The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is organizing with Friends “Love as Action” public worship as a witness against rising authoritarianism and oppression in the United States. Each one lasts an hour. AFSC helps coordinates as well as provides resources so the gatherings stay consistent.
Charles Hardy, a member of Trenton Friends Meeting, said he learned about the vigils through Friends at Princeton Friends Meeting. “I hadn’t seen the call,” he said. “Our friends in Princeton Meeting from the Peace and Social Concerns Committee let it be known that Trenton could also do this.”
Charles said the notice came only days before the planned January 17 vigil. “It was like on the 13th,” he said. “We emailed around to our committee, Peace and Social Concerns, to make sure that we followed committee process and got the word out as best we could.”
Thirteen people gathered outside the Trenton Friends Meetinghouse. “The road conditions were not great,” he said. “We had 13 of us, we had signs, we had it as a vigil. There were Quakers and non-Quakers there.” One sign read, “Do you want our democracy back?”
After the time outside, the group moved indoors. “We socialized afterwards and had some soup and coffee inside the meeting house,” Charles said.
Trenton plans to continue in the coming months holding other vigils on . “Besides our events page and Facebook page, I’ll email the meetings nearby,” he said. “That’s the plan of the moment.” Trenton plans to hold two more vigils on February 21 and March 21.
If you or your meeting is attending or hosting a vigil, send Philadelphia Yearly Meeting a short note and photos; help Friends across the yearly meeting learn how worship and witness are taking place in your community. You can contact staff at communications@pym.org.
To find out more information about attending or hosting a vigil follow this link: https://afsc.org/love-action
photo attributed to Trenton Friends Meeting.
