Work Opportunities

UPDATE – CLOSED: Call for Facilitators for CYM Online Courses

Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) Education & Outreach Committee is Seeking Experienced/Qualified Online Course Facilitators for Contractual Work.

Education and Outreach Committee (E&O) is seeking expressions of interest for a subcontracting facilitator to act as a backup when E&O is able to offer more than one course, or as need arises. We warmly encourage anyone interested in this opportunity to apply.

E&O has one online course facilitator, who can currently teach one course (with one or two sessions) per term. We would like to start offering two or more courses per term in the future; therefore another facilitator may be needed. The utilization of an additional contractor is dependent upon a number of factors, mainly course registrations.

E&O online courses usually run for seven or eight weeks. This includes a technology troubleshooting session and six classes. Classes take place once a week, and last 1.5 to 2 hours.  Facilitators can expect to work between 45-60 hours per 7-8 week period, on an as-needed basis.

Contractors are expected to work independently to advertise, promote, schedule and facilitate courses. Facilitators will, however, be supported by the clerk of Education and Outreach Committee and the Online Course Subcommittee as needed.

Interested persons are invited to send a:
• cover letter,
• resume, and
• current references
to E&O Online Course Subcommittee care of the CYM Secretary at with the title “Online Course Contractor” in the subject line.

Applicants should highlight their:
• reasons for being interested in this Quaker facilitation work,
• experience with online learning platforms, and
• teaching/facilitation experience.

You can review the current courses being offered through Education and Outreach Committee on the Quaker.ca website.

The contract price will be negotiated based on qualifications and experience.

Applications will be accepted until 11:59pm PST on Sunday October 1. Candidates will only be contacted if they are chosen for an interview.

Canadian Yearly Meeting Online Courses: ‘Quaker Faith and Practice’ & ‘Introduction to Quakers and Friends’ Ways’

Canadian Yearly Meeting Education & Outreach Committee Announces its Online Courses for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018: ‘Quaker Faith and Practice’ and ‘Introduction to Quakers and Friends’ Ways.’

Facilitator(s): David Summerhays (Montreal Monthly Meeting) and potentially a new facilitator* if registrations warrant!

Friends across Canada are invited to participate in online courses that will begin September 2017 and January 2018. Both courses are tentatively scheduled to take place in September and January, but are dependent upon interest (registrations) and the availability of instructors. Registrants are asked to choose their ideal dates and course(s) of preference when registering, which will assist Education and Outreach Committee with scheduling the courses.

Introduction to Quakers and Friend’s Ways

The course will address the early history of Friends, the history of Friends in Canada, the experiential nature of Quaker faith, the role of the Meeting in Quaker life, Quaker testimonies and their origin, and how our Quaker community nurtures how we live, work, worship, and transact business. This course was previously offered in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Although created to meet the needs of more recent attenders seeking to learn more about Quakerism, we believe that even longstanding members could benefit from this course. We welcome inquiries from anyone who would like to learn more about Quaker ways, with priority given to Canadian Yearly Meeting Members and Attenders.

Quaker Faith and Practice

This course explores the experiential understanding of Quaker faith and practice, as presented in the foundational book Faith and Practice of the Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, first published in 2011.

David Summerhays of Montreal Monthly Meeting, adapted the original course into an online course in collaboration with the authors. The course was originally prepared by Marjory Reitsma-Street, with assistance of Gale Wills and Catherine Novak, all Friends living in Victoria, B.C.

Marjory and Gale have doctorates from the University of Toronto, and are retired Professors in Social Work. Gale has served as clerk in local and national Quaker committees, while Marjory has concentrated on music and other service close to home. Catherine recently completed a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies, works in digital marketing and communications (in addition to being a mother), and is currently serving on the Canadian Yearly Meeting Publications and Communications Committee.

The ‘how’ of online courses

Participants will meet once a week for six weeks using either video conferencing or audio conferencing technology. If you are unfamiliar with conferencing technology, don’t worry, the facilitator and the Education and Outreach Committee are committed to making participation in the course as easy as possible for everyone.

Participants will be asked to do a short reading before each of the sessions. These readings can be viewed anytime at the Quaker.ca Education Page under ‘Introduction to Quaker and Friends’ Ways’ and ‘Quaker Faith and Practice’. The course will include worship, active exercises, reflections from readings, and the application to one’s own life of what is learned.

How to Sign Up

The course is free of charge. To indicate your interest: please click here to register. The registration process (including a availability poll) will assist us with determining the course times.

