Website: santacruzquakers.org
Contact email: scfm@santacruzquakers.org
Look for the weekly email blast on Friday at 5 p.m.

First Day Schedule

10:30 a.m., Meeting for Worship.
12:30 p.m., Second First Day. Meeting for Worship for the Purpose of Business. Zoom available.
9:30 a.m., Third First Day. Advices & Queries worship sharing. In person at the Meetinghouse.
9:45 a.m., Hymn singing. In person in the worship room. Check the email blast for the schedule.

Live Oak Friends Meeting in Salinas welcomes Santa Cruz Friends to its Zoom worship, held on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Check the email blast for the link.

Meeting Calendar

Every Monday, 9:15 a.m. Quaker hike. Contact Mimi for the location.
Every Tuesday, 10 a.m. All men are invited to meet for coffee and conversation at The Shrine.
Every Thursday, 7-8 p.m. Online meeting for worship. Check the email blast for the link.
Every first Saturday of the month: An event in the afternoon or evening, which may include a potluck. Check the Upcoming Meeting Events section for details.
Every fourth Saturday 2-4 p.m. Women's Tea at the meetinghouse.

November 1, Second hour, 12:30 – 1:30. Discussion of Living the Quaker Way, a short pamphlet by Ben Pink Dandelion, facilitated by Nancy and Karen from Worship and Ministry. The pamphlet is a companion to Celebrating the Quaker Way and explores why Quakers do the things we do in the way that we do them. While we especially encourage newcomers to attend, all are welcome. The book is available from the library or can be ordered as an electronic copy ($1), but come even if you don't have a chance to read it!

November 1, 7 p.m. at the Meetinghouse – “Last Christian in Bethlehem”. This brand-new documentary by filmmaker Robert Levering, a member of our meeting, tells how Palestinian Christians are struggling to survive under the increasingly brutal Israeli occupation. The 64-minute film contains interviews filmed in the West Bank last fall interspersed with scenes from a besieged Christian village, settler/Israeli military attacks on Palestinian farmers, a Palestinian musical event, and the lighting of the Christmas tree in Bethlehem. Robert will be personally showing this film and answering questions/

Saturday December 5: Crafts: Do you have a craft you could show people how to make? And/or, would you like to sell a craft to benefit FCLCA (Friends Committee on Legislation in California)? Let Alice and Susan Campbell know your ideas in advance!

Quaker Center Calendar

Every morning, 7:30 a.m. Quaker Center online Meeting for Worship.
Every Wednesday, 10 a.m. Quaker Center online Worship Sharing.
First Wednesday of the month potluck at 6 pm, worship at 7:15

December 4 – 7, Music and Dance Weekend. On the first weekend in December, this beloved event returns to Quaker Center – now sixteen years running! Join staff and F/friends for a weekend of celebration, music, singing, dancing, workshops, hanging out, great food and more, in the redwoods.

December 28 – January 1, 2027, Year End Retreat with Emily Provance. The idea of spiritual transformation was of central importance to early Friends. How are we transformed by a long practice of deep listening to thedivine? How does being changed by the divine tend to affect our day-to-day interactions with other people? What is the role of community in this spiritual transformation? In this retreat, expect to explore these ideas both with words and without, with discussion, worship, outdoor exploration, art, and play.

For more information on these and other Quaker Center programs, see: http://www.quakercenter.org/programs/

Approved Action Minutes from Meeting for Business, 10/11/2026

Minute #1, 10/11/26: Santa Cruz Friends Meeting approves the narrative portion of the September 13, 2026 minutes of Meeting for Business.

Minute #2, 10/11/2026: Santa Cruz Friends Meeting approves nomination of David Forbes to the Worship and Ministry Committee, term to end 4/2028.

Minute #3, 10/11/2026: Santa Cruz Friends Meeting approves the nomination of Maren Hurn to serve a three-year term on the Nominating Committee and that Alan Edgar finishes out the two years remaining on Mary Rankin’s term.

