State of the Meeting 2007
When asked to brainstorm the mood and spirit of our meeting, the first word used by the M&C committee was “fun.” This seemed like a rare word to appear in our reports, so we explored it. Lively seems more accurate.The meeting has become younger. While gray hair is still in evidence, the number of kids and kids’ parents grows, and more regular attenders and visitors are in a middle age range. There’s nothing about youth that’s inherently funny, but there does seem to be a lot of laughter around the meeting house.
We have activities that encourage good humor, spurred on by an enthusiastic social committee. We like being outside and doing things together.
At times we may have more youth than wisdom. While sometimes someone bravely sits in Reva Griffith’s place, we still have a spiritual space, once hers, that is unfilled. No one else in our meeting shares her deep roots in Iowa Yearly Meeting. Like many urban meetings, we have to work at remembering our history and traditions. Perhaps we can make more effort not only to go to yearly meeting but also to invite Friends to come and share their knowledge and Light with us. The fact that some 16 Penn Valley Friends attended Midyear Meeting encourages us to make this happen.
The meeting is not without Spirit. Sometimes we are astonished by the depth of our silence or our vocal ministry. We have been blessed by the leadings of a Friend who has led an active Spiritual Formation group; now in addition, she has organized a Circle of Light, an email-based group that intentionally holds in the Light anyone who lets us know that they would appreciate this loving attention.
We sometimes are caught complaining that we have too little activism. However, a lot of individuals put spirit and effort into concerns that are intensely meaningful to them, and this year’s focus has been on finding ways to support and encourage these efforts. Working jointly, we have found that making the meeting house more sustainable is a goal that meshes with the growing environmental concerns that we all share. There is growing interest in immigration issues and the new sanctuary movement. And furthermore, this year’s annual retreat topic, the Public Listening Project, gave wide scope for a new kind of activism, as we learned practical skills for listening respectfully to people with whom we may, sometimes strongly, disagree.
At times we look around and perceive our meeting as active, growing and thriving. Then suddenly we worry that it is losing energy. Perhaps the best approach is to encourage Friends to come and to remain active, all the while recognizing that ups and downs are a natural part of our meeting’s life.
— Karin McAdams, Clerk