Goose Creek Friends
Newsletter April 2024
Goose Creek Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Lincoln, Virginia
Queries for Fourth Month –
Stewardship of the Earth
• Do you seek to preserve the beauty and balance
of God’s world?
• How do we use the world’s resources with care
and consideration for future generations and with
respect for all life?
• Do you endeavor to understand the detrimental
changes affecting earth systems and humanity?
• Do you seek to meet your needs in a sustainable
way by preserving resources, enhancing the
health of the earth, and by protecting the future?
• Do we intentionally explore and live our
conviction that there is that of God in all
creation?
Fourth Month Monthly Meeting for
Worship with a Concern for Business
It was noted that the Waterford Cemetery, referred to
in Third Month minutes, is actually called the Fairfax
Burying Ground.
Friends approved with thanks a report from the
Property Committee. The committee completed
a metal roof replacement on the Stone Meeting
House’s kitchen addition and had some stonework
repair done in front of the Meeting House. They
have begun work on windows in the kitchen and
at Oakdale. For 2024, they have identified the
following projects:
• Ongoing tree maintenance and replacement
• Additional stonework repairs
• Oakdale School improvements
• Meeting House bathroom renovation
• Meeting House mold remediation and furnace
room renovation
Friends approved with thanks a report from the
Trustees, including accounts of the General Fund,
Burying Grounds funds, and scholarship funds.
It was noted that one task of the Trustees is to act
as stewards of Meeting capital funds with a focus
on socially conscious investments. Our boundary
adjustments are moving forward.
Friends approved a request from the Religious
Education Committee to hire another assistant to
help with the elementary age group in FDS. This
would help with the FAV burden and provide
consistency for the children, as well as provide
flexibility in the rest of the program. Meeting
thanked the RE Committee for their work.
We have now had five successful hybrid Meetings
for Worship, and Friends approved the Technology
Subcommittee’s suggestions that we continue this
practice, that we attach the camera to the back wall
so that Zoom participants have greater visibility, and
that we add another speaker/microphone device. A
Friend noted that we might expand hybrid Zoom
to include Second Hour meetings. The committee
will seek more volunteers to assist with the tech
management. Friends thanked the subcommittee for
all its work.
The Peace and Social Concerns Committee
prepared a draft letter to be sent to the Friends
Committee on National Legislation regarding
FCNL’s priorities for the next two years. They
suggested the following priorities:
• Peace building, including but not limited to
Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank
• Promoting gun safety and an end to gun violence
• Reproductive rights and access to healthcare for
women, infants, and children
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Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | April 2024 | Page 2
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• Access to voting/fair elections
• Institutional reform, including but not limited
to immigration, criminal justice, and equitable
tax systems
• Climate change and environmental justice
• Meeting approved this letter with thanks
to Peace and Social Concerns.
Friends approved holding Baltimore Yearly
Meeting’s next Interim Meeting at Goose Creek on
Six Month, Eighth Day.
BYM’s Young Friends will hold their next Youth
Con at Goose Creek May 24-26.
David Waller Chamberlin, aged 79, a member of
this Meeting, died on Saturday, March 23, 2024. A
memorial under the care of Meeting will be held at
Goose Creek in late May or June.
April 14 Second Hour – Membership
(led by Allen Cochran), followed by a
baked potato lunch
What does it mean to become a member of a
Quaker meeting?
Here is what Britain Yearly Meeting said in 1999,
and it holds true for our meeting today:
When early Friends affirmed the priesthood of all
believers it was seen as an abolition of the clergy;
in fact it is an abolition of the laity. All members
are part of the clergy and have the clergy’s
responsibility for the maintenance of the meeting
as a community. This means helping to contribute,
in whatever ways are most suitable, to the
maintenance of an atmosphere in which spiritual
growth and exploration are possible for all.
Join us to talk about the joys and responsibilities of
membership!
Childcare is provided for Second Hours.
Next Goose Creek Jam at the
Meeting House Sunday, April 21,
4:00 pm
(note the change in time from last month)
All are welcome!  Bring your instrument(s) and
a few copies of your favorite music.  Don't have
music?  No worries – we will have plenty to choose
from.  A little rusty?  No worries – we enjoy making
music together no matter what our skill levels. 
