Inviting Input on the Spiritual State of Our Meeting    

The Ministry and Worship Committee is responsible for gathering input each year on the spiritual state of the meeting and developing a report for consideration by the Meeting.  To frame these discussions, we develop queries with guidance from Baltimore Yearly Meeting, which we hope you will consider responding to.  We seek to understand how friends are feeling about their participation in Bethesda Friends Meeting, what is working or not working, and how we might provide the best possible spiritual nurture.  We truly value every response we get and hope you will give us your feedback. 

Queries on which we invite input are set out below. 

1. How would you describe your personal spiritual state?
2. In what ways does collective worship with the Bethesda Friends Meeting community enhance, or hinder, your spiritual engagement and growth?
3. What satisfaction or support do you get from your connections and engagement with others in the BFM community?
4. Our Meeting has been asked to consider how to address systemic racism as a spiritual concern.  What’s your view of how we are seeking to address this issue?  What more would you like to see BFM do to address it as a spiritual concern?

You do not need to respond to each of the queries; we welcome input on those that resonate with you. 

Pathways to provide input include the following:

1. We will host a discussion at 9:30 on 2/12, via Zoom.  Lauren B. will facilitate the session.  Use our Contact Us form to ask for the Zoom link.
2. We will host a second discussion at the rise of meeting on 2/19, with Stephanie Koenig facilitating.  This will be a hybrid session.  Use our Contact Us form to ask for the Zoom link.
3. We will solicit input from the BFM committees. 
4. We welcome you to provide input on these queries by email to ministry-worship@bethesdafriends.org. 
5. We also welcome you to provide input directly to any member of the Ministry and Worship Committee (please see the list in your Directory). 

We look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you! 

A first reading of the report will be held at the March 5, 2023 Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business,

with a second reading in April.

After approval, it is forwarded to Baltimore Yearly Meeting.