Survey and Reforming Small Groups.

Please see the 10/8 announcements email for a link to the survey described in the Ministry and Council section below.

Ministry and Counsel Announcements

Small Groups A while ago, we started several Zoom groups for things like fellowship and care, and book discussions. As people join in for what feels like a new year in September, it feels like a good time to add new people, start new books, think about other types of groups. We would like to know your ideas and desires for joining groups or forming new ones. Our current fellowship and care groups like to meet weekly and have a consistent membership so they can have ongoing discussions. This is similar to how the book discussions operate. BTW there is much interest in reading The Gatherings. Keep that in mind as you fill out the attached survey. We are looking for other ideas, some of which could be more casual, maybe a Zoom potluck dinner to just chat?  The linked survey [2] is a Word document you can download and add your comments to and then return to MinistryandCounsel [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org. If you have any difficulty with the technology, please let us know.

October Fourth Sunday Program October 24, at 12:30 We would like to present a program on our ongoing work to attain Right Relationship with our Native neighbors. BRING A BAG LUNCH if attending in person.

Who wants some oak wood?

The Property Committee is anxious to get the felled and cut up oak removed from the bounds of the parking lot. We invite anyone who needs fire wood to take it away. The wood is too wet to be burned this season, but when split and stacked should dry by next winter. A donation to help defray the cost of having felled the tree would be appreciated. Pay what seems fair or makes sense in your budget or nothing at all. Write "oak" in the memo on your check, and, "Thank you." Your efforts to remove the wood are appreciated.

Crop Walk - Only 2 more days to contribute

Ruth is walking and is looking for lots of sponsors. No doubt members and attenders of Meeting contribute in different ways to address the fact of hunger in our local communities and world wide. This is one opportunity for the Meeting to speak as one. Please give generously as you are able. Over the years Concord Friends Meeting has been among the leading donors to this important purpose. Please see the details below.

Meeting Closing, Sprucing Up, and Boiler Cleaning.

As we continue to adjust and readjust our behavior to the pandemic individually, so too the Meeting is doing the same. While Zoom helps bring us together, the physical disconnect requires a special resolve to overcome apparent limitations. This especially applies to the physical needs of the Meetinghouse and the land around it. Replies to requests for help in important ways that require a physical presence at the Meetinghouse have been limited. The Property Committee understands that folks live at a distance and have limits on time and ability. It hopes that everyone will consider ways to lend a hand if they are able. These needs were raised in the announcements last week and are repeated again this week below. Please reply as directed if you are able.

Story Hour Resumes Oct 23

Dave W., our organizer of the Meeting's Story Hour, is seeking input regarding the start time. Would you like to begin at 7:00 or 7:30? Let him know by email. Participants are encouraged to come and just watch/listen, or plan ahead and prepare a story, or tell one off the cuff. All are valued contributions. We have used this opportunity to deepen our shared lives together and so Dave encourages tellers to speak from their life experience.

The following items are repeated from prior announcements.

Closing of the Meetinghouse on Sundays

While we remain in COVID difficulties, the number of people coming to the Meetinghouse on Sundays is small but we still need participants in the schedule for closing up after fellowship. As it gets cooler outside, we will need to use more space inside for socially distanced fellowship. For now, I believe that removing masks to have drinks will need to be only outside until the pandemic response team finds that the delta variant outbreak is no longer a major threat. Even so, there may be a bit more cleaning to be done as the fellowship room may have heavier use now. I continue to try to have a pair of Friends scheduled each Sunday. We could use more participants in this light service to the Meeting. Please be in touch with the property committee clerk, JJ, to be added to this schedule. As before, if you cannot come on a particular day, please find someone else in the rotation to switch with so that juggling this schedule does not fall on the clerk of property committee.

James F and Rich K are on for this Sunday from the prior schedule. Here is the next rotation:

• October 10 - Kathy U and Chris H
• October 17 - Elaine B and Betsy M
• October 24 - Faith S and Kathi C
• October 31 - Ruth and Greg H
• November 7 - Sara and Jennifer S
• November 14 - Wendy L and Heidi B
• November 21 - James F and Rich K

Thanks, J. J.

Boiler Season

We are into our heating season and that means weekly cleaning. Please let us know if you can participate in that rotation of boiler cleaners by replying to this message. Training is provided! This is something you can do at a time that is convenient to you.

Meetinghouse Sprucing Up

Every other month, the property committee leads a brief period of cleaning at the Meetinghouse after fellowship on Sunday. Since in-person attendance is small with the resurgence of the pandemic, getting some things done at other times would be helpful. Earlier this month, we managed to do some weeding and some window washing. While the weather is still good for these activities, it would be great if anyone going near the Meetinghouse could plan to go there and spend 20 minutes or so doing more of this. Materials for window washing can be found in the utility/furnace room. I will be there this Thursday half an hour or so before 7 pm midweek worship (when I think there will still be enough light outside). Contact JJ if you want to do some of this another time soon.

