Dear Friends
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Dear Friends Wilton Quaker Meeting Children attend for the first 15 of the Religious Society of Friends, Quakers minutes, 317 New Canaan Road (Route 106), Wilton, CT 06897 followed by www.wiltonfriends.org Children’s Meeting. Meeting for Business at rise of meeting on second First Days Meeting for Worship 10:00 a.m. each First Day (Sunday) September, 9th Month, 2018 Query: “Do our children receive the loving care of the meeting? Does the influence of the meeting promote their religious life and give them an understanding of the principles and practices of Friends? Do we offer our young people opportunities for fellowship, for service, for religious instruction, and for participation in the life of the meeting? New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice Advice: Parents and older Friends are advised to be sensitive to the insights of younger people and to keep a close and sympathetic contact with them. Children are urged to love and respect their parents that all may be led together to the Light Within. New York Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice Rip Munger died Rip was an airline pilot, something he had on September 12, always wanted to be, since age 10 when he 2018 at age 91. first rode in an old biplane. He worked for Doris announced United Airlines for 50 years, retiring at age 74 his death with the in 2001. simple words: He was also active with the New Canaan fire “He loved life department, having petitioned to change local greatly and by-laws so that he could join that fire company struggled mightily as a volunteer fire fighter at age 50. He served to stay with us, on the fire commission for 22 years, from but his challenges 1984-2006. were just too great. We feel devastated by his loss but are Rip had many other passions as well. Many comforted knowing that he is no longer are listed in New Canaan Advertiser obituary suffering. Kendra, Geoffrey and I were all with https://ncadvertiser.com/129265/obituary- him” Rip suffered from Inclusion Body richard-rip-p-munger-91/ put out by his family. Myositis, which causes progressive weakness There will be a memorial service at our of various muscles. His heart eventually gave meetinghouse on November 17, 2018, at 2:00 out. pm. All are invited. The Mungers had always made their home In lieu of flowers, the family asks those open for Meeting events. And Rip started wishing to pay their respects to donate towards coming to Meeting for Worship with Doris research on Inclusion Body Myositis. Go to during the past several years. His good humor, www.myositis.org/donate and select “yes” for ready smile, and lively tales made us take him research and the option for IBM Research. into our hearts immediately. Wilton Quaker Meeting September 2018 Page 1 Table of Contents Page Movie and Symposium Sept. 26 Query and Advice 1 Peace & Service Committee sponsored a Announcements, News of Friends 2,3 movie/panel discussion on Sept. 26 at Norwalk Community College. The movie was “The Minutes: Meeting for Worship wCfB, 7th Mo. 4-5 Man Who Saved the World,” about a Russian Minutes: Meeting for Worship wCfB, 9th Mo 6 who decided not to push the button that would Photos of various events 7,8,9,10 send missiles in response to what seemed like Op Ed About Afterthoughts, Calendar 11 an attack by the US. That was on Sept. 26, 1983, 35 years ago. After the movie, there was Announcements a symposium about “The Path to Nuclear Work Day Aug. 25 Disarmament,” led by physicist Richard Garwin, well respected nuclear expert and There was a Work Day on Saturday, August 25, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Ostensibly to Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. neaten up the Meetinghouse for a wedding to be held Sept. 9, it also brought together a bunch of f/Friends in community. A list of items completed included: • The area around the Meeting House was weeded. • Overgrown branches around the perimeter World Quaker Day, Oct. 7 and the interior of the Meeting property Quakers all over the world will pay special were cut back or cut down. attention to our religion in different ways on • The woods area behind Hastings Hall was this Sunday. checked for fallen branches. • All of the signs for Meeting and CFS have Children’s Meeting begins a new year been washed. • The interior windows of the Meeting Room have been cleaned. • A Quaker family donated part of the firewood that we will need for the winter. It is dried and split and ready to burn. Ann Nunes reported that an exciting new part • Older logs were cut down to size - but still of Children’s Meeting will be the introduction need to be split. of