Luke 12:22, Revised Standard Version (RSV)

From Worship and Ministry

Be faithful in maintaining our testimony against all war as contrary to the spirit and teaching of Christ. Every human being is a child of God with a measure of Godís Light. War and other instruments of violence and oppression ignore this reality and violate our relationship with God. Keep primary our Friendís concern for the elimination of combat in the outward world as in our personal lives. Friends are advised to live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars. Friends are further advised to aid in all ways possible the development of international order and understanding.

Elders of Balby, Yorkshire,1656
Faith and Practice, p.85

Out of respect and caring for one another, please consider that our faith involves us in corporate worship. Meeting for Worship is 10 am to 11 am on First day, and 9:15 am to 9:45 am on Wednesday.

Upcoming Events

Pastoral Care in Meetings

November 3, 9 am to 3:30 pm. A conference sponsored by Burlington, Salem and Haddonfield quarters. In the Meetinghouse.

Meeting for Worship and Financial Stewardship (The PYM Budget Conference)

Saturday, November 10th at Friends Center, 15th and Cherry St., Philadelphia PA, 9:00 am ñ 12 Noon

(Please Note that this is a CHANGE in location for the Budget Conference which had previously been planned to be held at George School.)

8:30 ñ 9:00 am Registration and light refreshments
9: 00 ñ 12:00 pm Presentation and Discussion

Any Friend with a concern for the Yearly Meetingís Financial Stewardship is invited to attend. The purpose of this meeting is to learn about the 2002-2003 PYM budget, to hear the Quarterly Meeting reports on Monthly Meeting covenants with PYM and to advise the Financial Stewardship Committee.

Also, a Special Called Session of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to address Friends response to the events of September 11th will be held 1:30 pm to 5 pm. Our agenda and discussion will be informed by the ideas and reflections arising from the ten Threshing Sessions held in different parts of the Yearly Meeting on the 30th of September. The Session will deal with issues such as:

How do we find our voice and a sense of leading as Friends to speak and act clearly and forthrightly?

What are the particular ways in which Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting might be able to make a contribution to building a more peaceful and just world?

All households of the Yearly Meeting will receive a post card with a more detailed agenda as soon as we have an opportunity to process the minutes from the Threshing Sessions. Please put this date on your calendar now.

Conference: Surviving After Suicide

The Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (GPAFSP), and Survivors of Suicide of Delaware Valley (SOS), will host the third annual conference for Surviving After Suicide, for those who have lost someone to suicide.

This conference is designed to help survivors of suicide express and understand the troubling and powerful grief, pain and guilt they experience.

Saturday, November 17, 9:00 am ñ 3:30 pm, MCP Hahnemann University School of Medicine, 2800 Queen Lane, Auditorium B, Philadelphia.

Registration: $25/guest, $20/each additional family member.

FIRST DAY SCHOOL

SIt Takes a Meeting to Raise a Friend ñ
No Time But This Present Timeî

Submitted by Flora McKinney, Jake McGlaughlin and Francie Pagell

Novemberís Theme: Simplicity
Let Our Lives Speak

Family First Day November 11 Hymns
Open My Eyes That I May See ñ No. 166
Magic Penny ñ No. 221

Open My Eyes That I May See

Open my eyes that I may see
Glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp, and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready my God, thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit Divine.

Magic Penny

Love is some-thing if you give it away,
Give it away, give it away; (repeat}
You end up having more.
Oh itís just like a magic penny:
Hold it tight and you wonít have any;
Lend it, spend it, youíll have so many,
Theyíll roll all over the floor; for (repeat refrain)

Foster 10 principles for the outward expression
of Simplicity

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than status.

2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.

3. Develop a habit of giving things away.

4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.

5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them.

6. Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.

7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all ìbuy now pay laterî schemes.

8. Obey Jesusí instructions about plain, honest speech.

9. Reject anything that will breed the oppression of others.

10. Shun whatever would distract you from your main goal.

Family Role:

Learn to enjoy the Hymns.

Consider the Principles in family meetings.

Encourage the teachers.

Do you have a copy of Faith and Practice?

Do you have a copy of Worship in Song?

