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STATE
OF THE MEETING REPORT, SUMMER 2002
AGATE
PASSAGE PREPARATIVE MEETING P. O. Box 1821 We meet at Seabold Community Hall on
Bainbridge Island the first three Firstdays of the month and in
individual homes on the 4th (and possibly) 5th
Firstdays of each month. This
allows us to enjoy common space at Seabold Hall, while treasuring the
times we meet in each other’s homes.
On the occasional 5th Firstday of the month, we meet
in N. Kitsap homes to allow for easier accessibility for those who live
in this area. Several
members also attend University Friends Meeting. Meetings for Worship for Business are held at Seabold Hall
every other (odd numbered) month on the 3rd Firstday. Ed Sheridan is our clerk, Barbara Morrison our treasurer, Millie Royce our recording clerk, Bob Royce our newsletter editor and web clerk. Our Ministry and Oversight committee is composed of Judy Brown, Bob Major, Diana Sheridan and Lisa Down. They attend to the quality of worship, questions of clearness and life transitions. Craig Jacobrown is our clerk for Peace and Social Concerns. Our meeting website is http://www.agatepassagefriends.org During this past year we have transitioned from our long held status as a Worship Group to that of Preparative Meeting status. In the summer and fall of 2001 we decided, using a process of consensus building, that we would like to apply for Monthly Meeting status within North Pacific Yearly Meeting. We began this process by calling a threshing session in which each person present had a chance to express himself or herself about the issue. Bill Matchett from UFM came to that meeting to help us with our thinking. We did not, of course, make a decision at that threshing session, but at the next business meeting we talked again about our long history as a worship group, and how we felt we had already gone through the process of becoming a Preparative Meeting. At that meeting we achieved consensus and then wrote the letter to UFM’s Worship Group Oversight Committee asking for Monthly Meeting status. During the early part of 2002 we met with the UFM’s Worship Group Oversight Committee, discussed our history, our readiness and our commitment to go forward with this transition to Monthly Meeting status. The Oversight Committee found our decision to be worthy of their positive recommendation, and our request was brought forward at two successive UFM Business meeting. The Meeting found our request to be timely and well founded, and they positively recommended us to the Pacific Northwest Quarterly Meeting. On April 27, 2002 the Quarterly Meeting accepted the recommendation of University Friends Meeting and accepted our request for becoming the Agate Passage Preparative Meeting. A Visitation Committee, clerked by
Ann Stever, was formed and we have been meeting with them during the
summer, informally and formally as they get to know our Preparative
Meeting. Other members
include Della Walker of the Port Townsend Meeting, George Kenny of the
Tacoma Meeting, Leni Skarin of the Yakima Valley Worship Group and Alan
Mountjoy-Venning of the Olympia Friends Meeting. As they proceed with their consultation to our Preparative
Meeting, the Visitation Committee attended our Business Meeting on July
21, 2002. Our hour of worship continues to
feel deep and meaningful, with vocal ministry sometimes bountiful,
sometimes just a word or two. Youth
join our worship for the first fifteen minutes and then participate in
activities in another area. They
return to join the circle at the rise of meeting.
New attenders are adding to the richness of our worship, and our
spirit is strong. Our
growth as a Preparative Meeting group is continuing to broaden and
deepen. The meanings we find in worship are being expressed individually and collectively in various ways:
Ø
Adult Study and Spiritual Enrichment
The adult
study group meets the hour before worship.
During the fall and winter of 2001-02 they studied and discussed Quaker
Faith & Practice: The Book of Christian Discipline of the Yearly
Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain.
Gayle Henry introduced this book to the study group and co-facilitated
the discussion, along with other participants.
A group of
women in our Worship Group began the Vein of Gold group several years
ago. On a regular basis they meet to achieve clearness on personal
and spiritual development, and to provide for mutual support.
Ø
Peace and Social Concerns
Several
members, including Craig Jacobrown, Alexis Karageorge, and Jerry Rice,
have organized and facilitated a Council of All Beings.
The Council serves as a way for members and others in the Kitsap
community to get involved in creatively engaging in social issues.
Millie and Bob Royce continue to keep us informed and linked to
the Si La Vida Center for Homeless Boys in Nicaragua, while Bob Royce
continues as our representative to Friends Committee for Washington Public
Policy. Both these projects
have also had our financial support.
People from out group are also foster-parenting, working with
troubled or at risk children, addressing environmental problems locally
and nationally, talking with state legislators about prison reform,
taking active roles in local community groups, participating in peace
vigils, and the list continues. All this activity remains grounded
in our worship and in our growing sense of community.
As we worship, study and work together, enjoy Christmas and
Easter celebrations together, gather for conversation and coffee after
worship or bump into each other unexpectedly, and even as we carry on
our private and separate lives, the bond of fellowship and spirit
connecting us is a tangible presence. Ed Sheridan, Clerk, Agate Passage Preparative Meeting 7/24/02 |
