This is an update on activities and life at the St John’s Worship Group, written by members of the Worship Group.
Recent times have brought growth, depth and connection to our St. John’s Worship Group. It is surprising to think of the Group 6 or 8 years ago, when we rarely had more than 5 people in attendance. We met every 3 or 4 weeks, making the schedule month by month. New people rarely inquired or attended. We met in people’s homes or eventually in a church basement.
But now, we have a regular schedule, every other week. We meet in the social lounge of a condo building where 4 of our attenders live. There are about 16 who consider themselves regularly committed to our group. We often receive inquiries from interested people in the community, and sometimes have travelling Quakers in St. John’s for a vacation or conference.
Building a sense of community has developed with the introduction of several ‘traditions’ that have been introduced by different attenders. These are not new to other Quaker Meetings, but they are new to us. People are invited to have us hold others in the light. A brief story helps us to know the significance of a person, a location, our planet in someone’s life. The care between us grows.
We also have the opportunity to share a message that never quite grew to the status of ministry during the silence. This invites more people to speak, if that was hard to do during the silence. This is especially useful in our group where many are newer to the experience of Quaker Worship. Then the entire group has a check-in to have a small understanding about the significant events in one another’s lives. We hear about Post Secondary Convocations, the birth of a grandchild, and the loss of a special friend. We are each held with love and acceptance in our struggles, vulnerability, growth, joys, and successes.
On an informal level, a couple of times a year we have a finger-food potluck social. Deeper conversations ensue at these times. One notable time in the past year was a visiting couple connecting with a woman about a cooperative housing eco-village that is in development. That was the beginning of the plan for them to become residents in the eco-village. A few other people have also made this decision, so there will be a solid core of Quakers in this new cooperative housing venture.
There have been two opportunities for attenders to speak from a Quaker perspective about personal spirituality. For 17 years the local Hindu Temple has hosted a Multi-faith Symposium. This year the topic was Following a Spirituality Path. It was the very first time that Quakers were invited to speak and it was indicative of a new level of visibility we have in some parts of the community. One of our attenders spoke at the annual Out in Faith gathering during Pride week. This event, now in its 10th year, was first initiated and continues to have leadership from members of our group, joined by representatives of other faith communities. This year it was an honour to have a Quaker introduce the theme, Rejoice and Rise Up while another of our attenders shared their personal journey of the intersection of spirituality and gender identity.
Also, during Pride Week, we marched in the Pride Parade, which we have done since 2015. We have also encouraged other faith groups to participate and it has become a significant show of allyship for about a dozen churches. More than one of our current attenders first learned of our presence in St. John’s by seeing us Marching in the Parade.
We were asked to consider signing the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge. One person researched and reported to us what this was about and what it means. After significant discernment, we decided we wanted to be part of this initiative. Our ongoing education about this continues. This decision was a first experience for our group and for many individual members of holding a formally clerked Meeting for Worship for Business in the manner of Friends, and it felt Spirit-led.
Several of our members also have deep personal commitments to advocacy for other social justice concerns, and they find comfort and support in our group for this work.
The last thing that held deep significance this year is the passing of our long-time birthright Friend, David Sturge Artiss, at the age of 93. One of the reasons our group has met on Saturday afternoons for several decades is that on Sunday mornings, David would accompany his wife Grace to her Presbyterian Services. We were a small enough group that we could easily adapt to Saturday worship. For the last couple of years of David’s life, he was not well enough to attend our Meetings, but a couple of us who visited or called kept track of his well-being. The funeral was at the Presbyterian Church, but when his daughter and granddaughter attended Meeting while they were in town, we held an extended Meeting for Worship. It was deeply meaningful to everyone present. It was an honour that Grace wanted David’s deep Quaker faith represented in the Protestant funeral and one of us spoke in memory of him, and read from his copy of Faith and Practice.
Our Worship Group is thriving and we are grateful to be able to share joys and sorrows of the spirit together.