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WHAT WE DO
WE WORSHIP TOGETHER
Our worship together is a search
for a direct experience of the Divine Light at our center,
as individuals
and as a faith community. It is hard to communicate in
words this spiritual experience, and the resulting wisdom
of the heart. Perhaps the following quote and poem will
communicate some of this presence of the Inward Light.
"A
Friends meeting, however silent, is a witness that
worship is something
other
and deeper than words, and that it is to the unseen
and eternal things that we desire to give the first
place
in our lives."
- Caroline E. Stephen, 1908 |
The Meeting
And so I find it well to come
For deeper rest to this still room,
For here the habit of the soul
Feels less the outer world’s control;
The strength of mutual purpose pleads
More earnestly for our common needs;
And from the silence multiplied
By these still forms on either side,
The world that time and sense have known
Falls off and leaves us God alone.
John Greenleaf Whittier
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A contra dance after a wedding at our Meetinghouse |
WE FORM A LOVING, SUPPORTIVE, AND CHALLENGING
FAITH
COMMUNITY
Out of our worship flows a loving, supportive and challenging
faith community.
In this community:
- There is the friendship and joy of the weekly fellowship
time and monthly potluck meals after worship.
- Children’s programs provide Quaker
learning, sharing and community service experiences. Childcare
is provided
for all meeting events.
- We are a supportive but sensitive community in times of
personal and health challenges. The Pastoral Care Committee
pays special attention to these activities.
- Frequently, after fellowship or at special scheduled times
we gather to discuss questions of Quaker faith and practice,
from spirituality to our testimonies and social concerns.
Our various committees sponsor many of these activities.
- Evenings on the first Friday of the month parents and
others gather to discuss the specifics and generalities of
Quaker parenting.
- For those active in a social witness the meeting provides
spiritual and personal support. Our Witness Support Committee
pays special attention to these activities.
- Each Fall, we hold a weekend retreat at
Woolman Hill Center in Deerfield, Massachusetts. There
are children’s and
adults’ programs, worship, deep fellowship and good
family fun.
- Late each Spring we have a picnic with conversation, swimming
and games.
- We are a welcoming and affirming meeting.
WE ASK FOR THE GRACE
TO LIVE THE QUAKER
TESTIMONIES
The Quaker Testimonies
are actions that flow from the direct experience of the
Divine Presence moving
through us, forming
our part in the establishment of the Creator’s Peaceable
Realm here on Earth.
- Peace: We believe that
non-violence is the way to resolve conflict with Love.
War is not the answer.
- Equality: We believe that
all humans are created equal before God. All have some
measure of the Light of God within
them. Women have been equal leaders in our religious society
from the time of our founding in the 17th century.
- Simplicity: We believe
that leading a simple life style leaves us space to open
ourselves to the grace of God. This
implies stewardship rather than ownership of material
goods, and reverence for a healthy and secure life, and
the health
of our planet.
- Integrity: Seek Truth.
Love Truth, Practice Truth with self, neighbors, and
God.
- Community: We are individuals
who form a faith community, and we are part of the larger
global community. We respect
and balance the appropriate roles for individual initiative
and community discernment.
- Care of the Earth: We
believe that human beings as creatures of this Earth live
close to the Divine Presence when we are
in balance with other life/material forms of this planet
Earth.
"Celebrate
Peace!",
an event hosted at our Meetinghouse by
the Israel/Palestine Peace, Education and
Action Group of N.E. CT
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