NEWS & VIEWS
Milford Haven Quakers - What's happening because of Covid19
MEETING FOR BUSINESS 2020:06
15 June 2020
THE LOVING EARTH PROJECT
13 April 2020
The idea of making textile panels which can be exhibited if we wish and can travel to be displayed at the International Climate conference in Glasgow.
The idea arose at a conference on climate change at Swarthmore Hall. Some lovely textile panels were made. The project is now being supported by Woodbrooke.
People were asked to respond to three questions:-
1.What or who do you love that is in danger from environmental breakdown?
2.How do you and your lifestyle contribute to that threat?
3. How can you be part of the solution? Small things make a difference!
We are asked to make a design in any way using textiles of any kind on a 30 centimetre square. It should have a border around which I think should be at least a centimetre and I would make a bigger border at the top in case we want to hang it or put a small rod through it. ( probably about 4 or more centimetres).
The design could be knitted, crocheted, appliquéd, embroidered, a fabric collage applied to the square with glue if you don’t like sewing! Etc,?!
I would invite the other Meetings to join us and we will have an exhibition at Milford Haven Meeting House and then it could travel to other venues before going to Glasgow—-if that is a what you would like. Please invite your non-Quaker friends to join the project!
There is a website & Facebook page: LovingEarthProject
Best wishes and please let me know if you are going to have a go.
Anne Gregson.
OUR QUAKER MEETING
"a snug neet thing" Abiel Folger, 1 March 1811
Quaker meetings are rooted in shared stillness and silence.
Anyone who feels moved may stand and "minister" about what is in their heart.
They are listened to in silence, and the silence returns when they sit down.
The Meeting ends with a shaking of hands.
The Clerk then deals with the notices and asks if there are any afterthoughts, which is an opportunity for anyone to speak about what came to them during the silence but about which they did not feel compelled to minister, or perhaps to bring before the Meetings some matter that has been bothering them. Sometimes a period of discussion follows before tea and biscuits are enjoyed.
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Quakers do not have ministers or priests, but chose from among their number someone to be a Clerk, and someone to be a Treasurer. All decisions are taken collectively. Quakers do not vote, but work to find the "sense of the Meeting" which all can support.
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The Meeting House was built by Quakers who had moved from Nantucket Island following the American War of Independence. They first arrived with their whaling ships in 1792, creating the town of Milford Haven in the process. The Meeting House was opened in 1811.
Weekly Quaker Meetings are still held in the main Meeting Room and are open for anyone to attend.
Next to the main Meeting Room is the Library which has resources and books about Quakerism, other religions, and spirituality. There are notice boards and leaflets about Quaker work and the organisations we support.
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Adjoining the original Meeting House is the Nantucket Suite, the main room of which is well provided with chairs and tables, and has a kitchen and toilets. Beside the entrance to the suite is a plaque with a quotation from Waldo Williams, the Pembrokeshire poet, pacifist and Quaker, whose Meeting this was. Adjoining the Meeting House is an annexe built in 1971 to house the Children's Meeting and which now functions as a Wellbeing Centre.
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Behind the Meeting House is the old burial ground. The gravestones of the original settlers from Nantucket can be seen fixed to the wall of the Meeting House. They are notable for only having the initials of the deceased and date of death. Amongst them is that of Abeil Folger, a copy of whose diary the Meeting has in the library. Part of the burial ground is now a wildlife sanctuary.
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A plaque with the names of Clemency and Stephen Griffith is also to be found on that wall. Stephen wrote A History of Quakers in Pembrokeshire, copies of which can be bought from the Meeting.
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BEING INVOLVED
Quakers do not stand apart from the world but have a history of being involved, joining with other to bring about change.
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True godliness don’t turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavours to mend it: not hide their candle under a bushel, but set it upon a table in a candlestick.
William Penn, 1682
A History of Quakers in Pembrokeshire
by Stephen Griffiths
£4.95 plus postage.
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Stephen Griffiths was a member of our Meeting form 1949 until his death in 2010 at the age of 101. He taught for many years at Pembroke Grammar School. He was born and raised in Blaenau Ffestiniog and wrote several books and articles in his native Welsh.
