Social Justice and Action and Meeting for Worship
In our school community, we have differing types of Meetings for Worship. Next week, we'll meet as a Lower School community in silent reflection about the big ideas that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr inspires in our students.
Teachers use the days leading up to our Meeting for Worship to work, think, and reflect on those big ideas and also on our continuing growth in our Meeting for Worship faith and practice.
Some of our quick resources are below:
We gather for our all Lower School Meeting for Worship for social justice and action as an entire Lower School student, parent and friend community.
The Meeting begins in silence. A student from the query writing class reads their Query near the beginning of the meeting to give us focus:
As we reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., how can we encourage others to speak up and stand up for what is right?
We close our gathering singing a Martin Luther King, Jr. song, Sing about Martin.
In preparation for this Meeting, teachers look for the way to open to reflect on experiences at Meeting for Worship. Below are some ideas for framing that conversation and reflection (and reminders):
- What do we do to settle into the silence?
- Are we considerate of others in the silence? (Do we “take away” the silence from our friends? intentionally or unintentionally)
- Are we mindful of our own lower school Faith and Practice?
Are we repeating messages? Are we addressing each other or using names? Are we giving the Meeting enough silence between messages?
- What do we do when we start to “unsettle”?
- How many messages do we think should be shared during our 20 minutes? (remembering the meaningful silence that must follow each message)
Additionally, teachers try to find a few minutes to remind our students that this Meeting is a time to consider how we might move peacefully forward in our lives.
We center on how Martin Luther King, Jr. let his life speak and how we can use that as inspiration as we shine our own lights.
During these conversations, there are many Friends that we can look to as examples of Letting our Lives Speak, especially in ways that lift up social justice, reform and action.
· Margaret Fell and Elizabeth Fry – prison reform
· Bayard Rustin – civil rights
· Alice Paul – suffragist
· Lucretia Mott and Levi Coffin– abolitionists
· Elizabeth Blackwell – champion of women’s education
· Edward Hicks – artist
· John Woolman – abolitionist and native American peacemaker
· Rufus Jones – anti-nazi activist
A wonderful and simple picture book that notes other peaceful activists is Peaceful Heroes by Jonah Winter.
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