Introduction:

To assist in the preparation of this year’s State of the Society Report the Monthly Meetings of New York Yearly Meeting were asked to consider the following queries.

1. In what ways does the Spirit heal, renew and uplift the life of your Meeting?
2. How does the Spirit illuminate Friends’ search for truth in your Meeting?

This labor by our member meetings was approached from as many ways as there are meetings, and yet many common themes emerged. The following brief overview attempts to capture some of the spirit of these communications as interpreted by the Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Counsel. It also includes some thoughts on the view from the Yearly Meeting perspective, as that too is reflective of the present State of our Society. All quotations are taken verbatim from the Monthly Meeting reports and are included without attribution.

The State of the Society

A Summary of Monthly Meeting Reports
As interpreted by The Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Counsel

At present there are 66 Monthly Meetings in the New York Yearly Meeting family, and 50 submitted State of Society reports in time to be included here. Some meetings are large, strong, and financially secure; others are small and just holding on. Most find their present condition to be somewhere between these margins, and all express shared experiences of the Spirit and Its workings.

Many Friends write of struggles with shrinking membership bringing increasing responsibility and a feeling of scattered busyness, and some write of gratitude for expanding membership and the challenge of maintaining a sense of deep community in a larger group. Many write of concern at the absence of young members, and some write of the joy of large and vital youth programs. We hear gratitude for old and historic meetinghouses while others search for adequate facilities in which to meet. Some enjoy the quality of worship in members’ homes, as did early Friends. We hear of the gift of diversity and of efforts to reconcile differences between members. The sense of the reports is that fellowship, patience, and openness in listening allow us to know each other at a deeper level and that we may then begin to witness the presence of God within and among us. Many of us have found healing and a renewed sense of the presence of the divine in the tender care and support of Friends for each other in difficult times. We also hear of group study of scripture and other inspirational literature and of the unity such study brings.

Many meetings write of the impact and influence of life’s passages, of deaths and of births, marriages, aging, illness, and the miracle of healing. One offered this verse:

We hear voices of the past
And weep, as they grow more
faint.
We see voices of the future
In smiles, fights, friendship and
tears.

It is clear that prison ministries and the meetings “inside” are places of growth, faith, struggle, and transformation. Those Friends were led to write: “We seek the light within each of us and we find the truth, no matter the mode or shape in which it is clothed.” “The Spirit is also a common center which gives wholeness to our meeting and the opportunity to learn about one another.”

Our members who reside within prison walls bear witness to Friends beliefs and testimonies, and they are but one example of outreach efforts across our region. This outreach extends to the wider “Quaker” community and its many organizations as well as to other religious groups and to local communities in which the meetings reside. Many meetings write of their efforts to abolish the death penalty or of the Friends Peace Teams Project or of work with Native Americans and their concerns.

We hear the voices and ministry of our member meetings in these words: “The Spirit, manifesting itself continually, opens doors and windows for us as we search for what is good, for what is true.” “The Spirit is always working and available to us, allowing us to be transformed into the people we were meant to be.” “It’s the light of the Spirit that gives us the courage to enter this darkness because the light of spirit brings the light of truth.” “Through the workings of this religious community, God’s truth can become known to each of us.”

Most meetings write of the centrality of Meeting for Worship in their lives and fellowship. Friends share that “it is humbling to have learned that the Spirit will not disappoint those who wait as empty vessels at the well.” From another report, “The meeting for worship is experienced as an oasis – a place to center, to seek, to reflect and to be healed.” From other Friends, “Through vocal ministry we become more connected. The sharing of our spiritual leadings empowers the life of the meeting.” From others, “The search for Truth IS the search for the Spirit: it’s hard to separate them.” From another meeting, “Meeting for worship is a sanctuary, a protected space, and here we may witness mystery.”

We are a large extended family of believers who often have little awareness of our distant cousins in the other meetings of the Yearly Meeting. Also, many of us have little awareness of the annual “family reunion” and the organization behind it, the Yearly Meeting itself. Though we share a common heritage and belief that the Holy Spirit unites us, we often struggle alone and celebrate alone, perhaps forgetting that our founders called for “a great people to be gathered.” At the beginning of the 21st century we need to explore ways to know one another better, to support one another better, and then better share with the world the testimonies that inspire and sustain our good work.