Goose Creek Friends

Newsletter January 2015

Goose Creek Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Lincoln, Virginia

Queries for First Month: Aging

Do we welcome the approach of old age, both for

ourselves and for others, as an opportunity for wisdom,
for detachment from turmoil and for greater attachment
to the Light?
How might I attend to what love requires of me in each
new stage of my life?

Have I arranged the practical matters regarding

possessions, location of documents, burial, etc., that will
arise when I die or am unable to communicate so my
family is not unduly burdened?
Am I comfortable with the relationships I will
leave behind?

How can we support that of God in one another in the

face of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral challenges?

How do we support caregivers who may be overwhelmed

by the chronic needs of the one receiving care?

Monthly Meeting for Worship with a

Concern for Business: First Month

The Nominating Committee report was presented.

Friends were reminded that committees are always
open to new members. The Committee suggests that
committees take turns at the rise of Meeting throughout
the year describing their work. A volunteer is still needed
to serve as the Meetings FCNL representative. Jackie
Kosbob, John Unger, Suellen Beverly, and Brian Burgher
have volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee
for the coming year. Meeting approved the report and
thanked the Committee for its hard work.

Meeting responded generously to Mobile Hopes

request for holiday gifts at Christmas. Friends agreed
that we want to support the growth of Mobile Hopes
valuable programs for homeless children in the area this
year. The Religious Education Committee would like to
involve our Young Friends in activities to support this
new charity.
A general discussion of Meetings charitable giving will
be continued in February.

The Camping Committee

Invites First Day School students to a presentation

about Baltimore Yearly Meetings camps

Sunday morning, January 25, 10 am

Meeting approved a potluck dinner to welcome new

members and attenders, to be held on February 8 at 4pm.
All Friends are encouraged to come.

Chrissie Devinney has established an account to benefit

Goose Creek Meeting at Re-Love It consignment store
in Purcellville.
Meeting thanked Ed Devinney for his service as
Meeting Treasurer. He will be transferring his duties to
Annie Carlson.
Meeting approved March 8 at the rise of Meeting as
the time for a threshing session on First Day School
concerns. Friends discussed how we might invest more
funds and energy in our children and our First Day
School. A related concern was raised about whether we
might make Oakdale School a more accommodating
space for First Day School use. The threshing session
will be guided by Maria Nicklin, Jackie Kosob, Sheila
Kryston, Carolyn Unger, and Allen Cochran.

January 11

9 am Peace and Social Concerns Committee meeting

11 am Discussion of Active Hope with the Unity with

Nature Committee

January 18

11 am Discussion of the spiritual state of Goose Creek

Meeting in 2014
Please help us begin preparation of our annual report to
Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

Continued on next page g

Page 2 | January 2015 | Goose Creek Friends Newsletter

From the Peace and Social

Concerns Committee

Amnesty International Group 532 sent $300 to AIUSA

from the proceeds of our 2014 fundraiser. This counts
as $600 because of a matching grant program. Our
2015 croquet tournament and fundraiser is scheduled for
Saturday June 20th at the Carlsons.

Did you know?

Baltimore Yearly Meetings Indian Affairs Committee

was formed in 1795 and continues to this day.

From Baltimore Yearly Meeting

BYM Camps registration for returning campers opens

January 15, 7 pm. Registration for new campers opens
February 1, 12pm. (www.bymcamps.org)
The Baltimore-Area Working Group on Racism
usually meets 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. most third Saturdays of
the month, usually at either Bethesda Friends Meeting
or Friends Meeting of Washington. We consider issues
around racial justice, share personal experiences, and
plan and host special events. All are welcome to attend.
For more information, contact clerk David Etheridge
(david.etheridge@verizon.net).

2015 Womens Retreat

Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, 3
p.m. Location: Skycroft Retreat Center (near Harpers
Ferry, WV). Women from across the Yearly Meeting
region will gather in a beautiful retreat setting (where
others cook and clean up). We nourish friendship and
celebrate our journeys with singing, movement, worship
sharing, plenaries, and workshops. The 2015 theme is
To Ourselves, To Each Other, To Spirit. The weekend
is being planned by the women of Adelphi Friends
Meeting. For more information or to register, visit
https://bym-rsforg.presencehost.net/events/ymevents/
womret.html/
Silent Retreat for Friends
Friday, Feb. 6, 2015
Location: Dayspring Retreat Center (Germantown, MD)
Is your spirit in need of nourishment and refreshment?
Come to the Silent Retreat at Dayspring for Friends.
Members of Annapolis Friends Meeting will be given
priority in registration, and Friends from Baltimore
Yearly Meeting are invited to join them. The Retreat
has never been full, so please join us! We will keep
the silence from Friday evening until after worship

