State College

• Interchange, Fall 2007
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2005
• Interchange, Fall 2005
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2004
• Interchange, Spring 2005
   
• Interchange, May 2004
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2003

The State College Friends Meeting continues to be very active, but the attendance at Meeting for Worship has been down a little. Attendance will improve when the local schools and the Penn State University resume classes.

We have held Meeting for Worship on the lawn twice this summer. Both days the sun was shining, but on the third Sunday it rained.

Members of the Meeting attended both the Baltimore Yearly Meeting and the Philadelphia Yearling Meeting, and reported to the Monthly Meeting.

The meeting did have a farewell potluck dinner for Lauri Perman and Tom Ryan in the Meeting House before they moved from State College to Pendle Hill where Lauri is now Director. As the move was made, Laurie resigned as Clerk of BYM. They will be missed here, but we hope they have a successful life in their new mission. Tom had been editing and producing the First Day bulletin. We thank him for his years of service. The weekly bulletin is done now by Betsy Gamble.

New members of committees started their three year terms the first of July. There were many new people appointed along with others that have served before.

The anti-war vigil continues every Saturday morning at the entrance to the Penn State campus, with many non-Quakers taking part.

Introduction

In preparation for this report, the Worship and Ministry Committee met in worship sharing to address queries which were relevant to our Meeting and which helped guide our thoughts. Those queries were:

• In what ways is State College Friends Meeting your spiritual home?
• What are you longing for at SCFM that you aren't finding?
• What gives us Life in State College Meeting?
• What "works" for us? What are the problems? The solutions?

In many ways, sharing our reflections on these queries was a continuation of some of the Committee's discussions during the past year. While concerns from communities which are Quaker-directed or under the care of our Meeting (Foxdale Village and State College Friends School) often occupied the agenda of the Committee, we continue to focus on the quality of worship within the Meeting. Among other topics, we have talked about how to encourage greater vocal ministry, the political content of some messages, a changing pattern of individuals attending meeting for worship, and what beliefs bind us together.

In some departure from last year's report format, Worship and Ministry regarded this report as an opportunity for its members to concentrate our attention on the spiritual mission of the Meeting and to present our broader activities in summary form.

General State of the Meeting

During the past year, we have experienced two changes in Clerkship, after our relatively new Clerk, Elizabeth Zimmerman, moved out of the area in response to a calling to other work. A former Clerk, Doug Miller, served as Interim Clerk, followed by Margy Frysinger, who assumed the position of Clerk at the beginning of 2006. A meeting secretary has been hired for ten hours per week, and provides valuable assistance to several committees.

Our meeting seems to do a good job of making new attenders feel welcome, but perhaps we could do more to encourage them to stay. It is also important to be attentive to members and attenders whose spiritual needs are not being met by our Meeting, and who drift away as a result. Some members/attenders sense that we may not share our love for each other enough. The Care and Concern Committee has initiated small group gatherings (“Friendly Eights”), and perhaps it would also be helpful to organize retreats, and additional workshops, spiritual formation groups, or book or Bible study groups. The Meeting continues to benefit from weekly “Friendly Forums”, with opportunities to share religious and spiritual insights and experiences. While the Queries help us to apply Quaker principles within our daily lives, some members feel a need for more spiritually uplifting readings.

The Worship & Ministry Committee has found that controversies within overlapping communities distract us from focusing on the spiritual nurture of our meeting. Issues involving Foxdale Village (a nearby retirement community), and State College Friends School, led to conflicts and strong feelings among many meeting members, which needed to be acknowledged and resolved, both tenderly and honestly, in order to maintain the sense of community within the meeting itself.

The intergenerational makeup of the Meeting is a joy. Young Friends are part of the Meeting in a wholesome way and are valued as persons. They set the tables for potlucks, serve special meals such as the Right Sharing lunch, and like each other. Young children join us for the last fifteen minutes of the 11 o’clock Meeting for Worship. We have an active Religious Education program, with a first day school program for preschool through high school aged young Friends.

