Watford Quaker Meeting

On Remembrance day we laid a white poppy wreath at the Peace Memorial

We have created a dedicated page on our website to share messages, actions to take, statements and other Quaker resources related to Israel and Palestine. If you have a resource to add or further questions, please let us know.

https://fwccemes.org/news/quaker-attention-on-peace-in-Israel-and-Palestine

Remember tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule (aka... new name META) where they can use your pics. Dont forget the deadline is today!!! I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, messages or publications, past and future.

With this statement, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The violation of privacy can be punished by law

You can copy and paste this version if you prefer. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile and status updates.

DO NOT SHARE. Copy And Paste.

Here's how to proceed:

Hold your finger anywhere in this message and "copy" will appear. Click on "Copy". Then go to your page, create a new post and put your finger anywhere in the blank field. 'Paste' will pop up and click Paste.

This will bypass the system....

He who does nothing agrees apparently.

All age worship this morning. Prompted by some lovely words and artwork in books from our children's library, we expressed our ministry in various creative ways.

On November 13 some Watford Friends joined the civic remembrance day service and laid a wreath of white poppies at the Peace Memorial outside the town hall.

This morning at our Area Meeting-wide meeting for worship (blended online with 6 meeting houses) the teenagers thought about (and briefly tried) Zen meditation. Then wrote and shared some haikus arising from the meditation.

Yesterday Simon Colbeck and I (Stephanie Grant) laid a white poppy wreath on behalf of Watford Quakers at the Peace Memorial.
Photos are very much 'a view from my mobility scooter'

XR protest in Watford town centre last week as covered by the Watford Observer https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/19508894.extinction-rebellion-activists-protest-outside-barclays-watford/
The protest is to be repeated in Harpenden tomorrow

Extinction Rebellion activists protest outside bank in town centre An Extinction Rebellion (XR) group has held a protest outside a Barclays Bank branch in Watford opposing the company's fossil fuel investments.

This morning our young people consider the qualities they admire in people who inspire them - and what colours might represent these qualities. Here's one example of the resulting drawings:

Stephanie laid a wreath of white poppies at the Watford Peace Memorial this afternoon on behalf of Watford Meeting

Today at 4.00pm. Streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/srekauq

Concern for Compassionate Assistance to Die, a Webinar hosted by the Luton & Leighton Quaker Area Meeting.

Dr Stefanie Green will speak from Vancouver about assisted death, and the consideration given to the protection of vulnerable people as practiced in Canada.

4.00pm Saturday 7th November live on YouTube at http://youtube.com/srekauq

Blending in (curtain next)

From Children's meeting on 30 August:

Silence

Empty of all sound

Full of meaning and promise

Crash, back to stillness

On 14 June our children's meeting wrote a poem together:

The World Inside and Out

The great outdoors I love that place,
From the winding rivers to the mountain face,
The world is my school.
Yet …
There’s a whole different world inside my head,
The idea of so many people wanting peace,
Is enough to spark something inside of me,
I look inside myself,
The beautiful stillness from the emptiness inside,
Today the happy ball wasn’t rolling,
Sadness was dancing instead,
And now my teacup is smiling at me,
There are so many things I am thankful for.

Advance notice. Available on Freeview channel 91 next Thurs at 8.30.
https://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/series/quakers-the-quiet-revolutionaries/?fbclid=IwAR34iMGPx7KHLOKsiZSGxAjVq_kSWaujWh4fs33sRVViY-9SSXpZkrz1ixU

Pictures from children's meeting on 7 June

Children's meeting considered the story of George Fox, especially the part where he climbs Pendle Hill and as his journal says 'there atop of the hill I was moved to sound the day of the Lord' or in the more modern language of Marcela Teran and Tim Gee (the Friend 15/5/20) 'When he reached the top of it, He shouted out 'WAHOO!' So we made some drawings. We can't put them on the meeting house wall just now, so we thought the page might be a suitable substitute. How would you 'sound the day of the Lord'?

