Goose Creek Friends

Newsletter December 2022

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

Queries for Twelfth Month –

Stewardship of Personal Resources
• How do I discern when to speak and when not to
speak, both in Meeting and elsewhere?
• How do we encourage Friends to allow ample time
to absorb the previous message before speaking?
• How do I practice listening to the Truth which may
Christmas events at
be revealed by others? Goose Creek Meeting
DECEMBER 18
Twelfth Month Meeting for Worship
with a Concern for Business CHRISTMAS BONFIRE
Friends approved with joy the transfer of Susan beginning at 4:30 pm
French’s membership from Hopewell Center Meeting
to Goose Creek. Carolyn Unger, Patricia Barber, and POTLUCK DINNER
Marcia Weidner will visit Susan to welcome her. beginning at 6:00 pm, followed
Friends approved the final report of the Nominating by the gift exchange and carol sing
Committee. The report recognized the contributions
of Nancy Uram, Caroline Pelton, and Frannie Taylor. GIFT EXCHANGE: If you’d like to participate
Jackie Kosbob will serve as Assistant Meeting Clerk in the exchange of gifts at the Christmas potluck,
and Peggy King will serve as Meeting Recorder. here’s how. Right after Thanksgiving, a little box
Changes in committee clerkships: Allen Cochran will will appear in the back of the Meeting Room. Write
serve as co-clerk of the Burying Ground Committee; your name on a slip of paper (and age, for a child),
Elizabeth Evans as clerk of the Library Committee; put the name in the box, and take one out. That will be
Chuck Hough and Ann Travell as co-clerks of the Min- the person to whom you will give a simple home-made
istry and Worship Committee; Susan French as clerk gift. The gift could be anything –cookies? A potted
of Peace and Social Concerns; Perry Epes and Suzanne bulb? A child might make a Christmas tree
Groebbel as co-clerks of Archives; and Patricia Barber ornament or a special drawing.
and Sara Brown as co-clerks of Hospitality.
DECEMBER 24
In their conversations with members and attenders, the
Nominating Committee gathered the following sugges- CHRISTMAS EVE
tions: We need to work harder to be more welcoming MEETING FOR WORSHIP
to younger Friends, as well as more welcoming overall.
We need more young people in key positions. We need
7:00 - 8:00 pm
more music. The Ministry and Worship Committee DECEMBER 25
should include younger Friends. The anti-racism work-
ing group should become a free-standing committee, Meeting for Worship, 9:45 am
since their work is ongoing.
The Nominating Committee made these recommen-
dations: We should continue the conversation about Continued on next page g
Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | December 2022 | Page 2
committee term limits. We should explore ways to on Northern Virginia Quakers. Friends also approved
sing together. The Jane Pancoast Shepherd Trust and
Meeting Scholarship committees should merge.
Elizabeth Evans, Martha Mason Semmes, and Carolyn
Ormes will remain on the Nominating Committee. New
members need to be appointed by Third Month.
Friends approved the merging of the Jane Pancoast
Shepherd and Meeting Scholarship Committees as well
as the appointment of Ed Devinney to the Jane Pan-
coast Shepherd Trust’s board of trustees.
Meeting approved a donation to Detroit Friends for the
re-establishment of their meeting house.
The following dates were noted:
• December 11 – Second Hour discussion about
Christmas and Quakers
• December 18 – Bonfire and Christmas potluck
dinner and carol sing
• December 24 – Christmas Eve Meeting for
Worship, 7-8pm
• January 8 – Spiritual State of the Meeting
discussion (Second Hour)
• January 22 – Threshing session about the
stewardship of our funds, led by the Ad Hoc
Finance Committee
• February 12 – Second Hour discussion led by
Friends who recently attended the Pendle Hill
workshop on clerking
There will be no First Day School on December 25 or
January 1, though we are looking into possible child-
care for those First Days.
Friends discussed a request from the Religious Educa-
tion Committee to provide a basket of manipulatives
for children who might need something to help them
settle for worship. This will be discussed further at
the threshing session requested by RE (and approved
by Meeting) to discuss the topic of inclusivity – in-
cluding how the design of our programs and property
may interfere with welcoming diverse populations to
our community. Maria Nicklin will be convener for a
group that will make plans for this threshing session,
including Friends from the Ministry and Worship,
Property, Religious Education, and Hospitality Com-
mittees, and the anti-racism working group.
Friends approved use of the Meeting House on
Saturday, February 25, for a presentation by Johns
Hopkins scholars on their research into the history of
slave ownership by Johns Hopkins and the impact of
his Quaker beliefs, as well as the impact of slavery
requests from the Lincoln Community League for
use of the Meeting House on December 21 at 3 pm
and again on January 15 in the afternoon, and use of
the parking lot on the evening of December 22 for a
community bonfire and caroling.
Religious Education noted that what they were
formerly calling Friendly Adult Presences are now
being referred to as Friendly Adult Volunteers (FAVs).
Goose Creek News
Dahlia Jo Epling was born on November 13, 2022.
Congratulations to her parents, Ashley and Nate, and to
her sisters Mary Rose and Hazel! We look forward to
seeing Dahlia Jo at Meeting.
A son was born to Anna Murray and Riccardo Belletti
on November 12. As Riccardo is from Italy and they
live in Dublin, the baby’s name is a mashup of nation-
alities: Gabriele Pádhraig Belletti. Sebastiano so far
approves of having a little brother. Grandparents Cath-
erine Cox and Charles Murray recently returned from a
visit to meet Gabri.
Why didn’t the early Quakers
celebrate Christmas?
“Friends objected strongly to any special observance
of what they called ‘days and times.’ They did not
believe that God had made any day holier than any
other, and so regarded holidays as “contrivances of
man,” which distracted from true religion. Seven-
teenth-century Friends, who looked on the Roman
Catholic Church as anti-Christian, would have to look
no farther than the very name “Christmas”—the mass
of Christ—to be suspicious.
“… In seventeenth-century England, Christmas was
usually celebrated with feasting and frivolity. Friends
saw this as, once again, distracting from true religion.
And they, like George Fox, thought that the money
spent on new clothes and carousing in taverns might
better be given to relieve the sufferings of the poor.
Thus as a youth, George Fox felt led: ‘When the time
called Christmas came, while others were feasting and
sporting themselves, I looked out poor widows from
house to house, and gave them some money.’”
– Quaker historian Tom Hamm, Earlham College
(https://www.friendsunitedmeeting.org/journal/why-
didnt-the-early-quakers-celebrate-christmas)
 Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | December 2022 | Page 3

