GATHER: An intentional Zoom dinner to cultivate community and share in gratefulness
Short description: A programmed Zoom dinner to cultivate community and share in gratefulness. We will draw on Beacon Hill Friends House traditions as well as experiment with being together on Zoom to share a meal the Friday after Thanksgiving.
** This event is free and open to the public. If you'd like to make a donation to support the event, you can do so by selecting the red "tip the host" link in the upper right-hand corner.**
Accessibility: Closed captioning provided. Participants will be able to call in if needed.
Full description:
One of the things the Beacon Hill Friends House community has deeply missed during the coronavirus pandemic has been having folks over for dinner. You might be missing this type of gathering, too. Sharing in a meal, joining a lively discussion, feeling a part of a group of other people, the noise of other conversations surrounding you... these all help us feel in community with others.
In an effort to both recreate the experience of a house dinner, as well as experiment with possible ways to cultivate community on a deeper level, we bring to you GATHER: An intentional Zoom dinner to cultivate community and share in gratefulness.
Why have a programmed Zoom dinner gathering? Because meaningful gatherings where we can truly connect with other people are crucial to our lives, especially in this time.
As Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, wrote in the New York Times back in March,
"It is, amid the grimness, an opportunity to experiment. We won’t be able to fuss over the things I believe we have been wrongly fussing about for too long. We can’t worry about the fish knives. Or the stage lighting. Or the theme colors. Instead, we will have to focus on what we should have been focusing on long before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic: creating magic among people."
Here's how it will work:
BEFORE THE DINNER: Folks who register will receive a virtual "care package" via email before the event with a recipe from our Resident Chef, Vickie, and some other pre-dinner materials.
BEGINNING: We will start on the 27th in a large group, encouraging folks to bring their dinners with them. In the large group, we will set the space together, and offer a cheers/blessing of our meal.
MIDDLE: We will eat our meals in small "table" breakout groups of about 5 people. Those will be pre-assigned based on interests indicated during the registration process. Each group will have a first question to introduce themselves, and two more questions that delve a little deeper.
END: We will bring folks back for the last 15 minutes of our gathering to share reflections with the big group.
This event is free and open to the public! Closed captioning provided for portions of the event. If you need closed captioning in your table room, please email program@bhfh.org.
Thank you to the People's Supper, for inspiring us to think differently about how we might gather for dinner in this time. Learn about the People's Supper at: https://thepeoplessupper.org/
Beacon Hill Friends House is an independent Quaker not-for-profit organization that operates a 20-person community residence, overnight guest accommodations, meeting and event space, and public educational programming in a large historic house in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The Friends House exists to provide opportunities for personal growth, spiritual deepening, and leadership development, drawing inspiration and guidance from the values, principles, and practices of the Religious Society of Friends.
