Resources & Documents
This is a link to the entire text. Each Yearly Meeting publishes guidelines for its Meetings and members, which is revised from time to time. This is the 1993 edition, currently being revised. The book also includes a section about history and includes quotes from individuals about their Quaker faith.
State of the Meeting Report, April 2007 - March 2008
The mission of Olympia Friends Meeting is not expressed in words, but in actions. We nurture not only community, but individuals, helping to expand their spiritual lives and to empower their witness. This report gives us an opportunity to assess our strengths and acknowledge challenges as we seek to be a channel of God’s will.
Olympia Friends Meeting is vibrant, with as many as 80 people attending, sometimes leaving few open seats. We rejoice in the sharing of the care and concerns of one another in community. The source of this vitality is Meeting for Worship where we wait together in silence for the still, small voice of God. The quality of the silence varies; each meeting has its own character. Many appreciate silent meetings, and many cherish vocal ministries that come from the depths of the Spirit. Some complain about too much of one or the other. Either way, we are not isolated individuals but “members of one another” gathered in the presence of the Light in our midst.
Our collective yearning to deepen our spiritual roots was reflected by many experienced Friends, new attenders, and visitors participating enthusiastically in our October Retreat, “How may we pray?: Intentional Spiritual Practices to support an Active Life.” Several Friends experientially shared their practices. The experience was valuable for those who attended. The November Query, “How do I remember friends and family who have passed on?" was an experience that Friends found to be especially meaningful. Many Friends had strong memories to share of their loved ones. We intend to nourish the spirit of both events.
Challenges remain in addressing a wide range of expectations among us while forming a cohesive community with united purpose. Our Meeting has great theological diversity. Often this diversity is handled sensitively and constructively, but not always. This may illustrate a need for theological discussion, in settings that are deliberately structured for emotional safety.
Some Friends would prefer not to consider queries during Meeting for Worship. We tried an experiment in which queries were not read during Meeting for Worship; however, many expressed disappointment. We have not yet devised a process to please all of us. We had limited success with an initiative to solicit those among us to share in caring ministries. We are also challenged to care for our elders and to further support marriages in our Meeting.
We experimented with the close of meeting, seeking to provide time for announcements and introductions, and preserve the spirit of worship. Another challenge is accommodating people leaving and arriving during worship. We encourage people to enter prior to the start of Meeting for Worship or when the children depart after the first fifteen minutes. However, we welcome all, regardless of their time of arrival.
We recognize the need for adult religious education. Small group activities such as Bible Study, Gifts and Discoveries, and Friendly Sojourners fulfill a need for depth and companionship in the spiritual journey. A Healing Prayer Circle each first first-day of the month holds in the Light those suffering and those caring for them. A North East Home Meeting for Worship meets the fourth First-day of each month. Eight people from our Meeting attended Friends General Conference Annual Gathering in Wisconsin. As an affiliate Meeting, we are in the process of urging North Pacific Yearly Meeting to affiliate with FGC. Women’s group continues to meet monthly.
Twenty or more people regularly attend meeting for Worship for Business. We don’t agree all the time, but trust corporate discernment. Committees regularly contribute to the life of the Meeting each month discerning the various needs and concerns of the body as a whole. We have discovered that it can be difficult to replace certain positions such as treasurer and newsletter editors. We also are discussing the importance of membership for the committees that require it.
Children’s program is lively, aided by an active and engaged group of adult and Junior Friend leaders. Children’s committee organized a July campout at Jarrell Cove State Park to provide fun and fellowship in a natural setting. First Day School themes included series on favorite Quakers, international service projects, and local issues of hunger and homelessness. Compassion and service is the theme in 2008. Many enjoyed the Children’s program performance of “The Shepherds Play” in December. Our annual Crafts Night continues as a holiday favorite. The Children’s Committee and Worship and Ministry are organizing a Parent Support Group. We also support a scholarship for the preschool that rents our building.
It has been a true joy to watch the energy and participation of our youth group. The youth (middle and high school age) organized a rafting trip, a blanket drive for the homeless, and a ski trip, funding their projects with yard work. A highlight was North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Junior Friends trip to Puerto Morelos, Mexico. Three young people from our meeting, accompanied by two Friendly Adult Presences, joined fifteen youth from Washington, Oregon, and Montana to repaint a kindergarten/child care facility damaged by Hurricane Wilma.
Our Peace and Social Justice Committee continues to put the Meeting’s faith into action. Donations to numerous peace and justice causes such as the Rachel Corrie Foundation, a group working with children in Rafah, Friends Peace Teams, and Bread and Roses is one measure of our diverse interests. We have had a presence at vigils related to the Iraq war. Several from Meeting have volunteered at Camp Quixote, an Olympia area tent city for the homeless.
Aligning with growing environmental concerns, we sponsored a Global Warming Discussion Group using Northwest Earth Institute materials and hosted an Earth Charter Study group sponsored by Interfaith Works. We are working to make the meetinghouse more sustainable and encourage people’s awareness of their ecological footprint. We are challenged to reduce our use of carbon energy. We hosted an evening with Ruah Swennerfelt and Louis Cox on their Peace for Earth journey by foot from Vancouver, BC to San Diego in the pattern of John Woolman.
Olympia Friends Meeting Right Sharing of World Resources, which encourages individuals to share of their resources, partnered with Olympic View Friends Church in Tacoma to provide Bio-sand Water Filters in Kenya. We supported the Burundi Goat project, the African Great Lakes Initiative Mutaho Widows’ cooperative, and the children’s program has sponsored the “Dime a Brick” project to build a house for the Land for Tillers Freedom in India.
Meeting has continued outreach to those visiting and to our local community. We had a Quaker table at The Evergreen State College’s annual community celebration, “Super Saturday.” Meeting held Worship on campus at Evergreen twice and served as host Meeting of Common Bread, an interfaith campus student ministry at Evergreen. The desire for companionship with others in the Meeting has revived the Friendly Suppers program. Our Meeting brochure was revised to reflect the current affairs of the Meeting. We seek to be a welcoming community to newcomers. Many people have visited though many have not stayed. Some have, however, and are drawing toward the center of the meeting. Discernment remains to be found in considering options for remodeling and expansion of the meetinghouse.
We welcomed four new members. We now have 61 members. We celebrated the lives of two long-time members in memorial meetings, and mourned with one young mother the loss of her son. There were no marriages under the care of the meeting or births. We are gratified to see the number of individuals seeking clearness committees in times of need for individual care and discernment.
What is most needed to deepen the spiritual life of the Meeting and to strengthen its witness on behalf of Friends' testimonies to the world? We listen to the still, small voice for leadings as we continue our spiritual journey.
