Appendix B: State of the Meeting Reports

Asheville Monthly Meeting
Athens Monthly Meeting
Atlanta Monthly Meeting
Berea Monthly Meeting
Birmingham Monthly Meeting
Boone Monthly Meeting
Brevard Monthly Meeting
Celo Monthly Meeting
Chattanooga Monthly Meeting
Charleston Monthly Meeting
Cleveland Worship Group
Columbia Monthly Meeting
Cookeville Worship Group
Crossville Monthly Meeting
Foxfire Monthly Meeting
Greenville Monthly Meeting
Huntsville Monthly Meeting
Memphis Monthly Meeting
Nashville Monthly Meeting
New Moon Worship Group
Swannanoa Monthly Meeting
West Knoxville Monthly Meeting

(pagination may differ from the original)

Asheville Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report
 Sixth Month, 2002  
       
	As has doubtless been the case with other Friends meetings during the past year, Asheville's worship and action has been deeply inflected by ongoing events. One of our members was called to bear witness by accepting arrest and confinement in protest conducted against the use of the island of Vieques as a bombing range. Other members of Meeting reacted to the events of 9/11 by joining other faith groups in reaching out to our neighbor Muslim community with assistance and support. The attack upon the Taliban inspired some Meeting members to engage in public vigils for peace.  
         
	Meanwhile, the Meeting has engaged in prayerful and sedulous consideration of the ways in which our Quaker testimonies relate to our present national condition. Out of these communal processes has come a statement of "concern" which has united us in the conviction that we all have "the capacity to access" the " infinite Source of unrelenting love in the universe" in seeking "new ways to apply our commitment to nonviolence" and "to corporate and individual actions." To this end, we are developing a list of proposed actions which would be practicable, meliorative in their effects and unifying for the Meeting. Given the range of perceptions of our country's situation that can be found among us, this is not a simple task.  
                  
	The life of the Meeting continues in its usual ways. Our monthly newsletter is generally about ten pages long and provides members with a print forum for discussion of their spiritual and social concerns as well as the record of meeting minutes. While individual contributions to it frequently enrich us with inspirational messages, it is not unusual to find opinions expressed which bring varied insights to controversial matters.  
        
	The Meeting has experimented with different ways of introducing our young people to Meeting for Worship and efforts to promote inter-generational experience continue. Several attenders of Quaker colleges from among our youth are given assistance. The First Day school members regularly conduct their own Meetings for Worship and Business and their minutes appear along with the Meeting's in the newsletter. Among their undertakings have been those which supported Hospice, the animal shelter, UNICEF, the local "Mother Love" project and some of our youth have worked for the "Manna Food Bank" and Habitat for Humanity.  Plans are proceeding with due deliberation for the construction of an addition to the meetinghouse which would provide us with a more apposite and commodious worship space and free up room for First Day School activities.  
               
	The Meeting was pleased to assist members to receive the benefits of an experience at Pendle Hill and derived satisfaction from the fact that one of our members was instrumental in bringing a distinguished speaker to Asheville for the annual Martin Luther King Day celebration.  The Meeting hosted a two-day workshop and forum entitled "Non-violence In Personal and Political Life". Our regular forums, now called our spiritual enrichment program, deal with a wide range of issues and subjects from the death penalty to the rights of gays and Lesbians. Friendly Eights, our group dinner meetings, continue to serve the purposes of helping members become more "friendly" and of having opportunities for serious discussion of matters of concern. Fourteen Friends made a nine-month commitment to daily spiritual practice and to two meetings each month for a program, under the care of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, entitled "Spiritual Formation".  
              
	After prolonged consideration the Ministry and Oversight Committee concluded that its tasks would be more satisfactorily performed if it were bifurcated into a committee to be called Ministry and Worship and a second committee called Care and Counsel with responsibilities reflective of their titles.  
           
	We were saddened by the loss of two long-time Friends this year. They were Sarah Watson and Lucille Carlson. Four Friends were welcomed into membership and five Friends transferred their membership to our Meeting. There was an increase of about five in the number of persons who began to appear with some regularity at Meeting as attenders. At this point we have approximately 66 adult members. It is difficult to determine how many attenders we have but on a typical First Day the number is about ten to twenty per cent of the total.  
               
								Submitted by Hal Hogstrom, 
								Co-clerk

State of the Meeting Report
Athens (Georgia) Religious Society of Friends
Monthly Meeting of S.A.Y.M.A.
Sixth Month, 2002 (year 2001-2002)

We have experienced a difficult year, struggling with illness in ourselves, our families, and each other.  We have tried to provide mutual nurturing through the healing process.  
We are grateful for the efforts of our past clerk, Jason Lang, and our new co-clerks, Betsey Collins and Patricia Ridley.  Weekly attendance at meeting for worship ranges from 5 to 15. 
We welcomed several new members, some new to the meeting, and some long-time attenders.  Several cherished families left our meeting, moving from Athens this year.  Potluck lunches or dinners were held to welcome and wish farewell to those coming and going.  The meeting sends birthday and other special occasion cards to present and past members and attenders.  They are a joy to send and receive. 
Neighborhood and Community Involvement - We developed closer ties with our neighborhood by hosting an ice cream social last summer and by attending quarterly potlucks with Oconee Methodist Church.  Oconee Methodist owns the building where we meet and is located across the street from us.  We supported their efforts to renovate their kitchen, which is used to prepare free lunches for the community.  Together, we helped a trailer park resident move and find a new home as part of Athens’ effort to help displaced trailer park residents.  After much preparation, a sign announcing our presence has been erected in front of the Meetinghouse.  Now you can find us if you come to visit!  
We continue to be part of Faith Forum and the ARK, local faith group coalitions to provide for community support and action.  We held a garage sale to raise funds for a new public school Montessori class where one of our members is teaching. 
Religious/Personal Development - A series of discussions and presentations on caring for aging parents was held throughout the fall and winter.  Many of us benefitted from shared wisdom and outside speakers.  The only regret expressed was from a member who missed too many sessions due to time spent caring for her own aging parents.  
A number of us spent a fall weekend at Hard Labor Creek State Park for a retreat on the peace testimony.  We had discussions, watched the Friendly Persuasion video, shared dinner and a campfire.  The retreat closed with worship on first day. 
Our first day school attenders consist primarily of several older boys.  The boys studied JAVA, a computer programming language during the fall and winter.  Currently, first day school consists of joint gospel study/discussions with the adults once a month.  We have program materials and volunteers ready to serve new attenders.  One of our youths attends SAYF regularly.  First day school is working with the meeting to learn more about the situation in Columbia and to assemble peace kits for distribution by AFSC.  
Holidays - As has become traditional, the meeting held a Christmas party and wrapped presents to donate to a family we have sponsored for many years.  In addition to Christmas presents, we helped our sponsored family with a new gas heater and their gas bill.  Our Easter worship was held in two places:  at the meetinghouse and the State Botanical Garden as the weather was uncertain and so were we.  
Peace and Social Justice - We have gathered several times to write political letters, particularly about pending executions.  We share FCNL notices regarding urgent letter-writing actions.  Sarah Woodard from the Center for Development in Central America visited and we sponsored her talks and crafts sales over a 3-day period.
Communications and Networking - A group of friends from Clemson met with us for worship and second hour discussion.  We described our experience as a relatively recently formed small meeting.  
In addition to an almost-monthly newsletter, we maintain a web page and list serve at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Athens_quaker_list.

