FGC Newsletters: November & December 2020

Vital Friends: Quakers and Mental Health

Send date: November 6th, 2020

Dear Friend,

The coming holiday season is going to be very different for a lot of Friends and loved ones in the Quaker community. As many of us celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. in November and winter holidays like Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa around North America in December, there will be community members who are grieving loved ones that have died from COVID-19 or experiencing sadness or depression brought on by isolation and current events. The holidays can also be a stressor for friends who live with ongoing mental health disorders.

Your mental health matters, and if you’re struggling to take care of your mental and spiritual wellbeing right now, you are not alone.

For FGC’s final Vital Friends eNewsletter of 2020, we’re connecting you with resources to empower your mental health and promote self-care. We also have plenty of good news and exciting opportunities to share with you, including an update about the 2021 FGC Gathering, new Youth Programming opportunities, Spiritual Deepening offerings, a Fall Retreat for Friends of Color, the first in a series of articles about helping your Quaker community become actively anti-racist, and information about year-end giving tax incentives that might help you help others.

On behalf of our staff and volunteers and in the midst of what has been a deeply challenging year, I wish you a calm and peaceful start to your holiday season. See you in 2021!

In Friendship,
Marta Rusek
Communications Manager for FGC

In this issue:

  • Quakers and Mental Health
  • FGC Gathering 2021 will be virtual! 
  • A Report from the 2020 Central Committee Meeting
  • Upcoming FGC Virtual Offerings: Spiritual Deepening Program, Youth Programming, and the Fall Retreat for Friends of Color
  • FGC’s Anti-Racism Ministry: November/December 2020 Update
  • Tax advantages for charitable giving in 2020
  • FGC in Conversation with Donna Eisenhower
  • Virtual Events in the Quaker Community: November & December 2020

Read the November/December issue of Vital Friends.


Book Musings: Cycles

Send date: November 8th, 2020

Dear Friend,

Do you think of passage of time as linear or cyclical?  Does one offer you more hope than the other? Is one more humbling? Some of the books and the DVD highlighted here got me thinking about this.

A 2019 Friends Journal review of Quakers: The Quiet Revolutionaries notes that the director gives “a clear line from the earliest Friends to today, and gives us examples of how speaking truth to power looks when we see it in our own time.”

All Creation Waits is about renewal, using seasonal rebirth as a metaphor for spiritual rebirth. Surrendering Into Silence, subtitled Quaker Prayer Cycles, advises ongoing spiritual growth by not thinking one has reached an endpoint.

Maybe we each move in circles as we, a community, move forward.

Wishing you Light and Love,
Audrey Greenhall, Manager of QuakerBooks
AudreyG@FGCQuaker.org
(215) 561-1700 ext. 3044

In This Issue:

  • New and Noteworthy – Quakers: The Quiet Revolutionaries – DVD
  • A Perennial Favorite – All Creation Waits
  • Volume Discount Reminder
  • Friends Journal Picks – November 2020
  • Beyond Quaker Books – Unlimited Selection!

Read this issue of Book Musings.


Book Musings: Winter Solstice

Send date: December 1st, 2020

Dear Friend,

December is an interesting month. With winter solstice, the days will again get longer, but winter will have just begun. It’s kind of a neither-here-nor-there time, but my garden knows it’s time to rest for a glorious rebirth come the spring.  I’ll take my cue from the garden, nestle into hibernation mode, and renew with good reading.

A good book is wonderfully restorative. To help feed your soul through the winter, we’re offering 10% off everything at QuakerBooks.org for the next two weeks. Enter the code HOLIDAY when you get to check-out.  The sale applies to all items and collections, including the wonderful new children’s books featured in this month’s Friends Journal reviews, our 25 bestsellers for this year, and books off the Meetinghouse Bookshelf.

Any bookstore questions? I’m happy to answer them.

Wishing you Light and Love,
Audrey Greenhall, Manager of QuakerBooks
AudreyG@FGCQuaker.org
(215) 561-1700 ext. 3044

In This Issue:

  • Schedule an Author Talk!
  • New and Noteworthy – Spirit Rising ebook
  • Friends Journal Picks – December 2020
  • Beyond QuakerBooks – Bookshop

Read this issue of Book Musings.


FGC Gathering November/December 2020 Update: Bible Half Hour and Year-Round Youth Programs

Send date: December 12th, 2020

Dear Friend,

Please join us for the 2021 FGC Gathering: Way Will Open.

We will be Gathering in a virtual space June 27th – July 3rd. 

Exciting Gathering Updates:

  • Beningo Sánchez-Eppler is our Bible Half Hour Leader!
  • Virtual Worship Sharing Groups Return in 2021!
  • Year-Round Youth Programs!

I look forward to seeing you at the 2021 Gathering!

In service,
Lori Piñeiro Sinitzky
Conference Coordinator

Read this Gathering Update.

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