What First Day School Classes are Doing

Grades 1-2-3 sent cheer-up cards to George Fox

Grades 3-4-5 will have an interesting guest on Nov. 11

Young Friends discussed the Peace testimony

Adult FDS Schedule for November

November 4th: Query #7, Social Responsibility and Witness, facilitated by Justin Loughry

November 11th: Spiritual Journeys ó Gary Smith, Hiltrud Dodge and Karin Sannwald will speak.

An alternative to spiritual journeys is continued study of the Book of John. This will take place in the library.

November 18th: Presentation & Discussion on the Middle East by James Fine, who served in Quaker and AFSC posts for 25 years and is a former headmaster of Friends schools in Ramallah and el-Bireh, Palestine.

November 25th: Discussion by the Worship and Ministry Committee.

An alternative to Worship and Ministry is continued study of the book of John. This will take place in the library.

Exploring The Queries

The query on stewardship of resources is from Faith & Practice (pp. 213) and was discussed in First Day School 10/7/01.

1. Does our meeting serve social and economic
justice in its uses of property and money?
ï The Meeting has allocated some money to a reinvestment fund for rebuilding housing stock in Camden.
ï Peace and Social Concerns committee contributes on an ongoing basis.
ï The school children sponsor service projects throughout the year.
ï Haddonfield Meeting supports Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and its efforts, both through attendance of members and financial support.

ï An observation was made, and a question asked:
The Meeting is usually cautious about committing resources, and this is good from a conservation standpoint. Is it also possible that it might be acting too cautiously? It might be worthwhile to consider spending more readily in support of good causes.
ï We could ask individuals for more information on contributions they are making. This could be disseminated in a column in the newsletter about what people are doing.

2. How does our Meeting engage its members in the support of the Meetingís work, its ministry, and the upkeep of its property?
ï We tend not to acknowledge or to minimize what we are doing. There is more being done than we know about. Many people are active.
ï We are a community of committees. We have a list of what people do. We should make the list more available. We could include it in the newsletter, post it on the bulletin board and on the Meetingís website.
ï Many members are engaged in work that is an extension of their lives in meeting. Others have volunteer responsibilities (e.g., service on school boards) which reflect the Meetingís work.Their entire lives are a part of their mission.
ï For people to give more time would be a hardship in many cases. They work long weeks, they have responsibilities, and theyíre doing the best they can.
ï How are we doing at engaging people in the life of the Meeting? Are we doing as much as we can to make the committee work as meaningful and engaging as possible? To make the activities as attractive as we can?
ï For the people who are not active on committees but who attend on First Day, that may be as much as they can manage. On the other hand, not to ask for more time might be a lost opportunity
ï How much time? It was suggested that people try to give 12 hours per month to the Meeting as indicated below:

ï 2 hours/week in Meeting and FDS = 8 hours
(10 hours on months with 5 Sundays)
ï 2 hours/month at meeting for business
ï 2 hours/month for committee work

3. How does our Meeting engage its members in the support of the quarterly and yearly meetings and other Quaker organizations?
ï We make announcements of meetings. We send representatives. We encourage attendance and participation.

ï We provide financial support, including travel money.

4. To what extent does our Meeting rely on current members for financial support and what role does endowment income serve? Does the Meeting consider carefully the appropriate role of invested funds?
ï We do not have an extensive endowment.
ï We support most of our needs through member
contributions.

Note: There are personal queries on stewardship that can be considered (See Faith & Practice pp. 213, 214)

On Sept. 30th, David Smith led the discussion of Query 12, Integrity and Simplicity. He pointed out that while other spiritual paths have catechisms and creeds to guide them, Friends have only questions that require their individual ìinner searchingî. He used many poignant and often amusing stories to facilitate our personal searches. In one story there were two people standing on the shore of a river. They see a child floating down the river struggling to survive. The first man jumps in and rescues the child, bringing him back to shore. Shortly, a second child comes floating down stream. The first man, still winded, jumps in again and struggles to rescue the second child and brings him back to shore. This happens again. This time the first man asks ìWell arenít you going to jump in and help?î The second man says, ìNo, Iím going up the river to see whoís throwing them in.î David Smith asks ìWhat is the kernel of faith that exists there?î

He used Frances Irene Smithís words in Testimony 224 on page 155 of Faith & Practice to point out that Truth derives from a stripping away of the superficial. This leads us to simplicity and clear thinking.