Minute #4, 10/11/2026: Following a process of discernment by the Ministry and Worship Committee, Santa Cruz Friends Meeting accepts John Cantu’s request to transfer his membership to Pacific Yearly Meeting. We wish Johnwell in his new spiritual home and look forward to seeing him at Annual Session.

Minute #5, 10/11/2026: Following a process of discernment by the Ministry and Worship Committee, Santa Cruz Friends Meeting accepts Mary Rankin’s request to transfer her membership to Redwood Forest Meeting We wish Mary well in her new spiritual home and know that Redwood Forest will benefit from her wisdom and spiritual clarity.

Minute #6, 10/11/26: Following consultation with PESW, Santa Cruz Friends Meeting approves co-sponsoring with Temple Beth-El a talk hosted by Santa Cruz Friends of Standing Together on November 14 at Resurrection Church.

Minute #7 10/11/16: Santa Cruz Friends Meeting approves being the fiscal sponsor for Faith Cantu and her John Woolman Fund grant. Maren, Noreen, and Alan will act as the fiscal sponsors.

Advices and Queries: Peace

Friends oppose all war as inconsistent with God’s will. As every person is a child of God, we recognize God’s Light also in our adversaries. Violence and injustice deny this reality and violate the teachings of Jesus and other prophets.

Friends challenge their governments and take personal risks in the cause of peace. We urge one another to refuse to participate in war as soldiers, or as arms manufacturers. We seek ways to support those who refrain from paying taxes that support war. We work to end violence within our own borders, our homes, our streets, and our communities. We support international order, justice, and understanding.

Become an instrument of peace. At every opportunity, be peacemakers in your homes, workplaces and communities. Steep yourself in the power of the universal Spirit. Examine your actions for the seeds of violence, degradation and destructiveness. Overcome the emotions that lie at the root of violence and nurture instead a spirit of reconciliation and love. Come to know the oneness of all creation and oppose the destruction of the natural world.

Do I live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars?
How do I nourish peace within myself as I work for peace in the world?
Do I confront violence wherever it occurs, even when my personal relationships are involved?
Where there is distrust, injustice, or hatred, how am I an instrument of reconciliation and love?
What are we doing to remove the causes of war and destruction of the planet, and to bring about lasting peace?
Do we reach out to all parties in a conflict with courage and love?

Quaker Center Quote of the Week

“Call Me by My True Names” ~ Thich Naht Hanh

Do not say that I’ll depart tomorrow
because even today I still arrive

Look deeply: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time
to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his “debt of blood” to, my people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.

This week’s queries:

• How do we create a community of support where each person’s truth can be heard?
• When have I felt supported and held by a group?
• What makes me feel supported?
• Around what do I need support now?
• How can we create a space where even very difficult truths can be heard and held in compassion?
• What does this poem bring up for you?

Our current meeting clerks, Noreen and Gerri, will complete their two-year commitment in March. See Gerri’s article (October newsletter) about her experience as co-clerk.

We invite members to begin giving some thought to two questions: Could I serve as Meeting clerk? What would make it possible?

Perhaps the most important duty of the clerk is to be attentive to the whole of the Meeting, to know its individual members and attenders and to be aware of their activities and concerns. The clerk also attends to the spiritual and organizational life of the Meeting.  For Quakers, a clerk is someone who listens to what is alive for the Meeting and helps the community move towards collective discernment. 

The clerk’s most visible responsibility is facilitating Meeting for Business each month. Having co-clerks or being part of a clerking circle can make this responsibility more manageable because the work is shared. 

Those who have not been clerk may feel they aren’t ready for this role. Yet clerks are always in the process of learning: no one begins with all the experience or understanding that the role may require. And with the support of an elder or the Worship and Ministry Committee, a clerk can more easily face challenges that may arise. 

We are now a small Meeting, with a smaller core of people stepping forward to sustain our community. We cannot assume that someone else will take on a particular responsibility. Each of us needs to consider what we might offer.

