Westport Meeting Newsletter April 16, 2021

April 16, 2021
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Westport Meeting News:

Reminder: Clerk of Meeting, Betty Ann, reminds us that monthly meeting for business will be held next Sunday, April 23 at 8 AM!

Book Fair Committee: At its meeting on April 14, the Book Fair Committee, siting continuing concerns for Covid 19 and uncertainty regarding levels of possible infection into the summer months, has decided TO CANCEL the 2021 BOOK FAIR scheduled for this coming July. The decision was not made lightly, but with an abundance of caution to protect Book Fair patrons, Meeting members and community volunteers who help us each year.

Our Book Shed will be open to receive book donations beginning Saturday, May 1, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and continues twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9-5 PM.

Ministry and Counsel Committee: Committee members have been monitoring the MA Covid 19 Reopening Guidelines for Houses of Worship and gauging the comfort level among Westport Friends to determine when it is time to gradually return to worshipping in our meetinghouse in increasing numbers. As more Friends continue to be vaccinated, with meetinghouse storm windows now removed allowing for greater ventilation, and with recent revisions to the MA Covid 19 Reopening Guidelines for Houses of Worship that went into effect on March 1, 2021, we feel it is time to support Friends who feel comfortable to return to the meetinghouse for worship on First Day.

Capacity limits, now increased to 50% of legal occupancy with the latest revision still exist, but our average numbers of attendees during worship before the pandemic have been less than the 48 people currently permitted in the meetinghouse under the existing guidelines. Face coverings continue to be required and sign-in for each person attending worship in the meetinghouse needs to continue in order to provide for contact tracing should it be necessary. Friends are asked to sit in marked areas that provide for social distancing. Coffee hour and gatherings following worship for fellowship continue to be omitted. Meeting for worship will continue to be offered via Zoom simultaneously with worship in the meetinghouse.
 

Ministry and Counsel, which is charged with care of worship, will continue to monitor current pandemic conditions with an awareness that public health authorities may require additional modifications, including scaling back reopening guidelines, depending on factors related to the pandemic in our area. Please contact Randal Wirth, or Kevin Lee, co-clerks of Ministry and Counsel committee, with questions or concerns. Thank you, Friends, for your understanding. Questions? Email Randal Wirth, or Kevin Lee.

Peace and Social Justice Committee: Friends are invited to a film review and discussion scheduled for Monday, April 19, 8-9 PM. See info below. Questions? Contact Pamela Terrien, clerk.

Midweek worship will continue to be offered each week on Wednesdays at 3:30 PM. Please note that the link for midweek worship is not the same as our regular worship on Sunday. A link for joining Midweek worship (which is the same link each week) will be emailed each week on Wednesday mornings. To insure security, we never post Zoom links on websites or portals visible to the general public. Questions? Contact Kevin Lee.

Please use the Zoom link that was emailed to you to attend SUNDAY worship at 10 AM. 

10:00 AM – Worship via Zoom and in the meetinghouse: (Zoom links were emailed to you!)

Worship within the meetinghouse and worship online via Zoom will take place each week at 10 AM. Video and audio will be in use within the meetinghouse using Zoom, so that Friends worshipping online and in the meetinghouse can remain connected throughout worship. Randal Wirth will provide oversight of setup and care of worship in the meetinghouse this week. 

Continue worshipping online: (Zoom links were emailed to you!)

Please plan to connect by 9:50 AM in order to settle into worship by 10 AM. If you have questions or experience difficulty connecting to Zoom please contact Gretchen Baker-Smith via email or cell phone at 508-287-6441.

​ MEETING CALENDAR: (All meetings via Zoom) 

  • Peace and Social Justice Committee [Film Discussion], Monday, April 19, 8-9 PM. See below.
  • Quaker Religious Education Collaborative, April 20. Details below.
  • Midweek meeting for worship, Wednesday, April 21, 3:30-4 PM. Link sent Wed am.
  • JYM “Hangout,” Wed, April 21, 4-5pm. Details
  • Quaker Religious Education Collaborative, April 22. Details below.
  • Westport Monthly Meeting for Business, April 23 at 8 AM
  • Sandwich Quarterly Meeting hosted by Allen’s Neck Meeting, April 24, 2021.
  • “Tending the Spiritual Soil of our Monthly Meetings:” NEYM daylong event, May 8. Register HERE
  • Ministry and Counsel, May 17 at 7 PM
  • Annual Team C.O.W. (Clean Our Westport), Saturday, May 22, 9 AM-1 PM. Details below.
  • Monthly Meeting for Business, May 23 at 8 AM
  • Pendle Hill: Becoming Blended Worshipping Communities, June 11-13. Details

MIDWEEK WORSHIP, via Zoom, WEDNESDAYS, 3:30-4:00 PM!

