Twilight Meetings for Worship

I am sharing this article by John Custer of Newtown Square Friends Meeting, which describes the twilight meetings for worship that he has taken the lead in organizing. Typically these meetings are held on a Sunday beginning a half hour before sundown, at a local preserve, usually on a hillside (like the one in this the photo - at the Okehocking Preserve in Willistown). Everyone brings their own chairs, and we set up to watch the "show" that God puts on each night for free. A great and peaceful way to end the weekend, enjoying the sundown, the natural setting, in community with friends. When we have a schedule of these planned meetings, we will post it up here. Stay tuned. Now, here's Johnny!

John Custer
Newtown Square Friends Meeting
Reprinted from “PYM Today” Spring 2011

I suspect that many if not most Friends are able to center without much difficulty within the friendly walls of their respective meetinghouses. However, there are some, including myself, who center much more readily outside in a natural setting. Many happy hours of my childhood were spent walking the fields and woods of my aunt’s ten-acre farm in lower Bucks County. Those times created in me a passion for the environment that continues unabated to this day. I am a member of, and active participant in, a number of environmental organizations, including the Environmental Advisory Committee of Newtown Township (Delaware County).

Several years ago, I began heading to parks and preserves at the end of the day, to meditate while watching the sun go down. This experience created in me a leading to share this wonderful experience with others, and the result has been “twilight meetings for worship.”

The first experimental twilight meeting for worship took place during the summer of 2009 at a local preserve, and included about eight Friends. Bolstered by the very positive feedback from all participants, I scheduled a series of monthly twilight meetings for worship in the spring, summer and fall of 2010. All of these meetings occurred on a Sunday, from about 45 minutes before to about 45 minutes after sunset. All meetings, with one exception, were in the various Willistown Township Preserves created through the hard work and industry of the Willistown Conservation Trust.

The final meeting, thanks to member Ron Ploeg, took place behind the Willistown Friends Meetinghouse, gazing into the extensive fields and woodlands so well preserved by that Meeting.

Response has been enthusiastic. We have attracted members and attenders from Newtown Square, Willistown, Valley, Radnor, Chester, Chestnut Hill and Providence Friends Meetings, and others without any affiliation. All spoke in glowing terms of their experience. The settings and the time periods can only be described as magical. We have been privy to breathtaking sunsets, with the sun disappearing behind woods and fields, and the sky slowly changing from one beautiful hue to another. We have sat at the top of a hill under a spreading oak tree, and watched the surrounding fields come alive with the beacons of thousands of fireflies. We have shared our habitat with deer, horses, red tailed hawks and Canada geese. Birds are seen flying to their evening roosts and heard celebrating the conclusion of one more day on Earth. And always, always, the presence of God is all around us.

We are planning to continue our twilight meetings for worship in 2011, and would welcome anyone who wants to join us (you can contact me at jscuster@verizon.net). Also, if you live a distance from Willistown Township, you may also wish to create twilight meetings for worship within your own meeting. All that is needed is access to a natural setting.

If you are anything like me, the spiritual rewards will surprise and delight you.