Herndon

• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2007
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2006
• Interchange, Spring 2007
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2005
• Interchange, Summer 2006
• Interchange, Fall 2005
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2004
• Interchange, Spring 2005
   
• Interchange, December 2004
• Interchange, September 2004
• FUM Policy Concern
• Interchange, March 2004
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2003

In 2007, Herndon Friends Meeting (HFM) experimented with a schedule change, addressing our growing need for more space by conducting two Meetings for Worship each First Day. After several months, Friends came to the consensus that the two Meetings weakened our sense of community. In response, HFM rented additional First Day School space nearby, and the single Meeting for Worship was restored. At a recent worship sharing, most Friends expressed their sense of the Spiritual State of the Meeting in 2007 through reflections on the transformative power of Meetings for Worship. One Friend described her effort to incorporate the messages she hears into her spiritual vocabulary. Another noted that he still draws meaning from messages delivered 25 years ago. In fact, discussions in our community often refer to messages from Meeting as touchstones we share, a constantly evolving oral narrative.

A Friend who prepared to join the Meeting after decades of extremely active involvement finally pushed our discussion outward, challenging all to ask themselves, every day, “How will your life be different because you are part of Herndon Friends Meeting?” For many of us, outward involvement begins in weekly Meeting for Worship, leading us into the service of making sandwiches for the homeless shelter, conducting bike drives, and supporting individual leadings on providing everything from medical care in Honduras, to education in China, to disaster relief in the United States.

As our Meeting continues to grow physically, we have received blessings from, the many generations of our population. New members and attenders spoke of feeling they have found a spiritual home. Long-time members reported a sense of responsibility to the Meeting as a family, a place where we both bring our gifts and receive needed support. We are reminded that in Quakerism, Meeting for Worship is a process rather than a place we go.

Many Generations

Members and attenders spoke of the importance of gathering for worship in a community rich in both grandchildren and grandparents, the special blessing of having a multigenerational community for worship. One grandparent noted how he is aware that sometimes the most important thing he brings with him to Meeting is his granddaughter, and the most important thing she brings is her smile. Several people noted the spiritual presence of the Religious Education teachers, who extend the worship beyond the Meeting room in educating our children.

Of a Spiritual Family

A long-time member described preparations for Meeting, as Friends try to approach the Meeting for Worship with mindfulness and thankfulness, with an expectation for the value of the vocal ministry, and with an intention to be open to participation. Many said they attend Meeting as part of a search for meaning, out of a hunger for peace, and for help in the ongoing challenges of the everyday. Those needs are fulfilled both in the silent worship and in the vocal ministry, which often surprise us with the intensity with which they compel us to speak, or with the depth of the connection into which they gather us.

One attender said that he respects Quakerism because the absence of a minister’s message prompts the entire congregation to seek God through prayer, with common purpose and energy. Another noted that she receives continuing enrichment through the observations and contributions of new members and attenders. She also asked the Meeting to focus more adult education programs on providing opportunities for these nurturing interactions between us. A third Friend reminded us that our spiritual lives move in cycles similar to those of our family lives. We have times to be active and giving in Meeting, other times to be reflective and receptive. But the constancy of God’s love remains. As another Friend said, it’s like sailing: sometimes the Meeting is a gust of wind to propel us forward, sometimes a wave to rock the boat, and sometimes a keel to keep us steady.

How does the Meeting for Worship affect our lives? Have we found a direction or leading as the result of being part of the Meeting; and how does Herndon Friends Meeting nurture the spiritual growth of its members and attenders? What do our activities reflect about our corporate “spiritual state”? What programs and activities, other than Meeting for Worship, specifically address a spiritual need? What opportunities for spiritual growth are we missing? What challenges do we face?

Meeting for Worship provides a grounding for the activities of the week. The overall effect of Meeting is to prompt the desire to listen more deeply to others and to reach out to connect to fellow worshipers. We are aware that we are all still seekers, and that we need to bring something to the Meeting as well as gain from it. The world is a discouraging place with many dark corridors, but the spiritual centeredness of the Meeting refreshes us and turns us towards an unfailing, eternal, source of love. Meeting provides a personal connection, welcoming and nurturing, that sustains us. Meeting centers our minds in a community of others and gives us a sense of belonging to that community, almost like being a part of its breath and its steps, of staying within its rhythms, a strengthening that lasts a long time.

The search for Truth is what unites us. We sense that the sacred is a great mystery, and when we experience that, we try to put words to it. The words will never be enough, but they will contain that which is beyond them. Truth is not a fixed reality to be seized but an unfolding awareness that never ends.

