Worcester Friends Meeting 901 Pleasant Street 508-754-3887 (Religious Society of Friends) Worcester, MA 01602 www.WorcesterFriendsMeeting.org

Worcester Friends Newsletter April 2020

Stephen Aldrich Fund

The impact of contemporary economic change and the need of individuals and families is all around us. We sense the need, but often ask, “What can I do?”

Much as we ask this question today, Stephen Aldrich Calendar *Meetinghouse closed* asked and responded in the 1800’s by bequeathing a large portion of his estate to the [RI-Smithfield} Virtual Sunday Meeting for Worship: 10:30 Quarterly Meeting to provide emergency funding for A.M. Please see Business Meeting Minutes Friends in need. This bequeath continues today as the and/or page 8 below for instructions on Stephen Aldrich Fund and is available to all members joining through Zoom for the duration. of the Meeting community seeking one-time emergency NEYM updates can be found at https:// financial assistance. neym.org/updates-and-resources-during- covid-19-pandemic? Individuals needing assistance or those who would like mc_cid=63d3beb278&mc_eid=6f063c0a38 further information regarding the Fund should contact our Meeting’s representative, Paul Gallagher. All See also: http://quakerkathleen.org/being- contact is held strictly in confidence. the-church-online/

Clerk’s Corner With this dangerous contagion still surging around us, maintaining our normal routines has become problematic in so many ways. Here are a few ways we’re trying to adapt at Worcester Meeting.

*The Meetinghouse has been closed to all user groups for an indefinite time, at least until sometime in May. This includes office staff, rentals, and our own Meetings for Worship and Business. * Our Friends Meetings will continue to be done virtually via Zoom, with links emailed out to everyone several days in advance. We acknowledge remote contact is not the same as being together in person, but it seems to actually be easier for some. * We will resume regular in -person activities as soon as it is safe, possibly with a group in the yard, maybe a small group inside, possibly including a Zoom connection as well. * At last Sunday’s Quarterly Meeting, our proposal to send donations to FUST instead of FUM was accepted, meaning it will advance to the Clerk’s agenda for Annual Meeting . * NEYM Clerk Bruce Newman shared that the decision to hold Sessions in person in August is under consideration. A virtual Annual Meeting is also being considered. * Friends Camp is still hoping to open, but is also under advisement. * The Meetinghouse building has been professionally sanitized. * All public schools in the state will be closed through the end of this school year, although remote learning will continue. * The Conflict Resolution class at Claremont Academy , sponsored by the Center for Nonviolent Solutions, is trying to sustain our group, but is struggling with remote communication challenges. * Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is suspended indefinitely, as state prisons have been closed to all volunteers, education programs, and almost all visitors. NCCI Gardner has fared well, with very few cases of Covid 19, but other prisons, along with nursing homes, detention facilities, and VA centers have not fared as well.

This too shall pass, somehow, sometime. Hopefully we are able to use this time to rest up, reflect on what is most important to us, and still feel gratitude for all our blessings. If you’d like to talk with someone, my phone (978-503-8225) is always on. Daron Barnard and Ellen Perry have also offered their availability. Hoping to see you all and worship together soon, Matt Shorten, Clerk Worcester Friends April 2020 Meeting for Business April 12, 2020

