What gives you hope this year?

Section of the Americas

December 6, 2011

In This Issue

World Conference Study Book

Join Friends worldwide in study circles

Salt & Light program coming to New Mexico

Reflections on travel among Friends in South America

New WQF peace pamphlets online

Quaker membership statistics in the US

Grants for study, travel in the ministry

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Last Month's Newsletter

More About Us

2012 World Conference

Greetings!

Be prepared to give reasons for the hope that is within you... (paraphrase of 1 Peter 3:15)

I have so many reasons for hope this year. Seeing the renewed interest in Friends' peace work in South America. Learning about Western (in Indiana) Yearly Meeting's deep and lasting commitment to international service. Meeting young adult Friends who are yearning to work with other young Friends and elders to address our traditional testimonies and the urgent issues of our day. My family's settling into our new life in Philadelphia. A whole lot of reasons for hope around here.

What gives you hope for the Religious Society of Friends? Post your reasons on our Facebook page. And share your hope for Friends around the world with a donation to FWCC this year.

In friendship,

Robin Mohr

P.S. "Be Prepared to Give Reasons for the Hope that is Within You" is also the title of a pamphlet published by our Wider Quaker Fellowship program in 2009, written by Peggy Senger Parsons. Read it here.

Everyone invited to prepare for the World Conference now!
Next April a large 'family reunion' of Friends from around the globe will meet in Kenya to consider how Friends are called to live in the 21st Century. But you don't have to go to Kenya to be part of the conversation. Friends from Kenya, Russia, India, El Salvador, England, Bolivia, Korea, and the United States have written essays on the World Conference theme, Being Salt and Light: Friends living the kingdom of God in a broken world. We invite everyone to read what Friends around the world have to say about these questions:

What does being 'salt' and 'light' mean to me? How do I use my salt and my light in everyday life? Does the light in me have an impact on the community I live in, and how?
How do I interpret "the Kingdom of God is within you" in my own life and how do I answer it in others?
How does the broken world invade my life? How do I contribute to the brokenness of the world?
What seemingly impossible situations have I found myself in amongst Friends? How have I fostered a spirit of unity?
What is the future of Quakerism in the 21st Century?

Friends from from Kenya, Russia, India, El Salvador, England, Bolivia, Korea, the United States and many more places have written essays on the World Conference theme, Being Salt and Light: Friends living the kingdom of God in a broken world. We invite everyone to read what Friends around the world have to say about these questions.

Read the essays online, download the study book or purchase a hard copy of the Study Booklet for the Sixth World Conference of Friends. Suggest using the Study Book for discussion in your meeting or church. Recommend it to your youth group or First Day School leaders. Let us know how you use it!

Learn more.

Online World Conference study circles to begin soon; sign up now

Are you reading the World Conference study booklet?

Are you excited, inspired and challenged by what you read there?

Are you eager to share your thoughts and feelings with other Friends?

Online study groups are now being formed in English, Spanish, French or Russian. Friends from around the world will be able to study and discuss the World Conference theme together. Groups will begin in late 2011 or early 2012.

Salt & Light program coming to New Mexico in January

Mary Lord and Noah Baker Merrill will lead a local FWCC gathering on the 2012 Sixth World Conference of Friends theme at Gila Friends Meeting in New Mexico January 13-15.

Online registration is now ready. Home hospitality with local Friends is available. For additional information check our website.

Mary Lord (Baltimore YM) has spoken widely among Friends in North America and around the world about the spiritual foundations of Friends' work for peace and justice.

Noah Baker Merrill (New England YM) travels in the ministry, offering messages at Friends' gatherings and beyond, seeking to encourage faithfulness, and nurturing the integration of worship and witness in the Quaker movement.

Both will address what it means to "Be Salt and Light" and how we live in the kingdom of God in this broken world.

Read more about the speakers

Register now

FWCC in Peru and Bolivia

Executive Secretary Robin Mohr traveled with Friends from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Iowa YM (FUM), New England YM, and Northwest YM to the 50th Anniversary celebrations of INELA Peru in October.

Visit our website for a list of joys and a sampling of photos from her travel among Friends in Peru and Bolivia

New peace pamphlets now online

We invite you to read our newest selection of contemporary Quaker writing
published by The Wider Quaker Fellowship on our website Voices of Friends:

The Transforming Power of the Psalms. Through her examination of the Psalms, author Elizabeth Meyer seeks to reassure us that although we may not be able to keep from feeling anger, we can turn that anger over to God, who understands it, and thus move toward loving our enemies. Read the complete article.

An Ocean of Darkness, an Ocean of Light, y un Barquito Grande: Friends Ministry of Hope in a Troubled World. Bridget Moix's message reflects on how peacemakers maintain a positive approach when facing a discouraging political scene. Read the complete article.

Read the complete letter that introduces each of these articles from Judy Inskeep, Clerk of the Wider Quaker Fellowship.

Quaker population in Religious Congregations Study

FWCC collects yearly meeting membership statistics annually, and every ten years provides the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) with Friends' congregational membership data for the decennial Religious Congregations Membership Study, the most comprehensive portrait of religious affiliation throughout the United States.

Preliminary maps of Friends' statistics are now available on their website. If you have ever wondered how Friends' membership numbers compare with other denominations in your area, state or throughout the US, this is the place to find out. The final report will be ready in early 2012.

The information provided by FWCC is based on what individual yearly meetings send us. In some cases membership data is not provided or is unknown.

Grants for study of Christian mysticism & travel in the ministry

Friends are invited to apply for several grants offered through FWCC Section of the Americas.

The Elizabeth Ann Bogert Memorial Fund for the Study and Practice of Christian Mysticism makes annual grants of up to $1000. Recently funded projects have inlcuded research into mystical piety in the 11th century, a study of the methods of centering prayer and the development of workshops on the practice of Christian mysticism. Individuals wishing to apply for grants in 2012 should submit a copy of their proposal no later than March 1, 2012 to the clerk of the Bogert Fund, Miriam Feyerherm.

FWCC Section of the Americas offers financial assistance for Friends to follow leadings to travel in the ministry in ways that bridge yearly meeting boundaries, theological differences, varieties of worship style, and differences in language and culture among Friends. Travel in the ministry includes both divine direction to travel for the sake of ministry and the actual spiritual ministry for which God has called a person. Applications for funds are reviewed quarterly. Read the fund guidelines for information on when and how to apply. Or, contact the clerk of the Travel in the Ministry Scholarship Fund committee.