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Section of the America
| June 7, 2011
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Greetings!
The excitement is building for next year's World Conference of Friends in Kenya! As we get closer to this once-in-a-generation event, you will be invited to take part in the conversation around the theme when study materials become available. Plan now to invite your meeting into discussion of what it means to 'Be Salt and Light' and how we live God's kingdom in a broken world.
2012 is also when the next Quaker Youth Pilgrimage will take place. Planned for next July-August, the pilgrimage will gather 28 young Quakers and four leaders together in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Now is the time to think of potential pilgrims as well as adults to lead them during the month-long pilgrimage. Encourage them to apply. Read below for more information on this FWCC program for Quaker youth that has been running for over 50 years.
Sincerely,
FWCC Section of the Americas
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 Seeking young Friends and adult leaders for 2012 QYP
Applications are now being accepted from young Friends who wish to take part in the 2012 Quaker Youth Pilgrimage.
Applications are also now being taken for adult leader positions.
The pilgrimage will run July 12-August 13, 2012 and will take place in The United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Click here for information and application forms. Check out our page on  (Quaker Youth Pilgrimage 2012.) Leader applications are due September 15, 2011; pilgrim applications must be in by October 1.
The Quaker Youth Pilgrimage has brought young Friends together for over 50 years to - Develop one's relationship with God
- Gain understanding of Quaker process
- Explore Quaker history
- Experience different Friends' traditions and forms of worship
- Form a community and lasting friendships
- Participate in a service project
The most recent pilgrimage was held last summer in the Northwestern United States.
"In the past, I couldn't bring Quakerism home with me. It was a week every year and then a couple of weekends when I could be a Quaker. Now I'm going to be a Quaker all of the time" wrote Mason George of his experience.
From Naomi Garnault: "This trip has taught me that it's our actions that make us Quaker just as much as our beliefs. I definitely have more drive to 'put faith into action'."
Download a flyer to share with Friends.
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Making the World Conference truly 'worldwide' with your help
A thousand Friends will gather next year for worship, study, and celebration, seeking God's guidance for the future of the Quaker movement. A significant part of the Quaker movement is now found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. For the first time in FWCC's history of holding international gatherings, all participating Friends are being asked to contribute their 'fair share' of conference fees to cover accommodation and general expenses of holding this event. But in order to make the conference truly representative of all Friends in the world, FWCC is committed to raising travel funds to assist those coming from regions of the world with poor economies, primarily in the global south. To accomplish our goal we need your help to ask your meeting, church and yearly meeting to join with Friends everywhere to ensure that the conference reflects our worldwide constituency. Several meetings and yearly meetings have already given generously - including Friends in Cuba who have committed US $7500 to this effort. Download a letter to share with your meeting and yearly meeting. Please contact us if you have any questions about supporting the World Conference Travel Fund. Make a donation now. |
| Environmental theme for new Wider Quaker Fellowship selections
The latest selection of Wider Quaker Fellowship pamphlets is introduced with this letter:
All over the world, Friends are exploring a spiritual understanding and response to global change. We view environmental, climate, economic and social change as interconnected... The Wider Quaker Fellowship invites you to consider how you understand the changes in our world and how best to respond in faith and love. We have prepared for you two very different pamphlets on this topic. Read more
Read the newest selections:
Beyond Stewardship: Friends and the "Great Story"
Selections from Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices
With this latest group of selected writing FWCC is happy to announce a new website for the Wider Quaker Fellowship called Voices of Friends. We hear regularly from people around the globe who want to know more about Quakerism or who feel drawn to Quaker life and values, and we believe this site will help nurture those inquiries.
Visit Voices of Friends
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Abel Sibonio
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Salt & Light events coming this fall
Local Salt & Light events are now being planned for the second half of 2011. Locations have been confirmed in New England, the Midwest, Jamaica, Central America, Bolivia and other sites. While we await confirmation of other locations in the coming weeks, opportunities for your meeting to host an event are still possible.
Valerie Joy and Abel Sibonio, both from Australia YM, will visit multiple locations in the US this fall. Valerie is the Executive Secretary of FWCC's Asia-West Pacific Section. Abel is formerly from Burundi YM and spent time in a refugee camp in Tanzania before emigrating to Australia.  | |
Valerie Joy
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Linda Kusse-Wolfe and David Wolfe, Great Plains YM, will lead Jamaican Friends in a Salt & Light event in connection with their yearly meeting session in August. Linda and David led a deeply inspiring Salt & Light event in Philadelphia following the FWCC Annual Meeting in March. Please contact the FWCC office if you are interested in hosting other speakers to engage groups of Friends on the theme Being Salt and Light: Friends living the kingdom of God in a broken world.
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| FWCC General Secretary position announced
FWCC seeks a Friend to serve as General Secretary at the World Office in London to begin in 2012. Current General Secretary Nancy Irving will leave her post next year.
The General Secretary of FWCC works in partnership with the Central Executive Committee and the four geographical Sections of FWCC to carry forward FWCC's mission.
Click here to read a full description of the position, including a timetable for the selection process. Applications must be received by October 31, 2011.
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| Read Global Change query discussions online
Reports of 'cluster voices' have now been updated on FWCC's Global Change website. These 'voices' are the result of local cluster gatherings to reflect on six queries that address global change. The purpose of the cluster gatherings is to ask ourselves what we, as a worldwide faith community, have to say to ourselves and to the world about global change.
Query #3: How do changes around us affect our relationship with God?
Jesus said: You either gather with me or scatter against me. It is a big thought that at any given time I am part of the solution and a part of the problem. The collective small choices of all of us produce the global change, for better or worse. And when we do, we gather with or against God. -First Denver Friends Church (Intermountain and Rocky Mountain YMs)
My faith in a God of love, and my ongoing effort to remain in a faithful relationship by doing the will of that God motivate me to pursue peace, social justice, economic fairness, and environmental stewardship. Faith calls me to task and judges me for my failings, but also restores my soul and gives me hope and serenity when I am tempted to despair.-Young Friends General Meeting, Britain YM
Read more cluster reports here.
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