The Continuance Institute

The Circles · C-02

Portland (Maine) Circle

A fortnightly circle in a union back room, best known for the letter table it keeps on alternate weeks.

Place
Portland, Maine, United States
Recognised
1993
Affiliated house
North House
Assigned steward
Justin Ferreira
Convener
Amaka OseiMarine insurance clerk. Term began 2026; first year.
Ordinary meeting
Fortnightly, Tuesday evenings
Typical attendance
18 to 26
Access
Open to visitors

Local history

Formed in 1992 by four members who had moved to Portland for work and were tired of driving north. It was provisional for its first year, as all circles are, and was recognised in 1993 after a review attended by a steward from Shore House who had never met any of them.

The letter table began during a change in the state benefit forms in 2011 and did not stop when the forms settled. It is the circle's whole outward obligation and consumes rather more of its hours than the ordinary meeting does.

The outward obligation

Adult education

Evening letter-writing table, held with a neighbourhood legal clinic.

Members sit with people filling in benefit, tenancy, and appeal forms. No advice is given; the handwriting and the patience are the service.

The forms it carries

  • The Quiet Twelve

    Twelve minutes are kept before the reading. Nothing is assigned to the silence.

  • The Repair Table

    A table, a bench, or a marked shelf where ordinary objects wait to be mended.

The shared forms, as they are kept in the houses

Also attached to North House

Elsewhere in North America