Date | Time | Event | |
---|---|---|---|
Sun | Mar 15 | 10:00 a.m. | Worship followed by Fellowship and Building Clean-Up limited to surface disinfecting |
3rd Tue | Mar 17 | 9:00–10:15 a.m. | CANCELLED – Prayer Vigil & Jericho Walk: Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut St., Manchester, NH |
Thu | Mar 19 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Lenten Luncheon at Concordia Lutheran Church, 211 N. Main Street, Concord, NH. |
Fri–Sun | Mar 20–22 | Fri eve + all day Sat + ½ day Sun | POSTPONED – “Bible as a Door to Spiritual Transformation” workshop at Woolman Hill |
Sat | Mar 21 | All day | Legacy Gift Committee [2] meeting at the meetinghouse |
Sun | Mar 22 | 10:00 a.m. | Worship followed by a Called Meeting for Business via Zoom. Closing: Rob Y and Kathy M; Boiler: Rob. |
Tue | Mar 24 | 11:30 a.m. | Finance Committee Meets to prepare 2020-2021 budget recommendation. |
Thu | Mar 26 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Lenten Luncheon at Concordia Lutheran Church, 211 N. Main Street, Concord, NH. |
Sat | Mar 28 | 1:00 p.m. | Program on Mass Incarceration |
Sun | Mar 29 | 10:00 a.m. | Worship followed by Program 2 with James McKim on Racial Reconciliation via Zoom. The link and any special instructions will follow. Don't forget your homework! The assignments and report from our first meeting are posted below. |
Thu | Apr 2 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Lenten Luncheon at Concordia Lutheran Church, 211 N. Main Street, Concord, NH. |
Sat | Apr 19 | 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. | NEYM Clerking Workshop [3] at the meetinghouse |
Date | Time | Event | |
---|---|---|---|
3rd Sun | after Meeting | Dances of Universal Peace [4] | |
most Mondays | 6:00–9:00 p.m. | Zen Group | |
1st Tue | 9:00–10:15 a.m. | Prayer Vigil & Jericho Walk: Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut St., Manchester, NH | |
3rd Tue | 9:00–10:15 a.m. | Prayer Vigil & Jericho Walk: Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut St., Manchester, NH | |
Every Fri | 4:00–5:00 p.m. | Immigration Solidarity Witness: southwest corner Main & Park Sts. (State House Plaza), Concord, NH |
Please contact Info [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org for the ZOOM link to participate in Meeting for Worship. The meeting will open at 10:00 a.m. Please join in soon after 10:00 a.m. so that you can check out that all is working well before the start of worship. Keep the message handy in your inbox and click on the link at 10:00 a.m. or any time thereafter. This particular link will remain the same for all ZOOMed Meetings for Worship held on Sunday mornings in the future.
Greetings Concord Meeting Friends,
After meeting for worship on 3/15, I acted as Presiding Clerk and called a meeting for business for this Sunday, 3/22. The Meeting for Business will convene at 12:30 p.m. Friends who cannot join us in person are welcome to join us over the web. (I believe that the link will be the same one used for our 10 a.m. worship.)
The reason for a called meeting is to address the rapidly changing situation caused by the pandemic. Our prayerful deliberations will address two related matters:
I am looking forward to seeing each of you in-person or digitally on Sunday.
Rich Kleinschmidt, Presiding Clerk
Ministry and Counsel invites us all to embrace this time of social distancing, not with fear but with informed caution. Fear keeps us from thinking calmly and rationally. Instead sink down into the seed that is the Spirit and is Love and let that hold you as you make your choices during this time. Be open to change, as there is so much that is new happening. We are learning new ways of being with each other and can live into a hope that this will indeed bring us closer together in spirit, even if we are somewhat distant in the physical sense. We feel this is already happening.
With that in mind, we invite you to join us in one of these two ways: virtually or in person.
In Person: We have a commitment from our clerk to open the physical building for the typical Meeting for Worship times on Sundays. We are a small gathering (less than 50), so not required to close …at this time. Measures have been taken to make this a clean and healthy space. Extra cleaning of frequently touched surfaces is in place. Hand sanitizer is available. Cotton gloves are available for individual use for contact with surfaces such as doorknobs. We will space ourselves six feet apart. We will greet each other with eye contact, smiles, and hands in peaceful gestures. One person will dispense coffee and tea. We will use disposable cups. We will have brown bag lunches instead of potlucks. If possible bring your own mug.
