On Saturday, March 7, Friends from Concord Quarter monthly meetings are invited to gather for a shared supper and threshing session. Pizza will be provided. All ages are welcome. Child care will be provided for younger children during the threshing session, which youth are encouraged to attend.
At our January QM meeting for business, Friends approved holding a Threshing Session regarding the current socio-political conditions happening in our country and our care for one another at this time in our Meetings. We will give prayerful consideration to our condition as Friends and neighbors and how we as a larger body of Friends might both support one another and respond together to support those in our communities who are most vulnerable and need our support. Monthly Meetings have drafted minutes and expressed in writing continued commitment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Where does Spirit call us next, in this time?
Guiding queries might include:
• How are we taking care of ourselves and one another in our meetings and in our wider communities?
• How might meetings in CQM support one another?
• How can we address the accelerating concerns of the world with faith and love?
What is a threshing session?*
Threshing sessions are a form of Quaker worship and practice intended to help a community move towards clarity and a greater understanding of an issue and to separate the “grain of truth from the chaff.” No decisions are made at threshing sessions. It is a time for individuals to raise up concerns and hopes that they have in regards to the issue being threshed. Although it is clerked, and a Clerk may at times test their sense of the Meeting, the Clerk is most responsible for making sure that everyone present has a chance to speak as led. This is a time for sharing information, extended exploration, and clarification as to what needs to fall away and what will remain as the centering focus of any later business. It provides ample time for questions and discussion and allows all differences of viewpoints and feelings to be expressed.
If Friends have questions, they are welcome to reach out to the CQM Coordinator or Clerk.