5/24/2020
My dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
I am planning to head over to the Davis Friends Meeting House (DFMH) this morning to test out how we can provide Zoom access to our Meetings for Worship once we feel comfortable convening in the DFMH again. We suspect that many of our elderly Friends will prefer to stay at home & participate in our silent worship from the safety of their living rooms. Sound amplification has always been an issue for us which is funny since most of the time we sit in silence. The vocal ministry that does take place is unplanned & can come from anywhere in the room. The spontaneous urge to speak is quite precious and precarious, so the interruption of the spiritual flow to walk to a static microphone, or wait while someone brings one, has always been an impediment to our getting a sound system. We are facing that impediment again but cell phones might save the day. We’ll see.
It’s odd that Friends even have a Meeting House, since we don’t believe that fancy church buildings. We believe that anywhere that seekers gather to listen for the still, small voice of God is a place of worship. So, Zoom works just fine for us. Our founder, George Fox, called churches “steeple houses” and used to go into them and challenge the ministers during their sermons. He was a rebel. He questioned the elites. You might have liked him. If you want to know more about Quaker Meetings on Zoom, check out Bianca Giaever’s article in today’s NYT. Better yet, join our Meeting. I can send you the sign info if you want.
I encourage you to popularize the idea of worshipping outside. That would be so much safer than gathering together inside. I would hate to see our Evangelical brethren suffering from Covid-19 because they felt compelled to exercise their First Amendment Rights. You can start repeating Dr. Erich Anderer’s mantra, “Outside is better than inside; open is better than closed; fewer is better than more people.” To me that means avoiding the “steeple-house.”
