Floyd

• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2006
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2005
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2004
• FUM Policy Concern
• Interchange, May 2004
• Spiritual State of Our Meeting - 2003

1. Spiritual Condition

A joyful occasion in the Spiritual life of the Floyd Friends Meeting this past year was the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the completion of the Meeting House. Guests from Maury River, Blacksburg, and Roanoke Meetings and others who helped with the building work were invited to join us for Meeting for Worship and lunch on 17 September. We've begun compiling a notebook of informational material about the Floyd Friends’ Meeting policies, philosophies, and activities which pertain to our particular Meeting. We also have updated our “Getting to know us better” brochure which we give to people who are interested in our Quaker practice and to welcome people who wish to worship with us. We've developed a program of spiritual listening (in other faith practices this is known as spiritual direction or nurture.) Two children of members, who attend First Day School, became associate members. We regularly have good attendance at Meeting for Worship by both members and attenders. One of our members expressed a profound sense of nurturing supportiveness by the community of Floyd Friends when she had heart surgery and through the long period of her recovery. In December, we celebrated a healthy and prosperous year as a Friends community in Floyd with a Christmas gathering for dinner and singing at the home of Wil and Mary Stratton.

2. Meetings for Business

We have our Meeting for Business on the first Sunday of each month with a shared meal after Meeting for Worship and before Meeting for Business. Attendance at Meeting for Business has been good with an average of 7 people each month and the Meeting has been intent on being good stewards of our financial resources and obligations. We ended the year with a slightly higher financial balance than from the previous year with all bills paid and in some instances not having spent the limit of the budgeted amount. Care and maintenance of the building and grounds was shared by members and attenders of the Meeting.

3. Religious Education

We continue to develop our First Day School curriculum and have a group of members who share the teaching on a rotating basis. Generally the two associate member children attend the First Day School, but occasionally through the year we’ve had other children in attendance. We continue to have a strong Adult Study group which meets monthly on a Wednesday evening with a shared supper before each session. During the past year our study curriculum included Quakerism 101; Bible study of Romans and Paul & The Letter to the Galatians; and the Pendle Hill pamphlet, “Quaker Social Testimony in Our Personal & Corporate Life,” by Jonathan Dale.

4. Peace and Social Concerns

This year we sponsored a series of three movie nights which were held at the Floyd Jessie Peterman Library. The movies were “Bowling for Columbine,” “Black Diamond,” and “Earth and the American Dream.” The movies did not generate a large attendance of people from the community, but discussion after the showing of the movies was thoughtful and energetic. We plan to continue this program in the future. Our year end contributions went to The New River Valley Community Center Emergency Fund and AFSC Crisis in Gaza Fund. Whenever we have a shared meal at the Meeting House, we are encouraged also to bring a nonperishable food item for the local food bank.

1. Spiritual Condition

In this past year, we’ve experienced a general increase in First Day worship attendance by members, attenders, and visitors with between 10 to 20 people. We do not have frequent spoken ministry in our worship, but various long time members of the Floyd Friends Meeting feel this past year has been rich in spiritual growth for both individuals and for the Meeting. Also, people comment they have a sense of spiritual peace and calm in the worship. We have welcomed three new members into our Meeting during 2005. In November, letters were sent to our absent members to maintain a connection with them. On October 12, a marriage took place which is under the care of the Meeting. During a Meeting for Worship, another couple renewed their marriage vows. During the year, members and attenders were given the opportunity to share their spiritual journeys as part of our monthly Wednesday evening Adult Study.

2. Meetings for Business

We averaged about 6 members and attenders in Meetings for Business during the past year. By the end of 2005, the Meeting had been fiscally responsible in paying our debts and honoring our commitments. As a Meeting, we feel very fortunate that our building is mortgage and debt free. Baltimore Yearly Meeting vouchers were available for first time members or attenders to participate in BYM in Harrisonburg and one person from our Meeting accepted the use of the voucher. Another person from the Floyd Meeting also attended. Several members and attenders participated in the FGC Gathering in July in Blacksburg. Various members and attenders worked individually and as a group to maintain the grounds and the Meeting House which saved on budget expenses, especially mowing the grounds. Our sign at the entrance to the Meeting House has been repainted and a new direction sign to the Meeting House has been placed at the intersection of Rts. 221 and 615 in Floyd. Our building and grounds projects have included a new and expanded parking lot with reflectors and wood bumpers; brick patio repair; and the removal of a decaying railroad tie step leading to the Meeting House.

3. Religious Education

Children have become a regular part of our worship and we now have a well organized First Day School program with a group of women and one man scheduled to teach on a rotating basis. New resource material has been purchased and contributed for First Day School. Our Adult Discussion continues to be held on the fourth Wednesday of each month except July and August. During the year, members and attenders were given the opportunity to present their spiritual journeys as part of our Adult Study and eleven people chose to share. We also did a study in February and March about the Quaker response to Fundamentalism.

4. Peace and Social Concerns

During the year, we have contributed to the Floyd community food resource SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange,) the Floyd Rescue Squad, and relief for Pakistan. Various members and attenders from the Floyd Friends Meeting are actively involved in community, national, and international peace and social justice organizations and efforts.

1. Spiritual condition

Meetings for worship continue to be held each First Day with from three to ten in attendance. Our meetings for worship are typically characterized by an intense stillness with occasional spoken messages. A spirit of faithfulness and loyalty to one another and to the Religious Society of Friends binds together the members of our Meeting. Our Meeting membership continues to evolve. One member has moved and transferred her membership to another Meeting. Four of our ten members either live at a distance or only minimally participate in our program. We are pleased to have increased participation by several attenders, and our Meetings for Worship are strengthened by visits from Friends passing through or visiting the area. Our spiritual state of the meeting was enriched by our adult discussion topics, explored in a spirit of openness and trust. Together we probed the basis of our beliefs, what we retained, and what we found to be not essential as basis for belief.

