Announcements for August 2010

Schedule Changes in August: There is no business meeting this month. Environment & Social Concerns, Finance, Peace & Social Concerns, Property, and Quaker House Committees will not meet in August. Membership & Outreach Committee, which usually meets on first Sundays, will meet on Saturday, August 21 at 10am at the home of the convener. The Palestine-Israel Action Group (PIAG), which usually meets twice a month, will meet on Friday, August 27, at 9am; contact Helen Fox (hfox@umich.edu) for the location. Committees are expected to return to their usual schedules in September.

Summer Activities for Children: During the summer, there is a supervised program for children ages 3 - 12, meeting in the Fireplace Room in Quaker House at 11:20 and then moving outside (weather permitting). Older children are encouraged to attend the full hour of meeting for worship. As always, caring grandmothers look after babies and toddlers in the Nursery. For more information about the childcare program, please contact Susan Wilson (sawilson234@gmail.com).

Quaker Bible Study – involving a “close reading” of a short Bible passage followed by individual responses – will resume on Wednesday mornings at 8:30, starting on August 4. All are welcome. Questions? Ask Janice Thorup (janice.thorup@gmail.com).

In Reading and Discussion on August 8, Friends are invited to share their experiences at the Gathering of Friends General Conference or at Yearly Meeting. On August 22, the R&D coordinators will lead discussion of John Lampen's essay "Finding the Words: Quaker Experience and Language." Recognizing the range of religious traditions among today's Friends, Lampen offers a shared or common language for "our experiences of revelation, guidance, discernment, and worship ... while acknowledging that each of us in different ways moves beyond it." All are welcome, 10:05 to 10:55 in Quaker House Living Room.

All Friends – including children – are invited to Worship Sharing on the query “What Happens in the Silence?” between the two meetings for worship (about 10:10 to 10:50) on Sunday, August 15 in the Meetingroom. In worship sharing, many Friends have the opportunity to speak briefly on a specific topic. Possibly some Friends will attend who can help us understand how they “center” or settle into a spiritual state during meeting for worship.

Esther Abate, 91, died peacefully on July 23 in her home at the Chelsea Retirement Community. A memorial meeting will be held on Saturday, August 21 at 3:00 in the Meetingroom. All are welcome.

The Scribblers Writing Circle meets on first Thursdays (August 5 and September 2) at 6pm in Quaker House Living Room. Writers, poets, graphic artists, and listeners are invited. Pizza and beverages are provided; other comestibles are welcome.

Property Committee is having a Work Party on the morning of Saturday, August 14, starting at 9:00. The projects include painting and yard work. Friends are encouraged to participate.


Our Palestine-Israel Action Group (PIAG) maintains its own website and a blog. PIAG also has a connection with QuakerPI.org, a website for Friends with a concern for Israel-Palestine, operated by PIAG member Anne Remley and Friends in Washington State and Massachusetts.

PIAG will meet on Friday, August 27, at 9am; all are welcome. Contact Helen Fox (hfox@umich.edu) for the location.

Palestinian, Free Trade, Certified Organic, “Nabali Tree” olive oil, produced by farmer cooperatives, is available from PIAG for $17/liter.  See PIAG members (listed in the AAFM Directory).


Friends can now make donations to the Meeting online. On the left side of this website, click on “Make a Donation.” This links to a page that enables donations through PayPal (which takes 1.9% plus 30¢ per transaction). Contributions to the Meeting are tax deductible. You can also contribute by leaving cash or a check in the contributions basket on the lobby table or sending a donation c/o Treasurer, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, 1420 Hill St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Copies of the Meeting Handbook are available in the lobby. A contribution of $4 to cover printing costs is requested.

The Meeting’s wheelchair is stored in the outer lobby for the lift. Friends may borrow it for use between the parking lot and the lift or inside the Meetinghouse and Quaker House.


The Chelsea Worship Group has Meeting for Worship at Michigan Friends Center on most second Sundays (August 8) at 10am. The contact is John Deikis (475-0942); check with him before attending to confirm that worship is taking place that day.


