Westport Meeting Newsletter, July 28, 2023

Westport Meeting News: 

Monthly Meeting for Business THIS Sunday, 8am:

I hope as you receive this, you are enjoying and keeping cool during these dog days of summer. 

On Sunday, July 30, at 8:00 am via Zoom, we will be having our final Meeting for Business until September. Please let me know of agenda items, committee reports, and/or other items for our attention. 
 
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Time Sensitive Notice! Pamela Terrien, who serves on the NEYM Noticing Patterns Working Group: Interrupting Patterns of Oppression, wants our Meeting members to be aware of the Working Group’s recent work which will be presented at business meeting at NEYM Annual Sessions, August 4-9, 2023, at Castleton U., Castleton, Vermont, next week. The Working Group will hold a planning meeting in advance of Sessions, and interested Friends can learn learn more about the group’s work, and register for their discussion meeting on July 31, at the link below:
 
> Pre-Sessions Conversation on Interrupting Patterns of Oppression, 2023, click HERE.
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NOTICE: Please be aware that our meetinghouse will be rented for a private wedding, with access to the bathrooms, on Saturday, August 12, likely between the hours of 11am for setup, until 3pm for the wedding service and wrap-up. Friends are advised to avoid being on the property during these times. Thank you!
 

MEETING CALENDAR:

(All meetings held in person, via Zoom, or hybrid (meaning in-person and via Zoom), as noted)

  • Worship each Sunday in meetinghouse and via Zoom at 10am (hybrid) 
  • Monthly Meeting for Business, Sunday, July 30, at 8am Via Zoom
  • Seekers Group, Monday, July 31, 7-8:30 PM. HYBRID
  • Midweek Meeting for Worship, Wed, Aug. 2, 3:30-4pm. Via Zoom
  • NEYM Annual Sessions, August 4-9, 2023, at Castleton U., Castleton, Vermont,
    Additional details Here.
  • Midweek Meeting for Worship, Wed, Aug. 9, 3:30-4pm. Via Zoom. 
  • Midweek Meeting for Worship, Wed, Aug 16, 3:30-4pm. Via Zoom
  • NEYM Meeting Leaders Call, Sept 12, 7-8 PM via Zoom. Details below

 

MIDWEEK WORSHIP, via Zoom, WEDNESDAYS, 3:30-4:00pm. (Kevin sends link day of)

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Yearly Meeting/Wider Quaker News:

 NEYM’s July/Aug 2023 Newsletter introduction, “Listening In Love,” comes from Honor Woodrow from Putney, VT, Friends Meeting, may be read HERE.

Introduction
Monthly drop-in for end-of-life interest
Register for Annual Sessions!
Talking circles among BIPOC Friends
Workshop: financially supporting ministry
Work at Sessions
Show your art at Sessions
Hearing assistance at Sessions
Introducing new program assistant
Aging resources news
Update on Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools research
Service opportunity
A last word

Recurring virtual events

 

NEYM Annual Sessions, August 4-9, 2023, at Castleton U., Castleton, Vermont

Additional details Here.

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FWCC in conducting a “soft launch” of their “Find Friends” World Map. Nearly all of the info that they have for our Meeting at this time is incorrect, and I have used their provided Google Form to summit updated contact info for Westport Meeting. You can visit the site, but be aware that it may take some time for them to correct our contact info that they corrently have listed. Visit Find Friends here.

 

Sept 12, at 7 PM: An online check-in for Friends serving in leadership roles in their local meetings. (Ask Kevin or Gretchen for link).
 

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Sandwich Quarterly Meeting (SQM) News:

Smith Neck

Saturday, August 12: New England Clambake with Chowder 1:30 (take out available for pick-up 2:30 -3:00)

Tickets available: Anne Lopoulos 508-971-8008 or Kaylee Howland 508-922-2758 or online at http://Smithneckclambake2023.eventbrite.com. $65 adults, $32  children under 12. A tradition going on for the past 6 decades!

New Bedford

Sunday, August 13

Work party after worship followed by lunch (every second Sunday) 

West Falmouth

Second Sunday Forums

(August: no program due to Sessions.)

September 10:  Quaker Indian Boarding Schools a Facing History, Facing Ourselves program with leaders ZOOMing from 3 states: Paula Palmer (C)), Andrew Grant (VT) and Gail Melix (MA).

Quarter calendar for the rest of the year

Business and M&C meetings start at 10:00.  Possibly in-person, hybrid, or virtual.

July 22 in East Sandwich (Note: originally, East Sandwich was slated for Oct…)

October 28 in Allen’s Neck (…and Allen’s Neck was slated for July)

Quarterly Ministry and Counsel:

Sept. 23 in Mattapoisett 

Donation opportunity from our last Quarterly Meeting for Business Presentation:

Donations to Bialystok Friends, a meeting on the Polish border with Ukraine, go completely to buying food, clothing, and necessities for 50-60 families (80 – 100 kids). Ukrainian refugees continue to cross the border into Bialystok and Polish resources are strained. There’s no overhead; the clerk of the meeting (named Zbigniew Kazmierczak) buys the supplies and delivers them to the doors of these families. He reports that he cannot supply all the help that is needed (recently, a mother with a child with cerebral palsy sought $500 in medical equipment to enable her son to walk), spending his monthly budget in 3-4 days buying the food, diapers, medical supplies, and clothing for the families who need it most. Yarmouth Friends have been their biggest supporters (with some occasional contributions from English Quakers) but Yarmouth is a small meeting and its resources too are becoming strained. (They have been sending about $1250/month for over a year.) Please consider these Polish Friends in your donation distribution discussion. Email Jan from Yarmouth with any questions: Frazierjan@aol.com. She is available to come to your meeting or your Peace and Social Justice Committee to talk about the fund and show slides of the families and of the help they are receiving from the Bialystok Meeting.

Quaker Programs, Study, Retreats, and Spiritual Nurture:

Woolman Hill Retreat Center

Beacon Hill Friends House

Powell House

Pendle Hill

QuakerSpeak (Our Quaker faith as shared by those who experience it firsthand, every day, via weekly video interviews)

FGC Gathering, “A week of Quaker worship, workshops, and community for all ages.” July 2-8, 2023. Theme: “Listen. So That We May Live.” Details HERE.

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Local Happenings of Interest to Friends:

If you have something that could go in this space, let let me know! – editor.

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Closing:

There must be always remaining in every life,
some place for the singing of angels,
some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful.

– Howard Thurman

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Thank you, Friends,
Kevin