Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

State of the Meeting Report

2018 Birmingham State of the Meeting Report

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  • Six Friends met to Worship Share around 3 queries, considered one at a time.
  • Half were female and half male, representing points of view of young people, new Friends and attenders (4 years or less), and long time members (more than 20 years at Birmingham).
  • Query 1: What practices does our meeting provide to improve or help us prepare for worship?

Ministry

  • There was appreciation expressed for opening exercises, both the music and the ministry from various members and attenders of the meeting.  The fact that everyone is welcome to give opening exercises and tell about their thoughts and experiences is something that draws the meeting together.  It’s good to hear the queries and notice how responses may change over time.  The silence beforehand prepares us to hear the queries.
  • Singing helps settle the group, creating a common experience and connecting us in the worship that follows.
  • There is an intention that Friends come to worship, which is important to the quality of worship.  Some Friends come and settle early to prepare the space for worship as others gather.  This helps set the tone for the worship that is to follow.  We come into a space where it’s easier to settle.
  • There is an openness and calmness to the silence that helps us to let go of our work and worries and to help us center.  There is a feeling of connection with each other, rather on individual thoughts.
  • Worship and Ministry Committee has been intent on keeping the meeting room as a space for worship.  They have helped deepen our worship and remove distractions by encouraging us to end Meeting for Business 15 min before worship begins.  They also have moved the Greeter’s table away from the door to the meeting room and into the hall, where the initial socializing doesn’t interfere with preparation for worship.
  • Query 2: What could the meeting do better to improve our worship and the spiritual life of the meeting?

Ministry

  •  There is a desire for more adult education and discussion.  Worship and Ministry has organized some discussions around videos or pamphlets, but there needs to be more of these opportunities. Hearing different points of view in discussions help push us out of our own comfort zone and expands our understanding.
  • More intergenerational opportunities would give both young and old to learn from each other.  There is much to learn from our young people.
  • There was a desire by young and old to learn more about the Bible and the specifics of the stories.  There was once a Sunday evening Bible Study that is missed, including the conversations and bonding that went on during that time.  The youth did express appreciation for activities like the plays that reinforce the Bible and Quaker stories.
  • There was a desire for the children to spend more time in worship.  Fifteen minutes is not sufficient time for them to get the full experience of worship and the messages.
  • Query 3: How does God call our meeting to witness to the needs of the world?  What could we do better?

Ministry

  • Birmingham Meeting as a meeting gives to local groups such as Friends Association as well as national Friends organizations.  We hold two dinners each year where the proceeds go to charities.  We do other fundraising and activities such as gardening at the Barclay Friends’ garden.  Children participate in gardening, raising money for UNICEF with pennies for pumpkins, and activities that lead to donations for the children at Friends Association.
  • Many individual members and attenders and groups within the meeting have leadings that help people in need, such as work with the homeless, the food banks, refugee support and prison work.  These Friends provide inspiration and volunteer opportunities for others within the meeting and the wider community.  Many Friends raise our awareness to ways we can become involved in letter writing, marches, and local action.  The meeting is a touchstone to access information about these actions.
  • We recognize that Quakerism is more than a religion, but a way of life.  It leads to a desire to help the world, community and people in need.
  • How could we do better?  Some members and attenders who live at a distance would like to know more about local charities, centered in the West Chester community.  Our meeting may want to focus our engagement in a single issue by discussion and witness.  For instance, race relations is a topic that the wider Quaker community is focusing on.  This would add another layer to our witness in the world.

2018 Doylestown State of the Meeting Report

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Doylestown Friends Meeting Annual Report to Bucks Quarterly Meeting
Held on February 18, 2018
At the Quakertown Friends Meetinghouse

In 2017 Doylestown Monthly Meeting continued to experience a steady growth of regular attenders, some of which were families with young children. We enjoyed another year as a vibrant worship and socially active community.