Virtually: You will be able to (with one click) join Meeting for Worship remotely via Zoom. This format will be used for other committee meeting or gatherings. If you have not used Zoom, coaching and practice in using Zoom is available. Instructions/tips will come with the link sent later this week. Please let us know if you think you will need help.
At the beginning of worship the clerk will introduce everyone, including those joining remotely, so we are all aware of each other. People on the call can give messages during the silence by simply beginning to speak. People in the room will stand in front of the computer camera to be visible and audible. After the clerk breaks the meeting, we will have our normal introduction time to ask for prayers, share joys or sorrows, and ask for other assistance. Those attending virtually will be invited by the clerk by name to speak, and then those in the room will stand in front of the computer one by one for introductions. We know this time will be needed now more than ever.
Announcements will follow in the same manner (the clerk inviting those who raise their hand in person or virtually to speak in turn). We do suggest that, if people are in the same house, they try to be on separate devices so we can view you individually, and you can be closer to the mike. If possible, use both audio and video so it is easier to feel your presence.
This Sunday, March 22, you may attend the called Meeting for Business virtually on the same link. If you come to the Meetinghouse, please bring a “brown bag” lunch.
Note that we have rescheduled our anti-racism workshop with James McKim for Sunday March 29.
Please keep an eye out for further announcements if and when the situation changes.
Holding you in our Hearts – Ministry and Counsel
Concord Friends Meeting agreed to creating an ad hoc task group to explore and make recommendations on how the Meeting responds to the threat of the erupting epidemic of COVID-19. Members of this committee (Sara S, JJ S, Rob Y, Wendy L) met on 3/13 to discuss this. They met last night via ZOOM and focused on six questions to be answered. They offer the following recommendations.
We recommend that meeting for worship should be held as usual for Sunday, March 15. Because the situation is changing every day, we recommend that the decision about whether to hold meeting for worship should be made on a weekly basis. Beginning immediately, we recommend the following:
We recommend that we make every effort to provide virtual accommodations for those who cannot attend in person. To implement this, we will use a laptop connected to a monitor (if available), which will access the internet through a Wi-Fi hotspot. We will connect speakers to improve sound, and we will utilize Zoom [15] video conferencing. Individuals will be able to call in by phone or log in via computer or device. (See Zoom’s Support webpage at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us [16])
We recommend that we implement social distancing strategies where possible, while recognizing that isolation can also be potentially unhelpful and even harmful. Some strategies we feel we can implement immediately are moving chairs farther apart, substituting another activity for hand holding, and practicing social distancing during fellowship.
We recommend that we implement some new protocols for reducing the spread of infection, including:
We recommend that Wendy and Sara have access to the Constant Contact login information, so that messages can quickly and easily be sent to members to alert them to any updates and changes that they should be aware of.
We recommend that we extend the same expectations to children that we do to the adult members of our meeting to be responsible for reducing the spread of infection. We will rely on parents to communicate and reinforce these expectations. Very young children pose unique challenges to keeping areas clean and sanitized, and we recommend erring on the side of caution when deciding to have infants and toddlers attend first day school.
03.2 Response to COVID-19 [17]: Friends agreed to creating an ad hoc task group to:
As we receive information regarding cancellations and schedule changes we will pass them on. We continue to list items here that may be cancelled so please check with event sponsors. A listing in these announcements does not constitute a recommendation that you attend. Be safe.
As committees and meetings move to the Zoom [15] platform, you should know that it is fairly easy to use. Sara sent along this set of easy-to-follow instructions [19]. Zoom’s free access allows one to participate in any meeting and to host meetings up to 40 minutes. The paid subscription offers longer meetings and other options.
The Money and Spirit workshop planned for Saturday, March 21st “Greening Our Meetings and Our Lives” will not be held in-person at the Mattapoisett meetinghouse. Instead, an abbreviated program focusing on energy use in meetinghouses will be held via Zoom, starting at 9 a.m., and ending between 11 a.m. and 12 noon. There will be no afternoon program. If you wish to join in on this Zoom meeting, either by phone or computer, please contact Robert Murray, finance [at] neym [dot] org, to get the Zoom instructions.
