Dear Friends

Dear Friends

Wilton Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Quakers

317 New Canaan Road (Route 106), Wilton, CT 06897

www.wiltonfriends.org

Meeting for Worship 10:00 a.m. each First Day (Sunday)

Children attend for the first 15 minutes, followed by First Day School

May, Fifth Month, 2015

Query: “Do I center my life in an awareness of God’s presence so that all things take their rightful place?

Do I live simply, and promote the right sharing of the world’s bounty?

Do I keep my life uncluttered with things and activities, avoiding commitments beyond my strength and light?

How do I maintain simplicity, moderation, and honesty in my speech, my manner of living, and my daily work?

Do I recognize when I have enough?

Advice: “A life centered in God will be directed toward keeping communication with God open and

unencumbered. Simplicity is best achieved through a right ordering of priorities, maintaining humility of spirit,

avoiding self-indulgence, resisting the accumulation of unnecessary possessions, and avoiding over-busy lives.” “Pacific Yearly Meeting’s “Faith and Practice”

I’m Back! (But Just for a While)

Laura Fererra has taken the above Queries and

Advices to heart and stepped down from the

position of Newsletter Editor. What with a full-time

job and a course load that involved loads of reading

and a paper due each week, she just could not take

on another new responsibility for Wilton Friends

Meeting, try as she could. Talk about trying to

“live simply!” This extra duty was not a “right

ordering of priorities” for her.

I have willingly stepped in to issue the newsletter

until June, when the new editor will take over.

You can help by submitting your announcements,

articles, photos, etc. on time (please keep them to

things Quakerly or related to Quakers). The

deadline is generally midnight of the Wednesday

before the last Sunday in the month following. So if

the newsletter is for June, the deadline will be May

, midnight (the Wednesday before Sunday, May

31).

Did you know that Pete and I did the Wilton

Meeting Newsletter back in the 1980s when we

lived in Wilton and attended this meeting? Yes, and

we didn’t have a fast computer or a two-sided,

collating printer then, either. Every month I edited

the newsletter, then Pete printed it, we both collated

it, stapled it, slapped on the stamps and labels

(which we printed), took them to the post office and

sent them off. I think there was a listserv just for

those who wanted the newsletter back then, and I

would make sure those got sent off.

It’s been fun, and interesting, keeping up with what

is going on with Wilton Meeting, Connecticut

Friends School, and the wider Quaker society.

However, it is time to share that joy; time for you to

perhaps get a different slant on the “news of the

month” here in our “beloved community.”

Renda McCaughan

Dates to Remember May 3 Quarterly Meeting at Chappaqua

May 8 6:30 pm N/N Sister City Fiesta

May 9 9:00 am Spring Work Day

May 10 11:45 am Business Meeting

May 16 7-11pm CFS Gala

May 31 10:00am Family First Day

Page 2 May 2015 Wilton Monthly Meeting

Table of Contents Page

Query and Advice 1

Announcements, News of Friends 2,3

Minutes: Meeting for Worship wCfB, 4th Mo. 4,5

“The Gathered Meeting” by Thomas Kelly 6

Poem by Veronica, photos, calendar 7

Announcements

Purchase Quarterly Meeting, May 3

Quarterly Meeting will meet in Chappaqua this

time, only 42 minutes from Wilton according to

Google Maps, taking Merritt Pkwy and then Rte

120. Address: 420 Quaker Rd, Chappaqua, NY.

10:00 Meeting for Worship, 11:15 Program (sounds

interesting: Quakers and the Bible), 12:15, Lunch

(Brown bag lunch, dessert and drinks provided,

2:00 Meeting for Business. Laura Higgins.

Norwalk/Nagarote Sister City Fiesta,

May 8

This project, with which Wilton Meeting members

have been associated many years, will be holding

its 29th Anniversary Fiesta on Friday, May 8, at

6:30 p.m., at the Oak Hills Restaurant on the Green,

at Oak Hills Park, 165 Fillow St, Norwalk, CT.

Silent auction, buffet dinner, cash bar (first drink on

us) and an update from Nagarote. RSVP required

no later than May 1 (so hurry up!). Prices range

from $80 to $200 per person. For further

information, see Virginia Auster.

