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needed to facilitate a termination of hostilities and
the establishment of peace between Israel and Pales-
tine.
Beyond the political responses that we as indi-
viduals may choose to make, as Quakers we will
continue to hold all of the people in the area in the
light. We will find ways to support the Quaker
Meeting and School in Ramallah and all individuals
and groups who are seeking peaceful solutions. We
will actively support efforts such as the peace tax
fund, which would allow us to live more fully the
Quaker Peace Testimony. We will talk with our
Jewish, Islamic, and Christian friends, relatives and
neighbors about this crisis and about our belief that
there is a peaceful solution, which although difficult
to achieve, will be better than violence. We will
search for “ways that open” which will help lead the
world to a time of peace.
N e w s l e t t e r Asheville Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
A Minute on Palestine The following Minute was approved by Celo Monthly Meeting at their 5th month Meeting for Business
The Middle East is being dragged to the brink of
an unnecessary war by the acts of extremists on all
sides. As Friends, we grieve the bloodshed and suffer-
ing. We fear the legacy of violence which seems like-
ly to result. We pray for the strength to resist taking
sides in this conflict, and to remain focused on being
peacemakers. We understand that neither we, nor our
government, nor, indeed, the leaders in this conflict,
are able to see this situation as clearly as we would
wish, or to control it completely, and we hope for pa-
tience and compassion on every side until resolution
becomes possible. We reject terrorism in all its forms.
We call upon our government to use all its influence to
seek the immediate implementation of the Mitchell
Report and in particular:
* An immediate end to all violence and assassina-
tions,
* An immediate cessation of all settlement activi-
ty,
* A return to permanent status negotiations based
on UN Security Council resolutions and build-
ing on the progress achieved in previous negoti-
ation rounds.
In response to international agreements and to
President Hosni Mubarak’s initiative concerning the
increasing threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction, we
urge that the negotiations should be completed by the
signing of a treaty creating a Middle Eastern and Med-
iterranean Zone Free of all Weapons of Mass Destruc-
tion, including nuclear, chemical, and biological weap-
ons.
Even in the current climate of mistrust and mutual
hostility, we believe that the above goals can be
reached in the near future, ending the occupation and
the conflict, and realizing the solution of two states
living side by side based on the June 4th, 1967 bor-
ders, with mutually agreed upon land swaps.
We believe that the initiative from Saudi Arabia
represents one of the most promising potential solu-
tions that has been offered to this intractable conflict.
We will work to mobilize additional support for this
bold and imaginative plan offered by the Crown
Prince.
We call upon our government at whatever level is
Summer Youth Internship David Clements
The Peace and Earth Committee will be spon-
soring the third Summer Youth Internship pro-
gram this July. Candidates will be age 14 (or pos-
sibly 13) through high school senior. Interns will
work at Western North Carolina AIDS Project on
three Wednesdays in July (the 10th, 17th, and
24th) and at Manna Food Bank on three Saturdays
(the 13th, 20th, and 27th). The work day will be
9:00 to 3:30. A stipend of $200 will be provided
to each intern.
First priority will be given to those who can
commit to the full six days, but we will consider
applications from those who can work fewer days.
We will try to arrange transportation for those
who need it, and are looking for adults to work
along with the interns.
Applications will be available in the Meeting
House, or call David Clements or Margaret
Normile for further information.
Meeting House Phone
(828) 258-0974
Co-Clerks of the Meeting
Hal & Valerie Hogstrom
Recording Clerk
Talmadge Neece
Treasurer
David Clements
Newsletter Committee
Steve Livingston (ed.), Martha Huggins,
Talmadge Neece, Elizabeth Roebling,
Frosty Sinclair
The Asheville Friends Meeting News-
letter is published monthly. Friends are
welcome to contribute letters, book re-
views, announcements, articles, and quo-
tations. Please submit copy on 3.5” IBM
disk or email to [email protected].
Calendar entries may be sumitted directly
to Martha Huggins or emailed to mhug-
[email protected]. Hard copy is
acceptable. Deadline is third First Day.
The Asheville Friends Meeting is lo-
cated at 227 Edgewood Road, between
Merrimon Avenue and the University of
North Carolina campus. Friends meet for
singing at 9:40 and for worship at 10:00 a.
m. every First Day. First Day School begins
at 10:00. Friends meet to conduct busi-
ness on the second First Day at 11:30 a.m.
