News

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New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)
 

May 18, 2020
 Dear Friends,

Across New England, people are talking about “re-opening”. After much anticipation in the media, today the State of Massachusetts released guidelines (here) for houses of worship as some public health restrictions are being lifted.

While other states in our region are moving on their own timelines, events seem to be unfolding quickly in many of the places New England Quakers call home.

The Massachusetts safety standards, informed by what is now known about the coronavirus, mean that in-person worship will look quite different, will be limited in numbers of people permitted to gather, and will require extensive and frequent sanitation. 

In response to the announcement, the Massachusetts Council of Churches (of which New England Yearly Meeting is a member) issued a public statement (here) reminding church leaders that:

“Churches are designed to be places of healing, not sources of sickness. We receive these new minimum safety standards from the state with much concern for those people most at risk in our churches and our communities….just because congregations may return to their buildings does not mean they should.”

It’s clear from these unfolding events that although many people are understandably eager to gather in person again, there will be no going back to the way things were. We can only move forward on the path before us now; we can only respond to the invitation before us.

Fresh Pond (Cambridge, MA) Friend Kristina Keefe-Perry shares her sense of how we might move into the future together:

To go back to “normal” means to accept structures that are built on exploitation and inequity. And so we keep on walking forward. That doesn’t mean that we can’t mourn the loss of a world we’ve known…while we do it, we have to look towards building a world that’s reflective, truly reflective, of God’s kingdom.

As we look forward toward what’s ahead in our lives and the lives of our Meetings over the coming months, what helps you to listen? What is the Inner Guide saying? What does looking toward a world more aligned with God’s dream for us mean for you, in this moment?  

Regardless of where we live, we are moving into this unknown future together. And the choices we make—alone and as communities—matter more than ever. 

Read on for updates.

New Resources for Friends Serving Their Meetings

In response to requests for support with decision-making as some restrictions are lifted, which we heard on our Tuesday evening check-ins with local Meeting leaders, we have created this new page on our website with nuts-and-bolts resources and tools for reflection.

We hope this will be helpful to Friends across New England and beyond as we consider the challenging decisions of this moment.

An Update on Annual Sessions: From your suggestions, extended dates announced
First, thank you to the many Friends who have reached out to the Summer 2020 Programming team via this digital suggestion box with hopes, ideas, and questions related to re-envisioning Annual Sessions for this summer. 

We want you to know that we are reviewing with care and prayerful attention all of the insights that you are sharing with us. Many of your contributions align with the creative discussions our small group is already engaged in, while others are great new suggestions we had not thought about. So thank you for all that you offer!While we are still mourning the loss of the in-person aspect of our annual gathering, we are deeply encouraged by the enthusiasm and clarity we’ve heard from Friends.

From your many responses and reflections in the suggestion box, we want to reflect a number of themes:
 A desire to connect emotionally and spiritually with the wider body of Friends across New EnglandThat Friends hope this will be an opportunity to make Sessions more accessible to those who need to work, or have caregiving responsibilitiesAcknowledgment that not all Friends have access to web- or internet-based contentKeen awareness that “Zoom fatigue” is real, and that Friends do not want to spend long stretches of time at their computersThe central importance of opportunities for small group connection That Friends yearn to connect “beyond the screen”–though postal mail, over the phone, via simultaneous prayer, or, if possible given the public health situation, in small physically-distant localized groupsThe need to hold over non-essential decision making until Friends are able to be with each other in personThe desire to allow space for grieving, and also for joy, celebration, and fellowshipThe yearning for “peer” spaces for mutual support among those with shared experiences and needs in this time, especially for youth, young adults, and parents
 Supported by your feedback, we have become clear to extend the dates of Annual Sessions 2020.

We’re excited to announce that programming will begin on Saturday, August 1, and will conclude on Sunday, August 9.

This means that this year Sessions will include two weekends—and the week in between. A Wednesday Sabbath day, without programming, will offer further time for prayer, exercise, and refreshment. We hope this extended schedule will allow for a more spacious experience, with breaks between digital activities, an alternation of youth and adult programming, and plenty of offerings on evenings and weekends for Friends who will be working during this time.

Please continue to submit hopes, ideas, and questions related to Sessions in the digital suggestion box here.

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing a more formal invitation to Sessions, an announcement of registration, and more schedule specifics about how Friends can participate in the re-envisioned, physically-distant Sessions experience this summer. As we all move forward in preparation, we want to especially emphasize our appreciation for the loving, faithful work that so many of you have offered in helping our annual gatherings to be possible in years past.