Meeting for Worship

The Meeting continues to have two meetings for worship-one at eight-thirty and one at eleven am. The early Meeting for Worship tends to have worship based in silence, while vocal ministry is more prevalent during later meeting time. We need the cross-fertilization of both groups, and some have expressed concern that the presence of two separate gatherings for worship may dilute our spiritual richness. There is also concern about the declining attendance at the 11 o’clock Meeting.

Some Friends feel that the vocal ministry in our meeting is too intellectual, if not too political. The problem of politics versus religion seems discordant, especially during meeting for worship. Are we too political during meeting for worship? The problems of the world sometimes overshadow the spiritual presence which we seek in our worship together; we long for something to hang on to, something that worship can speak to, but does not often enough. While some meetings are ‘gathered’ without the need for spoken messages, the quality of vocal ministry does affect our communal worship. Inappropriate messages reduce the likelihood that those attending meeting for worship will have a positive experience. How do we discourage consistently inappropriate messages without affecting the spontaneity that is a part of Quaker worship? Some note that members who used to enrich us with their spiritual offerings do not seem to be attending or speaking as often.

When a message does speak to the whole meeting, the meeting is gathered-a spiritual gift that is the heart of Quakerism. Messages which invoke God’s/Jesus’s power and love bring us together in a profound way. All of us long to drink from the well of living water, and sometimes we do. Occasionally our meetings are “gathered,” with messages invoking God, love, and power, which draw us together. Some members have expressed that this meeting is clearly their spiritual home, and that they are grateful for the sense of healing and spiritual growth which they experience within State College Friends Meeting. Others appreciate a sense of peace and stability within the meetingroom, especially when the fire is lit, and we feel that coming to meeting evokes love.

Queries:

• How do we nurture a deeper meeting for worship? A deeper vocal ministry?
• How do we work on healing the aspect of God or Jesus as part of our lives, even though that has been divisive for individuals?
• How can we be more open in expressing our feelings of love for each other and our love of God/Spirit?

Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business

Our Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business generally seem to be working well. Discussion and decision-making are well- focused, centered on relevant topics, and take place in accordance with Quaker procedure. During several Business Meetings this year, periods of worship sharing have arisen in response to members' concerns and ministry, and enabled us to understand concerns more broadly and deeply. There may also be other times when we could benefit from increased attention to the leadings of the Spirit, with openness to fresh insights. We are grateful for the skill and dedication of our Meeting Clerks.

Activities

The Meeting was one of several organizations that brought the Pennsylvania ”Eyes Wide Open” exhibit to State College in April. Boots representing each Pennsylvania soldier killed in Iraq, and shoes of Iraqi dead (ratio of one to fifty) were arranged on the Meeting lawn on Sunday, April 9, then on the PSU campus for three days. A group of State College Friends Meeting members, including 15 young Friends, attended a conference on Racial Justice. The weekly Peace Vigil continues at the entrance of The Pennsylvania State University, with active participation since its inception in 2002.

Summary

State College Friends Meeting is a spiritual home to many members and attenders. Our meetings for worship are enhanced by the spiritual contributions of many generations of Friends. The meetinghouse itself is a special place with beautiful natural surroundings, and a sense of peace, which are conducive to deep worship. While acknowledging and seeking solutions to concerns, disappointments and conflicts within our meeting and surrounding communities, we continue to be grateful for the strength and leadings which may arise as we gather to worship together in the manner of Friends, and open ourselves together to the Spirit.

The clerk of the State College Friends Meeting, Elizabeth Zimmerman, has resigned and moved to Oregon. Douglas Miller is serving as interim Clerk until Margy Frysinger is ready to take over the position as Clerk. A “send off’ potluck for Elizabeth was held July 19 in the Meetinghouse.

