Takoma Park Friends Meeting is 15 years old as a preparative meeting under Adelphi Meeting. For the past three years Friends have met at Sangha, a fair-trade store and community center in downtown Takoma Park. Meetings for Worship range from five to twenty-five people, averaging about twelve or fourteen depending on the season, with about 40 people on the mailing list. This report is based on comments gleaned during a threshing session on First Month 7, 2007.. Rather than distinguish between attenders and Quakers in this report, all speakers are considered as Friends.

Comments on the Meeting in general:

Several Friends discussed the flow of people through the meeting and the continually changing character of meeting; one called it a "taster.". For many people this is their first, and sometimes only, introduction to Quakerism. The Meeting's central location and Metro accessibility were praised and considered as contributing to this flow of people. Sometimes attendees stay with the Quakers, sometimes they move on. Another Friend indicated that it is important to remember that people have callings or personal reasons that they have to leave meeting.

One Friend praised Takoma Park Friends Meeting as unique, with the appropriate number of people, consistent attenders, and a minimal critical mass. However, another Friend said that it would be nice to have more people. The Meeting is small enough that when people leave, it creates a hole, and those present are often overwhelmed with what needs to be done.

One Friend asked whether meeting for business might be too small or too informal, and whether too little time is spent on items of business, but another questioned how much formality or structure is necessary.

Quality of worship:

A Friend who could not attend the threshing session sent a message to be read aloud. She described meeting as accepting, peaceful, and intelligent, and said that is an appropriate way “to contemplate the awe and majesty of creation and the human lifecycle.”

A Friend described Takoma Park Friends Meeting as a “taster.” He stated that the meeting size is small, it is Metro accessible, and the afterthoughts portion offers an opportunity to discuss issues of importance.

A Friend described the constantly changing character of meetings for worship as sometimes similar to a political rally or sometimes a therapy session, and said that meetings for worship are like a journey through different styles.

One Friend said the intent of the speaker is important in deciding the appropriateness of the message during meeting for worship. Afterthoughts are helpful because it is an open time period. Messages are not distinctly labeled or categorized.

One Friend stated that meeting is very comfortable because there are few judgments.

Afterthoughts and worship sharing:

Several Friends described afterthoughts as an open and nonjudgmental time to express themselves, but one asked whether it might not be best to change the afterthoughts portion to something similar as that conducted at Adelphi meeting, which has a period to discuss joys and concerns.

There was some discussion on the definition of “joys and concerns” and the difference with the designation “afterthoughts.” Joys and concerns tend to be more personal and specific than afterthoughts. Afterthoughts has a softer threshold, to encourage members to contribute more. Friends may bring up thoughts that did not rise to the level of message during meeting for worship. The idea originated during the Vietnam War. It was used to allow members to discuss their feelings and interests in a more appropriate context.

A Friend said that afterthoughts is a good idea because it separates message from thought. Another Friend stated that afterthoughts provides the opportunity to express thoughts that have not crystallized. If members have a too exalted idea of what a message is, they will miss the message. A Friend suggested changing the name of afterthoughts in order to get as far away from the idea of thinking as possible.

Several friends discussed hesitation to speak in Meeting. One Friend said that when you have a message, God tells you to provide it. Another Friend suggested that God will find other ministers if you don’t deliver the message.

Meeting activities:

During 2006, the Meeting was active in outreach, staffing a booth at three local fairs and music festivals. Friends gathered on the First First Day of most months for a potluck after Meeting for Worship, made a retreat to Catoctin Quaker Camp in August, and celebrated the holidays with a potluck Christmas party. Friends gathered excess food from the nearby Farmers Market and took it to a local soup kitchen; this project was started by Friends several years ago but now includes the participation of members of other local churches as well. The Meeting also hosted Second Hour discussions on the third First Day of most months as its adult education activity.

A Friend was pleased with the social time during the Christmas party. Friends discussed the idea of incorporating song and music in Friends’ social gatherings.