As we pivot to a new format for this year’s gathering, we are building on a strong foundation thanks to the many, many gifts that you have offered, your time and talents, to help make New England Yearly Meeting Sessions a vibrant and Spirit-filled experience.With love and care, and in faith,
 The Ad Hoc Working Group on Summer Programming 2020Elizabeth Hacala, Events Coordinator
Rebecca Leuchak, Sessions Committee Clerk
Bruce Neumann, Presiding Clerk
Nia Thomas, Quaker Practice & Leadership Facilitator
Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting SecretaryUpcoming Opportunities for Sustenance and


Connection *for newcomers*: Quaker Sampler Workshop, May 23
 Quaker retreat center Powell House offers this one-day series designed for new Quakers and the Quaker-curious to learn more about Quakerism. Learn more here. *for young adults*: Continuing Revolution Online, June 5-9

 Pendle Hill’s annual conference for Friends ages 18-35, this year offered online with a focus on conflict transformation. More information here. 

*new*: Experience Playing in the Light Workshop,  June 10 at 7pm Come learn about Godly Play and Faith & Play, an experiential, Montessori-inspired approach to religious education designed for children ages 3–12. Facilitated by Faith & Play co-creator Melinda Wenner-Bradley. Learn more and register here. 

*ongoing*: Weekly Check-in for Meeting Leaders, Tuesdays at 7pm
Connect with other New England Friends serving in leadership roles in their local meeting as we respond to the needs of Friends in this pandemic together. More information here. 

*ongoing*: Weekly Parents Tea-and-Chat, Thursdays at 8pm
 Join Youth Retreat Coordinator Gretchen Baker-Smith and Quaker Parenting Initiative Founder Harriet Heath for weekly drop-in conversations about parenting in these times. More information here. 

*for lamentation and prayer for our world*: Day of Mourning, May 25, sunset vigil  Join Friends in Chicago and across the world to mourn the losses of all of Earth’s children in this time. At sunset wherever you are, light a candle and, if it is safe for you, step outside to be seen by your neighbors in a witness of prayer for the world. Learn more here. 

 To see a full list of events for Friends in New England, visit our events calendar In the promise of what’s possible, and until we meet again,

Nia Thomas, Quaker Practice and Leadership Facilitator
Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting Secretary
 

 

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Dear Friends,

Groundworks needs your help now more than ever. Groundworks staff is working around the clock to provide the best protection and support for the people they serve. This creates an unprecedented financial challenge for Groundworks to house and feed their clients and keep them safe.

The Seasonal Overflow Shelter was closed and everyone was moved into motel rooms to allow for isolation. This effort was very successful, resulting in only one known homeless person in Brattleboro, and this person did not want to move into one of the motels.  Foodworks, the food shelf and part of Groundworks,  has moved to a delivery model, mobilizing volunteers and working to source enough food to deliver to anyone with need in our community. Since the start of the pandemic, the demand for food has doubled.

Foodworks is accepting in kind donations, in particular of items listed on the website. However, monetary donations have the largest impact. For each $25 raised, Foodworks can provide a family of five with items for two weeks due to being able to take advantage of wholesale prices.

Please consider making a donation to Groundworks. Currently, all gifts up to a total of $5,000 are matched by a generous donor.

For detailed information please see: https://mailchi.mp/6812b271af35/heres-the-latest-news-from-groundworks?fbclid=IwAR3ItPOPR3rn3hKLuT1TTY72oJtAxcIOymHP2FfA29EVZzwKcUsK7rdxLtk

Thank you.

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Dear Friends,

In New England’s natural landscapes, April is a time of renewed tenderness, and of breaking open.

This year, amid the new buds and birdsong, many Friends are seeking ways to slow down and stay open—and to be made tender—to new Life within and among us, even while meetinghouses and public gathering places are closed, even in the midst of turmoil, suffering, and grief.

For many of us, this is also a time of action and urgency, as plans are disrupted, lives are upended, and we do what we need to do to make it through today. We’re adapting to new and uncertain circumstances.

Whatever is going on for each of us individually, let’s remember that we’re all in this together. This is both a foundational truth, and something we have to make real in this time with our choices and our care. May our hearts break open to embrace an ever-wider sense of who is part of our “we”.

