The Wider Quaker Fellowship

1506 Race Street · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102 · 215.241.7293
wqf@fwccamericas.org · http://www.fwccamericas.org/about_us/programs/wqf.shtml

September 2006

Dear Fellows and F/friends of the WQF,

Greetings from the office of the Wider Quaker Fellowship and FWCC!  Today is rainy and dreary here in Philadelphia, but we’re still grateful that the intense heat of earlier this summer has cooled.

This mailing consists of three articles that can speak to many of us in our daily lives.  Paul Lacey’s piece, Nourishing the Spiritual Life:  Finding Companionship is excerpted from his book Nourishing the Spiritual Life, and seems quite timely in this age of polarization between religious and political ideologies.  How I Survived My Halo, by Yvonne Boeger, offers a perspective on facing life’s inevitable trials.  Eating the Bread of Anxious Toil, by Joe Roos, was first reprinted by the WQF in 1993, and we are reprinting it again in honor of the 70th anniversary of the WQF’s founding.  As the holiday season approaches, bringing more activities to what, for many of us, are already over-scheduled lives, we can keep Joe’s words and those of the psalmist in our minds and hearts.

We, the WQF clerk, committee and secretary, are deeply grateful to all of you who have responded to our surveys and let us know that you value and support the Fellowship’s ministry.  Additional thanks go to many of you who have sent donations for the first time ever, or the first time in recent years.  We have talked repeatedly about the need to reduce costs.  We hope you understand that we have no intention of cutting off anyone based on ability to pay; but, we do need to know if the fruits of our efforts are going to folks who really want them.  We hope that all of you will continue to support the Fellowship with your prayers, and that those who can will continue, or even increase, your financial support.

Some of you who used the FWCC/WQF web site recently to sign up for our mailings may not have been aware that you could also choose to receive email notices when the WQF mailings go out, and then access the materials online, directly from the web site.  If you would prefer that option instead of postal mail, please let me know, at the address or telephone above or by email:  wqf@fwccamericas.org

Note to all fans of the Motto Calendar:  We will send it out in a few weeks to everyone, even those who chose to receive mailings online.  It will be included in our end-of-year appeal, so please look for it.

May the upcoming holidays bring you all many blessings.

In God’s Peace,

Vicki Hain Poorman

WQF Program Secretary