Roanoke Friends Meeting Spiritual State of the Meeting Reports

The text of recently received Spiritual State of the Meeting Reports are below, with the most recently received at the top and older reports below. To jump to a particular report, simply click the year listed below.

2020 Spiritual State of Roanoke Friends Meeting Report

When the quantum physicist Nils Bohr encountered Einstein’s theory of relativity, he responded with bemused delight. “Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real,” adding “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.” This year, Roanoke and Lynchburg Meeting have spent most of the year living in paradoxes and found these to bring unexpected gifts and openings.

As 2020 began, both groups met independently for worship but sat together on committees. When the pandemic stopped us meeting separately in person, Roanoke and Lynchburg began meeting together through Zoom. We regret the absence of members who aren’t comfortable participating in virtual Meetings, but our Meetings have grown. One member remarked, “One result of the pandemic and meeting on Zoom is that we regularly have more people on Zoom than we did in person. Some are new in our regular worship group, coming from medium and long distances. I feel a mixture of joy with large attendance and new people, but I miss the other people and wish they were with us.” Another echoed this sentiment as follows: “William Penn said, ‘Those who love beyond the world cannot be separated by it.’ I’m aware of how much we need one another and are connected even though we are separated by the world. If you had told me a year ago, we would not meet in the meetinghouse for months on end, I would have said, “That will be the end of our Meeting. How can we have a Meeting without meeting?”

We have members and attenders from places as distant as Singapore, Oman and Brazil as well as those as close as two cushions on a sofa. One remarked, “It is a paradox that we can’t hug, mill around, eat together, and yet, thanks to this technology, we are together. Imagine 10 years ago, trying to keep in touch by phone. Now with technology, we can come into each other’s houses, see pictures on the walls and books on the shelves. There is an intimacy, paradoxically.”

Meeting has become an important anchor for many in these turbulent times. One member of the Roanoke Meeting, living in Oman commented, “Attending my first Zoom meeting for worship in April 2020 was a relief. It was a comfort to see familiar faces and a comfort to gather with the faithful. I spent 2020, coping with the impact on COVID-19 and discerning next steps in life. Zoom Meetings, though woefully inadequate compared to in-person gatherings, provided solace, a steady stillness and nurturing presence that calmed my mind and spirit for which I am exceedingly grateful.” A newcomer to Roanoke Meeting who first attended online while in a camper travelling from the desert West to Virginia remarked that even without in-person meetings, the Zoom Meeting has become a spiritual and community anchor. Other Friends have commented on how the Meeting has become a refuge for them, a place where they have found the reassurance “that there are loving hearts in the world.”

“The word I would use to describe my spiritual state is ‘parched,’” one respondent said. “I’m just thirsty, hungry, parched to be with others that I share so much with. All my relationships have been on Zoom, but my Quaker group is the only group that I can share philosophically, politically, and my views on social justice.” Another described pain of political division in the following words: “There is so much stress we have all been through: the pandemic, political strife, and economic crisis, lots of suffering going on out there. In the subsequent days since the Inauguration, I’ve been feeling PTSD - worn out by the last 4 years.”

In 2017, a long time Quaker, member of Roanoke who lived in Lynchburg, died unexpectedly. While mourning his death, we learned he left bequests to Roanoke and Lynchburg Meetings enabling Roanoke to pay off the meetinghouse mortgage. Our sorrow is paradoxically balanced by the joy and gratitude that the freedom his bounty brings may allow us new choices. Several Friends shared the following thoughts: ”Right now, we miss those who are distant from us. When we meet together again, we may have the funds to buy equipment to combine ‘face’ meetings with virtual meetings and gain the joy of joining with distant Friends while continuing to meet in person with those who prefer the intimacy of physical transaction.” This generosity also brings us funds to find ways to help those in need. We know as one Friend said, “This period of separation by the world includes loneliness, injustice, suffering, that is asking for a response from us.”

Despite the pandemic, our Meeting has become active in numerous ways like branches reaching out from a tree:

• The Advancement and Outreach Committee is more active.
• Two Faithfulness Groups have formed.
• Our new Quaker Reading Group meets monthly and is well attended.
• Peace and Social Justice is taking new directions.
• Monday at Meeting (a time to chat on Zoom)– provides a social connection.
• Midweek Worship, on Wednesday evenings, is now meeting twice a month with increased attendance.

Friends, some of whom have not all been able to participate on Zoom, have continued with serious commitments beyond the Meeting by supporting environmental justice and fracked-gas resistance, helping local asylum seekers, advocating for Black Lives Matter, and other concerns. Much good work is being done to serve our community.