This week, we’re writing with invitations for ways we can live and act on our faith—one focused on nurturing connections among Friends,and one focused on witness in support of some of those most vulnerable.

Please read on below for more.

Living Faith Reimagined: An Invitation

A message from the Living Faith Planning Team…

Dear Ones,

As we listen for how we are called to serve in this season, we return to our vision for the spring Living Faith event, originally planned to take place today: Saturday, April 4.

Living Faith gatherings have always been dynamic opportunities focused on supporting each other in living out a shared faith, both within our Quaker communities and in the wider world. While the next in-person Living Faith gathering is postponed until the fall, our commitment to lift up and support the ways we can live—and act on—our faith during this time continues.

You’re invited to share

Today we write to invite you to participate in a New England-wide project, called A Week in the Life, to celebrate and lift up the ways New England Quakers are living our faith in these times.

During this coming week—known in many churches as Holy Week—we are inviting you to take a photo of yourself living your faith right now. This could be a photo of anything you are doing to deepen and express your practice and leading as a Quaker—daily prayer, caring for someone else, doing necessary work, sheltering in place, etc.

To contribute to the project, please send your photo and a short caption (including photo credit) to us at LFsharing@neym.org by the end of Easter Sunday, April 12th.

Please note, these photos will be public, so share only images and words you are comfortable being public to anyone, and that you have permission to share from everyone pictured.

If you don’t want your face in a photo, think about taking a picture of your hands, something you have made, or creating a still life photo that represents how you are called to live your faith this week. You can be serious, you can be silly, you can do this in any way that is right for you.

We’ll be back in touch

The week following Easter, we will share the collected content from A Week in the Life on our website, in this update, and via social media. In this way, we hope to lift up some of the many ways Friends are living—and acting on—our faith in this moment.

We hope that this shared effort strengthens our sense of connection during a time of physical separation, deepens our ability to witness to the power of the Spirit in our lives, and helps us to hold one another and this beloved world in the Light.

with Love,

Sarah Cushman (Portland, ME, Friends Meeting)
Clerk, for the Living Faith Planning Team
Contribute a Photo for the Project

Opportunities for Advocacy and Witness

Even as we practice physical distancing, we urge Friends to consider how we can live our faith through advocacy to support those who are especially vulnerable.

Below we’re highlighting two issues of particular urgent concern accompanied by actions Friends can take, as well as links to learn more.

Stand with the Mashpee Wampanoag

  • As those who are able shelter at home, our neighbors of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe are at risk of losing what is left of their homelands due to recent decisions by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Secretary of the Interior. Also known as the People of the First Light, the Mashpee Wampanoag have occupied the same region for over 12,000 years. Sovereignty, tribal government, health, education, and emergency services are all threatened by the actions of the U.S. government. Learn more here.
  • Mashpee Wampanoag community leaders have shared that Friends’ advocacy at this time is welcomed, especially in support of HR 312, federal legislation that would prevent the Department of the Interior from “disestablishing” the Tribe’s reservation.

    Rachel Carey-Harper, (Barnstable, MA, Preparative Meeting), a Friend with many years’ relationship with members of the Tribe, has created a call to action for Friends and a sample letter that Friends can use to offer support through letter-writing and phone calls.

    From Rachel: I respectfully ask Friends to prayerfully consider appropriate responses and support for the indigenous people in Mashpee…Let’s envision and work toward a renewed commitment to respect and healing. As this blossoms in all our hearts, it enables us to meet each other with Light and unconditional Love.

    Read more from Rachel here. There is also an online petition organized through MoveOn.org that you can sign here.

Care for Those Incarcerated or Detained

  • Alongside many in our region and around the country, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is calling for government officials across the U.S to protect the vulnerable, especially those confined in detention centers, jails, and prisons, where physical distancing is not possible and coronavirus outbreaks are spreading. 

    Take action to contact your governor and relevant ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) authorities with the message that we must care for all who are in danger—including those members of our communities who are detained or incarcerated, and their families.

  • Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) has more information on the particular vulnerability for those incarcerated and in detention, and action steps you can take, here.
  • “No Way to Treat a Child”, a campaign co-sponsored by the AFSC, is asking Friends to support a bill in Congress that would prohibit U.S. taxpayer funds from supporting the military detention and abuse of children, with particular emphasis on the care of Palestinian youth in Israeli detention centers, where coronavirus infections have already begun to spread.