On other First Days, the hour following
meeting for worship is used for adult edu-
cation or for fellowship.
page 2
What Is in Our Hearts? submitted by Ursula Scott and Margaret Farmer
Friends met on May 19 for a forum on looking at Asheville Friends
Meeting’s next steps in a response to the events following September
11. The forum opened with worship -sharing around the query: “What is
in your hearts in the aftermath of September 11?” Our summary of re-
sponses includes:
● Confusion: was the military action in response a mistake?
What are the goals of the U.S.?
● Fear
● Pessimism
● Longing for peace
● Disappointment that so few alternatives to war were explored
● Inner turmoil
● Can’t get over the attitude of combating evil with more evil
● We missed opportunities for teaching about justice, human
rights
● Outrage at “enforced ignorance”
● Why didn’t we support UN programs such as ICC?
● The responsibility is also on the Islamic world
● Grief
● Anger and guilt
● How do we take our fear, confusion, and love out into the
world?
After the worship-sharing, Friends moved into a discussion. Friends
brought forth actions which we as individuals or as a meeting might
take. Here follows a list of those actions:
● Publish your point-of-view (editorials, letters to government
officials)
● Support literacy programs for women in Third World coun-
tries, as a way to increase the economic independence of
women
● Education within our Meeting on:
○ The Patriots Act
○ Middle Eastern and Afghani cultures
○ Educating youth about militarism
○ Relationship between poverty and terrorism
○ Discussion of human rights: Is it our business how other
cultures treat women?
● Establish pen-pals with muslims (for adults and children)
● Supporting peace work:
○ Education about specific peace groups
○ Encouraging financial and other support of these groups
○ Assisting interested Friends in getting training
○ Support of Friends already active
● Go outside of your boxes: develop relationships with people
different from you
● Initiate a Listening Project in Asheville
● Skill training and ongoing support for Friends moved to dis-
cuss peace issues with people in
the community
● Impacting legislative officials and
direct action: lobbying, vigiling,
petitioning, demonstrations These are the suggestions which
came from Friends who participated in
this forum. These Friends wanted this
report sent to both Meeting for Busi-
ness and to the Peace and Earth Com-
mittee.
Is there anything in this report
which might engage the interest and
energy of the Meeting?
What would it take for interested
Friends to move into action on some of
these suggestions?
Minutes
of the Monthly Meeting for Business
Fifth Month, Twelfth Day 2002
Acting Clerk: Marcia Master
page 3
Contributions
Contributions to the Asheville Friends Meeting
are welcomed. Gifts may be placed in the small wood-
en box marked “contributions” which is located in the
entry way, or mailed to
Asheville Friends Meeting
227 Edgewood Road
Asheville, NC 28804
1. The Meeting for Worship for the conduct of
business convened at 12:03 p.m.
2.a. Interim clerk Marcia Master read a selection
from the SAYMA Guide to Faith and Practice 1990,
Queries on Nurture, Education, and the Growth of
the Individual, p. 41:
1. Does the meeting provide for the continu-
ing religious education of its members and
attenders, both older and younger
Friends?
2. Do you live in a growing love and under-
standing with your children and with all
young people under your care? Are you
an example to them in applying Friends
principles to your life? Do you seek out
their insights and concerns?
3. Do you offer your young people opportu-
nities for fellowship and service? Do you
help them to assume their rightful respon-
sibilities in the home, the meeting, and
the community?
4. Are you involved in the schools of the
community and concerned about estab-
lishing practices in them consistent with
the values we cherish as Friends?
5. Do you make use of the Bible, the writings
of Friends, and other inspirational litera-
ture, being open to new Light from wher-
ever it may come? Do you seek to under-
stand and appreciate those of other
faiths?
6. Do you find time for meditation, prayer,
and worship? Do you seek spiritual guid-
ance in making decisions in times of
stress?
c. The Meeting settled into a period of silent wor-
ship.
3. There were seventeen in attendance including:
Peter Buck, David Clements, Agnita Dupree, Alfred
Dupree, Margaret Farmer, Steve Livingston, Pat Lyon,
Joan MacKenzie, Barry Master, Marcia Master, Rusty
Maynard, Art McVickar, Jinny McVickar, Ernie Miller,
Evan Richardson, Eda Smith, and Gerald Smith.