Godly Play/Faith & Play into the • Garbage In the woods was cleaned up curriculum. She was trained in this kind of though some pieces remain storytelling by Melinda Wenner-Bradley last • Many items were taken to Norwalk’s April, gathered some of the material this Hazardous Disposal Day by Missy summer with the help of her in-laws, and is now ready to start using it, probably once a Still to do: month with the children. The above photo • Pick up the remaining garbage on the illustrated part of the “George Fox’s Big property. Discovery” story Ann shared with both • Reorganize the attic above the kitchen children and adults on Sept. 26. I wonder what • Split the wood that has been cut. George’s Big Discovery was? Children’s Meeting had an ice cream social on Sept. 9th to start the whole year off—yum! Page 2 September 2018 Wilton Quaker Meeting Friendly Forum, Oct. 21 an old port, and Barranquilla, on the Caribbean Sea, where Elena was born. See page 7 for We will show the QuakerSpeak video “Nine photos. Core Quaker Beliefs” by Arthur Larrabee. This prominent Quaker leader expresses his list of Murchisons spend July in Florida nine core Quaker beliefs in response to the oft- Peter, Rose and family spent 3 weeks in uttered question “What do Quakers believe?” Florida. Peter will be back in China in the near After watching the video, we can respond with our opinions. Video available on YouTube. future for more work and then they are off to Spain and Portugal. What travelers! Adult Religious Education, Oct. 28 Peter had time to play his guitar with his son The slim book “Letters to a Fellow Seeker” is John at Ridgefield Library on Sept.23, though! ostensibly for newcomers looking to learn We enjoyed the show, see. p. 10. about Quakerism. However, its chapters point Three Billboards Outside New Haven, to questions that are interesting to all of us. We at Ministry & Oversight thought this book CT could well serve as a good base for exploration Pamela Hovlan is a founding member of Class for the next few months. Bob Fatherley will Action, an activist design collective that has take the chapter provocatively entitled “Are just installed three provocative billboards on Quakers Christians?” on Oct. 28 after Interstate 95 between Boston and New York hospitality, about noon and ending at 1 pm. City. The public art project confronts the CFS Gala November 3 current administration’s policies that have Save the date for this fun and worthwhile sidelined science. It also urges American event! The theme of the Gala and silent citizens to take action by voting for pro- auction to support CFS is “From Acorns to science candidates in the upcoming mid-term Oaks.” elections. News of Friends The three billboards are situated on Interstate 95 near West Haven CT, just south of Exit 42 McCaughans travel to 1652 Quaker and visible to southbound traffic. Within a Country in England one-mile distance, three 14 x 48-foot messages Pete and Renda spent ten days in August in are rendered in large red, white and blue type England, mostly in northwest England, where offering the message that science and religion George Fox and the “Valiant Sixty” were so can co-exist. The billboards will be seen by active in the early 1650s, spreading the Quaker literally millions of viewers over the next few religion. They visited Swarthmoor Hall, weeks. [ed: Pamela used to be a regular attender of WQM. She hopes to stop by and see climbed Pendle Hill, worshipped in Brigflatts us soon.] Meetinghouse (built in 1675), might have walked over Margaret Fell Fox’s burial plot. They hosted a Friendly Forum on the subject on Sept. 15. Some photos of their trip are on page 8 Higginses travel to Columbia in August Sean and Laura traveled to Columbia with son Jonathan and his wife Elena to her home country of Columbia. They visited Cartagena, Wilton Quaker Meeting September 2018 Page 3 Wilton Quaker Meeting Meeting for Business 07/08/2018 Present: Pete McCaughan, Clerk; Laura Higgins, Recording Clerk; Renda McCaughan, Martha Gurvich, Richard Duffee, Virginia Auster, Bob Fatherley, Sean Higgins, Jeff Menoher, Tim Connolly, Albert Hsu, Kathy McGorty, Ty Griese, Diane Keefe Clerk opened by reading a passage from Britain Faith and Practice: Do you take part as often as you can in meetings for church affairs? Are you familiar enough with our church government to contribute to its disciplined processes? Do you consider difficult questions with an informed mind as well as a generous and loving spirit? Are you prepared to let your insights and personal wishes take their place alongside those of others or be set aside as the meeting seeks the way forward? If you cannot attend, uphold the meeting prayerfully.