2020-04-21 Announcements for

Entering Meeting this Sunday

Zoom procedures seem to be working out pretty well.  So if you have not joined us yet via zoom we hope you will.  To join with us, please email Zoom [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: Meeting for Worship)  for the Zoom link.  Please read below so you will know what to expect.  The link we have used for the past two Sundays will continue to be active for Sunday Worship until further notice.

• You can enter anytime after 9:45 a.m. Ruth (as host) will greet you and check your audio is working; she'll ask you to mute your audio and then put you into the Meeting Room (a Breakout Room, for you Zoom techies).  This is a security enhancement.
• We are offering this extra early time in the hope there will not be a last minute rush.
• If you enter extra early, feel free to leave your physical seat, but when you return to the screen, expect that you and others in the Worship Room will be in worship.
• We hope everyone will be in the Worship Room by 10:15
• We will NOT be introducing everyone at this time.  You can scan the faces and names to see everyone who is present.
• At the end of worship Rich, as clerk, will break Meeting and invite everyone (in turn, by naming them) to introduce themselves, share joys or sorrows, not quite formed message, etc.  If he gets to the end and you are inadvertently missed, wave your hand.  (Remember the order you see people on your own screen is not necessarily what others see, and the faces move around sometimes.)

Free People Behind Bars during this Pandemic

Join AFSC on Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. ET for a virtual meeting for worship to lift up the need to free people behind bars during this pandemic. Meeting for worship is the Quaker practice of gathering in silence for divine guidance through individual communion with God, and sharing vocal ministry as people feel moved.

This is an interfaith event that will include speakers from multiple faith traditions. All are welcome. Register today to receive login information.

Invited guests include:

• Rev. Winnie Varghese, priest on the Strategic Clergy team at Trinity Church Wall Street, blogger for Patheos, and author and editor
• Rabbi Brant Rosen, congregational rabbi for Tzedek Chicago, an anti-Zionist temple
• Rev. Petero Sabune, Africa Partnership Officer for the Episcopal Church and pastor and former chaplain at Sing Sing Correctional Facility Chaplin
• Rev. Edward Muller, founder of the Exodus Group in the 1970s, which offers opportunities for study and discussion to those serving lengthy sentences
• Siwatu Salama-Ra, environmental and racial justice organizer from Detroit who was wrongfully incarcerated for self-defense when she was in her third trimester of pregnancy
• Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson, Unitarian Universalist Minister
• Steve Tamari, Palestinian Quaker
• Song leading by Emma’s Revolution and Elena La Fulana

The meeting will include reflection; brief prayers, poems, and spiritual offerings from speakers; and a call to action. We will also have time for open worship for folks to join in silent reflection or, if so moved, add their own prayers or offerings.

We ask participants to come with open hearts and minds, ready to receive and join in spiritual community. We welcome all voices in chorus with the words of invited speakers for all those in prisons, jails and detention centers. Let our spirits reach them, our unity protect them, and our works liberate them. We hope you will join us!

Blessings,

Lucy Duncan, Lewis Webb, and Kristin Kumpf

Director of Friends Relations, Healing Justice Program Coordinator, and Human Migration and Mobility Director

Register here

Telling Stories - This Saturday Night

David W and Kathy U will host another story telling night this Saturday night via Zoom.  Whether or not you have a story to tell, please attend!  If you have a story to tell or need further information, contact them and let them know

1. the gist of the story and
2. how long it will take to tell.

Kathy is at kju138 [at] gmail [dot] com and David is at david [at] freewoolie [dot] com. 

Start time is 7 p.m.  To join with us, please email Zoom [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: Telling%20Stories) for the Zoom link.

An Opportunity to Connect With Cuban Friends

Dover Meeting has asked us to partner with them in their sister relationship with Holguin and a related meeting In Cuba.  What they are looking for most right now is a couple people who would like to have an online conversation (using Google translate as needed) just to share news of the different meetings.  This is more like a penpal than a reporter.  People should be willing to initiate or respond to mostly Facebook Messenger chats on at least a quarterly basis.  Facebook is their preferred medium, but other mail is possible.  If this interests you, and you want to know more before committing, call Sara Smith.  Cuba Yearly Meeting is celebrating its 200^th anniversary!

Budget Proposal

The Meeting for Business has reviewed the budget.  In May it will get final consideration.  Please let the FinanceCommittee [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: Budget%20Proposal%20for%20FY%202021) know if you have questions or desire input.  Please click here to access the budget proposal.