Baltimore Yearly Meeting Workshops 2006

Please indicate your choices in the workshop section of the registration form. Our workshop leaders have worked hard to prepare a meaningful experience for the participants and they count on our attendance. If you find that you cannot attend the workshop you registered for, please tell the workshop leader directly or through a Program Committee member (who wear red dots on their nametags).

1. FCNL: Walking Gently on the Earth With its newly renovated “green” building on Capitol Hill, FCNL is making visible its commitment to walk gently on the earth. Through a power point presentation, the workshop will highlight the features of the building that demonstrate how FCNL is able to have a lighter environmental impact and how this relates to its legislative priority to “promote long-term protection of the environment and eliminate a critical cause of violent conflict by reducing oil consumption and accelerating development and use of renewable energy sources.”

Leader: Liz Hofmeister, a member of Bethesda Meeting and the publications manager of FCNL, has, for the last 15 years, served on various FCNL committees, including BYM representative to the FCNL General Committee.

2. What Does Faith Have to Do With It: Urban Sprawl and the Environment Workshop leader will discuss urban sprawl; its problems and impact on the environment with suggestions on how we can stop sprawl and build healthier communities. Workshop participants will look at ways that Quakers can become involved in changing urban development.

Leader: Barbara Williamson works in Marketing and Development for a non-profit organization developing affordable housing for seniors and is currently Clerk of Quaker Earthcare Witness.

3. Exploring and Understanding the Underground Railroad in the Region of Baltimore Yearly Meeting A two day exploration, using contemporary documents, of the role of Quakers from BYM in the anti-slavery movement, their relationships with African-Americans in the days of slavery and their participation in the Underground Railroad. The workshop is also intended to share and encourage further research in local Underground Railroad studies. Continued on Friday. Sign up for both.

Leader: Christopher Densmore is Curator of Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, serves on the boards of the Friends Historical Association, the Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists, and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.

4. Sacred Harp Singing School Shape note singing is an unaccompanied form of choral music dating to colonial times and is currently enjoying a revival. The strong rhythms and open harmonies of this four-part singing are easy to learn. All are welcome (no previous experience is needed) to this three-day workshop. Singing is from The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition; loaner books will be available. Leader, Laura Densmore, a longtime member of the shape note singing community, has shared her musical knowledge and love of shape note singing, its history, and its culture, both here and in Britain.

5. Restorative Dialogue: Non-violent Communication that Works Used in victim-offender mediation, anti-bullying programs in schools, practices of restorative justice and resolving community disputes, restorative dialogue is a “conversation peace” that can be used wherever there is conflict or more than one viewpoint. Come practice and be prepared to use what you learn during the remaining time at BYM. This workshop is limited to 20 people.

Leader: Bette Hoover is an activist, organizer, mediator, and facilitator with many decades of experience. She recently worked with the DC program of the AFSC for 10 years as its director.

6. Gardening with Native Plants: Putting Query 12 into Action What are “native plants”? Learn how York Friends are establishing native plant gardens to solve problems of our downtown city location. Ask questions and get practical information for starting your own native plant garden. We will tour nearby Arboretum to meet some native plants (time and weather permitting).

Leader: Pat Long is a retired public librarian, teacher, and amateur gardener who has worked with other York Friends on their gardens.

7. Sexual and Spiritual Dis-Orientation: Reflections on Homophobia We all have encountered varieties of sexually dis-oriented people, but any lasting change in opinion must be a healing change. There will be stories of pastoral experiences, some scary and some funny, and suggestions of biblical passages for discussion.

Leader: Georgia Fuller has taught scripture among Friends and held National NOW’s portfolio on Women and Religion from 1976-86.

8. Mediation Strategies for Every Day Mediators use various approaches to assist mediation participants to seek harmony, to hear each other, to communicate, to find underlying issues and commonality, and to find solutions. Many of these techniques are useful in daily living - at work, at home, and in Meeting. The workshop will include demonstration, practice, and discussion.

Leader: Ramona Buck has been a mediator and conflict resolution consultant since 1980, and currently works for MACRO, the Maryland state dispute resolution office, and is a member of Patapsco Friends Meeting.