A potluck dinner

especially for new members and

attenders (though all Friends are
invited, nay encouraged, to attend)
will be held at the Meeting House
on Sunday, February 8, 4:00.
on Sunday, enjoying the beauty of Gods creation
in meadows and woods, reading, walking, resting,
praying, finding our own rhythms, listening for the
Still Small Voice. For more information, contact
facilitator Jean Christianson of Annapolis Friends
Meeting (410-544-1912).

The Educational Grants Committee of Baltimore

Yearly Meeting will be awarding a limited number of
modest grants for the school year 2015-2016 to enable
members and regular attenders of Local Meetings
associated with Baltimore Yearly Meeting (or their
children) to pursue their educational goals.

Grants may be applied to expenses associated with

undergraduate attendance at accredited post-secondary
educational institutions such as universities, colleges,
professional and vocational schools. Attendance may
be either full- or part-time. They will be awarded on the
basis of financial need and the Committees assessment
of an applicants statement of purpose, including
consistency with Friends testimonies.

Grants will not exceed $2,000.00 per grantee per year.

The sum of all grants to a grantee will not exceed
$8,000.00. In determining the number and amounts of
grants, the Committee will be guided by the twin goals
of assisting as many applicants as possible with available
funds and, insofar as possible, of assuring that amounts
of individual grants are not insignificant in comparison
with the grantees needs.

Applications will be accepted until April 15, 2015.

For further information or if you have questions,
please contact the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Office
at 301-774-7663.

Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | January 2015 | Page 3

The Trustees of the Miles White Beneficial Society

of Baltimore City are now accepting applications for
educational funding. Funds are available for books and
tracts, Friends educational institutions and programs
for the young, and undergraduate college scholarships.
Proposals will be considered for requests up to $5,000.

Preference shall be given to applications from the

Greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area and to those with
connections to Friends Meetings or their members within
the Baltimore Yearly Meeting. All requests must be
made in writing. The deadline for applications is March
15, 2015. Notification of approval will be made by May
1, 2015. For more information, contact William O. Miles
(mileswhitescholar@outlook.com).

Goose Creek News

Bob Nichols, a longtime member of Meeting, died in

December. Bob was born and raised in Loudoun County,
and attended the George School and Guilford College.
He and his wife, Trish, moved from Purcellville to North
Carolina after Bob retired. His memorial was held on
December 19, 2014, at the Mayodan United Methodist
Church in Mayodan, NC.
Sylvia Shuey is working as a volunteer coordinator
with Mobile Hope, and several other Friends are
volunteering in other capacities. If you are interested
in working with Mobile Hope, please contact Sylvia or
speak with Sheila Kryston.

Appointments for 2015

Clerk of Meeting
Debbi Sudduth
Assistant Clerk
Patricia Barber
Recording Clerk
Catherine Cox
Recorder
Nancy Uram
Treasurer
Ed Devinney
Assistant Treasurer
Anne Carlson
Trustees
John Unger (Clerk), Sara Brown,

Tim Brown, David Chamberlin, Ed Devinney,

Caroline Pelton, Martha Semmes,

Michael Snyder
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Representative for Interim Meetings
Jackie Kosbob
BYM Yearly Representative for Annual Meeting
unfilled
Right Sharing of World Resources Representative
Caroline Pelton
Friends Committee on National Legislation Representative
unfilled
Friends Wilderness Center Board Representatives
Richard Weidner; Second position unfilled
Loudoun Interfaith Bridges Representatives
Debra Dalby, Sheila Kryston
Jane Pancoast Shepherd Scholarship Trustees
Sara Brown, Frannie Taylor, Caroline Pelton, Michael Snyder
Jane Pancoast Shepherd Scholarship Committee
Sara Brown, Ed Devinney, Caroline Pelton, Frannie Taylor, Libby Walker
Goose Creek Scholarship Committee
Carolyn Unger (Clerk), Ed Devinney, Caroline Pelton, John Unger,
Joey Coburn, Cory Joseph
Marriage Officiants
Carolyn Unger, Chrissie Devinney
Nominating Committee
Jackie Kosbob, John Unger, Brian Burgher, Suellen Beverly

Committee Clerks and Co-Clerks for 2015

Save the date for the
RE trip to Philadelphia!
All adults and students 9 years and older
are invited to join our trip to Philadelphia
on Saturday, April 11. Well leave early
in the morning and return in the late
afternoon or early evening of the 12th. If
youd like to go or have questions, please
speak with Brett Hoag or Maria Nicklin, or
email Brett at beahoag@gmail.com.

