News of Friends Meetings and Churches
Albuquerque Meeting (NM) is planning a pre-teen program for 10-13 year-old Friends. It would focus on the life of Mary Dyer through music and acting.
The “Care of Meeting” person for Bellingham Meeting (WA) closes Meeting. That person, in essence, holds the entire Meeting in the Light, guides worship through modeling and has responsibility for responding to any emergencies or disruptions that might occur.
Ministry and Oversight Committee of Berkeley Meeting (CA) asks Friends for consideration of what makes Meeting for Worship work for them. In the worship context, what makes Friends feel especially nourished, what is the individual responsibility and how can each one deepen the corporate worship and experience for all?
Friends from Citrus Heights Friends Church (CA) did an experimental reverse Trick or Treat night on Halloween. A group of volunteers gathered in front of the church on Halloween, then spread out in the community, ringing bells and delivering pre-made bags of treats. Through the experience, the organizers were reminded of the amazing grace of flexibility and power of God’s love.
Eugene Meeting (OR) will hold a Winter Retreat with the theme, “Spirit-led Finances.” Lee Bennett (University Meeting, Seattle) will provide Quaker financial historical context and lead an interest group on “Friendly money and Meeting finances.”
The children of Fort Collins Meeting (CO) hosted a holiday crafts and bake sale (with adult support) to benefit the Meeting as a whole.
The Spiritual Formation Group of Gila Meeting (NM) is urging others in the Meeting to join them. The commitment is a daily individual spiritual practice, and participation in a monthly sharing group and a monthly reading group.
Multnomah Meeting (Portland, OR) has approved an Immigration Minute which states in part: “. . . We thus believe that all persons who reside in our country should be treated with justice and equality which, at this time, too many in our state are denied. . .”
Pima Meeting (Tucson, AZ) seeks a Resident Caretaker to live in a one-bedroom apartment in the meetinghouse and interact with the Meeting’s fellowship. Eileen-Haney@cox.net
Pima Meeting (Tucson, AZ) is seasoning a recommendation that a consultation group for pastoral care be formed to provide clearness, back-up, or other assistance to theMeeting’s pastoral care coordinators.
Reedwood Friends Church (Portland, OR) is celebrating the holidays with an Evening of Music and Holiday Desserts, a sing-along Messiah, an Evening with Friends Christmas Party (including old-fashioned carriage rides), and a Candlelight Christmas Eve Program.
South Seattle Preparative Meeting (WA) is beginning a process to look at the starting time of Meeting for Worship. The present time of 11:00 a.m., with the hour of worship, announcements and socializing that follow, run into naptimes for young kids.
Spokane Friends Church (WA) is sponsoring a series of workshops on Empathetic Listening. Friends will participate in exercises designed to facilitate a person’s ability to recognize and express their own feelings and accurately understand and respond to the feelings of others.
Tempe Meeting (AZ) received a report from its Finance Committee. Attention was focused on how Friends might reduce expenses and how deep such reductions should be to align with actual income expectations. Friends accepted a “no-growth” 2009 budget.
Tempe Meeting (AZ) holds a concern for how the Meeting supports intergenerational interactions. During a Family Worshipsharing, Friends proposed ideas, including, “The kids could generate queries… for themselves or for the Meeting as a whole.” “The kids would like an opportunity to find their own voice—to meet together without their parents.”
First Friends, Whittier (CA), welcomes in the New Year with an annual New Years Eve Quaker Midnight Party which begins at 6:00 p.m. and ends 9:15 p.m. Friends say they welcome in the New Year on Philadelphia time.

More than one Meeting/Church:
Many Friends Churches and Meetings in the Pacific Northwest are canceling, changing, or combining Meetings for Worship and Business Meetings due to extended periods of snow and ice.