Welcome to this Online Meeting for Worship. Below you will find songs, scripture or poems, and a short message to frame and guide your time in worship. Each week, by Friday I will be publishing a new worship outline. The scripture used generally (though not always) comes from the weekly Revised Common Lectionary, connecting the Friends tradition to other Christian traditions around the world. For some of you this worship space may be a place of sanctuary when you are away from in-person worshiping communities. For others, this worship space may help you prepare for your weekly Sunday or mid-week worship. 

I suggest that you open each link in a separate window and play through the beginning of the songs to get over any ads, preparing for your worship time. (Though you may want to first check to see if ads play while the songs are embedded in the post. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t!) You may also want to have a candle and a journal nearby. Since this worship is designed in the manner of Programmed Quaker Worship, it includes a period of waiting worship. There are several communities around the world that host online unprogrammed Quaker worship, for which I have included links. These communities worship together at certain times each day and week, so you may want to plan your worship around theirs.

If you would like to set up a regular time to worship through this site or if you have specific prayer requests to be held by my home worshiping community, please contact me. If you would like to leave a message on this page, perhaps a message that rises for you during your worship, please comment below. Messages are filtered to counter spam attempts and it may take me up to 24 hours to approve a comment. Thank you for joining me in this weekly online Quaker programmed worship. May your time in worship be deep and faithful. 

elcome to this Online Meeting For Worship. Below you will find songs, scripture (sometimes poems) and a short message to frame and guide your time in worship. Each week, by Friday I will be publishing a new worship outline; the scripture used generally (though not always) comes from the weekly Revised Common Lectionary, connecting the Friends tradition to other Christian traditions around the world. For some of you this worship space may be a place of sanctuary when you are away from in-person worshiping communities. For others, this worship space may help you prepare for your weekly Sunday or mid-week worship. 

I suggest that you open each link in a separate window and play through the beginning of the songs to get over any ads--preparing for your worship time. You may also want to have a candle and a journal nearby. Since this worship is designed in the manner of Programmed Quaker Worship, it includes a period of waiting worship. There are several communities around the world that host online unprogrammed Quaker worship, for which I have included links. These communities worship together at certain times each day and week, so you may want to plan your worship around theirs.

If you would like to set up a regular time to worship through this site or if you have specific prayer requests to be held by my home worshiping community, please contact me. If you would like to leave a message on this page; a message that rises for you during your worship, please comment below but know that messages are filtered to counter spam attempts and it may take me up to 24hrs to approve a comment. Thank you for joining me in this weekly online Quaker programmed worship, may your time in worship be deep and faithful. 

New Years: Thresholds Opening

Centering Silence: Take a few moments to center yourself. Perhaps light a candle, find a comfortable place to sit and put away any distractions. Take a few deep breaths as you center yourself for this time of worship. Feel your body relax as your breaths become deeper. Turn your attention to the presence of the Divine throughout your body and throughout your life. When you are ready let the following worship elements guide your worship. 

Scripture: Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. (Revelation 21:1-6, New International Version)

Poem: We Look With Uncertainly by Anne Hillman: Please open the link to read the poem. http://gratefulness.org/resource/we-look-with-uncertainty/

Message: Thresholds Opening

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” —Howard Thurman

As expected, tons of posts about New Years Resolutions have been popping up on Facebook. There have been doe new things though then the normal “eat healthy and exercise more often” resolutions that are so stereotypical. Ive seen friends post about donating regularly to organizations that might be endangered by the Trump administration, or to read more books written by people of color. There have been hopes to organize more or join a movement; to attend a rally or do a small act of random kindness. 

While this time of year is kinda random to have a New Year, it comes this year as a partially needed time for reflection and planning. The passage from Revelations talks about a time when God will make everything new; a time where there will be “no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” As we look on into 2017, this time of a new heaven and a new earth feels very far away. In fact for so many of us we feel the opposite, that the world has grown meaner, more oppressive and cruel. Many people are still mourning the election and will continue to do so past Inauguration day. 

Two years ago, Parker Palmer posted 5 Questions For Crossing the Threshold:

• How can I let go of my need for fixed answers in favor of aliveness?
• What is my next challenge in daring to be human?
• How can I open myself to the beauty of nature and human nature?
• Who or what do I need to learn to love next? And next? And next?
• What is the new creation that wants to be born in and through me?

New England Yearly Meeting has asked each monthly meeting to consider the following queries in putting together a State of Society report:

• What are we grateful for? What gifts of grace have we experienced in the life of our meeting community through the past year?
• Where could we, as a meeting, have been more open to learning, growing and serving each other in our meeting and the wider community?
• What unfed hungers do we feel in our community life?
• How is our meeting being led to do the work of the Spirit?

The two sets of questions share some similar themes, though in essence suggest that this is a time to look back and move forward; a threshold moment. It is a liturgical time of year to remind us of our tradition of discernment; a time to ask deeply where we are called and how  do we answer. As you consider your own New Years Resolutions, perhaps these questions will help you find as Frederick Buechner wrote “where our greatest passion meets the world's greatest need." 

Silence-Waiting Worship: This is a time for you to turn your attention fully inward. The songs and passages and the offered message have prepared you to listen deeply to the Divine. Spend at least 20 minutes in silence listening for that still small voice of God. You may want to join an online waiting worship community. A few links for these can be found below. 

Ben Lomond Quaker Center Online Waiting Worship

Friends of Light Online Waiting Worship

When you have come to a place of closure in your waiting worship, continue on to bring your time of worship to a close.   

Afterthoughts: Afterthoughts are thoughts that rose for you during waiting worship that didn’t completely form into a message. Perhaps you discerned that what was rising for you in waiting worship was a message for you alone, something not to be shared with others or perhaps you only received fragments of a message and it didn’t come together completely during the silence. Take a few minutes to journal these afterthoughts so that you can look back at them another time. Perhaps God is speaking to you through these partial messages and the fullness of their meaning will be revealed in time. 

Joys and Concerns: It is traditional in Programmed Quaker Worship to have a time for the sharing of joys and concerns. Take a few moments to write down in your journal a few things from this week that you are thankful for and a few things that you are holding in prayer. Feel free to post these in the comments below as well (though remember that it may take up to 24 hours for them to be available to others to read) so that others can include your requests in their prayers and celebrate your joys alongside you. 

Closing: Take another few moments of silence to close your worship time. Breath deeply and give thanks for your time in worship today. When you feel ready end in vocal prayer, either of your own creation or read out loud the following: “O Holy One, as we stand at the threshold, help us reflect on the path that has brought us to this place and guide our discernment of our next steps. Pause us for a moment in reverent awe, at this moment of the in-between. Help us more forward boldly and faithfully, never losing sight of where we have come. Amen.”