“Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

Now our minds are one."

-From Words Before All, a Haudenosaunee thanksgiving address

Click here to see the entire address recited by Steve Henhawk, a Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ speaker and historian.

Thanksgiving Worship at Hector Meetinghouse

by Elizabeth Schneider

Hector Meetinghouse has been open for Sunday Worship since Easter morning this past April. A group of Friends gathered before dawn in the Meetinghouse and awaited the arrival of daylight. My view outside one of the windows is still in my memory -- as I watched more and more light coming into the room with all the hopefulness that comes with thinking of spring and summer. Now we are approaching the last day for Worship in 2023. Appropriately, it will be on Thanksgiving Day at 10:30am. It will be a time for giving thanks for the opportunity we have had to worship both outdoors behind the Meetinghouse and indoors. It will also be a time to give thanks for the joyous wedding of Cai and Joshua which took place there amid their relatives and F/friends. And it is also a time to remember persons who were there regularly over a period of years -- Jim Finlay and Judith Knight. Their contributions and energy are with us.

I personally feel blessed to worship in this space, which even for me is filled with memories starting when I was only visiting Ithaca and through last Sunday. I look forward to our gathering of this year.

What's With All the Email Lists?

by Melissa Travis Dunham

For space considerations, I've excerpted this article. You can read it in its entirety - including explanations of the different listservs - on our IMM website.

Simplicity may be one of our Quaker testimonies, but sharing or finding information about Ithaca Monthly Meeting (IMM) is complicated! As a Meeting, we use numerous communication methods in an effort to provide information and create community among F/friends.

Some of the ways we share information include:

• Email sent to the IMM listserv
• Our monthly newsletter
• Announcements at the rise of Meeting
• Events listed in the Calendar on our website
• A detailed announcement or explanation shared in a blog post on our website
• Phone calls from a designated person in Meeting to F/friends
• A notice is posted in the Meetinghouse (generally only used for the annual meeting of the IMMRSF Corporation)
• A letter or note mailed to Friends' homes (This is increasingly less common, though the Finance Committee usually mails a letter near the end of the year asking Friends to consider donating to the Meeting.)
• If there are documents or files to review (such as agenda, minutes, and reports for Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business), they may be stored in a shared online drive and a link sent via the listserv and included in the newsletter. Sometimes documents are sent as attachments via the listserv. . . .

The first two items in the list of methods - the newsletter and the listserv - may be the most confusing to Friends, mainly because more than one email list is involved and there are additional options within the method. . . .

My general rule: if in doubt, send it to the Community listserv!

You can read this entire article on our website.

NYYM Announcements

This column was compiled by Melanie-Claire Mallison, IMM's representative to New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM). A collection of activities happening in the Yearly Meeting and available to all Friends will be a regular feature in this newsletter.

Review the Draft NYYM Budget for 2024

Your input is requested! As approved at Summer Sessions 2023 (minute 2023-07-17), the New York Yearly Meeting Budget Development Committee has prepared a DRAFT 2024 Budget for Friends' review and comments. Here is the link to the DRAFT NYYM 2024 Budget. Click on the link at the end of a line item to make a comment on that item. If you have more than one comment, you'll need to submit the first comment before clicking the budget form to add another comment.

Want to Discuss the NYYM 2024 Budget?

If you’d like to hear a 10-15 minute presentation and have an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about the 2024 budget, some members of the Budget Development Committee (BDC) are hosting a discussion on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 4 pm. The budget is not currently finalized and may not be final at the time of the discussion but it is getting close. To attend, fill out this very simple Virtual Interest Group registration form.

NYYM Fall Sessions

Fall Session will be held virtually, December 1-3, 2023, Friday night through Sunday afternoon. We will meet for Corporate Worship with a concern for Business, social meals and fellowship. Our theme, “Rebuilding Faith in Changing Times” will provide spiritual sustenance during this period and beyond. Come, listen and let your voices be heard on practical strategies to help boost our Budget Development Committee (BDC) proposal for financially and spiritually uplifting our yearly meeting.

For more information, click here or visit www.nyym.org.

NYYM Winter Meeting for Discernment

March 2, 2024

The Winter Meeting for Discernment will be held online on Saturday, March 2, 2024. Meeting for Discernment is an opportunity for Friends to listen deeply together, sharing concerns individually and for their meetings. It's held twice a year.

NYYM would like to expand the Meeting for Discernment Steering Committee to include diverse Friends from across the yearly meeting. The Steering Committee usually meets once a month, and then more often as we get closer to each meeting. If you are interested and/or would like to visit a Steering Committee meeting, please reach out to the co-clerks of the Steering Committee:

Lu Harper, luharper@gmail.com (585) 732-4779

Kaitlyn Pawlukojc, kpawlukojc@gmail.com (631) 662-7390

Co-clerks, Meeting for Discernment Steering Committee

The 2024 Pendle Hill Spring Term



Applications are now open for the 2024 season of this 10-week residential study program on Pendle Hill's beautiful 24-acre campus, March 1-May 10, 2024. Pendle Hill’s Spring Term offers a greenhouse – a protected space for Friends and other seekers to bring leadings, ideas, questions, and other seeds of the “already but not yet” – to nurture these visions into being, through the daily rhythm of study, work, and worship in community. The syllabus, FAQs, and more details are available on our webpage. If you're curious about whether this program is for you, please reach out to admissions@pendlehill.org or join us for a free online info session on November 11.