We value the diversity of views in our Meeting and treasure the knowledge that spiritual growth is always possible. We are called to ask questions and make the most of this life, because it may be the kingdom of heaven after all. Being around passionate people who truly believe in what they are doing inspires us. We see God at work through them and their actions. We are enriched by the opportunity to have spiritual conversations and explore religious ideas with others. Meeting provides a good balance of opportunities for members to explore the mythical, creative, pastoral and educational expressions of our faith, as individuals and as a community.

There is a concern that our spoken messages do not always rise to the level of ministry, sometimes stemming from social or political interests rather than a spiritual prompting. We risk dividing those present and losing new attenders when messages assume that everyone in Meeting shares a common perspective on worldly affairs. We also need to create an environment where younger members feel welcome to give messages too, as they have much to offer in the search for Truth.

The vibrant First Day School program is essential to the success of our Meeting, attracting families who would otherwise worship elsewhere. We endeavor to make our young people feel a valued part of the community. We have teachers who really care, who are excited about the children and the program, and who feel rewarded by the experience.

The adult discussion groups, known as Friendly Eights, give adults the opportunity to broaden their spiritual reading about subjects they might not have entertained otherwise. The gatherings also provide another type of fellowship and permit discussion of topics much different from day to day conversations. We may need a separate adult programs committee to plan a variety of Friendly Eights discussion group topics that speak to everyone, and to collectively review and establish priorities for community building activities. We need to work on balancing outward activities such as war protests and natural disaster relief with internal ministry and pastoral care. As our Meeting grows, we should consider the need for a more formalized way of providing pastoral care to members and attenders. Greeting visitors, making everyone feel welcome, and paying attention to the needs of all present must not be overlooked if we are to remain a caring community.

The Meeting supports a number of service projects, including sandwich making for the Reston Interfaith Shelter, Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives, fund raising for medical care for needy children, and letter writing to legislators.

Our practice of singing before Meeting is a valuable part of the worship experience.

As our population begins to overfill the Meetinghouse, we may need to revisit the space issue.

We must continue to search for a balance between inward and outward focus, contemplation and action, continuity and change. In spite of challenges, we maintain a deep confidence in Quaker process, feeling sure that our Meeting is spiritually led, and that “way will open” for any appropriate adjustments.

Puzzling themes of life
Focus when seen from afar
Light gives clarity.
Silence snow-like falls
Amplifying precious sounds
Deadening harsh noise.

Herndon friends began an Adult First-Day School program in January, focusing on the care of those in our Meeting with support from the book Grounded in God. January topics included "Clearness Committees and their purpose", and "The Welfare of each Member and Attender of Herndon Friends Meeting". Upcoming topics in February are "End of Life Issues, Events and Loss" and "Family Life in the Quaker Tradition and Parenting."

The Junior/Senior Youth at HFM are now running their own Meeting with Attention to Business, and have been very active supporting projects and planning activities. Recently, they have “adopted” a school in Cape Verde, Africa that desperately needs school supplies, and they are collecting the supplies and planning how to get them to the school. A bowling trip is planned for the meeting in the near future as well - they are keeping us all young at heart.

This year we approached the task of preparing this document by dedicating a regular Meeting for Worship to worship sharing, addressing the query, “What effect has Herndon Friends Meeting had on your experience of God and spiritual growth over the past year?” The responses centered around five topics.

Working with Children.
We bask in the joy of having many children attend our Meeting. Their positive attitude and energy inspire us all. To no great surprise we found that people are drawn to the Meeting who want to raise their children in this kind of spiritual home. The Meeting has grown, to a large extent, because we have focused on that. One member added that teaching First Day school has been a source of information and insight. And she has been inspired by the depth of thought, the personality, and the messages she hears each First Day from her students.

Youth Safety
This year we found that allied to the joys of working with children was the knotty issue of Youth Safety. We were led to develop a statement of policy, issued as a Minute, and a series of steps designed to protect our children from abuse. This emotionally wrenching process required many hours. We achieved a good deal of growth, but at the cost of difficult individual recollections, and pain that required loving acceptance. At its conclusion one member told the Meeting, “I know it was difficult to come up with a way to handle adult supervision of children. But as someone who was abused as a child, it gives me a sense of safety to know the Meeting has accepted the responsibility. To have the community not only accept the responsibility but state again that abuse is wrong has been of great benefit to me.”

