Current Program Schedule
To register for any of our events, go to our Registration Page
LISTINGS BY DATE- (Click on program names for more details)
DATE |
PROGRAM |
| Saturday, May 11 | Gift of Life: Nurturing Children with Nature |
| Sunday, May 12 (Second Sunday every month) |
Meeting for Worship |
| Wednesday, May 15 | Book Discussion: The New Jim Crow |
| POSTPONED | Friends of the Michigan Friends Center Inaugural Gathering |
| Sunday, June 16 | One Day Meditation Retreat with Carol Blotter |
| Friday, June 21 (Summer Solstice) | Seasonal Celebrations |
For More Information
Sundays: January 20, April 14, June 16, September 15, and November 10
One-Day Meditation Retreats
Suggested donation $30 or as able; pre-registration requested.
A one-day retreat is a great opportunity to learn and/or practice deep meditation in a supportive environment. The day includes meditation instructions, sitting and walking meditation, a talk, and a time for questions. This day is appropriate for anyone interested in meditation: beginners have morning break-out instruction; experienced meditators can be in silence all day; those in between can practice and have their questions answered. These retreats are fundraisers for the benefit of Michigan Friends Center and Deep Spring Center, both non-profit organizations, led by Carol Blotter. Contact Carol at 734-475-0942 or cb.meditate@gmail.com to register.
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Second Sunday of every month / 10am
Meeting for Worship in the manner of Friends
no cost
Under the auspices of Ann Arbor Friends meeting, a Quaker worship group has been meeting in one form or another since the early days of the Friends Lake Community and Michigan Friends Center. In the past it was corrdinated by Isabel Bliss, then Bill Bliss, and John Deikis currently carries on the tradition as coordinator. If you would like to become part of this group, email us.
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Seasonal Celebrations 2013
Donations appreciated, please register in advance if possible
Summer Solstice—a multi-generational celebration of the light
Friday, June 21, potluck 6:00-7:00 pm; bonfire 7:00-9:00 — at the Friends Lake beach; join us for any part
We will celebrate the longest day with a potluck dinner followed by a bonfire around which to share thoughts, stories, and songs. All ages welcome. Bring food to share. We will provide iced tea and plates and silverware.
Bring something to share for after dinner as well--a favorite outdoor game, a story or song for the bonfire, some Solstice lore, or just your readiness to partake in what others have brought. Does your family have any Solstice traditions? Do you know the traditions of the culture(s) your family comes from? This will be a time to explore various ways of celebrating the light.
We welcome your spark. Bring flashlights, and long sleeves for after dark.
Autumnal Equinox Celebration—a multi-generational celebration of balance and letting go
Sunday, September 22, potluck 6 – 7 pm; bonfire 7 – 9 ; join us for any part
We will celebrate the balance of day and night with a potluck dinner followed by a bonfire around which to share thoughts, poems, stories, songs, knowledge. All ages welcome. Bring food to share. We will provide water, tea, plates and silverware.
Bring something to share for after dinner as well-- a verse, story or song you like, seasonal lore, a readiness to partake in what others have brought. What does this season mean to you?
Bring flashlights, and long sleeves, and dress for the weather.
Winter Solstice Sing—a reflection of the season in sound and silence
Saturday, December 21, 7 – 9 pm
We sit quietly in a circle and teach each other rounds, songs, and chants of the season as they occur to us. The woods around us, our sheltered circle focused on inner light, and our voices are the only elements of this simple celebration of the longest night. Anyone who enjoys singing and sitting quietly is welcome. You don’t need to be a singer, or even able to sing--some just enjoy humming or listening. However most young children do not enjoy this event, and while we encourage family participation in most of our events, this is one for older children and adults.
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Past programs::
Vernal Equinox Celebration—a multi-generational celebration of balance and rebirth
Wednesday, March 20, potluck 5:30 p.m. at MFC; circle of celebration 6:30-8:30 pm (bonfire if possible)
We will celebrate the balance of light and dark and the birth of spring by sharing thoughts, poems, stories, songs, and knowledge. All ages welcome. Bring something to share -- a verse, story or song, seasonal lore, or a readiness to partake in what others have brought. What does this season mean to you? Dress for the weather.
