Walking with Quakers Continues
Mondays, 3pm, at Stewart Park
Ithaca Quakers have been meeting up each Monday to walk through Stewart Park together. This fall we walked each week in September and October. Those who have attended find it to be an enjoyable time together. At the last of our scheduled walks, as twilight was deepening, Friends decided that we wanted to continue to meet for walks each week! The sense of the group gathered is that we'll meet at the Large Pavilion at Stewart Park each Monday. Since we don't want to walk in the dark, we'll be gathering at 3pm (instead of 5:30 as we had in the spring and early fall). Regrettably, this means Friends who work during the day won't be able to join us. But if you're free at 3pm on a Monday afternoon, feel free to join! All are welcome!
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Thanksgiving Meeting for Worship
Thursday, November 27, 10:30a
Hector Meetinghouse
There will be a Meeting for Worship at the Hector Meetinghouse on Thanksgiving Day at 10:30 am. There will be a fire in the wood stove and hot cider afterwards.
Photo by Kris Altucher
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Friends' Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner
Thursday, November 27, 4p
Third Street Meetinghouse
We will be having a traditional vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day, November 27 starting at 4 at the Meetinghouse, open to all!
Since it would be helpful to know who is planning to attend, or might attend the Thanksgiving dinner we put together a quick survey to collect RSVPs and other information. Please click here to RSVP for dinner on Thanksgiving, at 4pm.
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Message from IMMPaCCT
The Ithaca Monthly Meeting Pastoral Care Coordinating Team, or IMMPaCCT, is a committee that works to facilitate practical care and support for Friends when they need it. We're a small group and although those of us on the committee try to provide support directly when we can, our main purpose is to help coordinate care by working with the broader Meeting to address Friends' needs as they arise. But that doesn't mean all forms of support within the meeting need to go through us: we've noticed that a number of people are reaching out to others directly when they have a need, and this is great! We want to encourage everyone to continue to use your own networks of support, including our Meeting's Community listserv, to connect with others when you need a ride, a meal, a visit, a helping hand, or anything else.
But sometimes coordinating these things for yourself is just too much, and that's where we hope IMMPaCCT can play a role! If you ever find yourself needing support, but you're not sure where to turn, you can email us at IMMPACCT@ithacamonthlymeeting.org. We will then reach out to other friends on your behalf to coordinate support requests.
In this spirit we would also love to know what help you are willing and able to offer to Friends on an occasional basis. For instance this might include rides, visits, meals, phone calls, etc. To be clear: letting us know that you can offer rides, for example, does not commit you to providing rides at a specific time, it just helps us know who to reach out to when someone has a ride request. Please email us at the address above to let IMMPaCCT know what help you are generally able to offer so that we can better coordinate needs in the future.
| | | | You are invited to a Watercolor Fundraiser at Southside Community Center on Saturday Nov. 15 from noon to 4 pm. Ruth Yarrow will sell her paintings and notecards, with all proceeds going to support Southside. Other folks will also be bringing potential gifts to sell at this bazaar. | |
Finger Lakes Fiddle Orchestra Concert
The Finger Lakes Fiddle Orchestra extends an invitation to their upcoming concert to all in our Meeting! The group practices in our Third Street Meetinghouse. One of the musicians shared the group is "so appreciative of using the space every week."
Monday November 17, 2025, 7pm-8pm
First Baptist Church (located off DeWitt Park 309 North Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY)
All are welcome to join for this free performance.
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Emailing Committees
Last month, we wrote about our Meeting listservs and how we can use them to send messages to large groups of F/friends. But what if you want to email smaller groups or individuals, such as a committee or someone doing a specific task for Meeting? You might know the email addresses of some or all the people on a committee and could email them directly. Or you might email the clerk and ask that your message be forwarded to all who need to know. The Communications Committee has an easier option: specific email addresses for committees, groups, or roles in our Meeting!
Since we implemented Google Workspace for Nonprofits at the beginning of the year, we can easily create email addresses with the ithacamonthlymeeting.org domain. There have been two such emails for many years: clerk@ithacamonthlymeeting.org and treasurer@ithacamonthlymeeting.org. Now we’ve created several more. The list below shows roles or committees in IMM and the email address you can use to write to that person/group.
These are roles within Meeting that have an email address:
These committees have an email address:
If your committee doesn’t yet have an IMM-specific email and you think it would be helpful, please contact Comm Comm know by emailing commcomm@ithacamonthlymeeting.org.
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New to the Library is the latest Pendle Hill pamphlet, “Patterns of Racial Wounding and Racial Justice in Quaker Communities” (available for normal checkout) and this month’s Friends Journal (available for reading in the meetinghouse while we discern how to best have these magazines circulate).
The Library Committee will be working through the materials the meeting has in the Library Annex upstairs. If you or a group in meeting have been using that space to store anything that is not meant for the Library, know that we will be curating the material in the Annex, believing the boxes of materials are all under the purview of the Library. Please let us know if there are materials in that room that we should put to the side for others! We will be moving Burtt House books to the Third Street Meetinghouse in the coming months, and we need to bring order to this space ahead of that.
