Friends General Conference

Together we nurture the spiritual vitality of Friends
A Quaker community in Frederick, Maryland

The Spiritual State of the Meeting - 2016

Public ContentAnyone can view this post

Each year, Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) asks individual Meetings to prepare a statement of the spiritual condition of their Meeting over the past 12 months. BYM’s Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee collects these reports and uses them as the basis for the development of the Yearly Meeting's Spiritual State of the Meeting report, which is presented to, considered by, and approved by the Yearly Meeting during Annual Session.

The 2016 Frederick Friends Meeting Spiritual State of the Meeting was presented and approved at Meeting for Business in April 2016.

***

As we at Frederick Friends Meeting have meditated and prayed on the queries given by Baltimore Yearly Meeting, we have come to recognize several currents in our life as a community of the Spirit. They show us how much love and fellowship is present among us, as well as how we may be moved to increase in both.

We recognize that caring for one another – to “lift one another up with a tender hand” in the words of Isaac Penington – is one of our greatest joys as a Meeting. Both Friends of long standing and new arrivals have noted with appreciation how welcoming and accepting our Meeting has been, particularly for those going through major life changes, including births, illnesses, and deaths. Others have said how much they love seeing our young people grow up and wished there were more opportunities for Friends of different generations to interact and learn from each other. Our relationships have many layers reflecting the range of activities we are involved in, from social gatherings to the search for spiritual truth.

We recognize that we are a people with a diversity of gifts. Some of us are inclined toward action, taking up service to the community and social witness. These Friends have sought solutions to such difficult issues as homelessness and inequities in criminal justice, as well as investigated how to improve our relationship to the Earth, as in the ongoing discussion on installing solar panels on our meetinghouse grounds. Others are inclined toward reflection and contemplation, pursuing a variety of spiritual practices. Of particular note is our monthly book group, which participants have said has helped better prepare them for worship. We are blessed to have in our midst both “the doers and the mullers,” as one Friend put it. Our hope is that we can see the same Spirit working in each kind of gift, and to follow the leadings of the Spirit so that these gifts redound to the benefit of all.

We recognize that we are continually learning how to deepen our corporate worship. The question of how Friends might better come “with hearts and minds prepared for worship” has come up frequently. We have considered how to improve the practice of vocal ministry, how to handle latecomers, the reading of queries at the beginning of worship, and how to conclude worship. While this process is ongoing, we have seen the wisdom of those Friends who have said that worship is a state of being that may begin long before the regular meetings do.

We recognize that a sense of scarcity, or busyness, is a prominent obstacle to greater spiritual formation. Many of us have felt that we lack the time or the energy or the resources to participate in the life of the Meeting as much as we would like. Often we speak of balancing multiple and competing commitments, both within and outside Meeting, and lament the stress it causes us. A path toward wholeness and abundance might be found in Penington’s advice to “be no more than God hath made thee,” to abide in God’s love, and from it do whatever is required of us in that moment, without worrying about what may be required tomorrow, next week, or next year.

We hope that, having placed these currents before our minds, we may be given Light by which to understand where they are taking us as a community, and that we may be given strength with which to follow them and grow in love and faithfulness.

Respectfully submitted,
Ministry and Counsel Committee, Frederick Friends Meeting

Share