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State of the Meeting 2010 |
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2009 has found the Meeting to be resilient and resolute after a very saddening previous year of deaths in our midst. We have continued some former initiatives, soled some questions we had raised, and stepped into new areas with enthusiasm. We continued our theme of study of Quaker thought, meeting in groups to read and discuss "The Amazing Fact of Quaker Worship", followed by "A Quaker Book of Wisdom". Although we have children in our Meeting only intermittently , we have developed a flexible First Day School program for children of all ages when they do come and a rotating group of teachers who volunteer for a month at a time to respond as needed. We now have three First Hour Programs, scheduled from 9 to 9:50 before regular Meeting for Worship. Poetry reading and discussion is on the first Sunday of each month; Sojourn talks (newly established this year) on the 2nd Sunday; and Music on the 4th Sunday. Traditionally, we have Monthly Meetings for Business in the spirit of Worship on the 3rd Sunday at the rise of Meeting. These programs have been very well attended and are important to us, not only being spiritually enriching, but strengthening to community. Our revitalized Peace and Social Concerns Committee has become very actively involved with the immigration detention center and courts in Tacoma. Some of us are regular immigration court observers. Recently our Meeting joined with a Unitarian-Universalist Church and Congregational Church in hosting a Breaking-Bread-and-Barriers potluck. It centered around a panel of speakers, legal and illegal, a lawyer who works with immigrants, and a former worker at the Tacoma Detention Center. A young man, Tobin Jacobrown, who with the blessing of Agate Passage Meeting, after several years of dialogue with the United States Selective Service System (SSS), decided to sue the government agency in Federal court to demand they recognize his claim to be a Conscientious Objector before he registers with the SSS. He requested that the Meeting provide some support to him in his suit and educational campaign. The Meeting formed a committee to help him reach clearness. A lawyer at the Washington, D.C. ACLU office is representing him in the case. In July they filed suit and within two months received word that the SSS wanted to settle out of court. Tobin and his lawyer have been working with the SSS to refine the language in a letter that is designed to recognize his claim to Conscientious Objection to all wars. With the official letter in his possession, his conscience will allow him to register. This is a precedent setting case. We intend to help Toby launch an educational campaign that will encourage other young men to demand such a letter from the SSS and reacquaint today's youth with the concept of Conscientious Objection to all wars. A group from Agate Passage Friends, with other volunteers, have gone to Kitsap County high schools to distribute information about Conscientious Objection to students. They hope to initiate discussion about both Conscientious Objection and the status of the law suit. In other actions members and attenders volunteered at "Canoe Journeys", a summer event in support of the Suquamish Tribe, and participated in the autumn CROP Walk Against Hunger. Although we are still concerned about the size and age of our Meeting, we have had a modest increase in new attenders as well as a return of some who have been away for awhile, adding much to our community. Sadly we have lost a most hard-working and weighty Quaker to a Meeting in the Washington, D.C., area. We have had people attending both Quarterly and Yearly Meetings, as well as a member on the Quarterly Continuing Committee. All in all, we feel that we are recovering from our sad 2008 with new energy and continuing devotion to our Quaker testimonies.
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