As many Friends know, George Fox was glad to find a spiritual force that could speak to his condition. Roanoke and Lynchburg Meetings believe that the Quaker message. witness, and mode of worship speak to the condition of a spectrum of seekers, persons from a wide diversity of ages, races, social and cultural backgrounds. We believe that those with such varied backgrounds bring gifts that will enrich the Meetings' life. We seek opportunities and methods of outreach to widen and deepen our dynamic community.

2019 Spiritual State of Roanoke Friends Meeting Report

When searching for ways to describe the experience of Roanoke/Lynchburg meetings, Friends often use images illustrating nourishment like a watering hole, oasis or garden that provides nourishment or partaking of nourishing or warming food and drink. Friends agree that the Meeting is nourished by the gifts and ministries each member or attender brings to the Meeting. One Friend said, “Nurture is about recognizing another person’s gifts, and also beyond that, letting that person know what you see of value in who they are and what they bring, encouraging them to let their life shine.” “It’s a potluck of spiritual gifts,” said another.

Friends agree there are many kinds of ministry besides vocal ministry or activism, including work Friends do for the Meeting and for the wider community. Committees give gifts but they also nourish them. This year we had members take part in two programs offered by the School of the Spirit. Two Roanoke Friends are co-clerks of this year’s Friends General Conference Gathering. They are nourished by supportive committees of care as they continue to develop and nurture their gifts through participation within the broader world of Friends. Others benefit from the nourishment of Clearness Committees. Committees like Hospitality, Ministry and Counsel, Nominating, Peace and Social Justice, and Religious Education also provide ministry, helping members share their gifts with others in the meeting. The Advancement and Outreach Committee is working to grow our Meeting. One Friend with knowledge of Quaker artists shared his expertise after Meeting. Clearness Committees for membership and a memorial service brought together Friends of Roanoke and Lynchburg in blessed community. An ongoing group allows others to be nourished through hearing and sharing spiritual journeys of those in Meeting.

Friends bring home-cooked meals and offer rides to members and attenders. The nourishment provided extends beyond food and transportation. It gives members and attenders the opportunity to know each other at a deeper level. The Meeting hopes to find different ways to satisfy this hunger for deeper spiritual intimacy. As one Friend said, “There seems to be a hunger, a movement in our Meeting to have some closer spiritual friendships. Whether through spiritual formation, faithfulness groups, support groups, book groups, change groups. There are people wanting more from the meeting than we get from fellowship before and after meeting and one hour of religious education each month.”

Most participants in Meeting for Worship value vocal ministry. Several Friends remarked giving positive feedback to those who share messages during the fellowship period after worship nurtures vocal ministry. “I feel motivated to respond and others have done that with me,” said one Friend. “It nurtures our willingness. It’s important to acknowledge it if we are touched.“

Vocal ministry gives those in meeting an opportunity to develop the gift of deep listening and to create a safe space. A Friend remarked that “Vocal ministry depends on the quality of the listening. The listener should ask ‘What’s in this message that speaks to me?’ Deep listening can turn a message you don’t want to hear into a blessing.” Another noted, “A message may not be for me, but it might be for someone else. Absence of judgment is important in the listener.”

Still, some Friends find vocal messages interrupt deep and worshipful silence, particularly if they are overly long. Others find that those who speak in a quiet, reverential tone are difficult to hear, especially if they are seated behind other listeners. Another expressed a belief that meeting can do more to support vocal ministry. Support is an ongoing process. It was suggested religious education should have yearly programs about the role of vocal ministry in the life of the Meeting.

Sometimes gifts are hindered by fear. One Friend said, “Our gifts often hide behind our fears. It is hard to access gifts without confronting fears.” One fear Friends face is fear of change and the unknown, of stepping into foreign territory. A Friend was reminded of fears he conquered as a child: “I can let go with one hand, that’s easy; it’s the letting go with the second hand that is hard. We have a bias. We assume the unknown is dangerous.” He recalled sledding as a boy, choosing to slide over a crest without knowing what was on the other side. He decided to sled over it and said it was terrific.

Another stated an unconscious fear of change hinders the meeting’s growth. “I hope we can overcome fears and be bold to let the community know we are here. As I think about attracting young people, and people different from us, I fear we exclude people without knowing it like people of color, young people, people with different political beliefs. Part of that excluding for me is a fear of change.”