Quaker Family Camp at Michigan Friends Center, August 27-29 (Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon). Families of one or more welcome.

Michigan Friends Center invites Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting members and attenders to spend a weekend of fun and fellowship at Michigan Friends Center (MFC) and Friends Lake Cooperative Community (FLCC). Four meals will be provided. There will be some planned activities and lots of unstructured time for fun and relaxation!

Tent camping is available in the FLCC Campground.  A state campground with group cabins for great rates and hookups is a few miles away.  There are also hotels nearby in Chelsea for folks who prefer not to camp, but want to join the fun.

The registration deadline is August 20, 2010, especially if you want to be fed! The cost is $35 per person or $120 per family.

To learn more or register, call (734) 475-1892.


High school teens are cordially invited to the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting 2010 Summer Teen Retreat, Friday, August 6 – Monday, August 9, at Michigan Friends Center. The cost of $25/person includes all meals. RSVP to Cari Burke, LEYM High School Youth Program Coordinator (cell: 231 383-1296, email cariupnorth@gmail.com), or RSVP on Facebook. In a Workshop on Saving our Local Watersheds, we will learn about the Maumee River Watershed across northern Ohio and part of southern Michigan. Weekend activities include camping, meeting for worship, meeting for business, swimming, singing and dancing, worship sharing, and planning future retreats. For more details, see the fliers on the lobby table or contact Cari.


The Summer Gathering of Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting will take place in Quaker Park, Battle Creek, on Sunday, August 8, at 11am. (The gathering is on second Sunday this year, because Yearly Meeting continues through the first Sunday.) Meeting for worship is held at a simple monument which traces the walls of the original Friends Meetinghouse. Bring your own chair and weather protection for holding worship out in the open, as did Fox and Penn, rain or shine. A potluck lunch will follow, under the shady trees.

Quaker Park is on Fremont and Groveland Streets. From I-94, take Business 94 to the center of town, turn north on MI-66 (Division Street), and bear right onto Capital Ave. Turn left (north) onto Fremont. Quaker Park is on your left in three blocks.

Nearby attractions include the Underground Railroad sculpture, which commemorates the work of Friends and others, and historic Kimball House Museum (at 196 Capital Ave NE), which is usually opened for this gathering and has a display on the life of Battle Creek resident Sojourner Truth.

The Fall Gathering of Quarterly Meeting will be at Friends School in Detroit on Saturday, September 18.


Save the Date: Friday, September 24, at 7pm. Michigan Friends Center invites you to experience a riveting mix of blues and storytelling in a benefit evening that brings together hometown favorites Shari Kane & Big Dave Steele and Davy Rothbart! Join MFC in celebrating its 20th year of fostering peace, social justice, spiritual growth, and environmental protection, and enjoy a high-octane evening of music and story-telling. Tickets cost $20 (students $15), and are available from Michigan Friends Center (475-1892 or manager@mfcenter.org).


Michigan Friends Center Programs

To learn more, visit www.mfcenter.org, phone 475-1892,
or email manager@michiganfriendscenter.org.

Summer Programs for Kids

What sounds do bugs make? (entering 1st – 3rd grade): Exploring nature-music,
    with Dana Wright, August 9-13
Insect Art (entering 4th – 6th grade): Making art like bugs, or bug-like art, with
    Eva Leventer, August 16-20.

Both programs run Monday through Friday, 9am – 1pm, and cost $120. Sibling discounts are available (20% for second camper, 30% for third or more). Need-based scholarships are available; just ask.

Registration forms can be downloaded from the Michigan Friends Center website: www.mfcenter.org.


Friends Lake Cooperative Community is excited to announce its new website, www.friendslake.org – months in the making, with two lovely slide shows. Please take a look, whether you are already a member or have never seen Friends Lake. FLCC is a welcoming year-round recreational cooperative about half an hour from Ann Arbor (near Chelsea), founded by Quaker families from AAFM nearly 50 years ago on 90 acres of lake-side property, with canoes, rowboats, sauna, good swimming, campsites, and a rustic rental cabin for members. Michigan Friends Center is on its campus.