A Friend noted that many members typically gather after Meeting for Worship to have lunch to discuss things on an informal face-to-face basis at local restaurants.

One Friend expressed disappointment in the Catoctin Quaker camp retreat, particularly in the lack of structure and organized activities from the first year to the second. The retreat in 2006 was smaller than the previous year, in part because it occurred in August instead of September.

A Friend noted the heavy impact of volunteer contributions to the Meeting. The manner in which things are done is often determined by those volunteers willing to carry out the activity. As an example, she mentioned how a banner including a rainbow was created for the tent that the Meeting uses in its outreach activities at street fairs and festivals. She posed the question: “what do we want to decide corporately and what do we want to decide individually?”

Community support and care:

Over the years the Meeting has struggled to find a balance between its limited resources and the needs of Friends. Friends felt that they were lacking connection in some supportive ways. When someone is ill or in need, Friends are often not aware of the issue and thus can't support that individual. Some felt that meeting is not big enough to support others in need, but others disagreed, saying that there are small ways to support one another that aren't being done, and that it's important to find and do the small things.

One Friend suggested that Friends may not be sharing their struggles or concerns because Takoma Park Friends Meeting has had a history of being unable to meet their needs. He suggested using confidence-building measures to demonstrate that meeting is able to support the small things and that members are interested in supporting each other. People may begin to feel trust and not feel that they will be burdening the meeting. Examples of how individuals at meeting have been supportive included providing meals to a family with a new baby, and support for a Friend serving on a Yearly Meeting committee. A Friend suggested that, since Quakers are good at listening, we could have a community of listeners, not counselors or problem solvers.

A Friend indicated frustration that when a system is set up, members usually get overwhelmed. The system fails and the alternative, informality, feels exclusive, favoring people who are more active or whose needs are known, and leaving out others. One Friend suggested that Quakerism might suffer from problems other religious traditions do not because of its lack of structure. Perhaps in addressing some matters, more formality might be necessary. We might need to be aware that we are being informal and be more deliberate when the thorny issues are addressed. Another Friend responded that when thorny issues arise, people leave meeting.

A Friend discussed the increasing number of children now attending meeting. The Friend suggested that following improvements in that area, large changes at meeting might be accomplished through small measures. Taking small steps encourages families to bring children. If that is true, there is a great potential for change.

This State of the Meeting Report was created from a threshing session in which individuals commented on queries that were distributed beforehand. These queries follow BYM guidelines, adapted from the Unity with Nature theme and expanded to address a more comprehensive definition of harmony. Our practice is to encourage all Friends and attenders to speak of the relationships in Meeting, both personal and general, and of the changes and growth that has happened in the past year. The queries in this report precede the responses.

Takoma Park Friends Meeting is a place of harmony and a welcoming environment for worship. While we cannot please everyone, we try to make newcomers feel welcome from the moment they first walk in the door. We hope to find ways to take the harmony we find and create within Meeting into the larger community.

The retreat helped create harmony within the Meeting by taking us out of our busy routines and giving us time to relax and renew our relationships with one another. It also gave us an opportunity to examine long-term issues at length in an unhurried fashion.

Several opportunities exist during weekly worship to encourage the different and disparate voices in our Meeting. We use the monthly queries to encourage dialogue by reading them aloud at every Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business and asking for thoughts or responses. Often, all attenders feel moved to speak on the query, and their responses are recorded along with the Meeting’s business. Another time for sharing voices is our Afterthoughts, which takes place at the end of the weekly Meeting for Worship. While less specifically directed than the response to the queries, Afterthoughts is the time we use to share joys and concerns and any spiritual leadings and teachings we have had during the week.