John Reuthe of Vassalboro Meeting will be our resource for the Zoom meeting. John developed his greening expertise after personally visiting over 565 homes in central Maine. Funded by Efficiency Maine Trust [20], he and his volunteer team developed policies and procedures to help homeowners reduce energy use, improve the comfort level in their homes, and reduce their carbon footprint. They worked with energy auditors, contractors, apartment owners and various oversight agencies to provide efficient and cost-effective solutions. In 2011, John and his team received the prestigious Efficiency Maine Trust Philip C. Hastings Award for their work. John later led the Solarize Mid Maine Project (a group buy for the region). He also played a major role in the greening of the Vassalboro Friends Meeting House [21].
Sara Hubner, NEYM Office Manager for the Finance Committee, 508-754-6760
Sign up for our monthly newsletter! [22]
[23] James McKim, our facilitator, has provided us with the PDF that he used as a slide show through the program and it is provided to you through the link that follows. You can use it for review purposes and to help with the homework, or if you were unable to attend, you can follow the embedded links to short videos he presented. This can help you catch up with attendees. Don’t be daunted by it’s length. The PDF is full of large images rather than text. (For a copy of the PDF, please send an e-mail to Info [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org.)
Here is our homework for our next session on March 29th.
James plans to do a quick review of the concepts in the first program (see implicit bias [“Peanut Butter, Jelly and Racism [25]” and “An Introduction to Unconscious Bias [26]”] videos and microaggressions [27] video), delve into the homework results attendees bring, and then move into some new territory. We hope you will be able to attend. Attendance at session one is not a prerequisite. Everyone is welcome.
Click here to read James’ biography [28]. James writes of his program: "The paradox of persistent inequalities [between races and genders] amid improving racial and gender attitudes has led to a search for factors underlying ongoing discrimination and ways to create welcoming communities. This program explores those factors and ways to minimize the impact of implicit bias in our interactions and decision making toward inner peace and creating a welcoming community. During this highly interactive program we will discuss the following questions:
We recognize this first workshop with James is only a beginning and we expect it to be an ongoing process. We expect to be doing the second workshop in this series March 29th. Please save the date.
Ministry and Counsel
https://www.afsc.org/aaafund [29]
“Quaker Basics” is a series of six informal, one-hour meetings to learn from one another through reading selections from Faith and Practice of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and New England Yearly Meeting. The selections have been collected into six separate booklets that are available [30] on the “Library [31]” webpage on this website, but the MarkWBarker [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org (subject: %E2%80%9CQuaker%20Basics%E2%80%9D%20booklets%20of%20readings) (facilitator) will print copies for participants to mark up, underline, and dog-ear during their preparation for each meeting. After opening with a brief period of worship, we begin with responses to the question “What spoke to you?” We will close the meeting with another brief period of worship. At the end of each meeting, we will agree the time and the venue of the next meeting.
Finance Committee and Budget Preparation
Committees are asked to get their budget requests to the Finance Committee by March 23rd. A draft budget should be before the Meeting for consideration at the April Meeting for Business. All requests should be made by email or in writing. Verbal requests for budget requests made to some members of Finance Committee will be forgotten. Alas. Our email address is FinanceCommittee [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org
LENTEN LUNCHEONS, 61st Annual Series, Sponsored by Greater Concord Interfaith Council [32]
Location: Concordia Lutheran Church, 211 N. Main Street (across the street from the Kimball Jenkins School of Art)
Price per luncheon: $7 (all proceeds go to local area non-profits)
Thursdays, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
There will be a presentation on Mass Incarceration, by Jeanne Hruska of the ACLU on March 28th, at 1:00 p.m., at the Meetinghouse. She will talk about the current use of incarceration as a response to every situation, which unfairly punishes those who cannot pay bail. She will discuss Sentencing Reform, Bail Reform, Restorative Justice, Mental Health Court, and Drug Court, as well as other aspects of the issue.
From the minutes of our last Meeting for Business: “PSECC would like the meeting to anchor the start of community-wide education and action. Friends approved. [33]” This program is the beginning of that project.
