Details
We will gather in the meetinghouse at 9:30 a.m. for three hours or so of expectant waiting worship. Three hours may sound like a long time, but Friends who have been practicing this kind of extended worship have often been surprised how quickly it seems to go by. Friends are free to get up and move around, to lie down on the benches, to use the bathroom, even to take a walk outside and rejoin the worship as led. Following the worship, we each eat our own brown bag lunch. After lunch, we will return to the meeting room for some worship-sharing about our experiences of the morning. We will close by 2:30 p.m. Friends are welcome to come for the morning only, to stay for lunch, or to stay for the whole day.
Transformative experiences can happen when the Living Presence has adequate time to remove the spiritual cobwebs and to shine a Light on the deep calls that are beckoning us to change and to make the world a better place. It is God’s work to awaken people to God‘s wisdom, guidance, and love. These extended meetings for worship can provide a seedbed for God to do that awakening. You can also read Marcelle Martin’s Pendle Hill Pamphlet #366, Invitation to a Deeper Communion, which describes the beginnings of these extended worship experiences in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
Schedule:
9:00: Tea, coffee, and light snacks will be available with an opportunity for quiet conversation outside of the meeting room.
9:30: Meeting for Worship
12:30: Brown Bag Lunch and time for a walk, relaxation, conversation, etc. Beverages will be provided.
1:15: Reflections on the morning experience of extended worship
2:30: Closing
Logistics:
- Please remember to bring your own lunch if you plan to stay beyond the morning worship.
- Overnight Accommodations: If Friends coming from a distance would like overnight hospitality, please contact Jeremiah Dickinson ([email protected] ) 617-653-8328 or Michael Wajda ([email protected]) 484-639-3356 no later than March 15. Limited accommodations will be available.
- Parking: There is limited parking behind the meeting house, especially for Friends with mobility difficulties. There is parking on the other side of the street, as well as in the parking lot behind the Catholic Church down the street. The meeting plans to have someone at the end of the driveway to direct Friends.
- Announcements: In order to allow us to hold the deep experiences of the longer worship, and the reflective time in the afternoon, we ask Friends not to plan to make announcements of other Quaker events at the end of either session of the extended meetings.
- Regarding Covid: Masks are optional. If on that weekend you have any symptoms of COVID, flu, or a cold, please do not attend.
Our vision is to strengthen yielding to the Living Presence in all Quaker gatherings for worship and business so that the Inward Teacher can do its work of love, guidance, and transformation in the places where we live.
We look forward to being with you in That Which Is Eternal.
