FGC 99 Gathering

[Mary Calhoun]

Friends,

The 1999 Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering will take place July
3-10 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

As a "convinced attender,"  I recommend it highly!

The theme is "on holy ground, in holy times."  

The Gathering Clerks, Shirley and Verne Bechill, say, "Just as there is that
of God within each of us--in all of creation--there is the divine presence
in every place, in every moment.  Our theme...is basic to what we believe as
Friends, although sometimes we seem to forget  it as our society defiles and
pollutes the basis of our very existence, both in place and in space.
Mathew Fox, in his autobiography, *Confessions: the Making of a
post-Denoninational Priest,* reminds us:  ' Holiness is everybody's
business.  And the way we define it is everybody's business.  That is to
say, the meaning of holiness lies at...the very basement...of why we are
here together and what sacrifices we are willing to make for a future
generation.' "

Friends' history in Michigan goes back into the 1800's, and is diverse with
meetings from FGC, FUM and EFI.  The FGC variety of meetings are the
newcomers, begun in the 1930's, eventually taking part in forming Lake Erie
Yearly Meeting.

At the Gathering, in addition to many worship opportunities, Junior
Gathering, the High School Program, and an offering of 75 workshops, there
will be music, dancing, Bible study, The Lemonade Art Gallery, oral history
taken for FGC's centennial, field trips, interest groups, Elizabeth Watson
on Walt Whitman,  films, evening speakers and concerts, the bookstore,
affinity centers arranged by Adult Young Friends, FCUN, and  FLGC, and
centers for People of Color, families, healing, twelve-steps, men, women,
and singles.

Visit your home town, that exists once a year--a temporary community of
1,700 f/Friends! 

Registration materials are now available. The SAYMA office has two advance
programs, "free" for a 55-cent SASE.  Previous FGC attenders in your meeting
may also have these.  More information is available from FGC, 1216 Arch St,
2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107,  (215) 561-1700.  E-mail address is
gathering at fgc.quaker.org, and extra details are at
http://www.quaker.org/fgc/gathering99.

Register as early as possible; some activities fill up early.  Deadline for
Junior Gathering registration is May 25, and a late fee applies to all
registrations after this date.  Work grants are available; scholarship
requests must be postmarked by May 10, and should follow requests to one's
monthly and yearly meetings.