9. The Beginning of the Gospel: Mark’s Story of Jesus Though the Gospel of Mark appears as the second Gospel in the New Testament, it was probably the first of the four written. In this workshop we will look at this book, which calls itself “the beginning of the gospel” (Mark 1:1). What does it say that Jesus was about, and what does it say that his followers should be about. Participants are asked to read the first five chapters of Mark and to bring your Bible to the workshop.

Leader: Michael Newheart is Associate Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Howard University School of Divinity.

10. Parenting Our Children of Color A presentation of developmental needs will form the foundation from which parenting adults will explore, worship share, and discuss nurturing children of color informed by our Quaker faith. We will develop and share helpful techniques and strategies, network, brainstorm, and explore guiding queries to expand our successful parenting.

Leader: Jean-Marie Barch currently serves at the monthly meeting and FGC levels in ministry and council on issues of faith as well as race and racism.

11. Exploring the Art of Prophetic Witness We’ll explore the dynamics of some famous examples of prophetic witness to gain insight into how it works. We’ll then try some exercises and consider how we can develop better witnessing skills, or to put it differently, how we can open ourselves to be spoken through.

Leader: Marshall Massey has engaged in acts of witness on a variety of social and environmental justice issues, and has led witness workshops all over the country since 1995.

12. Friendly Adult Presence Workshop This two-day workshop is for BYM Friends who want to volunteer as a Friendly Adult Presence (FAP) at Young Friend and Junior Young Friend Conferences and for current BYM FAPs. Current FAPs are encouraged to participate to support newer FAPs as they become more familiar with the challenges, nuances, and unique community experiences of BYM Youth Programs. Briefly, our goal is to share our spiritual stories with one another, thereby understanding the gifts of each FAP and the support needed for every volunteer to be a healthy, happy, and well grounded elder in the YF and JYF communities. We will also review the FAP application and explore questions that arise. Part 1 of 2 is Thursday; Part 2 of 2 is Friday. Sign up for both parts.

Leader: Hope Braveheart is the BYM Youth Secretary.

13. What did John Woolman Say About Walking Gently on the Earth? Eighteenth century Quaker John Woolman has become contemporary Friends’ touchstone for simple living. What did Woolman say in his journal about living in harmony with the natural world around him and how do we, or can we, apply Woolman’s principles of simplicity to our lives today? Copies of the text to be discussed will be provided, but participants are encouraged to read the whole of Woolman’s very rich journal in advance of the workshop.

Leader: Liz Hofmeister has offered workshops on different facets of John Woolman’s thinking and philosophy (slavery, pacifism, right relations with others) at Bethesda Meeting and during BYM. She feels Friends have much to learn from Woolman.

14. Sacred Harp Singing School See Thursday’s listing: workshop #4

15. Coaching Workshop: Creating Harmony in Your Life Everyone talks about HARMONY; we say we want HARMONY, yet HARMONY seems to be elusive! Come to this workshop to take a first hand look at your perspective of HARMONY, discover where your life is in/out of HARMONY, and what to do to begin to LIVE A LIFE IN HARMONY. This workshop is limited to 20.

Leader: Joanie Yanusas-Maughmer, drawing on her training from the Coaches Training Institute and her life experience in coaching, assists her clients in successfully redesigning areas in their life that will bring about the most fulfillment, balance, and joy.

16. Conflicts in Meetings: Exploring Ways Forward Using resource materials developed by Britain Yearly Meeting’s Committee on Eldership and Oversight, we shall work together in small groups, sharing current experiences from our meetings in confidence, and consider ways to move forward and give expression to our Annual Session theme, Living in Harmony With One Another and All Creation.

Leader: Laura Nell Obaugh is committed to our global family of Friends and has served in many capacities at home and abroad, including participating in the Conflicts in Meetings workshop at Britain Yearly Meeting’s 2005 Summer Gathering held in York (UK).

17. Native American Visions of Harmony: Yesterday and Today Native American tradition holds that one “gives back to the land” by living in harmony with nature. Leader will provide a view of these past traditions, the sacredness of the land, and how that is interpreted by today’s Native American tribes

Leader: Ada Deer, a Menominee Indian from Wisconsin.

18. After the Guns Have Stopped How do you spread the peace after the guns have stopped? Join us as we introduce you to the courageous peacemakers of the African Great Lakes Region who are helping their countries heal from the trauma of genocide and civil war. Hear their stories of forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing as they show us a path toward a lasting peace.