Once a month or so we hold a Second Hour for continuing education on Quakerism and other relevant topics. We use this time to discuss and inform how meetings are conducted with traditions and methods for creating harmony. Some of the Second Hours we have had this year include:

• individual and group leadings
• when to speak in Meeting
• a mini Alternatives to Violence workshop
• sense of the meeting
• Quakers and the slave trade
• intervisitation among Meetings
• presentation of the documentary 'Weapons of the Spirit', about the village of Le Chambon, France, hiding Jews during World War II
• the history of and concerns about the Meetingplace Fund.

Second Hours provide an opportunity for people to air thoughts and feelings; it is not a time for "owning" statements to be countered or acted upon. Anyone can propose a topic, and coordinate a Second Hour with the planners. We have found that Second Hours are useful for exploring topics in depth, and can be used to air issues about which there is some controversy.

We try to make our attenders comfortable by having a greeter at the door to welcome all who come to worship each week, and to attend to interruptions by people looking for directions or other information. Having one person to represent the Meeting at the door makes it possible for worshippers to come into silence and presence with fewer concerns about the outside world; it is also helpful in guiding newcomers in our process. Our physical location in a local store sometimes means we have interruptions, but we have learned to let them go. Our silence is so deep that we are not easily disturbed by an early store patron, or by a late meeting attender. Each of us is in a different place, and that is okay. These differences are not disharmonious, but create a different kind of harmony. Our silence is hearty.

Friends at TPFM try to listen to what God has to say through others. One friend said our relationship to the divine is communal as well as individual, a relationship with the Light that flows through all who are present together. There is light in others whether we agree with them or not. We consider that it is God's work to guide members of the Friends’ community. There are benefits to hearing the views of others even if they are not in line with our own ideas. We try to be inclusive and talk to participants after Meeting even if they have opposing views. Our emphasis in the Society of Friends is direct communication with God, and that since no one person has the right answer, therefore everyone has the right to speak.

Dealing with dissonant voices can be difficult, and friends offered some of the ways they do this as individuals. One friend takes a three-step approach: 1) Look at my own reactions. Why am I out of my comfort zone? What can be learned at a spiritual level? 2) Speak directly to the individual with differing views. 3) Look at the situation as an opportunity to clarify the issue for all Friends to consider. Another friend said that conflicts with others have arisen but can be resolved. Conflict should be aired directly between the individuals involved, so no secret conflicts should be allowed to fester.

Issues at meeting should be reflective of God's will. The focus is on building a spiritual community. We should be wary of focusing on particulars. Disagreement on an issue should not overshadow building of that community. We feel it is all right to be flexible and not plan for all eventualities that may involve opposing viewpoints, as we try to remain open to the moment with God in our midst.

We foster a climate of acceptance in both Meeting for Worship and Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business. Comments can be made, are not dismissed out of hand. Even if some arrive late, we all stay for Afterthoughts and do not leave until all have shared. Second Hours are a place for alternative opinions to be expressed. Coffee klatches and potluck lunches are welcoming and encourage people to socialize and feel a part of the meeting. We welcome newcomers, not overwhelm them or make them feel like we are “enlisting” them.

The Takoma Park Friends Meeting held its first retreat in September 2005, at Catoctin Camp. It was so well attended and provided such spiritual benefit that we plan to hold a retreat again this coming year.

Our Meeting nourishes us and supports us as we bring our Quaker values back to our families, communities, and workplaces. One friend hopes to introduce the query process with faculty at work to create more harmony. The history of Quakerism is replete with examples of dissonant voices being raised, initially rejected and then accepted. In the past these voices have led to such action as the anti-slavery movement. We never know where these new ideas will lead, and by encouraging all voices to speak and be grounded in Quaker process, we hope to be open to the way the Spirit leads us.

How does the Meeting work toward harmony in the Takoma Park community, the larger community of the State, nation and world? How does it seek harmony within the Baltimore Yearly Meeting, the worldwide Quaker community, other religious or service communities?

