new trips embark. But should we climb God's narrow trail And ever upward go Our Light grows stronger every day It just grows and grows and grows Until like the northern star Shining brightly every night Has traveled forty seven years To bring us it's pure light What is the status of my Light? That I should shine so far If I can't be the morning sun I'll settle for a star. -Lester Taber 2/18/2000 The conception of the Inward Light leads to a belief that the fate of everyone is inextricably interrelated; that, ultimately, no one is free as long as one person remains in bondage, that no one is secure so long as any one lives in fear, that no one is virtuous so long as any one is lacking in virtue, that no one is wealthy while another lives in poverty, and that God may make truth available to anyone. -Robert Byrd, Quaker Ways in Foreign Policy, 1960 Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895