Home Mission and Advancement Committee (HMAC) + Publications and Communications Meeting November 4 – 6 2011

HMAC and the Publications and Communications Committee (P & C) met on the same days and in the same location – Friends House, Toronto Monthly Meeting – the first weekend in November.  I was grateful to be able to attend and work with the dedicated Friends who were there. It was great to welcome Marilyn Manzer as clerk of HMAC.  I have been grateful, too, for Ellen Helmuth’s significant, caring and careful work as interim clerk (though there was some discussion as to whether the best term was ‘acting’ or ‘interim’).  It was also good to welcome new members, Marc Forget, Jeannette Amdur and Wendy Macpherson.

Anne-Marie Zilliacus attended for a couple of hours and provided valuable support for our budgeting process – Thanks, Anne-Marie.

Friday evening, HMAC, P&C Committee, Anne-Marie and Bruce Dienes spent some time exploring together thoughts about Canadian Yearly Meeting’s web presence and possibilities for using the internet as a means for developing and sustaining our small, wide-spread community.

One of my favourite activities at Friends House is visiting the library.  There were a few familiar folk hanging out there after Meeting for Worship on Sunday

Dorothy Janes (Toronto MM) and Ellen Helmuth (New Brunswick MM)

Mark Stanley (Saskatchewan MM) and Chris (Toronto's ministry of hospitality presence)

 For any interested in CYM history in Canada, there are bound issues of the Canadian Friend (almost to the beginning, I think)  in one of the glass cases in the library.  I find it fascinating to read about happenings from the 1960s and 1970s as they were being reported then, and to see some of the photographs from that time period too.

If you prefer action, or learning sessions, Toronto Friends can usually let you know what’s current in Toronto, and as always the resident Friends, Judy and Ben, are helpful and cheerful.

 

Camp NeeKauNis Strategic Planning

Canadian Yearly Meeting: Camp NeeKauNis Committee.
Camp NeeKauNis at 80!
 
“Born in a time of political and philosophical stress and turmoil, a legitimate child of spiritual self-searching and public protest, our Society has always had a genius for turning stress and turmoil into creative tension. Strongly held opposing views tied together by trust and love are truly creative. As the process of loving outreach dissolves the areas of brittle antagonism, legitimate differences are recognized as stimulus and broadening influence.”
 Hugh Campbell Brown, 1970. From Faith and Practice, Canadian Yearly Meeting 3.41
 
The Adhoc Subcommittee for Strategic Planning invites you to a Meeting for a Concern for Planning. We extend this invitation to all committee members and associate members, present and past directors and interested alumni. This Meeting is the first of two meetings. 
 
When: Saturday November 26 2011, 10 am to 5:00pm as led. Lunch will be provided.
 
Why: To plan for the future of Camp NeeKauNis.
 
Those planning to come and those that cannot, please send us (Kris and George) your ideas about improving camp. It could be just one really important idea, or 10 things that would really make a difference. It could focus on waterfront, programs, how committee functions, or anything else. Do  you want to see a Pendle Hill North and/or a youth leadership development program? Should we sell camp and move elsewhere? All ideas will be recorded and brought forward for the first workshop.
 
An agenda will be forthcoming. 
 
Documents in Advance are posted on the website and include Minutes from a Meeting for a Concern held at Community Camp 2011, a report from an outside consultant, the second interim report from the subcommittee for holding Canadian Yearly Meeting at NeeKauNis (CYM@NKN) and a strategic vision document prepared by Ethan Chiddicks which includes a discussion of governance and financial direction. The website will also have some interesting archive material. 
 
We will work on immediate short term goals, midrange goals and long term goals and their implementation. An interim report from the November planning meeting will be prepared in advance of the January Committee Meeting. A second final report will be prepared after a second planning meeting on Feb 25 in Hamilton, for presentation in May. 
 
We encourage you to read this material as able, and to come with your comments and fresh ideas.
 
What speaks to your condition? What speaks to Camp’s condition?
 
RSVP to Kris or George.

Poverty, Wealth, Ecology – Special Interest Group – WHYM Sunday

Bill Curry and Dave Greenfield offered a special interest Group (SIG) on the theme of an upcoming meeting of the North American Region of the World Council of Churches in Calgary, November 7 – 11.  Dave and Bill will be attending this meeting for Canadian Yearly Meeting. It is part of a process leading to the 10th General Assembly in South Korea in 2013.  The POVERTY WEALTH ECOLOGY focus aims to “put climate justice and poverty eradication and therelationship between the two as a priority on the agenda”

Bill and Dave offered a number of quotes on the theme, asking, “How do we act now?” and “What are we doing?” The dialogue covered obstacles, responsibilities and faith dimensions of sustainability.

“Poverty, Wealth and Ecological Justice Framework Concept (from a longer document from the United Church of Canada)

[The United Church] has consistently worked ecumenically and globally on issues of economic justice, ecological justice, social justice, poverty, exclusion, corporate social responsibility, debt, ecological debt, human rights, extractive industries, water and climate change and has in recent years looked at many of the impacts of human activities through the lens
of empire.”