Atlanta Friends Meeting 
State of the Meeting Report 2001 
Declaration to Charles II, 1661: We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretence whatsoever. And this is our testimony to the whole world. The spirit of Christ by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it; and we do certainly know, and so testify to the world, that the spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdoms of this world. 
We continue our journey of seeking as a spiritual community, with even more questions. 
The events of September 11th have brought into sharp focus for many of us the importance of our Quaker testimonies in our lives. We are called to renew our commitment to a ‘righteous peace’ that begins with the examination of ourselves, and the true recognition of equality among all children of the Spirit. 
Ministry & Worship 
The Ministry & Worship Committee worked to nurture a vibrant, inclusive spiritual community which provides persons with differing and deeply held beliefs with an opportunity to worship together, seek the unity of the Light and a sense of common purpose. The Committee continued its efforts to welcome new members and attenders who find our worship and community a place to begin or continue their spiritual search. We continued to work to assist newcomers to learn more about Quakerism and to become part of our spiritual community. We encouraged vocal ministry in Meeting for Worship as led by the Spirit. 
During the year, Ron Nuse and Kathie Klein were welcomed into membership. Tom and Penny Baugh transferred their membership to the Chattanooga Meeting and Lorne and Beth Garretson transferred their membership to Sandy Spring Friends Meeting. Kathy Marth withdrew from membership. 
In April, Ministry and Worship sponsored a workshop by Richard Barnes on the topic of Unity among Friends in which he compared the beliefs and practices of Universalist and Christ-Centered Friends. The workshop was well attended and well received. The Committee successfully encouraged increased attendance at SAYMA and at the FGC Gathering since it was close by in Virginia. 
Ministry and Worship helped to implement a 9:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship which was an outgrowth of the Meeting's attempt to better address the needs of Meeting children and First Day School teachers. The 9:00 a.m. Meeting has since met routinely. The Committee worked with the Friend's School of Atlanta to bring Deborah Saunders to Atlanta to provide a workshop for Meeting First Day School students and adults. Her talk on creating a diverse spiritual community was especially timely in the wake of the events of September 11th. 
Ministry and Worship sponsored a celebration to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Meetinghouse and the 50th anniversary of the Meeting. The celebration was focused on recommitting ourselves to the Meeting and the work of Quakerism. Several long-term members of the Meeting who have moved away were able to attend and a peace pole donated by Elizabeth Hendrix was set in the grounds. 
At several points during the year Ministry and Worship was involved in consideration of ways to accommodate singing as part of worship. The Committee agreed to participate in an Earlham School of Religion study of vitality in Friends Meetings and will be seeking ways to use the resulting information to maintain the vitality of our Meeting. 
Oversight Committee 
The Oversight Committee has dealt with its usual tasks over the last year, including building and grounds maintenance, lessee and tenant relationships, employee reviews, renewed leases and rental rate structures. The committee continues to strive to incorporate discussions about racism, and white privilege and their effects on the work of our committee, conversations that we began in 2000 at the request of Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. The committee has begun a database of contractors and service providers of color, primarily African American. We also consulted with the Young Friends Oversight Committee as they developed a position description and began the interview process for hiring a coordinator of Young Friends' activities. 
Our reflections on the effects of racism on the work of our committee led us to approve a minute to guide our work on behalf of the Meeting. Our intent was shared at the end of the year 2000 in Meeting for Business and brought back with accurate wording in Third month, 2001. Meeting for Business expressed a desire to approve such a Minute, but was not in unity about the intention or the wording. After laboring over the next several months, the committee decided not to change the wording. Instead, we asked Meeting for Business to approve our work, including continuing discussions on the impact of racism on the work of the committee, and holding a Meeting for Threshing in October, on the wording and intentions expressed in the committee's original Minute. We also issued a written explanation of our thinking and reasoning during the process of reflection. Throughout our discussions this year, which were at times emotional, painful and enlightening, white members of the committee have acknowledged that they have been moved to new understandings of racism and racial insensitivity. The words of the minute are as follows: 
The Oversight Committee states its intention to hire African Americans and other persons of color as individuals or businesses, as a way to confront our racism and redress historic economic disenfranchisement. 
Religious Education Committee 
About 100 students attended the First Day classes and nursery with an average of around 50 students per week. First day students studied Quaker values and practices, the Bible, and current events. The youth practiced our values while participating in service and outreach projects such as the “Souper Bowl”, collecting money for UNICEF, and writing a letter to Oakhurst Baptist Church supporting their fair treatment of gays and lesbians. The Religious Education Committee recruited teachers for the 2000 - 2001 school year and bought new curriculum materials. 
A 9:00 a.m. worship period proposed by the Committee was implemented in September. 
The committee sponsored activities including a forum about the worship schedule, a teacher worship sharing session, Youth Sunday, a book sale fundraiser, and a Holiday Party. 
Our Role As Individuals In America’s Racial History (ORAIIARH)

ORAIIARH continued in 2001 as a group working to change Our Roles as Individuals in America's Racial History. White members of the group held themselves accountable for their own racist thoughts and actions, and for the times when they remained silent when racism appeared around them. ORAIIARH took on responsibility for changing those patterns, meeting weekly, and sponsoring two workshops on Personal Racism. On a weekly basis, they also staffed a table with handouts about racism weekly and helped make books on racism available in the library, by purchasing and cataloguing them. 

Translation of Report on Scholarships for Popular Teachers in El Salvador 

In accordance with the agreement of cooperation between CRC and the Atlanta Friends Meeting, we hereby send the first report for the first year of this project. The full name of CRC is Committee for Reconstruction and Economic/Social Development of the Communities of Suchitoto. The word 'communities' is used for small villages near the town of Suchitoto. These villages are within the town government, rather like villages within a county in the US. 

Three teachers benefitted from the project with scholarships for university study between July and November in the amount of 900 Colones per month for each teacher. The teachers completed their second year of university studies as well as teaching a total of 75 students in the communities of Las Delicias, La Mora and San Antonio. For greater detail, we have included general information about the teachers as well as documentation regarding the scholarships received. 

General Details of Teachers Receiving Scholarships: 

Name	Study Location	School 	Grade Levels Taught 	No. of Students 	Total Students 
				Girls 	Boys 
Elias Alas Alas 	Univ Don Bosco 	Las Delicias 	5th & 6th 	14 	16		30
Maria Irma Rivera 	Univ Luterana 	La Mora 	2nd 	11 	10 		21
Salvadora Antonia 
Vasquez 	Univ Don Bosco 	San Antonio 	Kindergarten 	11 	13 		24
							75 

The scholarship total amount for two years is $4,000 (35,000 Colones) of which $1,543 (13,500 Colones) was used in 2001. The report concludes with copies of the check authorization and the receipt signed by the student for each of the five (5) payments of 900 Colones that each student received. We did not feel it necessary to translate these documents. Translation and commentary by Frank and Carol Cummings. 

As we walk together, we remember to nurture each other and ourselves. Our journey continues in forgiveness, joy, peace, gratitude and love. 

The Quaker testimony concerning war does not set up as its standard of value the attainment of individual or national safety,… It is based ultimately on the conception of ‘that of God in every man’ to which the Christian in the presence of evil is called on to make appeal, following out a line of thought and conduct which, involving suffering as it may do, is, in the long run, the most likely to reach to the inward witness and so change the evil mind into the right mind. This result is not achieved by war. A. Neave Brayshaw (1921) 

The State of the Meeting report was approved, May 19, 2002.

On December 31, 2001, Atlanta Friends Meeting had 101 active members in the Atlanta area, 29 members who no longer are in the Atlanta area, and 9 inactive members in the Atlanta area (they are recorded but are not listed in the meeting directory).

Berea Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report
April 21, 2002

This has been an eventful year for Berea Friends Meeting as well as for the nation.  Our Peace and Social Concerns committee has been more active than in recent years.  We were planning a community forum on Iraq before September 11.  The attacks in New York and Washington made this forum even more relevant.  Attendance was good, and many people signed the petition calling for an end to the economic boycott.  We donated blankets to Afghanistan.  We were also pleased that two of our members could attend the SAYMA peace consultation in February and bring back word of the work other Meetings are doing.  At Christmas time, we again packaged cookies for the inmates at our county jail, which were at a record number this year.  In recent weeks, we donated retreat space and food to the local student activist group, Patriots for Peace, and helped them with their efforts to send delegates to the April march on Washington.
  