Pastoral Concerns Committee replaced our membership database while continuing its work to update our membership records. Membership now stands at 155: we had two resignations, suffered one death and added two members, one of which was by transfer.

Pastoral Concerns also felt moved to make a written statement concerning the Meeting’s beliefs, values and concerns, emphasizing that the meetinghouse is a place to experience unity, connection, dialogue and mutual respect. It was intended for our newsletter, web site and the editor of the local newspaper.

To support our attenders, Worship and Ministry Committee created guidelines for vocal ministry based on Faith and Practice. They were laminated and put on the benches in the meetinghouse. Feedback was mixed, some attenders saying that, after reading the flow chart and guidelines, they felt intimidated to give a message.

Worship and Ministry organized two retreats in 2017: an all Meeting, one-day retreat in May at Camp Onas which 17 adults and 9 children attended. The ropes course, again, proved to be very popular. A women’s retreat was held in late October at Grove Hall in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Ten women attended. Both events were a great opportunity for members and attenders to get to know each other better.

There were other opportunities during the year for fun and social interaction: Rick Howe arranged for a showing in the meetinghouse of the opera, Lucia Di Lammermoor, social groups were reintroduced (there are now four such gatherings a month in members’ homes) and we had an outing to a Phillies game in June (every time we’ve attended over the past five years the Phillies have won so we’re hopeful that the Quaker magic will hold again this year!).

Property Committee is still exploring how to make the lower level of our building handicap accessible. Installing a chair lift would be very expensive as there is some additional work that would have to be done to connect the existing ramp to the set of back stairs. Some outside painting was completed, a new thermostat installed and an overflowing toilet fixed. We have many more outside groups using the meetinghouse and testing the limits of our facilities—Save Bucks Votes, Moms Demand Action, Rise Up Doylestown, a men’s group and an AA group meet regularly in the meetinghouse.

First Day School began the year with a unit on music as a means of expressing emotion. Other highlights included a trip to the Pearl S. Buck House as an experiential part of a unit on Circles of Friendship and a holiday play with lots of singing. Each year the children create out of recycled goods a 3-D community of their design. For the last few years the Mayor of Doylestown has graciously visited FDS to hear the children’s ideas and proposals for making constructive use of potential space in Doylestown Borough. The FDS garden, planted and harvested by the children, produced 70 pounds of fresh produce which was donated to the Bucks County Housing Authority food pantry.

Our finances were healthy in 2017. We had a surplus of $1,900 that went to our endowment fund, after giving to various Quaker schools and to the Borough of Doylestown.

We decided to start using name-tags in 2017 and it has now become a kind of ritual to find your nametag before entering the worship space. The children especially enjoy it.

In addition, we initiated the practice of asking for any joys or concerns or after thoughts that didn’t make it into a message after MFW. This has helped us be aware of who is in need of help or who has enjoyed some kind of blessing that we might not otherwise know about. I think it has helped create greater intimacy amongst us.

In November we celebrated the life of beloved member, Bob Trepeta in a memorial service that filled our meetinghouse to capacity. At Christmas, members Joe Simek and his wife, Alexis Ridge-Simek put up a Christmas tree in the meetinghouse. Each ornament had written on it a request for clothing and items for foster children in transition. All the items were put into backpacks and distributed throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties.

Peace and Social Concerns Committee chose four focus topics for the year: immigrants/refugees, gerrymandering, money in politics and peace. Jenny Isaacs and others were involved in efforts to support residents of Doylestown and surrounding areas impacted by immigration enforcement. Jenny used her Spanish skills on numerous occasions to inform immigrants of their rights and to help them obtain representation. She spoke in NYC about our legislative letter- writing project, had direct engagement with those affected by detentions and deportations, and had face-to-face lobbying visits with

State representative Quinn, State Senator McIlhinney, and US Rep Brian Fitzpatrick as well as the Regional Police Commissioner.

