Cloud Quaker Worship Group

Hello and welcome to Cloud Quakers. We are a group that meets online once a week; actually there are two meetings, 7 am mountain time, and 7 pm mountain time. This would be 8 & 8 in Chicago, 9 & 9 in New York, 6 & 6 in California. I am hoping to find times that everyone can join us, though I know this is somewhat Americo-centric; I'm not sure which, if either, would be useful to our international friends.

My purpose is simple. My life was changed because Quakers were there when I needed them. Sometimes what a person needs is love, a listening ear, and a spiritual approach to dealing with life's issues. For many people good Quakers are hard to find; I know they are for me here (I live in a tiny mountain community in the clouds; it's in the southern Rockies of New Mexico; it's a nice town, but it's mostly a tourist town and simply doesn't have many Quakers). I believe that online tools, namely zoom, make it easier to form a Quaker community and that we should just get on it and do it.

Zoom is like Skype. Some people may never get past the simple process of downloading onto one's computer (as one does with Skype) and running it, but for most it's no big deal. Also, of course, one must master talking to the little green dot (into the camera) and manipulating it to the best effect. I think, basically, that it's possible and reasonable to have a quaker meeting with five to twelve people happily. If we get more than that, regularly, we'll have spinoff meetings. I may advertise that here or I may use the Facebook site exclusively.

I will use this site to ruminate about the issues that come up in the process of organizing and having an online meeting. That will do two things. One, it will make a public record of what I'm thinking, and where I stand about issues here. Second, it will invite others to comment as it's all public. Third, it will help me sort things out myself.

At this point it all sounds like "me me me." Actually it's a community thing. I do it for the community; I just don't have one yet. I fully intend to have the community make these decisions, and have as close as I can to consensus on each one.

If people are moved to join the community and help with the $15/mo. zoom fee, they are more than welcome. For now I am more than willing to cover it. It is our only issue. That, and how to communicate; at first I was into an e-mail announcement system. Now, I think Facebook is better. Facebook is like the phonebook; most people are on it, and those who refuse, go out of their way to get what they need without it. That is in contrast to e-mail; everyone has e-mail too; but sometimes they only look at their e-mail when they're in a business mood, and then, they tend to set aside things that are not business, and sometimes go days without looking at it.

But the reason I chose against e-mail, really, was security. You can set up sophisticated blocking systems so that people receive e-mails without knowing who else has received the same e-mail, but in general, one's e-mail address goes from place to place in a system like this and eventually the wrong people get it. No thanks on that. I'd rather have Facebook, which has a kind of built-in privacy.

Here's to a new Quaker worship group! See you on Sunday!