Grace Methodist Episcopal Church

entry wins 2022 Holland Prize
Congratulations to Lukas Burgher whose Grace
Methodist Episcopal Church (HABS VA - 1553)
entry has been selected for the 2022 Leicester B.
Holland Prize!
This is an annual competition, open to both students
and professionals, that recognizes the best single-
sheet measured drawing of an historic building, site,
or structure prepared to Historic American Buildings
Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering
Record (HAER) or Historic American Landscapes
Survey (HALS) standards for inclusion in the HABS/
HAER/HALS Collection at The Library of Congress.
The prize honors Leicester B. Holland (1882-1952),
FAIA, chairman of the The American Institute of
Architects (AIA) Committee on Historic Buildings,
head of the Fine Arts Division of The Library of
Congress, first curator of the HABS collection, co-
founder of the HABS program in the 1930s, and the
first chair of the HABS Advisory Board.
The award winning effort consisted of a detailed East Elevation: An architectural drawing showing the
and accurate field survey to document the original front (main entry) elevation of Grace Church
construction of the historic Grace Church located
in Lincoln, VA. Deliverables submitted to the
competition organizers included archival field notes,
a short-format historical report with photographs,
and a single-sheet architectural drawing detailing
the important details of the historic building. These
documents will be added to the Historic American
Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineer
Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
Collection in the Library of Congress Prints &
Photographs Division.
In recognition of winning this contest, an award
of $1,500 will be dispersed to the Friends of
Grace Multicultural Center to assist in necessary
restoration efforts.
Lukas is an engineer, designer, and craftsman. He
is inspired by community connections, vernacular
architecture, and the rich history of our region that
is increasingly under threat of being forgotten.
Additionally, he would like to thank the members
of Friends of Grace and the Lincoln Preservation
Foundation for their assistance, consultation, and Datestone: An architectural drawing showing the
support in the development of these documents. cornerstone detail
Page 4 | December 2022 | Goose Creek Friends Newsletter

