FALL 201011 Sixth Month 2010
Salem Quarter Worship & Ministry Committee met on June 11th at the home of Mario Cavallini of Mickleton Monthly Meeting, convening in fellowship and worship at about 7:30 pm. Friends were present from Mickleton, Mullica Hill, Salem, and Woodbury Monthly Meetings, as well as the quarter coordinator.
Meditation Workshop
The May 1st workshop on meditation, conducted by Nora Iwanaga of Woodbury Monthly Meeting and Michael Gibson of Mullica Hill Monthly Meeting, was successful, with about 20 people attending either the morning or afternoon session or both. Pre-registration went smoothly. Michael and Nora were well prepared, presenting a sampling of several meditative techniques, sedentary and active, in a schedule that struck a comfortable balance of instruction and active practice. The only change that they might consider if offering the session again would be to invite people to bring bag lunches; the work of preparing and serving lunch on top of conducting the workshop was a bit too taxing.
Prayer Groups
In recent months, individuals and meetings of Salem Quarter have been burdened with quite a few illnesses, deaths, and other personal challenges. One powerful aspect of care in such circumstances is intercessory prayer. Our committee gave the major portion of our evening together to consideration of how to foster such care in Salem Quarter.
Our quarter does have a Prayer Group that meets from time to time to hold our meetings and individuals in the Light; however, it is a small group, and necessarily so. In their experience, as well as that of other prayer groups, such a group develops a high degree of intimacy as they work together, which can be disrupted all too easily by changes in membership. Also, the wide range of practices among Quakers can make it difficult for a large number of Friends to achieve a rich, mutually supportive experience.
Small groups, however, that share similar faith practices . . . these can work quite well.
There’s no particular reason why Salem Quarter should have only one prayer group. And there’s certainly no reason why only a handful of Friends should benefit from the growth and joy of this service.
So Worship & Ministry resolved to ask Salem Quarter to authorize a gathering, inviting all Salem Quarter Friends with an interest in cooperative intercessory prayer to come together and form prayer groups. We propose an evening meeting, tentatively Tuesday, August 10th, 7-9 pm, at a meetinghouse to be determined. We would talk briefly about our experiences with group prayer as well as praying for others and being prayed for. But mainly, this would be an opportunity to form groups: to talk with one another and find two or three other people with whom we share an understanding of what it means to hold someone in the Light, people with whom we would like to travel for a while in our faith journeys, people with whom we would be eager and willing to be led to what comes next.
Many possibilities could bloom from this start. But first, we need to plant the seeds; the harvest will follow as appropriate.
We concluded in worship at about 9:45. Worship and Ministry intends to meet again on September 10th, the Friday evening before quarterly meeting, and we welcome participation from all monthly meetings of Salem Quarter.
For the Committee,
Mario Cavallini, clerkRETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
Last modified:
Monday, September 06, 2010 at 06:18 PM