Personal and Spiritual Growth
Many members addressed their own spiritual and personal growth through participation in Meeting and the adult discussion groups held outside of Meeting. Speaking for many of us one said, “This is the group of people with whom I can be most honest about those deeper spiritual questions. I don’t have to be guarded in my responses to: What do I feel about God? What do I believe? How does that work for me? That makes us all more honest people, I think.”

One Friend summed it up best, “I wonder if in the light of the sacrifice of Friend Tom Fox, if the Meeting shouldn’t be a place that I go out from – out into the world in some different way.”

Putting Faith Into Practice
Herndon Friends community involvement grew as several members and attenders traveled to the Gulf Coast to assist with hurricane relief efforts, bringing collected supplies with them. Other ongoing, active issues and program areas include: housing construction; ending Virginia’s death penalty; medical insurance for children; international economic development; environmental stewardship; local poverty relief; and legislative petitioning on key political issues.

Pastoral Care
Comments from the worship sharing and afterwards told us we need to take a closer look at how we provide pastoral care. At times new attenders do not return, old timers drop from the rolls without explanation, and regular attenders may be hurting without our knowledge. We are aware that an informed perspective as to what creates a sense of community will help us address these issues, and we will devote attention to this in the coming year.

Conclusion: Humility
In First Day School we talk about the pitfalls of becoming self righteous or self congratulatory. The Bible says, “Humble yourself under the hand of God and he will lift you up.” We hope always to keep to that.

Herndon Friends mourned the death of Tom Fox with a Meeting for Worship dedicated to him on March 12. We continue to hold him and his family, Langley Hill Meeting, and the wider Friends community in the Light.

At a worship sharing on March 19 for discerning the Spiritual State of the Meeting, Tom Fox’s impact on our meeting was evident, as many people, especially our young Friends, expressed the leading to make a differ-ence in the outside world. In the words of one Friend, “For me the meeting is a place to come to every week, and it’s wonderful to be known here. But I quake to say the next thing. I wonder if in light of the sacrifice of Friend Fox, if the meeting shouldn’t be someplace that I go from – out into the world in some different way.”

With regard to the annual Spiritual State of the Meet-ing report, Herndon Friends have tried many approaches in past years. We have circulated questionnaires, interviewed people during potlucks, and relied on informal feedback given to Ministry and Oversight committee members. This year’s worship sharing proved fruitful indeed, as the feelings expressed by individual members and attenders were seasoned and gathered in a larger sense of the meeting.

In other activities, the meeting united with a minute on youth safety to protect children from abuse, including screening procedures for volunteers who work with youth, and guidelines for response to concerns or incidents. Volunteer screening took place throughout March.

An ad hoc committee appointed earlier this year by the Religious Ed and Ministry and Oversight Committees has drafted a policy on protecting HFM youth from physicaland sexual abuse.  The document includes actions to protect children from abuse, screening requirements for volunteers who work with youth, and guidelines for response to concerns or incidents.  The policy will be considered by the September Meeting for Business.

In our 10th annual bicycle collection on July 17, Herndon Friends processed over 100 bicycles for shipment overseas by Bikes for the World.  This year’s bikes are destined for micro economic development in Sri Lanka, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica.

Writings by six members of HFM’s Senior First Day School class were published recently in *Whispers of Faith:  Young Friends Share Their Experiences of Quakerism*.  Daniel Murphy, Aubrey Stanton, Taylor Stanton, Carl Taylor, Lauren Hoy and Anna McCormally all contributed pieces to this anthology, which can bepurchased at www.QuakerBooks.org.

The meeting recently welcomed new member Suzanne Hodgkins, as well as new baby Hayden Lian Isobella Bush-Resko, born October 22, 2004, in China and adopted on August 11, 2005, by Jim and Lauria Bush-Resko.

To assist in preparation of this report, those attending the Meeting were asked to complete a brief questionnaire, or to participate in interviews conducted by members of the Ministry and Oversight Committee. These queries and responses framed this document:

How does the Meeting for Worship affect our lives? Have we found a direction or leading as the result of being part of the Meeting; and how does Herndon Friends Meeting nurture the spiritual growth of its members and attenders? What do our activities reflect about our corporate "spiritual state"? What programs and activities, other than Meeting for Worship, specifically address a spiritual need? What opportunities for spiritual growth are we missing? What challenges do we face?