Sundays Facing Bench

Zoom Meeting for Worship at 9:45 a.m. In-person
DECEMBER
Meeting for Worship at 9:45 a.m. For the weekly Zoom link,
Patricia Barber
contact Chuck at: chuck.hough@gmail.com
First Day School & Nursery, 10:00 a.m. JANUARY
Jackie Kosbob
Wednesdays
zoom HOST
Discussion Group at 7:00 (Zoom). For more information,
Chuck Hough
contact Chuck Hough: chuck.hough@gmail.com
Calendar Family Programs
DECEMBER We still offer two
monthly groups online:
12.4 Sun. 11:00 am Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business PARENTING GROUP
12.11 Sun. 9:00 am Unity with Nature Committee meeting will resume in January
11:00 am Second Hour, followed by a simple lunch TEEN GROUP
12.14 Wed. 5:00 pm Religious Education Committee meeting (Zoom) will resume in January
12.18 Sun. 4:30 pm Christmas bonfire ***
6:00 pm Christmas potluck dinner and carol sing MUD CLUB! Special date:
12.24 Sat. 7:00 pm Christmas Eve Meeting for Worship 12/18 at the rise of Meeting,
about 11:00 AM at the
JANUARY Meeting House
01.01 Sun. 11:00 am Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business ***
(Yes! New Year’s morning!) For the meeting links and Mud
01.08 Sun. 9:00 am Unity with Nature Committee meeting Club info contact Cameron at:
cameron247@hotmail.com
11:00 am Second Hour: Discussion of the spiritual state
of the Meeting 2022
NEWSLETTER
01.22 Sun. 11:00 am Discussion of Meeting’s stewardship of our funds The Goose Creek Friends Newsletter
is published monthly by the
Goose Creek Friends Meeting,
Upcoming in First Day School & the Nursery 18204 Lincoln Road, P.O. Box 105,
Lincoln, VA 20160.
12.04 Quaker Elevator Speech, Teacher: Sean Lloyd CLERK
12.11 Christmas poem play practice, Christmas stories and crafts, Allen Cochran, 540.338.6485
Teachers: Jackie Kosbob and Susan Rickard Cochransstone@aol.com
12.18 Christmas poem play practice with the performance at rise of TREASURER
Meeting (about 11:00 AM) with tree trimming directly following Brian Burgher
and Mud Club. goose.creek.treasurer@gmail.com
12.25 Child care available but no regular First Day School program NEWSLETTER EDITOR
01.01 Child care available but no regular First Day School program Catherine Cox, 301-471-5330
blycox@comcast.net
01.08 Quaker Elevator Speech: A Short History & Notable Quakers
WEBSITE & FACEBOOK
NURSERY: Stories, drawing, painting, crafts, and play (ages newborn to 7) www.goosecreekfriends.org
https://www.facebook.com/
Goose-Creek-Friends-Meeting-
150892438287560/?rc=p
“When we gather together in worship let us remember that there
DONATIONS
is committed to each of us, as disciples of Christ, a share in Please direct donations for
the priesthood. We should help one another, whether in silence Goose Creek Friends Meeting to
or through spoken prayer or words of ministry. Let none of us Brian Burgher, P.O. Box 105
Lincoln, Virginia 20160 - OR -
assume that vocal ministry is never to be our part.” donate online: http://www.goose-
creekfriends.org/please-support-
– London Yearly Meeting, 1973 goose-creek/