After 16-1/2 years of building the FCNL network around the country, bringing us all together, holding our hands when we were worried, crying with us when we were sad, and -- mostly -- laughing with us when we succeeded (and even when we didn't), Kathy Guthrie is leaving FCNL. She had planned to retire at the end of 2009, but is leaving earlier because the global economic crisis is forcing FCNL to downsize, restructure our work and discontinue the position of Field Program Secretary. We're downsizing, but our critical work of helping people around the country engage with Washington will continue.
We at FCNL want to invite you -- the people whom Kathy cares about the most -- to help us thank her for all that she has done and to let her know that we will be continuing to work together in the future – though it will be different. We've set up this blog where you can leave comments, a page for you to make a video message about how Kathy has affected your life, and a place where you can give a contribution to FCNL to help with our work around the country.
You can share your thoughts in the comments.
54 comments:
Thank you Kathy for all your good work and patience with those of us struggling to be patient with our legislative representatives! I remember you coming to SAYMA a few years ago and sharing your wisdom with those of us in the south. I was so honored to sit at the same table with you and talk about issues, having read so many of your messages from FCNL! Best of luck to you! Kay Smith
Far above all your E-mails and other contacts,
we remember your warm greetings at Annual Meetings and other times. Your wise and patient work with the Nominating Committee demonstrates how valuable you are in FCNL's work.
God bless you in all your future ewndeavors!
Love and peace,
Bill and Jo Anne Jeffries
Thank you for the enthusiastic way you modeled the difference a person can make, Kathy! In the midst of all of your great, large-scale work, you had the heart and took the time to make the small-scale difference, too. Personally, I'll always treasure the note you sent when my father died. May you take joy in all that you've done and in all that you do ahead! Liz Schutt
I will always remember meeting Kathy on the bus to St Louis for a FREEZE convention. We kept in touch, always with warm feelings and great enjoyment for her great sense of humour and singing ( she knew all the tunes and words ).
And I've great respect for he knwledge and caring for legislative issues.
I hope that we can have her,and Tim, in our lives for years to come.
Oh, Kathy, we will miss you tremendously!!You have helped direct scads of timely legislative advice to us. And you have been the best person to identify F/friends across the country who could be asked to serve as sensitive and bright group leaders, especially in worship-sharing groups at the annual meetings, and on key committees. Hugs!
FCNL won't be quite the same without all the up-to-date and clarifying messages about current legislation and reasons for supporting or opposing it. Sounds like we may have to do more work ourselves! We particularly enjoyed having you as a houseguest in Greensboro and getting to know you personally. Let us know if you ever need hospitality at Guilford again -- also Tim!
We'll be following with interest your career as it continues from here getting important things done.
Fondly, Marilyn White
Kathy, you have helped FCNL become a real and effective network, and I trust that network's strength will persist even without your central role. I particularly treasure your help with the Capital Campaign for our wonderful building. You modeled effective ways to relate to our constituents, and helped the volunteers have the confidence to invite others to participate.
I'm hoping that your next phase will include some bicycling with me! Meg
Marvin Cooper said: Kathy you will be greatly missed for so many reasons,
but especially for your encyclopedic mind that was so helpful to the
Nominating Cmte. Thank you and Blessings. Marv C.
You made me aware of what was going on in my country! Thank you for that. Best of luck to you and yours. Rebecca
You always held true to the vision even when times were so dark. Thank you for your courageous persistence. God bless you in your future endeavors.
I have met Kathy Guthrie only through email activism. I associate her name with clearly articulated and timely action that need only be absorbed and appreciated. Her departure makes me realize that I have never thanked her for what has actually been an incalulable gift.
Kathy Guthrie - Thank you for more opportunities than I can count. In the Light Always.
Best wishes in all before you. Meg Kidd
I joined FCNL because of its advocacy role with Alaska Natives and Native American Issues. My participation was due to the information posted by Kathy and it readily got me into action on responding to Native Issues.
Hi
This is Susan and I would just like to say I am sorry your leaving and I will miss you .
Best wishes on your future
Ms. Kathy Guthrie has been a source of inspiration to me, especially over the last years of the Bush II regime. She wrote to thank me for sending copies of clippings and notes I have written about the follies of our national government. And I have drawn a lot of material from notices about the same, which Ms. Guthrie sent to me. She is a fine essayist. In parting, we may take satisfaction from having worked to make a better world. I am certain we did no harm. Not everyone, who maintains contact with reality, can honestly say as much.
You can be certain that you made a difference in the ability for all of us to communicate with our legislators in a timely and efficient manner.You have influenced many lives and God will certainly bless you as I do and all those who have a better life, thanks to your actions.
You will be missed but others will benefit from your presence in their lives.
We appreciate Kathy's regular, helpful comunications to us by e-mail, to keep us informed and to enable us to focus our lobbying attention on the most important area each week.
We also enjoyed and were impressed by her presentation several years ago to an Elderhostel type group in Washington DC for a week on, "Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport".
She was an ideal representative for FCNL.