In internal affairs, the problem of finding better meeting space and the question of whether we should own a meeting house continue to be major concerns.  We formed a committee to guide us through the process of resolving these issues and have undertaken a trial giving experiment to see how much additional income could be available for purchasing and maintaining a meeting house.  We have continued the practice we started last year of having committees and other ad hoc groups meet once every other month during the hour following meeting for worship.  And we have had additional successful Wednesday night discussion series; this year's topics were "Plain Living," "Living with Contradictions," and "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time."

We typically have 20-30 adults in meeting for worship and 6-8 children in First Day School.  Two people became members this year.  Some parents and other Friends organized a "Summer Quaker School" last summer, which was quite successful.  The older children recently interviewed an older Friend about his experiences as a CO in World War II.  We have two teens that are active in the Meeting.  They have been studying the Bible and meet regularly with other teens in an ecumenical youth group.

Not all our meetings have been easy.  There is some frustration over the slow pace of progress on the meetinghouse decision.  Following up on ideas from a workshop led by Atlanta Friend Mary Ann Downey here a year ago, we struggled over the idea of adopting guidelines for our conduct in meetings for business and ultimately wrote some "Considerations" that are useful for new as well as experienced participants to think about.  In recent weeks, an even more difficult situation has arisen and not yet been resolved: harsh words spoken in meeting for worship have led to hurt feelings and lack of emotional safety for some in the Meeting.  Through these difficulties, we have the opportunity to develop conflict-resolution skills and to learn how Ministry and Counsel, meetings for worship and business, and personal encounters can work to heal wounds and help us grow stronger in the Spirit.

Birmingham Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report
June, 2002

Much of the reportable news from Birmingham revolves around the Meeting House, as owning and maintaining a Meeting House represents a large undertaking for a small Meeting such as ours. Our mortgage financing has been consolidated and is now held by Philadelphia YM’s Meeting House Fund. Our tenant/resident Friend moved out to a private apartment, giving rise to a period when we had no rental income. During this time we found that BFM was able to meet its basic financial obligations - but little else - without the aid of rental income. We have recently welcomed a new tenant - not affiliated with the Meeting - and have budgeted a portion of the anticipated rent due the Meeting toward repairs and maintenance of the Meeting House. Throughout the year, we have held monthly “work days” at the Meeting House, and have accomplished much on those occasions to repair and upgrade the grounds and old structure. During these Work Days, one Friend has begun painting a mural on the hallway wall. Also notable in the life of the Meeting this past year was the occasion of hosting a SAYMA Representatives Meeting early in the 9th month - the first time we have hosted a SAYMA Representatives meeting in our Meetinghouse. 

Within the Meeting community, we have had two marriages, though not under the care of the Meeting, and there has been one birth, this potentially “swelling” the ranks of our first-day school from 3 to 4. 

We hold a Simple Supper once each month, generally on 6th day evening, and the relaxed fellowship is enjoyed by those who attend. We also hosted a Christmas party and pot-luck dinner at the Meeting House, to excellent attendance and good reviews. 

Under the heading of social concerns, the Meeting has donated an amount equivalent to its property tax to the neighborhood public school. Three Friends attended the PTO meeting to make the donation, and we have received a letter of appreciation from the school. Friends’ opposition to the death penalty has been made known by letters to the editor of the local newspaper and by our hanging a black banner from the Meeting House on the days of scheduled executions. The banner reads: “Today we mourn the execution of a fellow human being.” We conducted, prepared, and hosted a lunch for over 200 homeless through the Church of the Reconciler, and are scheduled to host another such meal in 7th month of this year. The lunch project brought out a very good level of participation from the Meeting, and was deemed a success by all; unfortunately, there were some misunderstandings and hurt feelings resulting from the project.

Our second hour programs have included a series of discussions based on the “Realignment” lecture series which was hosted by Pendle Hill in the early 1990’s, and most recently, we have undertaken study of the book, John, the Maverick Gospel by Robert Kysar. One second hour session is devoted to social concerns each month, and we have experimented with music both before and after Meeting for Worship. 

As for the Meeting itself, we appear to be at a plateau in attendance: there is a core group who attend very regularly and who support the meeting in many ways. We have a number of individuals who attend less regularly or sporadically, and who demonstrate less commitment to the Meeting. As is likely familiar to a number of Meetings, the “swinging door” seems to be much in evidence in Birmingham: one person leaves and then another arrives, producing no great change in numbers over several years. Issues relating to growth and outreach have been discussed, and we feel that we are doing a better job in being open and accessible to newcomers, though we have yet to implement a number of suggestions and ideas which would target growth and outreach.

As we have undertaken substantial projects, ranging from the purchase and maintenance of the Meetinghouse, organizing and conducting the lunch for the homeless, and in our second hour discussions, we have identified areas where we are of a common mind and areas of differences. And as misunderstandings and differences have arisen, we have come to recognize the challenge of becoming more open and receptive to each other in our differences.  
     
Paul Franklin, Clerk

Boone Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report
Sixth Month Two Thousand and Two

Boone Friends Meeting continues to meet each week. During this year we have stayed true to the Spirit as we have shared our testimonies with our community. Blending with the theme of this year's Yearly Meeting, Boone Friends turned round right. Early in the year we were challenged by an attender who questioned our faith and in his challenges to us, made us more firm in knowing who we were. After the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center some members of our Meeting started a weekly prayer vigil which was open to the community. Although attendance was small we did find comfort in our search for peace.

The Meeting has physically moved again. We are currently meeting in the office suites of one of our attenders. This space is very comfortable and centrally located. We are grateful for the generosity of this Friend. We continue with our children's program each week. We have adult First Day once each month. We try to have a "Quaker Forum" once each month as well. This often becomes seasonal. We review a query prior to each Meeting for Business.

Our children's First Day class sponsored a sale for service again this year. We sold hand made crafts and canned goods to raise money which was donated to the American Friends Service Committee and our local food pantry.

We remain affiliated with Piedmont Friends Fellowship as well as SAYMA and have some attenders who frequently attend their gatherings.

We had one new birth in our meeting and at the request of his parents he has been listed as a full member of our Meeting.

We give thanks to the Spirit for leading us through another year and pray for guidance as we turn, turn, turn.

In peace

Michael S. Harless, Clerk
Boone Friends Meeting 

BREVARD (NC) FRIENDS MEETING
Report to SAYMA Yearly Meeting
June 20, 2002

Members: 16 Adults	Attenders: 21	Average attendance at Worship: 15
	Our meeting was saddened by the death of Lois French on Dec. 19, 2001. She had attended our Meeting for 15 years, and was our treasurer for the past 3½ years. She will be greatly missed.

	Average attendance at Meeting for Worship has remained steady, but we have had as many as 38 and as few as 7. On occasion we have two or three students from Brevard College and two or three times a year we have a group of high school students from Eagle’s Nest Foundation. However, most of our attenders are from the upper reaches of the age spectrum. We have some middle-agers, only one family with teens, and one with a child. We have a number of visitors throughout the year. For our regulars it continues to be a meaningful experience, having a good combination of silence and verbal ministry. We ran two series of ads in our local newspaper about our Meeting with no noticeable effect with regard to new visitors or attenders.

	One of our most pleasant activities is our monthly “Meeting for Eating” (potluck) following Meeting for Worship on the First Sunday, a nurturing time in many ways. 

	We have had no First Day School sessions as no children have attended, but we have several leaders who stand at the ready when needed. Our adult forum, which meets on the 2nd and 4th Sundays before Worship, continues to meet the needs of those who want to discuss issues of faith and practice.

