Westport Quakers

Westport Meeting News:

It is with great sadness to share that Steve Correia has passed away, Friday, January 14, at home and at peace. We have known for several weeks that Steve had begun to decline more rapidly, and there was a sense that Steve would not be with us much longer. We take comfort in knowing that Steve wanted most especially, to die at home, so that at least is comforting to know did happen. Steve had previously shared with me that he was looking forward to being in spirit again with his late wife, June.

Ministry and Counsel Committee, which is charged with care of worship, met January 5 and after a period of discussion felt clear to support continuing worship, in person, within our meetinghouse each Sunday morning, as we all cope with the current spike of Covid 19 and the Omicron variant. Masks, continue to be required while in the meetinghouse, and we ask that Friends continue to “social distance” by sitting in designated areas as marked. (Remember, people living in the same household may sit together.) The committee will review this matter at the end of January. Worship will also continue to be offered via Zoom each Sunday morning. 

Peace and Social Justice Committee is continuing to plan for a vigil entitled, “Hate Has No Place in Westport,” to be held in our meetinghouse on Sunday, January 23, at 4pm. Additional details to follow. But, please mark your calendar and join us for the vigil at 4pm, Jan 23!

Committee members Gretchen Baker-Smith and Susan Czernicka meet recently with reporter Ted Hayes, of East Bay RI News. The article, “Westport Friends Deal With a Rash of BLM Banner Thefts,” published Saturday, Dec 18, 2021, may be read HERE on their online edition. 

Our Black Lives Matter sign was vandalized with spray paint sometime between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Fortunately, Deana Chase spotted the damage early New Year’s Day and Susan Czernicka and Kevin Lee were able to remove the paint quite easily, due to the sign’s plexiglass covering, with graffiti remover within 30 minutes and had the sign cleaned up by 11:30 AM New Year’s Day. Still, a number of area residents who saw the damage before it was cleaned up expressed their dismay that this was happening within their/our community. 

Done!

Property Committee wishes to thank Sandra and Michael Thompson, Mary Monteiro, John Wojtowics, and Midori Evans, for their work in getting the storm windows up on our meetinghouse. Talk about timely, barely a day before the arrival of our area’s first winter snow storm!

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.

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

• Worship each Sunday in meetinghouse and via Zoom at 10am (hybrid)
• Peace & Social Justice Committee, Monday, Jan 10, 7pm (Zoom only)
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• Midweek worship, Wed, Jan 19, 3:30-4pm (link sent day of, Zoom only)
• Seekers Group, Monday, Jan 17, at 7pm. Zoom only. (Gretchen sends link)
• Midweek worship, Wed, Jan 19, 3:30-4pm (link sent day of, Zoom only)
• Sandwich Quarterly Meeting, Jan 22 via Zoom. (Details below in SQM News)
• Monthly Meeting for Business, Jan 23 at 8am. (Zoom only)
• Vigil – “Hate Has No Place In Westport,” Sunday, Jan 23, 4pm outside the meetinghouse 
• Permanent Board (NEYM), Jan 29, 9am – 1pm (Details in NEYM News below)
• Seekers Group, Monday, Jan 31, at 7pm. Hybred. (Gretchen sends link)
• Ministry and Counsel Committee, Feb 7, 7pm. Zoom only.
• NEYM Meeting leaders call, Tues, Feb 8, 7pm. via Zoom.
• NEYM “Bread Day,” March 5, 2022, with Gretchen Baker-Smith and Maggie Fiori. (Details below)

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

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Westport Community News:

Yearly Meeting/Wider Quaker News:

NEYM Faith and Practice Revision Committee: Draft chapter for review and discussion on Ministry and Counsel committees at the monthly meeting level; [Our Meeting’s M&C committee will be reviewing this document, but all Friends are encouraged to review this draft copy as well. Click HERE for the link.

New England Yearly Meeting Newsletter, “Still Waiting,” January, 2022, by Rebecca Leuchak, Providence Friends Meeting. Rebecca serves as clerk of the Yearly Meeting Sessions Committee and is our Rising Presiding Clerk of NEYM, may be read HERE:

Introduction
For BIPOC Friends
The radical Quaker spiritual journey
Read The Lemon Tree
Preserve your meeting’s history
Best practices in nominating
Coming: bread day
Mysticism, Physics, and Healing book group
Quakers adapting in new ways
Support for addressing racial justice
“Midweek Meditations” returns
We’re hiring!
Reunion coordinator needed
Being an activist
What is required of me?
Your feedback is needed!
“Ministry: the call and the challenge” on video
Sharpen your Zoom skills
Quakers in the news
A last word

Gretchen’s JYM-JHYM latest newsletter, issue of Jan 5, 2022, contains an opening reflection, programming and retreat info for young people, parents and Friends throughout New England Yearly Meeting.  Read her latest bi-weekly newsletter HERE.

NEYM “Bread Day,” March 5, 2022:

NEYM youth ministers Gretchen Baker-Smith and Maggie Fiori invite Friends of all ages from across New England to a day of connecting with each other and Spirit through baking bread together! This is a hybrid gathering, meaning that Friends can participate by gathering in person in their monthly meeting communities and connecting to the wider community online. Gretchen will share her ministry of baking bread as a practice of listening for Spirit, which she has shared with youth for decades. Save the date, March 5th, tell Friends at your meeting, and look out for registration opening this winter. Contact Maggie at maggie@neym.org with questions.

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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.

From Deena Kinsky, Sandwich Quarterly Meeting Newsletter editor: SQM Meeting for Business will be held Saturday,  January 22, hosted online by Smith’s Neck Friends Meeting. The program is titled: “The role that beekeeping plays in creation stewardship.” It will be illustrated by a PowerPoint. The discussion will be led by Norma E. York, chair of the Acushnet Agricultural Commission and friend of the meeting. 

Afghan Refugee Information: Please see earlier newsletter containing detailed info regarding the needs of a recently arrived family from Afghanistan HERE.

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Closing:

What we are, what we have, even our salvation,
all is gift, all is grace,
not to be achieved but to be received
as a gift freely given.

– Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Oct 7, 1931 – Dec 26, 2021)

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Thank you, Friends,

Kevin Lee