Memorial Service

When Sandy and Doug moved back to eastern PA, they chose to make the home of their spiritual practice Birmingham Friends Meeting. This reconnected them with Sandy's practice when they first met, which included regular attendance on alternating Sundays at a Friends Meeting in Denver.

On March 21 Sandy's Memorial Service was held via Zoom under the auspices of Birmingham Friends Meeting. Arrangements are currently being made to allow anyone to watch it.

For those who may not be familiar with a Friends Memorial Meeting for Worship, we include below the content of a brochure from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Friends Memorial Meeting for Worship

[Revised by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Publications Service Group, originally printed with permission of Wooster (Ohio) Monthly Meeting]

The Religious Society of Friends holds as the basis of its faith the belief that every human being is endowed with a measure of the Divine Sprit which may be directly experienced. Our manner of worship embodies this belief.

We gather in quiet assemblies, mindful of the words: "Be still, and know that I am God." We come together in reverent silence with the desire to draw nearer to God and to understand God's will.

For Friends a Memorial Meeting is similar in many ways to a Meeting for Worship. It is not only a time for sharing feelings of loss, but a time for celebrating the life of the departed person. We reflect on the value of that life as it relates to the lives of all of us.

All present share in this process. We sit quietly; at times an individual may be moved to speak, to offer a prayer or a message that has come out of the silence. All are welcome to do this.

The responsibility for the spiritual depth of the Meeting rests with each attender. Those who keep silence as well as those who give a vocal message do their part when they yield their minds and hearts to the guidance of the Spirit.

Friends hope that in the Meeting for Worship a consciousness of the Divine Presence will be felt by every attender, and will be a source of direction, strength, and comfort after leaving the Meeting.