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1420 Hill Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 | 734-761-7435|Clerk: Laura Lein, clerks@annarborfriends.org
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from the Committee on Ministry and Counsel
Ann Arbor Friends Meeting
Minute Following Worship Sharing on LEYM Queries 2013
On January 25, 2013, twenty-five Friends gathered for fellowship, a simple supper, and worship sharing on the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting queries. Co-clerk Susan Hartman read queries 1, 3, and 2 and we settled into silence.
In the early part of our worship, Friends expressed gratitude for the strength and support of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting. From this foundation, we welcomed the opportunity to think together about the future – as individuals, as part of the Friends’ community, and as part of the world.
Moved by the quote attributed to Gandhi, “the means are the ends in the making,” we reflected on how worshiping together provides guidance to us. We considered how we are moved to act in the world, to respond to challenges such as climate change. We feel a strong sense that Friends have an opportunity to act as models in this area. Among us, there is both appreciation for the support we feel in acting in the world and also a yearning for more collective, corporate social action. The needs of the world – communities close to home and those more distant – call us. We seek the guidance of each other and of the spirit as we respond.
We reflected on the many ways we have, as a meeting, worked to become more intergenerationally cohesive. Through our fall retreat, First Day School, and activities such as the upcoming meeting for worship that the children in First Day School will lead, we are strengthening connections. We hope we will have more opportunities for families and children to help lead the Meeting. We value all members of our community; in meeting for worship, the two-year-old and the eighty-year-old can both be moved to dance.
Recognizing that young people are interested in spirituality, equality, and the environment, we must seek ways to share our leadings in these areas. In this busy world, sharing our experience of centering stillness and how it shapes our social action may resonate with others. In that moment, in the light of expectant waiting, we are clear of personal history and knowledge; we are open. We carry this forward by practice, by being open and by following the light.
We have all received immense gifts from our Meeting and have a responsibility to let others know that they, too, can partake of this. We must reach out and warmly welcome those who visit us.
1420 Hill Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 | 734-761-7435|Clerk: Laura Lein, clerks@annarborfriends.org
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