Clerking: Matt Shorten Present: Daron Barnard, Katharine Barnard, Tom Brenner, Sheila Brenner, Lucy Candib, Mary Chenaille, Jane Cutting, Richard Schmitt, Matt Shorten The meeting opened with silence and a reading on cost and sacrifice as a necessary part of transformation. Business: The State of Society report has been formed out of a discussion held on March 29. The report was read out and, with a few edits, was approved. Matt Shorten will forward the report to the Quarter and the Yearly Meeting. Committee Reports: Spiritual Life: Daron Barnard reports that the committee did not meet last month in lieu of the State of Society discussion. Last week, Meeting members recognized the manner in which social distancing affects our connection to one another, and we engaged in outreach to members and attenders who have been absent from our virtual gatherings. This was well received and will be a worthwhile effort to continue on an ongoing basis. PSCO: Last week’s called meeting for business led to approval of up to $10,000 to be donated from the Meeting to several local efforts to support immigrants, refugees, and others who are particularly affected by the current situation. These include the Worcester County Food Bank, Cosecha, and Mutual Aid Worcester. In addition to the financial donations, we have learned that there are other needs for the families served by Cosecha, specifically a need for computers and technical assistance for children engaging in online schooling. We revisited our specific plan for donations, and decided that, in light of overwhelming need of people in the community, we would feel comfortable giving the remainder of the intended money as a lump sum to the recipients, rather than in smaller aliquots. We will therefore ask our Treasurer to release the remaining $2000 each to Cosecha and to Mutual Aid Worcester once we receive their report of how they used the first $1000 so as to feel confidence in the process. We have connected with our landscaper who will also receive support from the Meeting, and the offer of assistance has been well received by him and his family. Jane Cutting announced that visits to the jail have been suspended until June. Our thoughts are with the staff and inmates during this time. Worcester Interfaith has not met but continues communication by email. The “Love in a Backpack” project is suspended for the moment but we will take up that project when possible. Several Meeting members worked together to provide a meal to the teens at the temporary youth shelter at North High School. There are more potatoes (10-15 lbs) at Lucy and Richard’s and the Brenner’s houses if anyone would like to use them to create another meal. Practical: The committee did not formally meet this month. There have been no major expenditures this year above the usual utilities and maintenance. Landscaping will be assumed by one of Carlos’s coworkers while he is in Guatemala. Mary Chenaille that David Legg will procure a second contracting bid for insulation prior to making a decision on that project. We note that now, with the building closed, would be a good time to proceed with the insulation project, and Mary will check with Dave on the status of the contracting bid. Treasurer’s Report: The month’s report shows that we are running $3000 ahead of budget, though this does not reflect the likely losses and costs this month: stock market losses, missing rent from outside groups who will not be using the building, deep cleaning done in early April.

2 Announcements: • Friend Paul Gallagher is recovering in Florida, from the first of two heart surgeries. His sister in law, Martha, will keep us appraised of his recovery. • Quarterly Meeting will be held by Zoom next week. Our proposal regarding our relationship with FUM, and redirecting donations towards FUST, will be brought up for consideration during the meeting for business. Worship is scheduled for 11:30-12:15, followed by fellowship and then business at 12:45. Lucy Candib, the Brenners and Matt Shorten plan to attend. Matt will send the Zoom link for any others who may also wish to attend. • Next Meeting for Business is planned for May 10. In the event that we will be meeting by Zoom, it will be helpful to publish the agenda ahead of time. The Clerk of the Meeting will prompt committee clerks for agenda items in advance, and the agenda can be sent out via the Meeting email list. • Meeting for Worship will continue for now via Zoom, though we will periodically reevaluate the possibility of meeting in person. A brief “how to” guide for joining Zoom Meeting is below, though more detailed assistance is available from Lucy Candib, who has coordinated the Zoom links for worship and business. (Thank you, Lucy!) On Sunday morning (any time after 10:30), go to https://zoom.us/j/286075226. When you click on the link, if you haven’t joined a Zoom meeting before, you will be asked to download Zoom into your computer at that point. You can download the Zoom app to your computer or device ahead of time, making it that much easier to join on a Sunday morning. It’s best, if possible, to join Meeting from a computer or tablet with internet access. While phoning in is possible, Zoom phone lines have been very busy lately, and unfortunately you may not be able to get through. In the Light, Katharine Barnard

From Richard Schmitt:

You will recall that the Worcester Friends Meeting decided a number of weeks ago to donate $10,000 to help support persons who are out of work. $1000 is to go to the family of the man who has been taking care of the grounds, $3000 will go to the Worcester County Food Bank, and $3000 each will go to the local Cosecha [Spanish for "harvest."] branch and to Mutual Aid. Mutual Aid helps people who are out of work and therefore have no income. Cosecha helps families without documents who are not entitled to unemployment or other government benefits. The meeting decided to give Mutual Aid and Cosecha $1000 to begin with to allow them to develop a process for distributing the money.

Today we received a text from the local close Cosecha organizer: “Thank you to the Worcester Friends for you donation. With the first $1000, we identified and gave money to four families with urgent needs. With other funds raised, we are also helping other immigrants with urgent needs but the number of families and the level of need is large and growing. We are so grateful for your donation and support.”

The Cosecha organizer also sent us a message from two of the members of the local community of immigrants. Here is a rough translation: “The persons who received the money are very grateful to the Worcester Friends because they have no work and in this moment the $250 helped them with their personal expenses: food, medicines and partial pay for rent so that their landlord would be patient. This is a message from Amparo and Luis who are coordinating Cosecha Worcester. Our thanks and blessings to the Friends in Worcester. We will send more money soon to Cosecha Worcester.”

3 Worcester Friends Meeting 2019 State of Society Report

Worcester Meeting members gathered to consider our state of society, using the NEYM queries as a guide for consideration of the state of our faith community, our worship, and our work in our larger community.

