Four groups will be available. The topics and leaders are:

The Prophets and Spirituality            

by Tim Leonard
This will be a reading of parts of the books of Kings, which show the historical context of the prophets, showing prophecy as a communitarian process of the Jewish People. The group will, then, study the basic elements of prophecy, and read Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Jonah, focusing on the practice of prophecy in our meeting. There will be between 6 and 8 meetings.

The guide will be the book “Biblical Prophecy: Perspectives for Christian Theology” by Ellen F. Davis. Members of the group need not buy the book if it stretches their budget too much, but it would be good to have.

Reading Group

by Paul Buckley
We will have a very short initial meeting at the rise of meeting for worship on October 11 to gauge interest and set a time for a first meeting. My preference is for a weekday-daytime meeting, but that might not work for those who are interested.  Frequency will be determined by those present.

The first book will be Lloyd Lee Wilson's Pendle Hill Pamphlet, "Radical Hospitality." It is only 31 pages long and can be read in a single sitting. I will bring a list of short and longer books to the first real meeting and we can decide how to proceed from there.

Each meeting of the group would be open to anyone - whether they have read the book or not.

Spiritual Companionship            

by Pamela Richards
We would meet twice a month (day of the week to be set), and share our experiences of companionship with historic figures: whether Quaker, Biblical, or other.  Group members would also be encouraged to develop spiritual companionship with at least one person in their lives, although confidentiality with regard to experiences of living individuals would be respected.  

Meeting for Needlework

by Rhonda Pfaltzgraff-Carlson
Purpose: To develop community within the Meeting while expressing creativity and care for others
Format: Meeting monthly, we would gather in silence then have a brief check-in. The check-in could be about what is going on in the life of each member or our relationship with the person we are making something for. We would also have a theme or queries that we would discuss. It would be very loose worship sharing, as we would be discussing what we are working on while having conversation about the theme or query.

Clerk: Myself. I would coordinate meeting times, facilitate the flow of our time together, help people connect with needlework resources, and suggest the theme or bring a query to each meeting. I imagine that my role would become less important over time and that other members might take on aspects of it.

I expect that we would meet monthly on a Wednesday evenings (day is somewhat negotiable) starting in September or October and ending in May.
The group would be open. Experience with knitting, crocheting or another type of needlework would be helpful but is not essential.