To request log-in information for Zoom Worship: Zoom [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: %E2%80%9CWorship%E2%80%9D%20Zoom%20Link%20Request) .

Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

Focus on your character, not your reputation.

Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes.

~ Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart [3]

The Meeting Calendar

Today loam and mulch are being delivered to the Meetinghouse and I'll be working on soil prep, planting, and mulching in the afternoon while Permanent Board meets.  If anyone can make last minute plans to join me in that effort, please be in touch.

With apologies for the last minute notice and kind regards,

The book group reading An Altar in the World generally meets first and third Sundays at 9 a.m. in the Meetinghouse.  Because Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business will be 3^rd Sunday this month, we will not meet again in May.  Next meeting will be June 2.

Fourth Sunday (May 26) will be a workday at the Meetinghouse to make some headway on landscaping.  We are hopeful the black flies will either be gone (having started early) or the day will be a bit windy!  Potluck will proceed the work.  More details on what to bring next week.

Ministry and Counsel is suggesting some revisions to the approved policy [4] to simplify the message.  Some refinements were anticipated since we were wordsmithing on the fly at Meeting for Business in April.   Here is the wording we will be bringing to you on May 19^th, Meeting for Business.

Concord Friends Meeting COVID–19 Policy (DRAFT)

We strive to create a beloved community which shows loving concern and actions toward all attenders of the Meeting and all with whom we interact in the wider world.  We demonstrate this care and love by being vaccinated, because vaccination protects the person vaccinated and others with whom they come in contact.  We encourage all attenders to be vaccinated.  We believe this will make our Meetinghouse a safer space for attenders whose own network includes people who are at greater risk of death or disability should they get the COVID-19 virus. 

We request that you attend via Zoom if any of the following apply:

1. You have a fever, cough, or other viral symptoms.  (This is because you can have COVID and spread it before testing positive.)
2. If you have had COVID recently, please don't attend in person until after the 5^th day after you tested positive; and please wear a mask until the 10^th day (or longer if your doctor recommends).
3. If you know you have been exposed to COVID, please do not attend in person until after testing negative on the 5^th day after exposure.  Then please continue to wear a mask until the 10^th day after exposure.

Otherwise, masks are currently optional in the Meetinghouse unless the CDC reports hospital admissions for COVID as “red” in any county of New Hampshire on the following map: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_new-admissions-rate-county [5].  For further clarification or questions, please contact Clerk [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: COVID%20Policy) .

Please stay after Fellowship on this day for a half hour or so of deep cleaning if you are able.  This is rescheduled from May third Sunday (which has been reserved for our monthly Meeting for Business).

The silent vigil for a ceasefire in Gaza continues every Thursday from Noon-1pm at the plaza in front of the State House.  Make your own sign, use one provided, or just stand in silent witness besides others. This is done in coordination with NH Peace Action.   We suggest that people make signs that convey something about justice for Israel and Palestine.  Also please avoid the word genocide, ethnic cleansing, and similar terms.

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
• Discover what’s possible now

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 we began holding an annual “Meeting for Listening.”

Last year at our first gathering, there was a strong sense of deep sharing, of drawing together.  We left the day having heard about our unique challenges.  We also shared the many places we face common obstacles and celebrate common joys.

Our next “Meeting for Listening” is scheduled for June 1, 2024.  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, or 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 [6].  If you plan to attend on site in Concord, please register by May 26.  This will help us comfortably accommodate everyone.

Are you led to host a local cluster in your area?  If, rather than traveling 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.

In this two-hour workshop, you will be introduced to a methodology to reconcile relationships and build trusting communities.  Virginia Swain will offer an overview of the program that she has been designing.  Most of the workshop will be an experiential exercise in which you engage in imaging/visioning (developed by Quaker Elder and Peacebuilder, Elise Boulding) – one of the key tools of Reconciliation Leadership.

Please bring paper and colored markers for the exercise.

Learn more at https://fmcquaker.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Virginia-Swain-06-06-24-Flyer.pdf [8] and register for the 6/6 workshop https://bit.ly/VirginiaSwain [9]

(Virginia is dedicating this workshop to the memory of Ian Harrington, a dear f/Friend, elder, and dedicated supporter of Reconciliation Leadership).

You are invited to register for our Spring Retreat!  Our theme will be “Cultivating Joy Amidst Life Transitions.”  As Quakers, and as members of community, we ask everyone to show up as their whole selves.  We want to know the authentic you, but first we need to know our authentic selves!  When change occurs around us, which seems to be happening all the time, it can leave us with some questions: What does being my whole self mean?  Who was I before this change?  Who will I be afterwards?

At this spring retreat there will be time for self-reflection and programming that will help ground us in our joyful selves. We will have plenty of opportunities for joy- through play, art, and connections.  There will be yummy food, singing, decorating and celebration of Pride Month, transformative committee meetings, and time outside!  We will also have time to thank our Senior Young Friends for everything that they have brought to our community, and go over options for future Quaker community engagement.

Click the link below to register for this retreat by May 30^th.  We hope to see you there!