“The connections among many issues, previously viewed as disparate and distinct, are better understood as many facets of an ecological whole.”

and from  AGAPE Consultation: Linking poverty, wealth and ecology: Ecumenical Perspectives in Europe  –  8 – 12 November 2010 – Budapest Call for Climate Justice  – Addressing Poverty, Wealth and Ecology

“The Great Challenge calls for the Great Transition

Climate justice is a condition for the eradication of poverty and the eradication of poverty is a condition for climate justice.

Climate justice demands the primacy of democratic politics over economics and the embedding of market economies in social and cultural contexts (further developing the Social Market Economy). Therefore holistic answers to the challenges are required – from the individual person, from the economy, from states and internationally.

The time for fragmented and technocratic solutions is over. We need a Great Transition.

Call: for a global ecumenical conference to propose the framework and criteria for a new international financial and economic architecture that is based on the principles of economic, social and climate justice.”

If you’re interested in more information, please contact Bill Curry at

Western Half Yearly – Saturday October 8 – Late Afternoon and Evening

Saturday afternoon many of us listened intently to our two guests, Doug Racine and Cindy Hanson.

 

Doug Racine

Doug, a lawyer from Saskatoon, has done significant work with residential school victims.  He was adjudicator in the residential school claims process for 5 years.  During that time he came to view claimants as being treated as commodities.  He was moved to put his energy into representing claimants.   “Money means nothing”, he told us.  “The healing process is most important.”

 

Doug described to us how he uses stories to work with claimants.  He spoke of telling trust stories (to show who he is), orientation stories (to help claimants remember and acknowledge why they are in the claimant process, and respect and connection stories (to address the guilt shame and anger that inhabit those who have been victims of sexual abuse).  He confirmed what many of us have observed and believe.  Western concepts of law do not deal with justice or healing.

When asked what was hardest for him about the work, he said that it wasn’t listening to the stories, it was ensuring that his clients are kept safe through the process.  “Safe in and safe out”, he said.  He reassures clients, “You’re not leaving until you feel good about yourself”…and he contracts for follow-up contact with each client, using the services of a traumatologist if needed.

Doug spoke passionately about his work, his clients and the need for healing in the process.  Listening to him, for me, brought more hope than sadness, and led to much reflection on the nature of the debt owed to those who have been harmed.

Cindy Hanson

Cindy Hanson, an adult educator, told us about her work in Ethiopa, providing a particular type of training for agricultural aid workers.  She noted that the literacy level for women in Ethopia is 30%, that no one talks about HIV AIDS, that there is high infant mortality and that there is a lack of clean water.   Cindy had developed and delivered a training program based on adult learning principles and approaches. looking at gender and HIV AIDS, to help raise awareness and develop sensitivity for those who were working to develop agricultural capacity in rural communities.

She told us of creating with her students social maps showing water sources and uses and the related activity patterns.  The women (who do most of the agricultural work and carry the water) created a map about half the size of the room, the men a map that was about 4 times the room size.  This difference in experience apparently caused quite a bit of debate and animated discussion.

In her work in Ethiopa, Cindy observed that the effective community was one that srlf-organized around equality, mutual support and sustainability.  “Micro-stuff works”, she said, “and self-organization”.

Cindy left us with two questions:

1.  How can we use power to challenge power?

2.  How can we use privilege to disrupt privilege?

I wonder how these questions will challenge me to put my faith into practice.

In early evening, Dale Dewar, told us about the work she has been doing in Iraq, providing training for obstetricians.  For about six years, she has been doing this work through Canadian Friends Service Committee, partnering with the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada and the The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.  Dale travelled to Iraq, along with a couple of other physicians to provide training in monitoring the progression of a birth.  She told us that 50% of deliveries in Iraq are Caeserean Sections, noting that is a reflection of the training currently provided to physicians.  She observed that, although many organizations send medical supplies and equipment to Iraq, there are no systems in place to support their  effective use.

Dale told us of some of her challenges in learning how local unspoken customs and practices might inhibit effective training and also spoke with hope of continued opportunities for training programs, expanding them to nursing staff.  Listening to the stories, to Dale talk about the work and what it was like to be there, to build the relationships, to take the personal risks, I felt much more connected to the work that we support through CFSC.  I was reminded again of a quote offered at Quaker Study at CYM this year.  “The manifestation of holiness is in relationships”, and I wonder how we, as such a spread out community, can grow and sustain such relationships that nurture us and provide service to others. At Meeting for Worship for Business on Sunday, Western Half Yearly committed $500 to support Dale’s next visit, planned for later this year.

We finished the evening with a few games, including “A big wind blows…” which brought laughter, raised the energy and connected us – all the generations – through play.  I was delighted to have the chance to try out some of the activities provided in the Intergenerational Took Kit provided by Friends General Conerence.