Louisa County Worship Group

Notes by Riley Robinson

Louisa has two people regularly at worship. Both were present. Both live at the Twin Oaks Community and meet for worship there.

“Twin Oaks is an intentional community in rural central Virginia, made up of around 85 adult members and 15 children. Since the community's beginning in 1967, our way of life has reflected our values of cooperation, sharing, nonviolence, equality, and ecology.” (from the web site home page)

One person has lived in intentional communities before. The other lived in the city, gradually finding that being involved in various communities for various good purposes did not add up to a sense of mutual connectedness. Both have some experience with Quaker events such as FGC Gathering. Neither has participated much with BYM. We found that we all have a mutual Friend in someone who used to live at Twin Oaks who now lives near Philadelphia. One longtime Twin Oaks Friend is now at Friends House in Sandy Spring. A Twin Oaks person is now interested in meeting with them for worship.

Both people attend Charlottesville Meeting on the second first day of each month for worship, potluck and “Connections,” an education/discussion time, which is quite valuable.

We discussed the importance of community today when so many people tend to lose track of each other in a near-storm of electronic media and worldly haste. The need for restful solitude and for face-to-face relating can go unmet. Still, they would sometimes like a deeper level of communication within their own interdependent community. Too, the community has a highly developed system of governance which works, but they would like to see more Quaker process used. We mentioned how Friends lived interdependently in community in past centuries.

Observations: Many Friends come to Quakerism to find community. These are members of a vital like-minded community who are particularly seeking Quaker worship and testimonies. Too, many rural Friends worry about isolation, but these are among the least socially isolated Friends anywhere.

There are limits on their ability to travel and to attend Quaker events. Community comes with limitations and responsibilities – but so does family life.

Helpful to them would be more information about Quaker history and testimonies far sharing with community members. Recordings of plenary talks at Quaker events would be enjoyed. They know that there are many Quaker websites, but reading extensively on a computer screen is a labor.