A third Friend remembered her experience at a retreat where the facilitator asked attenders how they would respond if at a Meeting for Worship someone spoke in tongues. “I would leave and not come back, if someone did that at Meeting,” She said. “I cling to our form of worship. Recently, on a Sunday, our children proposed an alternative, multi-generational stay at home worship activity that was worshipful and engaging for everyone. It makes me want to be a little more open to trying different ways of worship.”

In addition to a fear of change, there is a fear of vulnerability and of a lack of strength and ability. One Friend confessed that “Fear is a strong motivator for me. Ultimately, I am afraid of being judged unworthy of your love.” A second added the fear that “if I answer a call, I will be asked to give more than I am able to give.”

Deep spiritual sharing among members of the community assuages fear. One Friend said, “Fear comes when I am feeling vulnerable. That’s also when I am the most faithful. I am moved when people confess their brokenness. Good messages can come from vulnerability—when we are authentically vulnerable in ministry, that builds community.”

Friends also describe the Meeting as a close and protective community. One Friend said, “The Meeting is a kind of a huddle—a group of people in sort of a group hug with heads downward facing inward, with a few people not part of the hug, in ones and twos around them. There is a lot of fear in society as a whole these days, and the group huddle may be in response to that.” Another pictured the Meeting community as an umbrella. “One that is big enough to gather under when it’s raining or as a parasol when the sun is too hot. It can be folded and taken with us, taking us out beyond where we think we can go.” Other metaphors our Meeting evoked were a high-wire bicycle act, a greenhouse, a watering hole, a potbelly stove, and giant ears sitting in a circle intent upon listening.

This year Roanoke and Lynchburg Friends sought meaningful ways to share gifts and community. This sharing deepened our joint Meeting, and encouraged our desire to encourage one another. Hebrews 10:24-25 states “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another.” We hope to encourage each other in the year ahead.

2018 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report

Roanoke and Lynchburg Friends, like Friends everywhere, are not immune to the turbulence of these troubled and painful times. Especially now, we seek the gifts and challenges of Quakerism through this contemporary lens. Many of us find the Meeting for Worship to be a refuge from the turbulence. One mentioned she takes a conscious sabbatical from the news on First Days: “When I get to Meeting, I am thankful that the messages don’t involve politics. Sometimes they are sad–because of the tragedy of what’s in the news, but that’s a different feeling–it’s not political.” Another finds the Meeting community to be a refuge of strength and gentleness, saying, “No matter how stressed the times are, this nourishes me. People reach out to one another in quiet practical ways.”

Yet while grateful for refuge, Roanoke and Lynchburg Friends seek more than shelter from the storm. We echo the desire to heal the world’s pain expressed during a different troubled era by London Yearly Meeting in 1938:

We have longed that in this time of world crisis the Society of Friends everywhere may be faithful in its witness of truth, as truth has been and is being revealed to us. Peace and righteousness are inseparable. Outward peace maintained by the conscious surrender of truth and justice can never be lasting.

Friends are grateful to find strength and tools useful in the struggle to walk the fine line of resistance without rancor, without vilifying or dismissing those who have views we find abhorrent, while seeking to respond with love. Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business give Friends a unique opportunity to learn and practice the tools we need in this struggle. As one Friend pointed out: “In Meeting for Business, we learn to speak from our heart without subjective emotional attachments. We cultivate a practice of speaking in a way that is authentic and honest and then let it go.” One Friend finds such tools within the Meeting community: “I keep learning about compassion and forgiveness in our Meeting. I feel that here I am learning how to take it beyond the Meeting. Sometimes, it is difficult to practice compassion and forgiveness. I feel the Meeting supports me in that and I keep learning.”

We are encouraged to reach out to those beyond and within our community. Outreach and “inreach” help us strengthen our attention to Spirit. We support the witness of various members of our Meeting in their peace work, efforts on behalf of social justice, resistance to the pipeline, FCNL lobbying, NAACP involvement, and intensive involvement in the School of the Spirit. These are some of the ways our community challenges us to put our gifts to service, to ask what more can we do to translate our faith into practice. Regular chanting and allowing a small church to use our facilities are other ways for us to reach out to the community.

