Goose Creek Friends
Newsletter February 2022
Goose Creek Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Lincoln, Virginia
Queries for Second Month –
Listening:
• When is it hardest for me to be ready to
listen?
• To what extent do I open myself to the
risks of listening?
• How have I been changed by deeply
listening to another, to God, to nature?
How does my own perception affect the
way I understand what others say?
Second Month Monthly
Meeting for Worship with
a Concern for Business
This meeting took place via Zoom because
of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of
COVID-19.
The Clerk read a letter of thanks for our
donation from the staff and board of directors
of the Maison de Naissance in Haiti. This
included a postscript praising the great work of
Midwives for Haiti, including Wendy Dotson.
He also read a letter of thanks for our support
from Kent Brewer, with special thanks to
Bobbi Blok and Patricia Barber. Kent will be
released from incarceration in mid-February
and has housing and a job lined up.
Meeting House Reopening
for Meeting for Worship
FEBRUARY 20, 2022
The Meeting House will reopen on
February 20 for in-person worship!
***
COVID-19 safety measures will remain
in place, and Friends are asked to mask.
Meetings for Worship via Zoom
will continue to be held.
***
First Day School will resume on March 6.
***
These dates are subject to change if
necessary, so please stay in touch with
Goose Creek emailed announcements.
The annual report of the Hospitality and
Housekeeping Committee was approved
with thanks.
The Membership Report for 2021 was
approved with thanks. During 2021 Goose
Creek’s membership increased from 191 to
192. New members: McDonald Robinson,
Nancy Robinson, and Adam Robinson.
Continued on next page g
Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | February 2022 | Page 2
Randall Ihara transferred his membership
to Herndon Monthly Meeting, and Bartlett
Hendrickson died.
Ed Devinney spoke about some changes in
the Meeting budget for 2022. The budget
will be presented for approval in March.
In the meantime, Friends should contact
Ed or anyone on the Finance Committee
if they have questions. A central issue to
be discussed is how we should shepherd
our wealth to help others, and what the
spiritual and temporal values of our funds
are. Committee clerks were asked to
send Ed explanations of major changes
in their recommended donations to other
organizations by next Saturday, February
12. He will send Friends an email with those
descriptions and the draft budget.
Friends agreed that third First Days should
be reserved for committee meetings.
Committees should let Patricia Barber and
Catherine Cox know if they would like their
meeting times to be included on the website
and newsletter calendars respectively.
Friends discussed the process for new
appointments to the Nominating Committee
and approved the following: The number
of members should be 4-6. They should
have a deep commitment to the life of the
Meeting and regular attendance at Meeting
for Worship, plus an understanding of Quaker
process and a willingness to learn about the
work of committees and the responsibilities
that accompany various appointments. In
October and November of each year, the
Ministry and Worship Committee, clerks
of other committees, and the Meeting
clerk will identify people who they think
would be good additions to the Nominating
Committee. In addition, outreach will
take place (via the newsletter, email, and
meeting announcements), asking members
or attenders whether they are led to serve.
At its November and December meetings,
the Ministry and Worship Committee will
undertake discernment regarding names put
forward in these various ways and invite
those they recommend to serve on that year’s
Nominating Committee. In February the
names of the new members will be brought
to Meeting for Worship with a Concern for
Business for approval.
An abbreviated version of this process will
take place during the rest of this month.
Three people remain on the committee from
last year: Patricia Barber, Chuck Hedges,
and Perry Epes. We are looking for one to
three new members. Patricia will send a
Meeting email asking Friends whether they
are interested in serving on the Nominating
Committee and the newsletter will include
an announcement. Friends should respond to
the Clerk.
Friends approved the proposal of the ad hoc
committee on reopening the Meeting House
to reopen on February 20 with COVID
safety procedures in place, including
Continued on next page g

