Welcome to the ILYM Peace Resources blog!

We are a group of Midwest Friends (Quakers) who have been nominated to serve as members of the Illinois Yearly Meeting Peace Resources Committee.  This forum aims to be a place we can share our personal thoughts on today’s world, talk about the current campaigns for peace we are individually or corporately involved in, invite your participation both here and out in the world, and share resources we’ve discovered along the way.

6 thoughts on “Welcome to the ILYM Peace Resources blog!

  1. Hello! My name is Breeze and I am the administrator on this new blog. I have been a member of ILYM PRC for two years and am an active facilitator of our Peace Testimony Workshop. I was raised Quaker, and am a member of 57th Street Meeting of Friends (Chicago, IL). I work at Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ 91.5FM) where I am an acting radio producer and serve as the Director of Strategic Partnerships, where through my daily work I help build community throughout the Chicago region. I live with my husband and two year-old son, Gus, on the north side of Chicago & we’re expecting another little boy later this Spring.

    Later this month, I’ll be traveling to the national “Heeding God’s Call: A Gathering on Peace” as the ILYM delegate; I plan to report my experiences here.

  2. Hi, I am Chuc. I am a member of ILYM PRC, a retired public elementary school teacher, and a US Army Veteran who served in Vietnam. I attend Quaker meeting in St. Louis and am the past president of the Don Connors Chapter of Veterans For Peace, St. Louis.

  3. Hello, I’m Chuck Hutchcraft, clerk of Peace Resources Committee and member of Lake Forest Meeting. I worked as newspaper reporter and editor for more than 30 years. After leaving that profession I worked as Chicago-area coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee and statewide organizer for the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. I recently graduated with an MSW from Loyola University in Chicago and plan to continue training as a pyschotherapist. I’m also an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. During my work against the death penalty I became involved in an effort in Clinton, Ill., to create a model for a community of nonviolence, in conjunction with Illinois State University; Play for Peace, an international organization founded by Michael Terrien of Lake Forest Friends; and Peace Power, a program of strategies of nonviolence for schools and communities pioneered by Mark Mattaini of 57th Street Meeting. The goal of that work is to create a model that can be replicated around the state of Illinois. What drives all of this is to understand the seeds of violence and from this learn and develop skills to deal with them. I believe this also is what drives PRC, which hopes to develop this awareness and understanding as a foundation for the Peace House on the Prairie. It is my sense that given human nature (I see a distinction between human nature and the idea of original sin, which I do not accept) peacemaking is an ongoing process that never ends. To be peacemakers we need to be skilled as such and always seeking and testing new skills and insights. I believe sharing our thoughts and ideas via this blog is an important step in that direction.

  4. Hi there, Friends of IYM!

    I just stumbled across this blog and think it’s a great form of outreach. I myself am in Northern Yearly Meeting territory and live in Minneapolis.

    I have a question:

    Is it the committee’s intention that *any*one be able to comment on your posts? Or is it the intention that only those from within IYM be able to comment?

    I ask because I just alerted the online QuakerQuaker community, where I’m a “contributing editor,” that this blog exists. (Maybe this blog got tagged earlier by someone else from QQ.)

    I’m guessing you’ll start getting comments from many non-IYM Friends. I didn’t think to ask what the blog’s intention was before I tagged it, and I don’t see any place on the site as to how to contact any committee members directly with my question.

    Hope this reaches you. You can reply here or you can send me a direct reply at lizopp AT gmail DOT com.

    What I’ve seen so far from this blog, though, looks intriguing and important!

    Blessings,
    Liz Opp(enheimer), The Good Raised Up

  5. Dear Liz,

    Hello! And greetings to you fellow Midwestern Friend – it’s been too long.

    I discovered Quaker Quaker just yesterday and added it to our Links listing of other Quaker blogs out there. We would LOVE comments from Friends (and non-Friends) throughout the world – we just recently started up this space as a place people could share their ideas and thoughts around our work.

    The first posts were connected to my attendance at “Heeding God’s Call: A Gathering on Peace” as the formal delegate from ILYM; since then we’ve added threads about Camp Hope, personal action in witness against the death penalty & our YM’s witness, non-violent communication, and new volunteer service opportunities.

    Please do spread the word about this space & encourage participation.

    With love,
    Breeze

  6. Hey, Breeze!

    First of all, my apologies for misrepresenting Illinois Yearly Meeting with an inaccurate acronym. smile

    Second, I’m glad to know that you’ll be looking forward to more comments from more Friends. I think QuakerQuaker will help, especially if the handful of (overworked, overbusy) “contributing editors” can keep up with identifying relative posts, etc.

    If you want to have a better understanding of how QQ works and how posts get tagged (or why they might go untagged), Martin Kelley has written a good explanation here.

    Take care and nice to here from you!

    Blessings,
    Liz Opp, The Good Raised Up

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