Our “inreach” includes welcoming newcomers. Several of those new to the Meeting say they felt welcomed upon arrival, but more can be done. Roanoke is considering creating a hospitality committee with the emphasis on greeting visitors, offering opportunities to learn about Quakerism and meet members of the Meeting. Potlucks and other social gatherings, a mid-week Meeting for Worship, and a monthly opportunity for spirit-journey sharing offers members old and new a deeper opportunity for community connection. We search for a way to welcome and retain families with children to enrich the life of the Meeting. Inreach also is important for continuing members, especially those in need. Ministry and Counsel Committee continues to support elderly or sick members and attenders, to give short-term financial assistance to those in immediate need and to facilitate Clearness Committees for those struggling with difficult decisions.

One Friend points out that, “For me, the challenge is the comfort. It’s comforting to be in the company of like-minded and like-hearted people, but if we had more diversity of views, it would challenge me more, especially in Business Meeting. If people held strongly divergent views, we would be challenged. There is a challenge in being too much among like-minded people.” Another points out, “We are mostly older, white, middle-class people. As a person from a working-class background, I’m sensitive to this. I’ve heard Quakers say classist things. Blacks who are involved with Friends tend to be middle class.” Both Roanoke and Lynchburg have had Republican or Trump-supporting attenders who no longer attend. The difference between those comfortable with Christocentric viewpoints and language and those who find these painful can also create discomfort.

In these turbulent times, we struggle to walk the fine line of resistance without rancor. We also walk the fine line between comfort and challenge. The comfort provides the Spirit-filled community that nurtures us. The challenge requires us to develop outside our personal comfort zones. A searching Light that discomforts, an embracing Light that warms are both at the heart of Roanoke and Lynchburg Quaker Meetings for worship.

2017 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report

Especially in these turbulent times, Roanoke and Lynchburg Friends appreciate the centrality of the Meeting in their lives. Friends speak of Meeting as the calm in the storm of life, the place they can simply come and be, an oasis of quiet, a centering piece of their lives, and a well they can come to and be satisfied. We find our spirits restored through that spring of living water, which is the deep individual and corporate connection with Spirit in worship which William Penn called “nourishment and refreshment.”

We are nourished and nurtured through our close and caring spiritual community. One Friend noted the profound communion, love and compassion Meeting members share. Another likened the Meeting community to tribal members gathering around a fire sharing dreams and stories. The community is welcoming to guests and new attenders. It fosters close friendships through the fellowship of Meeting, mid-week worship, the chanting group, connecting during committee meetings, and two ongoing and active Spiritual Formation groups. The joys and sorrows of community life strengthen our bonds. This year brought the joy of new membership and the sorrow of a long-time member’s unexpected death. The latter gave Roanoke and Lynchburg a welcome time of shared community as we planned a memorial service and as we continue to deal with matters relating to the estate.

The close community challenges us. While Roanoke and Lynchburg Meetings lack racial or ethnic diversity (together the groups have only a few people of color as members), we have great spiritual diversity, spanning the belief spectrum from red letter Christians to non-theists and the Quaker spectrum from birthright Friends, to attenders still trying to find their way in Quaker process. Our differences can cause friction. The clerk and members of Ministry and Counsel take their role in fostering the life of the Meeting seriously, holding struggling community members in the Light, finding ways to educate newcomers gently concerning Quaker process and expectations and eldering honestly by speaking uncomfortable truth in love. Deep Religious Education and Pendle Hill pamphlet discussion groups give us the opportunity to appreciate members’ individual spiritual journeys.

We are challenged by the way our members live the testimonies, advocating for peace and justice as an expression of faith. The examples of members who connect with issues and organizations that embody the testimonies serve both as a source of inspiration and as a challenge leading individuals to social action. One member noted a three-page listing of organizations our Meeting supports through Peace and Social justice committee. Members of the Meeting are actively involved in FCNL, the local NAACP, and activities like lobbying, writing letters to the editor and attending marches and demonstrations. Religious Education and Pendle Hill pamphlet discussion have also served to educate members about peace and justice issues and initiatives and to encourage deeper involvement.

Especially at this time of turbulence, Meeting is an eye of calm spiritual presence in the storm. Meeting nurtures challenges and encourages us. It grounds us in what Thomas Kelly called, “an experience of the eternal breaking into time, which transforms all life into a miracle of faith and action.”

2016 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report

Roanoke Monthly Meeting and Lynchburg Indulged under care of Roanoke seem different on the surface. Roanoke is older, established and larger with twenty or more in attendance every week, a mature committee structure and a meetinghouse. Lynchburg Indulged is a small worship group meeting in the living room of the Spiritual Life Center on a college campus. But Meeting for Worship and the Meeting community is at the heart of both.