Another outreach event was the Hiroshima Day vigil on August 6th at the corners of State and Main Streets in Doylestown. We held banners, focusing specifically on abolishing nuclear war and handed out paper cranes as symbols of peace. We have held this vigil since the 1980s. Representation from several other meetings in the Quarter attended and there was coverage in the Intelligencer and the Bucks County Herald.

Respectfully submitted, Wendy Steginsky, Clerk

 

2017 Abington State of the Meeting

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Abington Friends Meeting
State-of-the-meeting Report to AQM for 2017

Friends at Abington Meeting continue to prosper as a vibrant community of seekers after Truth. This good news, which we are pleased to share with others in Abington Quarterly Meeting, is the result of the dedicate effort of our active members and attenders. These everyday prophets are committed to a vision of the beloved community that makes the life of our meeting a loving, safe and joyous place for Friends and their children to worship.

Yet our life together is not without its challenges. As Friends elsewhere have experienced, the number of Friends active in the life of the meeting has steadily declined over the past ten years and the task of maintaining our large membership, facilities and grounds can be daunting at times.

A recent survey of active members revealed that almost 80% serve the meeting in more than one capacity. This has led to a review of our meeting committee structure and whether it is appropriate given the number of Friends willing to serve. This work will continue into 2018 and probably beyond as we adapt to the changing environment of religious life in our society.

2017 was the first year that the Abington Meeting Secretary, Loretta Fox was employed full-time to serve the administrative needs of the meeting. This year Loretta’s title was changed from Meeting Secretary to Meeting Administrator to better reflect the scope of her duties, which have evolved to include managerial and organizational responsibilities. Friends at Abington feel fortunate to have such a competent and devoted administrator in Loretta and the enthusiasm and alacrity with which she performs her work is inspiring.

The decision to hire a full-time administrator in 2016 created an increase in our annual budget, which along with a grounds maintenance, created a sizeable deficit in our projected budget for 2017. The Abington Meeting Finance Committee proposed addressing this situation with a more planned and predictive approach to membership contributions.

In addition to creating an opportunity for Friends to thresh through this issue at a special called meeting, the committee initiated a process of asking members and attenders to commit to pledging their contribution at the beginning of the fiscal year. This process allowed for the meeting to receive more accurate financial reports during the year regarding our budgeted income vs expenses. And, this reporting, in turn, helped Friends at Abington to close our budget deficit significantly.

The called session on meeting finances also highlighted that currently AFM is funded by a donor model (as opposed to a membership dues model) in which 20% of our membership contributes 80% of our income. While we ask each member to contribute financially, in fact, we have Friends who are major donors (about 25 households.) These Friends contribute the bulk of the funds we used to run the meeting. This issue will continue to present a challenge to our ability to sustain ourselves into the future.

This past year, AFM also conducted a called meeting on the safety and accessibility of our meetinghouse and our facilities and grounds, to those differently abled. As a result, Friends have made a commitment to prayerfully pay attention to the experience of all our senses/abilities while at meeting and engage in personal discernment on this issue. We realize that there are Friends who no longer engage in the life of the meeting due to the limited accessibility of our spaces and grounds and others who do not approach us due to physical barriers and limitations in our facilities.

We concluded that everyone is disabled or will be at some time in their lives. But because some are more challenged than others, our testimonies (equality) and beliefs (that of God in everyone) urge us to make our buildings and grounds more accessible and welcoming. Safety and accessibility are imperative to center ourselves in Worship and to continue to pursue our vision of a peaceable and welcoming world for all of God’s children of whatever ability or age.

In 2017, Abington Friends Archives Committee began to create a digital record of historic items at the meeting in an effort to catalogue and declutter our fellowship and library spaces. This made possible the move of some of our upstairs library collection to the first floor for greater accessibility. Our Adult Education Committee continued its theme of “reaching out and reaching in” by presenting programming on over to 20 FD’s on the topic “How does Quaker history guide our walk as Friends today?”