    Consistent with New England Friends’ 2017 minuted call for an end to U.S. military aid to the Middle East, we encourage you to learn more and take action here.

Looking for more legislative action updates? FCNL is maintaining a COVID-19 advocacy page here.

Aware of other ways New England Friends can support those most vulnerable?  Email Noah. We’ll gather and regularly review these opportunities to support Quakers in witness during the pandemic.

Continuing Connection and Support for Meetings

We remain grateful for the rich sharing and relationship being fostered through our weekly calls with meeting leaders and via the New England Quakers discussion forum on Slack (contact us to join).

This week, we’ve heard questions from Friends about online security, particularly for those of us using Zoom. In response, we’ve added a page on the topic, with tips for managing virtual risks, to our website here.

In the coming days, we’re continuing to support Friends serving in local meetings with further resources and connections related to online discernment and decision-making, as well as sharing practices and counsel for holding space for grief and mourning in these times.

Please reach out—just reply to this email—if there are other ways we can be of help in the coming week. 
In tender openness, with profound care, and until we meet again,

Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting Secretary
Nia Thomas, Quaker Practice & Leadership Facilitator

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Dear Putney Mutual Aid Survey Participants,

With your feedback in hand, a group of Putney neighbors has coordinated a Putney Mutual Aid toolkit for the community to use in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Here’s what it includes:

  1. Putney Mutual Aid Resource Page: Putney/Vermont-specific resources, information and links – a living document
  2. Putney Mutual Aid Needs & Offerings Sheet: a shared online document, enabling neighbors with needs and offers to connect
  3. Putney Mutual Aid Confidential Needs Survey: a survey that allows you to communicate your need confidentially rather than enter into spreadsheet directly

SAFETY: To reduce transmission of COVID-19 the State of VT has asked us to stay at home and keep social distance of 6 feet. If we go out of the house, we are asked to maintain distance, avoid going into anyone’s home, and wash our hands before and after. Volunteers are being asked to follow Vermont Public Safety instructions to keep everyone safe and healthy.  https://vem.vermont.gov/neighborly

Please familiarize yourself with the links above and feel free to share this letter with your Putney network. If you would prefer not to use the Sheet, be assured that the information you shared on the original Putney Area Mutual Aid Survey is completely confidential, and is being handled as follows:

If you communicated an offer to help
You may have already heard from someone on the Mutual Aid team to match you to a neighbor’s need or to connect you with a community organization. We invite you to add your information directly to the Putney Mutual Aid Needs & Offerings Sheet. We are happy to do this for you, just reply to this email and let us know. We will not transfer your data to the Google Sheet unless expressly instructed by you.

If you communicated a need
You can expect to hear from a community organization or individual in the next few days, if you haven’t already. You are welcome to post any new needs on the Putney Mutual Aid Google Sheet, or submit your need on the Putney Mutual Aid Confidential Needs Survey and someone from Putney Mutual Aid will assist in matching you to a neighbor volunteer.

This toolkit isn’t perfect, but we think it’s a solid start. It’s been pulled together by a few neighbors juggling kids, jobs and cabin fever. Expect messiness at times, especially at first. The bottom line is, we’re a strong community made up of people who show up for one another. We will get through this together.
Be well and stay safe,

The Putney Mutual Aid Leadership Team
Kathleen Duich, Ruby McAdoo and Sarah Armour-Jones

P.S. We will post the toolkit and communications to the public about Putney Mutual Aid to our facebook page — please follow us!
https://www.facebook.com/PutneyVTMutualAid

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For the health and protection of our Meeting community and to support the public health of the wider community in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, Putney Friends Meeting has suspended in-person Meeting for Worship. We are experimenting with using online worship as an alternative, using the Zoom conferencing service. Please be patient, we are all new to this. Many in our community are familiar with Zoom; some are not. For those who are not, instructions for how to set up and join a Zoom conference follow at the end. 

Many have participated in meetings of various kinds on Zoom; few have participated in a meeting for worship on Zoom. To help establish and sustain the quality of worship, we have prepared some advices below. First, for ease of reference, here is the Meeting for Worship information, with details on setup further below:

Online Meeting for Worship

Topic: Putney Friends Meeting – Meeting for Worship

Time: First Day, Sunday, You may go on-line to join the Meeting beginning at 9:00 AM Eastern Time (if you are new to Zoom, begin your sign in between 9 and 9:15 to become familiar with the screen environment). 

