SPIRITUAL STATE OF LANCASTER FRIENDS MEETING 2025
In a forum on January 4, 2025, we discussed the spiritual state of Lancaster Friends Meeting. Members and attenders focused on three separate topics in small groups, then shared insights with the larger gathering.
1. DECISION MAKING.
Friends call our decision-making time Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, to reflect that the basis for our method of reaching decisions is a spiritual one. Our goal is to discern God’s will for the Meeting as a whole.
How well do we pursue a spiritual sense of the Meeting during our business meeting? Do we only pursue an outcome, or do we also stay grounded in process?
As Quakers, we strive for unity, rather than consensus. This is easy when the community is basically in agreement. It is difficult — and sometimes painful — when we disagree or have strong opposing views. Then, we need processes to shift out of our emotions and back to our central purpose of discerning where Spirit is leading us. Actions to that end include the following:
- Silence. Returning to a moment of quiet listening helps us remember that our goal is to find what our Meeting is meant to do.
- Guidance of the clerk. Maintaining the discipline of waiting to be recognized by the clerk reminds us that we are part of a larger group process. Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business is not a conversation or debate; it is a spiritual process.
- Loving listening. We have a responsibility to listen to what is beyond our individual worldview and to listen tenderly to thoughts or opinions that differ from our own.
- Openness. Meeting for Business requires us to trust that what we say will be heard. Once we state our thoughts, we should let them go, not hang onto them or try to defend them. Ideas come from individuals, but once spoken, they belong to the Meeting. Our goal is collective discernment and transformation.
- Time and patience. We recognize that urgency can lead to poor decisions. We acknowledge that taking the time to hear and consider diverse viewpoints often leads a more satisfying, more permanent conclusion. Some expressed how grateful they are when we take the necessary time to consider deeply and proceed all the way to a sense of unity, “even if that means we have to stay longer.”
- Standing aside. Do we trust the sense of the meeting? When the clerk discerns that that the community has reached a state of unity, but there is still someone who disagrees, that person may say, “I stand aside.” This action, allowing forward motion despite differing views, is powerful when it occurs; it conveys the trust in the community as a whole.
2. FAITH AND PRACTICE
How inflexible are we in our beliefs and practices? How do we balance those traditions that are crucial to Quakerism against the variety of ways that people are seeking God?
Our sense of Lancaster Meeting is that we are quite open and supportive of others. We affirm that all people have the Light within them, whether they have different faith practices or no faith practice. We recognize that learning how to express our beliefs as Quakers takes time and that using discernment when speaking is a process.
What does it mean in our lives to be Quaker? Some aspects of Quaker faith and practice were identified:
- We value seeking the truth over dogma.
- We strive to see the Light in all people, including those from different religious practices and traditions, as well as agnostics and atheists.
- We try, even if a person’s actions do not come from love and Light, to respond with love in our hearts.
- We seek truth through expectant waiting, tending to the Light that helps us discern what is ours to do.
- We try to let our lives speak the truth.
- We believe that working for justice is part of seeing that of God in everyone.
- We value community in shaping our path forward; community supports us and helps us to discern what actions are appropriate.
- We talked about how faith and practice relate to Meeting for worship. Guidelines for worship are reviewed periodically by the Worship and Ministry Committee member who closes Meeting. Persistent concerns about worship are addressed by that committee, but generally we provide self-discipline in discerning when and whether to share a message.
- We identified practical steps that help deepen the quality of worship :
- Enter the worship room on time.
- Silence all devices before entering the worship room.
- Allow space between messages. (This tempers a tendency toward “popcorn” meetings.)
- Do not enter or leave the worship room while someone is giving a message.
3. WELCOMING AND INCLUDING NEWCOMERS
A significant number of new people have visited and attended our Meeting in 2025. They come from a broad range of ages and exposure to Quakerism.
Do we know what newcomers are seeking and /or how clear they are about what they’re seeking? How well are we integrating these new people into our Meeting?
The presence of newcomers is always a joy. We are glad to welcome new people. Many committees play a role in meeting and greeting new people (Outreach, Worship and Ministry, Care and Counsel, and Social Committee, to name a few).
For the most part, we do well at engaging people on their first few visits. It is more challenging to discern how to integrate people once we are past the initial greetings and introductions.
Here are some of the ways that we engage (or plan to engage) newcomers:
- Make sure we offer our literature on finding their way in Quaker meeting.
- Ask new people about their time in Meeting for worship and give them an opportunity to reflect on their experience. Learn what matters to them and what drew them to visit us.
- When we know them better, move past generally asking about their week. One person suggested we consider the question, “How have you Quakered this week?”
- Introduce newcomers to Lancaster Meeting members/attenders we think they would enjoy getting to know. Put faces to the names of people that newcomers may want to meet.
- Invite a newcomer to join us during the week for a conversation or a meal.
- Create outreach events, such as our regular prayer vigils with other churches and peace groups.
- Re-institute one-time social events at the meeting house so we can sing, share talents, or watch movies on a weekend evening.
- Provide periodic “Quakerism 101” sessions to share the history and practice of Quakerism with newcomers.
- Talk about ways we try to have our lives speak in the world. We tend not to have Meeting-wide projects, but many in our meeting are involved in social justice issues (Friends Committee on National Legislation, POWER interfaith action, writing campaigns to prevent rezoning and division of Amish farmland, Indivisible action group, Alternatives to Violence projects, League of Women Voters, and so on).
- Organize “Friendly 8s” and small groups (meeting biweekly or monthly) to provide a venue for getting to know people. Most of these groups are open to anyone interested; they usually run from fall through spring. In Lancaster Monthly Meeting, young adult newcomers have organized their own biweekly events for social and spiritual enrichment.
- Suggest that people attend a committee meeting that speaks to one of their concerns. Nominating Committee can help people identify which committee does what.
- Embrace the reality that we grow by attraction, not self-promotion. We welcome and help integrate those who come seeking, and we also accept that some will move on to find their spiritual home elsewhere. We support the search for a spiritual home.
- Remind people that becoming a member is just the beginning of their Quaker journey. Beyond that are the joys and challenges of building a loving community.
Notes by Aislinn Murphy, compiled by Carl Shafer
Respectfully submitted by Rachel Bedard