CROP Walk (to eradicate hunger) October 9

As you may remember, the CROP Walk is an annual fundraiser held nationally to alleviate the challenges of disease, disaster, and displacement that leave people hungry locally and internationally. Local congregations form teams and members make donations to support those teams. Over the years, CFM has been a strong contributor to this effort. This year's CROP Walk is currently planned to return to an in-person walk starting from the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) on Clinton St. in Concord. People will begin gathering at 12:00 with a kick-off rally at 12:30 and the walk beginning at 1:00.

To Join as a Walker and/or Support the Team

1. Click here: https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/concord-friends-meeting [3]
2. Click Join The Team to sign up as a walker (you will be able to donate if you’d like from this link), or
3. Click Make a Donation to donate via credit or debit card. 
4. Note that donations online can be made anonymously if you wish.
5. Alternatively, you can donate by writing a check payable to CWS/CROP Walk and mail to: Sheryl Ingraham,  4 Fogg Street, Concord, NH. 03301

If you would like to support the CFM team financially, donations can be made in two ways:

1. Click here: https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/concord-friends-meeting [3] to donate via credit or debit card.
2. Write a check payable to CWS/CROP and mail to Sheryl Ingraham,  4 Fogg Street, Concord, NH. 03301

Note that donations online can be made anonymously if you wish.

Please contact Sheryl Ingraham if you have any questions: sheryl [dot] ingraham [at] gmail [dot] com ( sheryl [dot] ingraham [at] gmail [dot] com)

Camping in Waterville Valley

A group of Concord Friends made a second camping trip in September; this time to Waterville Valley. The banner photo (missing Greg, the photographer) was taken in a spot along many, many cascades. The sound and spray were renewing and inspired Elaine to share her impressions. Reading it brought back the wonder of the experience. (See Elaine's essay and photos)

Portland Friends Program

Wabanaki REACH and our local planning team (Ann, Jennifer, Wayne, and now Jessica!) invite you to attend the online workshop “Decolonization and the Role of Faith Communities” on three Monday evenings, October 4, 18, & 25 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Participants will explore the role of churches (and Quakers) in the colonization of this country, learn about the harmful ongoing impacts of colonization on Wabanaki peoples, and identify strategies for repair and healing. Sessions include film, testimony, discussion, and an action/study plan for follow-up after the sessions. This workshop is intended specifically for Portland Friends Meeting and is meant to be part of our own faith community’s journey of decolonization. It is important to commit to all three sessions because they build upon each other.

Decolonization means:

Wabanaki REACH is a cross-cultural collaborative of people working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Maine to support truth, healing, and decolonization. REACH recommends that participation be limited to folks who attended the Interacting with Maine-Wabanaki History program on May 24 of this year. However, space permitting, others in our PFM community who have shown interest in Indigenous-related matters may be accommodated. As with any Zoom event, a strong internet connection is required.

To register, email Wayne Cobb at wcobb2 [at] gmail [dot] com (subject: Decolonization%20and%20the%20Role%20of%20Faith%20Communities) (wcobb2 [at] gmail [dot] com). Please include your full name and phone number. Participation is “pay-as-led,” with a suggested donation of $12 to register. You may send your payment by Venmo (preferred) to @wcobb2, or by PayPal to my email address, or by cash or check to Wayne Cobb, 147 Allen Avenue #47, Portland ME 04103. While two people may share a screen, we ask that each consider a separate donation. All monies will be gifted to Wabanaki REACH (http://www.mainewabanakireach.org [4]). You’ll receive a confirmation email shortly after your payment is received. Registrants will receive details about preparing for this event as the date approaches. Please register promptly!

We on the planning team look forward to gathering with you and other Portland Friends at the event. Contact: Wayne Cobb, 147 Allen Avenue #47, Portland ME 04103, 207-838-3393

Elaine's Impressions, and Photos from Waterville Camping Trip

Concord Friends, A Feeling of Closeness

There’s a feeling of closeness that comes from spending time together out in the woods. The rhythms of such things as meal preparations, activity planning and equipment sharing settle into place allowing for casual conversation, quiet walks together and time to deepen friendships.

Our 2021 Fall Camping Trip encompassed these elements nicely. There were long coffee hours by morning fires, warm hellos and goodnights called out from the campground road, outbursts of pilliated woodpecker calls and beautiful melodies from a French Horn.

The surrounding mountains of Waterville Valley were only beginning their fall show as they lay drenched in Wednesday’s downpour. The Cascades with their fans, drops and deep, dark pools were there to delight, prompting one small hound dog to take a flying leap into the water far below which he survived. There were birthday songs and stories of early Quakers and long talks about native friends both eastern and Alaskan. We talked of our perceptions of time and visited the Mad River to soak in the warm sun. There were comments on the deep green of the dense White Mountain National Forest and the iridescence of a spider’s web I the bright setting sun. And the mushrooms were in special abundance, in oranges, fluorescent yellows and moon colored whites.

It was a time filled with sweet generosities and serious, down-to-earth talk and sleepy relaxation after strenuous exercise, all serving to knit us more tightly together while freeing us to reach farther out into the world; refreshed and renewed.

- Elaine B.