Falmouth Quarter will meet in person and on zoom on January 24th at Portland Friends Meeting from 9:30 until about 3:00. Here’s the zoom link.
The theme for the day is Expanding the Commons – working with the abundance in our communities. You are invited to come, and to bring a friend.
· Doug Gwynn will join us and will start the day by sharing an understanding of what we mean by the Commons today.
· During the morning Wendy Schlotterback will share her story of bringing a new Mainer home from ICE detention in Brownsville Texas, highlighting the resources shared by the community which made this possible.
· Lunch – soup augmented by whatever you might bring
· After lunch, Andy Grannall will share a story of the community’s response to the needs of the grounds keeper at Portland Friends Meeting.
· Informed by these stories, we will explore who are we in the commons with? What do we possess that is for the community (our privilege, … our communities, our knowledge)? What do you need?
The theme arose from a concern raised at the October Quarterly Meeting about strengthening the mutual aid in our communities as we are impacted by current events. As we held this concern, we recognized that we are both givers and receivers of care. We all have gifts to offer as well as moments when we need support, and we value each of those exchanges on equal ground. And We expect messiness, confusion, and discomfort, and we also choose courage and trust. This led us to reframe the concern to focus on the Commons.
The schedule will be
- 9:30 arrival, conversation, food
- 10:00 Program begins; coming to a shared understanding, sharing stories
- Wendy’s story – morning call to the quarter where have you felt God’s nudges
- 12:30ish brown bag lunch.
- 1:00 Afternoon: making it real Andy story re: Francesco – where have you felt God’s nudges
- 1:45 – who are we in the commons with? What do we posses that is for the community (our privilege, … our communities, our knowledge, what do you need
- 3:00 Closing worship
