Missoula Friends Meeting

2009-12-30T19:48:00.195-07:00

November 2011 - March 2012 notices

Please note these changes -- Winter Schedule:

Sept. 11 and on -- 1st Sunday Meeting for Business at 9:00 a.m.; Quaker Education at 10:00 if there's no Meeting for Business; Worship at 11:00, followed by Soup and Fellowship downstairs

November 6 -- 9:00 a.m. MST (the very day of changeover from Daylight Savings Time)- Meeting for Worship with a Concern for business

November 13 -- Nick on his spiritual journey

November 20 -- Kristina Smucker will discuss North Pacific Yearly Meeting's Committee of the Discipline's revisions to Faith and Practice. Kristina will be requesting our input on the current revisions (see http://www.npym.org/fnp/index.html to read the drafted chapters)

November 27 -- The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will facilitate a Worship Discussion with the queries: "What do we fear and hope for in these times? How can we help our Meeting engage in action, as well as study?" (Worship discussion is discussion with silent worship between comments.)

December 4 -- Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business (9 AM)

December 11 -- Starting at 9:30: An interview with an Israeli Palestinian about what dual identities can teach us about conflict. Available via a podcast from the NPR program On Being.

December 18 -- Holiday singing

December 25 -- No Quaker Education

January 1 -- No Quaker Education

January 8 -- Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business --
(9:00 to 10:55 a.m.)

January 15 -- Family Promise: Providing short-term shelter and meals for homeless families. Please come if you would like to help or just want to learn more. Facilitator: Nancy Cochran

January 22 -- Discussion of the book The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker Buddhist Shepherd. Facilitator Charlotte Kasl will open with an explanation of the Quaker-Buddhist connection.

January 29 -- Sharing and discussion on the Testimony of Integrity. Facilitator, John Schwartz

February 5 -- Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business

February 12 -- Not scheduled to date. (Montana Gathering of Friends meets in Great Falls)

February 19 -- Bring poetry to read and share. Facilitator: Richard Dunn

February 26 -- A celebration of Quaker women. Read on your own about a renowned Quaker woman from the last 360 years, then come tell others about her. Facilitator: Carol Bellin

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Other Announcements:

Nancy reminds of the film sponsored by Transition Town Missoula - _Carbon Nation_ screening and discussion at the Missoula Public Library large meeting room on Tues. Jan. 31 at 6:30.
Friends are encouraged to find more information at https://sites.google.com/site/transitiontownmissoula/home/12-steps-of-transition
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Carol offers a new Prayer Meditation Group for anyone interested:
I would like to convene a regular bi-weekly prayer offering circle at Missoula Friends Meeting. If you have a special need for concerted prayers or thanks giving (above and beyond an "ordinary" request to hold someone in the light), there is now a small box in the entrance to the upstairs Meeting Room where you can leave a written request. The request can be signed or anonymous, and generic or detailed in background information, as you see fit. The box is clearly labeled and has index cards inside where requests can be written.

I propose that those interested in practicing the art of prayer offerings, or those who just want to lend their spirit in an extra expression of care and ministry to our community, gather upstairs at the Meeting House on the second and fourth Sunday after soup at 1 pm. Then, those present and willing to commit to a 30-45 minute Meeting will meditate on the requests and one person so moved will compose and voice a prayer for each request.
Contact: carol.bellin@yahoo.com

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Peace & Social Concerns expressed a concern about how to support the Occupy Missoula movement. Nancy and other Friends attended a recent Occupy Missoula meeting. Friends can find out more local information about the movement at www.occupymissoula.wordpress.com
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Bev tells us that Joe is living at The Springs. He'd enjoy visits at his apartment - Room 239.
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Nancy reported that 17 churches have committed to Family Promise. Nancy continues her work recruiting congregations and will update Meeting at a Quaker Ed on January 15. A Director with social work training will be hired in January or February. The Board already has nine members from our community. The local website is at http://familypromisemissoula.org/
Friends may learn about the national Family Promise project on their website: www.familypromise.org
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Sandie reminds us that Meeting has switched to Winter hours, starting Sept. 11, 2011: Just a reminder that effective Sunday September 11, our Meeting for Worship hours goes back to 11 a.m. Organized child care available during Meetings; Soup and fellowship downstairs, following worship.
Meeting for Business for these Sundays will be at 9 a.m.,
starting on September 11. Hope to see you there!
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Sandie notes that as Soup Wrangler she must remind us to check the soup signup sheet for openings.
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Carol reminds us of how we pick up the downstairs room after Soup and Fellowship on Sundays: brushing off the tablecloths and sweeping the floor, washing dishes and clearing the dish drainer, etc. (This is especially important when a group is scheduled to use the Meeting House during the week.)
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Nick reminds us of the Montana Gathering of Friends meeting Feb. 10-12 in the Ursaline Center in Great Falls. Steve Smith, author of Quaker in the Zendo, will be Friend in Residence, and we anticipate a rich gathering. Please note that registration is due by February 3rd.
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Bev alerts us to the Heirloom Fruit Winter Market, open 10-noon Sundays in the Ceretana Granary silo, 801 Sherwood
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Committee members: If you have items for the newsletter, Suzanne Aboufadl is now the newsletter editor, so get your reports to her. Ted Etter is our clerk for the coming year.
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Childrens' Committee welcomes presenters to lead the childrens' education hour. Sign up and check openings with Nick.
Sandy reminds Friends that you can assist in the nursery during worship hours.

