Three Rivers worship group became a monthly meeting of New England Yearly Meeting on Saturday. I keep hearing the birth metaphor being used to describe this event, but I don’t know if that really resonates for me - does that mean it had been gestating up until now? Maybe I’m too literal. In any case, there was a lot of pain and conflict around the process, and much healing work remains to be done. I’m reading Sandra Cronk’s Pendle Hill Pamphlet on Gospel Order. https://archive.org/details/gospelorderquake0000cron#quaker
My vision for a truly welcoming meeting is one where, knowing the range and diversity of abilities that humans have, we anticipate the accommodations that we know will be needed sooner or later, and provide those accommodations before they are needed in expectation that their presence will create the welcome that leads to growth and connection. This is what I call "setting the table." Then we ask, over and over: what more do you need to feel welcome here? #quakers#accessibility#SettingTheTable