Minutes from Meeting for Business: Follow these links for the minutes to our most recent meetings for business. https://www.concordfriendsmeeting/2020-02-09_CMM_Minutes [34] and https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2020-03-08_CMM_Minutes [35].
Dear Friends,
I am leading a retreat March 20-22 at Woolman Hill with Adria Gulizia, a Friend from New York YM - whom some of you may recall as one of the plenary speakers at NEYM annual sessions in 2018.
This weekend will not be Bible study in the sense of talking about the Bible, who wrote a passage, or what at meant when it was written.
Instead we will seek to become a listening community together, where we can open our hearts and allow God speak to us as we read and hear passages in the Bible that were powerful in the lives of early Friends – and have special significance for many Friends today.
We anticipate this to be a rich weekend both for those who have a long journey with the Bible and also for those with little or no experience with it. I hope you can join us – or pass this along to others who might find it helpful.
http://woolmanhill.org/upcomingprograms/bible-as-door-to-transformation/ [36]
In God’s love,
Peter Blood-Patterson
Here are some examples of passages we may spend time with:
Early Quakers were very fond of the Letter of James. James ch. 3 talks about “taming the tongue”. James ch. 4 talks about how wars arise from greed (quoted in the 1660 Peace Testimony).
Building Uses of Note
Jericho Walk [Joshua 6:1-27 [42]] 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. for those reporting to ICE for deportation that day at the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street in Manchester. This will be followed by the Sanctuary Support Network meeting at Blessed Sacrament Church, 14 Elm Street, Manchester where there will be refreshments. We have signed the pledge to stand with our immigrant neighbors. If you have not seen a copy of the revised solidarity statement, it can be found here. [Also, see resources at the website of the NH Council of Churches.]
Jericho Walk [Joshua 6:1-27 [42]] 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. for those reporting to ICE for deportation that day at the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street in Manchester. We have signed the pledge to stand with our immigrant neighbors. If you have not seen a copy of the revised solidarity statement, it can be found here. [Also, see resources at the website of the NH Council of Churches.]
Links:
[1] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/sites/all/files/images/ConcordFriendsMeeting-GroupPicture2019.jpg
[2] https://neym.org/committees/legacy-gift
[3] https://neym.org/events-calendar/2020/04/clerking-workshop
[4] https://www.dancesofuniversalpeacena.org/
[5] https://zoom.us/j/785997472
[6] https://zoom.us/test
[7] https://www.nh.gov/covid19/residents/documents/self-observation-covid.pdf
[8] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html
[9] https://www.nh.gov/covid19/
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbow_bump
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste
[12] https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/l/love.htm
[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILY_sign
[14] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/sites/all/files/images/I%2BL%2BK%3DILKsign.png
[15] https://zoom.us/
[16] https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
[17] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2020-03-08_CMM_Minutes#03.2
[18] https://worldconference2020.org/
[19] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/sites/all/files/documents/ZoomMeetingInstructions.docx
[20] https://www.efficiencymaine.com/about/
[21] http://vassalborofriends.tripod.com/
[22] https://neym.org/newsletter-signup
[23] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/sites/all/files/images/CMMLibraryBooks-RacialReconciliation.jpg
[24] https://ConcordFriendsMeeting.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a8043445371972ccf703d972&id=3a99de5323&e=c72c5a0f80
[25] https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004818663/peanut-butter-jelly-and-racism.html
[26] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCgIRGKAbfc&t=2s
[27] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDd3bzA7450
[28] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/JamesMcKim
[29] https://www.afsc.org/aaafund
[30] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/Library#QuakerBasics
[31] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/Library
[32] https://www.greaterconcordinterfaithcouncil.org/events.html
[33] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2020-02-09_CMM_Minutes#02.5
[34] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2020-02-09_CMM_Minutes
[35] https://www.concordfriendsmeeting.org/2020-03-08_CMM_Minutes
[36] http://woolmanhill.org/upcomingprograms/bible-as-door-to-transformation/
[37] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+19%3A9-13&version=NRSV
[38] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1-13&version=NRSV
[39] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A19-24&version=NRSV
[40] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12%3A2&version=NRSV
[41] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+10%3A3-5&version=NKJV
[42] https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=439204170