Leader: Anna Sandidge is the coordinator for Friends Peace Teams and has worked with trauma and reconciliation groups in Burundi, Africa.

19. Welcoming Newcomers to our Meeting How can our meetings become more diverse, open, and welcoming? How do we go about knitting newcomers into the life of the meeting? This workshop will explore the concept of “spiritual hospitality” and look at ways to build meeting community while embracing growth and diversity.

Leader: Deborah Haines is clerk of the FGC Advancement & Outreach Committee and acting clerk of the BYM Advancement & Outreach Committee. She carries a long-standing concern for spiritual renewal among Friends.

20. Confronting Slavery Today: Lessons from the Abolitionists Quakers played a key role in the movement to abolish slavery in Britain and the United States. Today, the “new slavery” of human trafficking and slave-like conditions exists in our own country and around the globe - not based on race, but maintained by poverty, power inequities, and economics.

Leader: Gerri Williams, member and alternate clerk of Friends Meeting of Washington, was the Henry J.. Cadbury fellow at Pendle Hill from 2002-03, researching and writing about contemporary slavery and human trafficking as well as the strategies and actions of the historic abolitionists in the United States and England.

21. Exploring the Art of Prophetic Witness See Thursday’s listing: workshop #11.

22. Following a Spiritual Leading through Embraced Ministry As part of her Friends Peace Teams/BYM “Embraced Ministry”, delivering workshops on alternatives to violence, Linda will show through photo-slides and worship sharing a glimpse of life and culture among Kenyan Friends. She also will discuss her discernment process following her leading to do this work.

Leader: Linda Heacock brings to her Friends Peace Team’s ministry 20 years of education and training experience in the field of violence prevention and conflict resolution with adults, youth, and prison populations.

23. What Does Racism Have to do with Hurricane Katrina? Recovery efforts address the replacement or repair of structures. Re-building restores communities. Or does it? This workshop is intended to provide an opportunity to examine the consequences of past, present, and continuing patterns of racism in Katrina damaged areas of the Gulf Coast. What will be restored, and what will change? Who decides?

Leader: David Robinson is a member of Space Coast Meeting, Southeastern Yearly Meeting, and a Corporation member of AFSC, AFSC/SERO Katrina Response Assessment team member.

24. Understanding Children and Families of Poverty Based on “A Framework for Understanding Poverty,” by Ruby Payne, this session focuses on behavior patterns, hidden rules, and survival skills of families in economic poverty with attention to the resources needed for success in school and the work place and with respect for the skills of all persons.

Leader: Peggy McMaster is a former teacher and school principal and who currently leads workshops on understanding poverty and learning.

25. What Every Meeting Treasurer Needs to Know This two-day workshop will be a nuts and bolts discussion of the responsibilities and necessary skills of a meeting treasurer. Discussion will include, among other issues, the roles of the treasurer and the finance committee in different meetings; and stewardship of meeting assets and financial reporting to fellow meeting members, including the financially challenged. Intended as a two-day workshop for Friday and Saturday but participation is possible on only one day.

Leader: Connie Brookes, Executive Director of Friends Fiduciary Corporation.

26. Exploring and Understanding the Underground Railroad in the Region of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. See Thursday’s listing.

27. Friendly Adult Presence Workshop A continuation of the workshop begun on Thursday. See Thursday’s listing: workshop #12.

28. Are You a Closet Non-Theist? Curious about Non-theism? Do you consider yourself Non-theist, Agnostic, Atheist, Religious Humanist, other? Not sure what you believe? In a safe supportive environment we’ll share our beliefs/non-beliefs and explore how they fit into Quakerism today. Leaders: Dick Bellin, a member of Friends Meeting of Washington, is a long time participant in Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology; Anita Bower is a member of and recording clerk of Nottingham Meeting.

29. Keeping the Records of Friends: Preserving the Past to Inform the Future We will look at the preservation of archival records by local meetings and Friends organizations, including discussion of the practical problems of preservation, what to preserve, confidentiality issues, the research use of Quaker records, and how Quaker records reveal the history of the Religious Society of Friends.

