Worship and Care For Each Other During this Health Crisis
Here’s how to participate in our meeting for worship:
- Participate in a virtual meeting for worship. This virtual meeting will occur every Sunday at 10:30 AM by virtue of Zoom, a video conferencing service which you can access with a computer or smart phone that has a built-in microphone and videoconferencing capacity, or you can connect for sound only with a “less-smart” phone. If you are interested in this option, e-mail the Meeting’s e-address: ftmyers.quakers@gmail.com, and you will receive specific instructions.
Our Zoom meetings have a virtual and live part. Some Friends meet on Zoom and others simultaneously meet in our outdoor meetinghouse in Buckingham at 10:30 AM Eastern on Wednesday and Sunday mornings. Wednesday’s meetings are in person only.
- Participate in a small, socially distanced outdoor group gathering on Wednesday or Sunday mornings in Buckingham by the Orange River. For more information, e-mail the above e-address. Please read our guidance on participation here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Common Sense Health Guidelines for Ft. Myers Friends Meeting
- If you feel sick, please stay home, rest, and attend Meeting over Zoom.
- Wash your hands with warm water and soap before preparing or serving food for potluck.
- If you are immune compromised or otherwise vulnerable, for your own protection, please wear a mask and keep up to date on your boosters.
- When and where CDC advises the public to wear masks, please do so. An easy guide can be found here:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face- coverings.html?s_cid=11759:cdc%20covid%20guidelines:sem.ga:p:RG:GM:gen:PTN:F Y22
- If you test positive for COVID within several days after attending in-person Meeting, please inform the Meeting Clerk. Friends may want to get tested if they interacted with you, and they may want to consult their physician about medicines which have been proven to reduce the risks of severe illness if taken early in infection.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Choose to simply enter into worship on your own at the same time.
- Link up with other Ft. Myers Friends of your choice at any time via simple teleconference.
- Invite Friends of your choice to a small group physical gathering. Some suggestions for this alternative:
- Have the gathering outside (backyard, for instance) where chairs can be placed 6’ apart
- Limit the size (10 or less).
- Encourage people to bring their own water or other beverage
- Consider adding another activity to the gathering (for instance, last 1st day several friends gathered to worship, then kayak)
- Invite some Friends to participate in other (virtual or physical) Quakerly activities (worship-sharing, discussion on a reading, etc.).
- Mutually select a date and time with several Friends to go individually into worship at your own homes.
We also strongly encourage Friends to keep in contact with each other over the phone, e-mail or whatever. Maybe a Friend who must remain isolated because of age and/or physical condition could use help with errands, shopping, or even a “through the window visit” with a phone.
New York Yearly Meeting’s Ministry Coordinating Committee has published an excellent guide entitled “Gathering in Worship…when we don’t physically gather”. You can read the document by CLICKING HERE.
Read the Poem “Pandemic” by Lynn Ungar, A Universalist Unitarian Minister.