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Saturday, May 11, 10:00 - 12:00 a.m.; children welcome
Gift of Life: Nurturing Children with Nature
no cost
How we feed ourselves has a big impact on our bodies, our communities, and our environment. Happily, what is good for our bodies is also good for the environment and for building trust in our communities. Giving our children the best means taking small steps to incorporate as much health as possible into our lives. Let’s learn with them the connections among all things great and small.
How do nourishing bodies, nourishing minds, nourishing spirits, nourishing communities, and nourishing the earth all fit together? How can we incorporate more good nourishment into our family’s complex lives? Is food the only form of nourishment? Come join the discussion.
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POSTPONED
Friends of Michigan Friends Center Inaugural Gathering
no cost
For two decades Michigan Friends Center has been a place where people deepen connections with each other, their wider communities, natural surroundings, and their spiritual source. The Center is, at this time, immersed in projects to revitalize its relevance and impact.
An informal group of supporters is redefining itself, calling itself “The Friends of Michigan Friends Center” (FMFC/Friends of the Center). This group is a network of volunteers who support one another in supporting the Center in a variety of ways. It will function similarly to the ways any number of “Friends Of” organizations support their parent groups.
Friends of the Center may volunteer in the following ways:
• Join the kitchen work crew at a Center event, or stay later for cleanup,
• Work with the quarterly MFC clean-up crew,
• Add ideas or organizational talent to developing programs,
• Participate in landscaping and maintaining the grounds, painting or building projects,
• Support publicity and outreach for MFC programs in communities around Washtenaw
County or beyond,
• Simply provide support in the Center’s financial efforts,
• Act as a liaison with the Friends Lake Cooperative Community, with its beautiful grounds and lake, or bring others into our two communities.
All of these activities are essential to maintaining MFC as a place for study, retreat, reflection, and celebration. By participating in FMFC each of us finds renewal in our work, with opportunities to nurture and connect with others as we seek our own little ways to leave a positive imprint and save the world.
All members of the FMFC will be invited to periodic gatherings such as potluck suppers, work + play parties, R+R to enjoy the space together. We will receive reports with updates on the Center’s activities, ways to volunteer, and a format to communicate your ideas, with many opportunities for conversation or sharing in programs.
If you are interested in joining the Friends of Michigan Friends Center, please contact us.
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Peace and Justice Series
no cost
May 15, 7:00 pm
Book Discussion: The New Jim Crow
A discussion of the book The New Jim Crow with Terry Madden. The book looks at the disproportionate incarceration of blacks and other minority populations in the United States through the lens of racial analysis.
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Past Programs:
Peace and Justice Series
January 23 2013, 7:00 pm
Immigration Rights and Racial Profiling, Laura Sanders
Many people are unaware that immigration law enforcement is having profound and unexpected consequences, not just in southwestern border states, but throughout the country, including Chelsea and other communities in Washtenaw County. Laura Sanders will speak about the activities of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights in Washtenaw County and the need for immigration law reform.
Sanders is one of the four co-founders of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. WICIR is an all-volunteer, grass-roots organization, created in March of 2008 in response to an immigration raid of a local mobile home community where numerous people were deported and families were separated. WICIR responds to increased immigration enforcement in the Washtenaw area by providing for the immediate needs of affected families, community education, political action toward local policy and national immigration reform, and community organizing that brings the targeted, immigrant community into the center of the organization to guide our projects. WICIR volunteers make up a diverse group including people from various faiths, academic and social justice groups. Laura is also a clinical social worker, instructor at the U of M School of Social Work, and provides therapy to families in the area.
February 7 2013, 7:00 pm
Michigan's Criminal Justice and Corrections System, Natalie Holbrook
Michigan incarcerates roughly seven times the number of people per capita as does Ontario right across the Detroit River, and Michigan spends more money on incarceration than it does on higher education. Who are these people in prison? Is holding them behind bars making us safer? Natalie Holbrook, the Director of the American Friends Service Committee Criminal Justice Program will discuss these and other issues of criminal justice in Michigan.
