Monday, January 8, 2007

Introduction to the Questions

Hello Friends,

In our last Meeting for Business on 6/4/06 we discussed a number of issues pertaining to the future of DeLand Preparative Meeting. Issues concerning our level of contributions, the suitability of our present quarters at Casa Montessori, our ability to introduce newcomers to Quakerism and our ability to form a spiritual community not limited to Sunday mornings were some of the items discussed that bear on our future. We had an interesting and fruitful discussion on these topics but were limited by time constraints and by the limited number in attendance. The Meeting decided to initiate an online dialogue to continue consideration of these concerns. The dialogue would focus both on our vision for DeLand Preparative Meeting and on more specific questions. The intent is to have more of an online dialogue than a survey. You are invited to share your concerns about the Meeting using the following questions as food for thought.

Vision

What is your vision for DeLand Friends Meeting? How do you envision the Meeting 1, 5, or 10 years from now?

Strength of the Meeting

How strong and steady do you feel the Meeting is now in terms of it moving from a Preparative Meeting to a Monthly Meeting? If you don’t feel like the Meeting is ready what do you feel needs to be accomplished?

New Members

How active do you feel the Meeting should be in recruiting new members? That is, do you envision the Meeting consisting mainly of persons already familiar with Quakerism or should we active seek to introduce persons in our community to Quakerism?

Adult Quaker Education

How would you like to see the Meeting provide for adult religious education and discussion of Quakerism? Note that various efforts in the past such as Quakerism 101, after Meeting discussions at the Vaughen’s, etc. have had mixed results.

The Kids

How do you feel the current arrangement for First Day School is working out?

Meeting Space

How do you feel our current quarters at Casa Montessori are working out?

Your Ideas

What ideas do you have for making the Meeting more valuable/useful to you?