Westport Friends Meeting

State of Society 2006

Westport Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends
2006 State of Society

To consider the state of our Society this year we met in worship holding this query: Where is that of God in our worship, our daily lives, and our community?”

We believe that the state of our worship is strong. Meeting for worship is vitally important to our daily lives. It gives us an opportunity to become re-centered in living our lives true to God’s word. Guiding vocal ministry is welcome, but we do not feel the need to fill the hour. We also sit in silence with a sense of joyful expectancy—and at times with a sense of being challenged—but always feeling safe, as members of our community within the family of God.

Worshipful silence and the peace testimony are components of many types of spirituality: Quaker, Buddhist, secular. But what is it about our worship and testimonies that makes them uniquely Quaker? We are challenged to discern more deeply where this specifically Quaker spirituality comes from. We know that simply attending meeting for worship does not make one a Friend, no matter how deep the experience of worship. Being a Friend means embodying God’s revealed love through our lives. Being a Friend means understanding the spiritual and historical source of this worship. Being a Friend means making a commitment to the life of the meeting community, making time and space to nurture the bonds that we cherish so much during worship. We are reminded that newcomers to the meeting may need these connections more explicitly articulated.

There is much that we do well, yet we know we can go deeper together. How do we capture the same depth and refreshment that we experience in worship in our other work together as a faith community? We are challenged to break down the boundaries between our life in formal worship and our daily lives. Are we Spirit-led in our everyday and often unexciting work not only as members of our meeting, but in our families, our circles of friends, and the wider world?

Approved, March 18, 2007