Community
by Norma Silliman
“Community reminds us that we need each other. We need care, collaboration, and the guidance of others. Group discernment is essential. There is power in gathering together. Dialogue is crucial. Our loving and just action is even more powerful when we collaborate. We all have unique gifts and perspectives that enrich the entire congregation and world.” This is the summary of our testimony on Community.
The Community aspect of my Quaker faith and experience has been very central to what keeps me engaged as a Quaker and as a Christ follower. Being able to worship together with people who have a commitment to listen for the voice and spirit of God and to witness God’s Light at work in our midst has kept me coming back.
Worshipping together—singing, praying, wrestling with spiritual issues, and sitting in silence together—brings a unity beyond agreement on common actions or what doctrine we espouse. Regular worship with others in our meeting creates a special bond and provides an underlying commitment to love people, remember them in prayer, and get together with them. It compels us to collaborate to build a community of love, justice, peace, earth care, creativity and joy that ripples out into our world.
My sense of community extends beyond Camas Friends. I enjoy participating in local interfaith projects—like St. Anne’s Car Camping program and the interfaith prayer services that are held occasionally. I regularly attend Convergent Friends gatherings for worship and other cross-yearly meeting activities with Quakers. Every other year I attend the Pacific Northwest Quaker Women’s Theology Conference, a deep, joyful, restorative retreat of Quaker women to worship and reflect together on aspects of our shared Quaker faith and experience.
I am currently devoting significant time and spiritual energy on the work being done to discern how Northwest Friends are being lead into the “New Thing” that has resulted from Camas Friends’ (and three other meetings’) commitment to be inclusive and welcoming to all people. The folks who are being drawn to this are amazing people. The opportunity to be involved in this is very energizing for me. I have a real sense of community with these Friends.
My anchoring at Camas Friends gives me the foundation and local community from which to participate at other levels; my participation at the other levels contributes to my ability to better serve at Camas Friends. Quaker community grounds me.