While the Nominating Committee has some sense of who might serve our Meeting, we encourage each member to consider their own willingness and ability. In particular, we invite you to consider any barriers that might make you hesitate and what support or arrangements would help you overcome them.

Perhaps you could imagine clerking if you shared the responsibility. Are there particular people with whom you could envision sharing this role? If so, talk with them. Find out whether you share a vision of how the work might be done.

We hope you will give this question some attention before the November Business Meeting. Nominating will send a brief survey in mid-November to get a sense of what people are willing and able to do, and then we will follow up with individuals and bring nominations to the Business Meeting in February. 

Discovering Quakers Blog
Exploring Quaker Experiences: Relationships

[From the editor: Discovering Quakers is a website created by Quakers in Britian. It’s a place for people curious about Quakers to find out more through articles, blog posts, videos and podcasts.]

Friends seek to let Quaker values impact all areas of our lives, including our relationships with others around us. Quaker Faith and Practice gives a wealth of practical advice across all aspects of close relationships, from marriage, raising children, being a good friend and living with others to navigating difficult relationships, grieving loved ones and ending relationships.

“Do you cherish your friendships, so that they grow in depth and understanding and mutual respect? In close relationships we may risk pain as well as finding joy. When experiencing great happiness or great hurt we may be more open to the working of the Spirit.” ~ Britian Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, Advices and Queries, 21

We asked Friends to share how being a Quaker impacts their relationships. Daniel Flynn reflected on practicing Quaker values in his close relationships:

“I regard any close relationship as a gift, just as I regard life as a gift, by a power greater than me. My role and my responsibility for this gift is to practice spiritual principles in all my affairs. Spiritual principles that I get from Quakers and from other programs that I've engaged in. Today I have a list of 25 values I seek to practice. The first one is silence, along the way comes compassion, in the middle is intuition and the yield of all that is simple, silent gratitude.”

Marilyn Cox discussed how Quaker meetings impacted her children growing up:

“None of our children have decided to be Quakers, but all of them, in my view, are Quakers in their attitude to life and the way they treat people. They all came to meeting from when they were babies upwards, but my youngest daughter, when she was about three or four, used to sit on my lap and when the children went out, she wouldn't go out. She just sat there and stayed there as quiet as a mouse. I said to her one day, ‘Why do you stay in meeting? Why don't you go with the other children?’ She said ‘Because I love the quiet of it. It's just so special.’ She's always felt like that. She just felt safe. In that silence when we meet, while there may be disagreements within individuals there, the silence doesn't stoke the fire. The silence gives you time to think about it and perhaps come to a different conclusion, and we're all equal in the silence.”

Trevor Bending shared how attending Quaker meetings can make people more accepting and tolerant of others:

“I have been going to meetings for worship for about 15 years. I think it makes you more accepting and more tolerant of people that you're not particularly keen on, or who have different values from you. For me, that has been, in some ways, more significant than the effect on close relationships. I think it does have some effect on close relationships in that, within the family, if I behave in a way that I then think ‘Oh, that wasn't very Quakerly of me’, then it kind of pulls you up short and you reflect on it, so it has some effects there.”

On November 14, at 7 p.m., our meeting is cosponsoring an evening with Sally Abed and Nadav Shofet, members of Standing Together’s national leadership in Israel. Standing Together is the Jewish-Arab grassroots movement that mobilizes people around peace, equality and social justice. Sally and Nadav will give an update on the movement’s activism following Israel’s October elections. The event will take place at Resurrection Catholic Church, another cosponsor along with Temple Beth El and Santa Cruz Friends of Standing Together. Sally, a Palestinian activist, is a founder of Standing Together and a member of the Haifa City council. Following October 7, Nadav, an Israeli, helped found the Jewish-Arab Solidarity Guard in Tel-Aviv-Yaffa which provides protective presence for Palestinians in a number of situations.

Note: Santa Cruz Friends Meeting minuted this cosponsorship at the October Meeting for Business (see Minute #6 in the Approved Action Minutes from Meeting for Business, 10/11/2026 article, above.).