	More than a year ago we began holding our Meetings for Business every other month, since we usually do not have a great many things to consider, and this has seemed to be sufficient.

	We have one group of Friendly Eights which meets monthly, and one which meets occasionally. These groups help to enrich the lives of those attending as well as the life of the Meeting in general.

	Our Meeting Newsletter, published by Jesse Mock, an occasional e-mail and/or telephone message, and various one-to-one contacts are the ways we stay in contact with each other, especially with those unable to attend regularly.

	We continue our participation in Koinonia (11 local faith communities seeking to work and worship together at various times through the year). Several have followed the lead of our member Dorothy Mock in working for a Moratorium of the Death Penalty: signing petitions individually and as a group, supporting vigils, and holding a public debate on this issue at Brevard College.

	We support with money and volunteers the work of Sharing House (food, clothing, and other assistance) and the Dispute Settlement Center which our Meeting helped to establish. Members and attenders are active in a host of other service activities: literacy, hospice, mental health, camps, tutoring, prison reform, and letter writing about local and national issues.

	During this past year, we have not been successful in having any of us attend SAYMA’s representative meetings or yearly meeting. We miss this connection and hope this can be remedied.

	Peace and Love
	[ Approved, Meeting for Business, May 19, 2002 ]

Celo Monthly Meeting State of the Meeting – 2002

Celo Meeting has been alive with energy this year.  We have 20 members, 16 children who take part in our first day school and 11 regular Attenders.  We will continue our connection with our associate members (children of members) until they reach 21 and communicate the possibilities of a letter of introduction to another meeting or a clearness committee for membership.  Regular attenders received a letter thanking them for all they do for the meeting and asking them to consider membership.  We welcomed with great pleasure two new members this year Christine Fletcher and Marmon Thompson.  In the aftermath of 9/11, many new attenders have joined in worship.  Barbara Wulff and her family will spend a year in New Zealand.  They were given a traveling minute.
  
We have three active age-groups in First Day School- Preschool, Elementary, and Middle School.  Activities have covered many areas including Quaker history and current events, in the aftermath of 9/11. The older group is collecting food for Reconciliation House; all are making clay magnets to raise money for Heifer Project.

The work of the spirit has been alive in the meeting, with deep vocal ministry and committed response to our own community and peace and social concerns.  This is expressed through meeting for worship, social concerns committee, meeting for business, called threshing sessions, and email exchange of articles and ideas.  We plan to have a threshing session on the use of email: its appropriate utilization and its effect on the quality of our spirit-led decision-making.  We will continue to use it for messages, in addition to the phone tree, and for communication of information only. We revisited the construction of a new meetinghouse because of renewed concerns about right use of materials and left with a renewed understanding of the necessity of construction.  We have raise $48,600 toward this project and will continue fundraising as we work on the plans for the building. 

We have continued to deepen ongoing spiritual life of all members using queries about vocal ministry and eldering, and workshops on meditation by Geeta McGahey and on Centering Prayer by Chris Ravendal to supplement members’ individual reading, prayer and retirement.  Members have been encouraged to see distractions in meeting as opportunities to deepen worship and continue holding each other in the light.
 
Peace and Social Concerns Committee has continued promoting the HIP program in which several members participate.  Kara Vana, from AFSC_SERO, presented an informative report about her visits with peace groups in Israel and on the West Bank.  We had an Indian meal fundraiser, raising $500 to be shared with RSWR and relief work in Chamoli, Garhwal.  We also set up a fund for the Water in the Desert Program, supported an attender in her friendship with a death row inmate (who sadly was executed), and have focused much of our work on the aftermath of 9/11. We held a vigil, are sharing articles, and are focusing on issues of military service.  The meeting approved a minute proposing a peace and social concerns committee at the YM level, which has been forwarded.  In the fall, we could not come to unity on the minute proposed at YM 01 on Palestine, but were able to draft and have Celo MM on a significant revision, which we called the Middle East minute.  It was published in the Yancey Times Journal and has been forwarded to the SAYMA committee that is working on this issue.  We are updating our Conscientious Objector materials.

	As issues and concerns come up we address them quickly and effectively.  We accept and welcome individual concerns as a basis for deepening our journey together. Celo Friends use good process in listening to each other and remain aware of the call of the Divine in our relations with each other – in worship, in meetings, and in action.

State of the Meeting 2002
Charleston, WV
This has been a year of great joy and deep sorrow for Charleston Friends.  We celebrated the marriage of two young Friends, one a member of our meeting since childhood.  At the same time, we mourned the loss of life in the September 11 attacks and subsequent U.S. reprisals.
Colette Mininger and Johnny Parker were married under the care of the meeting September 29 on a sunny West Virginia hill, in the presence of God and among Friends and family. Colette is the daughter of Charleston members Marty and Steve Mininger. Johnny and Colette met while students at Guilford College. 
We were stunned and saddened by the attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington and by the intensity of the military response.  Friends sought a just response to the hurt inflicted on innocent people in this country through prayer and vigils, and struggled with the challenge of living peacefully in a world where war and retribution seemed to drown out peace and reconciliation.
Meeting for worship is still held in offices rented from a community development organization in the middle of bustling, multicultural area of the city.  Although our meetings are often completely silent, they are sometimes enriched with ministry from the Bible, other inspired writings, and personal experiences of our members and attenders.  Attendance at worship varies between about five and fifteen, influenced by busy travel and work schedules.  Friends come from Charleston and surrounding communities up to 50 miles away; some local Friends hike or bike several miles to meeting.
Currently we are only infrequently blessed with small children; First Day School is varied according to the needs of children who attend.  Older young Friends have separate discussions and occasionally lead the meeting in intergenerational activities, including games and plays.  The increasing median age of meeting has prompted a concern to reach out to younger members.
We continue occasional adult discussions, touching on contemporary Quaker writings, international affairs, and social concerns.  Charleston Meeting appreciates the opportunities we have from time to time to participate in the wider Quaker community by responding to queries and minutes from SAYMA and other Friends organizations.  A Bible study group meets in Friends homes twice a month, and is currently reading the book of Acts.  This year one member visited Zimbabwe and South Africa, and shared his experiences and observations.  We also learned of the unhappy social and political situation in Columbia from another visitor.  Terrorism and devastation of small farms are partly caused by U.S. militarization of an intractable civil war, and exacerbated by the drug trade.
Charleston continues a modest social ministry by organizing a breakfast in a local women's and children's shelter, and a dinner at a men's shelter in the winter.  Our Peace and Social Concerns Committee shares our views with state legislators.  We participated in several peace vigils in response to the escalating military operations in Afghanistan.  This year we celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday by placing an exhibit in the state capitol featuring Reverend King's writings on peace and social justice.  We also support the American Friends Service Committee's West Virginia Economic Justice Project.  Many of us attended the AFSC regional retreat held in southern West Virginia last fall. 
Charleston Friends helped organize the September 2001 West Virginia Friends Gathering, a weekend of worship, fellowship, and outdoor recreation, held at a nearby Ohio camp.  We welcome SAYMA Friends to join in this year's gathering, and to visit us as way opens.

STATE OF THE CHATTANOOGA MEETING
2001 Report
    
Chattanooga Monthly Meeting ended the year with a renewed sense of community and several new members and attenders.
    
Members and regular attenders at Meeting for Worship now average 25-30 every First Day.   Two regular attenders and two new attenders elected to become members of the Meeting, but we lost two of the elder members of our community, Fred Reynolds and Frances Conant, who passed away.   Philip Raines asked that his membership be moved to the church where he is now pastor, White Water Monthly Meeting in Eaton, Ohio, and former co-clerk Jeff Crim, who had moved to attend Earlham, is pastor of West River Monthly Meeting in Economy, Indiana.
     
