At our next Quaker discussion on November 19th, we will discuss our spiritual state of the meeting for 2017. The queries offered by Baltimore Yearly Meeting this year are:
- What are your greatest joys as a Meeting? What leadings does your Meeting feel most strongly? What challenges and troubles are you facing? In what ways is the Meeting less than you might wish it to be?
- How does your Meeting nurture the spiritual life of members and attenders? How deep are your Meetings for Worship? Are Meetings for Business held in a spirit of worship?
- Over the past year in our country we have become increasingly aware of those things that divide us rather than those that unite us. Many “isms” (e.g., racism, nationalism, ageism, sexism) and political-ideological issues (e.g., environment, social justice, women’s rights, refugee crisis, immigration, etc.) have come to the forefront. In this contentious environment, how has your meeting explored those issues that divide us and/or attempted to listen across the divide?
We do not have to answer all of these queries. We do not have to limit ourselves to these queries. We do not have to limit ourselves to queries at all. If you have any suggestions for or against queries, please post them here or email the presiding clerk.