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 to the Meeting House.
Meeting for Worship each Sunday in the Meeting House 10.30am All Welcome.
Please note that the worship includes Friends on zoom who are unable to get to the Meeting House – this is known as blended meeting.
Worship for one hour is followed by shaking of hands, notices and then informal time together over tea and coffee in the kitchen at the meeting house.
November 2nd Meeting for Worship at 10.30
November 9th Meeting for Worship at 10.30. This is Armistice Sunday and there is a service at the Cenotaph. There is also a service at the German War Memorial in St George’s churchyard at 12.30 at which a wreath of white poppies will be presented.
November 13th Churches Together in Dorchester Annual General Meeting at St. George’s Church, Fordington. The meeting is at 7.30 pm for refreshments, stalls etc. and will commence at 8pm.
November 14th Christian Aid street collection from 9.30 to 4.30 pm. Volunteers are needed for the hour long slots throughout the day. Please let Dave M know if you can offer some time on the day.
November 16th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
The Quaker book group has realised that the proposed Green Feast (a vegan lunch inspired by a Quaker initiative for the recent Quaker Week – see attached poster) on Nov 9 clashes with the German War Memorial Service which starts at 12.30. We have therefore moved the feedback about the book we have been reading – Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart – and the Green Feast to the following Sunday, Nov 16. We are very sorry if this inconveniences anyone.
We will be providing all the food for the Green Feast so you need only to bring yourselves. There will be a sign up sheet in the meeting house from Sunday 26 October but if you haven’t signed up, please do still come along.
November 19th Meeting for Worship mid-day 12.30 to 1 followed by Bring and Share lunch led by Elders and Pastoral Care. After lunch Friends are encouraged to stay and help with simple garden tasks such as weeding the paths and the car park, making sure that the gravel is not on the pavement but in the car park, picking up any rubbish in the car park, watering any pots and the bird bath and walking on the grass free lawn. Thank-you from the gardening team.
November 22nd (From Bournemouth Coastal AQM) On Saturday, 22nd November there will be a presentation of Faith and Play from trained friends . Faith and Play is a Quaker adaptation of Godly Play- a reverential way of story telling in a circle with times of silence as spiritual reflection leading to exploring questions together. Central Offices in Euston, London, Friends House, now has resources, books and experienced Friends who can train others. It is primarily aimed at children so would interest those who are or maybe holding children’s meeting. However, it could be used with adult friends and sounds a powerful way to deeply consider our foundations and testimonies. Please let me know it your meeting would like further details. In Friendship Penny E. Bournemouth Coastal Area Meeting Clerk
November 23rd Bring and Share breakfast meeting at 9.15 led by Elders and Pastoral Care followed by Meeting for Worship at 10.30
November 30th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
December 7th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
December 14th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
December 21st Meeting for Worship at 10.30
December 25th?
December 28th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
January 2026
January 4th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
January 11th Meeting for Worship at 10.30 followed by Local Business Meeting at 12 noon.
January 13th Area Quaker Meeting online.
January 18th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
January 18th to 25th is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during which we are all encouraged to visit the Christian places of worship in the town of Dorchester. Churches will be using the liturgy provided internationally – this year from Armenia. Quakers in Britain are members of the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland who lead on this event.
January 25th Meeting for Worship at 10.30
Local Quaker Business Meeting
These are held as needed and all are welcome to attend. The Clerking team is currently Marigold as Clerk and Mike as Asst. Clerk with Alison learning the ropes. Please contact Marigold 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 or Pastoral Care Friend if you would like to see them. In future they will be available on the website in a secure area needing a password.
For those who ask about the donation to Britain Yearly Meeting, please see the Charity Commission website which illustrates the finances of BYM which can be found under charity number 1127633.
If you want to explore more about Quakers, Kindlers might be for you. Visit the website www.thekindlers.org.uk email admin@thekindlers.org.uk
Every Monday at 19.30 there is an online JUST… meeting called One thing you can do this week for peace and justice in Palestine, Lebanon, Israel. Based on the AFSC format, American Friends Service Committee Action Hour, we witness… a minute silence remembering ONE event or person Learn… what’s going on – UPDATE Act…. ONE letter or petition to write or sign Share…what is happening in your area that counts as a small WIN Friend Nicola Grove spends about one day every week gathering and preparing resources for the meeting. You can join on https://www.campain.org/post/join-just-campain-s-weekly-action-for-peace-and-truth-in-the-middle-east
https://www.quaker.org.uk/our-work/international-work/responding-to-the-current-situation-in-israel-and-palestine is also useful
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 Baptist Church in Bridport Road.
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. https://fwccemes.org
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.
Facebook: https://fb.me/e/awqc2ZXll
Twitter/X: https://x.com/dorsetpsc/status/1851643419065532557
Insta: https://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. Also, a lecture on George Fox by Graham Taylor, which quotes some of Fox’s unpublished work, is on https://quakersocialists.org.uk/
We encourage Friends to see a Lecture by Revd Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian on https://quakersocialists.org.uk/.
In June at Salisbury International Arts Festival on Friday June 6th this year, Friend Michael Mears with Riko Nakasono performed THE MISTAKE – see below from Michael.
It’s 80 years since atomic bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities.
I’m Michael Mears, actor/playwright and pacifist and I attend Wandsworth Quakers in southwest London.
In 2023 I toured THE MISTAKE, the play I wrote about Hiroshima and the first atomic bomb, around the UK, with no public arts funding – just the enthusiastic support of crowdfunders and one or two small organisations. The play was performed by Japanese actor Riko Nakazono and myself. This year, the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings, I feel compelled to take the play further afield to the USA and to Japan.
We will be touring in the USA for six weeks from the start of April, and it’s an expensive undertaking, though in order to help the tour proceed, I have chosen to be unpaid myself, as part of my witness for peace.
Potential sympathetic funding bodies in the UK won’t fund a project that goes abroad. So will you help us bring THE MISTAKE to the USA, to share the urgent themes and message of this play with a wider, American, audience? Join us in our efforts to enlighten, to illuminate, to change hearts and minds, through the emotional power of theatrical storytelling?
Any donation however small will make a difference and help us. Here is a Crowdfunding link for donations which will give you a lot more information, with photographs and reviews.
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/taking-the-mistake-to-the-usa