In the spring, worship-sharing groups met at the homes of members in adjacent towns.

In the fall, Ministry & Counsel Committee sponsored a four-meeting series entitled "More Than Just an Hour on Sunday," focusing on such subjects as "What happens at Meeting for Worship," and "What is worship sharing."

Thoughtful time was spent on the revision of Advice and Queries in "Faith and Practice," as well as revising Wilton Meeting's welcome piece, "An Invitation to Worship," now called "Friends' Worship."

Stands taken on Friends principals

Early in 1986 the Meeting began to consider seriously the possibility of offering public sanctuary to undocumented refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador who face serious risk of being returned by the United States government to their homelands and of being tortured and killed when they arrive. We viewed a videotape called "The New Underground Railroad" and discussed the subject with friends from the Albany, NY, and Hartford Meetings, which were already offering sanctuary, and among ourselves. On March 23rd Meeting adopted a Minute declaring ourselves a sanctuary Meeting, becoming the 300th congregation in the nation to take this action. Our reasons are as follows:

Our first responsibility is to God. We are also responsible for the polices and practices of our government. We believe that our declaration of sanctuary and the steps we shall take to implement it serve both responsibilities. Though they conflict with current governmental interpretation of certain civil and criminal statutes, we believe they accord with the law of the land as well as international law. If not, so be it. As a community of conscience seeking to serve God, we can o no less than we now undertake.

We welcomed Alma, Roberto, and Adrian Rodriguez into sanctuary at a glorious service on June 29, with clergy and lay persons from the community, Hartford Meeting and Riverside Church in New York City participating. Alma is from El Salvador, Beto is from Guatemala, and their son Adrian was born in Texas. Summer was a quiet time of consolidation while the family lived at the Meeting House accompanied around the clock for Friends and people from the community. From September until mid-December the Rodriguezes maintained a vigorous schedule, speaking before dozens of congregations and student groups. They also visited Congressman John Rowland, Fifth District, and gave numerous press and radio interviews.

While not everyone at Meeting is comfortable with the alleged illegality of what we are doing, sanctuary is very affirmative for us both within the Meeting and in the larger community, as we continue to help Alma and Beto to carry their message to citizens of the Northeast who do not know much about our government's policies toward refugees from Central America.

Relations with community and other religious groups

Peace and Service Committee continues to support issues of concern to Friends locally, nationally, and internationally, and brings these concerns to the attention of the Meeting. In 1986 activities included collecting, sorting, and distributing clothing, toys, and household items for a local church's "free clothes" house, a refugee center in upstate New York, and a small town in Nicaragua. One member faithfully performs the chore of seeing that the men in a shelter in Norwalk have clean blankets. Much time and energy were spent working with the Sanctuary Committee. In addition, members continue to participate in vigils and demonstrations and to keep letters going, on behalf of the Meeting, to Congressmen on issues such as arms control and against intervention in Central America.

The Meeting continues to offer families in the community an excellent nursery school, held in the Meeting House building. An AA group continues to use the library once a week for its meeting. There is a three-week summer program for children, run by a teacher from the nursery school.

Personal and family relations

Members keep in touch by visits and letters with an elderly member of our Meeting now living at the McCutcheon Home in North Plainfield, New Jersey. To honor a man and his wife, long associated with the Meeting as Treasurer and Overseer, and to celebrate his recovery from a long illness, a well-attended and loving-spirited potluck was held.

The Meeting continued to support Margaret Mudanyi, a Friend from Kenya, in her nursing program studies in Houston until August, when she returned to Africa to marry a Tanzanian she had met in Houston. She also was worried about her mother's illness. The final check from the Meeting helped to cover an operation for her mother.

A few members of the Sewing Group continue to turn out work that is sent to AFSC in Philadelphia for distribution.

In June about fifteen members of Wilton Meeting went to Powell House together with a focus on the Sanctuary issue and accompanying problems. One session centered on imaging the future of Wilton Meeting.

In all, a full year, with a large portion of our energies devoted to sanctuary.