masking, with First Day School to resume
on March 6. These dates are subject to
change if necessary.
More than 50 Afghan refugees have now
been housed in Winchester, with 100 more
envisioned for the future.
Gratitude
What place does gratitude have in our
spiritual lives? What place does it have in
your life? We’ll continue our conversation
about gratitude after the rise of Meeting on
February 13 and March 13.
From Baltimore
Yearly Meeting:
Why not book a camping
trip at the Catoctin Quaker
Campground this Spring?
The Campground will be open from April
15 through June 13. Your cabin rental will
include a beautiful post and beam cabin,
fire pit and picnic table, and access to the
bathhouses, firewood, the grounds, and clean,
tasty Catoctin water. Multiple cabins can be
rented for larger events, and access to the
Catoctin lodge building may be available on
a limited basis for larger groups. You can find
us here on HipCamp.com. Book a relaxing
and fun weekend away and help to sustain
the BYM camps!
Goose Creek Friends Newsletter | February 2022 | Page 3
First Day School
Reopens March 6th
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Visit our First Day School page for use-at-
your-convenience lessons! Learn different
perspectives on these topics, related passages
from Faith & Practice, and the Bible. There
are queries for discussion, activities and
resources, book and video picks, and of
course, our weekly recipe!
VISIT
http://www.goosecreekfriends.org/
first-day-school/
Feel free to reach out to Cameron, RE Clerk,
anytime at cameron247@hotmail.com
Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee for 2023 is
seeking new members. If you are interested
in serving on this committee, please contact
the Clerk, Allen Cochran, at cochransstone@
aol.com or (540) 338-6485.
Continued on next page g
Page 4 | February 2022 | Goose Creek Friends Newsletter

Sundays Facing Bench

Zoom-only Meeting for Worship at 9:45 am. In-person february
Meeting for Worship at 9:45 am starting February 20, 2022 Catherine Cox
First Day School resumes March 6, 2022. For the weekly
Zoom link, contact Chuck at: chuck.hough@gmail.com MARCH
Carolyn Unger
Wednesdays
Discussion Group at 7:00 (Zoom). For more information, First Day School &
contact Chuck Hough: chuck.hough@gmail.com Family Programs
Calendar We will not have in-person First
Day School until the March 6th.
FEBRUARY We post at-your-covenience
02.13 Sunday 11:00 am Discussion: Gratitude (via Zoom) First Day School lesson plans
02.15 Tuesday 7:00 pm Religious Education Committee on the Meeting’s website at
http://www.goosecreekfriends.
meeting (via Zoom)
org/first-day-school/ and offer
02.20 Sunday 9:00 am Unity with Nature Committee meeting two monthly groups online:
02.27 Sunday 11:00 am Ministry & Worship Committee meeting
PARENTING GROUP
MARCH 02/26/22, 1:00 PM
TEEN GROUP
03.06 Sunday 11:00 am Meeting for Worship with a Concern
02/27/22, 7:30 PM
for Business
For more info contact:
03.13 Sunday 11:00 am Discussion: Gratitude
cameron247@hotmail.com
03.20 Sunday 9:00 am Unity with Nature Committee meeting
03.27 Sunday 11:00 am Ministry & Worship Committee meeting
NEWSLETTER
“The fathomless depth of the listener who can go The Goose Creek Friends Newsletter
is published monthly by the
beyond words, who can even go beyond the conscious Goose Creek Friends Meeting,
18204 Lincoln Road, P.O. Box 105,
meanings behind words and who can listen with the Lincoln, VA 20160.

third ear for what is unconsciously being meant by the CLERK

speaker, this fashion of attentive listening furnishes a Allen Cochran, 540.338.6485
Cochransstone@aol.com
climate where the most unexpected disclosures occur TREASURER
that are in the way of being miracles in one sense, and Brian Burgher
goose.creek.treasurer@gmail.com
the most natural and obvious things in the world, on
the other.” –Douglas Steere, 1955 NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Catherine Cox, 301-471-5330
blycox@comcast.net
Quaker Jargon of the Month: WEBSITE & FACEBOOK

Holding in the Light www.goosecreekfriends.org

https://www.facebook.com/
Goose-Creek-Friends-Meeting-
“Holding someone in the Light is more than a simple supplication 150892438287560/?rc=p

on behalf of that person. Instead, there is a sense of joining with DONATIONS

Spirit, or the Light, to enfold the person in love and comfort, or of Please direct donations for
Goose Creek Friends Meeting to
joining with the Light in the faith that the Light will reveal what is Brian Burgher, P.O. Box 105
Lincoln, Virginia 20160 - OR -
deeply true for that person.” (From Bethesda Monthly Meeting’s donate online: http://www.goose-
creekfriends.org/please-support-
“Quaker Speak Glossary,” 2019) goose-creek/