Details
Do you carry hope and concern for the future thriving of Quarterly Meetings in New England? Do you sense possibility to enlivened Quarters? Do you long for fruitful conversation with others tending to the health of their Quarter? This day-long gathering is an opportunity for Friends in New England to dive into these rich conversations.
An Invitation
The following invitation comes from our Presiding Clerk and Permanent Board Clerk to all New England Friends:
We are writing to warmly invite your participation in the upcoming Visioning Day for Thriving Quarters on April 11th.
This will be an all-day programmed gathering to learn and share about the spiritual legacy and present-day experiences of our quarterly meetings. All are welcome! Please announce this gathering at your monthly and quarterly meetings and encourage individuals and groups in your meeting to attend.
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5 (NIV)
Those of us who have made quarterly meetings a regular part of our Quaker commitments readily testify to the ways in which these gatherings enrich us as individuals. We are inspired by regular worship with Friends from beyond our own meetings, by hearing about the witness of Friends in our region, and by sharing in corporate discernment with our neighboring meetings. But beyond the benefits and rewards to individuals, some quarters tenderly hold the corporate understanding that there is, or should be, a relationship of mutual, committed caring between neighboring meetings, pledging to support, uplift, perhaps elder, or celebrate the communal lives of neighboring meetings. Regular participation in quarterly meetings flows back to enrich our monthly meetings, helping them to thrive and feel connected as a Body of Friends to other meetings in their region, and to the wider Quaker community of Yearly Meeting, and beyond.
We hope you will be excited by the vision of a community of spiritual neighbors awaiting you in your quarterly meeting and will plan to attend the Visioning Day for Thriving Quarterly Meetings.
In faith and spiritual community,
Susan Davies, NEYM Permanent Board Clerk
Phillip Veatch, NEYM Presiding Clerk
Schedule
Friday:
6:30-8:30 Optional gathering for fellowship
Saturday:
- 9:00 Arrivals, fellowship, coffee & refreshments
- 9:30 Welcome & opening worship
- 10:30 Morning group program & discussion
- 12:00 Lunch
- 1:00 Breakout Groups
- 2:30 Sharing back to the group
- 3:15 Closing worship
- 3:45 Goodbyes
Registration, Accommodations, and Health
There will be an informal time for gathering on Friday night before we enter our Visioning Day together on Saturday. Recognizing some Friends will have traveled quite a distance and would like to stay in the area, we researched a few options. The closest hotel to the church is the Hampton Inn Haverhill at 106 Bank Rd, Haverhill, MA 01832. If staying at the hotel would support your participation in Visioning Day, but cost is barrier, please contact Elizabeth Hacala, Operations Director, at [email protected]. Further details are included in the registration page.
Stay home if you are experiencing COVID, flu, or stomach bug symptoms. Refunds are available. Masks are optional and the choice to mask will always be respected.
More information will be posted closer to the event. Questions? Contact Permanent Board Clerk Susan Davies or Program Director Nia Thomas.
Registration is now open here.