Westport Meeting News:
Meeting for Business will be held this Sunday, June 27, 8-9:45 AM via Zoom. Please see the Zoom links for business meeting that went out in this week’s email.
FELLOWSHIP AND REFRESHMENTS FOLLOWING WORSHIP RESUMES! As more and more Friends return to the meetinghouse for worship, and the MA Covid 19 Reopening Guidelines have been lifted as we recover from the pandemic, Friends are welcome to bring refreshments to share following worship on Sunday once again!
MEETING CALENDAR: (All meetings via Zoom)
- JHYM Retreat, June 25-27. Details
- Monthly Meeting for Business this Sunday, June 27 at 8 AM via Zoom. (Details above above)
- Worship each Sunday in meetinghouse and via Zoom at 10 AM
- Peace and Social Justice Committee, June 27, 6-7:30 PM
- Midweek worship, Wed, June 30 , 3:30-4 PM. (link sent morning of)
- Seekers Group, Monday, July 5, at 7 PM. (Gretchen sends link)
- SAVE THE DATE: (Proposed) Westport Meeting (in-person) Cookout & Campfire Sing, Sat, July 10 (Details TBA)
- SAVE THE DATE: JYM Pre-Sessions Retreat, Aug 1-4. Details
- SAVE THE DATE: NEYM Annual (virtual) Sessions, Aug 7-12, 2021. Preliminary details
MIDWEEK WORSHIP, via Zoom, WEDNESDAYS, 3:30-4:00 PM!
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Yearly Meeting/Wider Quaker News:
A request from Noah Merrill, NEYM Secretary:
From: Noah Merrill <ymsec@neym.org>
Date: June 13, 2021 at 1:27:01 PM EDT
Subject: Request to share an important opportunity for service
Dear Friends serving as clerks and meeting contacts,
I hope this message finds each of you well in this time of transition and change, finding opportunities for both rest and nourishment alongside the responsibilities you carry on behalf of our Friends communities.
I’m writing with a time-sensitive request for your prayerful consideration and counsel, if able.
As many of you are aware, Friends from across New England and beyond will gather for Annual Sessions online from August 7-12, with the theme “A Time for Healing: How Are You Called?” More information about Sessions is posted here (updated frequently), and an announcement of the opening of registration will be sent in the coming week. I hope very much that Friends from your meeting will be led and able to participate in whatever way works for you.
This year, as part of responding to God’s call to grow toward inclusivity, equity, and wholeness, New England Quakers are seeking to increase particular opportunities for those of us who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (sometimes described with the acronym “BIPOC”) to gather for mutual support and connection around the shared activities of Sessions.
In support of this work, we are seeking a Friend who identifies in this way to serve as a host and stipended organizer for these opportunities, with support from other staff and volunteers. We’re trying to reach out widely in hopes of connecting with Friends who may not otherwise hear of this important opportunity for service.
A detailed description of the role and responsibilities is posted with other current service opportunities here. Might you or another Friend in your meeting be a good match for this service?
We’d be very grateful if you would take a few minutes to listen for a prompting of the Spirit: Is there a Friend who is part of your local meeting who might bring the experience and gifts described, with whom you might share this opportunity, or to whom you’d suggest we reach out to invite them to consider this possibility?
Friends interested can contact me directly iva email HERE. at noah@neym.org.
Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.
in faith and service,
Noah Merrill
Secretary
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)
What Does it mean to be a Quaker Minister? (A Beacon Hill Handbook)
Friends believe that ministry takes many forms and that anyone can be called to ministry. Friends carrying a ministry need support, guidance, and accountability from their meeting community. The “handbook” on the NEYM site contains resources for meetings nurturing an individual’s leading or ministry including on forming a committee to nurture and care for the ministry and the minister. Details HERE.
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 of June 24, containing programming and retreat info for young people, parents and Friends, can be read HERE.
“The Spring Must Be Opened:” NEYM June 2021 Newsletter featuring Jan Hoffman, may be read HERE
In NEYM’s June Newsletter:
Introduction by Jan Hoffman
Training for committee clerks
Sessions is coming!
Right relationship workshop
Proposed chapter for Faith & Practice
Unexpected blessings
Right Relationship resource group news
Responding to the call to racial justice
Quaker parenting resource
Resources for online and hybrid gatherings
Tech Corner
What’s new in the Archives
Roadmap for action on Climate Change
A new book from Brian Drayton
The difference between a welcoming and an inclusive space
Television visits the former Meeting School
New website for The Gatherings
Quakers in the news
Recurring virtual Quaker events:
- Daily at 8 a.m., Beacon Hill Friends House: Meditation practice
- Mondays at 3 p.m., Facebook Live: Singalong Concerts
- Sunday–Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Calming Pajama Party
- Alternate Thursdays at 4 p.m., Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL): Thursdays with Friends
- Thursdays at 7 p.m.: Taizé worship
- Thursdays at 8 p.m.: Parents’ Tea-and-Chat
- Alternate Tuesdays at 7 p.m.: Support for Friends Serving in Local Meeting Leadership Roles
- Saturdays at 12:30 p.m. Open Heart Worship Group
Events coming soon:
- NEYM Annual (virtual) Sessions, Aug 7-12, 2021. Preliminary details
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.
Closing:
“We must delight in each other, make each other’s conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same family.”
– Governor John Winthrop, 1630 (Printed in the Sakonnet Times in 2009 and paid for by the Sakonnet Peace Alliance)