Rekindling the Fire of Fox

Community-of-Practice Posts & Subpages:

Community-of-Practice Democratizes “ Esoteric” Quaker Mysticism

Imagery 

Small Group Dynamics

Supports to Practice: Relevant Quaker Resources

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Reading & Videos:

• Slides: Thought Leaders who inform the Quaker community-of-practice; Quaker and resonant publications, training, institutes and curricula.
• Slides: Thought Leaders who inform the Inner Landscapes, Activists’ Community-of-Practice.
• Love is THE Evolutionary Spark.
• Seminal Cadbury Fellowship Paper: Quaker Activists: Keepers of Society’s “Imaginal Cells,” Pamela Boyce Simms.
• Quaker Pathways Forward – Rekindling the Fire of Fox: Premises. 
• (Video- 23 min) QuEd Talk – Quaker Exploration and Dialogue Presentation, Pamela Boyce Simms, Montclair Friends Meeting, New Jersey.
• (Video) Quaker Pathways Forward, Pamela Boyce Simms, San Antonio Friends Meeting talk, Texas:
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
• (Video) Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering, Quaker Pathways Forward: Niagara Falls Plenary Address, Pamela Boyce Simms.  
• (Podcast) – Northern Spirit Radio: Deep Contemplative Practice and Evolutionary Culture-building, Pamela Boyce Simms.  
• (Video clip – 3 min) Dr. Dan Siegel, Accident inadvertently opens the door from self to Self. 
• (Video 21 min) Connecting with the Intuitive Guidance of the Heart, Deborah Rozman.

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HISTORY & SCHEDULED EVENTS

Rekindling the Fire of Fox 

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

November 4, 2017: Presentation, Nine Partners Quarterly Meeting, NYYM, New Paltz, NY

October 26-29: FGC Central Committee Meeting, Reisterstown, Maryland.

October 21: Tree Energy – Exercises in Non-duality Workshop, Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW), Pendle Hill.

October 18-25, 2017: Community of Practice Small Group Practice Sessions.

October 14: Workshop, Brooklyn Friends Meeting.

September 19-28, 2017: Community of Practice 2017 Cadre I. – Orientation and Small Group Practice Sessions.

September 16, 2017: NYYM QUED Talk (Quaker Exploration and Discourse) Montclair [NJ] Friends Meeting.

September 1-3, 2017: Talk, Cielo Grande Quarterly Meeting, South Central Yearly Meeting, San Antonio, Texas.

August 1-5, 2017: Baltimore Yearly Meeting summer sessions, Interest Group.

July 25, 2017: Tree Energy – Exercises in Non-duality Community Worship Presentation, NYYM Summer Sessions, Lake George, NY. 

July 12, 2017: Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) United Nations African Diaspora Earthcare Coalition Side Event.

July 7, 2017: FGC Gathering Keynote Speech.

July 4, 2017: FGC Gathering Interest Group: Quaker Pathways Forward.

July 3, 2017: Tree Energy – Exercises in Non-duality Workshop, Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) Center at the FGC Gathering.

May 19 – 20: Quaker Pathways Forward networking conversations, New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM), Farmington Scipio Regional Meeting Spring Sessions.

April 23, 2017 – Quaker Pathways Forward, Rise of Meeting Talk – Washington (DC) Friends Meeting

April 24, 2017: Introductory meeting with General Secretary, interim and current Clerks of Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM).

April 1 – 15, 2017: Individual video-consultations and group discussion with General Secretary, current, rising, and two former Clerks of New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM).

March – April 15, 2017: Planning and scheduling for 2017 ministry consultations with Yearly Meetings and Quaker national organizations began in accordance with steps below.

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STEPS: Yearly Meeting Quaker Evolutionary Culture-Building 

Phase I. 2017-2018 Twelve Month Project Introduction – Goal:  Initiate the healing of fragmentation within the Quaker constellation of organizations and networks.

Step 1: March 2017 – Begin convening meetings with Yearly Meeting (YM) Clerks throughout the country via video chat and in person when possible. Invited to this initial round of conversations from each Yearly Meeting are the:

1. Current Clerk,
2. Rising Clerk,
3. Two most recent past Clerks.

Step 2: Connect individually with, and subsequently convene Yearly Meeting and Friends umbrella organization General Secretaries throughout the country via video chat and in-person.

Step 3: Convene focus groups of interested Friends, e.g. “Future of Quakerism” interest group which met at the 2016 Gathering and other Friends who are evolutionary culture-building champions via a video conference platform.

Step 4: Convene regional meetings of Clerks, General Secretaries and Friends groups via a video conference platform (separately).

Step 5:  Coordinate with planned annual General Secretaries’ and alternate-year Clerks’ meetings to engage in in-person Quaker evolutionary culture-building conversations.

Step 6:  Convene North American Meeting of Clerks, General Secretaries and Friends groups (together).

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Phase I.  Meeting Content

1. Read, discuss, and understand the“Evolutionary Culture-building Premises” expressed in the Quaker Pathways Forward seminal paper and subsequent articles. Exchange perspectives on, a) the multifaceted global crises humanity faces, b) preparedness of the Quaker universe of Friends and Friends organizations to effectively engage with these complex convergent crises, and, c) the future of Quaker social transformation work.

2. Note recurring concerns, themes, similarities and differences.

3. Discern potential pathways forward in the context of 21st century evolutionary culture design.

4. Open emerging pathways for enhanced YM interconnectivity in order to facilitate and deepen transformative corporate social impact. Discuss and understand prevalent and emerging culture in each yearly meeting.

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Step 7: Formulate and disseminate a written: Window into North American Yearly Meetings and Pathways Forward.

Step 8: Opt IN – Opt OUT Point – YM representatives may choose to embrace the Evolutionary Culture-building Projects Premises and Pathways Forward at this stage, or pursue divergent goals and methods, supported by our compassion and well wishes.

Step 9: Form a Project Core Group of Evolutionary Culture Design Yearly Meetings that is primed to move into Phase II.

1. Evaluate 2017 Phase I goals, process, and outcomes from multiple vantage points.
2. Assess efficacy of affiliation of the project with Pendle Hill.
3. Course-correct as needed.
4. Formulate a fluid 2018 set of intentions course of action.

 

March 1, 2017: The Pathways Forward: Rekindling the Fire of Fox ministry  became a Pendle Hill-based and supported ministry for a one year period, from March 1, 2017- February 28, 2018, subject to mutually agreed upon renewal at that time.

• A cadre of ministry “champions” coalesce. Friends who are resonant with ideas expressed in the paper began to emerge and express support for the direct application of “Pathways Forward” Quaker Revival work in Friends networks,

• A fellowship paper entitled, Quaker Pathways Forward – Activation of Society’s Imaginal Cells, is written and disseminated to a broad spectrum of Friends at multiple scales of the North American Quaker network to elicit feedback (which was generous in scope and extremely helpful).

• PBS conducted a day-long retreat for Friends General Conference (FGC) staff persons, sharing and applying through practice many of the Fellowship ideas  and cognitive science concepts.

• PBS conducted a workshop on the intersection of 21st century social transformation, cognitive science, and Quaker contemplative practice at the national meeting of Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) at Pendle Hill. Participant feedback was folded into research going forward.