He remembered that his father always said, ìYou shouldnít have what you canít take care of.î He questioned our motivation for accumulating for power.
He pointed out that the US is 4% of the worldís
population but uses 44% of the worldís resources.
He asked us to consider more questions as we explore our own commitments to simplicity:

How do we use the things that we care for?

What do we do with what we have?

What does it mean to live in the light?

What does this mean to the way we live our lives?

Join us on November 7th to explore our social responsibility and witness.

The Journal of John Woolman, Pg. 40

Until this year, 1756, I continued to retail goods, besides my trade as a tailor; about which I grew uneasy on account of my business growing too cumbersome.
I had begun with selling trimmings for garments, and from thence proceeded to sell cloths and linens; and
at length, having got considerable shop of goods, my trade increased every year, and the way to large business appeared open, but I felt a stop in my mind.

Through the mercies of the almighty, I had, in a good degree, learned to be content with a plain way of living. I had but a small family; and, on serious consideration, believed truth did not require me to engage in much cumbering affairs. It had been my general practice to buy and sell things really useful: things that served chiefly to please the vain mind in people, I was not easy to trade in; seldom did it; and whenever I did I found it weakened me as a Christian.

The increase of business became my burden; for though my natural inclination was toward merchandise, yet I believed truth required me to live more free from outward cumbers; and there was now a strife in my mind between the two. In this exercise my prayers were put up to the Lord, who graciously heard me, and gave me a heart resigned to his holy will. Then I lessened my outward business, and, as I had opportunity, told my customers my intentions, that they might consider what shop to turn to; and in a while I wholly laid down merchandise, and followed my trade as a tailor by myself, having no apprentice. I also had a nursery of apple trees, in which I employed some of my time in hoeing, grafting, trimming, and inoculating. In merchandise it is the custom where I lived to sell chiefly on credit, and poor people often get in debt; when payment is expected, not having wherewith to pay, their creditors often sue for it at law. Having frequently observed occurrences of this kind, I found it good for me to advise poor people to take such goods as were most useful, and not costly.

Where Was God The Morning Of September 11, 2001?

Submitted by Ray Magliano

Where was God the morning of September 11, 2001?

He was very busy. First of all, he was trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights. The four flights together could hold over 1000 passengers, but there were only 266 aboard. He was on 4 commercial flights giving terrified passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the family members who was called by a loved one on one of the high-jacked planes said that passengers were screaming in the background. On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to try to overtake the hijackers. He was busy trying to create obstacles for employees at the World Trade Center. After all only around 20,000 were at the towers when the first jet hit. Since the buildings hold over 50,000 workers, this was a miracle in itself. How many of the people who were employed at the WTC told the media that they were late for work or they had traffic delays.

He was holding up 2-110 story buildings so that two-thirds of the workers could get out. It was amazing that the top of the towers didnít topple when the jets impacted. Contractors that worked on the twin towers have stated that with the impact from the jets that the towers should have fallen within the first 10-15 minutes after being hit. They stayed upright for close to,
if not over an hour.

He was also there before September 11, 2000. He
was there when the Pentagon was being renovated.
He knew what materials needed to be used to keep hundreds of people from being annihilated by a screaming jet missile.

You may indeed have people ask where God was. He is where He has always been. Watching over his children. He was in the towers, on the jets, and in Washington. He was there to comfort and console. He was waiting to be called upon. He was in the midst of the chaos, with each person involved and with their loved ones. He is still there and he is also with each of us.

Voltaire On Quakers And Baptism

Voltaireís ìLettres Philosophiques,î published in 1734, contains four letters about the Quakers. Translated by Joe Latham of Glasgow Meeting, Scotland, from the French, it gives a wonderful picture of the religion of the time. At the time the letters were written, Voltaire already had two spells of imprisonment in the Bastille for his advocacy of toleration and enlightenment. The extract from the first letter (below) was published in Quaker Monthly in January 1988. It deals with the Quaker attitude to baptism.

I believed that the doctrine and the history of such extra-ordinary people were worthy of curiosity. To find about about them, I visited one the most eminent Quakers in England (Andrew Pitt) who had been in commerce for thirty years, but had decided to limit his wealth and wants, and had retired to the countryside close to London. I went to seek him out in his retreat which was a small house, well-built and clean and without ornaments.

