Maury River

• Interchange, Fall 2008
• Peace Call, 2007
• Interchange, Fall 2007
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2006
• Interchange, Fall 2006
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2005
• Interchange, Spring 2006
• Interchange, Fall 2005
   
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2004
• Interchange, Summer 2005
• FUM Policy Concern
• Interchange, December 2004
• Interchange, September 2004
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2003

After a lengthy, open, and beneficial process, Maury River Friends Meeting gladly approved The Practical Guidelines for Marriage at its August business meeting, which will accompany the previously approved Marriage Minute.

Many people stopped by our booth at the Rockbridge Community Festival in August to pick up “Wage Peace” buttons and “War is Not the Answer” stickers. Signatures were also collected on a petition to members of Congress asking that troops be brought home from Iraq. On the same day, three MRFriends maintained a booth at the Virginia Military Institute’s matriculation fair and reported that, while the number of conversations with incoming students and their parents was small, Friends’ presence had been worthwhile. Homecoming this year will be October 19.

Congratulations to Charles McClure and Carol Landau, who have married and are now living in Maryland.

Our Peace & Justice Committee organized a "Community Gathering at the Crossroads" in the fall. A desire for education on the historical circumstances behind the war in Iraq emerged from that gathering, and a roundtable discussion of "Experiences of Islam" was convened in early January of this year. Members of the Washington & Lee University community and others members from the Muslim community in Harrisonburg spoke about their personal experiences of Islam. The event lasted for more than two hours. The discussion was rewarding and speakers from many sectors of the community spoke eloquently and asked telling questions.

Once again, Rockbridge County High School has included a full-page form for parents to "opt out" of giving their student’s contact information to military recruiters.

Young Friends cooked a Simple Meal at Thanksgiving to remind friends of the meager meals of many of the world’s population. They raised over $800 from the event which they donated to the Heifer Project.

Since returning from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation to Columbia in October 2007, MR Friend Morris Trimmer has shared his experiences with Meeting and interested groups in the wider community. Prior to participation in the CPT delegation, a Clearness Committee had found Morris clear in his leading to work for peace within this organization, and a Support Committee was formed to assist him. In evaluating the experience, Morris finds that he continues to feel a leading to do peacemaking in direct and loving ways. CPT’s focus on "creating space for positive things to happen" rather than working for specific results is compatible with his leading. His current challenge is to be faithful to and patient with his urgent leading while incorporating peacemaking into his life. Maury River Friends are grateful for the opportunity to share in this important work.

Maury River Friends will hold an open house for the community at the end of ninth month in celebration of 12 years in our Meeting House.

 We have also recently deposited our records from 1983 - 2003 with the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College.

Three young friends from Maury River meeting are attending Earlham College and two are at Guilford College this year.

2006 was a year of invitations into closer relationships in Maury River Friends Meeting. Clearness committees have played a significant role in our corporate spiritual life. Even with six new adult memberships, three marriages under the care of the Meeting, and additional clearness committees for personal concerns, Care & Counsel was attentive to careful clearness process. By including a larger circle of members and newer attenders on the many clearness committees, this training in Quaker practice, and the accompanying experiences of spiritual opening have been spread more widely in Meeting.

In memberships and in marriages, we expanded the range of situations we were willing to bring into our family. One Friend in a period of not actively participating, and another with a short time of irregular attendance, were each, during their deliberate clearness process, found clear for membership. And when the first request among us for a same-gender union came forward, the thorough clearness process, the careful preparation of our membership in the light of previous consideration of this possibility, altogether engendered a loving openness. When approval was sought during business, we were able to move gladly in unity, not only to approve this union, but toward a single standard in practice and in the language of marriage for any loving couple among us. We look forward in 2007 to minuting this good work.

2nd Hours continue to provide a central time for sharing information and coming to know each other better, both in the world and in the Spirit. Though not as well-attended as we would like, those who come find the discussion and worship-sharing critical to their formation as Friends.

We treasure the avenues for connection that have arisen among us over the years. Our sharing time at the rise of worship provides broader knowledge of each other’s lives, while an array of annual work and play activities extend our experience of one another. Yet we long for more from each other, to go beyond observing the Spirit shining through others’ lives, to hearing and sharing more directly about how the Spirit works in us. Newcomers say they feel warmly welcomed into the Meeting. Sometimes they wish that longtime Friends would fill the empty-feeling silence with more of the teaching and growth of vocal ministry.

We feel blessed, both in the core of younger Friends who are part of us week to week, and in the ebb and flow of families participating now and again. Our children add immeasurably to Maury River Meeting, and bring us hope for the future. Religious Education has handled the challenges of fluctuating numbers, ages, and childcare with creativity and good humor. Keeping those teaching and tending and learning in the back rooms included among those worshipping in the front room requires energy and intention from all of us. Mostly, we manage to stay connected, and spiritually open. We continue our commitment to sending our kids to camp, and wonder how we might do more to assist YFs in helping themselves, and to provide opportunities for calling out the gifts of all our young people.

Amid the numbing severity of world events, Peace & Justice has helped us extend our relationship into the wider society, encouraging us to be faithful in speaking up against the injustices of the Iraq war, and against our state-sponsored executions. P&J kept us connected through work in counter-recruitment at our local high school, with our local food bank, bringing in Jeanne Herrick from FCNL, and taking us through a new discernment process deciding which organizations would receive Meeting donations.

All year long, we have found pleasure in the simple beauty and flexibility of our recently re-painted and re-floored Meetingroom. Our Meeting Records are now in order and ready to be copied into the collection at Swarthmore. Yet orderly accomplishments do not fill our deepest longings. When we feel unmet by what Meeting offers, we want to ask ourselves if we enter freely into its many avenues of Friendship and service, both nearby and further afield. Maury River Meeting is our spiritual home, and the comfort and practice we learn here enables us to more cheerfully and compassionately engage our callings elsewhere.

