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Peterborough
Allowed Meeting
Peterborough, Ontario CANADA
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A monthly program for children begins on November 20, 2011, at 11
a.m., to run concurrently with the adult meeting for worship at
Sadleir House, 751 George Street, Peterborough. Children of all ages
are welcome.
A brief organizing meeting will take
place on Sunday, October 30, after meeting for worship at Sadleir.
Parents are invited (but not required!) to sit in on this meeting and
give us your input to this new venture. We apologize for the short
notice on this one, but there will be many other opportunities for
parents to nudge this program in directions that work for them and
their children.
The first three sessions are on Awe
and Wonder
- November 20: Look at This!
Awesome places and things.
- December 19:
Observations
- January 15: Wonder
Movement
The Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers), Peterborough.
About Our Meeting
We are an allowed meeting under the care of Wooler Monthly Meeting.
This means that we do have a clerk and recording clerk, do
conduct Meetings for Worship for Business (sporadically rather than
monthly), but do not have charitable status, cannot take
marriages under our care, and cannot formally accept memberships. These
latter functions we do under the care of Wooler
Monthly Meeting.
We
do not have a Meeting House. This is not unusual for
smaller meetings or worship groups. We are of sufficient
numbers, however, that meeting in someone's home is not
always practical (though we tend to have our potlucks at homes). We
therefore rent space weekly on Sunday. Sadleir House is recent for us
(we formerly met at the Traill
College Lecture Hall), but the former library space there has a warm,
welcoming feel to it. We are able to store our sign,
information kit, and tea kit at the facility.
We have a library of Quaker-related books under the care of Mary and Greg Conchelos.
Those who attend come from as far away as Lindsay and Hastings. Some of
us are close enough to bicycle or bus (there is a
stop at the first corner south of Sadleir House). We are all
mindful of the environmental impact of the automobile in these times (
we have an ecostudy group )
so
carpooling or multi-purpose trips are common.
We have an active outreach/program committee who plans our discussion
topics and other activities. Times and places for these are
listed in our calendar.
More about our history and
relationship to Wooler.
Quaker Meeting
For Worship
Welcome!
We
meet in a great task when we meet in worship, no less than to realize
the Divine Presence and to create an atmosphere in which
that Presence and Power can touch us into fuller
life. Once
we remember this, we cannot but approach the occasion with reverent
humility and the desire that nothing on our part may hinder or
disturb. It is something holy and wonderful we are trying to
build up together – the consciousness of the Presence with us here and
the reality of communion with God.
Quaker worship is based on
the silence of waiting in expectancy. In the still spirit of the
Meeting we reach down beyond our deepest selves to the very ground of
our being, to come nearer to each other and to God. We do not
worship in isolation but try to hold an awareness of all those gathered
with us, uniting in a common purpose. That common purpose is
not
expressed through the recitation of a creed, the singing of hymns, the
repetition of set prayers, under the leadership of a minister, but
rather through waiting and listening which becomes an act of sharing in
which we are all ministers.
Waiting and listening may lead
someone to offer a spoken contribution which will deepen and enrich the
worship. Anyone is free to speak, pray or read an appropriate
passage aloud provided it is done in response to a prompting of the
Spirit which comes in the course of the Meeting. Listen to
what
is said in an open-minded, charitable spirit. If something is
said that does not speak to your condition or need, try to reach the
spirit behind the words. The speaker wants to help the
Meeting;
take care not to reject the offering by negative criticism.
Do
not be discouraged by any failure in concentration. See the
reassurance offered by St. Francis de Sales: “When your heart
is
wandering and distracted, bring it back quickly to its point, restore
it tenderly to its Master’s side, and if you did but nothing else the
whole of your hour but bring your heart back patiently and put it near
our Lord again, and every time you put it back it turned away again,
your hour would be well-employed.”
In the centre of the circle
there is a Bible together with anthologies of Quaker writings about our
experiences with God, each other, and the wider society. These
may be used as a focus for spoken ministry or for spiritual
reflection. There is also a collection of Advices and Queries
which serve to remind us of the fundamental issues we are invited to
consider on our spiritual journeys. There may be a reading of
some of these, once the Meeting has begun to settle down. In
the
quietness of a Quaker Meeting those present can become aware of a deep
and powerful spirit of love and truth that transcends their ordinary
experience.
The Meeting will end after one hour with a
handshake. In Peterborough, it is our custom to hold hands
for a
brief moment in a circle as a symbol of our unity. We then
take a
few minutes to share various thoughts. Some of them will have
arisen during the course of the Meeting but did not lead to vocal
ministry. This is also an opportunity to share concerns, both
personal and social, and those moments of joy we have
experienced. These contributions are received in a worshipful
manner, often with a few moments of silence in order to fully
appreciate them.