The Quaker was a fresh-faced old man who had never been ill, because he had never known passions or intemperance. I have never seen in my life a nobler or more engaging countenance than his. He was dressed, like all those of his religion, in a plain coat without pleats in the sides or buttons on either the pockets or the sleeves. He was wearing a large hat, with turned-down brim, like our clergy.

He received me with his hat on his head, and came towards me without the slightest inclination of his body, but there was more politeness in the open, humane expression on his face than in the custom of drawing one leg behind the other, and carrying the head-covering in oneís hand.

ìFriend,î he said to me, ìI see thou art a stranger. If I can be of any help to thee, thou hast only to speak.î

ìSir,î I said, bending forwards and sliding one foot towards him according to our custom, ìI flatter myself that my just curiosity will not displease you and that you will give me the honour of telling me the details of your religion.î

ìThe people of thy country,î he replied, ìmake too many bows and compliments. But I have not yet seen any who have the same curiosity as thee. Come in, and let us dine together first.î

I made still more unwanted compliments, because one cannot get rid of bad habits suddenly. After a healthy and frugal meal, which started and ended with a prayer to God, I set about questioning my host. I started with the question that good Catholics have put more than once to the Huguenots:

ìMy dear Sir,î I said to him, ìare you baptized?î

ìNo,î replied the Quaker, ìand neither are my brethren.î

ìMy God!î I replied, ìthen you are not Christians.î

ìMy son,î he replied in a gentle voice, ìdo not swear. We are Christians and try to be good Christians, but we do not think that Christianity consists of sprinkling cold water on the head.î

ìGood Heavens!î I replied, shocked at this impiety, ìhave you then forgotten that Jesus Christ was baptized by John?î

ìFriend, no more swearing,î said the benign Quaker. ìChrist received baptism from John, but he never baptized anybody. We are not disciples of John but of Christ.î

ìAlas,î I said, ìYou would surely be burned in countries of the Inquisition, you poor man. For the love of God, how I wish I could baptize you and make you a Christian.î

ìWere that all,î he replied gravely, ìwe would willingly submit to baptism to comply with thy weakness. We do not condemn anyone for using the ceremony of baptism. But we believe that those who profess so holy and so spiritual a religion as that of Christ must abstain, as much as they can, from Jewish ceremonies.î

ìWhat! Baptism a Jewish ceremony!î I exclaimed.

ìYes, my son,í he continued ìand so Jewish that several Jews today still use the baptism of John. Consult antiquity. It will teach thee that John only revived this practice, which was in use a long time earlier amongst the Hebrews, in the same way as the pilgrimage to Mecca by Muslims is copied from the Ismaelites.î

ìJesus was willing to receive the baptism of John, in the same way that he submitted to circumcision. But circumcision and the washing with water must both be superseded by the baptism of Christ, this baptism of the Spirit, this washing of the soul, which is the salvation of mankind. Thus the fore-runner, John, said: ëI baptize you to the truth with water, but another will come after me, mightier than me, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with fire and the Holy Ghost.íî

ìLikewise, the great apostle to the gentiles, Paul, wrote in Corinthians: ëChrist has not sent me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.íî

ìIndeed, this same Paul only baptized two people with water, and this was in spite of his inclination. He circumcised his disciple, Timothy. The other apostles also circumcised all who wanted it. Art thou circumcised?î he added. I replied that I did not have that honour.

ìAh well,î he said, ìFriend, thou are a Christian without being circumcised, and I am a Christian without being baptized.î

HFS School News

LEAVENHOUSE NEIGHBORS

We need parent/child volunteers for the Leavenhouse Neighbors Program. Volunteers will prepare or serve food at Leavenhouse food kitchen in Camden. Dates are available from Saturday, October 13, 2001 onward. Preparation time is 12:30 to 1:30 and meal service is from 3:00 to 4:00 on Saturday. If you are interested in helping, or in learning more about what we do, please call Cindy Kolaski at 354-8680. Thank you.

Kindergarten News

Submitted by Trs. Sandy, Angie and Bette

(Tr. Sandy wrote this letter to the parents of her students to share with them this wonderful and rather moving event in her classroom.)

Amazing things happen in our Kindergarten every day. Often the discussions within our classroom community reaffirm for me the reasons why I choose to be an educator.

