Testimonies and Concerns 2018 Annual Report:

2018 PYM Faith & Practice encourages meetings to set aside a committee for attention to

"Witness in the World” as a social concerns committee that helps member address a variety of issues that reflect Quaker values of peace, social witness, racial justice or environmental stewardship in their community, state, nation and world."

Recommendations include the following: plan and carry out service projects; recommend actions to individuals; encourage work for social change through established Quaker organizations; support a member to bring a concern to monthly, quarterly or yearly meeting; contribute services of financial support for individuals to work as "released friends"; initiate consciousness raising and skill building activities that reflect our testimonies.

Our work with Testimonies & Concerns reflects this focus both from our committee members and from those meeting members who work outside the committee. We feel closely aligned by the work of the TIS and the Neighborhood Service Center; the Outreach Committee and the First Day School to encourage social connection activities.

The T&C budget is $1,200 which includes allocations for the on going work of activities that are not directed by T&C but are of interest including: Marilla's Lunches and the Talbot County Detention Center Library. T&C provides oversight of the Schoffner International Education Fund, reporting a current Market Value of $18,124.81 as of September 30,2018. This year the T&C Committee will also provide recommendations for THFM Charitable Giving campaign which includes a budget of $3,500. Additionally T&C Committee focused on building a survey early in the year to identify areas of social interest of the THFM members so that we might assist and coordinate projects of interest to a wider group. The survey project was not embraced and we determined that we are a meeting that enjoys independent work. T&C was successful in obtaining Monthly Meeting's commitment for a letter to the Commission on Military, National and Public Service to lay down continuation of Selective Service registration. T&C drafted that letter under the clerks signature which was submitted during a period for public comment ending September 2018. We have no further status to report on the status of their decision at this time. T&C responded to a request from an inmate the Eastern Shore Correction Facility for hosting Quaker Meetings at the facility. We introduced the request to Southern Quarter and will continue to coordinate as the need grows.

We are currently participating with a local Task Force for Humane Treatment of Immigrants organized by Temple B'Nai Israel and the Unitarians to support the work of the Multicultural Center. The Task Force mission: Take action against separation of immigrant children from parents and other dehumanizing treatment of immigrants. The work includes 10 objectives to assist the local immigrant community. We have identified the possibility of offering a 3 to 4 hour "Cultural Awareness" training program, developed and offered by Matt Peters, and are coordinating the organization of the event to be open to our community. Harvey Zendt is a member of the Board of the Multicultural Center and is himself involved with tutoring immigrant children in our Talbot County school system where the need is very large. Connie Lewis will be attending a training session today at Temple from 2 to 4 in order to offer services to immigrants who are incarcerated.

Committee Members include: Bob Day, Ryan Ewing, Sandra Herbert, Been Mufson, Bob Wack, Ralph Young, Harvey Zendt, and Paige Tilghman, as Clerk.

We meet on the first First Day of the month at 9 a.m..

Third Haven Friends Monthly Meeting is a member of Southern Quarterly Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends General Conference of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

Meetings for Worship: Sundays 10:00AM, Wednesdays 5:30PM

Childrens' program: 1st and 3rd Sundays 10:00AM

Meetings for Worship with Attention to Business: 2nd Sunday of the Month following Meeting for Worship (except for the months of July and August)

Contact: 405 S. Washington St., Easton, MD 21601; (410) 822-0293; 3rdhaven@gmail.com; Find Us on Facebook

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