March 6 2013, 7:00 pm
Restorative Justice, Janelle Nystrom and Margaret Rohr
Restorative justice is a process that tries to heal the harm done by a crime by involving the offender, the victim and the community, emphasizing restitution rather than punishment, and involving the whole community rather than an isolated criminal justice system. Janelle Nystrom of Washtenaw Prisoner Reentry and Margaret Rohr of The Dispute Resolution Center will talk about how restorative justice is being used to keep conflicts from entering the legal system and to help citizens returning from the criminal justice system reintegrate in the community.
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Fridays, 7:00 to 9:00 PM: February 15, February 22, March 1, March 8, March 22, April 5, April 12
Permaculture From the Ground Up Film Series (co-sponsored by Transition Town Chelsea)
All films are FREE [donations welcomed]
Permaculture (derived from "permanent agriculture") is a branch of ecological design that emphasizes sustainable architecture and self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. Permaculture uses advanced human knowledge to work with nature instead of against it to design abundant, integrated food production systems for home and community. It is one of the Transition Movement's founding principles.
In a series of films and discussions, see how permaculture can transform our world while it helps to sustain our community and elevate our spirits. For all, from the gardening enthusiast to the nature lover to the aspiring homesteader to the intellectually curious... Let's get started and find out what is possible. To be followed by design demonstrations at local sites.
Films and discussions will encompass practical aspects of permaculture for anyone from the gardening enthusiast to the aspiring homesteader, and also include forays into social, spiritual, and community dimensions. Light refreshments. We hope to incorporate some investigational tours of the local natural environment on some dates. Following the end of the film series, we are planning design workshops at several sites in the Chelsea area. Free; donations welcome.
Past films:
February 15 – Introduction to Permaculture Design, with Geoff Lawton, takes us into the world of
permaculture design and introduces a new way of looking at the world. Learn how to apply design
skills by observing, analyzing and harmonizing with the patterns of Nature. Based on Bill Mollison's
72-hour Permaculture Design certificate course.
February 22 – A Permaculture Perspective is a talk by Bill Wilson about the importance of
permaculture with case studies to suggest that it is a way of living in authenticity within a lower
energy context. Ruth Stout's Garden journeys into the life of a woman who, from an age of over 90
years, offers a great deal to young and old about gardening and sustainable living at her homestead
in upstate New York.
March 1 – Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Movement, reveals in an in-depth interview how
the movement emanated from the permaculture design process. Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution
follows visionariues from around the world at the 8th International Permaculture Convergence with
strategies to arrive at self reliance and sustainability through the permaculture process.
March 8 – Power of Community depicts how in the midst of crisis, people in Cuba transitioned from
a highly mechanized industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local,
urban gardens.
March 22 – Soils brings back Geoff Lawton, from beneficial minute soil microbes found in compost to
massive regenerative landscapes systems that harvest water, demonstrating his vision for creating a
world of abundance by deep understanding of soil.
April 5 – Urban Permaculture continues with Geoff Lawton showing how to apply the Permaculture
design technique to the urban environment and how to redesign the back yard. Designing the Urban
Garden shows by example how to start a design on paper.
April 12 – Forest Garden with gardener Martin Crawford shows how he moved from conventional
organic gardening to creating a forest garden from a bare field in Devon, England. Martin shows you
how to plan your planting to mimic the layering, density, and diversity of a forest.
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Saturday, April 20, starting at 2:00
Earth Day Celebration
no cost
Talk by Tom Princen, who studies the keys to environmentally sustainable communities and corporations, followed by singing by Tom Gerard, then drumming with Jeremy Montagne and Tree of Life drummers.
Thomas Princen’s most recent book is Treading Softly: Paths to Ecological Order. His present work is called, “Leave It in the Ground,” a way to end our dependence on fossil fuels, with strategies of how to achieve that post-fossil society.
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