First Day School has grown, and we have two First Day School rooms, one for children aged 4 and under, and one for all older children.  The older group is studying our second set of teaching literature, which examines the life of Jesus.
    
We celebrated the wedding of Cindy McAfee, our clerk, to Steven Russell, and we held two memorial services for our deceased Friends.
    
We held a special Meeting for Worship on September 12, 2001, and we continue to hold the victims of the terrible tragedies of September 11, as well as those involved in the resulting world conflict, in the Light.  We support AFSC efforts to provide a variety of aid to people living in
nations in conflict.
    
The Meeting dealt openly and fairly quickly with a series of personal disputes during the summer of 2001 that spilled over into Meeting for Business.  After significant discussion, the Meeting agreed that we suffered from a lack of cohesion.  In an effort not to offend each other by delving too deeply into one another's business, we had drawn so far apart that we no longer felt like a community.  The Meeting agreed that it is the responsibility of all members and attenders to nurture each other, and we all started trying harder to openly show our caring for one another.  As a result, the Meeting has begun discussing eldering regularly, and we held a full-day eldering seminar in March 2002.  We also continue to use clearness committees to discern our way forward in many areas, as we seek light and direction and resolution of individual concerns.
    
After a decision to withhold our contribution from AFSC until our concerns  about the organization's use or non-use of Quaker process were addressed - a decision that lasted three years - the Meeting agreed to support AFSC again after regional office representatives met with us and provided a significant amount of information.  We continue to be concerned about the matter, and we seek to work with AFSC as best we can to ensure that Quaker processes are followed.
    
The Meeting's financial status remains healthy, and we have been able to offer financial assistance to those in need on a regular basis.
    
We continue our involvement in the Interfaith Hospitality Network, helping Pilgrim Congregational Church once a quarter to provide meals and fellowship for the homeless.
    
The Meeting continues expressing opposition to the death penalty. 
    
The Meeting's Community Garden was a continued success, welcoming several new community gardeners, who had their own organic plots.  A new growing season saw the revision of the garden's operating plan, with rows and plots set aside, not for individuals, but for specific vegetables and herbs.  The gardeners will share all the work and will harvest from the entire garden.
    
As the year drew to a close, several members of the Meeting received the shocking news that the bodies of their loved ones had been sent after death to a crematorium in Noble, Georgia, that had not cremated the bodies. Only one of the lost bodies has been found.  Also, the ashes of two former attenders that supposedly lay in the Meeting's memorial garden were not ashes at all, but concrete.  We continue to hold in the Light not only our members hurt by this tragedy, but also those in our greater community who have to suffer this painful process.
    
While the Meeting has moved through several painful periods this past year, the year seems to have left us stronger, healthier and more committed to one another.  For these blessings, and for one another, we are most thankful.

Cleveland Worship Group

Worship (Stan Spraker) -- We are unable to reach unity on 'advertising' in the local newspaper or with the Welcome Friends directory. We will continue to season this prospect during the coming year. We purchased 50 Introducing Quakers flyers from Pendle Hill. Often only two or three are gathered on First Day morning and worship remains largely silent.

Religious Education (Carol Spraker) -- Our Friday evening Torah readings continue, though irregularly attended. Quakerism 101, Companions and several pamphlets have been purchased from Pendle Hill for Quaker Studies which we hope to begin in the fall.

Ministry and Nurture (Nancy Neves) -- We continue our two-hour meetings each Monday night to nurture and support each other. Nancy encourages our participation in the local ecumenical Emmaus Community, where she and her daughter, Megan, are regular team volunteers. In December we established a small sponsorship fund for Emmaus pilgrims who cannot afford the fees. Ministry and Nurture, in conjunction with Religious Education, is formulating a Spiritual Formation study group. Last year we finished The Artist's Way and several smaller studies. Next year is in the planning stage.

Social Concerns (Barbara Tillery) -- Barbara has narrowed both the committee's and her own personal focus in order to pursue her passion, world hunger research. Local concerns include St. James Food Bank, Harbor Safe House and the Senior Center/Nursing Home volunteer program Barbara helps coordinate. John Spraker is interning with the volunteer program this summer. WQO's include RSWR, FCOR and ECN/FCUN.

Interfaith Dialogue (John Spraker, Francesca Nankivell) -- This group continues to work with our Buddhist and Hindu teachers. The library has received book donations on Judaism, Sufism, Universalism, Taoism and Shamanic traditions. Other studies are still in the planning process.

Hospitality -- We joined others in SAYMA to provide hospitality to the Buddhist Peace Walk in the spring. We were blessed in return way beyond the merit of our gifts. We still have a guest room available to SAYMA friends.

School of the Spirit -- This year we lend support and a small scholarship to Nancy Beecher (Chattanooga) as she attends SOS. We also supply three members of her oversight committee.

Minute of Appreciation to our presiding clerk, John Spraker. "Since taking Mary Ann Downey's workshop last year, he has impressed upon all of us the wonder of good orderly Quaker process, and has managed to do so while showing a heart of genuine Quakerly compassion." (Approved 4/02)

Respectfully submitted -- Carol Spraker for the group (approved 4/02 as well)

Sallie I. Prugh, Clerk
Columbia Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
C/o 3122 Monroe Street
Columbia, SC 29205

State of the Meeting Report
June 1, 2001- May 31, 2002

Columbia Monthly Meeting continues to thrive, change and to find ways to be more present in the Light.  Our major efforts have been finding a Quaker meaning and response to the events of the past year, and in nurturing our spiritual community.

September 11, 2001 shook America and made Quakers look at their beliefs and actions.  Like other Meetings, we had individuals from the community join us in trying to make sense of these events.  We also lost attenders who found the non violent response inappropriate.  Even seasoned Quakers were shaken.  The Meeting held several discussions, Meetings for Worship, and worship sharing times.  One member of the Meeting was instrumental in arranging a standing room only forum at the University of South Carolina, which included Muslims, Christians, political scientists, ethicists, etc.
The First Day School spent several sessions discussing the children’s concerns and ideas on what America’s response should be.

Our Peace and Social Concerns Committee had been intermittently active but the events of this year gave it new energy. The Clerk of the Committee wrote an Op Ed article on Afghanistan for the local paper.  The Committee wrote an analytic paper on the Quaker response to “War on Terrorism”, which continues to be refined and re-edited.
The Meeting invited Steve Olshewsky to come to Columbia. He inspired us as he talked about his struggle to find ways to get the Peace Tax Bill passed and how he has worked to avoid paying taxes which fund war by living simply.  The escalation of violence in the Middle East has also occupied the Meeting.  We passed a Minute on violence between Israel and the Palestinians.  Members of the Meeting participated in a protest against the Israeli incursions into the Palestinian territory.

The Meeting has been active in protesting the recent execution in South Carolina and is supporting the Christian Action Council’s efforts in seeking a moratorium against the death penalty. Four members travel once a month to a federal prison in Edge field, SC to visit prisoners.

Members of the Meeting helped arrange a conference on health and other nuclear energy concerns.  Other members have been involved in ecological concerns.  The theme of Palmetto Gathering, which is an annual gathering of Quakers in South Carolina, was ecology.  Earth Mama, Joyce Rouse, came and was a hit. One of the members of the Meeting has been named the director of the Carolina Peace Resource Center.  Members of the Meeting have been active in sponsoring HIP projects in local schools.

