News Feed

The Youth Program Support Committee is working hard to prepare a wonderful program for children and young Friends at annual sessions. The Youth program needs teachers and part-time volunteers. You do not need to be a professional teacher to qualify. Please consider these opportunities for yourself if you are planning to attend this year and pass this message on to others in your monthly meeting or worship group. To get more info email Erika Mittag at erika.mittag(at)gmail.com or Howard Hawhee at howardhawhee(at)gmail.com. To sign up to volunteer go to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uymxr7QlNOJ2ZyMqeHNM8mOzZLjD2YcYFCkDij9uP0Q/edit.

Spiritual Refreshment for the Long Haul

Sunday, April 2 to Wednesday, April 5 online for everyone.
Thursday, April, 6 to Sunday, April 9 at Greene Family Camp (Bruceville TX) with some events also available online.
 

2023 SCYM Epistle to Friends Everywhere

SEE Most DOCUMENTS FOR THE MEETING HERE

Documents in Advance & Presented During the Meeting:

2022 Representative Meeting Minutes (with links to the reports)

Led by Faith to Work for Justice

Online April 10-13
In person at Greene Family Camp and online April 14-17

2022 SCYM Epistle to Friends Everywhere

2022 Youth Program Committee Epistle

2022 SCYM Annual Meeting Minutes

(for more documents from the meeting and about the program, click "Read more".

4/26/24
Please hold Tina Coffin in the Light. She broke her arm at the elbow earlier this week and is home recovering. 

2/26/24
Please hold Claudia Wilson in the Light. She broke her pelvis while at her home in New Mexico. She is in the hospital and says they will send her to a rehab facility for further healing as she gets better. Fort Worth Meeting Friends are in touch and offering support and Claudia has her former partner and neighbors in NM who are helping on site. She would love to hear from Friends via text (682-472-6770) or email (claudiawwilson@gmail.com). Please limit calls to aid in healing. Hold her in the Light for healing and the best outcome. 

1/19/24
A Memorial Meeting for Dale Bordelon will be held Sunday, February 4. Join us for Meeting for Worship from 10-11 if you are able. The Memorial Meeting will be at 11:30 with a potluck afterward.
We don't have Wi-Fi but have a conference call line 214-301-0492 with a speaker so people can hear and be heard.

11/28/23
A memorial meeting for Rodney Mayfield will be held at Live Oak Meetinghouse on December 9, 2023, at 3:00 pm Central Time. Light refreshments will be served. 
To join the meeting on Zoom go to https://friendshouston.org/events/memorial-meeting-for-worship-for-rodney-mayfield/. 

11/17/23
Paula Keeth writes about Dale:
Dale Bordelon, a member of the Dallas Friends Meeting and active member of SCYM, died early in the week of November 12th of prostate cancer. He had a son Dakota, daughter Savannah, and sister Denise. He had a leading, partly as a result of joining the Friends, to find ways of improving early childhood experiences and environments so children can develop to their highest potential. He was working on this goal to the end. He will be greatly missed. Please hold his family and many friends in the Light. Memorial Meeting information is pending.

11/16/2023
Please hold in the Light the following Friends and their families who were brought forward at the Representative Meeting last week.
Hank Lee - Live Oak Friends - died recently
Rodney Mayfield - Live Oak Friends - died recently - see below for information about the memorial meeting
Jan Michael - Stillwater Friends - Sue Garzon, his wife died earlier this year
Dale Bordelon - Dallas Friends - who was going through treatment for advanced prostate cancer and died earlier this week, see below
For all these Friends we will post more information about memorials here and on Facebook when we have the information. If Friends know of others who need to be specially held in the Light, please let us know at pubs(at)scym.org.

11/16/2023
Rodney Mayfield's Houston Celebration Information: Live Oak Friends Meeting
1318 W. 26th St.
Houston, TX
December 9th @ 3:00pm
An online link will be posted here when it is available. 

11/15/2023
Our beloved Friend Dale Bordelon has died after treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Please hold Dale and his family in the Light as they grieve and celebrate his life. Dale is a member of Dallas Meeting and a regular attender at SCYM annual sessions. Friends Danielle Evans and Paula Keeth will be sending further news when they have it. 

11/7/2023
Update for Dale Bordelon: After two surgical procedures at Baylor, Dale was released home on October 21. On November 7, he is undergoing a further test to determine his treatment plan. Please continue to hold Dale Bordelon, his family, and f(F)riends, in the Light.

10/8/2023
Please hold Dale Bordelon, his family, and f(F)riends, in the Light. Dale was transferred to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas following a good ten-day hospitalization at Texoma Medical Center in Denison on Thursday evening 5th October. He is struggling with complications stemming from previous diagnoses. Best treatment plans are in the works.

Each of us has gifts of service that are needed in SCYM to fill a variety of roles. The  SCYM Gifts of Service to Our Spiritual Community Form lists yearly meeting committees, representatives, and roles that make our yearly meeting run. While not all positions currently have vacancies, your indications will allow the Nominating Committee to know of your interest. Please fill out this form and follow the directions on it to return it to the Nominating Committee.

Gifts of Service to Our Spiritual Community Form

Save the Dates! Registration is Open 
Join Friends from across North America in seeking what messages Spirit offers us as we explore Spirit led growth and transformation. We will have time to deepen our spiritual lives, share ideas across yearly meetings and explore new ones as we meet online.

The dates are January 18-21, 2024 online only.

The program includes four main components that were lifted by yearly meeting clerks, focus group members and additional Friends:

• Connection to Spirit
• Becoming an Actively Anti-racist Faith Community
• Changing Structures for Changing Times
• The Future of the Religious Society of Friends.  

For more info go to: https://www.fgcquaker.org/event/gathering-anew-2024/?sd=1705554000  

Registration is Open

Quaker Religious Education Collaborative invites all to join them for a free Online Practice and Discussion Group led by Nadine Hoover and Beth Collea
The group meets monthly to enrich adult Quaker Religious Education for ourselves and our meetings/churches. Each month will open with worship and a message from the book Walking in the World as a Friend: Essential Quaker Practices (available on the QREC website). Then, we will hold worship sharing to hear from each person, followed by a discussion on any questions, reflections, or implications for us as Friends, and close with worship. We may discuss practices, such as journaling, spiritual companions, and faith and practice or scripture study, that help us and our meetings/churches.
Monday, January 8, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time
Experiences of the Living Spirit and the Role of the Minister (pp 27-30 or relevant videos) 
Monday, February 12, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time 
Experiment with Spirit and the Role of the Steward (pp 35-37 or relevant videos)
Monday, March 11, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time
Essential Quaker Structures as an Ecology of Practices (pp 45-58 or relevant videos) 

Topic: SCYM 2023 Representative Meeting

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89853107161?pwd=N2tDaENCMExIUXZ4Mi95V3JYSHNmdz09

Meeting ID: 898 5310 7161
Passcode: 2023rm

SCYM has made donations to Friends Ugandan Safe Transport - FUST for many years now. Don Satterthwaite sent the following three documents after SCYM 2023 so Friends can know more about the situation for homosexual people in Uganda and what Friends are doing to help. 

Uganda FUST - Resources and Program Information

ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL PENALTIES –SUMMARY 

Status report on Ugandan anti-homosexual legislation for SCYM 2023