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Section of the Americas
June 29, 2016
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Even though we've barely entered summer, the Section of the Americas office is already thinking about October 2nd World Quaker Day. We encourage Friends to plan a World Quaker Day event with their meetings or churches to celebrate our global family of Friends and explore this year's theme "Inspired by Faith - Witnessing Together in the World." For more information and updates, visit the World Quaker Day website! 

We're also planning the Section Meeting, having decided to gather March 23-26, 2017 at the Gilmary Retreat Center in Pittsburgh, PA. I am personally excited to see how God will show up as we worship and fellowship together with the inspired theme "Vivir La Paz - Living Peace." 

I cannot thank our committees and representatives enough for all their hard work in making this upcoming Section Meeting possible. The newsletter will be continually providing updates and news on the Section Meeting, so stay tuned!


In the Light,


Hye Sung Gehring
Coordinator for Events and Engagement 


 

  
Seeing The Tapestry: More QuakerSpeak Videos in 2016!

 


In May, the Section of the Americas received a $20,000 grant from the Thomas H. and Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund to continue our series of powerful QuakerSpeak videos!

In 2016, Jon Watts of Friends Journal will produce five new videos on the topics below. The Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) will develop a set of materials and instructions to assist Friends to use each video in religious education programs for adults and children. FWCC will train yearly meeting representatives to use our new videos and the collateral material to effectively share more of their knowledge and experience, bringing more engaging religious education programs home to their monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings.

We encourage everyone to show them as part of an FWCC program on World Quaker Day on October 2, 2016.

Attenders at the 2017 Section Meeting will receive a USB thumb drive with the videos and the religious education curricula to take home for use in local presentations after the Section Meeting, including FWCC presentations at yearly meeting sessions.

Listening in Tongues: Being bilingual as a Quaker Value How learning to communicate with people who we think are not like us makes Quakers more welcoming to newcomers, able to listen more deeply to that of God in everyone, and more effective in achieving community service and justice goals.

What are Quakers around the world doing to sustain life on earth? From the 2012 Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice to the sustainability minute created at the 2016 World Plenary Meeting in Peru. What have Quakers been doing about the challenge of climate change and environmental justice and how can I get involved?

Where in the world are all the Quakers? Looking at the statistical map and the demographics of global Quakerism, with a link to our online directory.

Top 10 reasons I'm a Quaker with Gregg Koskela, Evangelical Friend, and pastor of Newberg Friends Church in Oregon, Northwest YM.

I think I'm a Quaker. What do I do now? For people who read about Quakers on the internet. What do I need to know about the different kinds of Quakers? How do I find real, live Quakers and what should I do when I get there? Interviews will be conducted at a joint meeting of our Nominating and Representative Engagement Committees in November 2016 with a very wide range of Quakers from across the Section.

In 2015, FWCC and FPC produced three QuakerSpeak videos that have been popular and useful in religious education for adults and teens. These are currently available at QuakerSpeak.com.

The "Seeing the Tapestry" project is a collaboration between FWCC and
  • Friends Journal    
  • Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC)   
  • FWCC Representatives who serve as volunteer ambassadors for their yearly meetings
  • The monthly meetings, churches, and worship groups who will receive these religious education programs, building local community and deepening spiritual experiences.

News from Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting


Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting representatives met at New Garden Friends on Saturday, July 11, 2016.  Piedmont had its first yearly meeting session in March of this year.  PFYM is requesting affiliation with Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas.  A visitation team met with them at the representatives meeting to share the mission and vision of FWCC and the roles and responsibilities of an FWCC representative.  The team learned about the mission and vision of PFYM.  The two organizations will be discerning together again in August with the hope of bringing Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting into the world wide family of Friends through FWCC.

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