Dear Kathy,
Thank you so much for all those e- mail messages that you have sent. I have really appreciated receiving them, and I am sure that all of the responses that they generated have mad a difference in our world! Thanks.
Barb Smith
Kathy Guthrie,
You are a household name.
Denise
Thank you for moving this country forward. Thanks for your devotion.
Thanks for making it easy to participate in the legislative process in a convenient format for busy lives.
Joan
Hello Kathy,
I wish I had met you, because I know I would like you. Thank you for all your hard advocacy work on behalf of FCNL. Whenever I have turned on my computer to read the daily e-mails, when I see your name, I know I will be getting information that I can trust.
Sincerely,
Judith
Noblesville, Indiana
I can't tell you how many times I used your suggested letters to our Congressional representatives, always being careful to change the wording extensively enough to make it my own. However, you provided a needed "skeleton" with all kinds of insight into what we needed to say to the powers that be in DC. Your work showed in those letters - thank you very much and best wishes to you in your new endeavors.
Dear Kathy: I will miss knowing you are there with FCNL! Thank you so much for the hospitality in times past, when I had opportunity to be in Washington. Thank you for the amazing job you have done in keeping us up to date in your e-mails. You are appreciated! Lois Jordan
Thank you, Kathy Guthrie, for sending emails that were intelligent, timely, respectful, thought provoking and got me to do the deed! I will miss seeing them (what a thing to say about the dozens of pesky messages clogging my message box every day! but it's true. I actually looked forward to yours.)
Enjoy the next chapter of your good life.
Many thanks to Kathy for all the good work she has done at FCNL. I enjoyed knowing that she was at the other end of my email questions. Her concise letters and reports always inspired me to get onto the phone to my representatives. Come back to Pittsburgh, Kathy! Run for office, we need you. Best wishes for whatever you do in your next life, Beni Downing
Many thanks, Kathy for all the good work you have done at FCNL. I enjoyed knowing that you were at the other end of my email questions. Your concise letters and reports always inspired me to get on the phone to my representatives. Come back to Pittsburgh, Kathy! Run for office, we need you. Best wishes for whatever you do in your next life, Beni Downing
Thank you Kathy for all that you have done to help keep all of us in touch with our legislators. The FCNL has two faces, Joe's statements on the issues and your networking E-mail with all of us. I have welcomed my daily E-mails from FCNL that have come so regularly from your office. It was a pleasure to meet you when I visited the FCNL offices. I wish you the best in your new adventures.
Dear Kathy,
You made the FCNL network become so real to me when I met you in person at a Friends gathering on the West Coast and you knew who I was! We might have met before that and I had forgotten, but this brought our connectedness so clearly home to me. Thank you for all you did!
We do letter writing once a month at our Sacramento Friends Meeting and your very clear emails have been used to encourage Friends to participate in the action requests. Thank you for all you do to sort out what's important in urging our Representatives and Senators to support. You have set a high standard for FCNL folks to follow!
From 2003-2006 I worked as FCNL's Young Adult Program Coordinator, which involved traveling all over the United States promoting FCNL's message. During one meeting with some General Committee members, Kathy described me as "indefatigable." I replied, "that's not what my wife says when I get home from trips."
Kathy was a great boss, someone who gave lots of encouragement and support.
Jen Chapin-Smith
(now living and working in Ann Arbor, MI)
FCNL wont be the same without Kathy. Who will make Annual meeting plans, repairs, and make it run so soomthly.? Who can give the care and attention to the weekly info alerts? No one answers questions or requests for information as promptly as Kathy. She helps to make the organization a truly Friendly one. Who will respond when no else seems to have the time? I will miss her and her gifts to the organization. Rusty
Kathy,
Your support and encouragement helped me to become a more effective peace advocate. Your light has made the world a better place. You will be sorely missed. All the best for the future.
Peace,
Joe Parko
Hey Kathy -- I can hardly say good-by since I'm looking forward to spending time together in the future! Thanks for all the great road trips and I cherish our friendship. Love, Gretchen
Thank you so very much Kathy for all your work for FCNL. You e-mails have been invaluable to me for education about issues and for ways to get involved by clicking on the action links. God bless you in your future endeavors for Him. Sincerely, Pat Anderson
Through her many insightful emails as well as her talks at Sherwood Oaks and other meetiungs, Kathy has enabled me to feel a partner with FCNL. I have relied on her for information that I needed to form my opinions about what has been happening in the world. She has encouraged me to be participant in areas of importance to FCNL. I shall miss her.
The comment above was from Margaret McCoy
not rusty
Thank you, Kathy, for all your energetic service to FCNL and its fans! You have clearly been a mainstay, and it's been a real pleasure knowing you all these years. Your wonderful laugh made the dark times more bearable, and it is etched in my memory forever. Thanks for everything.
Kathy, we were glad for the opportunity to worship with you Sunday at FCNL 2008 Annual Meeting. - and to have a tearful hug goodbye.
