An Update from Silverton Friends

In February, we completed a four-month series of visioning meetings. In our final session, we wrote hundreds of single-sentence statements on Post-it Notes, aligning the values that had surfaced during the process with the bullet points in our church mission statement. Eric Muhr took those Post-its and combined them into narrative statements about who we are and who we are becoming at Silverton Friends:

Being a Quaker is political. World problems and community concerns always have a spiritual dimension. Our Quaker peace testimony is an active commitment to non-violence that requires us individually and in community to stand up against or in the way of violence.

Community is our practice. We visit people. We encourage one another. We talk about both our burdens and our joys. We are learning to ask for what we need and to be more aware each day of others’ needs. Through prayer, we are learning to embrace without judgment. We are also learning how to let others embrace us, teach us, and care for us.

We are a worshiping community. We set aside time for silence and contemplation, centering on the presence of Christ with us, waiting for the Holy Spirit to teach us. We strive to share the teachings of Jesus in clear language. And we want children to understand and be a part of everything we do, to feel loved and to know that they, too, are specially equipped to teach us something of God.

We are a discerning community. The Holy Spirit guides us into action, so we take time to listen for the leading of the Spirit. We practice this listening – the other side of prayer – almost every single time we gather. The Holy Spirit can give us direction as individuals, but our silent waiting worship is a way of working together, and it is a practice that requires patience, as we may not decide what to do unless and until we agree.

We are a Quaker community. We study the Bible. We host discussions about our Quaker testimonies, and we strive to engage the larger community – especially minoritized people – in order to remind ourselves that our identity doesn’t matter if it isn’t good news for our neighbors. Our process is designed to hold space for every voice and to provide a platform for those whose voices are generally silenced or suppressed. We also know from experience that we have much to learn from members of other faith traditions.