How is the Spirit manifested in your ministry to each other?

Spirit manifesting in or ministry to each other feels like magic! When the Spirit is present, a different, more thoughtful quality to our Meeting friendships is perceived in our active search for truth and love, openness, understanding, respect and acceptance of the uniqueness of our individual journeys. Our vocal ministry in Meeting often seems to speak to hitherto unspoken concerns in ways that indicate the presence of the Spirit over us all. We are working on becoming better listeners.

How do you minister to newcomers?

"Getting to know you" reflects the quality of our Meeting in ministering to newcomers. It is so easy, so simple to smile and extend a hand in welcome and friendship. We become aware of unfamiliar faces and introduce them to others, sharing in hospitality. If they need transportation, we try to find someone who lives near them. Our library is open to them and we help them select books that pertain to their special interests and concerns. We have prepared questionnaires that they can pick up at our guest book table, and we plan to have some pamphlets available there to introduce Quakerism to the general public.

How do you minister to non-attending members and others not central to the regular activities of the meeting?

Meeting feels that we should not make a distinction between active and non-active Friends. The telephone tree and Ministry and Counsel, for example, try to reach all the people at least once a year and to follow-up and offer support when there are problems. We regret that we do not do enough in this area of ministry. We need to establish procedures such that everyone becomes central to the activities of the Meeting. Among the suggestions for improving our concern in this matter are: Listen and share/Be kind and enthusiastic/Call or write those who come to Friends Meeting once in a while, and particulary those who can no longer attend.

How do you specifically minister to the children of your meeting?

Our chief organized ministry is, of course, First Day School; and a few members work very hard to maintain the school. We need to help those workers not feel isolated from the Meeting as a whole. Recently, the school has been reaching out to other members as short term and ad hoc teachers, getting us all more involved and giving the regular teachers a chance to join the main body of Meeting for worship. Meeting feels great joy when vocal ministry arises while children are still present, before they have left for First Day School. In addition, many members make special individual efforts to reach out to children outside of the First Day School format. Invitations to teenagers to be Greeters and joint programs with children and adults have helped us to become more aware of the valuable input of our younger Friends. We are careful to show love and respect for children as persons in the life of the Meeting.

What is the nature of your relationship with other meetings in your Quarter or region and with Yearly Meeting?

In general, Wilton Meeting members seem to have little or no relationship with other Meetings in our quarter. Our interaction seems to be focused mostly on our Quarterly (Purchase) Meeting. Many people regret this minimal interaction. Our peripheral nature to the New York area meetings is not a new problem, and is due partly to the travel distance, since we are on the outskirts of the Yearly Meeting boundary. Suggestions to increase our contact with other Quakers include asking SPARK to include material from Wilton Meeting in their publication, and advertising the value of the wonderful summer program at Lake George, the site of the annual New York Yearly Meeting gathering.

Do you visit others and do others visit you? What effect have visits (or the lack of it) had on your Meeting?

Visitation with other Meetings, though enriching and enlivening, has not occurred often enough. We may need organized encouragement. Wilton Meeting also feels the need to visit among ourselves, to meet each other where we live. The opening-up required to visit is a gift-risk our spirit recognizes.

How can we improve our Quaker Ministry in our world?

This may be the toughest question of all. Clearly our Peace and Service Committee bears the brunt of the burden in this area. But our Quaker Ministry can try to teach more about the sacredness of life and to expand our efforts to reach out to all racial groups and spiritual traditions. Even more important, many of us feel that we must take some of what we find so enriching on First Days into our daily lives, our work, and our communities. It is good to feel that we can talk about our faith to fellow workers and acquaintances. In addition, the Meeting sponsors the Helen Gander Friends Nursery School. Some of us participate in Christmas in April home renovations; some contribute meals to soup kitchens; and some participate in AVP and various peace witness activities. Our support of organizations such as FCNL, AFSC, NYYM, and NYYM Sharing Fund could, perhaps, be greater. Meeting feels the need to participate more in all of these - and other - activities. But the biggest improvement we can do is to improve ourselves and to care, listen, and share and live our lives in such a way that they set examples to others - inspiring the sharing and spreading of Quaker beliefs and testimonies wherever we go.