Questions or comments? Contact Mac Robinson
(602-363-8367) or Carolyn Ormes (703-431-1061).
From the Antiracism Committee:
Agricair, a Loudoun County conservation hub, has
announced two upcoming events. Please click on the
links (in bold) for more information.
Healing House Party fundraiser
Friday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Harmony Hall, Hamilton, VA
Music by local musicians
Amplifying Indigenous Women’s
Perspectives for Healthy Soil & Water
Saturday, April 13, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Oatlands Plantation, Leesburg, VA
Keynote speaker:Dr. Lyla June Johnston Artist,
Scholar, Community Organizer Diné (Navajo),
Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.
Panel discussion on ways communities can
transform a relationship with precious resources
of soil and water.
Food truck, booths, family activities.
Bring a picnic if you like!
This event is sponsored by Virginia Tech
center for food systems, Loudoun Soil and
Water Conservation District, Oatlands, Virginia
Cooperative Extension and more.   
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From the Peace and Social
Concerns Committee: The AICF
One of the organizations to which we have made
donations is the American Indian College Fund.
This is a nonprofit organization that since 1989 has
helped Native Americans advance through education
and other services. The AICF was created by the
presidents of existing tribal colleges and universities
to address what they considered a failed federal
education policy. The fund consistently receives high
marks from Charity Navigator; it has awarded over
159,652 scholarships.
Baltimore Yearly Meeting created the Indian Affairs
Committee (now the Indigenous Affairs Committee)
in 1795. Goose Creek’s Samuel M. Janney (1801-
1880) was appointed on June 12, 1869, to be an
Indian agent on behalf of the U.S. government. When
Samuel was unable to continue, he was replaced by
his brother, Asa M. Janney (1802-1877). A chalk
drawing of Samuel meeting with tribal leaders hangs
in our smaller gathering room. For more information,
visit collegefund.org.
Friends Wilderness Center
• April 20 – Herbs & Medicinal Plants: Let It Be
Easy! 10:00 am
• April 27 – Spring Volunteer Day: Many hands
make Light work! 9:00 am
• May 11 – Forest Therapy: Embracing Our
Mother 11:00 am
• May 14 – Rolling Ridge Bird Walk 7:30 am
For more information: friendswilderness.org
(All programs are offered on a free-will donation
basis. Some programs, however, might request
reimbursement for specific materials. We ask
participants to consider a minimum donation of $10
per person.)
From John Flower and Pam
Leonard, founders of the China
Folk House at FWC:
China Folk House has a special summer opportunity
for students from the Quaker Community: an
Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | April 2024 | Page 3
experiential learning program on sustainability for
the subsidized price of only $500 per student for
each week of the full residential program at our
site in Harper Ferry, West Virginia: June 16-23 will
focus on sustainable architecture, and June 23-30
will focus on alternative energy. We are offering
this discount to Friends Schools and Quaker
meetings in the spirit of our shared commitment to
environmental stewardship.
Please let us know if you have and questions
(admin@chinafolkhouse.org). We hope you’ll join us
at the Friends Wilderness Center’s China Folk House
this summer.
Meeting News
We are deeply saddened by the death on March 23,
2024, of David Chamberlin. David was a native
of Waterford, and a scion of former Waterford
Quakers. He and his wife, Carolee, were long-time
members of Goose Creek Meeting. After graduating
from Earlham College they served as Peace Corps
volunteers in Brazil. From 1972-75 they lived in
Afghanistan while David was the Peace Corps
Administrative Officer there. Later he worked with
the federal government’s volunteer agency, ACTION,
and then for the EPA. As his published obituary says,
“David's life reflected his strong belief in working
towards peaceful resolutions to conflict.” In recent
years the Chamberlins have lived in Lexington,
Virginia, close to children and grandchildren. A
memorial under the care of Meeting will be held here
in late May or early June. Please hold Carolee in the
Light, as well as their children, Justin, Rebecca, and
Marion, and their grandchildren.
What a joy to hear in Meeting for Worship
the voices of Friends who have been meeting
previously as a small group of worshipers on
Zoom! We give thanks to technology for making
this possible – and we give thanks to Chuck Hough,
Judy Ross, Adam Robinson, and the other Friends
who have helped bring this about. An Easter
attender who wasn’t aware of the innovation said,
“I was delighted to hear Caroline Pelton’s voice,
loud and clear … but I looked around, and she
wasn’t there!” (Would that she had been there in
person, of course.)
Page 4 | April 2024 | Goose Creek Friends Newsletter