Friends feel that silence and vocal ministry both nurture the spiritual life of the Meeting. Each worship experience is unique. “Each of us is sometimes more ‘deep’ than others, sometimes more appreciative of silence or vocal ministry, sometimes more moved to speak or not,” one Friend remarked. “The silence is really moving, along with the certainty of one’s contribution being accepted,” added another. “The ocean refuses no river.” Opportunities for worship opportunities like midweek evening worship and monthly chanting sessions in Roanoke enrich options for worship and deepen the weekly Meeting for Worship.

Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business are worshipful as well. Friends note that Business Meeting has become more worshipful over time. “Meeting for Business is deeper because we consider the queries in a worship-sharing manner,” said one Friend. Another remarked positively on the respect accorded to each person’s contribution during business meeting. The way business is conducted in our meeting shows “It is more important to bring our values out into the world than to conduct ordinary business. This is an example of living in a more worshipful way.”

A mature committee structure is integral to meeting business and the experience of worship and religious education. While committees function well, there is a concern they are under-staffed. Friends note that the maintenance of the Meeting House is a challenge as well as a joy since it requires additional time and energy from individuals and committees as well as added financial resources. Friends hope to see greater diversity within the meeting. There is a concern about an aging membership and the feeling that attracting younger people to the community would bring new energy to all aspects of the meeting including committees.

Our community is consciously engaged with other Meetings, with Blue Ridge Gathering, Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, with our communities and with groups devoted to Quaker values. This year we host the Blue Ridge gathering, an opportunity to show other meetings our new Meeting House and to find additional ways to interact together during the year. Many of us travel to Friends General Conference and/or to Baltimore Yearly Meeting every year and renew acquaintance with the wider world of Quakers. Many are very involved with Friends Committee on National Legislation and lobbying. The Peace and Social Justice Committee develops and sponsors thoughtful and heartfelt programs on a wide variety of issues. The Meeting is committed to devote fully one-third of our annual income to causes relating to peace and social justice and many are active in community organizations including the NAACP and Plowshares Peace Center. We hope to expand our programs, especially including programs on racism.

While we face both joys and challenges, we are grounded and inspired by joy: joy in our shared spiritual journey and our caring community. When our faith community feels very much like family, how can we not feel great joy?

2015 Report

Roanoke Monthly Meeting completed the first year in its Meeting House and reflected on the challenges, joys and opportunities of this new stage in the Meeting’s life. “The hard work of finding this place is bearing fruit,” commented one Friend. “A building with no life is now alive. People working in harmony made it happen.”

The challenge of supporting the Meeting through caretaking and stewardship is outweighed by many joys. Having a permanent space lends support for spiritually enriching experiences like the regular chanting ministry, Pendle Hill pamphlet discussions, and the fall retreat as well as for deeper fellowship. A twelve-step group using the building is one way the Meeting can offer a resource to the community. We hope to become more deeply involved in our neighborhood as we increase our visibility in the community.

Projecting into the future, Friends hope this new stage will bring continued growth. Friends said, “People are hungry for what we have, this way of being in the world, with God, with each other. Our heightened visibility makes us easier to find. There are people in Roanoke who want what we have to offer. We hide our light under a bushel.” Many are pleased with the diversity the Meeting already encompasses although there is sentiment that diversity can be improved. One Friend described the Meeting as a garden with a wide variety of plants to be nurtured, each with different needs. Another said Meeting is like a bird feeder. The meeting puts out the seeds and the birds come. Some note that “We can’t be all things to all people. When we try to be, we risk losing our center.” It is important that the Meeting not only actively welcome newcomers, but that it lets newcomers unfamiliar with Quaker practice know what to expect and what is expected. The Meeting especially looks forward to welcoming young people and families with children and to growing a large and dynamic First Day School. Referring to “The Guest House,” a poem by Rumi, one Friend said, “May we be a truer and truer guest house welcoming the spirit who comes in many guises – in all manner of people and all manner of emotions and experiences.”

The Meeting also hopes for more engagement with other meetings and with the wider Quaker community. Ties between Roanoke and Lynchburg worship groups have deepened as Lynchburg, while still small in numbers, has gained in stability of members and attenders. Lynchburg Friends are members of the Roanoke/Lynchburg Committee structure and Lynchburg’s discussion after worship has used Pendle Hill Pamphlets and other resources recommended and used by Roanoke’s adult religious education to enrich sharing. Roanoke and Lynchburg have shared activities, planning a fall retreat together and enjoying social time at the Christmas party. Both Lynchburg and Roanoke hosted visiting friends from other Meetings. Roanoke Meeting members attended an FCNL event and participate regularly in regional and national committees and events like the Blue Ridge Gathering. “There is so much wisdom out there among friends that it would benefit us to have more contact,” one Friend remarked.

