The Mattaponi Friends Preparative Meeting meets every first and third Sunday of each month with Meeting for Worship first hour and Meeting for Business second hour on first Sundays and Meeting for Discussion second hour on third Sundays. Meeting for Worship begins with 10-15 minutes of group singing followed by silent meeting for the rest of the hour. Meeting for Discussion on third Sundays is followed by a potluck social lunch. Fifth Sundays are sometimes used as a time for social gatherings or committee meetings.

In 2009, the Mattaponi Friends Preparative Meeting enjoyed the regular support of five families, couples, individuals with the occasional attendance of additional friends from the wider community. Many of our Young Friends have grown into teenagehood and beyond. An organized second hour continued for Young Friends through the first five months but then was discontinued as Young Friends aged out. Some Young Friends continue to join us occasionally in Meeting for Worship and Meeting for Business.

2009 Spiritual State of the Meeting

Queries: How does the Spirit prosper among us? What supports the growth of the Spirit in our lives? How is the presence of Spirit manifested in our lives individually and as a meeting community?

Friends feel a real, palpable sense of Spirit and community in our biweekly gatherings. We feel a sense of freedom to be who we are and a sense of peace in the Meeting. We look forward to Meeting, and a number of us are interested in attending more often, potentially weekly We attribute this sense of Spirit to the positive environment that is created by our sharing of thoughts, feelings, experiences; the trust, compassion, and feeling of security among us; the lack of anger and violence; and the listening. When called for, we allow for disagreement among ourselves (and others) without it affecting our respect for each other. We strive for consensus without exclusions.

Friends are ever focused on promoting peace and finding ways, both small and big, to do so. Friends also find themselves challenged to re-evaluate priorities, to accept responsibility and challenges and follow through with them, and to share our own and nurture each others’ concerns. We believe that the Spirit will give us the strength and direction we need to meet these challenges.

Friends feel that, in addition to Meeting, certain personal practices nurture our sense of Spirit. For many, a connection to the natural world--working with the land and animals or simply interacting with or observing them--supports the growth of Spirit in our lives. As a way of expressing our beliefs, we are inspired to reach out to the natural world. In addition to individual efforts, we have as a group committed to an environmental project for this spring. We continue to look for other opportunities to witness to both the natural world and our human world.

Some concrete manifestations that we offer of Spirit in Meeting and/or with the support of Meeting: the local food pantry, Dayspring Farm produce donations, self-identification of Christianity/Quakerism, sense of humor and enthusiasm.

Summary of the Past Year’s Meetings

Mattaponi Friends Preparative Meeting, which meets at Dayspring Farm in Cologne, Virginia, enjoys the support of nine families, couples, and individuals and the regular bimonthly attendance of approximately eight adults and five children as well as the occasional attendance and guest attendance of various others in the surrounding communities. The meeting typically follows a pattern of gathering together in song followed by silent worship for the first hour, with Young Friends exiting ten to fifteen minutes into silent worship for fellowship, and alternating meeting for business with adult discussion during the second hour. A potluck lunch follows second hour on the third Sunday of each month. Meeting sometimes meets on fifth Sunday for fellowship, committee meetings, and/or other specially planned activities.

Over the past year, through reflection and discussion the meeting has come to recognize that we are in a place of transition. Some regular attenders have, for various reasons, reduced their attendance; at the same time, new attenders have shown regular attendance. In addition, the dynamics of our youth attendance has changed significantly with a reduction in number and an age shift to teenagers. Coincidentally but not insignificantly, our group has also moved physically from its meeting space in the Maloney family home to the new meeting room in the newly constructed barn. This move occurred in late April 2007. Much time has been spent on discussing and identifying the transition and on reflecting about the path for this group.

Summary of the Current Spiritual State of the Meeting

Despite the current transition in the meeting, all Friends and attenders who voiced their spiritual state continue to value the environment that Mattaponi meeting offers for engendering spiritual growth. Friends value the atmosphere of interpersonal respect as well as the harmony of the physical location on the farm. There is some uncertainty, however, in the general organizational state of the meeting.

Currently we are still exploring the possibilities of how we want to grow as a community of Friends. We acknowledge these challenges for the group: expanding membership/attendance, providing opportunities for spiritual growth for Young Friends and attenders, providing opportunities for intergenerational interaction, and conducting more service projects. We expect to continue to be flexible and open to and respectful of the changing needs of our group and to search for ways to help meet those needs in order, in the end, to uphold not only the physical, social, and emotional state of the meeting but also the spiritual state of the meeting.

SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE MEETING REPORT - 2003

Mattaponi Friends have experienced a deepening of our spiritual growth this year as we have grown substantially in the number of regular attenders for Meeting for Worship. By sharing our journeys in the presence of the Light in our community, we feel more sustained both individually and collectively. Our growing connectedness has enabled us to deal more easily with the challenges of daily life and has also made the social witness of our community more powerful and effective. As we have sought to live in fuller harmony with each other and the natural world our faith has been increased that all things are ultimately sustained by God.

We strengthened our Religious Education program for adults and children. Adult education focussed on discussing Quaker witnesses and beliefs using a curriculum based on the pamphlet "Silent Worship and Quaker Values, An Introduction." This exercise helped us open our spiritual journeys to one another. Our First Day program for children balanced our desire for flexibility with more structure as we continued to study world religions. Religious Education for both children and adults was more engaging and vital.

Peace and Social Concerns has been an area of special interest as we have given thought to the meaning of the Peace Testimony in view of our country's military operations in Iraq. Given our need to deepen our witness as peacemakers, we increased our outreach to our local community. We wish to become more intentional about the ways we witness as a religious fellowship and seek guidance in our times of worship.

We are very grateful for the blessings of our Meeting and feel encouraged that our presence in the larger community will continue to grow.