4. Minutes for fourth month were approved as
printed.
5.a. Asheville Friends Meeting Treasurer’s Report
was given by David Clements.
b. 1. “We have received in contributions about
$7,500 to date, compared with about $13,600 expected
by this point in the year. Total receipts, including
about $2,000 in rent, have been about $9,600.
2. “Expenses so far for 2002 have been about
$12,000. This includes about $6,700 in insurance costs,
about $3,000 of which should be refunded to us since
we have changed insurance companies.
3. “Our new insurance company as of May 1 is
Church Mutual. We will now have medical coverage for
all volunteers. We will have supplemental automobile
insurance coverage for any Meeting -sponsored trips,
and so will not need to purchase additional coverage
from rental companies.
4. “We have received notice of a bequest from
the Estate of Lucille Carlson. I ask permission to pool
that money, when we receive it, with contributions re-
ceived in her memory last year. We currently have
$260 in the Lucille Carlson Fund. I see in the minutes
that Robin Wells was asked in Seventh Month 2001 to
investigate using the money to publish Lucille's list of
Peace-oriented children’s books. I can find no further
discussion noted in the Meeting minutes, but I believe
we later decided to ask Robin to purchase books for the
children's library from Lucille's list. Shall we minute
this decision?
BUSINESS MEETING
[paragraph 5.c. continued]
page 4
case basis. Letters will be sent out to young Friends
in March of each year encouraging them to apply for
grants from the fund for appropriate purposes
(‘educational expenses, travel, or special projects of
an educational nature’) The deadline for response
will be May 15. Evan Richardson will be the contact
person.”
c. Friends approved changing the name of
the Educational Grant Fund to the Young Friends
Support Fund.
d. “Ministry and Oversight supports the idea
of several Meeting members who are exploring the
possibility of an additional hour of worship on First
Day beginning at 9 a.m. Sue Stigelman will provide
more details at a later date.”
e. The Meeting approved holding an addi-
tional hour of worship on First Day at 9 a.m.
f. “Members will have noticed a new seating
arrangement in the meeting room created by several
members in the interest of better visibility and audi-
bility as well as a more cohesive communal feeling.
We would like to experiment with this arrangement
for a few weeks, to get feedback and make adjust-
ments and discuss it at the June business meeting.”
8.a. Agnita Dupree reported for the Peace and
Earth Committee. The committee is working on a
specific budget for the allocation of $3,000 ap-
proved for outreach.
b. The committee has approved spending
$100 to support the Peace Walk (which has already
occurred).
c. Friends approved writing a check in the
amount of $100 to support the Peace Walk.
d. The Peace and Earth Committee would like
to extend thanks to all who supported the weekend
retreat with Chuck Fager. The committee approved
a donation of $100 to Quaker House, and $200 to
Chuck to cover his expenses.
e. The Meeting approved giving Chuck
Fager an additional $200 honorarium from the
Mid-Week Meeting for Worship Margaret Farmer
Friends are reminded that the Meeting House is open on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. for silent worship. Community rather than punctuality is emphasized; Friends are invited to arrive and leave as the Spirit moves.
5. “Respectfully Submitted, David Clements,
Treasurer”
c. The Meeting approved that Robin Wells use
$260 from Lucille Carlson Fund to purchase peace -
oriented children’s books listed in the bibliography
published by Lucille Carlson.
Committee Reports
6.a. Finance Committee Report for Business
Meeting, 5/12/02, was given by David Clements.
b. “We recommend that Meeting accept Susan
Williams’ offer to take on most of the duties of Treas-
urer as soon as practicable. Last month Meeting ap-
proved her nomination as Treasurer beginning in July
2002.
c. “Last month we proposed guidelines for ear-
marked contributions and special funds, attached be-
low [see p. 4 of last month’s newsletter – ed]. It has
been printed with the minutes and decision deferred
to this month. I have received no comments regarding
the proposal. I propose an additional Paragraph be-
tween Paragraphs 3 and 4, not considered by the Fi-
nance Committee: ‘The Junior Business Meeting is not
restricted from deciding upon fund-raising goals and
carrying them out as it sees fit, including soliciting
money at Meeting, so long as they meet the general
guidelines in Paragraph 1 regarding the recipient of
the money.’
d. “Respectfully Submitted, David Clements, for
the Finance Committee”
e. Friends approved Susan Williams taking
on the responsibilities of Treasurer immediately,
with support of David Clements until her term of
office begins in July, 2002.
f. Friends approved the Policy on Ear-
marked Contributions as printed in last month’s
Newsletter.