Worship remains at the core of the Meeting’s experience. The worship experience is bottomlessly deep. One Friend invoked an elevator image to describe worship. “We enter this deep space from where we are. We are gradually filled and moved into an ever deeper connection.” Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business also brings those who attend to a deeper place as participants bring the intention to be in worship and open to the Spirit’s guidance. Those who attend Meeting for Business regularly see their participation as integral to their identity as Quakers who participate fully in the life of the meeting. While lower attendance at Meeting for Business could be a sign of strength and trust in our process on the part of Friends who don’t come, greater attendance would deepen the life of the Meeting.

2014 Report

The past year has been significant for Roanoke Monthly Meeting as the long search for a meetinghouse reached fruition. Roanoke Friends reflected on the Meeting’s new physical space as an “at homeness” symbolic of the Meeting’s level of maturity and commitment. One Friend remarked, “We’ve been walking on a journey for 30 years – we finally bought a used minivan.”

In addition to the excitement, new energy and joyful spirit the new space brings, there is a realization that the space brings with it responsibilities. The concern that responsibilities of ownership could cause members to focus too much energy on maintenance is balanced by the hope that new obligations will help the Meeting continue to grow in an awareness of our accountability to each other as members of the same household. This core sense of home is not limited to Friends in Roanoke. Lynchburg Indulged Meeting under care of Roanoke has attended events in the new space and feels much more closely connected to Friends in Roanoke as a result.

Our core sense of home is grounded in worship and the life of the spirit that supports the Meeting. There is wisdom and spiritual nourishment in the silence, and spoken messages confirm and deepen our beliefs and support us in our spiritual journeys. We gain strength, support and comfort from the Meeting community. All are engaged in an honest search for truth. There is acceptance of members for who they are and where they are on their path. That everyone is searching together is a gravitational pull to keep us coming back. Although we occasionally struggle when confronted with divergent truths, we are learning to listen in love, seeing gifts in the differing ways we communicate and striving to create a community in which all are loved and respected.

The new meetinghouse provides us an opportunity for further development and growth. Friends would like to see a more diverse Meeting community that includes more children and youth. Having a physical space creates the opportunity to deepen our understanding of each other, to create community through personal sharing, and to have more and more opportunities to know each other in that which is eternal.

Our inner city environment allows us to work cooperatively with urban congregations and non-profit organizations in the city. We can have more connection and sharing with the community in which our new home is located. Basing social action in the wider world in our spiritual space erases the false distinction between faith and practice and secular and religious activism, so we can act from a place of wholeness.

2013 Report (including report of Lynchburg Indulged Meeting)

As of this writing, the Roanoke Meeting is in the process of purchasing a building that fits the Meeting’s needs. Finding our own Meetinghouse has been a long but positive journey for our spiritual community. The Meetinghouse search has given Friends an opportunity to put Quaker process into practice, strengthening and unifying the community in a common direction and goal. The Meetinghouse will give Friends visibility in the wider Roanoke Valley community and show, as one Friend remarked, that we are serious about being an important presence in the community. This past year Roanoke Meeting also hosted a Quaker Quest event that was well attended by Friends from Roanoke, Lynchburg, and a few from Maury River. This event further energized the Meeting’s desire for community visibility.

This search for a property has been undergirded by the love and trust shared by members and attenders of the Meeting. At the State of the Meeting discussion, those present described members and attenders as warm, accepting, compassionate, non-judgmental, genuine and respectful of each other. This love and trust is manifested in worship, committee work, social gatherings and service to each other and to the wider community. These experiences create in many of us a longing for more: more time together outside of Sunday mornings, more opportunities to hear one another’s stories, more young families with children, more intergenerational sharing, more service. It is our hope that the new Meetinghouse will help us move toward this vision of a more vibrant, more deeply connected community.

We witness to our Quaker faith corporately and individually through service to our own and the wider community. The Meeting does not have a formal Committee of Care; however, those in need of care are identified for outreach by Ministry and Counsel. There is a sense among members and attenders that the Meeting is there for those in need or in crisis when support is needed. Friends in Roanoke and Lynchburg also support a large variety of social programs through direct volunteer activity and through the Meeting’s budget. One-third of our operating budget is dedicated to Peace and Social Justice projects, a commitment which has allowed us to accomplish a great deal.