Ministry and Oversight Catherine Cox, Sheila Kryston

Memorial & Marriage
Subcommittee
Caroline Pelton, Carolyn Unger
Burying Grounds
Bill Cochran, Caroline Pelton
Finance
Jed Shilling
Camping
Sarah Huntington, Joey Coburn
Archive
Carolyn Unger
Hospitality & Housekeeping Sara Brown, Rich Weidner
Library
Rich Weidner
Meeting Cares
Peggy King, Chuck Hedges
Peace & Social Concern Eric Carlson
Property
Bill Cochran, Brian Burgher
Publications
Nancy Uram (clerk),

Catherine Cox (newsletter editor)
Religious Education
Maria Nicklin, Brett Ann Hoag

(Brett through spring 2015)
Unity with Nature
Debbi Sudduth, Martha Semmes
Outreach
No clerk named yet

Page 4 | January 2015 | Goose Creek Friends Newsletter

Sundays

Facing Bench

Meeting for worship at 9:45 a.m.

First Day School at 10:00 a.m.

Fellowship at 10:45 a.m.

Worship and Discussion Group

Wednesday evenings, 7-8

Hospitality

Calendar
JANUARY

1/11 Sunday
9 am


11 am
1/18 Sunday
11 am


1/25 Sunday
11 am

4 pm

FEBRUARY

2/1
Sunday
11 am

2/4
Wednesday 6:30 pm

2/8
Sunday
4 pm

JANUARY
Martha Mason Semmes
FEBURARY
Debbi Sudduth

Peace and Social Concerns

Committee meeting
Active Hope presentation
Worship sharing/conversation to prepare
for writing the Spiritual State of the Meeting
report for 2014
Ministry & Oversight Committee meeting
Lincoln Community League: Presentation
by historian Richard Gillespie
Meeting for Worship with a Concern
for Business
Religious Education Committee
meeting & potluck
Potluck

DEATH
Robert Milton Nichols, December 15, 2014

First Day School

01/11 & 18/15 Lessons will include a Junior Meeting for Worship and discussions
on being led to speak during Meeting.

01/25/15 Sarah Huntington will lead a presentation and discussion of the Baltimore
Yearly Meetings Quaker Camps.
Interested in Religious Education? Please contact Maria Nicklin at marianicklin@
gmail.com or Brett Hoag at beahoag@gmail.com if you'd like to get involved with
our wonderful group of young Friends.

They that love beyond the World,

cannot be separated by it.
Death cannot kill what never dies.
Nor can Spirits ever be divided
that love and live in the same Divine Principle,
the Root and Record of their Friendship.
If Absence be not Death, neither is theirs.
William Penn, 1682

If you can bring simple

refreshments to share at the
rise of Meeting the rest of
the month, please sign up
in the small gathering room
or contact Brett Ann Hoag
(beahoag@gmail.com).

NEWSLETTER
The Goose Creek Friends
Newsletter is published monthly
by the Goose Creek Friends
Meeting, 18204 Lincoln Road,
P.O. Box 105, Lincoln, VA 20160.
CLERK
Debbi Sudduth, 540.338.3363
dfsud@comcast.net
ASSISTANT CLERK
Patricia Barber, 301.432.5706
patloubar@gmail.com
TREASURER
Ed Devinney, 540-338-5664,
ejd@devinney.com
ASSISTANT TREASURER
Annie Carlson
achc2010@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Catherine Cox, 301.834.6892,
blycox@comcast.net
WEBSITE
http://goosecreekfriends.
pbwiki.com
VOICE MAIL
540.751.0323
DONATIONS
Please direct donations for
Goose Creek Friends Meeting to
Ed Devinney, P.O. Box 105
Lincoln, Virginia 20160
E-NEWSLETTER
www.goosecreekfriendwebsite.
com/#!newsletter-articles/c1odf