So many memories - your guidance on Field Committee was a perfect example of how a strong leader gently, but firmly takes a wallowing, waffling bunch of people and moves them along to grasp their direction and finally begin to function. It is amzing how that committee came from being inept to being a strong and effective committee. Staff deveopment and bringing along a committee chair helped greatly but the real motivator was you, Kathy.
Kathy, you were warm & welcoming, with attention to detail and everything got done with no one aware you were doing it.
There is no way we can replace your skills, experience & history with FCNL so with God's & Joe's help we'll bumble along and pray we don't totally screw up. With much LOVE, Birdie & Burt
Dear Kathy--
I hope you know how much I value your work with FCNL. I thought no one could ever successfully follow in Alison Oldham's footsteps, but you certainly have. Your role has been the hub of FCNL's successful work between the lobbyists on the Hill and the grassroots activists around the country. You have kept it all together, and we are eternally grateful to you.
Ed Snyder
Dear Kathy,
Thanks for being there. I don't know what the field program will do without you as anchor/promoter/liaison with the Hill - all the many roles you have filled. I've enjoyed working with you, first as a field staffer in the hinterland, then as a general committee member serving on several committees and finally as a monthly meeting contact.
Your leadership has been essential to the growth of the field program - all of us, far from DC, are so much better able to do the work of FCNL and to feel part of the family. I will miss knowing I can contact you and get a response so promptly even though you always have so much on your plate.
Thanks for your flexibility, enthusiasm,excllent organizing skills, dedication, and so much more. So sorry you have to leave early but I hope you will have more time for your grandchildren and I know you won't stop being you and doing all you to make this world a better place.
Thanks, Kathy, for your faithful service to God through FCNL. You inspired me when you spoke at George Fox University many years ago. Though I am not a Quaker, your concerns, forthrightness, and charitableness have been a good model for me. Blessings, Prof. Tom Johnson [Religion Department](retired).
people who guide humanity in good steps
thank you for guiding
Thank you Kathy for your good work. The FCNL newsletter has always been an example of excellent content and design.
Slater, IA/Ramallah, Palestine
Thanks, Kathy, for all your fine work in building the vital FCNL network among Friends and beyond. Your work was very important and valuable, especially during the dark, sad times of the last administration. The consistent, focused educating, conversing, informing done by FCNL
staffers with Congress is a constant source of hope for me. You have been a vital link in connecting us with those who make the decisions which affect our nation and the world. I hope you have a deep sense of accomplishment and peace, along with the joy and anticipation of your next steps. - Many blessings on your way. - Wayne Copenhaver
Dear Kathy,
I can only say one thing, "PLEASE DON'T GO!" But if you have to, "Vaya con Dios".
Many, many thanks for all you have done for me, for "Quakers to Guantánamo", for us all. You are an inspiration. Endlessly patient, wise, "tender to leadings".
I hope you can take a bit of a break before leaping into new work. Our door is always open and we live in a beautiful spot.
Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything.
Love, Carol Cruickshank
What a tower of strength Kathy has been! For the meetings of the Field Committee, she and her staff were always prepared with useful reports and many ideas for the months ahead. On all occasions she was friendly, encouraging, collaborative and optimistic. We always felt, even in the darkest of times, that Kathy would find a way to move forward. She even found and returned a lost jacket. We hope that many wonderful experiences lie ahead for Kathy and Tim.
Well done, Kathy Guthrie. Many thanks.
Kudos to Kathy Guthrie! Congratulations on your well deserved retirement. Well done faithful servant! I too, wish I had met you in person as I feel a kindred spirit. Thank you for all the advice and timely e-mails organizing effective rallies and petition signings. Your shoes will be hard to fill. Perhaps you will paint a watercolor that espresses your passion and love for our cause and FCNL can post a photo of you and your artwork just to make us miss you more! Best of life and love to you, Kathy.
Kathy, we have never met in person but I feel that I know you. Your regular updates on such a wide variety of issues has been essential. Thank you for the care you have given. You have made it possible for those of us outside the beltway to both understand the complexity of issues before Congress and to take easy steps to influence opinion where it counts. All the best to you and to FCNL!
Vint Deming
Thank you Kathy for ALWAYS keeping me (US) informed. I Wish you well and good fortune as you go forward into another Fantastic Voyage!
Kathy,
Thank you so much for all of your hard work and the informative newsletters. You will be missed!
I wish you all the best!
Peace and love,
Rosemary
NJ
I have so completely enjoyed your posts, even in the midst of an email deluge. Through them I was able to stay on top of so many important issues and add my voice and support for more peaceful approaches and practices. All the best to you in your transition.
Thank you again for all your hard work. Your dedication has made a difference in this world. Reflecting on the positive changes you have fostered I'm sure is a reward in itself.
You will be missed.
Kathy,
You have been my contact person at FCNL as long as I have been associated with FCNL. I fondly remember serving on the Field Committee and have looked forward to your regular action alerts. I guess nobody is irreplaceable, but it won't be the same without you there. Thanks for your years of service.
Scot Drysdale
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