The Wider Quaker Fellowship

1506 Race Street G Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102 G (215) 241-7293

May 2006

Dear Friends and Fellows,

This spring we have had to say goodbye to two valuable members of the Quaker community. Beloved author Elizabeth Watson died in February. Wider Quaker Fellowship has published some of her writings in the past. In 1990 we published her story “The Crone.” In 1997 Elizabeth published Wisdom’s Daughters: Stories of Women around Jesus, which included “The Crone” re-titled “The Woman who Anointed Jesus.” In Elizabeth’s honor and memory we now present you with another story from Wisdom’s Daughters, namely “The Story of the Mother of the Sons of Zebedee.”

The other deceased Friend whose work we bring to you is Tom Fox, who recently lost his life in Iraq, where he was working as a peacemaker with Christian Peacemaker Teams. In the pamphlet included in this packet, you will find several of the pieces he published on his electronic log while working in Baghdad. Florence Fullerton, who knew Tom from Baltimore Yearly Meeting, wrote a memorial introduction to his work.

The third piece included here is the text of a short talk given by Horace Hall at a morning worship in Chiquimula, Guatemala, this past spring during the Annual Meeting of Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas. Horace is clerk of Jamaica Yearly Meeting. The message spoke to Friends gathered there, and we hope it will speak to you.

On the organizational side, as of last March, Wider Quaker Fellowship co-clerk Bill Wright has laid down his position. We will certainly miss his keen eye for organizational detail. Thank you, Bill, for your contributions!

At the first mailing of 2006, I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have responded to our distress call last year and helped with a financial contribution. We hope and pray that all of you will be blessed by the continuing work of Wider Quaker Fellowship. Since we are completely dependent on your contributions for our income, we hope that you will continue to support us at the same or an increased level of giving. We need your support!!

May you be blessed by a continuous awareness of God’s loving presence.

In peace,

Tina Coffin, Clerk