2. Meetings for Business

Meetings for business are held on the first First Day of each month, following meeting for worship and a shared lunch. Good attendance occurs by members. During the past year work days occurred for painting the porch ceiling, pruning, and maintenance work on the cemetery. A generous donation will make it possible to carry out a long-intended parking lot improvement. Our meeting house was used by two Friends groups, one for an overnight stay by a class from Wilmington Friends School, and an evening event by a multi-generational group from Blacksburg Friends Meeting. We also began repayment of a loan from the Black Creek Fund in Charlottesville Meeting that had been made at the time of the building of the meetinghouse.

3. Religious education

We have met for adult education on the third Wednesday evening of each month (except in summer months) following a shared meal. Our discussions are led by different members. We examined the peace testimony using three different approaches and texts: Sandra Cronk's pamphlet on the spiritual basis of the peace testimony; the historic record of Friends' responses to the testimony during the Civil War; and contemporary reflections prompted by Scott Simon's written response in Friends Journal to war in Afghanistan. Our second discussion topic focused on the Gnostic Gospels, primarily the Gospel of Thomas. We read and discussed Elaine Pagels' Beyond Belief. We have no regular ongoing First Day program for children since at the moment there are none in the Meeting. However occasional youthful attenders are taught on a volunteer basis.

4. Peace and Social Concerns

Peace and social concerns were exemplified in the various activities of our members. In addition we made significant monetary contributions to the Carter Center for the Conflict Resolution Program and to the area Habitat for Humanity with our donation earmarked for building a home in Floyd County.

We, of Floyd Friends Meeting, had a lengthy discussion on Jane Megginson and Josh Riley's letter. We appreciate their telling us of their painful situation and we wish to support them in every possible way. We in no way support a policy that discriminates against gays and lesbians.

We would like BYM to reaffirm to FUM that we are an inclusive yearly meeting in membership and leadership in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation.

Our monthly meeting is divided on how to make our witness to FUM and specifically on the question of whether or not to withhold financial support. Some members feel that it is important for BYM to witness to its beliefs in tangible ways and that the proposed action sends a clear message. The apparent lack of open dialog on the part of FUM is troubling and therefore withholding financial support seems reasonable. Others feel this is a drastic step that may be viewed as a hostile, un-Quakerly act that will close the door to further communication. BYM should strive to maintain open dialog with FUM while working for a more inclusive policy. Social change comes slowly and we should be patient.

One approach suggested was to ask FUM whether they want BYM to continue its membership in FUM, given BYM's policy on inclusiveness. In effect, this puts the ball in their court.

An important question for discernment by the yearly meeting is: What are the consequences of BYM withdrawing financial support from FUM? Is this, in effect, a severing of the long-standing relationship between BYM and FUM? Also, what is FUM's policy on gays and lesbians?

In the Light,

 
Jo Parr, Presiding Clerk
Rebecca Dameron, Recording Clerk

The Meeting continues to have adult discussions once a month following a shared meal. We had four sessions this winter dealing with various aspects of globalization. We are now studying Elaine Pagels’ book Beyond Belief, which explores the gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Several of our members have had challenging situations to deal with lately and have felt loving support by being held in the Light by the Meeting.

SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE MEETING REPORT - 2003

1. Spiritual condition:

   Meetings for worship are held each First Day with from two to seven in attendance. A spirit of faithfulness and loyalty binds together the few local members of our Meeting. We have two occasional attenders and are blessed with a new active attender who has just moved to our area. One member who lives at a great distance has withdrawn membership. Some members continue to be distressed that we do not grow, but our loyalty to one another and to the Society of Friends sustains us. Our meetings for worship are typically characterized by an intense stillness with occasional spoken messages.

2. Meetings for business:

   We meet for business on the first First Day of each month, following meeting for worship and a shared lunch. Good attendance occurs, which is fortunate because there are so few of us to participate in making decisions and assuming various tasks. During the past year we were able to complete some final details in construction of the Meetinghouse. Individual monetary donations and contributed physical labor enabled us to install hard wood floors in the two uncarpeted main rooms in the Meetinghouse. The porch ceiling was painted by two members and gravel was added to the parking lot. The Meeting was gifted with a piano. Our clerk attended a week-end workshop on clerking at Pendle Hill, primarily supported by our Meeting and Pendle Hill. Three members attended Baltimore Yearly Meeting in Harrisonburg in August. Our building is occasionally used by community groups.

3. Religious education

   We meet for adult education on the third Wednesday evening of each month (except in summer months) following a potluck meal. We promoted an ambitious program for adult discussions this year as we focused on globalization and its spiritual dimensions. Different members made presentations using as our basic texts Spiritual Perspectives on Globalization by Ira Rifkin and Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz in addition to various related articles and current newspapers, We extended invitations to the community and to regional Friends Meetings. We will begin a study of the Book of Thomas and Elaine Pagels' Beyond Belief. We have no regular ongoing first day program for children since there are none in the Meeting, but we are prepared to share teaching responsibilities when needed.

4. Peace and Social Concerns

   Peace and Social concerns were exemplified in the various activities of our members. Our faith inspires members to various pursuits: two giving regular medical aid at the Free Clinic; one serving as volunteer on a fire and rescue squad; two serving on boards at Pendle Hill; one providing an example of simple living through a private business. In addition we made significant monetary contributions to AFSC for a water treatment program in Iraq and for aid to our local Free Clinic. Supplies for local elementary schools were donated as well.