The AFM Peace and Social Concerns Committee continued its work as part of a collaborative of local churches assisting a Congolese family in their resettlement in the US. We learned late in the year that the greater part of this family will be relocating to Kentucky. However, three young adult members have decided to stay in this area and the meeting and others will continue to support their resettlement.
The meeting also approved sponsoring another Memorial to the Lost event which the committee will coordinate. This event will publicly memorialize the names of people who have been killed by gun violence in the past two years, since the last time we did a memorial event, in Montgomery County, PA.

The P&SC in conjunction with Local Emergency Action and Response Network (L.E.A.R.N.), also sponsored two training events at the meetinghouse which invited local immigration attorneys to conduct a public discussion of immigration. This Know Your Immigration Rights training was well attended by Friends and members of the local community.

In the fall of 2017, the meeting approved undertaking a spiritual self-assessment of the Meeting to reflect on where we are as a community of Friends and to better understand the ground upon which we stand as we seek to move forward. The spiritual assessment committee consists of members from Worship & Ministry, Care of Members, and other members of the community. The first event in the self-assessment process will begin in January 2018.

In October, AFM hosted an evening lecture and book signing by Marcus Rediker the author of the recently published, “The Fearless Benjamin Lay.” The lecture which was attended by over sixty people was Marcus’ second visit to AFM to talk about Benjamin Lay. Benjamin Lay, a 18th century abolitionist and member of AFM before being released formally from membership through disownment, continued to worship at our meeting and is buried in our grounds. In November, Friends approved the placement of a traditional Quaker grave-maker in our burial grounds acknowledging the interment of Benjamin Lay and his wife Sarah. In December, Friends approved a minute of unity with Benjamin Lay, which recognizes the true intention of his abolitionist efforts. This minute will be presented to Abington Quarter in February 2018.

This year, Abington Friends School, began a 10-year accreditation process with the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools. The process will examine all aspects of our school including: mission and philosophy, governance, and community relations. Simultaneous to this, the school will engage in a Quaker Renewal Self-Study in collaboration with the Friends Council on Education. AFS continues to be a significant Quaker witness and outreach to the community.

In conclusion, Friends at Abington Meeting through these activities strive to be a witness to the world amid the darkness of fear and violence we see around us. We do this through our faithfulness to the Light: the Quaker way as it is revealed among us, discerned and acted upon.

We understand that if we do not address our weaknesses we may fail in this faithfulness. We are confident that the Light not only shows us our life as it actually is with all of its pain and shortcomings. But, that this same Light leads us to renewal and recreation within ourselves and the world. This is an experience capable of renewing hearts and minds in ways which conform to our vision as a gathered, peaceful people.

Peace with us all,

George Schaefer, clerk
Abington Friends Meeting

January 11, 2018

Reviving State of the Meeting Reports

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Download a PDF version of this letter.

Dear Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,

It is with joy that we write to you about our revival of state of the meeting reports! We, the Quaker Life Council, invite all monthly and quarterly meetings to restart or continue the annual custom of conducting a spiritual self-assessment. As our new Faith & Practice illuminates, this tradition provides, “a deep and meaningful opportunity that draws the community together.”

Issuing a state of the meeting report that details the process the meeting community undertook and the insights at which the meeting arrived also helps other Quaker communities. When we see what others are celebrating, mourning, and witnessing across our yearly meeting, we can be inspired, drawn even closer together, and moved in our spiritual development.

We have been working on how best to steward the revival of the practice of issuing state of the meeting reports. Overtime, we will develop an online archive of state of the meeting reports so that anyone in our yearly meeting community can be inspired at any time! Of course, we will redact anything that needs to remain confidential.