Quakers do what! Why?
Rhiannon Grant commenting on how and why she wrote the latest book in the 'Quaker Quicks' series:
https://brigidfoxandbuddha.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/quakers-do-what-why/

Quakers Do What! Why? My second book in the Quaker Quicks series from Christian Alternative Books is coming out soon – I have some early copies to sign and sell, as pictured – so I wanted to say a bit about …

Good time for an online course? Take your pick.

Online course | Woodbrooke Conference Centre Home / Online course Online course Showing 1–16 of 37 results A Sample of Life Writing for Transformation™ £0.00 Experience the benefits of reflective writing, an empowering stress management practice that guides you to gently examine life experiences with mindful awareness. This self-paced m...

https://www.facebook.com/stuart.masters.5/videos/3054844224577391/?multi_permalinks=562732037701229%2C576704952970604¬if_id=1588683945139556¬if_t=group_activity

This '20th Century icon' married Roland Penrose (who grew up in Watford Meeting). To see just how likely (or not) such a match was, this documantary is fascinating, though at times harrowing.

Lee Miller - A Life on the Front Line Celebrating Lee Miller, a model turned photographer turned war reporter.

Around 50 were 'at' Meeting yesterday including visitors from Hampshire and Devon.
Ministry followed a reading of A&Q 9:
"In worship we enter with reverence into communion with God and respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Come to meeting for worship with heart and mind prepared. Yield yourself and all your outward concerns to God’s guidance so that you may find ‘the evil weakening in you and the good raised up’."
Children and young people 'broke out' after 15 minutes to respond to God (or not) expressed in these song extracts:

What is God.mp4 Shared with Dropbox

Somewhat inevitably...

Quakers change plans for Yearly Meeting Gathering Quakers in Britain have postponed their 2020 Yearly Meeting Gathering. The ongoing public health situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, very sadly, makes it impossible to bring 2,000 people together for this event.

Parents / grandparents / young ppl

Covid-19 Update – Friends Southern Summer Events Covid-19 Update admin April 02, 2020 0 Comments Dear Friends,   We hope you are all well.   Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these are very uncertain times. We wanted to let you know that we still very much hope to run our events this year (2020). We are monitoring government and other advice closely...

Around 40 joined MfW 'at' Watford today including 8 under 18s who left for a separate 'break-out room' after 15 minutes and rejoined at the end. We also had several visitors and friends from other Meetings.
We will continue with online worship on Wednesdays (12.15 - 12.45) and Sundays (10.30 - 11.30) using 'Zoom'.
For the link to join us just message this group!

Wonderful to see more than 30 Friends at our 'Zoom' MfW today including some visitors and old friends. We will be holding midweek Meeting on Wednesdays 12.15 - 12.45 and probably a children's Meeting next Sunday. Join us!

Watford MfW will be held via 'Zoom' at the usual time tomorrow. If you are not on our email list but would like a link for future Meetings, contact us!
Meanwhile, thanks to Tim Gee for alerting me to this warning in 'The Friend'.

Coronavirus: advice for Quaker meetings Find out about Quakers and how our faith translates into action.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear Friends

As you might expect, there has been consultation between clerks, elders and overseers on how, as a community, we respond to the developing coronavirus pandemic.

Meeting for worship - Following government measures and advice issued on Monday, there will be no Meeting for Worship at our Meeting House on 22nd March or subsequent Sundays until further notice.This also applies to Wednesday MfW starting from and including 18th March.
We are looking to set up online worship and will send information about how to participate to everyone who receives the weekly clerks' notices by email.

Keeping in touch - There have also been suggestions about creating a new 'chatroom' for us to keep in touch to reduce the comparative isolation we may all feel during the coming weeks.
Meanwhile do use the Watford Quakers Facebook group if you belong to it or want to join. The group has many members, not all known to each other, so please be mindful of this in relation to personal and confidential matters.

Supporting each other - We can all stay in touch by phone and email with those who need extra support but please contact your overseer if you need some help yourself or know someone who does. This may be just having someone to talk to on the phone if you are stuck at home on your own, or if you need help with practical tasks such as shopping. If you are not needing to self-isolate at home and can volunteer to help others who may need some help, particularly if you are a driver, please contact your overseer or Sally Everett so that overseers have a pool of people who can be asked to help out where possible.

In Friendship

Simon Colbeck
(convenor of elders)