The grounding for all these activities is the spiritual community, which has changed and deepened.  The Meeting has spent much of the past year considering how we view ourselves both spiritually and within the community.  We have tried to determine how a building would change us. Would it strengthen us or would it sap our strength?  We were prodded along on this inquiry by the offer of an anonymous gift, which we had to match between September and January 1, 2002.  It seemed like a lot of money, but we were able to meet our goal and surpass it.  The activities around the fund raising were a community building experience that involved all ages. We decorated gourds and made stained glass which we sold at a Holiday Fair.  It is fun to walk around Columbia and see our artwork hanging on trees welcoming the birds.  The children organized a car wash and participated in sessions where we dreamed of what a Meeting House might be.  We are still very tentative about our plans causing some strain in the Meeting, but it has made us look at who we are and what our priorities are. We also realized from these discussions that there was a limited understanding of the process by which Quakers make decisions.  This has led to an on going discussion of Quaker Process and the Sense of the Meeting as well as Quaker Testimonies.

A mid week worship group has enriched the life of some members. Our Meeting has been asked to help establish a worship group after the manner of Friends in Aiken, South Carolina.  One member of the meeting has been most instrumental in guiding this effort with the support of the entire Meeting.

A long time attender is taking a course in Clinical Pastoral Education.  We had two meetings for worship in the evening with the members of this class, all pastors of different denominations and they were awed at the power of unprogramed silent worship.

Members of the Meeting have also been involved in wider Quaker Organizations and have attended conferences (FGC Central Committee, AFSC Corporation, Pendle Hill Conference on Racism, Ecology Conferences, 10 people attended SAYMA Yearly Meeting last year, 2 people attended North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative, Clerk of Palmetto Friends Gathering.)

Our membership is changing.  We enjoy having new seekers in our Meeting, but feel lonely without the fellowship of the seasoned Friends who are leaving.  The children have become a very closely-knit group, and some of them are leaving soon.  We already miss them and their parents.

We struggle to find ways to knit our community closer together and to support our members.  We succeed sometimes and fail others, but we try.  We continue to enjoy one another, to strive to better experience community, to work for peace, to pray for justice.  We continue to love our fellowship, to see our strength in our unique individual selves, to commit ourselves to each other in love.  We look for a deeper sense of ourselves of the meeting in the coming year.  We give thanks for our wider Quaker associations and for the joy of our contribution to the larger Religious Society of Friends. 

State of the Cookeville Worship Group
5-26-2002

This year, the Group finally decided to meet in town at a stable, accessible location instead of our rural, mostly Jackson County homes. Starting in October, we met at a restaurant for several months. Since January, we have been meeting in the Wesley Foundation near the TTU campus. The facilities are ideal with a large kitchen and lots of space. We have also listed our meeting in the Cookeville newspaper. The better community exposure has brought us more visitors than heretofore.

Our membership is nearly stable. We have gained one dedicated attender, but lost (hopefully temporarily) another to a kind of burnout, and have not seen several formerly active attenders at Meeting in several months.

In the fall and winter, several of us lent our presence in support of a local congregation (a branch of the Knoxville Metropolitan Community Church) formed to provide Christian service for gays and lesbians who did not feel welcome in traditional churches. Conservative Baptists were picketing the congregation. The Worship Group also drafted a letter to the editor of the Cookeville newspaper stating that freedom of religion applies to all. In April, two of us went to Oak Ridge to participate in a rally sponsored by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance to oppose ongoing bomb production.

We have extended invitations to local Unitarian/Universalists, the Zen and Tibetan Buddhist groups, and the small Jewish community to meet with us quarterly for potluck and discussion. The first of these ecumenical meetings, in March, provided a spirited exchange of ideas (and great food).

Because the Crossville Meeting, which had sponsored our Worship Group, had dwindled and was unable to provide the eldering and support that is traditional, we applied to the Nashville Meeting, which agreed to take over the sponsoring role. In February, Nashville hosted a retreat on community building for the several Worship Groups under its care with Michael Wodja and his wife Allison Levy from Pennsylvania. Several of us attended the retreat and very much enjoyed the fellowship and enrichment. Michael and Allison subsequently visited us at Hector and Susie Black’s for potluck and discussion. The questions asked brought forth honest seeking in an atmosphere of worshipful listening. We are grateful for the time and care of Nashville and others.

In an effort to achieve better communication, we have formed a committee to consider ways in which our second hour discussions can reach deeper levels and be more inclusive of all attenders.

Annual report to SAYMA, June 2002, from the Friends Meeting in Crossville.

1.	Over the course of the past year the Meeting has been concerned with developments in the Near East and especially the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Palestine. In this connection the Meeting had proposed a Minute for the consideration of SAYMA to the effect that termination of funding to both sides by the US would be the only way to bring the warring parties to the conference table. The Meeting had published in the local press in May a short Minute to this effect.
2.	To better help the understanding of the problems in the Middle East the Meeting with other local groups sponsored a visit to Pleasant Hill of Ilise Cohen, Program Director, Middle East Education Program, AFSC Southeastern Regional Office in Atlanta, on 30 May, where she spoke very effectively on her more recent trip to the area and her discussions and impressions there. Additionally the Meeting earlier sponsored a visit to Pleasant Hill in November of Marina Riadi, AFSC staff member specializing in fund raising but also very knowledgeable on the conflict in the Middle East.
3.	The Meeting in cooperation with 5 other local church groups published a full page ad in our local newspaper at a cost of $740 of national statements by 8 churches  hoping that “…the selections would help bring the voices of the churches into public discussion of our nation’s course of action” in Iraq. The statement of the Meeting was a quote from an FCNL issuance on the subject.
4.	Again this past year the Meeting cooperated with the Second Presbyterian Church in Knoxville to donate another bus to a school program in Nicaragua. It was driven there by Toby and his son Jesse Rogers. Hannah MacDermott  accompanied them and acted as their Spanish interpreter.
5.	The Meeting house was again the site of the second year of the Obed Headwaters School under the direction of Meeting member Dennis Gregg.
6.	Meeting member Elizabeth Gregg completed a year’s internship with the FCNL in Washington DC.  
7.	The facilities of the Meeting House were again shared with the Grace Community Church which conducted their weekly Sunday evening services at the Meeting House.
8.	The Meeting continued to actively support the Cumberland Countians for Peace and Justice - an interfaith county organization which had been organized by Meeting members in l982.
9.	We were saddened by the death of  member Robert Mandel who had been  in the Wharton Nursing Home for several years.

Foxfire Friends Meeting of the Holston Valley
State of the Meeting Report
Spring 2002

Foxfire Friends continues to meet at the Catholic Student Center in Johnson City, near East Tennessee State University. However, construction on the new meetinghouse is nearing completion, and we anticipate moving into our new space in early summer. Our new meetinghouse is the result of a cooperative leasing arrangement between the meeting and members, Bob and Beth Keiter. We hope that our experiences over the next few years may server as a model for other smaller meetings that are not large enough to build or purchase permanent space.

Our meeting remains small; we continue to draw from upper east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Although our location near ETSU has increased our visibility and brought us more frequent attendees, the weekly size of our meeting has not changed significantly. There are no new members to report this year.

Highlights of the past year include:

•	Formation of a meetinghouse committee
•	Development of “Procedures for Eldering”
•	The meeting reflected for many months on recognizing members or other Friends as ministers and developed a procedure regarding traveling ministry:
It has been said that Quakers abolished the ministry; a more accurate statement is that Quakers abolished the laity. Each Friend is responsible to be open to sudden needs to “be there” or “minister to” a fellow human being in need. Ministry in the Religious Society of Friends is open to all of us just as each one of us has equal access to the leadings of the Inner Light.
In keeping with the Friends’ testimony of equality, it has not been the practice of Foxfire Friends Meeting of the Holston Valley to record ministers. However, the Meeting may recognize gifts of ministry by issuing a traveling or other appropriate minute to a person who has been through a clearness process and has the recommendation of the Ministry and Nurture Committee
•	Foxfire Friends decided to support the formation of a SAYMA Peace and Social Concerns Committee.
•	Adult religious education has been centered on reading Quaker Book of Wisdom by Robert Lawrence Smith.
•	Development of a system for accepting donations from Friends to assist in furnishing our new meetinghouse.

