Affiliated with the North Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
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Cynthia Gilliam

About Cynthia Gilliam

Posts by Cynthia Gilliam:

Earth Day Screening and Discussion

Wednesday, April 22, noon-1:30pm, WSU Vancouver
“War, Ecocide, and Feeding Creative Resistance through Art,” a hybrid Earth Day screening and panel discussion on Zoom, and at WSU Vancouver from noon to 1:30 p.m.in the Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110. Panelists include Desiree Hellegers, an MMM attender and former clerk of Peace and Social Concerns; Derya Ruggles, WSU Vancouver alum; co-director of the web series “How I Learned to Breathe Through the Apocalypse,” former soap star on Days of Our Lives, and commissioner for the City of Vancouver Transportation and Mobility Commission; Melissa Salazar, community media cohort facilitator for Open Signal Community Media Center, videographer; associate director of the web series “How I Learned to Breathe through the Apocalypse,” and Dan Shea, Vietnam veteran, President of Veterans for Peace, Chapter 172 and member of the national board of Veterans for Peace; agent orange survivor, and international organizer for justice for Agent Orange survivors. The live event will be taped for air on KBOO Radio, KXRW and Open Signal Cable Television. 

Friends General Conference online Listening Session

April 19, 20, and 21 time options
Topic: “Which Quaker practices have shaped your life most deeply?” See online registration for time options. Purpose: Friends General Conference is exploring an opportunity that could help more people experience the depth of the Quaker tradition. We intend to pursue a grant from the Lilly Endowment through its Exploring Christian Practices Initiative. We want to hear from all who care about the future of Quaker spiritual practices. Together, we will consider questions such as: Which Quaker practices have shaped our lives most deeply? Which practices feel most important to share with people who are seeking spiritual community today? How might we share them faithfully? To learn more and to register visit: https://www.fgcquaker.org/2026/04/07/friends-general-conference-launches-listening-sessions/ An invitation from the ARE Committee.

 

Advanced Conflict De-escalation Training

Saturday, June 20, 1:30-4:30pm, Meeting room
This training expands on the basic CLARA training with extensive role play scenarios, exploring in depth the ways to defuse potential violence in a wide variety of situations. Those who go through this training should intend to join the Portland Peace Team as peacekeepers and to be part of training others in conflict de-escalation. Prerequisites: To take this Advanced training you should have taken the Basic Conflict Deescalation Training AND accompanied the Portland Peace Team as an observer at one or more events where the team is providing a Peace Presence. If you have attended the Basic training and wish to accompany the team as an observer, please contact Tom Hastings at peaceteam.pdx@gmail.com. To RSVP and for more information, contact Ron Braithwaite at peaceteam.pdx@gmail.com with your name, email address, and phone#. This training is limited to 15 people and there will NOT be a blended Zoom option.

Friendly Readers MMM Book Group

Tuesday, April 21, Noon-2:00pm, in-person only, Room 12
Friendly Readers is an open, drop-in book group, discussing books from a Quaker perspective and getting to know each other more deeply. Everyone is invited. You do not have to commit to regular attendance, or to have read the book. Our discussions are about the topics raised. We discuss one book each month over two meetings, which focus on different issues, so come to either or both. For April we are discussing Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell's urgent mission to bring healing to homeless people by Tracy Kidder, c 2023. There is a book review in the April MFM monthly newsletter on page 12 along with our calendar of upcoming books on page 13. Link: https://tinyurl.com/446rj6hk. For more information about Friendly Readers, contact Kepper at friendlyreaders@multnomahfriends.org 

Basic Conflict De-escalation Training

Saturday, May 30, 1:30-4:30pm, Meeting room
This training is based on the CLARA method, which stands for Calm, Listen, Affirm, Respond, and Add information. It is used throughout the world in conflict deescalation and the Portland Peace Team has been training individuals and organizations in CLARA since 2012 and provides peacekeeping for family-friendly events and protests. Because of our current political environment, our training focuses on how to defuse potentially violent conflict on the street or between groups. We recommend you watch this short (11:26) YouTube video, Finding Confidence in Conflict, by Kwame Christian in preparation for the training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Zg65eK9XU. To RSVP and for more information, contact Ron Braithwaite at peaceteam.pdx@gmail.com with your name, email address, and phone#. This training is limited to 30 people and there will NOT be a blended Zoom option.