We began with consideration of our faith and our worship practice. Our Spiritual Life Committee prepared and held a well- attended and well-received workshop on Quaker worship. The discussion was conceived out of a desire to support multiple newcomers in the ways of Quaker worship. Also, we have long desired more outlets to share our spirituality in a more transparent way than tends to occur in silent worship. We perceive that this discussion met a need for our Meeting; we feel that continuing to hold workshops on Quaker worship will be valuable for our collective spiritual journey. We do regret perpetual low attendance at meeting for worship and business, and also loss of children as they have grown older and moved on, though the quality of worship has felt deep and gathered. There has been a growth in our vocal ministry this year, perhaps related to the after-effects of the workshop on Quakerism.

We have not led other adult education on Quaker faith or history, but there is interest in learning and sharing on these topics. In addition to publicizing NEYM and other venues for learning about Quakerism, there may be interest in a Quaker study group locally. We are exploring ways to reorganize the activities of our First Days so as to allow for more structured time for workshops or fellowship, shared study of our history and faith, and worship-centeredness in business and committee meetings.

We feel a greater intimacy among our meeting community. There has been more open sharing of joys and concerns, and allowance of others to hold concerns in prayer. We had a resident friend for a couple of months, who together with her new baby, brought joy to the Meeting. People in Meeting have supported our Young Friends in attending Yearly Meeting activities.

We were challenged to replace the role of Treasurer when our Friend Mark Sullivan moved away. It brought to light the value of historical/institutional memory and also showed us how much work one person may have been doing behind the scenes. The replacement Treasurer has made the job his own, doing the work differently but equally well. This teaches us that out of what seems like a difficult change can come a “new normal” that may have new richness. We wonder if the same will result from the current COVID19 situation and its associated difficulties and changes.

This year, we decided to provide temporary housing to a Meeting attender. There was quite a bit of deliberation and worry about this ahead of time, but we “just did it” and it went fine. These experiences help build faith in taking risks. This experience has brought up the question of whether we could provide shelter for others in need, and what would be involved to do that well.

Outreach beyond the Meeting has been an opportunity to serve the community but also to bring our Meeting members closer together. Some people wish for more opportunities to involve the Meeting community as a whole in shared projects. As a small Meeting, we recognize the need to balance the desire for collective work with not spreading ourselves too thin. We appreciate the idea of the Meeting as a spiritual and communal support for individuals as they engage in individual interests and projects.

We have spoken about the role of connecting to our Quaker faith as a way to guide and ground our actions in the community; we can ask ourselves, when we undertake actions, are these priorities consistent with the historical work and interest of Friends? For example, the interest of many Meeting members in working to benefit immigrants and refugees resonates with work that Quakers have historically done in the Unites States and Europe.

Our focus the past year has been in working against white supremacy and racism. We are joining with others in the community in this work, and it has begun to take on a more collective nature in the Worcester community. We appreciate how issues of race and racism have become more present in our community’s consciousness. The current global situation provides even more opportunities to link with community efforts to support those in need and surely our work and discernment in this area will continue. We also attended to themes of gender and gender identity, educating ourselves via a workshop about identity and language, and examining our practices around gender inclusion.

We closed the discussion with appreciation for our global and local community, and the ability to continue to support one another and deepen our learning and understanding.

4 An open letter to Bruce Neumann, Presiding Clerk, NEYM, from Worcester Friends Meeting on financial support of Friends United Meeting February 23, 2020

