Welcome
G
oose Creek is a warm and welcoming community where we support each other in our shared journeys of the Spirit. We believe, in the words of the Quaker writer Thomas Kelly, that “deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return.” In our worship and in our daily lives we seek to remain always with our hearts turned toward that Divine Center.
Quakerism is not defined by creeds or doctrine. Rather it is a lived spiritual practice where we seek God in our experiences and live out our faith in our shared world. We believe that there is that of God within each and every human being – adults and children – regardless of faith, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or life experiences. We are called to answer that Divine spark, that Light Within, both in ourselves and in others.
We welcome all seekers, find deep kinship in our shared humanity, and value our differences.
Caring for one another
- In what ways do I show respect for that of God in every person?
- Do I reach out with spiritual and practical care to those with special needs?
- Am I comfortable making my own needs know to my Meeting?
- How do we share in the diverse joys and transitions in each other’s lives?
- Do you consider the needs of grandparents and older members of the family circle?
From Baltimore Yearly Meeting “Advices.”
Our Meetings are strongest when Friends are concerned about the welfare of every member of the Meeting community. While we need to guard against prying or invasion of privacy, it is nevertheless essential that Meetings be aware of the spiritual and material needs of members of the community and express caring concern in appropriate ways. To this end, we are to live affectionately as friends, entering with sympathy into the joys and sorrows of one another’s lives.
Voices
“Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness, and bearing one with another, and forgiving one another — and helping one another up with a tender hand, if there has been any slip or fall.”
— Isaac Penington, 1667
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
— John 13:34-35 (NRSV)
“When the members of a fellowship know one another, care for one another, visit one another in their homes, consult one another, hold one another up in the silence and feel responsibility before God for one another, then when they meet together for worship they are truly open as a corporate group for the deepest working of the Spirit.”
— Douglas Steere, 1940
“In a true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Instead, our companions will be given to us by grace. Often they will be persons who will upset our settled view of self and world. In fact, we might define true community as the place where the person you least want to live with always lives?”
— Parker J. Palmer, 1977
“Let us seek to live in compassion and patience with one another. Grace and latitude should mark our relationships. All to often we can injure each other unduly in our zeal for justice and truth and righteousness. The spirit of condemnation can creep into our relationships so subtly… But there is a more excellent way: we simply need to be with one another, loving, supporting, caring.”
— Richard J. Foster, 1981
Calendar
Friends and visitors are also invited to join us for our hybrid Meeting for Worship at 9:45 a.m. each Sunday. If you would like to participate online, please use the link below.
Link for Meeting for Worship:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83350737205?pwd=Z0pNM2xZRTBpSDQwa2ZaMmRiRHM0UT09
Meeting ID: 833 5073 7205
Passcode: 061785
For all other online gatherings listed in the calendar, please request link at gcmmlincoln@gmail.com.
Help us extend hospitality to Friends and visitors! Sign up to provide after-meeting refreshments here.
Sunday, December 1
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
11:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business
Sunday, December 8
8:45 a.m. Peace & Social Concerns Committee meeting
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
11:00 a.m. Second Hour: Christmas worship gathering
Tuesday, December 10
7:30 a.m. Rolling Ridge Bird Walk — Friends Wilderness Center
Sunday, December 15
8:45 a.m. Unity with Nature Committee meeting
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
5:30 p.m. Christmas potluck & carol sing
Thursday, December 19
7:30 p.m. Unity with Nature online monthly guided nature meditation
Sunday, December 22
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
Saturday, December 28
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Annual Reflection Hike — Friends Wilderness Center
Sunday, December 29
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
11:00 a.m. Ministry & Worship Committee meeting
Sunday, January 5
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
11:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business
Sunday, January 12
8:45 a.m. Peace & Social Concerns Committee meeting
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
11:00 a.m. Second Hour: Spiritual State of the Meeting
Thursday, January 16
7:30 p.m. Unity with Nature online monthly guided nature meditation
Sunday, January 19
8:45 a.m. Unity with Nature Committee meeting
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
Sunday, January 26
9:45 a.m. Meeting for Worship
11:00 a.m. Ministry & Worship Committee meeting
To request an email announcement or addition to the calendar, please contact us at goosecreeknews@gmail.com. Please read our Goose Creek Email Protocol for further guidance.
Street Address:
18204 Lincoln Road
Purcellville, VA 20132
Postal Address:
PO Box 105
Lincoln, VA 20160
