How Does the Spirit Move Among You?
This year’s report on our spiritual condition as a Meeting reflects on how Spirit has led us to support one another in facing frustration, worry, and despair during these unprecedented times. Our faith led the way as our fear transformed into moments of renewed hope. We sought and found opportunities where we could make constructive contributions to the world amid constantly emerging and shifting challenges.
Friends at Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting come together in silent, in-depth worship each First Day morning at 10:00. Worship benefitted both from silent ministry that felt rich and spiritually nourishing and as well as spoken ministry that resonated with those present. Fear, hopelessness, frustration, struggling to see that of God in everyone, striking a balance between loving and setting boundaries when we strongly disagree with family members or close friends, and discerning what to do with leadings were all common themes in vocal ministry. Reminding us that messages can come from anywhere, the joyful presence of a new baby born into Meeting was a visible reminder of life and love among us.
This year brought many new attenders to our Meeting, and we are pleased that we found common ground and alignment in both faith and passion for social concerns with many of them. Several of the newer attendees have integrated into the community by attending regularly and becoming active in committees, social action work, and giving vocal ministry. Some newer attenders were engaged with groups that were less known to the Meeting as a whole and the Meeting has benefitted from learning more about these groups from the new attenders. The Spirit moved the Meeting to embrace and become involved as a body with some of these groups by providing financial support, use of our space, collecting in-kind donations, and attending events.
Worship and Ministry honored the diverse ways Friends experience the Spirit while also helping our Meeting community discern between Spirit-led vocal ministry and personal sharing. Our work this year included:
- We hosted queries focused on worship,
- hosted Pendle Hill Pamphlet offerings on vocal ministry and discernment,
- gave individually chosen books to our First Day School children,
- united in solidarity with a minute regarding LGBTQ+ persons,
- held a joint meeting between Care and Concern and Worship and Ministry to discuss strengthening our sense of welcome and inclusion, and exploring how we invite attenders into deeper participation.
With all of these offerings we hope to support the spiritual nature of vocal and silent ministry, the intimacy of worship and provide all in our Meeting community with a safe and spiritually grounded environment to experience the Light.
The Spirit moved us to quickly come together in unity after the PYM DHS lawsuit was announced, and we sent PYM a minute of support. Catherine Duryea, a member of our community and legal historian who researches human rights, comparative constitutional development, and administrative law, hosted an online education session about the lawsuit and steps we may take as a Monthly Meeting.
A Friend organized and mobilized others to provide a “Flowers from the Mud” gathering around the Peace Pole in Bethlehem’s Rose Garden in March, as Friends were digesting political changes in the United States.
The purpose of the event was to release sadness, focus on hope, and sow the seeds of peace and cooperation. As people gathered around the Peace Pole in Bethlehem’s Rose Garden they heard an inspiring fable delivered by an LVMM Friend, joined in singing uplifting songs with the help of another Friend on guitar. Other Friends from LVMM organized the gathering and decorating of rocks and creation of a website with ways people can be involved to bring about change.
In May, we held an intergenerational retreat at Johnsonburg Camp Retreat Center in NJ. The theme was “This Little Light of Mine.” It was our first retreat as a Meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic. The new retreat location was on a campus that covers 300 acres, and includes a big lake, hills and meadows to explore, and lodges nestled in trees. Meeting was deeply thankful for this dedicated time of community, worship, and learning. Friends particularly found that this time in nature was deeply nurturing and a restorative break from the barrage of frustrating news stories.
Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting is blessed by the vibrant, active participation of the members and attenders of our spiritual community and the Spirit that moved among us this year to provide support to ourselves, our community and the world around us.
Respectfully submitted,
Corissa Rolon, clerk
Worship and Ministry Committee