We ask the Yearly Meeting to hold Foxfire in the light as we move into our new meeting space. While the new location is a most suitable worship space and may increase the visibility of the meeting, building maintenance and increased expenses are challenges, which might be more easily met by a larger meeting. 

Greenville Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting, June 2002

	Ten members and regular attenders make up the core of the Greenville Friends. While this number is small, it is augmented by others in the community who worship with us less frequently. We see hope in that newcomers continue to arrive in our midst. We did, probably like most Meetings, note a greater degree of interest following the events of Ninth month, 11, 2001.

	We continue to meet at the First Christian Church, though we have changed our meeting time to 1:30 in the afternoon. This seems to suit most of our members and attenders well, though we remain flexible in terms of our group’s changing needs. Each month we continue with our activities—including a potluck on the first first day of the month. We have laid down our Bible study but may soon take it up again.

	We have found that the Meeting serves as a base for individual and corporate action in the community. In the past year, we have established a formal relationship with the Greenville Area Interfaith Hospitality Network, an interdenominational organization that provides temporary housing for families. One of our attenders has become a member of the Board of Directors for the Network. As a meeting, we have begun a quarterly series of forums with invited speakers to provide education for ourselves and the community. Most recently, we held a forum about Islam with members of the local Islamic Center. As individuals, many of our members and attenders continue to volunteer in a variety of roles to serve the community.

	The Greenville Friends Meeting remains a small, yet dedicated core of Seekers that provide a warm environment for members and attenders. The Meeting serves as a base and refuge in the lives of those who attend.

Huntsville Area Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report
June 2002

The Huntsville Area Friends Meeting (HAFM) continues as a group of 13 members/attenders, with attendance during this reporting period averaging six persons. HAFM meets in members'/attenders' homes.

As other meetings, we drew upon our individual and collective spiritual resources to deal with September 11 and the ensuing local and national responses. We developed a Minute that we shared in local interfaith meetings, as well as with SAYMA.

Other highlights from our individual and corporate activities include:

*	Participating in SAYMA gatherings, e.g. representatives' meetings, meetings of the Ministry and Nurture Committee; the Peace Consultation;
*	Participating in the annual gathering of Friends General Conference;
*	Presenting to (and leading worship-sharing with) other faith groups (Unitarian Universalist and Episcopalian) about our Peace and Simplicity Testimonies;
*	Participating in other interfaith meetings focusing on promoting understanding of various traditions and/or sharing responses to September 11 (including some meetings organized by the Huntsville Muslim community);
*	Participating in on-going work and periodic community "speak-outs" about family violence;
*	Collecting bicycles that are sent to Alabama prisons for refurbishing and given to needy children;
*	Advocating with/for people with disabilities;
*	Helping Hispanic persons to gain access to community services;
*	Volunteering in support of grant efforts for children's services not-for-profit organizations;
*	Providing a variety of supports to peace activists traveling through our region (and attended a peace rally in solidarity with their work);
*	Singing in a local chorus (Huntsville Feminist Chorus), which lifts up themes of "thinking globally and acting locally," related to environmental, human rights, and other peace/social justice concerns;
*	Convening memorial services/funerals for friends and family members of friends.

Memphis Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report

June 2002
This past year has truly challenged us. Some of our responses have been communal; some have been individual, often with the support of the meeting. But as the year unfolded we have felt more and more grounded in our Quaker testimonies. 

Last summer we had become concerned about the continuing sanctions against Iraq. The weekend before the terrorist attacks we hosted a group who held a campout and vigil in front of our meetinghouse to bring awareness of the effects of sanctions to passers-by. 

In response to the events of September 11, we have spent several First Day mornings learning about and wrestling with the situation in the Middle East: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine/Israel. Collectively and individually, we have also accomplished several projects.

•	We set up an off budget fund for peace projects. So far the Peace Fund has helped send a planeload of surgical supplies to Afghanistan, and supported Debra Johnson’s travels to Iraq. 
•	The Children’s Meeting collected quarters to send to the Friends School in Ramallah along with an illustrated letter of greeting for the students at the school.
•	In January, Debra Johnson participated in the AFSC sponsored conference in Philadelphia. She brought home to share with us the video “Greetings from Missile Street” produced by Voices in the Wilderness. This May she traveled to Iraq with AFSC.
•	Ceylon Mooney, an attender at our meeting, gave us a first-hand report of his travels in Iraq last fall. 
•	Susan Penn has worked with an Inter-Faith group here in Memphis on a monthly series of prayer services for peace. Memphis Friends and the local Baha’i group will co-sponsor the prayer service in July.
•	Blake Burr-McNeal has led the way to reach out to the local Muslimcommunity. She and other Quakers have been visiting mosques and four participated in Ramadan this spring. 
•	Sarah Slocum participated in a cross-country bike trip raising funds for Bike-Aid last summer. 
•	Mahal Burr-McNeal, 11, was quoted in the University of Memphis student paper saying, “I don’t want the United States to bomb other innocent people… <instead> we should keep them in the light.”
•	Kristi Estes helped organize a seminar at Memphis Theological Seminary called “Spiritual Leadership: Reflections in a Time of War.” Ron McDonald was a presenter at the seminar.

This was also a year in which the faces in our Meeting changed in dramatic ways. We accepted several new members who had been attending for longer or shorter periods: David Dawson, Bethany Harrison, Christina Horan, and Stacey Dixon. Stacey’s son, Harper Crockett, 6, was accepted as an associate member. We also have several new attenders, among them Robert Pugh, Richard Bryant and Linda Derieg, Ross Miller, and Emily Walls. Inevitably we had goodbyes to say as well. Kathleen Farrar; Laura, Kate, and David Bowman; and Michael Harrington and his daughter Emily moved to other meetings. Sarah Slocum left us this summer when she graduated from Rhodes College. Elaine and Bobby Meyer-Lee and their three little boys were welcome additions to our Meeting this past year, but they will be moving on to Indiana soon.

Michael Harrington, a member of Memphis Friends, is attending a new worship group in Oxford, Mississippi, and partly for that reason, partly because we are the closest organized meeting in their vicinity, we are trying to keep in touch and offer what support we can. Debra Johnson has been in email contact with one of their members; David Ciscel visited with the group during a peace conference in January; and on April 21 six Memphis Friends traveled to Oxford to join them for worship. We have alsobegun talking with them about a visit to Memphis for Worship and potluck.

When we took over the entire first floor of 917 So. Cooper last August, we didn’t realize what opportunities it would bring. Now we have much more space for the children’s meeting and they have taken advantage of it. They made footstools out of old telephone books for the Meeting room and, with Sandy Benson’s help, painted and stained child-sized benches for our meeting room. We are also holding simple meal potlucks at the Meeting House one First Day each quarter in spite of the fact that we still don’t have a kitchen. All the other monthly potlucks are held at a Friend’s house, but this schedule gives those who can’t make an evening potluck an opportunity to participate.

Our annual spring retreat was held at Gunnar Pool campground just north of Mountian View, Arkansas on April 27. For ten years the youth group has made the ten-mile hike from Allyson to Gunnar Pool and this year for the first time nine adult members and attenders joined them for the picnic and camp-out afterwards.

Both this year and last, we had a wedding in the spring. Last year Steve and Shiloh Barnet were married under the care of the Meeting on May 26; this year it was Emily Walls and Ross Miller on May 11, 2002. Both couples have become active attenders.

Jonah McDonald has been appointed to the AFSC Board of Directors. Carolyne Jordan reports that at the meetings in Philadelphia every delegate wants to sit next to their enthusiastic youngest member.

