Testimonies & Concerns: 2011 Annual Report
The Purpose of the T&C committee is to help its members and the members and attendees of the Meeting to intentionally enact the major testimony of Friends' practice of "letting one's life speak" one's spiritual belief. The Committee's work, therefore, relates to Friends' testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community and equality, especially as they pertain to social justice concerns in today's world. The Committee is also charged with distributing $1500 every year to worthy non-profits that support our Quaker testimonies.
Testimonies and Concerns attempts to meet monthly; currently we are meeting the first First Day of each month at 9AM prior to Meeting for Worship and welcome any interested Friend to attend our meetings.
Current Projects:
- Talbot Interfaith Shelter at Third Haven
- Consideration of Wicomico River Friends Meeting minute on "Occupy Movement"
- "Faith in Action" series
Talbot Interfaith Shelter:
TIS, Inc. a faith-based service ministry in Talbot County, MD, dedicated to providing temporary shelter to folk who lack adequate housing during the coldest months of the year. THFM hosted the site two separate times in 2010, during January and March and will be hosting for two weeks in March in 2011.
Consideration of Wicomico River Friends Meeting Minute:
The following minute approved by Wicomico Friends will presented by Testimonies & Concerns to the Meeting for approval at January's Meeting for Business:
Dear Friends,
The following has been sent to other Quakers and local newspaper editors:
Recently Quakers (the Religious Society of Friends) in Salisbury approved the following minute: "Wicomico River Friends Meeting unites with the intentions of the Occupy Movement to bring attention to the inequalities in our society and urge economic justice through nonviolent means."
The Occupy Movement calls attention to the failures of our government. Unceasing electioneering and an ofter corrupting influence of special interests are preventing our officials from doing the jobs we have hired them to do. This has led to ineffective regulations and poor enforcement that allowed a near collapse of our eonomy which we have not fully recovered from.
It seems appropriate to make this statement during the season of Thanks Giving. Despite a poor economy we are very grateful for the freedoms and bounty which we enjoy. Even those among us who have the least have it better than many other places in the world.
That does not mean some of our neighbors here are not suffering. A new shelter for the homeless has just opened in Salisbury. It is a blessing which will ease some of the need but not all of it. We pray for a time when shelters are closing from a lack of people needing them.
Social movements begin when society has reached a breaking point forcing people into the streets with their anger and pain. the Occupy Movement is very young. It will take time for its leadership to evolve and coherent solutions to emerge to compete in the market place of ideas. During this process we will be with them, praying for the success of the underlying goal which unties us: a more just and responsive government that better serves everyone.
We wish for all of our neighbors: peace, prosperity, and a happy Thanks Giving.
Dana Kester-McCabe
Clerk, Wicomico River Friends Meeting
"Faith in Action" series:
"Faith in Action" is a series of quarterly events at Third Haven planned and organized by Testimonies & Concerns. We are currently considering possible events for 2012.
Past Projects:
Discernment of Bequeathment Funds:
UPDATE: The remaining $3,000 has been alloted: $1000 for Aguayuda; $1000 to the African Great Lakes Initiative, Friends Peace Team for the school discussed by our faith in action speaker last year.; and $1000 to the migrant ministry, spent by the migrant committee (Ralph, Leigh Anne, Gwen, Beth Mufson with hopeful addition of Cindy), for needs of the migrant workers on the Eastern Shore.
The following minute was APPROVED at February 2011's Meeting for Business:
The Testimonies and Concerns committee has, over the past several months, come to clearness and proposes the following division of the Shoffner bequest for approval from Meeting for Business.
$11,772.00 toward the creation of the Shoffner International Education Fund. [WEBMISTRESS NOTE: Please visit the SIEF webpage to view more information; the information is cut here for brevity.]
Further, $3,000 of the total would be directed at once toward the Fuller Center for Housing for rebuilding of homes in Haiti.
The remaining $3,000 will be entrusted to the Committee, to be discussed for further clearness at the next Committee meeting. The committee moves forward with the intention of discerning by the April meeting for business the allocation of these remaining funds between the three causes: Greg Mortensen's Central Asia Institute, Aquayuda, or the creation of an outreach program targeted at the local Hispanic population.
ACTION:
Following deliberation and answering questions, Testimonies & Concerns Committee asks for unity and approval of Third Haven Friends Meeting.