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Anne mentions that some of the new library books are currently on the spinner rack in the foyer. They may be checked out in the notebook next to the library shelves. She and John have completed the shelf-reading and there is a new printout of the library titles in the library area.
See them featured online at groups.google.com/group/missoula-friends-library
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Submissions to MGOF Newsletter and MFM Newsletter:

If you have items of interest to share with our larger community-- a birth, a death, interesting or weighty events happening in your life or in your worship group/ meeting/family, or quotations or poems--please send such information to: s_bolles@yahoo.com

Please specify if the item is for the MGOF Newsletter or the MFM Newsletter (or both). And many thanks to those of you that have been submitting items for the newsletter.
Sandie Bolles, MGOF Newsletter editor
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Meeting House Reservations: To find out if the meeting house is available for rental, please call Charlotte at 273-6080 or email charlotteskasl@yahoo.com. You may consult with Charlotte about the schedule desired for your meetings or events and any rental costs for your group.
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How to Find Missoula Friends Meeting

The meeting house is at 1861 S. 12th St. W.
Our building is ADA-accessible, thanks to substantial renovations carried out in 2007.

GoogleMaps map:

View Larger Map

Or call these numbers for directions:
549-6276 or 829-9666.

Getting to Know Missoula Friends Meeting

Meeting times --

Our fall schedule begins again Sunday, September 12:
9am: Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business.
11am: Meeting for Worship
Noon: Soup

Regular Meeting for Worship hours will resume at 11am on Sundays. Quaker education hours will be scheduled for 10am and soup at noon.

Summer schedule: June - September
Meeting for Worship -- 10:00 a.m.

Fall and Winter schedule:
Quaker Education -- 10:00 a.m.
Meeting for Worship -- 11:00 a.m., followed by fellowship and a shared simple meal of soup and bread.

What happens in Meeting for Worship?

     Our Meeting for Worship is an unprogrammed service. We enter the meeting room silently. Our first task when worship begins is to center down, to still the clamor of the world, to turn our attention to the inner voice. This process may take 20 minutes or even longer.

    You will find that there is no program, no prepared prayers, sermons, or readings, and no one "in charge" to tell us what to do next. Instead, we listen as attentively as we can for leadings of the Spirit. I a leading comes, we speak the message into the silence.

    One way we know that we have felt a leading of the Spirit is to query any message we feel an urge to deliver. Is it meant for ourselves alone? Would it be better as an announcement at the close of meeting? Should it be seasoned just a little longer? But if it passes those tests, then we share our message. Sometimes the leading of the Spirit is very clear and we feel a real push to speak. You may feel such a leading as well.

    After each message, we return to the silence. It is essential to allow a space of at least a few minutes to open up between messages. Re-centering after each message maintains the spirit of worship and allows each message an unhurried, thoughtful hearing.

    Meeting ends when the closer signals that the hour is accomplished. Then we share handshakes, names, and announcements. The rise of meeting is a time for brief socializing before we head home to face another week. On most Sundays, we have Fellowship over Soup and Bread following the meeting for worship and announcements; visitors are encouraged to join in and get better acquainted.

    Worship is a special time in the midst of our worldly concerns to seek together, often in unbroken silence, for God's will and guidance. Each meeting is an adventure. We hope you will find with us a deeper awareness of what Friends for three hundred years have called the Inner Light, the Light of Christ, the Seed, and that of God in everyone.

Do you get together to talk?

    Yes, we hold regular meetings where we talk quite a bit: Meetings for Business and Meetings for Learning.

    Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business is held monthly for most of the year except during summer; the meetings are usually scheduled before Meeting for Worship, or after Fellowship over Soup. Everyone is encouraged to attend because this is a committee of the whole. Participants both speak their minds on the business at hand and listen attentively as others do the same. A decision is reached when the Clerk states the sense of the meeting to the satisfaction of everyone present.

Meetings for Learning, or Quaker Education, is held most Sundays at 10 a. m. Topics vary. Sometimes one of us leads a discussion on Quaker beliefs and practices, sometimes we discuss a topic of current interest, or we may host a guest speaker. Look for this month's schedule in the newsletter.

    We also hold occasional potlucks, many during the summer, and some held in association with Meetings for Worship at special locations, such as parks. Summer potlucks are usually held at the homes of meeting attenders and start at 6:30 on selected Wednesdays.

Do you take up a collection?

No, Quakers never do. But like all churches, we run and money as well as love and hard work. I you feel moved to make a donation, please leave it in the wooden donation box or mail it to the meeting in care of the treasurer. Checks can be made out to the Missoula Friends Meeting.

Do you have a children's program?

    Child care for young children is provided the year around. A First Day School program is offered some years according to the interest and participation of families and attenders with an interest in the program.

    We do not expect our young Friends to sit still for more than ten minutes. Child care and First Day School end about ten minutes before the hour so that the children can experience silent worship with the adults and may also be introduced after worship ends.

    Children are an important part of our Meeting. Adults make a point of including even our very youngest Friends. At the close of meeting, when introductions are made, young Friends are given the opportunity to speak their names too. It is always a celebrated occasion when one of the children first volunteers to say his or her own name. Don't be surprised if some of the littlest ones wander around our circle at the close of Meeting, joining adults in the fun of shaking hands.

Is there something you'd like me to do?

    Well, yes, actually, there is. Please consider:

-- Signing our guest book on the table in the foyer.
-- Taking a copy of the current newsletter with you. Look for it by the guest book.
-- Lingering a bit after meeting so that we can say hello.

How long have Quakers been in Missoula?

   Friends started gathering in private homes for Meeting for Worship in the 1960's. Some Quakers came to Missoula as smoke jumpers in the 1950's, and some stayed in the area. The current Meeting House was purchased in 1993, and it was substantially remodeled in 2007.

   Missoula Friends Meeting is part of Montana's quarterly meeting, the Montana Gathering of Friends (MGOF). MGOF, along with quarterly meetings in Oregon and Washington (Idaho meetings are part of the Washington quarterly meeting), is a part of North Pacific Yearly Meeting (NPYM). NPYM organizes annual gatherings that take place in mid-summer and rotate between locations in Oregon, Washington, and Montana.

Where can I find additional information?

You are welcome to take a copy of the newsletter. You can also find more information about Quakers and our regional organization at www.npym.org.

If you have further questions, you may call Jack Rowen at 880-9844 or Ted Etter at 829-9666.

Missoula Friends Meeting
1861 S. 12th St. W.
Missoula, MT 59801
(406) 549-6276

Words Few and Savory, Seasoned with Grace

Hear what nine Quakers have to say about their experience of Quaker Meeting

Personal stories: How I have come to understand The Quaker Way

Western Friend (formerly Friends Bulletin)

Friends Journal

Start your FREE subscription to New on Friends Journal ...

North Pacific Yearly Meeting

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

Friends Committee on National Legislation: a Quaker lobby in the Public Interest

Friends General Conference

Explore Quaker faith and practice through history

The Quaker Peace Testimony

The Authenticity of Liberal Quakerism - by Chuck Fager

Western Montana Spiritual Development Council: Energizing a Faith That Does Justice

Friends Peace Teams

Help for Haiti communications from the AFSC team

Jeannette Rankin Peace Center

Quaker Earthcare Witness

Right Sharing of World Resources

Family Promise: a week at IHN

The Quaker Initiative to End Torture – QUIT! and John Calvi's healing ministry

Quaker.org

Historical Quaker Resources

Quaker Electronic Archive

Missoula Friends Meeting Library -- and note the Shelfari shelf with some of our Quaker library books at the very bottom of this page

QuakerBooks of Friends General Conference

AFSC LA Bookstore

Pendle Hill Pamphlets Index - sorted by author's name

Pendle Hill Pamphlets Index - sorted by the pamphlet's number

Digital Quaker Collection at Earlham

Haverford College Library -- Quaker and Special Collections

Peace and Justice Film Series - University of Montana - Spring 2012