Each January as Dr. Martin Luther Kingís birthday approaches, I try to explain in simple terms about Dr. King and his life. We use several picture books that convey information and illustrations about the Civil Rights Movement. This year as I began to read from the chosen text, an unusual quiet fell across this group of often squirmy children. They were listening with such rapt attention that I was almost startled when suddenly I was interrupted by the voice of a student. ìWait a minute,
Tr. Sandy. Read that part again!î ìYeah, read it again!î they almost said in unison I stopped to reread the section of the text that told about Martin as a young boy not being allowed to play baseball with some of his friends because they were white. ìWhy? Why couldnít he play with them, Tr. Sandy? What difference does the color of their skin make? Weíre not all the same color and we all play together!î Try to explain that one! They were, as a group, outraged! Several of them got to their feet, put their hands on their hips and started to protest. ìIím sorry,î said one little girl, ìthat is wrong! You mean that
I couldnít build KíNex with my friends because their skin is a different color?î As usual, they were applying what they were learning to what they already know.

As I read facts about segregation from the text, their sense of injustice grew stronger. When I came to the story about Dr. Kingís house being firebombed, once again the room fell silent. We talked about the importance of Dr. King convincing people not to get even for what was done to his family. He wanted them to meet hate with love, to do the right thing. As we discussed this aspect of the book, one child made the connection to something we say all the time in our classroom., ìYou need to do the right thing even when those around you do not.î (Yes! I thought to myself. They ARE listeningî)

It is an extremely hard thing to read about Dr. Kingís assassination to five- and six-year olds. How do you explain prejudice and hate to that extreme? ìYou mean he was killed because he wanted to change bad things to good?î As that innocent question hung in the air, I felt sadness, pride, love, and a sense of duty for these children in my care. It is my duty to show these children in our classroom and in the school community that their voices are heard and valued. I hope that they will always carry with them that sense of outrage at the injustice in the world I also hope that they will be empowered as they grow to feel that they can make a difference.

New Books in the Haddonfield
Meeting Library...

Dear Friend: Thomas Garrett and William Still, Collaborators on the Underground Railroad
(Judith Bentley)

Listening Hearts (Suzanne Farnham)

* Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth (Anne Rockwell

* In Godís Name (Sandy Sasso)

* God In Between (Sandy Sasso)

* In Every Grain of Sand (Reeve Lindbergh)

Dealing Creatively with Death (Ernest Morgan)

Reminiscences of Levi Coffin (Ben Richmond)

Voluntary Simplicity (Duane Elgin)

Front Porch Tales (Philip Gulley)

Resistance and Obedience to God: Memoirs of
David Ferris (Martha Grundy)

Lifeís Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest (Christine Baldwin)

** Quaker Testimony (Irene Allen)

** Quaker Witness (Irene Allen )

** Quaker Indictment (Irene Allen)

*Picture Book
**Multiple copies

October 2001 Monthly Meeting
for Business

October meeting for business was held October 12, 2001. Bob Brookes acted as alternate clerk.

The annual School Committee report was presented and gratitude expressed for their work on salaries, benefits, renewing accreditation and planning for future growth. The offer of $1.1m for 65 Haddon Ave. has been accepted with many contingencies.

Jake McGlaughlin will attend FCNL annual meeting and report back.

We are having difficulty timing the end of the coffee period and the beginning of First Day School. See the article below from Connie Brookes.

Jayne Stokes has agreed to edit the newsletter. Harley Williams was commended for his long service.

Overseers ó Membership changes. Barry DeSaw resigned. Michael Adam Reale has requested transfer from Flushing (NY) Monthly Meeting to Haddonfield. Sandy Peth Marshall has requested transfer to Mullica Hill Friends Meeting. Annapolis Friends Meeting acknowledged Rick Podolinís transfer from Haddonfield.

Property Committee reported that a hearing assistance system for the Meetinghouse has been approved and will soon be in place.

We approved a one-year traveling minute for David Marshall.

After-Meeting Refreshments and
First Day School

Submitted by Connie Brookes

During Octoberís business meeting, there was considerable discussion as to the best way to provide for both after-Meeting refreshments and adequate time for First Day School for adults, while not expanding the time for the childrenís First Day School. In order to solve this conundrum, several decisions were approved.

First, at the rise of Meeting for Worship, all guests will be asked to introduce themselves, as is the usual custom. However, there will be no reading of announcements, unless they are of a sensitive nature, such as the death of a member. All announcements should be posted or written on the easel(s) that will be made available in the foyer. This will allow more time for Friends to gather and greet each other and enjoy refreshments after Meeting for Worship. All who have announcements are asked to type or print clearly and in large enough letters for those who may have difficulty with vision.