The “Meeting for Worship” begins at 9:30 AM; settling into worship early is always helpful. 

To join the Meeting for Worship email the Clerk for the link: clerk@putneyfriendsmeeting.org

Advices for Participating in Online Worship 

 We have three Friends hosting the meeting:

Clerk (Hosting the Meeting for Worship)

Greeter (Welcoming you to Meeting via “Chat”)

Tech-host  (Answering technical related questions via“Chat”) 

– Enter the meeting in silence as you would for an in-person meeting for worship. Do not introduce yourself when you enter. 

– Keep your device on mute unless you are speaking. Everyone will be muted by default upon entering, and the clerk as host has the ability to mute and unmute any participant. Background noise  such as dogs barking or cell phones ringing can be very disruptive to the spirit of worship and make it hard to hear. 

– If you are led to speak 

=As always, allow some silence after any preceding message to allow it to settle in our hearts. 

= Unmute your device. (see instructions)

=Pause briefly in case someone else has also started to speak. If so, wait for the clerk to recognize you. Otherwise, start speaking. 

=Mute your device when you are done. (The tech-host may do so if you forget.) 

– Continuing in worship, the clerk will close the meeting at the appropriate time and invite afterthoughts, joys and concerns and announcements as usual. Continue to follow the same advices for speaking. 

– If you need to get the attention of the tech-host for any reason, use the chat feature to address your message (Be sure to select “tech-host” and not “everyone”)

–Respect the privacy of the Meeting. Do not share photos or screen shots of attendees.

Tips for using Zoom and Joining a Zoom Meeting 

– Set up Zoom a day in advance of the meeting time. Allow more time if you think you may need assistance. If you need assistance ahead of time, call Michelle Wright at: 802-689-0716. 

Here is a link to learn how to join a meeting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-How-Do-I-Join-A-Meeting-

– Familiarize yourself with the Zoom features you will use during the meeting, such as muting and unmuting, starting and stopping your video, controlling what you see, and the chat feature. 

Here is a link to learn the controls: https://westernfriend.org/media/how-use-zoom-videoconferencing

-Use only one audio connection per room, ensuring all other microphones and speakers are muted. (For example, you might have more than one person in a room and might be tempted to each use your own device to connect.) 

-Before the Meeting begins  log in at least 15 minutes early. 

Instructions for Setting Up Zoom and Joining a Zoom Meeting 

Download and Install to your Computer or Mobile Device 

-Get the latest software for your device at Download Zoom

-New to Zoom? You can test Zoom here: Test Zoom 

 

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3/20/2020

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed.
It’s okay to be fearful.
It’s okay to have a sense of unreality.
It’s okay not to be able to function normally.  

Those feelings don’t have to be denied—in fact they need to be embraced. Whenever we have feelings which shake up our world, we have to be willing to enter into them. When we have the courage to do so, instead of trying to find ways around them, not only are we accompanied by Spirit every step of the way, but we are able to move through those feelings to a new sense of peace and safety, a new sense and trust in that which is unchanging.  

– Maggie Edmondson, Winthrop Center (ME) Friends Church.
Read the rest of Maggie’s message, “To Bless the Space Between Us.”

Dear Friends,

We wrote our first update of this kind ten days ago. So much has happened since then.

The number of confirmed cases has risen. Time predictions have been extended. In the midst of this, Friends across New England have responded to changing circumstances with swiftness, creativity, and tenderness. You’re demonstrating deep care for our profound connectedness, and for the spiritual and physical health of Friends and neighbors.

This Tuesday evening, on the first of our weekly check-in calls with local Meeting leaders, we were joined by Friends from 23 meetings. As our Meetings have dealt with the loss of our accustomed way of gathering, you have found new ways to foster and manifest the resilience within and among us.

A growing number of meetings have made the leap into virtual worship, and, with it, have found that there are particular joys possible in this way of meeting—we appreciated Amesbury (MA) Friend Christine Green’s description of worshiping online for the first time, which you can read here.

Other meetings have worshiped in parking lots, established prayer partners, created phone trees, observed worship from their homes at a set hour, or used Zoom or phone to participate in small, mutually supportive Faithfulness Groups for shared spiritual nurture.  In a time when much may feel frantic and reactive, we are grateful for the ways that Friends are learning to act boldly, responsively, discerningly, lovingly.

This is a time which calls each of us to prayerfully consider how we are led to act. And yet, it’s helpful to remember that we don’t all need to play every role.