WMM Work Day, May 9

Spring is here! The CFS parents’ work day cleared

a lot of their winter debris, and the front lawn was

looking good, but screens on the Meeting room

need to be installed, windows washed, gutters

cleaned out, and Michel has a list! So come at 9:00

a.m. on Saturday, May 9, stay as long as you can,

and we will get the Meetinghouse looking good

after the winter’s storms. Michel Loth

Friendly Forum, May 17

Virginia Auster, with some fellow travelers, will

talk about their recent trip to Nicaragua. Hear about

the good work Sister City Project is doing in

Nagarote, see photos, perhaps a video. 11:45 a.m.

Adult Religious Ed, Apr. 26, May 3

We are honored that Bob Fatherley has agreed to

convene a series of readings (excerpts) from Quaker

classics from authors such as Douglas Steere,

Thomas Kelly, George Fox, or John Woolman. He

hopes everyone will take turns selecting readings

and leading discussions as we proceed. During the

Apr. 26th meeting, 11:45 am, we will spend some

time planning what we want to do, establish a

calendar and consider our first excerpts drawn from

Thomas Kelly’s “The Reality of the Spiritual

World” and “The Gathered Meeting.” (See p.6 for a

an excerpt of this latter pamphlet) Bob will bring

hard copy. Please bring your calendars. On May

24, Adult Religious Ed will continue with the next

excerpt. Bob Fatherley

First Day School

Betsy Magratten reads to Gordon, Marissa, Bianca,

Roxy, Evlyn, and Julienne during First Day School

on April 12th.

CFS Gala, May 16

The Gala is one of the main fund raisers of the

Connecticut Friends School and a majorly fun

event. Be sure to ask Pete, Kim, Gina, Madeleine,

or Sean about tickets for this May 16 (7-11 pm)

auction. It will be held at the Ambler Farm in

Wilton, RSVP by May 2.

CFS Work Day, April 19

Connecticut Friends School parents, friends, and

staff did an amazing job of picking up trash,

cleaning the playgrounds, sanding play equipment,

cleaning bunny hutches, etc…

Wilton Friends Meeting May, 2015 Page 3

Gathering trash: Beth D’Erario and daughter Nikki

On Wednesday, April 8th, we were graced with a

visit from 3 of our original parents, Jami Lo

(Michael-class of 2004), Yvonne Kearney

Lederman (Georgianna-class of 2003) and Annette

Leland (Julian-class of 2004). Photo by Sean

(Brianna-class of 2003). They also met with our

new middle school teacher, Miranda-class of 2003.

Mark Dansereau (now head of school) taught all of

the “kids” (as they once were).

Jami and Annette also had other children who

attended CFS - Caylin & Ana Lo and Marshall

Leland.

Unfortunately, Kim was away (Sebastian-class of

2003).

Masha Nikitin was also in the class of 2004. Masha

can often be seen dropping off or picking up her

siblings (Dimitri is an Oaks1, Vania is a Maple and

Liza is a ’s teacher and the After School Care

Director).

It was truly gratifying listening to each of them as

they spoke of how much CFS had meant to the lives

of their children and their families.

New teacher at CFS

This photo is of Kim speaking with Miranda

Hansen-Hunt (CFS Class of 2003 - Same as

Sebastian Tsocanos and Brianna Higgins). At the

time we didn’t know it but Miranda ended up

moving back to this area and in January applied for,

and got, a job teaching middle school at CFS.

By the way, the last day of school for the Nursery

School in June 3, and for the K-8 classes is June 4.

______________________________________

Our beloved Virginia Perry at 97 years of age


Wilton Monthly Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business

4th Month 12, 2015

Attending: Marilyn Atkin, Virginia Auster, Timothy Connolly, Christopher Fatherley, Ty Griese, Martha

Gurvich, Laura Higgins, Sean Higgins, Albert Hsu, Diane Keefe, John Black Lee, Jud Lee, Pete McCaughan,

Renda McCaughan, Jerry Leaphart (clerking), Nancy Sarno (recording) (16 people)

Ministry and Oversight:

Judy Meikle has sent a special request to WMM for $300 from the WMM Special Leadings Fund to be used

towards her attendance at the conference “Mass Incarceration and the New Jim Crow” to be held at Pendle

Hill. Ministry and Oversight has approved her request, and she will now ask the treasurer for approval.

Meeting approved.