Takoma Park Friends Meeting meets in Sangha, a free-trade store that reaches out to the community by hosting events such as musical performances and meetings of community groups. Our association with Sangha affords us the opportunity to reach out to the community as well. We have a good working relationship with the owner of Sangha, who keeps us informed of upcoming events and ways we might participate. We also advertise many of our Second Hour presentations in the wider Takoma Park community. Community members have attended the Second Hour presentations on Quaker opposition to the slave trade and the film and discussion of Weapons of the Spirit.

We are in harmony with the greater community through the Farmer's Market gleaning project, in which leftover food from the market is dropped off at Shepherd's Table, a local soup kitchen. The Meeting also makes a wider contribution through involvement with AFSC and other interests. A former member and founder of TPFM is involved with the African Great Lakes Initiative. One friend is involved with the AFSC Criminal Justice Program. Another friend is involved with Young Friends, and has been a Friendly Adult Presence (FAP) on several retreats. This same friend uses quakerfinder.org to locate meetings in different areas of the country when traveling. Another friend has served on the BYM Nominating Committee, another on the BYM Criminal and Restorative Justice Committee. Another friend is the editor of Interchange, the BYM newsletter. All these activities serve to ground us in the wider Quaker community as we reach out both as individuals and as representatives of Takoma Park Friends Meeting.

We would like to continue to develop our efforts in the area of service as a spiritual community. One friend said meeting for worship transcends larger, global issues. We are committed to individual efforts in our daily lives, yet we foresee problems with overextending ourselves. One friend asked how can we work on activities together, and how can we branch out to other meetings? Another friend suggested we could do joint service projects with other groups; for instance, we might reach out to Adelphi Friends Meeting to ask for assistance in the Farmer's Market project. One friend said we need to balance simply "going with the flow" or waiting for the need to arise, vs. making definitive decision such as building a childcare program and ensuring that we have volunteers for the Farmer's Market Project. We should strive to do more on the projects we currently have or let go of ideas that we can't carry out. Our size limits more direct involvement at a greater scale but collectively and individually we serve both our local community and our wider Quaker community.

While we meet in a store in the heart of a suburb of a major metropolitan city, our space at Sangha brings us into harmony with the natural world through its light-filled space that brings in the outdoors with a view of trees and sky. Our September retreat was in a natural setting at Catoctin Quaker Camp, which enhanced its healing aspect. One friend said we can consider how we can strive to be in harmony with the natural world when looking for a new space as well as access to public transportation.

We listen to God in silence. One friend said it is good to work on forgiveness for the mind wandering and lack of centering during meeting, not to blame oneself, but to acknowledge and accept; and return to centering. Another friend said that in Buddhism, that is called the "beginner's mind."

Working to find consensus leads to harmony. We as individuals are empowered by listening to the contributions of others and by our own contributions being heard by others.

This is an edited compilation of individual comments collected during a threshing session held to prepare this report. The queries were distributed prior to the session and precede the responses. At the Monthly Meeting we have a practice of an extended opportunity to respond to the queries, and this practice is reflected in the style of this report. We note that the responses describe personal relationships to Meeting and among its attenders, individual changes and growth, and that Friends are comfortable to express contradictory ideas.

What would you miss if Takoma Park Friends Meeting no longer existed?

The Takoma Park Friends Meeting fuels the spark of Quakerism in us because it is small, has afterthoughts (worship sharing after worship), is a gathered, grounded Meeting, and has a focus on experience. The process that we use to understand things is evocative of spirituality. Meeting exemplifies the tender concern with which we can address others and the respectful, deliberate reflectiveness we can practice. It centers us and focuses us during the worship gathering; we can come when something really sad and upsetting has happened and find comfort.

Meeting encourages diversity and different points of view; even cherishes them. We can speak freely despite the political ramifications of what we say. This is the one still place in the life of some and the stillness ministers.

It is accessible, not a huge group of people who already know one another. It is very welcoming without a hurdle to get through. If you show up you're already in, like in one big committee. It doesn't have a bureaucratic feeling, it is inclusive. Our small size gives us maneuverability that larger Meetings don't have.

