Committees

Because Friends believe that no clergyman, no intercessor, no liturgy, or ritual is required to experience the Divine Presence, we have traditionally rejected the notion of a paid clergy. Instead, we believe we are all called to be ministers and are mutually responsible for the spiritual nurture of the Meeting and the running of Meeting affairs. To do the necessary business of the Meeting and to provide the structures within which our ministry can take place, members and attenders are encouraged to contribute directly to the life of the Meeting by participating in one or more of our committees or by agreeing to be appointed to an unpaid position of responsibility.

If you would need email information for a committee member, please request it via gcmmlincoln@gmail.com

Committees & Appointments 2024

Goose Creek Nominating Process

Ministry and Worship

Tim Brown (interim Clerk)

The Ministry & Oversight Committee is comprised of seasoned Friends who oversee both the spiritual nurture of the Meeting and its material concerns. The committee organizes and facilitates adult religious education sessions, provides guidance for couples seeking to marry under the care of Goose Creek Meeting, and is often the point of contact for inquiries from the public at large. M & O also arranges Clearness Committees for prospective members and for members and attenders who request help in finding resolution to a personal problem or challenge.

Ministry & Worship Memorial & Marriage Subcommittee

Carolyn Unger (Clerk)

Burying Grounds

Bill Cochran (co-Clerk)
Allen Cochran (co-Clerk)

The Burying Ground Committee cares for the Meeting’s three burying grounds – Goose Creek, South Fork, and Waterford – and reaches out in compassion to people who have lost friends and family members and who are in need of our services. Burying Grounds Committee Report 2020

Finance

Ed Devinney (co-Clerk)
Dave Colburn (co-Clerk)

The Finance Committee works to assure the security and sufficiency of Meeting’s financial basis, including proper fundraising, resource management, and transparency.

Hospitality

Sara Brown (co-Clerk)
Patricia Barber (co-Clerk)

The Hospitality & Housekeeping Committee organizes hospitality for after Meeting for Worship and for other events at the Meetinghouse. These include potlucks, Easter breakfast, the annual Christmas celebration, and memorial services.

Library

Elizabeth Evans (Clerk)

The Library Committee seeks to feed the spiritual needs of Goose Creek members and attenders by maintaining the Goose Creek library with its extensive collection of books, pamphlets and DVDs devoted to Quakerism, Quaker history, and Quaker concerns – peace, the environment and sustainable living, and social justice.

Nominating

The Nominating Committee is responsible for enlisting Goose Creek committee membership and focus for the following year. Typically the committee organizes in late summer and coordinates with the current committee clerks to update their mission statements, verify committee membership, and focus each committees activities and plans. The committee then attempts to contact all members and attenders of the Goose Creek Meeting to verify their address and contact information, enlist committee participation, and provide a communication forum for issues, joys, or concerns.

Meeting Cares

Ann Travell (Clerk)

The Meeting Cares Committee offers care and support, physically and spiritually, to our Goose Creek community in many ways, including phone calls, cards, visits, meals, transportation, errands, and tokens of our love. Meeting Cares Annual Report 2020

Peace & Social Concerns

Susan French (Clerk)

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee strives to represent Goose Creek Friends Meeting by seeking equality, justice, harmony, understanding and reconciliation, and nurturing peace in ourselves, our community, and our world. The committee identifies and promotes initiatives in which Friends can become involved in order to further each Friend’s search for these aspects of community.

Peace & Social Concerns SPICES Subcommittee

Maria Nicklin (co-Clerk)
Eric Carlson (co-Clerk)

SPICES Peace Troupe Report — November 2020

Property

Brian Burgher (co-Clerk)
Bill Cochran (co-Clerk)

The Property Committee maintains the Goose Creek property – the Meetinghouse, Oakdale School, and the surrounding landscape. It oversees all repairs and renovations and liaises with local authorities to ensure that the meeting abides by local ordinances while also remaining true to our historical legacy.

Anti-Racism Committee

Debbi Sudduth (Convener)

Publications

Catherine Cox (Clerk)

The Publications Committee produces a monthly newsletter which includes the queries of the month, notes from the Monthly Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business, upcoming events being held by Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and several other groups, including the Friends Wilderness Center, Friends General Conference, Loudoun Interfaith Bridges, and various committees within our Meeting. A calendar of upcoming events is also included in each edition as well as notices of births, deaths, and changes of address. The Publications Committee also oversees the website. Publications Committee Report 2019

Religious Education

Sean Lloyd (Clerk)

The Religious Education committee (RE) offers the youth of Goose Creek Friends Meeting lessons and activities that provide them with an understanding of Quakerism’s rich history, its faith and practice, and guidance on how to live their lives in the spirit of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. The goal of RE is for the children to feel happy and safe while building a community among the Young Friends of Goose Creek Meeting, as well as with the greater Meeting members.

Click here to download the 2023 Religious Education Committee Annual Report

Interested in becoming a member of the committee? We welcome all Friends and we also have some specific asks this nominating season:

Seasoned Friends who can guide the committee on Quaker faith and practice
A detail-oriented Friend who really likes administrative and managerial tasks
Friends who love engaging with families and all ages of kids
Click here to see a full list of volunteer opportunities

Religious Education Camping Subcommittee

Jackie Kosbob (Clerk)

The Camping Subcommittee educates meeting families about Baltimore Yearly Meeting camps and encourages the children of these families to attend them. We believe that camp is a life changing and life affirming experience. We also feel that this is in many ways where we “grow our Quakers.” Many of the young people who attend BYM’s camps go on to be involved with Quakerism as adults with their own children following in their path, attending these camps generation after generation.

Unity With Nature

Lisa Payne (Clerk)

The Unity with Nature Committee provides a deeply reflective forum for the expression of our spiritual connection with the natural world. We act locally on behalf of Goose Creek Monthly Meeting on projects rising from and supported by the collective spirit of the committee, and we encourage Friends and others to educate themselves and take action concerning the care and restoration of the natural world locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.

Scholarship

Meeting is fortunate to have two scholarships for students from our meeting and community as well as Loudoun County at large. These have been funded by gifts and bequests of Friends and friends of the meeting.