News & Upcoming Events
- GATHER WITH FRIENDS THIS SUMMERThe summer offers two wonderful opportunities for Friends to gather with the wider Quaker community.
LEYM Annual Sessions, June 13-16
The annual gathering of Lake Erie Yearly Meeting will take place June 13 to 16 in Ashland, Ohio. The theme of the gathering is Friends Together: Outpourings of the Spirit. Registration opens April 1. Financial support and zoom access are available.
Visit the following link for more information about the LEYM gathering:
https://leym.org/annual/
FGC Gathering, June 30-July 6
Friends General Conference will host their annual Gathering from June 30 to July 6 at Haverford College in PA. The theme of this year’s Gathering is Rooted in Story. FGC wants Friends to attend regardless of financial need. Check out their website for information about work grants and scholarships.
Equitable Access Registration for the Gathering opens on April 2nd for Friends of Color, Friends 35 and under, and those registering with them. Early Registration opens on April 9th and closes on April 23rd. General Registration opens on May 1st. Young Friends must register by May 31.
Click the following link to register for the FGC Gathering:
https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/registration-and-logistics/
Click the following link for a pdf brochure about the FGC Gathering:
https://app.box.com/s/v89nj2ywunumu6p1u8h2fs0v8zt6n8pb
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- What Do Friends Believe?
Join us online Thursday, March 21 7-8:30pm, for another night of Quakerism 101 hosted by Lake Erie Yearly Meeting. Kalamazoo Friends will present “What Do Friends Believe,” exploring how the beliefs of early Friends shaped their practices. We will share experiences of present-day Friends in different branches of Quakerism to show how Quaker beliefs have broadened. We will discuss Quaker testimonies (SPICES) and how we test whether we are putting our beliefs into action. Lastly, attenders will participate in breakout sessions to share their own beliefs.
Later sessions include discussion of the meeting for business, led by LEYM Clerk Susan Loucks of Pittsburgh Meeting on Wednesday, April 17, and an introduction to Quaker service organizations from Red Cedar Meeting on Thursday, May 16.
All sessions are open to anyone—seasoned Friends, newcomers, seekers, young and old. Time for reflection and interaction is included in all sessions.
The Thursday, March 21 session will be from 7-8:30 pm on Zoom.
The Zoom link is the same as always:
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- Broadmead Friends featured in Blade article
The Christmas Eve edition of the Toledo Blade includes an article about Broadmead Friends.
“For Quakers, Christmas is, in a way, just another day of the year. In the same way non-religious people observe secular traditions — putting up a tree, hosting family dinners, and exchanging gifts — the group, which has Christian roots, doesn’t tie religious traditions to the holiday. “Historically, Quakers wouldn’t celebrate holidays much because they believe every day is sacred,” said Sally Weaver Sommer, who serves as clerk, or administrator, of Broadmead Friends, a group of Quakers that meets in Toledo and Bluffton.”
Read the complete article at toledoblade.com/news/religion/2023/12/24/quakers-faith-peacex/stories/20231224001.
- Broadmead Minute on Israel/Palestine
This Minute on the Israel/Palestine situation was approved at a called Meeting for Business on Nov. 19, 2023:
Broadmead Friends (Quakers) call for an end to the ongoing violence and conflict in Israel-Palestine, highlighted by the current situation in Gaza. We demand an immediate ceasefire. We demand world leaders to immediately begin work on a solution that frees the Palestinian people from the military occupation and harassment that inevitably produces violent conflict.
We do not support the U.S. government’s ongoing financial support for weapons of war and military actions of the Israeli defense forces. We call on the U.S. government to immediately use its financial support for humanitarian efforts needed and to bring world leaders together to find a just solution to a problem created in 1948 that has proven unresolvable by military operations. As Quakers we mourn the violence and losses of both communities and support all efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together in peace.
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