Worcester Friends have met on several occasions this year to prayerfully and deeply consider the issue of New England Yearly Meeting’s financial contribution to Friends United Meeting. Eleven years ago, our Meeting chose to engage in NEYM’s option of withholding donations to FUM, as we did not feel comfortable financially supporting an organization with a personnel policy that discriminates against LGBT people and unmarried people in relationship. We continue to feel this same discomfort. Our work to promote social justice in our home community includes initiatives supporting LGBT people, some of whom are asylees fleeing the pervasive and even legislated homophobia in their home countries. We cannot, in good conscience, contribute to a Quaker organization with policies that are harmful to individual human beings based on who they love. NEYM’s withholding policy gave opportunity for Meetings to decline to direct funds to FUM based on differences of principle. With the imminent sundowning of the withholding option, we respectfully request NEYM to consider the following option that transforms withholding to an opportunity for positive social change. We are deeply moved to support anti-homophobia work. Recognizing that FUM’s international work largely takes place in Africa, it feels relevant to create an option to support LGBT people on that continent. We propose, therefore, that NEYM consider reinstatement of a revised form of the withholding option, specifically an option for Meetings to redirect those funds which would be donated to FUM to an alternate organization working for the benefit of LGBT people in Africa. One such organization, which we put forth as a potential recipient of NEYM redirected funds, is Friends Ugandan Safe Transport Fund. FUST, a grassroots project of Olympia (WA) Monthly Meeting, supports people working underground in Africa to provide safe passage of LGBT people out of Uganda, where they would be at risk of harm or death based on their sexual orientation. The work of FUST is supported by donations from individuals as well as more than 30 Friends Meetings from around the globe and other Friends and religious organizations. We recognize that NEYM is led to continue its relationship with FUM for historical, theological, and social reasons. We also recognize that continuing to be part of FUM provides an opportunity for ongoing dialog and growth for all of us. We recognize the deep commitment of FUM to humanitarian work, and know that some in NEYM would like to financially support FUM. Our proposal would allow for parallel donation of monies to FUM or FUST, or both, based on the clearness of each Meeting. The option remains, certainly, for individuals to provide contributions in addition or in parallel to the collective decision of their Meeting. We understand that other Meetings are currently wrestling with the question of financial support to FUM, and collectively ask that NEYM consider this or other options that allow a new way forwards.

From Southeast Quarterly Meeting Minutes on Worcester Friends Meeting proposal on NEYM support for Friends United Meeting (FUM) Matt Shorten shared reflections on the process by which the Worcester Friends Meeting had come to develop the proposal. Lucy Candib shared additional background and information on ways that FUM and its personnel policy fail to support LGBTQ rights. It was reiterated that the Worcester proposal emphasizes the clearness process of each monthly meeting in discerning how it wishes NEYM to direct that portion of its donation normally channeled by NEYM to FUM. The Worcester proposal identifies Friends Ugandan Safe Transport (FUST) as a possible alternative recipient of those funds. Bruce Neumann confirmed that until now NEYM has allowed monthly meetings to withhold from their donation to NEYM that percentage of the donation that is directed in support of FUM. Rebecca Leuchak reported that Providence Monthly Meeting has held a threshing session on the subject and had appointed a small working group in an effort to draft its own proposal. It was suggested that a series of information website links be included in the SEQ meeting minutes (listed below). SEQ approved forwarding the Worcester Monthly Meeting proposal to NEYM. Friends Ugandan Safe Transport Fund - A project of the Olympia, WA Friends Meeting. http://friendsugandansafetransport.org/lgbtq-quakers-in-uganda-and-friends-ugandan-safe-transport-stories-from-solomon-ntanga-and-nasali-sheila/ Western Friend Magazine - Nineteen Children offered refuge by Ugandan Quakers https://westernfriend.org/article/nineteen-children Uganda Raids LGBTQ Homeless Shelter, Arrests and Jails 23 People for Unwarranted COVID-19 Offenses After Considering Charging Them Under Anti-Homosexuality Laws https://www.towleroad.com/2020/04/uganda-lgbtq-coronavirus/

5 Thoughts on FUM, FUST and Quakers

In the world of Quakers there are some deep disagreements. One of those turns on the attitude towards homosexuality and transgender persons. NEYM is supportive of Friends whose sexual relations involve persons of the same sex; Friends United Meeting (FUM) strongly disapproves of homosexuality. This disapproval is manifest in the FUM personnel policy not to hire any homosexuals, transgender persons, or unmarried persons having sexual relations. NEYM makes a yearly contribution to FUM ( about 1 or 2% of the NEYM total budget).

For the last ten years or more, some NEYM meetings and individual members have been troubled by what they saw as a homophobic personnel policy. They have withheld a portion of their contribution to the money they sent to NEYM in order not to support that policy. At last year’s Yearly Meeting Sessions, this withholding policy ended leaving the persons troubled by the FUM personnel policy not knowing what to do.

The Worcester Meeting has suggested that the money previously withheld be sent to the Olympia, WA meeting in support of their Friends Uganda Safe Transport Fund (FUST) project. This effort has so far helped more than 2000 Ugandan gay persons to escape Uganda and to resettle in parts of the world where their life is not in danger.

