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Spring Friends Meeting 2014 Spiritual Condition Report
Approved by Spring Monthly Meeting on January 19, 2014

Spring Friends Meeting provides a supportive place for families to participate with others in fellowship and in reflection upon the mysteries of life, death and everything in between.  We appreciate opportunities for spiritual growth available in this community and the opportunity to serve and support one another.  Central to our worship is the concept that we are all called to be active participants, all capable of being led directly by the Spirit, and all able to help lead and support one another spiritually.  Although some popularly believe Friends abolished the ministry, we believe that Quakerism actually abolished the laity by making all people spiritual leaders, each in their own way.

We strive to be thoughtful, considerate and caring people, who genuinely love and respect each other; to be supportive without being overbearing; and to be challenging without being aggressive.  Spring Friends Meeting provides a quiet place in a loving community that respects and honors each person’s search for spiritual guidance.  The Meeting is especially important to us because it stands in contrast to, and provides relief from, a world where differences between people are often used as an excuse to create strife and intolerance.

We live in a time of rapid change and some of us have experienced unwelcome changes in our lives.  Through Spring Friends, the community and our relationship with each member, we find strength and stability in the love and support always present.  We strive to do what is possible to guide changes in a positive direction for others and ourselves.  This includes finding our way in the wider Quaker community in a manner that is mindful of God's love in our midst.  We are in the process of discernment regarding what the formation of a new yearly meeting in North Carolina means to us as members of both Piedmont Friends Fellowship (Friends General Conference) and North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Friends United Meeting).

Our compassion leads us not only inward but also towards reaching out in the best way to meet the needs of others.  We support equal rights for all people, making provision for the poor and the hungry, voting rights, immigration reform, and efforts to reduce violence in all its forms.  We want to persevere as gentle but resolute agents of change and we believe the means of seeking this change in accordance with the Quaker queries and testimonies is more important than the end results.  Through these means we have assisted the Alamance County Women's Resource Center in providing a former convicted female felon released from prison with GED tutoring, food, mentoring, and support; provided food and support for families in need at Spring in times of death, surgery, and sickness; continued to support Meeting member Kevin Muhanji, now living in Kenya as an ambassador and missionary for Quaker values; met with staff members of our Congressional delegation to discuss legislation to reduce gun violence; hosted the North Carolina Yearly Meeting Ministry and Counsel Committee Annual Meeting; made financial contributions to Quaker House, the Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre, Philippines Hurricane Relief, and Hospitality House, which provides aid to detainees of the Georgia detention center where Kevin Muhanji was held by U.S. immigration authorities; volunteered at the Peace Booth at the North Carolina State Fair; and donated food to the Chatham Outreach Alliance (CORA) Food Pantry.

Our convictions lead us in a direction that seeks to be agents of social change on behalf of the least among us.  We are lead by the Spirit to do so.


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