[YAF-announce] Q Peacebuilder Camp

[Sadie Forsythe]

Dear YAFS (and John!)
After some time of hot pursuit, I finally got to speak with Fedelma  
by phone today.  She will not be leaving for Colombia until next  
November (yes - next year - she has only learned this in the last few  
days!)  Surely this comes as a disappointment for her, please extend  
your prayers in this time of transition as she tries to figure out  
what comes next.  This gives us more time to learn how we can  
actively support her in this ministry as a community.  I hope John,  
that you will see if she might like to continue to serve on this  
Advisory Committee given this very recent development.  I hope other  
YAFs will feel called to serve in this way as well.  I hope that  
Fedelma too may be available to be with us at Mid Winter to share  
about her unfolding leading, and her most recent biking - speaking  
tour from Boston to DC.
ever seeking,
-Sadie




On Nov 15, 2006, at 11:23 PM, Holly Baldwin wrote:

>
> From: jhumphries at igc.org <jhumphries at igc.org>
> Date: Nov 15, 2006 6:11 PM
> Subject: for YAF list
> To: baldwin.holly at gmail.com
>
> Dear YAFs,
>
> For the last couple of months, Fedelma McKenna has served as a YAF  
> member of the Advisory Committee for the Quaker Peacebuilder Camp.   
> As most of you know, she's soon going to Colombia to do  
> accompaniment work with a Fellowship of Reconciliation project.  We  
> are in the process of developing new programs, and having YAF input  
> is critical.  I am planning to come for part of the YAF Midwinter  
> to talk with you about our work, but in the meantime, I'm looking  
> for someone willing to participate in planning for a February  
> retreat/workshop for teens and adults, as well as a year-round  
> program of study and action that will begin next fall.  Our primary  
> goal is to help Friends develop the skills and spiritual grounding  
> for faithful and effective public witness that moves beyond the  
> weekly peace vigil.
>
> I'm including some more details below, but if you're interested,  
> please contact me: jhumphries at igc.org; 860/236-5175.
>
> Peace and Resistance,
>
> John Humphries
> Hartford Monthly Meeting
>
> Summary
>
> The Quaker Peacebuilder Camp, which grew out of an interest group  
> discussion at the Young Friends Midwinter retreat in January 2003,  
> is an educational program of The Meeting School.  We seek to teach  
> fundamental skills of peacebuilding through gatherings of youth and  
> adults that provide an experience of community-building,  
> participatory learning, and faith-based public witness and social  
> action.  In this way, we hope to nurture a new generation of  
> peacebuilders of all ages, rooted in Quaker practice, experienced  
> in direct action, and ready to answer their own callings.  After  
> three successful summer youth camps, we are now launching an  
> initiative to implement the broader vision of the project by  
> developing new programs that will draw adults into the work.  This  
> effort responds, in part, to the deep yearning for a more visible  
> and 'muscular' Quaker witness in this time war that Friends  
> expressed during NEYM sessions in 2005.
>
> The Summer Youth Camp
>
> Established in 2004, the Quaker Peacebuilder Camp has provided an  
> intentionally diverse group of high school youth with an  
> opportunity to develop the skills, understanding and relationships  
> that will help them become better organizers of nonviolent action.  
> We seek to provide an experience of community that breaks down  
> barriers of class and ethnicity while fostering spiritual practice  
> and reflection as the foundation for faithful action. The  
> curriculum includes the theory and practice of community organizing  
> and nonviolent action, skills in group decision-making and  
> discernment, outdoor recreation and physical labor, and hands-on  
> experience in planning and implementing a public action and/or a  
> group service project.
>
> The camp involves activities at two locations.  The rural segment  
> takes place at The Meeting School in southern New Hampshire and  
> focuses on community-building, basic principles of nonviolence, and  
> organizing theory, combined with physical labor and some skills  
> building.    The urban segments have been housed on the campus of  
> Trinity College in Hartford, working in partnership with existing  
> community organizations with ongoing social justice activities.   
> The urban portion has a definite "in-the-streets" quality to it,  
> with our participants making a tangible contribution to an ongoing  
> peace/justice campaign.  We've tackled a different issue each year:  
> urban slumlords, military recruitment, and improving immigrant  
> services.
>
> We are not organizing a summer camp in 2007 because we want to  
> focus on building the other aspects of the project this year.  We  
> will offer the summer camp every other year, resuming in 2008.
>
> Activities Planned for 2007
>
> February Gathering: We are organizing a workshop for teens and  
> adults at The Meeting School (TMS) during the weekend of February  
> 16-18.  The workshop will draw upon the curriculum of the summer  
> camp and the workshop offered at NEYM sessions.  We will explore  
> opportunities for regional collaboration in developing a more  
> visible Quaker witness in New England.  At this gathering, we will  
> also be piloting some materials for the year-round program  
> described below, seeking input from participants in finalizing  
> those plans.
>
> Local Workshops: We are also seeking opportunities to provide  
> workshops for monthly meetings or clusters of meetings (e.g. those  
> within a quarter).  We are scheduled to present a program for Dover  
> Quarter in April.  Several participants in the NEYM workshop were  
> from Salem Quarter and expressed interest in organizing something  
> locally.
>
> Camp Alumni Reunion: We want to take time this year to reconnect  
> with graduates of the three summer youth camps.  We want to find  
> out how they have used the things they learned and explore ways  
> that we might provide more follow-up and support to youth who want  
> to be active in their local communities and on college campuses.   
> We anticipate having a 2- or 3-day reunion for alumni at The  
> Meeting School during the school's annual Summer Getaway, a two- 
> week period of volunteer work and recreation.
>
> Quaker Faith into Action: We have initiated discussions with the  
> members of NEYM Ministry and Counsel committee who have had  
> oversight of the Spiritual Formation program about creating a  
> follow-up program organized by the Quaker Peacebuilder Camp that  
> would begin in September 2007.  We envision drawing upon the  
> program model of monthly gatherings of local Friends for study and  
> reflection, with weekend regional retreats at the beginning and end  
> of the year.  We seek to build on the grounding in Friends'  
> literature and spiritual practice provided by the Spiritual  
> Formation program to create a curriculum of study and practical  
> experience that educates Friends about the rich history of  
> nonviolent action (among Quakers and non-Quakers), encourages  
> personal and corporate discernment of leadings, and provides  
> support for hands-on experience with local public witness.  One way  
> we have thought about this program in our own minds is establishing  
> a structure for building and nurturing Quaker affinity groups  
> throughout New England.
>
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