Several members from Maury River attended the March for Peace in Washington 27th of 1st month, while others attended the local vigil in support of ending the war in Iraq. Other activities have included co-sponsoring a recent talk by Beth Pyles who was twice a member of the Iraq Christian Peacemaker Team and holding a vigil for the execution of John Yancey Smith on 9th of 11th month.

Friends have also united with BYM Interim Meeting on the minute opposing torture of POWs.

At the request of MRFM the local high school has provided information to parents who want to opt out of the school’s sending their children’s contact information to the military.

The next Blue Ridge Gathering will be held at the Maury River Meeting House on April 28 from 2-6 pm for worship, adult & children programs, brief business, and potluck. Those interested in participating should contact Peggy Dyson-Cobb at 540-464-3511 or by email at cobbking@rockbridge.net.

Sandra Stuart

Maury River Friends’ Peace and Justice Committee has been active this summer promoting community ties, holding vigils, and supporting peaceful alternatives to war. Friends gave away bumper stickers, peace buttons, and handouts and heard some interesting stories from visitors.

Vigils were held at the Rockbridge County Courthouse during the time of the executions of Brandon Hedrick and Michael Lenz.

Administration officials of Rockbridge County High School agreed to tell parents they could choose not to give their child’s address and phone number to the military; however, instead of appearing in bold on the first page of the RCHS newsletter as was agreed, the announcement was made unnoticeable on page 7. Apologies were made and other options for getting the message to parents are being considered.

A couple of talented carpenters in meeting have been adding a porch to the storage shed which was built several years ago, and “wall curtains” are being hung in the meeting room to soften the echoing.

Second hours have begun again, and we have enjoyed news from BYM’s annual session from the 15 adults and 6 young friends who attended.

MRF also welcomed new members Sue Staley, Wynn Solomon, Sunder Wells, and associate member Rosa Friedrichs.

On April 11, 2006, Neil Rapani and Hannah Jones were married under the care of the meeting. The wedding was held at Douthat State Park.

Ask any Maury River friend what the highlight of our worshipping community was this past year, and the answer will be, The Floor. Explaining just how a physical entity such as a floor could nourish our spiritual life presents difficulties. We trust that the paragraphs below are sufficient.

We knew as the year began that we would replace the decaying floor of our meetingroom. We felt the weight of this decision as we calculated the cost, thought of moving all those benches, and pondered the necessity of crowding all of us into a much smaller first day school room for worship and second hour during the hot summer months ahead. We decided to go forward joyfully, and we experienced, as we did so, both as individuals, and as a meeting the fruits of the spirit (Gal.5:22 ) as we worked together, each of us according to individual gifts of time, talent and money. We moved out in 3rd month, and back in in 10th, and in-between, we grew.

In our crowded quarters during our second hours, we explored our individual versions of the worth of scripture in our lives; the meaning of Easter among us, our manner of worship, and our affection for our rituals of potluck, fellowship and celebration. Each first day began with a look through the door at the revitalization of our meetingroom. When we moved back into spaciousness, we found gleaming floors, sparkling windows and the glow of freshly painted walls . And we found more of us than had been present for worship the year before.

Midway through the summer, we knew that we would be called on to support two of our families whose lives would be captured by illness and death. For one of these, we held mid-week meetings for worship in the home, eventually by the sickbed. All who participated were enriched and sustained, and our friend died in the presence of love. We were able to celebrate his life with a memorial service which filled our meetingroom in 11th month.

As fall progressed, we realized that our committees had continued in support of our social witness and outreach, that our children’s programs had flourished, and that particular attention had been given to clearness committees and seeker support, largely overseen by our Care & Counsel Committee. In the midst of construction, we had found time to attend to everything we usually did, and, in addition, to host our first ever homecoming in recognition of ten years of stewardship of our property.

We closed our year with our first ever FGC book table and our Christmas potluck for our extended family, Our lighted candles filled the meetingroom with light as we spoke our gratitude for the year.

Submitted by Katherine Smith, clerk of MRF Worship & Ministry Committee

In November, Peace & Social Justice committee organized a meeting for five Maury River Friends with the Rockbridge County superintendent of schools. The intention: to begin a conversation about military recruitment in the schools and to request that the AFSC pamphlet "Do you know enough to enlist?" be made available alongside any recruitment information in the schools. The pamphlets will be stamped with names and phone numbers of local contacts. Follow-up meetings are anticipated and a workshop related to counseling those considering the military is being planned for mid-March.

Friends have also held two called meetings for worship to pray for Tom Fox and the other CPT members and their captors.

Tasha Walsh was welcomed as a member. Heidi Fishpaw, daughter of Kathy Fox and Eli Fishpaw, and Heber Blanco from Argentina were married on Sept. 10, 2005, in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. William McLaughlin; husband of Nancy S. McLaughlin, died October 26, 2005. Family and friends of Bill and Nancy filled the meetinghouse for a memorial service in early November.

Our new floor is beautiful. Member Eric Sheffield planed the old (1870) oak joists and then planed new white oak to fit with the old. Eric and Phil Hyre then laid the flooring. In addition, many members were inspired to caulk and paint the meeting room ceiling and walls. Benches will be moved back in soon, and we will return to meeting for worship in our improved old meeting room by the end of September.

Since this is also our 10th year in the meetinghouse, we’ve decided to celebrate one day in October with a floor warming and open house.

“Wage Peace” buttons and “War is Not the Answer” bumper stickers were well received from the MRF booth at the Rockbridge Community Festival in August.

Jay Cook, Jr., husband of member Flossie Cook, died August 4, 2004. Their son Jay Cook, III, died August 1, 2005.