Meeting for Worship provides a grounding for the activities of the week. The overall effect of Meeting is to prompt the desire to listen more deeply to others and to reach out to connect to fellow worshippers. We are aware that we are all still seekers and that we need to bring something to the Meeting as well as gain from it. The world is sometimes a discouraging place with many dark corridors, but the spiritual centeredness of the Meeting refreshes us and turns us toward an unfailing, eternal source of love. Meeting provides a personal connection, welcoming and nurturing, that sustains us. Meeting centers our minds in a community of others and gives us a sense of belonging to that community, almost like being a part of its breath and its steps, of staying within its rhythms, a strengthening that lasts a long time.

The search for truth is what unites us. We sense that the sacred is a great mystery, and when we experience that, we try to put words to it. The words will never be enough, but they will contain that which is beyond them. Truth is not a fixed reality to be seized but an unfolding awareness that never ends.

We value the diversity of views in our Meeting and treasure the knowledge that spiritual growth is always possible. We are called to ask questions and make the most of this life, because it may be the kingdom of heaven after all. Being around passionate people who truly believe in what they are doing inspires us. We see God at work through them and their actions. We are enriched by the opportunity to have spiritual conversations and explore religious ideas with others. Meeting provides a good balance of opportunities for members to explore the mystical, creative, pastoral, and educational expression of our faith, as individuals and as a community. Our practice of singing before Meeting is a valuable part of the worship experience.

We need to strive to ensure that our spoken messages consistently rise to the level of ministry coming from a spiritual prompting rather than social or political interests alone. We risk dividing those present and losing new attenders if we assume that everyone in Meeting shares a common perspective on worldly affairs. We also need to create an environment where younger members feel welcome to give messages too, as they have much to offer in the search for truth.

The vibrant First Day School program is essential to the life of our Meeting, attracting families who would otherwise worship elsewhere. We endeavor to make our young people feel a valued part of the community. We have teachers who really care, who are excited about the children and the program, and who feel rewarded by the experience.

The adult discussion groups, known as Friendly Eights, give adults the opportunity to broaden their spiritual reading about subjects they might not have entertained otherwise. The gatherings also provide another type of fellowship and permit discussion of topics much different from day to day conversations. We may need a separate adult programs committee to plan a variety of Friendly Eights discussion group topics that speak to everyone, and to collectively review and establish priorities for community building activities.

We need to work on balancing outward activities such as war protests and natural disaster relief with internal ministry and pastoral care. As our meeting grows, we should consider the need for a more formalized way of providing pastoral care to members and attenders. Greeting visitors, making everyone feel welcome, and paying attention to the needs of all present must not be overlooked if we are to remain a caring community. As our population begins to overfill the Meetinghouse, we may need to revisit the space issue.

The Meeting supports a number of service projects, including sandwich making for the Reston Interfaith Shelter, Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives, fundraising for medical care for needy children, and letter writing to legislators. These activities are very important to us, and we should consider opportunities for further outreach-both through activities and increased donations to local, Quaker and worldwide organizations.

We must continue to search for a balance between inward and outward focus, contemplation and action, continuity and change. In spite of challenges, we maintain a deep confidence in Quaker process, feeling sure that our Meeting is spiritually led, and that "way will open" for any appropriate adjustments. One Friend summed up her thoughts on our spiritual state in a series of haiku written in response to messages given in Meeting for Worship. She wrote in part:

Puzzling themes of life
Focus when seen from afar.
Light gives clarity.

Silence snow-like falls
Amplifying precious sounds
Deadening harsh noise.

A Minute on the relationship with Friends United Meeting with concern over the current FUM policy was approved.  It reads in part:  "While Baltimore Yearly Meeting Annual Budget decisions should rightly be made in Yearly Meeting sessions, Herndon Friends Meeting recommends that BYM consider redirecting any remaining money designated for FUM in its 2004 budget, as well as the 2005 line item of $17,000 designated to FUM, to a BYM fund for intervisitation among FUM meetings.  As a way of supporting intervisitation among FUM yearly meetings, Herndon Friends will send the $200 in its 2004 budget currently designated for FUM to BYM for the intervisitation fund."

A worship sharing group was started on the third First Day from 2:00 - 3:30 at Hunters Woods Fellowship House in Reston, home of member Cornelia Sparks. 

Several Friendly Eight's discussion groups are underway. Topics include: the causes of war, aging and end-of-life issues, Quaker spirituality, and Quakers and science fiction.
 

This holiday season, Herndon Friends Meeting's children are working on a First Day School Christmas card project to raise funds for Heifer International — a nonprofit organization that helps impoverished families worldwide become more self-reliant through the gift of livestock and training in the animals' care.