If we had more minorities and younger-than-middle-age people, Meeting would go from a grade of A to an A+.

Why do we come together each Meeting day? Why do you come? What keeps you away?

We make an opportunity for a gathered Meeting to occur, where everyone is focused in silence on the same thing, where unity is accomplished. Meeting allows us to experience silence on Sunday with people right here in the neighborhood, gives us the opportunity to bring silence into our weekly life. Being around people who have a core of silence helps us feel less peculiar and isolated. It provides emotional support, a chance to be with like-minded people, an affirmation that we are basically good people.

A sense of freedom to be whom we are called to be is present in Meeting. In trying to change from a sense of obligation to doing what we are called to do, to slow down; we may stay away from Meeting but won't be looked down on. Some feel there's pressure to serve the Meeting-that since we're so small you almost have to serve on a committee. Some people just want to attend.

Attending Meeting helps anchor us and supports our doing a better job as teachers either as a vocation or in life.

What was your spiritual state last year at this time? Where are you now? What has changed?

Some anger about things around us and in our families has simply gone away. We are more able to deal with people. While we're sitting in the silence God gets out a big spoon and does some stirring.

Meeting gives the space to integrate reflectiveness more in our lives. To clarify thinking one of us volunteered to record Meetings and it seems to be working.

In the past ten years of Meeting one of us has had the experience of letting go of dreams without a lot of trauma, thinking of dreams as 25 books on one topic and 25 on another and able to let them go.

How has the Meeting led you to focus on the light within? How is Meeting a part of your spiritual life?

Meeting has convinced us that there's a value to communality in our spiritual journey; that we can't do it by ourselves. We wonder what to do next in life, and now find the Meeting may be part of that.

Meeting provides examples of how to look for that of God in others and speaking that intent to Meeting provides accountability that helps keep us to the task. It provides a pause and gives us courage by being part of something that's bigger than ourselves. It gives us the space to figure out what silence is and what prayer is, to get in touch with how our minds work and what our minds and bodies are trying to tell us.

We can approach every meeting and every comment as a sacred thing,-whether we are moved to tears or wondering "What was that all about?" Meeting helps shape what's in our brains, which shapes how we behave.

How has the Meeting led you to see the light within others?

We learn from what other people are saying in Meeting. Sometimes it's something completely new; sometimes we can relate it to another situation we are facing. We might hear things we liked and others we didn't like. Talking with people after Meeting we might hear from some who really liked what we didn't, and so learn that an idea can still have value even though we don't like it. Going after Meeting to eat with others we get to talk with people in depth and find openness where people are not playing roles.

How do you feel united with others in Meeting? How are others a gift to you in Meeting? How might you be a gift to others? How do we tend to the relationships among us?

For things to work, different people must make contributions. Transparency, plainness, and honesty help make things work. We must learn not to volunteer for things we want to do but won't do.

Some don't know yet what their gifts are or what they may be called to do. One way is by helping people outside of Meeting, not just helping people in Rwanda, but helping neighbors also.

We are doing something right in relationships; while part of the set of people who attend keeps changing, the supportive atmosphere remains.

Are we open to questions; our own as well as others? Are we open to the answers that might arise? Are we willing as individuals and as a Meeting to wait for answers about our Meeting and about our selves?

We are open to questions, and are open to answers. For example our question about our level of diversity was part of the decision to move our Meeting location to get wheelchair access. We also had people come from another Meeting to help us consider our racial diversity. We don't realize how much diversity we have. We come from different locations and cultural backgrounds, and that's diversity too.

A rich part of our monthly Meeting has been the reading of the BYM queries and the recording of the responses. There have been many deep responses. Perhaps we are more open to questions of others than from ourselves.

One of us has become closer to a friend who is Republican and has struggled with being open to everybody, being able to see that though we voted differently others are still good people. We find among us a narrow range of political opinion. There's not enough openness to the idea that other's positions do not stem from ignorance or evil.