The presence of newcomers and visitors is
greeted with a round of introductions, followed by
announcements. Every one is then invited to stay for a cup of tea,
review the
literature on the table and socialize.
While
Quakers are
committed to an encounter with the Divine Presence in both the Meeting
for Worship and in their daily lives, they express this in different
ways. Each of us brings our own life’s experiences to
meeting. Some will have a profound sense of awe and wonder
because they know God is present. Others will be far less
certain. They may only be ready to hold an awareness that
their
experiences in life point beyond themselves to a great whole. Some will
thankfully accept God’s inexhaustible love shown in Jesus
Christ, the promise of forgiveness and the setting aside of past
failure. Others will know that to seek to be open to people
in a
spirit of love and trust is the direction in which they want to
move. Despite the different ways in which we may account for
this
life-expanding experience, we seek to become united in love and
strengthened by truth so that we enter a new level of living.
Thank
you for coming. Your interest and presence will have
contributed
to our sense of unity and truth, and we hope you may wish to learn more
about the many ways in which Quakers have experienced and responded to
the Divine Presence. Please feel free to share your own
experiences, concerns, and queries. Pamphlets are available
on
the table; there are also list of books and videos which can be
borrowed or purchased.
If child care responsibilities make it
difficult for you to continue to worship with us, please let us know
and we can set up a programme for the children.
PAM
Ecostudy Group
In 2007 we decided to form an ecostudy group. It meets
(usually) on the second Wednesday of every month at a group member's
home in Peterborough. Interest in this topic
is so strong in our area that we have participants from other faith
groups. To further the sharing of information amongst
ourselves we set up a wiki.
It features a
calendar as well as links and reports (sometimes with photos) of our
activities.
Information about the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Canadian Quakers
- www.quaker.ca
- Canadian Yearly Meeting is the corporate body of Friends in
Canada. It meets annually to discuss national issues and make
decisions.
- Canadian
Friends Service Committee
- Canadian Friends Service Committee acts on the peace and
social justice concerns of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
in Canada.
- To donate directly to the Canadian Friends Service Committee
securely on the web, go to this
page
at www.CanadaHelps.org. Many other charities are also registered
there and you immediately get an electronic receipt you can use for
your
income tax return for the amount you donate. There is a 3% transaction
fee deducted from the money (which covers credit card transaction fees,
bank charges, etc.) before it goes to the charity, so you may want to
consider that in the amount you donate.
Other Quaker Organizations
- Unprogrammed meetings meet in silence. Programmed
meetings
will accompany a period of silence with other activities such as
singing and sermons.
- QuakerFinder
- A list of unprogrammed Friends Meetings in North
America
- Friends
General Conference
- A North American organization of unprogrammed meetings,
providing resources and education. Canadian Yearly Meeting is
affiliated with FGC.
- Friends
United Meeting
- A North American organization of programmed Quaker
churches. Canadian Yearly Meeting is affiliated with FUM.
Our History And
Relationship to Wooler MM
Peterborough Allowed Meeting started as a worship group under the care
of Wooler Monthly Meeting
meeting twice a month in attender's homes. (All members in the
Peterborough Allowed Meeting hold their membership in
the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) with Wooler Monthly Meeting.
Those who attend Peterborough Allowed Meeting are always
welcome to attend
Wooler meetings (held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month)).
The group grew until it became impractical to always meet in homes. One
of
our members was connected with Trent University and was able to inquire
about and finalize arrangements to rent the Traill College Lecture Hall
every Sunday during the school months. We have continued to meet at
attenders' homes during the summer months, where we could often meet
outside.
At roughly the same time, our attendance numbers have approached and
even surpassed those for Wooler Monthly Meeting. Although it has been
suggested that we become a Monthly Meeting of our own, many of us
remain reluctant to plunge right away into regular monthly
meetings for worship for business, especially since it has
seemed that we
did not have much business anyway. The alternative has been to test the
waters of more formal structure by becoming an Allowed Meeting
under the care of Wooler Monthly Meeting. Over the past few years the
presence of serious inquirers who
wanted to learn more about Quakerism led us to schedule regular
discussion groups.The
influence of these same serious inquirers led us to also engage in more
community-building activities within the group as well
as some outreach activities.
Every other year Wooler MM has a candle-light carol sing in the meeting
house
the Saturday evening before Christmas and a number of us like to
carpool
to attend that.