8 Friends gathered on a cool spring evening,
joined for the first time by Friends from Hudson Meeting who brought an excited, curious energy which was appreciated by all. We asked these Friends to share what brought them to this group, and we heard:
• An interest in organizing as Quakers
• A desire for connected community in a world suffering from separateness
• A spiritual and practical need for more young Friends in our community
Meeting attendance
Don Badgely --- don51249@aol.com
Jules Wing Vasquez --- jules@greenspace.earth
Dawn Zaden --- elizpage92@gmail.com
Norwood Keaton --- no.keat20@gmail.com
Claudia Ansorge --- cjansorge@gmail.com
Karen Snare --- karensnare23@gmail.com
Emily Brown --- emscbrown@gmail.com
Lisa Edstrom --- lisaedstrom@gmail.com
Brainstorming
This meeting was somewhat freeform, bolstered by the ideas and energy of new Friends. Here are some ideas that arose:
• Engaging with colleges, libraries etc. as places to connect with seekers - go where they are
• Facilitated brainstorming sessions to discern possible actions
• Doing something and working around a specific goal or activity is a great way to reach new people
• Documenting and communicating the life of meetings lets people connect with us and be interested in our community
• Sharing Quaker SPICES in our outreach
• More signmaking workshops
• A newsletter to keep information flowing within and beyond Friendly community
On Quarters
We also revisited the "Care committee for the Life of the Quarter" form proposed by Jules last meeting.
Hudson Meeting is a member of Northeastern Regional Meeting, which they report has similar troubles to our own.
It raised some questions about the role and form of our Quarters relative to their formation nearly a century ago, as transportation, communication, and the geographic distribution of Friends have all changed significantly.
No conclusions were drawn, but it seems possible that down the line our work may involve deep discernment on this topic.
Walkway Trip
We discussed a bit about our plans for the Walkway over the Hudson field trip, but mostly came up with more questions:
• What time should we meet?
• Should we have a picnic?
• What materials should we have on hand?
Jules suggested it could be fun to have a signmaking workshop beforehand - not for political signs, but simply art to bring with us.
How might we go about this? Interested Friends are encouraged to take initiative on creating such materials.
The Website
Jules and Claudia presented the website they have been working on together.
They are trying to make it something more akin to a pamphlet, with the hope that this will be easier for Friends to contribute to, and that it will dovetail nicely with whatever physical materials we work on as a group.
It is important to note that the work that needs to be done is not just technical.
What do we truly feel led to share about our community? Friends are encouraged to reach out if they would like to contribute.