The life of the Spirit has been nurtured in several ways during the past year. Last winter, three "worship-sharing" groups concentrated on the topics "Joy," "Responsibility," and "Soul." In the Spring, a member of the First Day School Committee led three learning sessions on the Bible, so that those of us needing knowledge could become better informed and then teach the children. From September to the present a dedicated Friend has led an "Early Morning Discussion Group." The purpose is "to foster our spiritual growth by exploring aspects of Quaker history, faith and practice." Young adults of the Meeting feel that they are a real part of Friends. Teachers urge them to join the adults at the rise of Meeting for sharing and announcements. We at Wilton Meeting look forward to more ways of nurturing the Spirit within us, which is felt so strongly as we gather in silent worship.

One hundred and twenty-six members are on our NYYM roll, but, alas, many of them are never seen or heard. Overseers are trying to get in touch with those "missing" to ask how they view their relationship to Wilton Meeting. Our concern is for those who have stopped coming to Meeting. Ministry & Counsel, with help from the Meeting as a whole, has committed to reach them to be sure that they know they are missed. Attendance at Worship is 12-40 and at Business Meetings fewer than 15. Attendance seems lower this year, especially in the summer.

Our meeting does not feel bound by an either/or approach to faith and its multiple expressions. Tolerance and an open, inquiring attitude seem to result more in a "both/and" feeling that we are all enriched through the varying ways in which our deep faith is expressed. The Early Morning Discussion Group's explorations help us to find unity in diversity. When the spirit speaks to us through individual messages in Meeting, it seems that we choose words that can be understood and accepted by all, that the spirit is one; and we find that it is up to us to hear the message and to interpret it to fit our understanding and needs. This approach has led to virtually no noticeable conflicts over the expression of faith among our members.

People of varying lifestyles are an enrichment to our Meeting. Anyone who is unhappy constitutes a challenge to all of us as we try to support them. Lack of understanding of the availability of a structure to respond to grief or trouble gives rise to the question of whether we can be available for others. Homogeneity does not seem to be stressed here. One of us put it well: Let us continue to practice the invitation on our sign--All Welcome.

A major outreach of Wilton Meeting this past year has been its sanctuary work and family. Most of the effort is made by a small number of individuals. This effort has forged close ties with members of a number of congregations in Wilton and nearby towns, as well as in the New England region, and to some extent nationally. An outstanding sharing came at the celebration of the first anniversary of our fellowship with the Rodgriguez family last June; representatives of ten congregations and other groups were among the speakers.

The Helen Gander Friends Nursery School remains a primary outreach, bringing parents of the community into cooperation with the Meeting and its ways. Sharing our facilities also contributes to that outreach.

We are concerned about lack of responsibility for and participation in Meeting activities, in our committees, and especially, our sanctuary testimony. We need to be more aware of specific ways we can contribute to any need. We must turn to our attenders more often.

In sum, Wilton Monthly Meeting is a small group of devoted Friends and attenders, all of whom experience tugs and pulls on their time and energy from many directions besides the Meeting. Few of us are serenely allotting our time. The Meeting means a great deal to many of us and it will benefit greatly when each of us recognizes how and when we can best serve it, and then proceeds to do so. 1987 was, after all, a year of growth for Wilton Meeting: not in numbers but in awareness. We have learned a bit more, at times joyously, at times painfully, of what it means to be Friends. We are called to regard our experiences as lessons in the religious education of our Meeting toward becoming better Friends.