7.a. The Ministry and Oversight Committee report
was given by Peter Buck.
b. “After consideration of suggestions made in
First Month Meeting for Business, Ministry and Over-
sight suggests that the name of the proposed Educa-
tional Grant be changed to the Young Friends Support
Fund. The fund will be open to all young Friends be-
ginning with high school seniors through age 24. Ex-
ceptions to this definition can be made on a case by
page 5
BUSINESS MEETING
[paragraph 9.b. continued]
Spiritual Enrichment Fund.
9.a. Joan MacKenzie presented a report from the
Residential Retreat Planning Committee.
b. The proposed residential retreat is sched-
uled for the spring of 2003. To date this committee
includes Sue Stigelman, Robin Wells, Joan MacKenzie;
more committee members are needed. Jan Hoffman
has been asked by the Spiritual Enrichment Com-
mittee to lead the retreat.
c. Bon Clarken in Flat Rock is available as a
location the first weekend in May. The cost of this
site has increased $1500-2000 since our last retreat.
We have this weekend reserved; if another group
requests use of the facility for the same weekend, we
will be asked to make a deposit. The main building,
which houses 74, costs $2400 for 2 nights. We are
considering separate housing for youth (about $500
per night). We are awaiting more specific pricing
information.
Young Friends Support Fund Evan Richardson
Asheville Friends Meeting has some money
available for grants to high school seniors and
college-age Friends (age 17 to 24, whether in
college or not). You can apply for money to use
for your studies, for travel, for books, or for oth-
er reasonable educational needs. The total
amount available (about $500 this year) will be
divided evenly among all applicants whose pro-
posals meet the general guidelines (except that
those who request a smaller amount than their
“share” will receive the entire amount request-
ed).
Those who wish to apply should state the
amount requested, one line about the proposed
use of the money, and their contact information
and date of birth. Applications should be sent to
Evan Richardson of Ministry and Oversight ei-
ther at the Meeting House or by email to
Applications must be received or post-
marked by June 15th. The Scholarship Commit-
tee of Ministry and Oversight will review the
applications and make final decisions about
d. A possible alternative site is Christmount in
Black Mountain, which had only the second weekend
open in April. This is a less expensive facility with a
wide range of accommodations available. Robin Wells
would find it extremely difficult to plan a youth pro-
gram at this date: she has a commitment at Pendle Hill
on the previous weekend. This means that others may
need to take on the planning of the program for our
young people if we are to use this site on this date.
Specific pricing information is not yet available.
e. There were about 60 Friends in attendance at
our last residential retreat. The Meeting raised about
$2100 to help defray costs; the Meeting made an effort
to have abundant scholarships available. The approxi-
mate total cost was $5000.
f. Friends were not ready to make a definite
decision about date and location without further infor-
mation. Questions the Meeting would like this com-
mittee to respond further to include:
1. What is the timeline for making a deposit?
2. What will the average cost per person be?
3. Is this amount within a range we feel is
appropriate?
g. Meeting was asked to make a decision about
paying a $250 deposit to Bon Clarken if it becomes nec-
essary (in order to hold our reservation at that facility
should another group request the same weekend).
h. Friends approved holding a called meeting
to make this decision should the immediate need
arise.
Individual Concerns
10.a. Friends mentioned the following concerns:
b. At a recent weekend retreat Chuck Fager
Listen to the sound of water.
Listen to the water running through chasms
and rocks.
It is the minor streams that make a loud
noise;
the great waters flow silently.
The hollow resounds and the full is still.
Foolishness is like a half-filled pot;
the wise one is a lake full of water.
Sutta Nipata
page 6
Toward a Deeper Ecology submitted by Margaret Normile for the Peace and Earth Committee
Greetings from the Deeper Ecology Group of mem-
bers of the Strawberry Creek Meeting community. Our
group has been working together since early 1998 to
better understand how to live in harmony with the natu-
ral world. We hope that some of our findings will be
useful to you.