The Peace and Social Action Committee and the Peace Center held a candlelight vigil on Sunday August 7th near the entrance to the University Campus at College Ave. and Allen St., to commemorate the 60th anniversary of dropping the bomb on Hiroshima any Nagasaki. This is the same location where the weekly Peace Vigil is held every Saturday at 1:30 P.M.

The Meeting’s Vacation Bible School was held August 7th to 12th, jointly with the University Mennonite and the University Baptist and Brethren Sunday Schools.

A potluck dinner was held to recognize eight young people attending First Day School, all of whom have now moved on to various colleges to continue their education. The Religious Education Committee recognized the teachers and assistants, and thanked them for their support. First Day School was not held during the summer, but childcare continued to be available.

Attendance at Meeting for Warship had dropped off some during the summer, but will probably increase after University classes start in the fall.

We are a large, active Meeting that is blessed to have the State College Friends School and the Cooperative Playschool under its care, and Foxdale Village, a Quaker-directed continuing care community, close by. On First Days we often welcome community visitors, first time Penn State students, or out of town guests to meeting for worship. Friends find support through a sharing of joys, sorrows, and concerns at the rise of meeting and enjoy the presence of the many young Friends who attend First Day School.

We welcome the opportunity to review our collective growth during the past year. We begin with an overview of the Meeting activities followed by information about the work of individual committees.

Overview

In order to continue the work begun by Arlene Kelly's program, "Deepening and Strengthening Our Faith Community", the Meeting completed or addressed several topics in each of the three areas:

• Approaches to Conflict: A document has been completed which focuses on how we as Quakers wish conflicts to be handled in our meeting. The piece has been printed in our newsletter and will be made into a brochure, posted in the meetinghouse and on our web site, given to committee clerks, occasionally appear in the bulletin, and shared with other meetings.
  
• Opportunities to Deepen Members' Spiritual Life: The Advancement and Outreach Committee held a prayer workshop in the fall entitled "Spiritual Wholeness for Friends Meetings". It was led by a member of Meeting with 15 participants, some of whom are continuing to meet monthly as a self-directed group. On Christmas Eve the meetinghouse was open for Friends to attend meeting for worship. Sessions of Quakerism 101 are being offered this spring by various members of Meeting during adult discussion.
  
• Strengthening the Infrastructure of the Meeting: Extra copies of Faith and Practice have been made available in the meetinghouse for those who didn't have a copy. We will be working on a draft of the Manual of Procedures in order to highlight procedures which are specific to our meeting. We continue our efforts to keep our entryway, bulletin boards and written materials tidy yet accessible in the face of ever increasing information.

Several committees contributed to the spiritual life of the meeting; their reports follow.

Worship and Ministry

The committee continued their work on the areas highlighted by Arlene Kelly's program, "Deepening and Strengthening Our Faith Community".

Committee members were challenged to address the diversity of messages offered during meeting for worship. While some Friends were accepting of frequent and long messages which articulated personal callings, other Friends found the messages confusing and intrusive. Some messages also pressed Friends to extend our outreach in the community in ways which were not consonant with Quaker principles. In an effort to approach our differences with understanding as well as honesty, the committee held several worship sharing sessions. The Friends General Conference pamphlet, "Dealing with Difficult Behavior in Meeting for Worship", was helpful to members. An adult discussion on spoken ministry was held as a result of this committee work. The committee also has begun revisiting the topic of vocal ministry through worship sharing on queries and through discussion of Benjamin Lloyd's Friends Journal article, "The Divine Source of Vocal Ministry" (December 2004). We continue to find ways to reach out to newcomers and to help them become more familiar with Quakerism.

The committee responded to a concern about the spiritual needs of several Foxdale residents. These members of meeting live at the retirement community but are unable to attend meeting for worship in the meetinghouse. Members of the committee have asked them about their preferences for worshipping and have offered transportation to the meetinghouse. We are also addressing the need to make the meeting room more handicap accessible and we support the mid-week meeting for worship held at Foxdale.

