Concord Friends Meeting

A Monthly Meeting in Dover Quarter of New England Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends

Click here to subscribe to this newsletter

True silence is the rest of the mind; and is to the spirit, what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.

~ William Penn, 1644-1718

The Meeting Calendar

Please socially distance for all indoor events and mask when not eating or drinking (more info).

An Update from Ireland – (June 9th, 2023)

Hello all,

Long time, no chat.

I am just settling into my rented apartment here in Dublin. I currently reside near the port of the city, in a neighborhood called East Wall which is just adjacent to the freight yard where goods are moved to and from the port by rail. Interestingly enough, during the day it is not train horns I listen to, but the gentle throb of construction - they are modernizing the freight yard as I write.

The apartment I moved into is quite nice. I have two apartment mates - one is Evelyn who is from Guadeloupe (a French overseas territory in the Caribbean) here on a scholarship to work and practice her English - the other, Thomas, is the son of the landlord who has helped to show me the ropes when not at work.

The transition to Ireland has of course been somewhat challenging as I iron out details, do research, do errands and attend appointments to ensure my transition to enjoying my three month vacation is smooth. Nonetheless, it has been fun to walk around and explore the city when not doing a bit of planning. I particularly enjoy walking along the Liffey river here in central Dublin.

Here, I have found myself walking along the 'quay' as I do my errands or just out for a walk, never missing an opportunity to spot something new. Next week, I will transition into seeing museums and then hopefully the countryside. I hope all are well back home and I look forward to keeping you updated and perhaps joining you soon on Zoom.

Matt S.

A Day of Extended Worship, June 24, 2023, 9:00 a.m. — 12:30 p.m.

An Invitation To A DAY OF EXTENDED WORSHIP

Starksboro Friends Meeting, Saturday, June 24, 2023 9:00 am-2:30 pm,

430 Dan Sargent Road, South Starksboro, VT 05443

In earlier times Friends would often worship for hours fully expectant and deeply patient for the Living Presence to do its work in the gathered body of Friends. These gathered experiences were core to Quaker convincement, personal transformation, and prophetic challenges to the cultural behaviors in the places where Quakers lived.

Modeled on a twenty-five-year practice in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, these are opportunities for NEYM Friends to experience a full day of Quaker worship. In June we will be meeting in the historic South Starksboro Friends Meetinghouse. We hope that many Friends will join us.

To register and for questions, please contact Michael Wajda (mfwajda [at] gmail [dot] com) (484-639-3356) or Jean Rosenberg (jrosenbe [at] middlebury [dot] edu) (802-388-6453).

Click here for more information

MEETING FOR LISTENING: The Spiritual Life in our Local Meetings at Concord Friends Meetinghouse

A full-day, hybrid event June 24, 2023

Friends are most in the Spirit when they stand at the crossing point of the inward and outward life. And that is the intersection at which we find community. a place where the connections felt in the heart make themselves known in bonds between people, and where the tugging and pullings of those bonds keep opening our hearts.

- (Parker Palmer, A Place Called Community, Pendle Hill Pamphlet #212, 1977)

JOIN US FOR A GATHERING OF FRIENDS IN NEW ENGLAND CARING FOR THE NURTURE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE AND MINISTRY IN OUR LOCAL FAITH COMMUNITIES.

Together, we will:

• Dream together,
• Identify the resources meetings have to offer each other,
• Explore themes in State of Society reports and trends from statistical reports, and
• Discover what’s possible now.

Background:

As you know, our yearly meeting’s primary purpose is to support monthly meetings, to be a vehicle to share resources and experiences among and between us in order to better understand our life in the Spirit and to be able to listen more closely to the Teacher. With that in mind, at yearly meeting annual sessions last year, we decided to hold a “Meeting for Listening.”

Our first “Meeting for Listening” is scheduled for JUNE 24, 2023. It will be a FULL-DAY, HYBRID GATHERING where Friends can gather in different ways: on-site at Concord (NH) Meeting, in local clusters connected via Zoom, as well as individually via Zoom.

We gather to share with each other—to reflect on where Spirit is alive in our local worshiping communities. These insights and reflections will both inform programmatic planning in the year ahead and our annual Funding Priorities.

And while that’s all very serious, don’t be misled. We are looking forward to a day of joyful worship, celebration, and discovery.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN.  Whether you plan to participate via Zoom or gather with others, you can register for this free-of-charge event at NEYM.org/Meeting-for-Listening.  If you plan to attend on-site in Concord, please register by June 1^st.  This will help us comfortably accommodate everyone.

