Newtown Quaker Meeting to Feature Children’s Christmas Program

Newtown Quaker Meeting to Feature Children’s Christmas Program

The children of Newtown Quaker Meeting will present their special Christmas program at
9:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 19, at the historic Friends Meetinghouse, 219 Court Street
(http://www.newtownfriendsmeeting.org). People who are vaccinated and wear masks may
attend in person. Others may attend via Zoom. Meeting for Worship in the manner of Friends
will follow at 11 a.m.

In a reversal of the usual procedure in Newtown Quaker Meeting where adults read Queries
written by other adults to the entire Meeting, the children are writing their own Queries about
Christmas to present to the Quaker Meeting.
The children will present 3-4 Queries about Christmas for the members of the Meeting to
meditate on and discuss in small groups in a form of Worship Sharing.
Quakers use the term “Queries” to refer to questions on various topics read aloud to stimulate
reflection and meditation during worship in expectant silence.
The practice of using Queries reflects Quakers unique theology. Quakers do not have a creed or
doctrine but depend rather on each person’s relationship with the Divine and that of others in the
Meeting in seeking truth.
For 350 years the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) has been based on three radical
theological assumptions: 1) that all people are equal in the eyes of God and have the light
within, the Christ within; 2) that continuing revelation is possible, of understanding more about
God and our life on this earth than we now know; and 3) that the perfectibility of man is possible,
the promise that people can become better, improve their behavior, their attitudes and their
thoughts regarding other people and the world around us.
Newtown Quaker Meeting is currently meeting in a hybrid mode, so those in the Meetinghouse
for the children’s Christmas Program will cluster in small groups with those nearby, and
breakout groups will be created for those on Zoom.
Following the discussion, music will be provided by Debb Watts and her orchestral group of
cellos and violins.
Debbie Watts is Director of Music at the Hun School in Princeton, a resident of Newtown and
member of Newtown Quaker Meeting,

Newtown Friends Meeting, co-founded by the Quaker artist and minister, Edward Hicks, in
1815, holds services every First Day (Sunday) with classes for children and adults at 9:45
a.m. and Meeting for Worship at 11:00 a.m. Currently, people attending in person are asked to
be vaccinated and wear masks. Others may attend via Zoom.