Contact Michael Trotti on the Library Committee (mtrotti@ithaca.edu) if you have ideas for how our Library can best serve the Friends Meeting and our work!
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Friend Shares About His Experience with Cancer
Chester Freeman of Rochester Friends Meeting is struggling with cancer. He was asked by the editor of CURE magazine to write about his personal journey with cancer. This link to his video that describes some of his experiences. He thinks you will find it informative, inspiring and insightful.
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Wider Quaker Events
This column was compiled by Carol Clarke, IMM's representative to New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM). A collection of activities happening in the Yearly Meeting (and beyond) and available to all Friends is a regular feature in this newsletter.
Save the Date! Summer Sessions at Silver Bay
July 12-18, 2026
New York Yearly Meeting’s Summer Sessions next year will be back at Silver Bay on Lake George. In addition to fellowship and fun activities across ages, deep worship, and yearly meeting business, there will be opportunities for kayaking, paddle-boarding and swimming on Lake George. To make this happen, Friends will need to register and pay before the end of January. NYYM has a ‘pay as led’ practice with this event. Here are links to more information:
NYYM Fall Session
Dec 5-7, online
New York Yearly Meeting will have Fall Sessions online Dec 5-7. This will mainly be NYYM business. Please watch for an announcement on the IMM Listserv to register, which will be required to get the agenda, advance documents and zoom link for the sessions.
Conversation Circles for Those Caring for Meetings
You’re invited to join a series of Zoom-based conversations being hosted by Emily Provance over the winter (December-March). You can find a full description of the groups here. There are four conversation circles for Friends in specific
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Committee Structure: for Friends in meetings or organizations who are reorganizing their committee structures. Register here.
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Building/Property Relationships: for Friends who are thinking about or are actively selling or renting out their buildings. Register here.
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Laying Down Meetings and Churches: for Friends in meetings that are considering laying themselves down or are laying themselves down. Register here.
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Small Meetings and Churches: for Friends in meetings that are not necessarily doing any of those things but are very small, ten or fewer in worship on Sunday, and who want to connect with other Friends about that experience. Register here.
This is a follow-up on the life cycle of meetings work that Emily and other Friends have been doing for several years; free resources on that here. The conversation groups are an opportunity for direct contact between Friends having similar experiences. There may be a brief informational/presentation portion but most of the focus will be on large- and small-group discussions and mutual support.
These conversations are free and open to Friends from any yearly meeting. The registration page is here.
Meet and Greet Yana and Monya, the new PoHo Youth Co-ordinators
November 6 from 6:30-7:30
All are welcome to meet the new Powell House Youth Coordinators, Yana Landowne and Monya Relles. Please register to have the zoom link sent to you:
November 7-9, 2025
Registration is now open for the Online Fall Retreat for Friends of Color. This event is coordinated by Friends General Conference (FGC)'s Ministry on Racism Program. The retreat includes spiritual nurture, connection, and community building. Click here to register.
by Sweetwater Nannauck (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian)
Saturday, November 8, 4-6 p.m. ET. Register Here.
In this interactive workshop, Sweetwater Nannauck (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian) will explain how working with Native Americans toward social and environmental justice involves letting go of and dismantling colonial cycles of oppression. We'll explore Indigenous resistance that is based on tradition and culture, learn what it means to be a good ally and respectfully attend Native events and actions, and reflect on how to recognize and intervene in 'Colonial Moments'. From Friends Peace Teams.
Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples
Sunday, November 16th, 4-6 p.m. ET; register here.
In this 2-hour participatory program, we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States. The story is told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. We engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussions. And we are invited to consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity. Facilitated by Toward Right Relationship’s Native and non-Native teams. Appropriate for high school students and adults.
Connect Call from Farmington Scipio Regional Meeting
November 17, 7pm
Shelly Font, of Farmington (formerly of Central Finger Lakes), will share a book of poetry she has published, Too Many Epiphanies: Spinning Madness Into Poetry. She will talk about madness, homelessness, and religious abuse. She wants you to know that you are not alone.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81057677785?pwd=71z6lbUPXSKSaOEyiHc8Ao4gokEkh9.1
Meeting ID: 810 5767 7785; Passcode: 241176
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Upcoming Events at Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill shares details for next year’s Resident Student Program, as well as some upcoming events.
Friends’ Decision-Making and Clerking: Participating in Meetings for Business with Joy and Confidence
On Campus, November 21-23.
A weekend workshop with Steve Mohlke and ,O on liberatory clerking skills and principles.
This is an opportunity for both new and experienced clerks of Friends’ meetings and committees to meet and think together about the role of presiding clerk in the spiritual practice of meeting for business.
The workshop will address racism in the context of Friends’ decision-making and clerking. We need to pay attention to racism because it affects (infects) nearly everything in this society, and we will be lifting up decision-making processes that seek to liberate the Spirit among all participants.
There will be handouts to follow along during the program, exercises, and opportunities to share experiences, with most work being done in a whole group setting. It is expected that each person will leave the weekend with new energy and enthusiasm for being a clerk, feeling well grounded in both the theoretical and the practical.