Second, First Day School would run from 11:30 until 12:15. The bell calling Friends to First Day School would be rung at 11:25.

Third, Coffee and refreshments would remain out until 11:30 and would then be cleared away.

However, when this schedule was discussed with our Religious Education Teachers, they were sincerely concerned that the 45 minutes would be too long for the Childrenís First Day School. Therefore, the Clerks of the Religious Education and Friendship Committees have agreed to the following changes and hope that Meeting Members will find them in order:

The bell for First Day School will be rung at 11:15 and First Day School will begin promptly at 11:20. Coffee and refreshments will still be available until 11:30 for those not attending First Day School.

If these changes concern any Meeting members, we hope that you will bring them to business meeting in November.

Poems Old and New

Wholly War

Cecilia McFadden

Soldiers,
Boy soldiers
Sharpen plowshares into sabers,
Words into wounds,
Pillars into pyres.

What strange god
Wound these toy soldiers up
To kill and not to cry?

In ten thousand years
My God will still be weeping.

AMERICA
Daniel Picker

Past the old brick walk
fenced in by straight iron and red
brick we saw the gentle
grass and simple lawn we
could not reach.
Here the near-by fields
were free, where we
walked the back streets
hiding our faces, and we
forgot those small stone steps
and the railing we leaned on.

Daniel Picker grew up attending Haddonfield Friends Meeting in the 60ís and 70ís and was a substitute teacher at the HFS in the 80ís.

Dear Haddonfield Meeting,
Greetings from Nancy Wogan in Berkeley, California. How I miss all of you at this rotten time. Please write to me. (See new address in newsletter)
Iíll need and welcome all views.
Berkeley Friends (where I am now attending) expresses all humane concerns for our humanity.
Right now most of us are waiting on the Spirit.

Love, Nancy

September 11, 2001
Nancy Wogan

Repeat and repeat
over and over
a view from some distant lens.

The steel bird
as if in some dream
or moth to flame
bursts ó
and a flower is born.

Two armless trunks
giants in the sky
bend to the bloom.

Inside the bank
in melted veins
the sap unrolls.
The worker ants halt
then break apart.

No dream
nor moth to light
no bird deluded by clear pane glass

Deliberate is the human mind.

The Journal of George Fox

Continued from October

In Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire, Truth began mightily to spread. Many were turned to Christ Jesus and His free teaching: for many Friends that came to visit us were drawn to declare the Truth in those counties. This made the priests and professors rage, and they stirred up the magistrates to ensnare Friends. They set up watches in the streets and highways, on pretence of taking up suspicious persons, under which colour they stopped and took up Friends coming to visit us in prison; which was done that these Friends might not pass up and down in the Lordís service.

But that by which they thought to have stopped the Truth was the means of spreading it so much the more; for then Friends were frequently moved to speak to one constable and to another officer, and to the justices before whom they were brought; which caused the Truth to spread the more in all their parishes. And when Friends were got among the watches, it would be a fortnight or three weeks before they could get out of them again; for no sooner had one constable taken and carried them before the justices, and these had discharged them, but another would take them up and carry them before other justices: which put the country to a great deal of needless trouble and charges.

As Thomas Rawlinson was coming out of the north to visit us, a constable in Devonshire took him up, and at night took twenty shillings out of his pocket: and after being thus robbed he was cast into Exeter jail. They cast into prison in Devonshire, under pretence of his being a Jesuit, Henry Pollexfen, who had been a justice of the peace for almost forty years. Many Friends were cruelly beaten by them; nay, some clothiers that were but going to mill with their cloth, and others about their outward occasions, they took up and whipped; though men of about eighty or an hundred pounds by the year, and not above four or five miles from their families.

The mayor of Launceston took up all he could, and cast them into prison. He would search substantial, grave women, their petticoats and their head-cloths. A young man coming to see us, I drew up all the gross, inhuman, and unchristian actions of the mayor, gave it him, and bade him seal it up, and go out again the back way; and then come into the town through the gates. He did so, and the watch took him up and carried him before the mayor; who presently searched his pockets and found the letter. Therein he saw all his actions characterized; which shamed him so that from that time he meddled little with the Lordís servants.