Sundays Facing Bench

Meeting for Worship at 9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship can be joined via APRIL
Zoom by clicking or copying into your browser this address: Catherine Cox
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83350737205?pwd=Z0pNM2xZRTBpSDQwa2Za ***
MmRiRHM0UT09 Meeting ID: 833 5073 7205 Passcode: 061785
First Day School & Oakdale Nursery, 10:00 a.m.

Wednesdays
Discussion Group at 7:00 (Zoom). For more information, contact Chuck
Hough: chuck.hough@gmail.com

Calendar
APRIL NEWSLETTER
4.07 Sunday 11:00 am Meeting for Worship with a Concern The Goose Creek Friends Newsletter
is published monthly by the
for Business Goose Creek Friends Meeting,
04.14 Sunday 08:30 am Peace & Social Concerns Committee mtg. 18204 Lincoln Road, P.O. Box 105,
11:00 am Second Hour: Membership, lunch follows Lincoln, VA 20160.
04.21 Sunday 04:00 pm Music jam
04.28 Sunday 11:00 am Ministry & Worship Committee meeting CLERK
Allen Cochran, 540.338.6485
MAY Cochransstone@aol.com

05.05 Sunday 1:00 am Meeting for Worship with a Concern

TREASURER
for Business
Brian Burgher
05.12 Sunday 08:30 am Peace & Social Concerns Committee mtg. goose.creek.treasurer@gmail.com
11:00 am Second Hour
05.24-26 Fri.-Sun BYM Youth Con at Goose Creek NEWSLETTER
05.26 Sunday 11:00 am Ministry & Worship Committee meeting EDITOR
Catherine Cox, 301-471-5330
Death blycox@comcast.net
David Chamberlin, March 23, 2024
WEBSITE &
First Day School FACEBOOK
www.goosecreekfriends.org
04.07 Teen and Middle Groups GAME DAY https://www.facebook.com/
04.14 Teen Group (grades 6-12) Where Our Food Comes From Goose-Creek-Friends-Meeting-
Middle Group (grades PreK-5) Forgiveness 150892438287560/?rc=p

04.21 Teen Group, Birding Adventure by the Creek

DONATIONS
Middle Group, Something fun
Please direct donations for
04.28 Teen Group, Sacred Stewardship Goose Creek Friends Meeting to
Middle Group, Growing Together Brian Burgher, P.O. Box 105
Lincoln, Virginia 20160 - OR -
Oakdale Nursery donate online: http://www.goose-
creekfriends.org/please-support-
(Infant-PreK) Children enjoy toys, games, stories and play. goose-creek/

“Our Gracious Creator cares and provides for all his creatures. His tender mercies are over all his works, and as far as his
love influences our minds, so far we become interested in his workmanship and feel a desire to take hold of every opportunity
to lessen the distresses of the afflicted and increase the happiness of the creation. Here we have the prospect of one common
interest. . . to turn all that we possess into the channel of universal love becomes the business of our lives.” – John Woolman,
“A Plea for the Poor or A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich”