Diary Page

Dorchester Quaker Local Meeting

All events take place in the Meeting House in Holloway Road unless otherwise specified. Please see other pages of the website for directions.

Meeting for Worship each Sunday in the Meeting House 10.30am All Welcome.

Worship is followed by informal time together over tea and coffee in the kitchen at the meeting house.

November

1st November (Friday) A group of Friends are planning this informal gathering and welcome those who can join in. 12.30 Lunch at the Martyrs Inn, (Public House) Tolpuddle for those who would like to do so – please let Brenda know by Wednesday 30th October if you want to book for lunch. 2pm visit to the Old Methodist Chapel in Tolpuddle with Phil Drake. This is the very old Chapel which has recently been refurbished. It is no longer used for worship. If you would join with the group please contact Brenda. 

Quaker Spirituality in a Day with Stuart Masters Saturday 2 November, 9:30am – 4:30pm
at Salisbury Quaker Meeting House.

Saturday 2nd of November Dorset Conference of the Parties on Climate Change 24 at Bournemouth University. Details: info@zcd.org.uk as previously circulated.

3rd November Meeting for Worship at 10.30 Local Business Meeting at 12 noon for one hour. All welcome.

4th November online event about George Fox – see below for details.

10th November Meeting for Worship at 10.30

10th November special service hosted by the Town Council at the memorial to German Soldiers in St George’s Cemetery, Fordington – 12.30. Please note that the path to the memorial is quite slippery at this time of year.

10th November Area Quaker Meeting in person in Shaftesbury starting with worship at 10.30. Three members of the AQM from Dorchester will attend.

14th November (Thursday) Annual General Meeting of Churches Together in Dorchester, to be held at St George’s Church, Fordington at 7.15 pm. All welcome. Please remember that Dorchester Quakers are in membership of this important ecumenical forum.

17th November Meeting for Worship at 10.30

20th November Mid Week Meeting for Worship 12.30 to 2pm with shared lunch (bring food to share) led by the Eldership and Pastoral Care Friends.

24th November Shared breakfast meeting (please bring breakfast items to share) at 9.15 led by Elders and Pastoral Care Friends.

24th November Meeting for Worship at 10.30

24th November There will be an evening meeting for worship for Peace at the Meeting House on this day at 6pm. Following this event, Elders and Pastoral Care will consider whether to have peace meetings in future.

December

1st December Meeting for Worship at 10.30

8th December Meeting for Worship at 10.30

15th December Meeting for Worship at 10.30

18th December (Wednesday) Mid Week Meeting for Worship 12.30 1 followed by shared lunch ending at 2pm (bring food to share) led by the Eldership and Pastoral Care Friends.

22nd December Meeting for Worship at 10.30 followed by a Christmas themed bring and share lunch. We welcome soft drinks and juices to share but remind Friends that no alcohol is permitted in the Meeting House. All welcome.

29th December Meeting for Worship at 10.30

Local Quaker Business Meeting

These are held every two months and all are welcome to attend (next one is on the 5th January). The Clerking team are currently Marigold, Mike and Tess who share the Clerking responsibilities (clerks.dorchester@gmail.com). Please contact one of them if you have an item which you want to be included in the agenda for LQBM. Minutes are taken at these meetings so please ask an Elder if you would like to see them.

For those who asked about the donation to Britain Yearly Meeting, please see the charity commission website which illustrates the finances of BYM. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1127633&subid=0

Elders are proposing to have a residential weekend away at Othona in 2025. The dates may be 21st to 23rd March. It will be discussed at the forthcoming Area Meeting but please put these dates in your diary.

Quakers Talking events online

Monthly sessions held online and open to Friends in the south and southwest of England.
There is no need to book just drop in. Please use the same Zoom link for all sessions.
7pm – 8.30 pm

Tuesday 12 th November:
Reflections on Swarthmore Lecture – What does it mean to belong?
Tuesday 10 th December:
Sharing good experiences of Eldership – How can we care for our spiritual future?
Tuesday 14 th January:
Creative visions – How will we thrive in 2025?

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://quaker.zoom.us/j/87484081532?pwd=WQuQ2XYE4MgmwW7sFtbG40gs9xGDoG.1
Meeting ID: 874 8408 1532
Passcode: 325855

George Fox lecture 4th November details

This year is the 400th anniversary of George Fox’s birth and nearly every Quaker body in the world has marked the event in some way. Fox has been portrayed as a mystic, a prophet and a religious genius – but few have looked at his social and political views. This is strange because Fox founded Quakerism during a revolution and at the end of a civil war. He was regarded as a dangerous Leveller by the authorities and was popular with soldiers in the army.  So was he the first Quaker Socialist? Graham Taylor has been researching the history of Quaker Socialism for the last couple of years and next Monday he will attempt
to answer that interesting question.

The event will be held on Zoom on Monday, 4 November at 7.30pm and the
Zoom link will be sent a day or two beforehand.

If you would like to attend please contact Alison Langford <mickandalison@ntlworld.com

Church events in Dorchester (Our representative on Churches Together in Dorchester is Sarah)

Please remember to contribute to the Food Bank by dropping items off at the Dorford Church in Bridport Road. There will be a collection made at the same Dorford Church for Dorchester Family Support Christmas Food Hampers which are given to those families entitled to free school meals in the area during the Christmas break.

Firm Roots is a Christian cancer support group. Dorchester Family Church Office: 2 Red Cow Business
Park, Long Bridge Way, Dorchester DT1 1YD Join us for friendship, encouragement, reflections, refreshments and prayer for anyone affected by cancer.
Everyone welcome. Email: dorsetfirmroots@admin

Please also get in touch if you would like to go on our prayer list and our group will pray for you.
www.firmroots.org.uk

Acorn Christian Healing Foundation Dorchester Hub The Quiet Space Poundbury DT1 3RG

Second Wednesday and Third Friday of each month 10.30-12.00 All very welcome, any faith or none

OTHER EVENTS OR OPPORTUNITIES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN 

Individual Quakers are involved in a range of social action activities and some are mentioned here.

Quakers are part of the World Wide Family of Quakers and the Around Europe Newsletter has articles from various aspects of Quaker activity across the Europe and Middle East Section latest issue of Among Friends.

Friends Peace Teams (FPT) Updates

A new issue of the Friends Peace Teams PeaceWays newsletter is now available on-line;  https://friendspeaceteams.org/stories/peaceways/  Check it out to learn about world-wide peacebuilding efforts by thousands of Quakers and friends in dozens of countries across five regions globally.  

For those interested in the demonstrations and protests in relation to Israel and Palestine, there is a Dorset Palestine Solidarity Campaign which can be followed through these links.

Facebookhttps://fb.me/e/awqc2ZXll
Twitter/Xhttps://x.com/dorsetpsc/status/1851643419065532557
Instahttps://www.instagram.com/p/DBwPIBxNFoB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Contact dorsetpsc1@admin or dorsetstopthewar@gmail.com 

The  Quaker Socialist Society meets online from time to time – and had a meeting on how we promote Quaker values in state schools and private Quaker schools.  Prof Francis Green spoke about his book on private schools: Engines of Privilege.  See the Quaker Socialist Society website for further details.

We encourage Friends to see a Lecture by Revd Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian on https://quakersocialists.org.uk/.