Jim Holdsworth has written that he wishes to be released from membership in Wilton Monthly Meeting. He

and Diana have lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, for many years, and see no chance of moving back. At our

last meeting,

M&O agreed to proceed with his wishes to resign and therefore present this Minute for approval:

Minute: 2015 04 01

WMM approves the release from membership of Jim Holdsworth, who has written a letter of

resignation. He now lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, and has no expectation of returning to

Connecticut. The meeting fondly remembers Jim and his participation in WMM, Connecticut

Friends School and to the committee in support of the Bosnian family.

Recorder:

There is a new minute book for the years 2001-2020, to replace the lost minute book. It is in the library.

Treasurer’s Report, Fourth Month 2015:

Finances as of 3/31/2015.

Year-to-date income as of 3/31 is about $57,800, over 100% of our annual goal. Thank You!!

Expenses are about $42,400, about 70% of our annual goal with three months to go.

We are currently running a surplus of about $15,400, and with anticipated expenses we predict a small surplus

at year-end.

With our contributions over the 100% mark, friends may want to consider contributing to one of our other

funds such as the Working Capital Fund that is used to fund major repairs or improvements on our property or

to the Special Leadings Fund that supports friends taking action in support of Quaker Testimonies. Simply

note your preference on your checks.

Earlier this month Pete sent reports to committees showing the detail of what they have spent and what they

have left in their budgets. These reports should be used to plan further spending for this fiscal year and as a

basis of a budget request for the next fiscal year that we will need by the end of April.

Finally Pete reminds committees that the budget runs out on 6/30. After that all expenses will be charged to the

next fiscal year budget. Pete needs invoices or requests for reimbursement to him by June 25th at the latest.

Fund Activity as of 3/31/2015

Fund balances as of 3/31/2015 are:

General Operating Fund: $ 37,794.55

Working Capital Fund: $ 68,525.46

Discretionary Fund: $ 2,040.00

Special Leadings Fund: $ 350.00


A friend asked if we could perhaps put a brief note out on the list serve to let more people know, and how they

can note on their check to which fund they would like their donations to be directed as Pete mentioned at

meeting?

Nominating Committee:

Newsletter editor can no longer do the job. Renda will do it till end of fiscal year. Nominating is looking for

someone to start July 1, along with several other important positions.

Peace and Service:

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy will not be able to visit WMM as planned April 19, but he hopes to be able to visit us

in the future. The next big event will be the Memorial Day parade.

CFS:

The Board met yesterday and discussed the strategic plan, and continued to work on getting the plan

hammered out. During the next CFS report they will have a more extensive update that will have information

on the White Barn property, the annex, and on our joint meeting.

Interfaith Committee:

The excerpt in the Norwalk Hour about Earth Day at CFS was noted with appreciation, and it was requested

that more information from CFS might be directed to the Interfaith Committee. Clerk suggested that a

member from Interfaith go to CFS board members or the co-heads of school to gather information to share

with Interfaith.

Clerk:

We received a request that we remove a newsletter from our website, from the month of May, 2014, because it

includes a person’s name, address and phone number. There is a suggestion this information be removed from

the newsletter in lieu of removing the newsletter entirely.

Meeting closed after a moment of silence.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Malcolm and Nancy Bell dropped by on April 12; erstwhile Friends from Sanctuary days, now living in Vermont.


THE GATHERED MEETING, by Thomas R. Kelly (excerpt)

In the Quaker practice of group worship on the basis

of silence come special times when an electric hush

and solemnity and depth of power steals over the

worshippers. A blanket of divine covering comes

over the room, and a quickening Presence pervades

us, breaking down some part of the special privacy

and isolation of our individual lives and blending our

spirits within a super-individual Life and Power—an

objective, dynamic Presence which enfolds us all,

nourishes our souls, speaks glad, unutterable comfort

within us, and quickens in us depths that had before

been slumbering. The Burning Bush has been kindled

in our midst, and we stand together on holy ground.

I

Such gathered meetings I take to be cases of group

mysticism. It is commonly supposed that mystical

experience is an individual affair, in which the lone

soul is caught up into the first or second or third

heaven and given to see things which it is not lawful

for men to utter. And this, I presume, is most

frequently the case.

