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Visalia Friends Meeting

17208 Ave. 296, Visalia, CA 93292 / (559) 734-8275

2012
Clerk: Ginger Curtis
Newsletter Archive


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(Previous billboard messages.)

Welcome!

We welcome you to the Visalia Friends Meeting. We are affiliated with the Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Meeting for worship begins at 10:30 am. A map is provided below. We invite you to share in our meeting for worship and hope that the following words will introduce you to the nature of our gathering.

Friends believe that within each person there is a divine light that we share with the eternal and with that of God in others. A direct experience of God is open to anyone who is willing to sit quietly and search for the light. We join together in silence seeking this presence of God.

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Our meeting is unprogrammed and lasts about an hour. Children have the opportunity to go to the Children's program for the first portion of this hour. During the silent worship anyone who feels moved to share a message may do so. Ideally, these messages are framed by silence and deepen the awareness of the spiritual values on which the meeting is based.

The meeting is closed by the joining of hands. It is then our custom to introduce ourselves and make brief announcements. While there may be some who quietly depart, reflecting still on the experience of the meeting, other Friends will linger to greet one another. We invite all to share in this important part of our religious fellowship.

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Should you have questions about the Religious Society of Friends,
feel free to ask any of our members or regular attenders.
As an introduction you might like to read Who are the Quakers.

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[Map of Quaker Oaks Farm]


(The meeting house is also used by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Visalia
and the South Valley Peace Center.)


Visalia Meeting Links


Friendly Faces:
We now have a Flickr Account in the name of VFMeeting,
making it easier to post and share photos. If you have photos you would like
to post, contact David Chandler for instructions

Friendly Faces: Archive Photos

 

PYM Online Registration

Countdown to Copenhagen: Church World Service Campaign for Climate Justice

The "Quaker Oak"

South Valley Peace Center

Conscientious Objector Counseling Project

Thinking About War and Participarion in War (co.quaker.org)

World Link TV Video Commentary

Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP)

Some Statements on Vocal Ministry
[HTML and PDF versions reprinted from Faith and Practice and Friends Journal]

Urgent Epistle from the Global Warming Workshop at FGC

Fall 2006 Issue of AFSC's Quaker Action
(With article on Self Help Enterprises in Visalia featuring Graciela Martinez)

Karen Street's Global Warming Blog
(Karen was our guest speaker at our Fall 2006 retreat)

Sara Aixin Curtis Ruehling, 1998-2005

Memorial to Diana Araujo, 1947-2003

Memorial to Bard McAllister, 1918-2001
A Poem for Bard from Krishna


Antiwar Activity

Extremely conservative estimate
(based on international news reported deaths only).

 

More realistic estimate based on projections from a 2006 scientific study,
using statistical sampling techniques, by a team from Johns Hopkins University
published in the Lancet medical journal.

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Cost of the War in Iraq
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To see more details, click here.

The Visalia Friends Meeting has been at the forefront of local antiwar activities, leading to the formation of a new umbrella group, the South Valley Peace Center. We maintained a vigil on the corner of Mooney and Walnut every Sunday from September 2002 through the "nominal end" of the war in Iraq. We are now on the street again, first Sunday of each month, protesting our continuing destructive involvement in Iraq.

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Immigration Issues

Several of our members and attenders are involved with the AFSC's Proyecto Campesino in Visalia. Additionally, one member, Saundra Sturdevant, has been working through her own documentary photography and the Migrant Photography Project to raise consciousness of the plight of immigrant labor in the fields of California's Central Valley.

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(See related Flier)


Our New YouTube Channel

The Visalia Friends Meeting now has its own YouTube channel. The intention is to post videos describing the wide range of issues our members and attenders are involved with.

Essays, Letters, etc.

Who Are the Quakers?

My "Aha!" Moment

A Look at Prayer

An Open Letter to President George W. Bush
[Regarding separation of church and state]

An Open Letter Re. 9-11 in the Fresno Bee

Queries on Our Response to Terrorism

Rebuild Afghanistan Art Piece and Flier

FCNL Statement on the September 11 Attacks

June 2002 Pastor's Column, "The Good Samaritan"

November 2002 Pastor's Column, "Judgment Day"

Why We Oppose, and Will Continue to Oppose, This War

May 2003 Pastor's Column, "Melting the Iceberg of Violence"

October 2003 Pastor's Column, "There Is But One God"

October 2004 Pastor's Column, "On Earth as it Is in Heaven"

February 2005 Pastor's Column, "Seeking the Light"

May 2005 Pastor's Column, "The Bible Says..."

October 2005 Pastor's Column, "Responding to Katrina"

Racism in Visalia: A Reflection on MLK Day, 2006

Article published in The Canadian supporting US Military Resistors in Canada


Web Pages & Activities of Members/Attenders
Promoting Quaker Values

(These web pages are produced by and reflect the views of the named individuals.
They should not be interpreted as speaking for the Visalia Friends Meeting.)

Social Documentary Photography in California and Asia
The Oaxaca Uprising

Saundra Sturdevant

The L-Curve: Income Distribution of the United States
Thinking About War and Participation in War
911SpeakOut

Collected Writings
David Chandler

Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center
Klara East, Rose Ann Gutierrez, & David Chandler
(This is a public charter school supporting homeschool families. It is not overtly "Quaker,"
but its structural support for nurturing families and the individuality of children, against a tide
of production-oriented and testing-driven education, align it with Quaker values.)

Progressive Writers Bloc
A group formed to contribute opinion pieces to local newspapers. Meeting members and attenders participating in the group include Lisa Bilek, Ed Brennen, Tony Brown, David and Billie Chandler, Heather Howard, Bill Lovett, David Roberts, Greg Seastrom, Bill and Jeanie Warner, and Trudy Wischemann.
(No longer active, but the web page continues to receive hundreds of hits per month.)


Other Links of Interest to Quakers

The Quaker Home Page

Just and Unjust War, by Howard Zinn

Bumper Stickers at PYM

A Statement from Leaders of Friends Organizations in the U.S.
Regarding the War in Iraq

Humboldt Meeting's Statement Expressing Concern
about Recent Erosions of Civil Liberties

Quaker Statements on the Pledge of Allegiance

Sierra Friends Center (formerly John Woolman School)

Friends Committees for State & National Legislation

FCNL Statement on 9/11

OnTheIssues.org
A web site detailing how each politician votes on the issues

An Open Letter to the American People Re. 9/11

Study Materials on the Gospel of Thomas and Gnostic Writings

1880 Article: "The Position of Quakerism"

Quaker News Group

Quaker Economist

Quaker Electronic Archive
[Including an On-Line Meeting]

List of some Friends Meetings

Autobiography of George Fox
...with Linked Index and Guide
...on Audio (mp3 files)

American Friends Service Committee

AFSC: Youth and the Military

Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Project

Martin Luther King's Speech about Vietnam

 

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Website Design: David Chandler

We appreciate the generosity of Russell Nelson (www.quaker.org) for providing this web space.

 

gipoco.com is neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its contents. This is a safe-cache copy of the original web site.