While we are separated by distance from Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Friends General Conference, we have members serving on BYM and FGC committees, and one who works for the camping program. These ties, along with our hosting traveling Friends, help to connect us with the wider Quaker community as does our participation in the regional, yearly Blue Ridge Gathering.

State of the Meeting discussions in Lynchburg and Roanoke ended with the question, “If you had to choose a metaphor to describe your experience of Meeting, what would it be and why?” Here is a sampling of the responses:

• Our Meeting is like a big house, with lots of different people living in it. The residents love and respect each other even though they may be very different from each other.
• We are a way station in the wilderness.
• The Meeting is a watering hole that satisfies a deep thirst and draws many different animals from miles around.
• The Meeting is a swimming pool where when one person is swimming it is somewhat mystical. When a team is in the pool, it is full of life and energy. The pool is simply there, for all to use in the way and time that fills their needs.
• Each of us is a book. Out in the world, one often has little time to do anything except glance at the cover. Here we can learn what is inside the cover.
• Meeting for worship is like a quiet walk in the woods. It’s always interesting and sometimes there are wonderful surprises.

2012 Report (including report of Lynchburg Indulged Meeting)

How does the Spirit prosper among us? How does our Meeting ensure that ministry is nurtured, and that members and attenders are cared for?

During Meeting for Worship, we settle into a deep sense of presence and listening. The peaceful quietness means so much in this hectic-paced world, opening a space in which we hope to hear what the Spirit may speak to us through the ministry of another or in our own hearts. Messages less from the head than the heart are moving and often build on each other.

We have had discussions about vocal ministry in adult religious education following meeting for worship. We nurture the meeting and vocal ministry by building a spiritually grounded and caring community. We want to know each other better, to support each other both personally and in developing and using the individual gifts of ministry that each has. A spirit of openness, helpfulness, and welcoming envelopes all. Friendliness sparkles in the fellowship that follows worship. Our growing numbers and supportive atmosphere reflect a prospering collective spirit.

What supports the life of the Spirit in our meeting Community? What challenges and troubles are we facing? In what ways is the Meeting less than we would wish it to be?

Our desire to listen deeply for Spirit’s leadings as we consider business in the context of worship opens us to spiritual growth both personally and as a Meeting. These Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business are well attended, even by new attenders.

The active participation of so many on committees supports the life of the meeting. The scope and effectiveness of our various committees is impressive. Working with each other through the Quaker process in our committees enriches our community's growth in the Spirit.

Our meeting has been searching for a Meeting House or land to build one on. We have not yet found a dwelling that meets our needs. This search is taking a long time but the process has helped us develop as a meeting community.

At least for the present, we face no major troubles. Our Meeting is very much in unity with caring, tranquility and vitality prevailing, thanks in no small measure to effective shepherding by our Meeting Clerk and committee clerks.

How is the presence of Spirit manifested in our lives, individually and as a meeting community?

Service and community are manifestations of Spirit in action. Thanks to an effective committee structure, we are able to serve both our individual members in need of material or emotional support and the wider community through a variety of ways including service projects and public witness through vigils and letters to the editor.

We are intentional in offering opportunities for fellowship and spiritual development. We offer children's programming during adult worship every Sunday. Children are present during the opening and closing minutes of adult worship and occasionally offer vocal ministry, which is welcomed by the Meeting. We have adult religious education every month and have instituted a regular Pendle Hill pamphlet discussion. Smaller groups within the Meeting participate in Bible study, book discussions, potluck meals, sharing on Quaker topics, and spiritual formation. Members from our community together attended Godly Play training at Pendle Hill this year, and we have made the commitment to host Quaker Quest in the near future. Our religious education committee is a place not only for planning and evaluating programming but also for bonding among young parents in the Meeting. Our Meeting also contributes one third of our budget to the outside world. During 2012 we donated to 34 agencies and programs, Quaker and non-Quaker, which are witnessing to peace and social justice or are providing for basic needs.

How can we learn to welcome those in our Meeting with different concepts of God and find ways to support one another on our spiritual journey?

Our Meeting is open to many ways of seeing God. We have tried during the last year to provide opportunities for all to tell their stories so that we may learn from each other by listening, rather than by attempting to correct, refute or convert. We feel it is critical that all feel listened to and respected. We do not have a monopoly on the Light, though we are led to share the Light we do have which we know to be abundant and transforming. Although not a large meeting, we do have a broad theological scope including members who are traditional Christian believers, those who identify as agnostic, and many gradations between. While this diversity can bring challenges, it also makes for a rich tapestry of views grounded in our core belief: there is that of God in everyone.