Historic Friends’ testimonies speak to us as we
seek to live in unity with nature. We have prepared a
statement and discussion questions about how our his-
toric witness could be applied to our concern for the
Earth. We have also written advices and queries on
harmony with creation, which could be used by Month-
ly Meetings or other groups who are led to examine
how their lives reflect responsibility to one another, to
the greater community of life, and to future generations.
Pacific Yearly Meeting is currently reviewing the
draft of a new book of Faith and Practice. Strawberry
Creek Monthly Meeting for Business on January 7,
2001 approved a minute recommending that the Revi-
sion Committee seriously consider incorporating this
statement and the advices and queries in the new edi-
tion.
We hope that you will be led as we have been into
a process of discernment that may transform our under-
standing, our hearts, and our lives. From the process of
reviewing Friends’ practice and writings from the seven-
teenth century onward, reading and discussing current
research and thinking about the environment, and examin-
ing our own personal and corporate responses to our situa-
tion, we have become motivated to become more active
on this issue. In addition, our discussions have led to a
deeper appreciation of the spiritual dimensions of this
concern.
Today Friends face, as Friends have done in other
times, a crisis of haste, greed, ignorance, and a temptation
to despair. Yet we remember John Woolman’s trust that
“they who walk in the pure Light... are prepared to taste
and relish not only those blessings which are spiritual, but
also feel a sweetness and satisfaction in the right use of
the good gifts in the visible creation.”
We would be glad to receive your comments on this
work, sent either to the above address or by e-mail, to
Wishing you blessings, sweetness and satisfaction.
Strawberry Creek Monthly Meeting
At different times, Friends have felt strongly
moved to apply a historic testimony to a particular
issue of their own day. Elizabeth Fry’s work for pris-
on reform and John Woolman’s outspoken concern for
the abolition of slavery are familiar examples from an
earlier time. One of the pressing concerns of our day
is the degradation and destruction of the environmental
fabric that supports all forms of life. Many Friends
today are challenged to apply the full range of historic
testimonies to the way we live on our finite Earth.
A common thread running through all Friends’
Testimonies is the fundamental importance of living
according to principles of right relationship. Friends’
witness has usually focused on right relationship with
God, with self, and with other human beings as reflect-
ed in the enduring testimonies of Integrity, Unity,
Quality, Simplicity, Peace and Community. Several
early Quakers wrote of their mystical understanding of
our unity within a vast and intricate web of life. If we
choose to extend our circle of right relationship to in-
clude all of creation, then we must listen deeply to
Spirit for guidance: What is the proper place of hu-
mans within this greater whole? How do we live our
lives in harmony with the way life flourishes and sus-
tains itself on Earth?
Applying Friends Witness to Concern for the Earth
Our responses to these questions will affect our
human future as well as the future of the living
world of which we are a part. Modern science has
blessed us with insights about the fundamental pat-
terns of organization and interaction which govern
life on Earth. Our task is to turn toward the Light
for guidance about the meaning of these patterns for
human beings, and to discern together the values and
behaviors that will lead us to be in harmony with
them. We may be led to transform our understand-
ing, our hearts, and our lives.
A time may come when our concern for the en-
vironment becomes an integral part of our recogni-
tion of who we are called to be as Friends. At pre-
sent, however, we need to increase our awareness of
these special aspects of living our testimonies. As
we reflect on how the historic Quaker testimonies
can shape our daily lives, consider how the follow-
ing questions are relevant to our use of food, trans-
portation, housing, and entertainment. As well as
applying them in our personal and family lives and
in the life of our Meeting, let us ask how they apply
in our personal and corporate witness for social jus-
tice and peace.
. . . continued next page
page 7
☼ When do I take time to deepen my
appreciation at being a member of the won-
drous cornmunity of life on earth? How do
I give thanks for the beauty of creation and
the gift of life?
☼ Do my actions reflect concern for the
environment?
☼ Do I give voice to my concerns? Is my
speech on these subjects honest, unpreten-
tious, and open to mutual learning?
☼ Do we work together to educate our-
selves about the care of the creation, in
order to make responsible choices?
☼ Do we work to improve sharing of
resources with everyone?
☼ In what ways may I express gratitude
for the wondrous expressions of life here
on Earth?