CYM warmly welcomes any donations you are able to give. Canadian Yearly Meeting, 91A Fourth Ave, Ottawa ON K1S 2L1. To donate by credit card, call the CYM office at 1-888-296-3222.

What previous course participants are saying about the online course experience

The course “was very meaningful to me. I have been circling the Quakers for a few years now and it helped me decide that it’s right for me.”

“The real thing that made this course meaningful was the connection I made with other friends.”

“I had an opportunity to communicate with Friends I did not know and that was worthwhile. A younger Friend seemed to appreciate my knowledge.”

“As someone who is new to Quakerism, I found the outline very informative. I appreciated the conversation with others, as it prompted a wider perspective of the topic under discussion and also allowed me to see some of the variety of the Quaker culture beyond the meeting I have been attending. My meeting was interested in my experience of the course.”

“The big Ah-Ha’s for me were around understanding what waiting in the light means for me, and what that sense of being connected to God means for me.”

“I encountered different ways of thinking about what was discussed that lead to different possible answers.”

What previous course participants are saying about our current facilitator

“I think David has a real gift. He started and ended on time. He was able to move us along, without me feeling hurried. He asked open-ended questions, which moved the discussion to the most interesting places.”

“He kept the flow going without impeding discussion. David was also very conscious of assisting those having technical/language difficulties.”

“He has a welcoming and non-threatening approach and was very clear that he thought of himself as a participant eager to learn as much as everyone else from the experience.”

“David did a great job making the space safe and promoting discussion. I didn’t feel overly academic which was just fine by me.”

*E&O is currently seeking and reviewing applications for people interested in facilitating these already well-seasoned courses. Interested persons are welcome to send a cover letter and resume to with the title “E&O Online Course Contractor” in the subject line.

CLOSED: Call for Proposals: Canadian Yearly Meeting Editor

Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) is calling for proposals for a contractor to edit The Canadian Friend and to upload materials to our website, quaker.ca. CYM is a religious organization of Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) in Canada.

This is a maternity replacement for our existing contractor. The contract begins in September, with a period of overlap with the existing contractor anticipated until early October. We hope that both contractors will be able to work together on the fall issue of The Canadian Friend. Appointment will be for one year.

The contractor will solicit material, edit and produce three issues of The Canadian Friend (CF), to appear throughout the year. Working with an editorial committee, the contractor will set editorial direction for The Canadian Friend. The contractor will receive requests for advertising in The Canadian Friend and communicate with advertisers. The contractor will work in InDesign, and send the issue of The Canadian Friend to the printer, as well as creating a PDF version to be posted on the website. Past issues of The Canadian Friend can be viewed at quaker.ca/resources/the-canadian-friend.

Material from The Canadian Friend will also be used as content on quaker.ca, our website.

The editor will solicit and receive additional content to be posted on quaker.ca.

The editor will also use our Facebook presence to post information about material in The Canadian Friend, upcoming deadlines, and quaker.ca posts.

Quaker.ca is a WordPress multisite web page, with public-facing and private sections. Maintenance of the public site will include posting materials, updating contact information, and other updates as requested. The private sections of quaker.ca consist of internal documents and committee web pages. The contractor may be asked to post materials, or to provide technical support to committees posting their own materials.

The contractor is responsible for providing space, software and hardware required for the work, including InDesign, image processing abilities (such as resizing and cropping photos for web use and print), and internet access.

The contractor should have demonstrable experience with InDesign, WordPress and the production of print and/or on-line magazines. Experience with unprogrammed Quaker meetings, particularly within CYM, is desirable. Previous experience or training in journalism, editing and social media is an advantage.

Deliverables:

  • three issues of The Canadian Friend per year.
  • regular posting of materials for quaker.ca, to be posted twice weekly on a schedule mutually agreed upon by the editor and Publications and Communications committee.
  • regular posting of new material on the blog for quaker.ca (at least 2 posts per month).

Production of The Canadian Friend will be paid for up to 100 h per issue. Web editor work is expected to be 10 h / month.

This is a one-year contract. Work is to be invoiced monthly, and will be paid at a rate of $35/h by the CYM bookkeeper following approval by the Clerk of Publications and Communications Committee.

To apply, please send a letter outlining experience and interest in the position, with resume and any other supporting information. Questions and applications may be sent to .

Applications should be received by Monday, July 17, 2017 by 5PM Pacific Time.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by Friday, July 24, 2017, and notified of the final results by September 1, 2017.

