Westport Quakers

Westport Meeting News:

Book Shed Reopened for book donations! Beginning May 1, the Book Shed will return to being open for book donations on Wednesdays and Saturdays (ONLY) from 9-5 PM. Please let your friends and neighbors know. A maximum of 6 bags or 6 boxes allowed per drop-off. Please do not leave books to be donated anywhere outside, or, inside the meetinghouse or Community House.  
Questions? Contact John Wojtowics via email or Meeting phone at 508-636-4963. For more information about donating books, and for a list of items that we cannot accept, please click HERE.

Reopening Meetinghouse, Spring 2021: Ministry and Counsel committee continues to support reopening our meetinghouse for worship in greater numbers as Friends feel comfortable to attend. Worship each Sunday via Zoom also continues. Ministry and Counsel’s “Reopening Meetinghouse Statement Spring 2021” may be read HERE.

​ MEETING CALENDAR: (All meetings via Zoom) 

• JHYM Retreat, April 30 – May 2.
• Peace and Social Justice, Monday, May 3, 6-7:30 PM.
• Vigil Planning meeting, Thursday, May 6, 7-8PM.
• “Tending the Spiritual Soil of our Monthly Meetings:” NEYM daylong event, May 8. Below and HERE
• Seekers Group, Monday, May 10, 7 PM. (Gretchen sends link)
• NEYM Meeting Leaders Call: Tuesday, May 11 at 7 PM. Details below.
• 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
• Candle Light Vigil of Remembrance outdoors on Meeting grounds, May 29, 8-9 PM. Details below.
• Pendle Hill: Becoming Blended Worshipping Communities, June 11-13. Details

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

Yearly Meeting/Wider Quaker News:

“Tending the Spiritual Soil of our Monthly Meetings:” NEYM daylong event, May 8:

Event Information:

​This will be a gathering of Friends in New England caring for the nurture of spiritual life and ministry in our local faith communities. We will worship, deepen our Quaker practice, share experiences among individuals and meetings and celebrate the various expressions of ministry and Quaker spiritual life in our midst. Whether you are new to Friends or have a lifelong concern for spiritual nurture, we invite you to attend! More info, and required registration is HERE.

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From Rebecca Leuchak, clerk of Providence Friends Meeting:

Providence Meeting’s Anti-Racism Dialog series will continue to study the origins, history and enduring contemporary 

effects of racism in America from a range of perspectives. We know this work is important  and truly a life-long engagement.

 

And we invite you to join us! Please feel welcome to our bi-monthly gatherings on Mondays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. 

We especially extend an invitation to Friends in other monthly meetings in our Southeast Quarter and beyond.

Please contact me if you or other members of your monthly meeting wish more info and are not on our Providence Google 

group email list. For more info, and receive a Zoom link, email Rebecca Leuchak HERE.

The remaining dates for the spring are: 

May 3

May 17

May 31

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

NEYM Meeting Leaders Call: We invite any interested Friends serving in leadership roles within their meeting to join us this coming Tuesday (April 27) at 7pm for our next check in call. 

This week our theme is Different Meetings, Different Priorities, Different Next Steps.  As meetings look towards and step into “reopening”, many meetings are not only asking “What comes next?” but also “Where are we headed?”. We’ll explore how each meeting’s unique calling, community, and focus can inform the choices they make around reopening, including the possibility of hybrid worship. We will also make space in our reflection and small groups to share about the feelings that come to the surface as meetings make choices and respond to changing circumstances.

This week’s call will feature guest speaker Emily Provance. Emily is a traveling minister, a member of Fifteenth Street Meeting in New York Yearly Meeting, and an associate with Good News Associates. 

Westport Friends who are not on the mailing list for this bi-weekly NEYM program and who would like to attend please contact Kevin for the Zoom link. 

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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:

• 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: 

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 News: 

From the Westport Board of Health Weekly Update: 

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.

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Save the Date: Candle Light Vigil of Remembrance outdoors on Meeting grounds, May 29, 8-9 PM:

Earlier this month our Meeting was approached by Westport resident, Donna Amaral, who asked us to consider hosting and holding a candlelight vigil on Meeting property, with the goal of holding in prayer and remembrance the lives lost due to Covid-19 over the past year. Donna is coordinating a number of planned events during May in Westport to highlight May being “Mental Health Awareness Month. The vigil, held at the end of May, is intended to serve as the culmination of the month’s events. Donna, who is a psychiatric Registered Nurse working in the mental health field, also serves on the Westport Board of Health. Donna is passionately involved in educating the public regarding the need for increased awareness of mental health initiatives.

Given the nature of this proposed event, it was forwarded to Ministry and Counsel Committee for its consideration. M&C was clear to support this proposal, and Property Committee also indicated its approval for the event to be held on Meeting property, out-of-doors. A working group comprised of Deana, Randy and Kevin have met with Donna Amaral via Zoom, and will continue planning in the weeks leading up to the vigil on May 29. Other Westport Friends are welcome to participate in planning as well.

Closing:

The Bell and the Blackbird

The sound of a bell
Still reverberating,
or a blackbird calling
from a corner of the field,
asking you to wake
into this life,
or inviting you deeper
into the one that waits.

Either way
takes courage,
either way wants you
to be nothing
but that self that
is no self at all,
wants you to walk
to the place
where you find
you already know
how to give
every last thing
Away.

The approach
that is also
the meeting
itself,
without any
meeting
at all.

That radiance
you have always
carried with you
as you walk
both alone
and completely
accompanied
in friendship
by every corner
of the world
crying
Allelujah.

– David Whyte

Thank you, Friends,
Kevin Lee