The Committee met with several individuals who are responsible for activities which are under the care of the Meeting. The head of the State College Friends School reported on Quaker issues and events at the school, and the director of One World Environmental Camp shared her enthusiasm for her work with some questions for our Committee. We also met with a meeting member who is no longer able to lead a mid-week meeting for worship on Penn State's campus. As attendance also had been very low, we regretfully decided to lay down that meeting. Finally, a second Clerks workshop was held this fall to support committee clerks in their work. Many clerks found the workshop to be a helpful reminder that their job is only partly the nuts and bolts of getting business done; that it is truly spiritual in nature.

Care and Concern

With a large Meeting, we continue to struggle to meet the expectations of members and attenders for pastoral care. Difficulty in finding members to serve on the Care and Concern Committee, a growing number of those in need of additional care, and demands on committee members in areas outside of Meeting activities are all contributing to this problem. Finding an appropriate balance between expectations and our ability to respond to needs would be helpful for the Meeting and for this Committee. Meeting peoples' needs is dependent on knowing what those needs are, and assistance from the Meeting community in identifying needs would be very helpful.

While we recognize that more may need to be done, we also feel that the facilitation of clearness committees, the sharing of joys and sorrows at the rise of meeting for worship, and our efforts at conflict resolution have strengthened the Meeting and enabled us to become a more gathered community.

Nominating

This year Nominating Committee continues to view its work primarily as helping Friends to consider their leadings of service to the Meeting. From this perspective we are both inspired and energized as we see the large number of members and attenders who contribute significantly to the life of the Meeting through its committees and other roles of responsibility. And since we do see these contributions as growing out of leadings to support our spiritual community, we believe this is a positive reflection of the spiritual state of the Meeting.

In a given year we do find that one or another committee may be underserved by the number of Friends willing to serve. In some instances this affects the ability of that committee to fully serve the Meeting, and Nominating Committee has attempted to be responsive to those needs. But when the process is one of seeking leadings together, as against just filling slots, we have found that Friends' responsiveness is usually very gratifying.

Program

Under the leadership of a new clerk, the Program Committee planned an ambitious schedule which has been well attended. Two major themes have driven the program for the year. In response to the needs of newer attenders, the Committee offered a modified Quakerism 101 course taught by different meeting members during adult discussion ("Friendly Forum"). The first session on Quaker History was well received by both new and older members; the second session is scheduled to discuss "The Light" as a Quaker concept.

Finance

Members have been called to reexamine their individual commitments to the Meeting in the face of expanded responsibilities and priorities. As the Meeting increased its support for both Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings, hired a secretary for the first time, and continued to raise the level of local charitable giving, members face the challenge to increase their financial support. In order to remain accountable, we have had to weigh the fiscal reality of the resources we have available against our best intentions of increasing Meeting activities.

Religious Education

The past year, 2004, has been a transitional year for Religious Education. Due to personnel shortages, the roles of clerk and coordinator were temporarily combined. This led to an opportunity to fully define the immense role of both positions. The coordinator can be considered the backbone of Religious Education and serves as a vital support for the clerks running the committee and for the teachers and the whole program. A new coordinator is expected to be in place by September 2005.

Religious Education is instrumental in helping new families feel welcome. Members do their best to create a relaxed and enjoyable environment in the classroom - a place conducive to take each child/teen on his/her spiritual and educational journey. If the children have a comfortable and welcoming place for their First Day School class, then new families are more likely to stay and become regular attenders. We maintain a core group of approximately 35-40 students and 20 teachers/assistants.

The children learn about Quakerism, the Bible, and the way we live out our testimonies in the world around us. Religious Education fosters a sense of community in the Meeting through the intergenerational events it sponsors. The children also actively participate in various service projects throughout the year that usually raise money for different causes or local charities. Each First Day School student and teacher continue to make the Religious Education programs and classes inspirational, Spirit-led, fun and engaging.

