Saving the Circle Documentary:
This documentary is about Indigenous women in history. The Antiracism Committee will host a presentation of this documentary on September 13, 2026. For more information visit: SAVING THE CIRCLE
Immigration and ICE Issues in Loudoun County: Father Daniel of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Leesburg, VA met with Goose Creek Friends via Zoom on Tuesday, May 14 at 7 p.m. Father Daniel has been working with the immigrant community in Loudoun for many years. Since we learned that St. Gabriel’s has done so much for the immigrant community as well as for the wider community in need, the committee agreed to direct their approved donation allotment to them. Click here to learn more about St. Gabriel’s outreach work.
Grace Church Update: The upper windows are scheduled to be replaced at the end of March 2026 and completed in June or July 2026. The Friends of Grace will be planning an open house sometime after that. So be on the look out for that date!
AFSC Love as Action initiative: On June 14, 2026, 17 Friends and friends participated in a Love as Action silent meeting for worship on the lawn of Goose Creek Friends Meeting. A representative for Senator Mark Warner showed up and asked questions about Quakerism and AFSC. There was lots of activity that day, which included a gathering for a bike race across the road, so we got some good visibility.
Life and Death of the American Worker by Alice Driver: as one response to our Second-Hour discussion about this book, the committee drafted a resource list for Friends and others who would like to support local farms who raise meat humanely and sustainably and use companies — who treat and pay their workers well — to process the meat.
About us
Our Mission: We aspire to live into our testimony of equality by recognizing our legacy of racism and working to make a more equitable and just community.
Who we are: This committee was founded at Goose Creek shortly after the killing of George Floyd, on July 15, 2020. The committee has met regularly since its inception, and continues to do so on every other Wednesday at 7:00 pm via zoom. Please feel free to join us! Email committee clerk LisaColburn@gmail.com for the zoom link.
Land Acknowledgement Statement: Let us recognize those who were here before us. We honor the Manahoac and Monacan (Mahock) people who were on the land where Goose Creek Meeting House now stands. This land was a trade route as well as seasonal hunting grounds for the Iroquoian, Algonkian, and Siouan language groups. We recognize their legacy.
Queries We aspire to be mindful of the role of privilege as it impacts our experiences and decisions. Quakers have long used queries as a means to test our decisions, thus we seek to use the following queries at Goose Creek:
- How could this decision impact those who have been affected by racist practices?
- Will this decision promote equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and economic justice- enabling us to be more friendly and whole?
- Are there ways we can actively provide opportunities to promote equity, diversity, inclusiveness and economic justice?
Our work includes:
- Making a sign support immigrants that is displayed prominently outside our Meetinghouse.
- In February, holding a meeting-wide discussion of Life and Death of the American Worker by Alice Driver, which discusses the plight of workers at a Tysons chicken processing plant in Arkansas, many of whom are undocumented immigrants.
- Compiling a community resource list for ESL, food, and housing.
- Welcoming Brian Blackmore of AFSC to visit and speak to us in March about AFSC’s immigrant justice and other work. He also spoke to our teens.
- Sharing information about presentations offered by the Thomas Balch Library Black History Committee
- Holding a committee retreat at the end of January 2026 and discerned on what to focus on this year.
Our continuing goals:
- Provide opportunities for discussion and discernment within our spiritual and wider community;
- Work to become aware of own biases as they impact our decisions, both personally and as a spiritual community;
- Acknowledge the native land upon which our meeting house stands and seek ways to support Indigenous people in our area; and,
- Seek to engage with diverse people in our wider community