Are you led to host a local cluster in your area? If, rather than travel to Concord, you are interested in inviting area Friends (for example, your Quarter) to gather at your meeting’s location in a regional cluster to participate in the gathering together connected via a shared device or system, we would love to support you in doing so, as much as we are able. Contact us (mc-clerk [at] neym [dot] org and Nia [at] neym [dot] org) to begin a conversation.

Looking forward in faith, Carl Williams, Ministry and Counsel Clerk and Nia Thomas, Program Director

An Invitation from the Presiding Clerk and Clerk of Sessions Committee:

Friends around New England and beyond—you are invited to the 363^rd Annual Sessions of New England Yearly Meeting, August 4–9, 2023!

Last year we pioneered hybrid sessions, with some of you attending at Castleton University, and others participating by Zoom. Continuing that successful experiment, our focus this year is building connections, strengthening local meetings, and practicing our faith together. Our schedule has been built with attention to creating time for sitting with old F/friends and making new ones.

Click here for more information

Childcare Planning Committee Update

We are disappointed to have to report that we have hit a significant snag in our planning. We have heard from the fire marshal that the boiler and the pellet bin must be separated from the rest of the building with a one hour rated fire wall. That includes the room's north, east and west walls.  The ceiling and south wall are not included since the other side is the exterior.  This could be configured in some different ways, but such modifications would be a considerable expense because it would need to be done by a contractor, not by our volunteers.

The committee is looking into options but accomplishing the work in the next two months as well as getting approval for a much larger expense seem like nearly insurmountable obstacles.  We will keep you informed as our work continues.

More Quaker Podcasts

Contributed by Jonah:

Quaker Faith and Podcast is no longer active, but had a long run reading the Faith and Practice of I believe Ohio Yearly Meeting & discussing various aspects of Quakerism  https://quakerpodcast.org/

Western Friend (the publication) has a podcast  https://westernfriendpodcast.buzzsprout.com/

So does New England Yearly Meeting! Annual Sessions advanced documents were read in this feed last year, and various other NEYM events pop up from time to time  https://quakersofnewengland.buzzsprout.com/

Weare/Henniker Friends — Summer Solstice Sing & Pie Social

6:30 pm, Sunday, June 25^th - Solstice Sing & Pie Social

 

Come sing with us again!!!  We’re continuing our new tradition of singing old favorites (hymns, folk songs, etc.) as a

Summer Solstice version of our annual Carol Sing.

All ages are invited and welcome!

For more information call 603-995-4311.

Henniker Quaker Meetinghouse at 529 Quaker St.

(in the historic district of Henniker).

From Past Issues:

• Approved May 2023 Minutes from Meeting for Business
• NH Pow Wows
• COVID Information from Other Meetings

Minutes of Meeting for Business, May 7 at 12:30 p.m.

The approved minutes for the May 2023 meeting for worship with attention to business are available at https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2023-05-07_CMM_Minutes or via https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/Minutes_of_ConcordMonthlyMeeting.

New Hampshire Pow Wows

Here is a fun and interesting way to develop your relationship with the local Native American community. The link takes you to a listing of all the Pow Wows in NH this summer. Sara and JJ are going to the Alstead one (15 Mechanic Street) and then to the Keene concert with the Concord Chorale at 3.

https://calendar.powwows.com/events/categories/pow-wows/pow-wows-in-new-hampshire/

COVID Information from other Meetings

As a follow-up to last week's Meeting for Business and the subject of COVID protocols, here is an interesting read on the practices of 14 Meetings around our Quarter and the Yearly Meeting.  It contains much food for thought.

This Newsletter

Dear Friends,

If you have information to share via this Newsletter please have your information submitted to ConcordFriendsNewsletter [at] gmail [dot] com by 5:00 PM on Thursdays. 

• Items should begin with a headline followed by text that can be copied and pasted without editing.
• Please remove any formatting if you are able.
• Please keep postings directly related to the Meeting or activities and groups supported by the Meeting, or personal news to share. 
• Typically the announcements will go out by Friday.  It is our intention to acknowledge receipt of all submissions.  If you don't receive an acknowledgment we probably have not seen your message, and it would be helpful if you followed up with us.
• The Newsletter Gmail account is owned by Wendy, but it is also used by Juliet.  Look for the signature to be clear who the actual sender is.  And finally, it's best to keep your Zoom links in a handy place in case the announcements are not sent in a given week.

Juliet Curran / Wendy Lapham Newsletter Editors

Are you wanting information from past announcements and newsletters?

Visit this page on our web site: Past Announcements and Newsletters

Are you wanting to donate to Concord Monthly Meeting?

Visit this page on our web site for more information: Donations