We're able to wait for answers. We moved in to our current space after a multi-year search; we tried it a few times before moving in. That has served us well.

What is God's will for this Meeting?

In serving God's will, the real service is the way we meet. Having a Wednesday-night Meeting might enhance our experience and give other people a chance to experience it.

Our continued existence is an indication that we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. It's God's will that our Meeting remain small and quiet, with a powerful spirit. We make it possible for something to happen that would not happen otherwise-then there are ripples. That makes us either the quiet pond or the rock thrown in to it.

We're trying to have a place on the sign that will be put on the building where we worship which will increase the community's awareness of us. Even if more people come, we can still be small and quiet, although that may mean that like early Christians we must split in to small worshiping groups.

How does your life speak your faith?

One of us has recently had indications of a medical problem and has had lots of medical tests. This has been a test of spiritual centeredness; not knowing what will happen, and adopting the attitude that whatever happens was meant to happen. One holds the intent to look for that of God in everyone, to seek to find some golden kernel in what others say and do. A kindergarten teacher starts meals with "golden silence", and answers a child's inquiry saying it was a time to find the golden light within. One, involved with neighborhood boys and an accusation of theft, kept a concern for fairness and said she would divide the item under dispute evenly.

Conclusion

We have scheduled opportunities to reexamine this report during the year to keep it in our awareness.

SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE MEETING REPORT - 2003

We successfully integrated changes last year including searching for a different worship space and the decision to move into it, selecting co-clerks of Meeting, adopting a simplified structure of officers and committees (shifting responsibilities to the M&O committee), adding the role of childcare by volunteers to open way for attendance of families with children and once again offering children's religious education, changing the start of worship from 10 to 10:30 am, sponsoring booths at all three Takoma Park festivals to shine a light on our existence (which contributed to our four-fold increase in attendance), and experiencing budget surpluses. We share a trust, and contentment with these many changes. It seems the new organizational elements are working; they are flowing smoothly.

Despite these changes, the core of Meeting is steady in values and visions, with worship that provides deepening spiritual succor and grounding, acceptance and invitation. We know, the importance of attending to that core. These shared values draw and continue to attract attenders and sharpen their personal identities. Significantly, this deepening has occurred within some newer attenders as well.

Deeper worship parallels a sense that we've found a better space in which to worship (in particular, space with wheelchair access and lots of light). We look forward to what this space, 'Sangha', opens up for us. The name means "spiritual community" and the store proprietor practices this concept with us and others. She has been flexible, embracing, and we feel sure will feed our spiritual depth. In other years, a move to a new location has created uprooted feelings; this one seems to have done the opposite.

When smaller, we turned inward, now we focus more on the wider circles of Friends and our testimonies to the world, intent on a sustained engagement. For some the focus is on wanting more social justice and service out-reach, whether related to Quaker testimonies or to helping one another in life transitions such as a new baby. For another it might be wanting a midweek meeting for a member in pain; or wanting to learn more about Quakerism; or wishing for a return to community potlucks and games nights; or wanting to support individuals in their unique outreach callings. The theme is the wish to give more to the world/individuals in crisis/war/disparity or in time of personal need; evidence of this is the two year sense of the Meeting to use surplus funds for outreach.

We share a sense that our corporate service project, taking unsold goods from the Takoma Park Farmers' Market to Shepherd's Table, was more effective than in the two previous years.

We conducted a popular second hour adult education series on Quaker history and practices and used these principles in meetings for business that, year after year, bemuse and amaze us by drawing larger attendance than the preceding and intervening meetings for worship. This practice instructs us on how to act in life, listening and leaving quiet spaces, being inclusive and respectful, giving and letting go.

Ongoing is our tension between the wish to be quiet and small and yet to share our gift. Our worship sharing, 'Afterthoughts', affords us sharing, a strong sense of community and mutual support even as it promotes the silence of worship. In our core is a spiritual community, a settled calm that is growing, a deepening experience of gathered Meetings and connection with God within each of us and within one another.