We have made progress in making new teachers and assistants feel welcome and supported. One or two new teachers joining us each season is a successful addition to the program. Generally, once a teacher has committed to join Religious Education s/he will stay involved for several years. Our committee satisfies the spiritual needs of many by the giving and receiving inherent in First Day School.

Peace and Social Action

The weekly peace vigil, held at the main entrance to Penn State University, continues as a silent witness after more than two years. The number of participants has increased recently to ten or twelve, as representatives from Veterans for Peace have joined us. We have two signs in print large enough to be read by passing traffic: "Quakers for Peace" and "People for Peace" (for inclusiveness). Our handout, which has never been trashed, is accepted by most students and others who pass by. Response from passing cars and individuals who stop has been largely affirmative. For those of us who attend, it is not only a public testimony but a time of spiritual enrichment.

We have begun to collect money for the rebuilding of Iraq to send to the American Friends Service Committee. An effort to get materials about alternatives to military service into the public high schools is under way.

Other projects include an effort to form a coalition with other faith-based groups to work for peace. We have begun by viewing the video "Every Church a Peace Church" and working with the Mennonite minister. Also, we hope to compile a directory of web sites on peace with the help of young people in the Meeting.

One of our members has done valuable research on water as a possible cause of future conflicts. Information from the Friends Committee on National Legislation is key to our concerns and our work.

Advancement and Outreach

The Advancement and Outreach Committee has continued to work on long-term projects as well as smaller, more immediate concerns. Our focus has been to address the needs of our immediate Meeting community as well as to reach out to the greater Centre Region to help inform and connect them with Quakerism.

This past year was very busy. The Committee provided two workshops, one on separation of church and state (led by Clark Moeller from Millville Meeting) and another on prayer (led by Renee Crauder). Our efforts to be more welcoming to visitors produced a revision of the brochure, "Invitation to Worship", a returning visitor's packet, a broadening of the greeting task and use of the guest book, and advertisements in several local newspapers. Because we are a large Meeting and meeting for worship often includes visitors, we created a bulletin board of photographs of members and attenders so we could more easily put names to faces.

We participated in the fall Spiritual Week held on Penn State's campus by holding a meeting for worship for interested students, staff and faculty. Sales of T shirts continued through the year and netted a healthy profit for the Committee to help finance some of the above activities. Our committee continues to struggle with and address several challenges: interpreting Quakerism and the Meeting to interested parties and the greater community, connecting with and supporting attenders both personally and individually over the long term, and finding ways to avoid turning inquirers off or away. We continue to seek guidance and direction with these very critical responsibilities.

Members of the State College Friends Meeting remain active in meeting and community projects. Jules Arginteanu is the Meeting representative on the Interfaith Mission board. The mission staff coordinated relief efforts when a low-income trailer park was sold and those living had to move and helped when an apartment building in Bellefonte burned and left many renters homeless.

The Peace Vigil continues to demonstrate from 1:30 to 2:30 PM each Saturday at the main entrance to the Penn State University, from downtown State College. Participants receive complementary remarks from some passerby's; to many, the Federal Government took the wrong approach.

Advancement and Outreach is responsible for two monthly Friendly Forum programs. One is on Quaker history. The other will review Heart of Christianity, Redeveloping a Life of Faith, with Bruce Knox facilitating discussions.

Young Friends for Peace invited the Meeting members to a luncheon on December 5. The teens provided the meal and the money raised went to the Women's Resource Center for their holiday gift program.

Dean Tuttle continues to make available gift certificates from local grocery stores. Five percent of each card goes to support Meeting projects.

The Religious Education Committee sponsored an Inter-generational Breakfast in November. Students made simple decorations at the Community Festival of Trees. Younger children presented a Christmas Pageant at the rise of Meeting for Worship on 12/12.

Members attended Centre Quarterly Meeting on October 17, hosted by West Branch Meeting. Elizabeth Zimmerman spoke on healing.