☼ Is consideration of the environment
built into the choices I make about what I
do, what I buy, and how I spend my time?
☼ In our witness for environmental is-
sues, are we careful to consider justice and
the well-being of the world’s poorest peo-
ple?
☼ In managing the activities and busi-
ness of our Meeting, do we weigh theenvi-
ronmental consequences of our plans and
decisions?
☼ What actions do we take at home, in
our Meeting, our communities, and the
broader world to pass sustainable ways of
living to our children and grandchildren?
Recognizing that our patterns as consumers in
the industrialized world are a major factor in the
declining health of the Earth's life support systems,
☼ Am I careful to avoid spending and
investing money in ways that result in oth-
ers doing things to the Earth that I would
not do myself?
☼ By sharing things we spread the
world’s resources. Do I enjoy things with-
out owning them and do I give things away
for others to use?
☼ Do I resist advertising and the broad-
er forces of our culture that encourage un-
necessary consumption?
☼ Am I willing to know and pay the full
and fair cost of the goods and services I
use, including the future ecological and
social costs?
Advices and Queries in Harmony with Creation
As the mind was moved by an inward prin-
ciple to love God as an invisible, incom-
prehensible Being, by the same principle
it was moved to love him in all his mani-
festations in the visible world. That as by
his breath the flame of life was kindled in
all animal and sensible creatures, to say
we love God as unseen and at the same
time to exercise cruelty toward the least
creature moving by his life or by life de-
rived from him was a contradiction in it-
self. John Woolman Journal
(Grummere edition), pp 156-157
Only when we see that we are part of
the totality of the planet, not a supe-
rior part with special privileges, can
we work effectively to bring about an
earth restored to wholeness. Elizabeth Watson
“Your God is Too Small,” 1996
We ... are a part, a dependent part, of a
living whole. There can be no true health
(or “wholeness” — the two words mean
the same) in human society unless, at the
same time, we look to the health of the
whole earth-family of living creatures. Marjorie Sykes, 1970
... some Thing that moves among the stars,
And holds the cosmos in a web of law,
Moves too in me; a hunger, a quick thaw
Of soul that liquefies the ancient bars,
As I, a member of creation, sing
The burning oneness binding everything. Kenneth Boulding, 1945
To read a list of quotations gathered from
Friends over three centuries, please send your re-
quest plus e-mail address to
Asheville Friends Meeting 227 Edgewood Road Asheville, NC 28804
Calendar
Meetings for Worship Asheville Monthly Meeting: each First Day at 10 a.m., preceded by singing at 9:45. 225 Edgewood Road, Asheville (258-0974). Midweek Meeting each Fourth Day at 5:30 p.m. Boone Monthly Meeting: each First Day at 10 a.m., at the home of John and Judy Geary, 175 Edgewood Drive. Brevard Monthly Meeting: each First Day at 11 a.m. at the Sharing House, corner of Oakdale and Duckworth. Celo Monthly Meeting: each First Day at 10:45 a.m., 445 Hannah Branch Road. Clemson Worship Group: each First Day at 9 a.m., Clemson Unitarian Church. New Moon Worship Group: meets at the Bar-nardsville United Methodist Church 5/19 at 5 p.m. Call for details 626-2572. Swannanoa Valley Monthly Meeting: each
First Day at 9:30 a.m., Black Mountain Arts Center.
Other Meeting Activities Spiritual Formation Group: An introduction for interested Friends and an opportunity to sign up for the next ses-sion , beginning 9th month of this year. Presented by David Clements. Asheville Meetinghouse, noon on 6/16.
Mark Your Calendar SAYMA Annual Gathering: Warren Wilson College, Swan-nanoa, NC, 6/20 – 6/23. SAYMA’s theme is “Turning, We Come Round Right”. FGC Annual Gathering: Illinois State University, Normal, Il, 6/29 – 7/6. This year’s theme is “To Be Gathered Still”.
Note These Opportunities 2003 Spring Retreat: Joan MacKenzie would like to know if 5/1/2003 is a good date. Please check your calendars and let her know! Hospitality needed: Any Friends who can offer accommo-dations for SAYMA attenders please contact Peter Buck.
address correction requested
One who is pretending to sleep cannot be awakened. Chinese proverb
