We are deeply saddened to announce that Mike Gray has passed away on this date 1/8/26
A celebration of life will be planned for the spring time and announced here on his account to reach as many of you as possible. We would like hold the celebration at the Phoenix Quaker meeting house if possible. If any of you are connected to the friends group in Phoenix, we’d love to connect!
Please share in the comments if you could help us coordinate the celebration! Also, please share your favorite pics of Mike in the comments!!
If it wasn’t for my study of Psalms this year, I’d probably be a complete mess right now. However, I know my dad is returning home where we will be reunited some day! I’m sad for sure but also filled with joy for my dad and full of gratitude for all of our times together! It goes without saying that he will be dearly missed and not easily replaced…love you dad.


https://www.anewnormalpodcast.com/plan-be-embracing-radical-hospitality-with-mike-gray/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQKNjYyODU2ODM3OQABHrCcw9xX6rI-gjT-OD6o3Udu0Duld8A9yRcjT-vf0lRvtYCtuHNbepr4AVkP_aem_gQlEAC15limogXrD27Owsw
With heavy heart I am sharing that our compañero Mike Gray’s son Josh tells us that Mike went into hospice today and was taken off life support. Mike is close to passing away from all of us who love him and will miss his company and support on the Trail.

Howdy, Friends —
Meeting for Worship:
Please join us this Sunday, Jan 18, in one of three ways to attend Meeting for Worship: “Plain” worship in the side room in the Meeting House, or at the blended Meeting held in the Meeting House, or on the Peace Chapel.  All begin at 10:00 am.

First Day School:
First Day School focuses on loving others and learning about our community and earth, encompassing the Quaker testimonies of “SPICES,” i.e., Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. Join us each Sunday in January at 10:00 am.

Jan 18 Potluck Following the Meeting:  Including Update on Faith Family Hospitality (FFH)
As we begin 2026, we will be renewing our participation in FFH.  FFH is a program of the Family Housing Network, in which local faith communities share responsibilities to host unhoused families. Families are currently housed in church buildings on a rotating basis, but the program will soon be moving into a permanent location on Myrtle Street. The Family Housing Network made incredible achievements in 2025, including serving 96 families, sheltering 182 children and 139 adults, providing bridge housing for families with higher-level needs, and supporting families for a full year after move-in to ensure lasting stability.

Our Meeting has participated by providing volunteers for over ten years. Volunteering can be as simple as cooking a dish, spending three hours hosting families for one evening, or spending the night in your own private room at the overnight facility.  At the potluck following Meeting for Worship, our FFH steering committee will discuss the program and provide information about volunteering.  Please attend to learn what you can do to help families transition from danger, exposure, and insecurity to having a safe place to sleep in permanent, stable housing. 

Beginning Jan 22:  ESL Classes by ISAAC
ISAAC needs volunteers to be English conversation partners to help the teachers with ESL classes starting Jan 22.  A volunteer application and training are required.  The classes will begin on Jan 22, with registration taking place the week before on Jan 15, and a volunteer training offered on Jan 20.  Please help spread the word to those who might like to take advantage of them.  The schedule of classes is attached HERE.

The teachers are trained but need the assistance of volunteers.  There is a volunteer application at this link, or copy and paste from HERE.  In order to create a more rewarding experience for everyone, all volunteer scheduling will be coordinated by the program’s manager, Andrea Heyman. Hopefully, this will eliminate the last-minute cancellations which were so frustrating for many of us last fall.  In addition, a volunteer training will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 pm on Tuesday, Jan 20 at Plymouth UCC (916 W. Prospect Rd).  We hope you will be able to attend, but if not, a video recording will be made available afterwards.  All ESL classes will be held at Plymouth.

If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Heyman directly at AndreaLHeyman@gmail.com.

Jan 26:  National Zoom Call, 5:00-6:30 pm Mountain Daylight
From Exhaustion to Enthusiasm, Joyful Resistance in a Time of Tyranny

We hope that you can join us. And we encourage you to pre-register with this link: Click HERE to register.  On the day of the meeting, this sign-in link can be used to enter your email address and join the meeting: SIGN-IN LINK:

A Friend Passes On
Long-time Fort Collins Friend Mike Gray passed away peacefully January 8 in Arizona hospice care after battling a chronic illness.  A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Phoenix.

A former clerk of our Meeting, Mike dedicated his later life to service driven by his Quaker values. He spoke powerfully of his decision to “go all in”—devoting himself entirely to others.  Mike led numerous service trips to the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation through IMYM and the William Penn House, both assisting the Lakota community and opening non-Native participants’ eyes to Indigenous realities.  He became deeply involved with the Comcaac (Seri) peoples in Desemboque, Sonora, Mexico, where his work ranged from economic development to helping establish the community’s first preparatoria (high school).  He championed Comcaac artists, connecting their work with markets across the U.S. and other countries such as Japan.  Mike also helped lead the annual Migrant Trail walk in southern Arizona, ensuring participants experienced firsthand the harsh realities facing immigrants.  He will be deeply missed by many across the U.S. and Mexico, but his example will continue to be an inspiration as a testament to what it means to truly live one’s values.

If you would like to contribute to Mike Gray’s family, please make the check out to Joshua Gray (Mike’s son). He is creating a savings account his uncle (Stan Gray) has access to.  Joshua’s address is 675 W. Easter Ave, Littleton, CO  80120.  Stan Gray has paid all expenses out of pocket thus far.

Giving Committee Update 
The Giving Committee has initiated its first month of giving for 2026.  Donations were made to the Food Bank of Larimer County (due to a generous, designated donation from a Friend), to the Sand Creek Massacre Memorial Foundation to support a memorial statue at the Colorado capitol building, to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Cultural Enrichment Encampment, and to the Arapaho Language and Culture Camp. Donations will continue throughout the year.  If you would like to help replenish the Giving Fund, you can make a donation to the Meeting and designate the Nash-Zimmerman Giving Fund.  If you have a specific idea for a donation, let Andrea (sfaudel@gmail.com), Diana (stonehillacre@msn.com), or Bob S. (rshively25@gmail.com) know.

Feb 28, ISAAC Fundraiser — Save the Date
ISAAC will host its yearly fundraiser, Love in Action, on Saturday, Feb 28 from 3:00 to 5:30 pm at Foothills Unitarian Church. More details will follow.

“The Sinner’s Cure”
©October 26, 2023
They say we’re all born sinners, that dang well may be true.
I think I’d use a different name after all that I’ve been through.
There’s a sickness that is laying, deep within us all.
It’s lying down there sleeping, waiting for the call.
 
It can take the strongest man and drop him sobbing to his knees.
It eats into your mind and sends your thoughts out with the breeze.
It’s fed by hate and anger, a little ignorance in the mix.
If people weren’t so human, they’d see there is a fix.
 
(Chorus)
Like a night train rolling through a crossing with no gate.
If you ain’t paying attention, you’ll be a victim of your fate
If you face your fears and beat them, the sickness won’t get fed.
Wouldn’t it be great if fear and hate were dead?
 
One’s greed and loathing feeds another’s fear and hate.
The sickness thrives and grows on the cycle of mistakes
How can anything happen when the answer goes unheard
And people keep on acting with the instincts of a herd.

—-
If you would like an item to be considered for inclusion in the Weekly Update, please send the exact wording by 10:00 am Thursday to these two email addresses:  musichealsit@gmail.com and chacocanyonlr@gmail.com.

In peace and service,
Lo Rellergert
Clerk, Fort Collins Friends Meeting