At BFM, the Adult Religious Education Committee's mission is to foster spiritual growth and development in the Meeting. It arranges programs for both newcomers and seasoned Friends on Quaker faith and practice, readings and discussion of Quaker history and testimonies, Bible study, prayer and meditation, and shared reflections on our spiritual experience.

During 2005-06, ARE co-sponsored 10 sessions at BFM. These are usually held at 9:30 a.m. in the Music Room of the SAM building, but sometimes at the rise of Meeting in various places.

The committee presented five sessions in the fall of 2005 whose purpose was to familiarize new members and attenders with the faith and practice of Friends, and to strengthen the under-standing of long-time members and attenders. They used four texts: Howard Brinton's “Friends for 350 Years,” Michael Sheenan's “Beyond Majority Rule,” John Pushon's “Encounters with Silence” and BYM's “Faith and Practice.”

The sessions and their facilitators were: Worship and ministry (facilitated by Susan Kaul); Margaret Fell and the light she shed on early Quakerism (facilitated by Eleanor and Peter Szanton); the Light within (facilitated by Peirce Hammond); Getting down to business (facilitated by Richard Mounts); and Membership in the Meeting (facilitated by Catherine McHugh).

In February, Susan Kaul led a viewing and discussion for eight other Friends of a video about Thomas Kelly's essay “Room for the Infinite” in which the silence of Quaker-expectant worship is compared to the use of space in Chinese landscape painting. In March, Ellie Szanton and Maggie Heyward gave a talk and led a lively discussion on Adam Hochschild's book “Bury the Chains” which discusses the prominent role of Quakers in the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.

We also continued our series on Spiritual Journeys in which people share their reflections on the spiritual evolution of their lives. These presentations, which are typically well attended, are deeply reflective, richly illustrated verbal self-portraits offered with humility and grace. There is no set format for these talks. Each individual finds his/her unique way of recalling, describing, and revealing what he/she has learned over years and decades. This year, we were blessed to hear the journeys of Rick Morgan, Ron Akins, and Margaret Plank. The committee records every spiritual journey and places in the library a master tape and a copy of it. We want to find a better way to present and protect the tapes, for both borrowing and as a record of BFM's human history, and will work on it in the coming year .

In recent months the committee wrestled with the question of how to help the Meeting to face the challenge of simplicity. We welcome questions and encouragement on this score from everyone. We encourage everyone, including other BFM committees, to suggest or request topics and speakers, and to give us feedback on our sessions. We appreciate and need this kind of support, viewing it as an active way for the Meeting to hold us in the Light.

We give thanks for the work of the members of the committee through the past year. First, for those members who rotated off the committee last January: Peirce Hammond, Susan Kaul, and Susie Crowley. And second for the present members of the committee: Philip Bog-donoff, Frank Greve, Karen Kuehl, Bob Nutter, and Bill Dietrich.