Ashleigh Phelps, who has attended SAYF a number of times, has just completed her first year at Guilford College.

Our newsletter now comes to us in both email and print versions, thanks to our newsletter editor, David Dawson.

We are ending this amazing year feeling robust and energetic. Although some of our faces continue to change from year to year, the Meeting rolls on, healthy as ever, facing the challenges that the new century has brought.

Respectfully submitted to 
Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting & Association
June 21, 2002

By
Carol Ciscel
Recording Clerk
Memphis Friends Meeting

Nashville Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting 2001-2002

Several themes have been prominent in the life of the Meeting this year. The attacks of September 11 have shaped much discussion as well as brought us a number of visitors, some of whom have stayed and continue to worship with us. Several Second Hour discussions have centered around the Middle East conflicts. The other main theme is that of physical space. The Meeting House has always been crowded when we have “full attendance,” but recently has seemed cramped for our vision of the future. One particular problem is the layout of the present facility. Inquiries into codes requirements have shown we cannot expand the current building without unreasonable expense.
  
Several threshing meetings were held and information shared. At this time, the Meeting has decided to move forward with plans to sell our current building. No decision has been made regarding purchasing a building versus building a new one. We are currently examining our possibilities and finances.

Numerous Friends have remained or become active in social and political issues. One Friend served six months in a Federal prison related to civil disobedience at the School of the Americas. While some are visibly active in issues, others are active in less visible ways such as letter writing.

Another theme is community building. The Bowling Green KY worship group requested to be laid down after the two attenders had not met in more than a year. This has resulted in a renewed effort to have more interaction with the worship groups under the care of the Meeting. A community-building weekend in February facilitated by Michael Wada and Allison Levy had approximately two dozen in attendance. One resulting request was for more joint activities and consequently, worship and potluck was held at a Nashville area park with worship groups encouraged to attend. More interaction is currently taking place with the Murfreesboro worship group which has officially requested to be taken under the care of the Nashville Meeting.

We continue to worship at 10 am with a period of singing prior. At the rise of Meeting on second and fourth First Days, we have Adult Education. Potluck is held on the first First Day of the month, and Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business on the third First Day.  We have changed the form of Family Worship. A full hour worship period is held on the third First Day. The young Friends spend the first half of the hour in preparation for joining the adults the last half hour. Sunday evening worship has changed to Wednesday evening.

As with most years, some Friends have come and gone.
2001-2002 census:	members 48	attenders 52
Babies born: Isaac Mellon-Houghton
Transferred members: Dick and Maaret Houghton
Memorials:  Bonnie Favrot

Respectfully submitted, Thais Carr and Pam Beziat, co-clerks

New Moon Worship Group

We continue to meet on a monthly basis on Sunday afternoons in the Barnardsville United Methodist Church. We are pleased to report that we enjoy such a good relationship with the church that they have decided not to charge us for the use of their space. We have advertised in two local publications, but have not had any visitors as a result. We are a small group of 3 to 5 people at the moment, but we enjoy the worship time together.

Submitted by Susan Carlyle

Swannanoa Valley Friends Meeting
State of the Meeting Report        June 2, 2002

For SVFM, 2001/02 has been a year of continuity and the solidifying of our identity as a Monthly Meeting in our fourth year of existence.  For the second year we are meeting in the upstairs activity room of the Black Mountain Center for the Arts in the center of the town of Black Mountain.

Our attendance has been stable at about 30, and our membership at 20. The most significant new development in the area of attendance is that several students from Warren Wilson College have begun attending regularly. Our First Day School group has continued to consist of 6 children, ages 3 to 11.
 
In the area of social concerns there has been continuity in our local involvement and change in our international commitments.  Locally, several more of our attenders have come forward to volunteer as tutors at the nearby youth correctional facility; and one attender has taken a job there as the English teacher in the public school which serves the teenage “inmates”.  We also assisted one of our attenders in getting trained to start a local Montessori school; she hopes to relate Montessori education to our Meeting¹s local social outreach in the future.  We also enjoyed two Meeting work days at Manna Food Bank.
 
A major feature of our social concerns work this year has been our response to the war on terrorism undertaken by the U. S. after 9/11/01, and the Arab-Israeli violence in Palestine.  In the fall of 2001 we sponsored a four-week lecture series at the local public library on understanding the roots of terror in the Middle East.  In February we participated in and helped to lead SAYMA¹s gathering on bringing our peace testimony to life in these times.  In the spring of 2002 we made a contribution to the rebuilding of the Ramallah Friends School; and at the same time joined the Campaign of Conscience to rescue the people of Iraq from the devastating effects of the longstanding U.S.-led embargo.

Two joyous weddings have taken place under our care, the marriages of Kathy LaMotte and Eric Jackson in October, and of Megan Keiser and Holly Fairbairn in April.  In the winter we lost one of our most beloved members when Alice Hanke died.

At our May Meeting for Business we decided to resume (from two years ago) holding regular worship-sharing sessions in small groups after Meeting, to help us know each other better as spiritual friends.  Monthly potluck suppers on Thursday evenings and two rounds of Friendly 8¹s dinners in the homes of Friends have also strengthened our sense of community  A midweek Meeting for Worship held once a month at Highland Farms Retirement Center extends our sense of community to the elderly who cannot come to our regular Meetings in Black Mountain.

In the face of the heavy events of the past year, our First Day Meetings for Worship have been a source of comfort and strength for those who attend. Several younger attenders have spoken of their growth in both giving to and drawing from the worship.  We are grateful for having a quiet, light-filled place to meet, for the depth of our shared silence, for regular vocal ministry that seems to draw us even closer together in worship, and for each other.

State of the Meeting
West Knoxville Friends Meeting
June 2002
We have certainly felt joy and tragedy this year! Our major concern has been with events and reverberations of September 11. It has caused an ongoing search for our individual and corporate responses. We’ve devoted several sessions to worship, worship sharing and discussion around that issue, striving to define values and responsibilities. The meeting united in adopting two minutes urging non-violent responses to addressing international terrorism. These were sent to local newspapers and legislators.
Concern over the Israel/Palestine war has also deeply affected us. Two AFSC representatives visited to speak of their experiences and perspectives on the conflict. So far, our response has been to write letters to influential sources. We continue to seek how and where we can best put our energies to work for peace.
Partly due to these crises, we are more involved as individuals with peace and justice groups in our community. F(f)riends
•	have been joining in weekly vigils
•	traveled to Central America  at Christmas to deliver toys, clothing, and a bus
•	participated in annual protests at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning, Ga. and at the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge. 
•	provided food and lodging to groups of Buddhist peacewalkers and Earlham College peace workers as they traveled through
•	been discussing ways to change our lifestyles to reduce the causes of war
•	participated in the protest rally when President Bush came to town. 

We gladly welcomed three new members and one associate member into our meeting this year! 

We are most grateful to and appreciative of F(f)riends who faithfully share their energies to tend the life and spirit of the meeting. Their support and commitment are inspiring! 

Our various interest groups continue to flourish and meet regularly:
•	meeting for healing, 
•	a Course in Miracles book discussion group
•	a meditation group based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
•	discussions of our spiritual journeys
Likewise, committees remain attentive and busy. "Second hours" are scheduled as meaningful topics arise. 
In spite of difficulties finding consistent baby-sitters for our youngest children, the vitality of the First-day school program continues to amaze and delight us. The SAYF-ers are as enthusiastic as ever about being together at retreats and on Sundays!

Not counting adults and children busy in First-day school, we usually number about 20 in meeting for worship.

It's difficult to describe our spiritual health. In worship, messages reflect our struggles to understand and find ways to respond to world violence. We are still being sustained and supported by the Divine Presence, our community of Friends, and meeting for worship.

We hope to keep growing in community together and in the Light.