Posts

CYM 2015 Documents in Advance and Draft Agenda Now Available

/in , , , /by

You can download the schedule here. Documents in Advance and the draft agenda for the upcoming CYM gathering in August are now available on line.

To access them, you will need to get into the Business side of the site. To get into the Business side of the site, you will need to register.

Click the Business button at the upper right corner to start the process.

Once you are in, there are two places to access the documents. One is to click “CYM Docs” along the top of the page. The other is to click “CYM 2015”. In both locations, there should be a Documents in Advance “accordion” which you click to open.

The “CYM 2015” entry will also take you to a page where Programme Committee will be posting information for those at CYM.

Is it time to get rid of Yearly Meetings?

/in /by

In the preparations for our annual CYM gathering, a Friend sent me this link to a thought-provoking piece.

The author writes,

One of the most regular and consistent laments that I’ve heard from Quaker leaders is that the rank and file in their congregations don’t see the purpose of the yearly meeting structures. They say things like this:

“We can’t figure out how to help our people understand how important the Yearly Meeting really is. People ask us, What does the Yearly Meeting do for me?, but they’re missing the entire point! The Yearly Meeting is about being a body. It’s not about what the Yearly Meeting provides for the local churches; it’s how we’re called together as a people, the shared experience we have of God when we’re together. After all, how are we supposed to do the work of the church if we don’t gather and support one another?”

I’ve heard words like these so many times I’ve lost count. What’s more, I’ve said words like these on numerous occasions. As a person so dedicated to institutional Quakerism, the idea that many of our members no longer find the Yearly Meeting necessary was really threatening to me. After all, what is the Quaker community without our wider fellowship? How can we even exist without the Yearly Meeting?”

Image via Micah Bales

Image via Micah Bales

As a small (in numbers) yearly meeting that covers a vast geography, we are challenged to find ways to do the work of CYM with the resources (both volunteer labour and finances) we have.

This seems like an interesting blog to read in that context.

Enjoy the reading of this piece!

 

Chris Hitchcock

Hamilton MM

Sunderland P. Gardener Lecture & Workshops by Alastair McIntosh- “Decolonizing Land and Soul: A Quaker Testimony.”

/in , , , /by

August 16-20, 2015, UPEI.

This year’s The Sunderland P. Gardener Lecture, named after a historic figure in Canadian Quaker history, will be delivered by Alastair McIntosh. McIntosh is a noted Scottish, scholar, speaker and author of many books including Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power and Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope, and the Human Condition. Alastair will be lecturing and facilitating workshops from August 16th to the 20th, 2015, as part of the annual gathering of Canadian Yearly Meeting 2015 at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Alastair McIntosh- “(C) Médiathèque Lafarge – Alain Le Breton”.

A member of the Religious Society of Friends in Scotland, McIntosh has built an international career as a scholar and public speaker, teaching and lecturing at a variety of universities, and as a frontline activist on behalf of environmental integrity and healthy, resilient human communities. He is especially known for the way he has combined scholarship in theology, poetics, anthropology, and human ecology with the organization of citizen based campaigns to save valued landscapes and human communities from industrial degradation.

All events are open to the public

Lecture
Decolonizing Land and Soul: A Quaker Testimony
Sunday August 16th, 2015, 7:00 pm

Room 242, Alexander H. MacKinnon Auditorium (McDougall Hall)
Open admission

In this lecture Alastair will share his unique experience that spans the Maritime provinces of Canada, Scotland and France. He has titled the lecture

“Decolonising Land and Soul: a Quaker Testimony.” He will explore the imperatives of Quaker witness for today and will touch on spiritual experience and the Cross as the supreme symbol of nonviolence in our times.

Like Quakerism in Canada, McIntosh is broadly universal in his approach to understanding theology. He sees that deep rootedness in the land and attachment to place provide human communities with the best realization of their spiritual potential. An affinity with the traditional spirituality of First Nation peoples is evident in this understanding.

Workshops
Monday August 17th to Thursday August 20th, 2015, 3:30 to 5:30 pm (Location to be determined)
More details to come! Stay tuned.