Leader: Christopher Densmore is the Curator of Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, the repository for many of the records of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

30. Exploring the Quaker Shadow Participants will explore the shadow side of their Quaker faith and their relationship to their meeting, using individual and group work. Those interested in preparing for the workshop may read either “Meeting the Shadow,” edited by Connie Zweig and Geremiah Abrams, or “God the Trickster,” edited by Ben Pink Dandelion. This workshop is limited to 12 people.

Leader: Diane Younkins is a member of Frederick Meeting, a graduate of PYM’s School of the Spirit, and graduate of Loyola College’s Master of Science program in Pastoral Counseling.

31. Dealing with the Media: Staying Centered in a Time of Instant Soundbites In normal Quaker process, we value discernment and expectant seeking, which takes however long it takes. Sometimes, however, the outside world intrudes and it wants answers NOW. The workshop leaders will discuss how their meetings dealt with the media attention around the Iraqi kidnapping of Tom Fox, and lead an open discussion of the trials and opportunities of being in the public eye. Leaders: Doug Smith is clerk of Langley Hill Meeting. Anne Bacon is the former Clerk of Hopewell Centre Meeting.

32. Sacred Harp Singing School See Thursday’s listing: workshop #4.

33. Raising Non-Racist Children How do we raise our children, at home and in First Day School, to live in harmony with people of racial and ethnic backgrounds different from their own? This workshop will offer ideas, suggest materials, and allow sharing of experiences.

Leader: Pat Schenck is the clerk of the BYM Working Group on Racism Among Friends.

34. Costly Witness: When Peace is a Matter of Life or Death This year Quaker peace witness became life threatening for at least one BYM Friend. Let’s gather and reflect on that experience: What can we say about this to each other, to our young Friends, and to others?

Leader: Chuck Fager is director of Quaker House in Fayetteville NC.

35. Working for Peace with Justice in Palestine/ Israel: Quaker and other Non-Violent Initiatives. This workshop will describe the work of Quakers in the region and in the US to bring peace with justice for Palestine and Israel. A video will be shown describing how Friends in the US worked with Friends in Ramallah to establish the Friends International Center in Ramallah, followed by discussion and input from an AFSC staff person.

Leader: John Salzberg is a member of the Steering Committee, Friends International Center in Ramallah.

36. The Peace Testimony: Letting Our Lives Speak Participants will discuss myriad options for bringing the peace testimony into our daily living experiences and practices.

Leader: Bronna Zlochiver is an artistic, creative mom and cat lover, a convinced Quaker with Jewish memories, a maker of functional stoneware pottery, and a lifelong pacifist and social activist.

37. Sacred Harp Singing School See Thursday’s listing: workshop #4.

38. Peak Oil: Personal Solutions As world oil production begins to decline, we will face changes in our lives. This workshop will focus on what we as individuals can do for ourselves, our families, and our communities, as opposed to governmental and corporate solutions. Be ready to share your ideas with the group.

Leader: Mark Brabson is a life long member of Eastland Meeting who still lives on the family farm where he has yet to grow up!

39. Embracing Nature Through Literature and Personal Writing After examining selections of Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman, St. Francis of Assisi, and some contemporary authors who found spiritual solace in nature, participants will relate to nature through personal writing exercises designed to inspire them to identify with nature and live more harmoniously with other creatures in the natural world.

Leader: Caroline Pelton taught in Africa and DC public schools and currently teaches high school English in Loudoun County Public Schools.

40. If Grace is True, Why God Will Save Every Person Discussion of Philip Gulley & James Mulholland’s controversial book that examines universal salvation, the importance of the Bible, and God’s nature and sense of justice. The group will discuss the phase “I believe God will save everyone.”

Leader: H. Jean James is a lifelong activist who feels called to focus on healing the wounded spirit.

41. Clerking Towards Harmony Is harmony a useful sign of discerning God’s will? Can it be a distraction? What elements of structure and training can encourage participation, listening, and openheartedness? Bring experience and inexperience to our conversation as we look towards deepening our meeting’s capacity to work through dissonance towards true harmony. This workshop is limited to 15 people.

Leader: Peggy Dyson-Cobb, a member of Maury River Meeting, propagates native plants on six acres in Lexington, VA, and looks to convey the joys of Quaker committee work and business process.

42. Exploring the Art of Witness See Thursday’s listing: workshop #11.

43. What Every Meeting Treasurer Needs to Know See Friday’s listing: workshop #25.