The Spring Term Resident Student Program
On campus: March 1-28, or March 1-April 30
Center, discern, and live into the beloved community through the daily rhythms of worship and learning, work and rest.
This immersive experience will begin with Session I, March 1 – March 28. Following an orientation, Valerie Brown will teach How to Rest: Reclaiming Resilience in Uncertain Times. Students will then transition into Marcelle Martin’s course, Discerning Our Calls.
Session I participants may choose to continue for Session II, March 29-April 30, an opportunity to practice the skills of Session I in community, and to continue to learn together through elective courses exploring themes of faith, justice in creativity.
Session II students are invited to stay on for Pendle Hill’s Quaker Institute, Sing a New Song, May 1-4.
Learn more at pendlehill.org/springterm.
Other upcoming events include:
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November First Monday Lecture: hybrid: Nov 3. A First Monday Lecture with Eileen Flanagan on her book, Common Ground: How the Crisis of the Earth Is Saving Us from Our Illusion of Separation.
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Experiment with Light: online: Thursdays, Nov 6-20. A three-part online series introducing early Quaker contemplative practices for spiritual growth.
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Listening to Spirit in Conflict: online: Nov 15. An online workshop with Dwight Dunston exploring conflict. Learn skills, challenge habits, and attune to the spirit.
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Journey Toward Wholeness: on Campus: October 31-November 2, January 30-February 1, March 27-29, June 5-7. Another opportunity to experience residential community at Pendle Hill, this series of four weekend-long retreats over a seven month period will offer a deep-dive into your soul’s journey, cultivating the ground for hope and renewal in our lives, our workplaces, our communities, and our world.
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Dish-to-pass: Family and Potluck Sundays
Our next potluck will be on Sunday, November 30 at the 12:00pm at our Third Street Meetinghouse. We will also be prepared to offer childcare during Meeting for Worship that day. We invite Friends to continue to join this Ministry of sharing food together.
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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.
| | This Month's Calendar of Ithaca Monthly Meeting | |
To join any Zoom meeting, click the gray button under the event listing. You can also join by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering the Meeting ID when prompted. | | | | |
Meeting for Worship on Sundays
Ithaca Friends gather for unprogrammed Meeting for Worship on Sunday mornings. Currently, Friends have a few options for attending Meeting for Worship:
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9am inside at our Hector Meetinghouse (Weather permitting. Contact Antonia Saxon or look for an announcement on the listserv on Saturday to see if there will be worship at Hector on Sunday morning.)
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10:30am in-person at our Third Street Meetinghouse or 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
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Midweek Meeting for Worship
Wednesdays, 10:15am
Third Street Meetinghouse
Mid-week worship at the Third St. Meetinghouse happens every Wednesday. There will be a query from Quaker sources other than New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice. After a half hour of worship, Friends are invited to do worship sharing about the query.
There is also a Zoom mid-week meeting, contact Nancy Riffer for more information or look for an announcement on our Meeting's Announcements listserv.
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Walk with Ithaca Friends
Mondays, 3:00 pm (Note time change from previous walks!)
Meet at Stewart Park, Large Pavilion (1 James L Gibbs Dr, Ithaca, NY 14850)
Join F/friends for an informal walk through Stewart Park. We will gather at the Large Pavilion, and will start our walk at 3:00 pm. There is no need to RSVP... come once, or come every week, as you wish and have time for!
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Earthcare Committee
Sunday, November 2, 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
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Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Sunday, November 9, 12:30p
Third Street Meetinghouse or via Zoom
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
- Passcode: friends
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Sharing our Spiritual Journeys
Sunday, November 16, 9:00 am
Third Street Meetinghouse or via 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
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Peace and Social Justice Committee
Sunday, November 16, 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
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Men’s Fellowship
Thursday, November 20, 6pm
Ithaca Bakery, Route 13
Friends, join us at Ithaca Bakery on Route 13 (400 Meadow Street, Ithaca, NY 14850). Quaker men—and anyone who wants to hang out with Quaker men—are warmly invited! Men's Fellowship generally happens the third Thursday of each month (new schedule) at 6pm at the Ithaca Bakery.
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Women’s Fellowship
Friday, November 21, 6:30 pm
Ithaca Bakery, Route 13
Ithaca Quaker women are once again meeting in person. Join us at the Ithaca Bakery on Meadow Street. You can grab a bite for dinner or something to drink as we catch up face to face. All are welcome!
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Thanksgiving Meeting for Worship
Thursday, November 27, 10:30am
Hector Meetinghouse
See article above for details.
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Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner
Thursday, November 27, 4pm
Third Street Meetinghouse
See article above for details. Click here to RSVP
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Dish-to-Pass Brunch
Sunday, November 30, 12:00p
Third Street Meetinghouse
All are welcome to join in food and fellowship. Food contributions are welcome but stay even if you forgot.
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Melissa Travis Dunham,
Newsletter editor
newsletter@ithacamonthlymeeting.org
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