Westport Meeting Peace and Social Justice Film and Discussion. Monday, April 19, 8-9 PM: 

Truth & Healing Conference at Pendle Hill, with Paula Palmer.

Friends are invited to view the presentation featuring Paula Palmer on YouTube prior to our discussion on the film scheduled for April 19 at 8:00 PM.   We will be meeting via Zoom for this discussion.  Please email Pamela Terrien at mizzskeeter@gmail.com for the Zoom link any time prior, and the link will be emailed out on April 18th.  Friends may also choose to view the video by clicking on the link HERE, or view the video embedded below:

 

Yearly Meeting/Wider Quaker News:

Resources for spiritual growth and education offered by our Yearly Meeting: *

Friends, though we are living in challenging times these days, many individual Friends, monthly meetings, Quaker organizations, and our Yearly Meeting as a whole, are offering an amazing array of opportunities to expand our knowledge and improve our practice as Friends in a variety of ways. Check out the following links and see what we are being offered! Also, take a few minutes and explore additional programs offered by NEYM by visiting the Events page HERE.

Gretchen’s JYM-JHYM latest bi-weekly newsletter, containing programming and retreat info for young people, parents and Friends, can be read HERE. 

“Tending the Divine Seed: NEYM April 2021 Newsletter by Sarah B Gant,  may be read HERE

Recurring virtual Quaker events:

Events coming soon: 

Collaborative Quaker Youth Ministry: Linking Yearly Meetings, Monthly Meetings and Quaker Camps

Much can be gained when youth workers embrace a shared stewardship for the same youth across multiple Quaker venues. Centering the ministry to the youth instead of the programming sponsor allows us to weave nurturance and pastoral care for individual young Friends beyond the time and space of our particular events. The better we know our youth, the more we will be able to support them and speak to their condition. Let’s explore how QREC’s informal network can help make these connections come alive! We invite youth workers, youth ministry committee members, and youth program administrators and interested Friends to a conversation on collaborative ministry.

Register for Tuesday, April 20. | Register for Thursday, April 22.

Connect, Learn, Explore, and Be in Service among Friends Regionally and Globally.

Check out an array of Quaker schools, camps, retreat centers, other yearly meetings and Quaker organizations listed on NEYM’s website.

Local Community Activities: 

Martin Costa, Meeting member and founder of “C.O.W.” (Clean Our Westport) is pleased to announce that this year’s litter cleanup along the roadways of Westport will take place on Saturday, May 22, from 9 AM until 1 PM. Volunteers may work as little or as much as they want. (Rain date is next day, Sunday.) Tools, gloves and bags for trash pickup are supplied. A green “safety color” t-shirt with C.O.W. logo will be supplied. Gretchen Baker-Smith wil serve as “captain” for our Meeting members and people who receive this newsletter. A t-shirt will be suppled if Gretchen knows sizes needed by April 24. Meet at 9 AM at the south parking lot at High School on Main Road. Email Gretchen to sign up and reserve a t-shirt at hellogretchen@gmail.com  or call her cell at 508-287-6441.

Closing:

On Leaving Bondage…Yet Again

Now we depart,
as our ancient ancestors always departed.

We leave, some of us encouraged,
some of us unscathed,
some of us energized,
all of us weary.

We leave, to depart to a better place…
Home… where we will be welcomed
with varying measures of
eagerness,
resentment,
responsiveness, or
anxiety.

We pray for good departures,
in the way our ancestors left Egypt,
that we may leave the grind of productivity,
and the hunger of craven ambition,
that we may leave for a place of wondrous promise,
visited en route by bread from heaven
and water from rocks.

We pray for big departures, like those of our ancient parents,
that we may leave where we have been and
how we have been and
who we have been.

To follow your better lead for us,
you who gives new place,
                new mode,
                new self.

We pray, each of us, to travel in mercy,
that we be on our way rejoicing,
arriving in wonder, love, and praise.

– Walter Brueggemann, “Prayers for a Privileged People”

____

Thank you, Friends,
Kevin Lee 

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