RantWoman REALLY LIKES this year's Guidelines and REALLY appreciates having them in a format easy for her to use. RantWoman will spare her readers lurid technological details, but the point is the technology will probably be much easier than fumbling with papers while walking around on college campuse lawns or under trees. RantWoman is posting these guidelines here for two further reasons:
--It will be easier to email out or post in Zoom chat a clean link on the fly than to fish through email archives.
--RantWoman hopes her worship group will meet without incident and in particular without unwittingly accessing RantWoman's Dial-a-Tirade service about recognizing the term alternate formats and recognizing that it matters EVERY TIME!
NPYM 2020
Virtual Worship
Group Information
Dear Friends,
The basic tenets
of Quaker Worship group interactions remain the same in the virtual world of
group worship as in the physical group.
Instead of a circle, the virtual world gives us a group in individual
squares, with individual mic’s. The
virtual group leader will address the
use of vocal interaction in the first group. As a group, it may take a couple
of weeks to get a sense of how the group responds most comfortably and
establishes a flow to speaking out of the silence.
Below is what you
would typically find in a worship group informational packet.
From the Book of Christian Discipline of the
Yearly Meeting in Britain:
Advices and queries are
not a call to increased activity by each individual Friend but a reminder of
the insights of the Society. Within the community there is a diversity of
gifts. We are all therefore asked to consider how far the advices and queries
affect us personally and where our own service lies. There will also be
diversity of experience, of belief and of language. Friends maintain that
expressions of faith must be related to personal experience. Some find
traditional Christian language full of meaning; some do not. Our understanding
of our own religious tradition may sometimes be enhanced by insights of other
faiths. The deeper realities of our faith are beyond precise verbal formulation
and our way of worship based on silent waiting testifies to this.
Our diversity invites us
both to speak what we know to be true in our lives and to learn from others.
Friends are encouraged to listen to each other in humility and understanding,
trusting in the Spirit that goes beyond our human effort and comprehension.
Excerpts from
by Marty Grundy
"The queries reflect the Quaker way of life,
reminding Friends of the ideals we seek to attain.... Friends approach queries
as a guide to self-examination, using them not as an outward set of rules, but
as a framework within which we assess our convictions, and examine, clarify and
consider prayerfully the direction of our lives and the life of the
community." [This] language was chosen... to encourage "the
probing-in-depth of an issue or a concern." It is interesting that we are
not expected to probe ourselves in depth, or invite the Light [Spirit, God] to
probe us, but rather to deal in depth with the outward issues.....
It is good to remember that the Religious Society of
Friends in its worship and its governance is based on the experience, not just
a theory, that the divine is present, and loves us, and will teach and guide us
in the specific circumstances of our individual and corporate life.
Furthermore, and this seems to me to be crucial -- at least in my own
experience -- in order to be able to really live a Quaker lifestyle in love I
must be changed, transformed inwardly. I must be empowered by the divine to
respond in healthy new, loving ways to old challenges and behavior patterns, as
well as to new opportunities....
Queries were to check how Friends were upholding the
already agreed-upon testimonies. They were not invented as a technique for
figuring out what our opinion is on a given subject. Early queries were quite
straightforward and brief. It has been only in this century that the advices in
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting seem to have withered and their content put into
expanded queries....
Monthly and Quarterly meetings are expected to read the
advices and queries at regular intervals. There seems to be no expectation of
regular written responses. It is interesting that among unprogrammed Friends
only the Conservative branches still seem to expect the discipline of regular
written responses to the queries.... The assumption in the 18th century was
that the meetings examine themselves to see how well they were upholding the
standards of Friends, and if there was difficulty, then the quarterly or yearly
meeting would send help....
We found that the queries provided the excuse, as it were,
to take a piece of the spiritual life of the meeting and examine--wrestle
with--our understanding of how we are called to live as Friends.
Finally the speaking ceased
altogether and we were wrapped together in quietness and love. The clerk ended
the meeting, but we were loath to leave. We were in the presence of God, and
found it good.
The basics about
participating in a worship group:
·
Our purpose is to grow spiritually through sharing
our experiences, insights and questions with one another.
·
It is important that we remain in a place of
worship at all times—led by love and always aware that each of us has a piece
of the Truth.
·
Remember that for some to participate fully in
the sharing process does take time. Leave openings as seems appropriate.
·
Speak from your own experience.
·
Be aware of speaking from a place that protects
the heart or ego. Examples are when the
“teaching mode” provides analytical information or instruction, which does not
allow for feelings or beliefs.
·
Be mindful of the length and frequency of your
sharing. Remember to allow space and
time for all to participate.
·
Sharing is encouraged, but no Friend is required
to speak. You can fully participate by
listening only.
·
Speak to the group. Avoid addressing any individual present. An individual may be asked a question if it
is a gentle way to clarify their comments.
·
Do not interrupt while another is speaking.
·
A period of worship between speakers is
essential. It may be brief or long.
·
Please do not repeat elsewhere confidences that
you have heard. Worship groups depend on
our respecting and honoring each other.
·
The format may be altered if there is unity in
the group to do so.
Bringing Voice to the
group:
·
If Spirit rises, it is to voice that which is
not voiced. To bring the groups’
awareness back to the queries, to the issue of the basics of participating in
group. To especially focus on emotional
safety within the group.
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