{"id":2427,"date":"2016-03-11T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T14:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2019-01-11T09:41:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T14:41:12","slug":"aspirations-for-durham-friends-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=2427","title":{"rendered":"Aspirations for Durham Friends Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>March 2016<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, Durham Friends Meeting held a series of Visioning sessions to better understand who we are and where we would like to go as a Quaker Meeting.\u00a0 \u00a0At the end, the Committee on Ministry and Counsel drafted the following statement of our aspirations.\u00a0 It describes seven aspects or faces of our Meeting\u00a0 that state <em>who we are<\/em>.\u00a0 With each, it identifies (a) what we are currently doing and (b) our hopes for the future.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Circle of Friends; admire, encourage, love each other.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pastoral care team<\/li>\n<li>Durham Young Friends<\/li>\n<li>Occasionally support\/clearness committees for individuals.<\/li>\n<li>Contemplative prayer group<\/li>\n<li>Women\u2019s Society<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Going forward; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Repeat Visioning session( s)<\/li>\n<li>Friendly Dinners and discussions to bring up some good ideas and become more familiar.<\/li>\n<li>Improve our follow up with visitors\/seekers ? could greeters attend to a new person during the coffee hour?<\/li>\n<li>Is Pastoral care team able to meet the needs that arise? communication, organization?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong> Learning community of truth seekers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Message bringers from within Durham Mtg and wider Quakerism, as well as pastor.<\/li>\n<li>Our present pastor is a great fit and part time seems to be working for all.<\/li>\n<li>Have some\/need more newer people on committees, at business meeting.<\/li>\n<li>Continue variety of spirit centered gatherings; adult Sunday school, Contemplative prayer, midweek worship, Godly play.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Going forward; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Outreach to seekers\/engagement w\/ seekers.<\/li>\n<li>The work formerly done by publicity committee\u2026.visibility in the media.<\/li>\n<li>Knowledge of Bible, Quaker testimonies and history.<\/li>\n<li>Expand our spiritual language to be inclusive of other beliefs, as well as Christianity.<\/li>\n<li>Need Webmaster to update\/ recreate webpage, Facebook.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03. Growing community; playful, joyful living in challenging world.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Orienting\/engaging newer members\/attenders.<\/li>\n<li>Excellent youth pastor, youth group and Godly play.<\/li>\n<li>Outdoor play equipment assembled, available w\/ supervision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Going forward; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improve Facebook, webpage presence.<\/li>\n<li>Best ways to meet needs of young children during Meeting for Worship.<\/li>\n<li>Provide opportunities for our young people to participate in meaningful service projects (intergenerational as well).<\/li>\n<li>Wendy may want help creating a Durham Friends banner, for activism\/ parades, to expand visibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong> Service community; individually, collectively.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>LACO, Tedford, Kakamega.<\/li>\n<li>A local 12step and environmental groups meet here.<\/li>\n<li>Joys &amp; concerns of individuals during worship.<\/li>\n<li>Announcements of local activism opportunities.<\/li>\n<li>Support in death &amp; dying.<\/li>\n<li>Carpooling, sharing\/trading items together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Going forward; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Exploration of further renewable energy project for our buildings( i.e. solar)<\/li>\n<li>Immigrant community outreach.<\/li>\n<li>Plan activism based on Quaker values to be local change makers.<\/li>\n<li>Banner<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><strong> Spiritual community; based on Quaker\/ Christian values and sense of the meeting.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Study and worship groups, variety of gatherings.<\/li>\n<li>Decisions at Monthly Meeting for Business\u2026when there are differences.<\/li>\n<li>We have a gifted and committed clerk.<\/li>\n<li>Member who serves Council of Churches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Going forward; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Continue our education and engagement w\/ concepts like racism and white privilege.<\/li>\n<li>Start meeting for worship, for business and M&amp;C w\/ query from Quaker roots.<\/li>\n<li>Our involvement in local (nonmember) groups, to be available for inquiries.( i.e.. Bowdoin College, 7pm in the Chapel on Wednesdays)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><strong> Tolerant and humble community; welcoming new ways of understanding God, blended with our traditional beliefs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sunday potluck programs often educate and encourage .<\/li>\n<li>Continuing revelation a central tradition of Quakers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Going forward<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Continue to follow leadings; P&amp;SC and others.<\/li>\n<li>Continue creating space for openness and respect of other faith traditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li><strong> Responsible community; financial viability, stewardship of our land and buildings, good governance and clear communication.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Ongoing; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many projects completed in the last year( roof, outhouse,etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Offering coming directly from people\u2019s banks is helpful for consistency.<\/li>\n<li>Fundraising\/ publicity committee? Active<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Going forward; <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Consistently meet our budget with a pastor here.<\/li>\n<li>Clear reports on proposed projects to aid decision-making.<\/li>\n<li>Regular financial updates and education where ALL can see\/ hear\u2026.rise of Mtg?<\/li>\n<li>Cell tower project is in process, contract was signed.<\/li>\n<li>Fund raiser activities to support our meeting, as well as the nonprofits we support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 2016 In 2014, Durham Friends Meeting held a series of Visioning sessions to better understand who we are and where we would like to go as a Quaker Meeting.\u00a0 \u00a0At the end, the Committee on Ministry and Counsel drafted &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=2427\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-monthly-meeting-minutes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rLvf-D9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2429,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions\/2429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}