The children have created Christmas card designs that are being scanned into digital format to be offered in a catalogue for $2 each.  Orders will be taken over the next few weeks, and full-color cards will be printed and delivered in time for the holidays.

With Friendly adult help, the meeting's kids are participating in all parts of this process - from designing the cards to creating promotional materials to assembling the card orders. If you are interested in starting such a project in your meeting, visit http://www.herndonfriends.org for details.

In other news, a recent Herndon Friends collection effort yielded $605 to provide Thanksgiving baskets for area families in need of assistance.  In addition, three completed baskets were donated, so HFM hopes to supply Thanksgiving meals for 20 families this year.

Friends Meeting held its ninth annual Pedals For Progress bicycle collection on July 25, collecting 145 bicycles, two sewing machines, assorted spare parts and $1106. The money will be used to defray shipping costs to Nicaragua, where the bikes will be introduced into the local economy. Visit www.p4p.org if interested in sponsoring a collection in your community.

Two other well-received Peace and Social Concerns projects of recent note include the bimonthly preparation of bag lunches for the Embry Rucker homeless shelter in Reston, VA, and the ongoing sale to meeting members and attenders of coffee, tea and hot cocoa mix from Equal Exchange. This company sells only shade grown, fairly traded coffee.

The Religious Education Committee has launched the school year with five First Day School classes, serving approximately 48 children of the meeting. A Back-to- School night is scheduled for September 25, to open a dialogue with parents about curriculum plans for the upcoming year.

MINUTE OF HERNDON FRIENDS MEETING ON BALTIMORE YEARLY MEETING'S RELATIONSHIP WITH FRIENDS UNITED MEETING WITH CONCERN OVER THE CURRENT FUM POLICY

Herndon Friends Meeting stands in opposition to the current FUM Board policy and practice of asking all volunteers and staff to sign and abide by the policy that would deny spiritual gifts and service from any person in a sexual relationship outside the bond of marriage between one man and one woman. While we reject this policy which we believe to be discriminatory and hurtful, we do not wish to reject those Friends who support that policy. We need to seek Truth together, settle our differences in understanding of our non-creedal religious faith, and meet in a spirit of love to discern what God requires of us while recognizing the Inner Light in all.

Herndon Friends acknowledge that we do not have unity across Baltimore Yearly Meeting on these concerns. We express our gratitude to Retha McCutcheon, General Secretary of Friends United Meeting, for reminding us at Annual Sessions that we all need to reach Spirit-guided (not money-guided) decisions. We encourage all Baltimore Yearly Meeting Friends to embrace the diversity that resides across BYM and FUM, to learn from that diversity and to tenderly make way for sincere expression of integrity and conscience by all Friends everywhere.

We unite with the following recommendations of the joint committees of Baltimore Yearly Meeting as reported to Annual Sessions 2004:

"We will continue to maintain full membership and participation in Friends United Meeting through representatives from BYM to the General Board and any other positions Friends are led to hold, and through an intentional commitment to intervisitation to learn about other Yearly Meetings in FUM and have them learn about us.

We choose to support the careful formation of a mutual intervisitation program to reach out to other members of FUM via spiritual discernment by an Ad Hoc Group as to how that intervisitation would be planned and implemented."

While Baltimore Yearly Meeting Annual Budget decisions should rightly be made in Yearly Meeting sessions, Herndon Friends Meeting recommends that BYM consider redirecting any remaining money designated for FUM in its 2004 budget, as well as the 2005 line item of $17,000 designated for FUM, to a BYM fund for intervisitation among FUM meetings. As a way of supporting intervisitation among FUM yearly meetings, Herndon Friends will send the $200 in its 2004 budget currently designated for FUM to BYM for the intervisitation fund.

 
Peace,
Asa Janney
Clerk

Since becoming a Monthly Meeting in 1988, Herndon Friends Meeting is marking a milestone this year. With many of our first generation of children now grown, preparations have begun for two of their marriages under the care of the meeting this summer. Amy Tunis will marry Matthew Shinkman on May 15, and Catherine Marquardt will marry David Wilkins on July 10. Congratulations!

On unrelated business, Herndon Meeting has found a simple solution to a low number of returned surveys for the spiritual state of the meeting report. During the monthly potluck lunch at the rise of meeting for worship, ministry and oversight committee members interviewed those interested who had not turned in surveys. Answers will be incorporated into the report.