Sally Abed is a member of the national leadership and a co-founder of Standing Together. In February 2024 she was elected to Haifa's city council, the first Palestinian woman ever to lead a joint slate in Israel. She was also among the founders of a new Jewish-Palestinian political party called “A Place for Us All” and ran as a candidate on its slate.

Nadav Shofet is a member of Standing Together's national elected leadership and the director of its international department. Following October 7th, he helped found the Jewish-Arab solidarity guard in Tel Aviv-Yaffa which provides protective presence for Palestinians in a number of situations. He has a background in community organizing and LGBTQ advocacy.

The event is free, but registration is requested. Click here to RSVP.

Job Announcement: FCLCA is Hiring!

Do you know someone looking for meaningful work? Perhaps a young Quaker? Friends Committee on Legislation of California (FCLCA) is hiring a new Development and Outreach Coordinator.

The Development & Outreach Coordinator will support the development and outreach of the longest running faith-based lobby in California (founded in 1952). FCLCA is a nonpartisan statewide public-interest organization founded by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This position involves regular face-to-face visits and presentations throughout California to involve Friends and supporters in the work of the organization, as well as collaboration with the board on fund development.

The ideal candidate will be a person with experience in non-profit administration, an understanding of Quaker values and traditions, and an enthusiasm to inspire grassroots activism amongst Friends to pursue FCLCA’s mission.

For a full job description, go to https://tinyurl.com/Job-Opening-at-FCLCA

Applications are due November 15.

Automatic Draft Registration: What Comes Next and Why it’s a Problem

The federal government will now automatically register young men for the draft, without their consent. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026, signed by President Trump, authorizes the Selective Service System to automatically register all people born male ages 18-26, potentially making them available for a future military draft. Immigrants and naturalized citizens are included. While registration was required, declining compliance rates drove a push in Congress to automate the process. The proposed process would verify data across multiple databases, making it possible to rapidly issue draft notices. If a draft were put into effect, those who might want to file for conscientious objection would only have about nine days to file their papers.

In response to this, Santa Cruz Friends Meeting is organizing an effort to teach young people about conscientious objection – what it is, how to discern if it’s for you, how to document your application, and how to defend your claim. Our first step is sponsoring a panel of U.S. veterans, draft counselors, and war resisters who have had to struggle with their conscience when confronted with military service. They will share their stories and help us understand what it means to choose peace over war. The panel will speak on Saturday, November 7, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.at the Meetinghouse.

We now have a display posted with information about conscientious objection in the lobby of the Meetinghouse. Check it out! It is important information for the young people in our lives. Noreen and a team of Friends will continue working to help young people decide what is best for them. If you are interested in helping in this effort, please let Noreen know.

The local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship has also organized an event for Saturday, November 15 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. to help educate young men and their families about conscientious objection. The event will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 6401 Freedom Blvd.

Quaker Quotes

“We pray for both the personal and inner strength as well as the corporate strength of a shared calling that will empower us to face all the trials that we will necessarily encounter. We have no illusions about the fact that to truly live a Christian life in these cataclysmic times means to live a life of great risk.

We call on Friends to rediscover our own roots in the vision and lives of early Friends whose own transformed lives shook the unjust social and economic structures of their day.... And we call upon Friends across the earth to heed the voice of God and let it send us out in truth and power to rise to the immense challenge of our world today.”
~ Epistle from the FWCC Young Friends Conference, 1985

“The core message of all the great spiritual traditions is ‘Be not afraid.’ Rather, be confident that life is good and trustworthy. In this light, the great failure is not that of leading a full and vital active life, with all the mistakes and suffering such a life will bring (along with its joys). Instead, the failure is to withdraw fearfully from the place to which one is called, to squander the most precious of all our birthrights — the experience of aliveness itself....”
~ Parker J. Palmer, 1991, Quaker author, educator, and activist

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”
~ A.J. Muste, 1967, Quaker minister and political activist

“Live up to the light thou hast, and more will be granted thee.”
~ Caroline Fox, 1841, Quaker diarist