Quaker Town Crier, September 9, 2025
Hello Friends,
Meeting for worship takes place at the meeting house and on Zoom this Sunday at 11 am. Please join us if you can for this time of silent worship, individual and communal spiritual awareness, and, at times, vocal ministry when a Friend is so led.
And please take a look at these additional events — including the Circle of Friends discussion this Sunday at 10 am — for exploring, learning and building community together:
Third Ad-Hoc Book Club Meeting is Tonight, September 4 from 7 to 8 pm on Zoom
Hate, Inc. by Matt Taibbi
Join us for the third session of our four-part, ad-hoc book club as we continue reading Hate, Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another by journalist Matt Taibbi. In this meeting, we’ll discuss Chapters 8–12 (approximately 75 pages), which dive deeper into the mechanisms and incentives behind the media’s role in driving division. Taibbi’s sharp and often provocative analysis gives us much to consider as Friends—prompting reflection on how we engage with the news and how our responses align (or don’t) with the Quaker SPICES. Whether or not you attended the first or second session, all are welcome.
Discussion questions:
1. Did you find Taibbi’s comparison of the news to smoking relatable? Do you feel a need for further change or boundaries after reading this section?
2. How can we push against the “safe spaces,” moral panics, and factual loopholes that the news media uses against us consumers?
3. Do you feel free to admit ignorance on current events and/or hot topics? Why do you think it is so difficult for us to do this?
4. If we can’t trust news sources for comprehensive coverage or education on a topic, then who can we trust to go to?
5. How might we as Quakers respond to what we have read so far as we attempt to live out the SPICES in our daily lives?
Don’t have the book yet? You can find it here:
Better World Books (donates to environmental programs)
BookShop.org (supports independent bookstores)
Painting Day for the Committee Room this Saturday September 6, starting at 9 am
The committee room is ready for repainting, and all are welcome to help on September 6, starting at 9 am until the work is finished. Participants may come and go as they please. Remember to bring clothing suitable for painting. All materials are prepared in advance; we just need the willing hands!
Selected Reading for Circle of Friends this Sunday September 7 from 10 to 10:45 am at the meeting house and on Zoom
The month of September’s four readings will focus on the attributes and practice of silence. This Sunday the reading will be a selection describing the medical and scientific benefits of silence, which was excerpted from a marketing advertisement for the sale of walk-in “silent pods” (see attached Advertisement for WhisperRoom).From there, the readings for the next three Sundays in September will help us explore silence and quiet from a variety of perspectives to include prayer, healing, and finding peace. All four September readings can be found in the MFM calendar and each will be attached to a Quaker Town Crier as the weeks come up.
MFM Book Group will be discussing Remarkably Bright Creaturesby Shelby Van Pelt
Wednesday, September 10, from 3 to 4 pm on Zoom
All are welcome, whether you’ve read the book or not!
Love and light,
Claudia Farr
Clerk of Meeting