Goose Creek

Spiritual State of the Meeting Report - 2003

"To everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

As a rural Meeting whose roots for most of its history have been in a farming community, we are accustomed to observing the significance of the seasons in our lives and environment. In reflection upon recent changes in the number of persons attending Meeting for Worship and First Day School, we are reminded of the importance of discerning the correct season in the cycle of our Meeting's activity. If we expect to harvest in the planting season, we are doomed to frustration; even more importantly, we won't perform the work essential for a rich harvest in years to come.

For generations, we at Goose Creek have gleaned the wisdom of our older, experienced, weighty Friends. However, recently we have lost many of those members who constituted a living thread to our past as a Meeting; only a remnant of our current membership grew up in the Meeting. As the harvest enjoyed for generations is no longer at our door, we younger members are now called to become the fonts of wisdom, sow the spiritual seeds, and nurture the fragile plants appearing in our midst. Mourning a lost past is not fruitful; on the other hand, understanding the requirements of a different season is critical. One season is not necessarily superior to another. We sense that we are in a period for deepening inner centeredness, discerning guidance, and moving as our path opens.

As we note the smaller numbers of children in our community, we are reminded of phases in the past when bountiful numbers of children suddenly diminished to handfuls. Our current situation is no different: some young Friends have gone off to college, other teenagers no longer attend Meeting but do attend camp, fewer members and attenders are of child-bearing age although we do have several young babies in the Meeting. On the other hand, some young people who left the area have returned to the county and to our Meeting. We are particularly pleased that many of our young Friends have chosen to attend Quaker colleges. Nevertheless, we are challenged to provide a coordinated, enriching curriculum for the children currently in First Day School. We need additional talented, spirit-filled leadership that can inspire youth struggling to make sense of the myriads of threatening forces at work in our world.

In some ways our Meeting seems to be in a quiet phase. Although some committees are flourishing, others seem to be less active at this time. These await new, energized leadership that can inspire other members to participate more enthusiastically. Goose Creek has a long history of older members mentoring younger leadership into positions of greater responsibility over a period of years. Perhaps this quiet nurturing of young plants into fruitful trees needs to occur in a more conscious and widespread fashion.

Despite the diminished activity in some areas, the Meeting supports a number of organizations financially; and several Friends serve faithfully on committees within our Meeting and in the wider fellowship of Quaker organizations, including yearly meeting committees, boards of Pendle Hill and a Friends' school, Friends Unity with Nature Committee on the national level, Friends General Conference Central Committee, the American Friends Service Committee Corporation, and Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology. In addition, many Friends in the Meeting participated in projects to send relief kits to Iraq through the AFSC and contributed to holiday drives for needy persons in the county.

As we consider whether we are growing deeper in the Light, reaching out to newcomers adequately, and ministering to the needs of our community, we are reminded that many have found a spiritual home here, growing spiritually through our worship and times together. However, we sense a need to reach out in a more organized manner to seekers, perhaps through more informal shepherding, through more potlucks, and through more involvement in Friendly Eights. While we cannot expect all seeds to grow into plants, we can tend the seedbed more diligently.

Opportunities for fellowship and discussion were well received during 2003. Potluck dinners for new attenders with more seasoned members provided Friendly discussion and opportunity to become better acquainted. Monthly discussions on peacemaking and Quakerism have been informative and enlightening though we wish more persons had attended. An end-of-summer picnic on the lawn afforded an opportunity for informal fellowship, as did our traditional Easter breakfast and Christmas potluck and carol sing.

As we consider the change in our seasons, we are reminded of the change in demography in the Meeting. Once a community-based Meeting, we now have members traveling from far-flung areas. We face the challenge of providing opportunities for fellowship and corporate spiritual growth in a world that moves at a frenzied pace. Nevertheless, we experience unity and continue to be nourished by the Spirit as we gather weekly in silent worship. With Meeting for Worship at the center of our life together, we proceed in faith that way will open and that we can move more fully toward being a Friendly presence in a chaotic world if we continue to walk in the Light.