An Invitation to Read a Friend's Personal Reflections

Chester Freeman (who has visited our Meeting) has written a deeply personal feature article for the October issue of Friends Journal: "Baggage and Blessings". In it he expresses his heart, mind and spirit while inviting us as readers to inwardly digest, reflect and discover insights from his reflections. He offers a way of listening to the truth of his own person experience as a Quaker as well as his racial and religious history. He offers silence to hear the voices of others and his own inner voice. He invites all members who feel comfortable to leave comments online at the link below or to write to him personally at chesterdanielfreeman@gmail.com.

Dish-to-pass: Family and Potluck Sundays

Ministry and Worship will continue potlucks on the last Sunday of the month. We will also provide childcare on these Sundays, to encourage family participation in both worship and potlucks. Our next potluck will be on Sunday, November 26 and we will be prepared to offer childcare during Meeting for Worship that day.  We invite Friends to continue to join this Ministry of sharing food together.

Where are Monthly Meeting minutes?

The minutes and reports from Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business can be found in the Meeting for Business folder on our shared IMM drive.

Meeting for Worship

Sundays, 10:30 am

Ithaca Friends gather for unprogrammed Meeting for Worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30 am. During warmer months (generally from Easter to Thanksgiving) Friends have three options for attending Meeting for Worship:

• In-person at our Hector Meetinghouse
• In-person at our Third Street Meetinghouse
• Remotely via Zoom, for a hybrid Meeting for Worship with Friends at the Third Street Meetinghouse. You can join by Zoom by clicking the gray button or
• Meeting ID: 372 632 479
• Passcode: friends

Men’s Fellowship

Thursday, November 2, 6p

Friends, join us at Ithaca Bakery on Route 13! Quaker men—and anyone who wants to hang out with Quaker men—are warmly invited.

Earthcare Committee

Sunday, November 5, 12:30p

The Earthcare Committee typically meets at 12:30 on the first Sunday of each month. For further information contact Betsy Keokosky at evk1@cornell.edu.

This committee meeting is open to all who would like to attend. Please feel free to come and bring your own concerns or interests. At this time we are meeting via Zoom; use the gray button below or:

• Meeting ID: 891 7172 6300
• Passcode: earthcare

Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Sunday, November 12, 12:30p

You can join us in person at Third Street Meeting House or on Zoom at the link below. Please send agenda items to the Clerk by the preceding Monday. (Contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter.)

• Meeting ID: 372 632 479
• Password: friends

IMM Inclusion Meeting

Thursday, November 14, 7-9pm

via Zoom

There will be another gathering to share about Inclusion in Ithaca Monthly Meeting. Watch the announcements listserv for the queries to be discussed. To ask questions or share anything about this please contact Carol Clarke, Angela Hopkins, Ellie Rosenberg, Nancy Riffer or Ruth Yarrow.

Meeting ID: 824 8740 9437

Passcode: welcoming

Women’s Fellowship

Friday, November 17, 7:00 p

Bring your knitting, wear your best sweatpants, and join us for an informal hangout. Watch the IMM Announcements listserv for information on whether we will meet in person or on Zoom. The decision will likely be based on the weather.

• Meeting ID: 872 0179 0136
• Passcode: women

Sharing our Spiritual Journeys

Sunday, November 19, 9-10am

Hybrid from Third Street Meetinghouse and on Zoom

Join Friends for a series of worship sharing on our spiritual journeys. Each month one Friend will share their spiritual journey for a few minutes, with time after for worship sharing. You can join in person at the Third Street Meetinghouse or via Zoom.

• Meeting ID: 825 8985 5975
• Passcode: friends

Peace and Social Justice Committee

Sunday, November 19, 12:30p

This is an “open” committee, meaning that all are welcome; participation does not go through the Nominating Committee process. Please feel free to come and bring your own concerns or interests. If you have any questions, please call Garry Thomas at 607-273-7567.

At this time we are meeting via Zoom; use the gray button below or: 

• Meeting ID: 874 5684 8390
• Password: peace

Thanksgiving Meeting for Worship

Thursday, November 23, 10:30am

Hector Meetinghouse

There will be a Meeting for Worship at Hector Meetinghouse on Thanksgiving morning at 10:30am. The wood stove will provide heat. Dress warmly. All are welcome.

Dish-to-Pass Brunch

Sunday, November 26, 12:30p

Third Street Meetinghouse

All are welcome to join in food and fellowship. Food contributions are welcome but stay even if you forgot.

Ithaca Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

120 Third Street • Ithaca NY 14850

ithacamonthlymeeting.org