Meeting for Worship Outside Raytheon (Off-Site)
Third Sunday of each month, 10:45am – 11:45am
In witness to the Quaker Peace Testimony, Friends Meeting at Cambridge (FMC) holds a monthly meeting for worship in front of the Cambridge office of Raytheon Technologies, the second largest producer of weapons and the largest producer of guided missiles. We stress that this is not a demonstration or protest, and we are not politicizing our spirituality but rather bringing our Light to a barbaric assault on human dignity and life. Located at 10 Moulton Street, the Cambridge office focuses on acoustical research enhancing military weapons and operations.
During our worship we display signs stating “Quakers Praying for Peace”, “Raytheon Thrives on War”, and “Humanity Thrives on Peace” and a banner emblazoned with “Quakers Standing for Universal Justice and Enduring Peace – Friends Meeting at Cambridge”. We will gather on both sides of Concord Avenue in front of the Raytheon site at the intersection with Moulton Street. Parking can be found on Moulton Street. There will be limited carpools from FMC at 10:30 am.
Each year the October off-site meeting for worship has been recognized as the anniversary of the initial meeting by announcing the October meeting as an “all-meeting” gathering for meeting for worship. Friends are encouraged to make a special effort to attend this month, and a livestreaming of the meeting is provided.
Some chairs will be brought from FMC, but it is helpful for Friends to bring their own chairs. Warm clothing is always a good idea on cold and/or windy days. Hats and sunscreen provide protection from the sun on both sunny and overcast days.
No one will be asked for their vaccination status. People who are vaccinated can sit on the Raytheon (northern) side of Concord Avenue without masks or any physical distancing. People wishing to wear masks and maintain distances from their neighbor sit on the Neville Nursing Home (southern) side of Concord Avenue. We gather in a closing circle at the rise of the meeting. Names will be collected so that all attendees can be contacted if anyone gets sick.
This witness started when Friends saw a 2009 Boston Globe headline reporting cluster bombs were produced by a firm headquartered in the Boston area. We learned about the horrors done by cluster bombs – each one leaves multiple explosive bomblets on the ground to be detonated by unfortunate passersby (including children). Feeling outrage about this technology being produced by a company headquartered in our community (Wilmington, MA), FMC felt called to witness to our Peace Testimony. Rather than another demonstration or protest, the Meeting decided on holding a Meeting for Worship at the company site (Textron).
We first met there in October 2009, and we met there on the third Sunday of almost every month until Textron decided to stop producing cluster bombs – we hope at least partially due to our efforts and those of others. We then moved our monthly witness to the Cambridge office of Raytheon.
For more information contact John Bach at bolder@fmcquaker.org