NOW CLOSED. Call for Proposals: Editor for the Canadian Friend and quaker.ca

Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) seeks a contractor to edit The Canadian Friend and to upload materials to our website, quaker.ca. CYM is a religious organization of Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) in Canada.

The contractor will solicit material, edit and produce two issues of The Canadian Friend (CF) per year, to appear in the spring (April) and fall (September/October). Working with an editorial committee, the contractor will set editorial direction for The Canadian Friend. The contractor will receive requests for advertising in The Canadian Friend and communicate with advertisers. The contractor will work in InDesign, and send the issue of The Canadian Friend to the printer, as well as creating a PDF version to be posted on the website. Past issues of The Canadian Friend can be viewed at https://quaker.ca/resources/the-canadian-friend/

Material from The Canadian Friend will also be used as content on quaker.ca, our website.

The editor will solicit and receive additional content to be posted on quaker.ca

The editor will also use our FaceBook presence to post information about material in The Canadian Friend, upcoming deadines, and quaker.ca posts.

Quaker.ca is a WordPress multisite webpage, with public-facing and private sections. Maintenance of the public site will include posting materials, updating contact information, and other updates as requested. The private sections of quaker.ca consist of internal documents and committee webpages. The contractor may be asked to post materials, or to provide technical support to committees posting their own materials.

The contractor is responsible for providing space, software and hardware required for the work, including InDesign, image processing abilities (such as resizing and cropping photos for web use and print), and internet access.

The contractor is encouraged to attend the 2016 Canadian Yearly Meeting gathering (August 5-13) in Camrose, AB, with paid travel, housing and food.

The contractor should have demonstrable experience with InDesign, WordPress and the production of print and/or on-line magazines. Experience with unprogrammed Quaker meetings, particularly within CYM, is desirable. Previous experience or training in journalism, editing and social media is an advantage.

Deliverables:

  • two issues of The Canadian Friend per year
  • regular posting of materials for quaker.ca, to be posted twice weekly on a schedule mutually agreed upon by the editor and Publications and Communications committee.
  • regular posting of new material on the blog for quaker.ca (at least 2 posts per month)

Production of The Canadian Friend will be paid for up to 100 h per issue. Web editor work is expected to be 10 h / month.

This is a one-year contract, to be renewed on mutual agreement for an additional two years, with the possibility of further extension. Work is to be invoiced monthly, and will be paid at a rate of $35/h by the CYM bookkeeper following approval by the Clerk of Publications and Communications committee.

To apply, please send a letter outlining experience and interest in the position, with resume and any other supporting information. Questions and applications may be sent to

Applications should be received by July 10, 2016.

CLOSED: The 2016 Gathering in Camrose, Alberta needs your help!

Dear Friends, the Youth Program needs your help! The following positions are available.

Youth Program:

We are looking for people to help lead our Youth Program this summer at CYM. The Youth Program is an incredibly fun place to be at CYM – there is enthusiasm, laughter and joy; but we need great leaders to bring a wonderful program together. If you can serve CYM by being a leader in the Program we want to hear from you! Your responsibilities would include working with the Youth Program Coordinator to put together a program for the summer and running the program at CYM (there will be volunteers to help). The program needs to include worship time, Quaker study time and outings. There are many resources available to help you. We cannot run a program for children and youth without leaders.

If you feel able to offer this service, please contact Beth Ward . Your travel, meals and lodging can be paid for by CYM as these are Required Services positions.

FOOD COOP Coordinator:

To coordinate the Food Coop at Canadian Yearly Meeting 2016 at Camrose, Alberta

The Coordinator plans shopping lists and menu choices in consultation with the Continuing Committee of Food Coop and the Local Arrangements Committee, facilitates food preparation, manages food storage and ensures safe food-handling practices.

The Coordinator has volunteers available for site set-up and maintenance, financial control, food shopping, preparation and clean up. Typically Food Coop participants sign themselves up for volunteer shifts throughout the week that CYM is in session.

From mid-day Thursday, Aug 4 to next Saturday, Aug 13 (a two-day start-up shopping/planning period precedes the first meal which is Saturday supper, Aug 6). Attends for four hours at each of two meals a day (breakfast is completely in the hands of Coop participants).

We are seeking someone who is familiar with volunteer organizations and sensitive to the Quaker values of simplicity and community building. The person may or may not be a member of the Religious Society of Friends. An honorarium of $800 (eight hundred dollars) is available.

For further information and for application form:
David Summerhays,
Food Coop Committee