We hope each of us will listen for the contribution that is ours to make. Our staff and volunteer leadership team, who have been hard at work these last two weeks, have been focusing on listening to the emerging needs of meetings and offering the most relevant supports we’re equipped to offer in response. We’re focusing on where we can make the most meaningful contribution, alongside so many others.

In the past week, this has included:

  • Regularly expanding the resources listed on our website that respond to the particular needs facing Meetings at this time.

    • We have recently added:

  • Hosting the first of ongoing Tuesday evening check-ins with meeting leaders. Each Tuesday from 7:00–8:00 p.m., we will continue to host these calls as a space for sharing resources and mutual support. This week, we were joined by almost 40 Friends from 23 meetings. Click here for more information on how to participate, or reply to this email for help.

  • For those interested in more active engagement and information sharing, we’ve set up forums for discussion about virtual worship and pastoral/practical care for Friends and neighbors in these times, via Slack (an online discussion tool).

    If you would like to join our Slack channel, you can click on this link. If you are new to Slack—as many of us are—you can learn more on the brief “how-to” linked here.

In addition to engaging with local meetings this week, we’ve also made some necessary decisions:

  • All in-person events sponsored by NEYM events are now moved to online, postponed, or canceled through April

  • While we are still actively preparing for Sessions as planned in August, we have begun contingency planning should our traditional Sessions not be possible

  • If you have questions about potential changes in the process of yearly meeting discernment coming to Sessions, or how your monthly meeting might participate, please contact Presiding Clerk Bruce Neumann at clerk@neym.org. A more detailed update from Bruce will be sent to all local and quarterly meeting contacts in the coming days.

May you know and trust the loving embrace of the Spirit surrounding you, everywhere you find yourself. Keep in touch.

in faith and service,

Nia Thomas, Quaker Practice and Leadership Facilitator
Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting Secretary

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Dear Friends,

With a heavy heart we need to take the unprecedented step of closing Putney Friends Meetinghouse to all Meetings for Worship, renters and groups, due to concerns for safety related to the Coronavirus.

Ministry & Counsel committee is in the process of setting up opportunities for virtual Meetings for Worship by video and phone. The details for these opportunities will be made available when finalized.

Holding you all in the Light,

Roger Vincent Jasaitis

Clerk, Putney Friends Meeting

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Corona Virus/Covid19 Notice

In consultation with Ministry & Counsel, and out of an abundance of caution, we will cancel Monthly Meeting for March. I repeat; No Monthly Meeting for Business this weekend.

M&C is suggesting that Meeting for Worship be continued for now with the understanding that Friends may feel the spiritual need to meet. There is no requirement that you do so out of obligation. If you do decide to go to Meeting, please follow the social distancing precautions that have been advised.  Coronavirus-Covid19 Precautions

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Over the past few days, we have all become more attentive to the growing concerns over COVID19. The US Center for Disease Control urges everyone to take standard precautions by washing hands, covering coughs, and staying home when sick.

We hope we will not need to close our programs or limit our celebrations. We will be following the guidelines of our local and state officials in this regard.
As a close community that invites connections, we reach out now to engage all our members in these simple, common-sense steps to ensure a lower risk environment:
1) If you are feeling unwell, even just with a cold, please stay home from Meeting, and other events at PFM. COVID 19 can appear very mild in some people, but the same mild virus in one person can result in a life-threatening problem for someone else. Please make thoughtful choices, keeping in mind the entire PFM community, when deciding if you or your children are healthy enough to attend an event. Stay home and keep others safe if you are unsure.

2) The most effective method to avoid contracting or spreading this virus is HAND WASHING. Please wash your hands well, using soap and water for 20 seconds, and be sure to dry them fully (viruses like wet surfaces more than dry ones). Be sure to cover coughs and sneezes.

3) For the time being, we’ll avoid handshakes and hugs at rise of Meeting and when greeting each other. Please join us in finding fun and creative ways to say hello, good morning and Peace without touching.

4) At events with food, we will be changing our habits to reduce chances of transmission. We ask that anyone preparing or serving food wear gloves.

5) If you are staying home from services or events because of illness, we want to know! Please contact the Clerk, Clerk of Ministry & Counsel or Pastoral Care Committee  so we can check in with you and hold you in the Light in healing prayer. 

Please reach out to us if you are in need of support in any way. Let’s care for each other with open hearts and covered coughs!