Visit from Jubilee House Nicaragua

Thursday, April 23, 7:00pm, Meetinghouse (blended)
Sarah Junkin Woodard is traveling to share the work of the Jubilee House Community, a nonprofit she helped form in 1979 in North Carolina, where they developed responses to meet the needs of the homeless and battered women for more than a decade. Working for the last 32 years in Nicaragua, with the project name of the Center for Development in Central America, the JHC-CDCA's goal has always been to help the poor accomplish what they see as their priorities, which has led to work particularly in the areas of sustainable economic development, organic agriculture, health care, and education. In Nicaragua, the JHC-CDCA has worked with small organic farmers, enabling them to find international markets for organic cotton, sesame, peanuts, and coffee. While climate change and international shipping issues brought their organic cooperative to a close, the connection with organic coffee growers remains.
https://tinyurl.com/y37zjy3y
Meeting ID: 885 0825 4793
Passcode: 042227

Friendly Readers, MMM Book Group

Tuesday, April 21, Noon-2:00pm, in-person only, Room 12
Friendly Readers is an open, drop-in book group, discussing books from a Quaker perspective and getting to know each other more deeply. Everyone is invited. You do not have to commit to regular attendance, or to have read the book. Our discussions are about the topics raised. We discuss one book each month over two meetings, which focus on different issues, so come to either or both. For April we are discussing Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell's urgent mission to bring healing to homeless people by Tracy Kidder, c 2023. There is a book review in the April MFM monthly newsletter on page 12 along with our calendar of upcoming books on page 13. Link: https://tinyurl.com/446rj6hk. For more information about Friendly Readers, contact Kepper at friendlyreaders@multnomahfriends.org.

  

Monthly Meeting for Worship for Business

Sunday, April 19, 12:15pm, Blended
All are welcome to attend in person or on Zoom. Business Meeting is held monthly on third First Days (Sundays). If you need childcare in order to attend business meeting, please contact Nursery Supervisor Kaeli Frank at kaelifrank21@gmail.com. You may also request reimbursement for in-home childcare if needed in order to attend business meeting.
Zoom link:  mfmeet.ing/mfb
Meeting ID: 705 774 465  Password: 923550
Dial: +1 669 900 6833 US

Willamette Quarterly Meeting Spring Gathering

Friday-Sunday, May 15-17,  Camp Lutherwood, Cheshire OR

Our theme this year is “Lead With Love: Create possibilities, Discern leadings of the Spirit; Act with the power of love.” What might happen if we put LOVE in the center of our lives: love of family, love of friends and community, love of nature, love of God, love of life? What could be possible? We will interweave these ideas into an engaging program that encourages us to think, feel, interact with others and listen to the leadings within us. We hope you will set aside time from your busy lives to join us in this beautiful forest retreat. Families are welcome, children and youth will have fun activities too! Camping in tents and RVs is available, as well as housing in cabins.
Online registration closes Wednesday April 29. Go to www.willamette.npym.org. The Registrar is Laura Arcidiacono For questions not related to registration, please contact Helen Park, Coordinator.

Ice Vigil

Date: april 12, 2026, 4:30 pm
Weekly on Mondays, 10:30am, ICE Detention Center
The Quaker ICE vigil, with participation of Multnomah and Bridge City Friends, continues to evolve. We meet at the 4310 S. Macadam office, Mondays at 10:30, with signs and lately also with flowers. We encourage Friends to help our effort continue. We meet for coffee afterwards, to consider further possible responses to this issue. Joe Snyder is the email group leader. Mornings to date during our vigils have been calm at the site.

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