Why should our Meeting support FUST? So far the issue that troubled members of the New England Yearly Meeting were FUM personnel policies. The reasons for supporting the Friends Uganda Safe Transport effort are much more urgent. In Uganda homophobia is government policy. Previously the legislature passed a law imposing the death penalty on homosexuals. That law was then suspended but recently new legislation, supported by several US Churches, was introduced that would severely punish homosexuality. Homosexuals are regularly murdered in the street, they are lynched with the police standing by and watching. In December 2019 the co-managers of the safe transport effort wrote: "Within the last four months, five members of the LGBTQ community have been murdered." In 2018 16 Quakers came together in the town of Kamuli in Uganda to form a new Friends Meeting, now located in Jinja. It is called the Bulungi Shade Tree Meeting. The meeting is welcoming and affirming of LGBTQ persons. The Yearly Meetings of Quakers in Uganda have completely ignored the new Bulungi Meeting. It had upward of 70 members at one time but “38 of their members have had to flee for their lives, and two have been killed, including the clerk of a new worship group that was being formed. One of the founders was beaten and left for dead – he had been finding safe houses for LGBTQ folks. We managed to transport him to Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.” (from a letter from Uganda)

All of this is terribly troubling. More concerning for New England Quakers worrying about support for FUM is the fact that the Ugandan Quaker Meetings that completely ignore the Bulungi Meeting are in close contact with FUM and are being supported by FUM. It would appear that FUM does not openly confront the murderous homophobia in Uganda. The facts about all this are confusing. Some Friends have close connection with members of FUM. FUM, they say, does wonderful work in Africa and elsewhere and we should therefore support them. But Friends should know that the issue about supporting FUM is not just about FUM's personnel policy but about their apparent failure to speak up loudly against Ugandan homophobia which regularly costs the lives of homosexuals in Uganda, including the lives of fellow Quakers. —Richard Schmitt

6 Spring advances around the Meetinghouse as we await an all clear for a return to worship there.

Photos by Mary Chenaille

Spot (Mary’s dog) says hi to all our Friends.

The virus has forced WFM to cancel plans for our Annual Spring Market Day. Let’s hope that we can come together in the Fall.

The Facing Race reading group will meet virtually through Zoom on Friday, May 1st at 7:30 pm. to discuss The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. Contact Lucy at [email protected] for info.

Zoom Meeting for Worship/ 10:30 am First Day for the Duration

How to: For the Zoom video/audio online conference, you will need to download the Zoom app onto your device. If you don't already have Zoom on your computer, smart phone, or tablet, go to Zoom any time before 10:30 a.m. Sunday, and download Zoom. That will make it much easier to just log in Between 10:30 and 10:50 Sunday morning, where you would go to join the Zoom Meeting at https://zoom.us/j/286075226 If possible, please join the call from a computer or tablet with internet access. Unfortunately, while phoning in is possible—see below--, Zoom phone lines have been very busy lately, and you may not be able to get through.) If you can’t download Zoom ahead of time, between 10:30 and 10:45 If you are joining by computer, please go to your browser and click on the site below where it says “Join Zoom Meeting.” If you haven’t joined a Zoom meeting before, you will be asked to download Zoom into your computer at that point.

If you are joining by phone, follow the instructions below for either one tap mobile or dial by location. (I imagine you may need to download Zoom onto your phone also).

I hope this is all clear and not too redundant. I can be reached by text on my cell phone (508-561-8372) before Sunday at 10:30 am. At that time I will be on the web in the call and trying to help anyone having trouble. There is also a chat function within Zoom where people can ask for help from a specific person, or can send a message to the whole group. If someone has experience helping others do Zoom on a smart phone, I would appreciate your help to assist people connecting by phone, as I have only done it on a computer. Please contact me directly at number above. Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system. Weekly: https://zoom.us/meeting/v5wrd-6trDks1lrw6xqe7IuBc7y17xH2Ew/ics?

8 Worcester Friends Meeting Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 901 Pleasant Street Worcester, MA 01602

Scheduled Meetings Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business———-——————-———-Second Sunday, 9 AM Spiritual Life Committee, Daron Barnard & Mary Bennett——————-——First Sunday, 9:30 AM Practical Committee, Kevin Walsh————————————————————-First Sunday, 9:30 AM Peace/Social Concerns/Lucy Candib & Richard Schmitt—————————-Fourth Sunday, 9:30 AM Clerk of Worcester Friends Meeting————————————————————Matthew Shorten Recording Clerk——————————————————————————————Katharine Barnard Corresponding Clerk——————————————————————————— Mary Chenaille First Day School——————————————————————————————Katharine Barnard, Michelle Flint, Matt Shorten Newsletter—————————————————————————————————Sheila Brenner

Please send general correspondence to [email protected]. Items of note for the next Newsletter may also be sent to [email protected] or dropped off at MeetingHouse.