2011 Report (including report of Lynchburg Indulged Meeting)

1. How does the Spirit prosper among you?
Evidence of the Spirit prospering among us is seen when regular attenders continue to return. Evidence is seen in the quality of both the silence and the messages that are given during the Meetings for Worship. There is a worshipful manner among us that continues during Meetings for Worship with Attention to Business each month, and during committee meetings and service projects. Evidence is also seen in our process of long-term planning and saving for a meetinghouse that will allow us to attract more individuals searching for a spiritual home. We see evidence of the Spirit when comfort and joy seem to settle upon us whenever we gather.

Our Meetings for Worship offer spiritual refreshment for those who attend, and many deeply grounded messages are shared. We are becoming more clearly grounded in Quaker process, which has nourished deep listening and patience toward one another when we have met to consider business. The small size of our Meeting helps us to know each other better. When we send out rays of love, we aspire to gentle generosity and simple compassion. A spirit of trust allows space for us to be who we are, and to accept others in the same manner.

Where there is love, there is God.

2. What supports the growth of the Spirit in our lives?
The growth of the Spirit in our lives is grounded in our conviction that all begins and ends in shared silence and in our being touched occasionally by ministries and moments of focused concern for each other. Attending Meeting for Worship, sharing our responses to readings and queries, and participating in Quaker gatherings, like our book group, enable us to be more attentive to the Spirit.

Involvement in committee work can be especially nourishing for one’s spiritual journey, and supports the growth of the Spirit in our lives. Those of us who participate in this work find it a valuable part of our own worship. Personal spiritual practices also support some members’ and attenders’ spiritual growth.

Learning from the good examples and witnessing of others, sharing our difficulties as we live in non-violence in the midst of a violent and often hostile world, and experiencing the courage to face darkness or discord when it arises all support the growth of the Spirit in our lives.

3. How is the presence of the Spirit manifested in our lives individually and as a Meeting community?
One Friend states that individual manifestations of the Spirit are often fleeting, “but as I learn to slow down to see and hear the Spirit, I am reminded that I am a part of Spirit, whether I am distracted and unaware, or whether I am feeling my place within Spirit. Within the community, the Spirit speaks through words and inflections of caring love.”

Another feels the presence of Spirit individually manifested “when I am able to be present… open and trusting in difficult times, and when I feel the joy of communion with family and friends…”

Another person says, “I hope my own responses to people and situations in my daily life manifest the presence of Spirit. The more deeply grounded I am, through my prayer practices and spiritual reading, the more I believe I am able to allow Spirit to work through me. I think our day-to-day interactions with others are the most significant reflections of Spirit’s effect upon our lives.”

When we show concern, and when we give time and resources to others, we express our belief in “that of God in all of us.” As a community, Spirit is manifested in how we care for one another, in how we enjoy not only our worshiping together, but also when we break bread together, sing together, visit one another, hike together, and share our joys and sorrows.

4. How do we as a Meeting appear to ourselves and to others, and how do we wish to be seen?
Our Meeting has been growing slowly. We are sensitive to the need to preserve our closeness and to support each other. We are working toward a greater presence in the larger community. As one Friend states, “We wish to be more widely known and of greater numbers, thus enriching the collective Spirit and allowing for a more significant role as we serve the common good.”

We would like our growth to include young people, especially young families with children. We want to be a Meeting of caring and love in which everyone can feel welcome and find a place among us. Through our Peace and Social Justice work, we are supportive of sisters and brothers in the wider world. We are committed to core values as embodied in our testimonies. May we approximate ever more closely this ideal.

5. How have we recognized and addressed (or failed to address) issues that have caused difficulties among us?
Overall, this year has been one of general peace and goodwill within the Meeting. Many friends have commented on how nourishing and helpful they have found their association with our Meeting to be. We have addressed as sensitively as possible the issues that have come to our attention.

Under the guidance of the Clerk, the Meeting has gradually reached unity on the matter of seeking a Meeting home. The search for a home of our own is being conducted in a careful manner. Our Meetinghouse Committee has helped us move along with their thorough research and frequent reporting to the Meeting. The opportunity arose to purchase benches from the Dunnings Creek Meeting in southern Pennsylvania. Our decision to buy the benches could have been divisive, but we were sensitive to one another and came to unity.

All in all, our Meeting has much to celebrate as we try to live our lives in openness to the Spirit.