Peace and Social Concerns

Peace and Social Concerns Committee discussed a request from Lamda Legal Defense and Education Fund to support the ìMarriage Resolutionî. We
support the resolution and ask that you read the letter and resolution printed below. A full copy of the letter, including a list of endorsers, is available ó see Ann Miller. The resolution will be brought to Meeting for Business for discussion. Thank you.

Dear Haddonfield Monthly Meeting:

We write because you can have an important impact
in the struggle for equality for same-sex couples,
who seek to protect their families as do different- sex couples. We request that you endorse the enclosed Marriage Resolution, a statement of support for
same-sex couplesí freedom to marry.

As a Marriage Resolution signatory, you would join many other individuals and organizations who have become a part of the struggle for the freedom to marry, including: Coretta Scott King, The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong (former Episcopalian Bishop, Newark Diocese), the National Community Relations Division of the American Friends Service Committee, North Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Central Conference of American Rabbis, American Civil Liberties Union, National Association of Social Workers, and National Organization for Women.

This is an important chapter in the nationís civil rights movement, and reflects an earlier chapter thirty years ago when interracial couples were denied the right to form and protect their families through marriage. Marriage should not have been limited to same-race couples, just as it should not be limited to different-sex couples.

Committed couples, who are otherwise qualified to assume the responsibilities of marriage, are entitled to a civil marriage that provides legal protections for their families. Those couples may get married before a justice of the peace or other authorized officials, or they may request a religious ceremony from a clergyperson ó but religious groups retain their right to marry or not marry individuals in accordance with their beliefs.

Denial of access to civil marriage is a denial of equality, and puts many families at risk for harm. The harm arises with the denial of hundreds of protections for familiesí children, health, finances, and many other aspects of everyday lives. These include hospital visitation and medical decision-making, custody of children, family medical leave, and survivorís rights.

There are countless gay and lesbian families who have had to face the harmful effects of discrimination in marriage. Many lesbian couples raised children together, and then sought to better protect those childrenís futures through a second parent adoption by the non-biological mother, only to have judges refuse. A gay dad raised his children from babies to ages 7 and 9, with his partner co-parenting, only to have the childrenís biological mother successfully remove the boys from their home in part because the dad and partner were not married. A surviving partner had to take a cemetery official to federal court to enforce the deceased partnerís ardent wish that her tombstone read ìbeloved life partner.î For years an elderly surviving partner had shared a home and run a business with the deceased, whose death prompted estranged biological family members to take the survivor to court to obtain the home and business. A lesbian developed a grave illness and needed her partner to assist her in getting to medical appointments because she would faint in the street, but the partnerís employer denied family medical leave for that purpose.

Americans and others around the world are beginning to understand the needs of gay and lesbian families. The Netherlands has made marriage for same-sex couples a real choice, by this year becoming the first nation to end discrimination in its civil marriage law, following marriage litigation by gay and lesbian families,

Hawaii passed a ìreciprocal beneficiariesî law, providing extensive protections for couples in that state. Vermont now provides same-sex couples a ìcivil union,î which confers all the state sponsored protections of marriage, but without a marriage certificate, and without currently being recognized by other states or the federal government. While civil unions are a tremendous step forward in respect for gay and lesbian families, the lack of the choice to marry creates a ìseparate and unequalî system. Our country has allowed ìseparate and unequalî systems before, and we should not repeat our mistakes.

Americans are ready to talk about equality for gay and lesbian couples. Indeed, a 1999 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that two-thirds of Americans believe that gay and lesbian couples will win the freedom to marry. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that 56% of first year college students believe same-sex couples should be able to marry.

The Marriage Resolution

ìBecause marriage is a basic human right and an individual personal choice, RESOLVED, the State should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities, and commitment of civil marriage.î

Among Friends

Karen Patterson is at The Glasgow School of Art for her first term junior year from Maryland Institute College of Art, where she is majoring in photography.

Congratulations to Jim and Toni Weber and Lyle and Flo Tatum who have new grandchildren!

Ty Drago has published his first novel, The Franklin Affair, an historical mystery about Ben Franklin. The book is available online at www.regency-press.com.

Lyle Tatum donated the pamphlet, Walt Whitman, Quaker Poet to the Camden County Historical Society. The gift was much appreciated.