Yet there are some cases recorded of two people

sharing an experience of ascent together into the

amazing Presence of God in His immediacy and

glory. The most striking instance of which I know is

that of Saint Augustine and his mother Monica who,

as they were together leaning in a window

overlooking a garden and talking of the wonders of

the life of dedicated souls, were together caught up

into a sense of divine immediacy and given the bliss

and rapture of the Touch of God.

But we need not go to places remote in space and

time to find similar experiences of joint elevation into

the light of the Eternal Love. For today it occurs

again and again that two or three individuals find the

boundaries of their separateness partially melted

down. It is not necessarily, or frequently, as exalted

an experience as that of Augustine and Monica, nor

does it involve losing touch with the world of sense.

But after conversing together on central things of the

spirit, two or more friends who know one another at

deep levels find themselves wrapped in a sense of

unity and of Presence such as quiets all words and

enfolds them within an unspeakable calm and inter-

knittedness within a vaster life. God's reality and His

love become indubitable; His presence, like a living

touch, is over them. As one friend speaks in such a

silence, the words are found to join on closely to the

thought of the others, so that words become needless,

and silence becomes a bridge, not of separation but of

communication.

The gathered meeting I take to be of the same kind,

still milder and more diffused, yet really of a piece

with all mystical experience. For mystical times are

capable of all gradings and shadings. from sublime

heights to very mild moments of lift and very faint

glimpses of glory. In the gathered meeting the sense

is present that a new Life and Power has entered our

midst. And we know not only that we stand erect in

the holy presence but also that others sitting with us

are experiencing the same exaltation and access of

power. We may not know these our neighbors in any

outwardly intimate sense, but we now know them, as

it were from within, and they know us in the same

way, as souls now alive in the same areas and as

blended into the body of Christ, which is His church.

Again and again this community of life and guidance

from the Presence in the midst is made clear by the

way the spoken words uttered in the meeting join on

to One another and to our inward thoughts. This, I

presume, has been a frequent experience for us all, as

a common life and current sweeps through all. We

are in communication with one another because we

are being communicated to, and through, by the

Divine Presence. Such indeed is a taste of "the

communion of the saints."

John Hughes once told of two Friends sitting side by

side in such a gathered meeting. The secret currents

of worship flowed with power and then encountered

a check. One man moved nervously but did not rise

to his feet. Finally the other Friend arose and spoke a

few words of searching power, and the meeting

proceeded in a sense of covering. After the meeting

had broken, the man who had spoken nudged his

silent neighbor and said, "Next time, Henry, say it

thyself."….

Thomas Kelly goes on to describe four characteristics

of gathered meetings: indescribability, a knowledge-

quality, transiency, and passivity, and a fifth, a sense

of unity.

He also asks: II: “What is the ground and foundation

of the gathered meeting?” III: “What conditions

favor a gathered meeting?” and IV: “But what if the

meeting has not been a gathered meeting? Are these

meetings failures that have not been hushed by a

covering?” Kelly ends with this: “In the venture of

group worship, souls must learn to accept spiritual

weather without dismay and go deeper, in will, into

Him who makes all things beautiful in their time.”


On March 29 snow was still piled high at the Meetinghouse, despite the blue skies and warm air.

An after afterthought

like the Wizard of Oz

our image of God

sits behind a hazy screen

for all to see

whomsoever or whatsoever

we wish

veronica

The CFS Peace Garden is ready to be planted as soon as the weather warms up

Calendar

May 3 Quarterly Meeting at Chappaqua

May 5 10:00 am Meeting for Worship

May 8 6:30 pm N/N Sister City Fiesta

May 9 9:00 am WMM Work Day

May10 10:00 am Meeting for Worship

11:45 am Meeting for Business


11:45 am Friendly Forum


11:45 am Adult Religious Education

May 31 10:00 am Family First Day

Committee Meetings:

First Sundays: M&O at 8:45 am, Finance at 11:30 am

Second Sundays: First Day School: 9 am

Third Sundays: LRPTG 9 am; A&O 11:30 am

Fourth Sundays: Phys.Stewardship 9 am

Clerk Jerry Leaphart

Recording Clerk Nancy Sarno

Treasurer Pete McCaughan

Finance Committee Clerk Albert Hsu

Ministry & Oversight Clerk Laura Higgins

Physical Stewardship Clerk Michel Loth

Peace & Service Clerk Diane Keefe

Newsletter Editor (temp) Renda McCaughan

Submissions to the newsletter are due by May 27.


Documents

Dear Friends