We outline below the process that we will use to steward state of the meeting reports:

  • All monthly meetings are encouraged to forward their state of the meeting reports to their respective Quarterly Meetings.
  • In turn, the Quarterly Meetings are encouraged to forward their own state of the meeting report in addition to the reports of their monthly meetings to the Quaker Life Council.
  • Worship groups and any other community that is part of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting may also submit a state of the meeting report, forwarding it directly to the Quaker Life Council.
  • If desired, monthly and quarterly meetings can use this online form to submit their state of the meeting report. Friends can also email the reports directly to the PYM office. Or mail hardcopies to: Quaker Life Council, c/o Zachary T. Dutton, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1515 Cherry St, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
  • The Quaker Life Council will read every state of the meeting report that it receives and use the reports as a basis for its assessment of the state of the spiritual and religious life of our whole yearly meeting community.
  • The Quaker Life Council will issue its own state of the meeting report to be presented at the July 2018 Annual Sessions and then shared widely with Friends thereafter.

This year, we encourage meeting communities to refer to the queries in our new Faith & Practice as a guide for conducting a spiritual self-assessment and for writing the state of the meeting reports. We also encourage meetings to include a description of any specific issues of concern they have experienced in the past year.

Lastly, the Quaker Life Council is especially curious about how meeting communities are thinking about the purpose and importance of membership. We’d also like to hear about any anti-racism work that any meeting communities might be exploring, large or small.

We hope to receive and review state of the meeting reports during our meeting in June of 2018 and request them by May 31, 2018, if possible.  We acknowledge that every monthly and quarterly meeting has their own way of writing and managing their state of the meeting reports. Some meetings will not yet have completed their most current report, so we invite meetings to send the report from the most recent year in which one was completed by May 31, 2018.

Sincerely,
Amy Taylor Brooks
Interim Clerk, Quaker Life Council

Learn more about the Quaker Life Council.

2017 Newtown Monthly Meeting Annual Report

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Newtown Monthly Meeting
Annual Report November 2017

Newtown Meeting has been a busy community this year. We had fun participating in the Yearly Meeting scavenger hunt as a team, dividing into small multi-generational groups, getting to know each other better as we interviewed each other, explored the Meetinghouse and delved the web for answers. The children of the meeting also held two fund-raising dinners, one for Mercer St. Friends and the other for All Helping Hands Hurricane Relief, which drew large crowds. Other popular annual family events were the Christmas performance and June picnic. 70 adults and children are also participating in Friendly Eights. We have about 70 attending worship on First Day.
In addition to having several new attenders this fall, we have been fortunate to approve several applications for membership. Membership has grown to 328; 271 adults, 46 minors, 11 associates. 2017 has seen 10 new members, 2 transfers out, 3 deaths, and 4 youth became adult members.
This summer, Children’s Religious Education restructured the program for a smaller number of children, as our large bubble of middle schoolers moved up, only to have several new families begin attending in September! We are very fortunate to have a group of dedicated volunteer teachers who creatively guide our children in exploring spirituality and the testimonies. There are currently around 18 regularly attending. Our teens also have a key role doing child care during worship.
The varied and interesting programs scheduled by Adult Religious Education continue to attract many to Newtown Meeting. Programs this year have included service trips by our youth members to Kenya and Nepal, spiritual journeys, speakers on AFSC, FCE, FCNL, Quakers in business, and gun control, as well as small group sharing and intergenerational dialogue.
Inreach/outreach has been attentive to new seekers, ensuring they get nametags and welcomes, as well as invitations to attenders’ dinners. Fellowship after worship is enjoyed by all. There was also a book discussion group, Quakerism in a Nutshell, and the meetinghouse was open for Newtown’s Market Day. The Newtown Historical Assoc. met at the meetinghouse to hear about Newtown Quaker history and commemorate our 200th and we are on the holiday house tour this year.
Our newly re-formed Worship & Ministry committee has been responsible for several memorial services. Several Friends are involved in Spiritual Formations, and a group has been meeting weekly to explore testimonies and other aspects of faith. We covered our turn at Chandler Hall worship.
Buildings & Grounds oversaw several critical improvements including repaving the driveway, replacement of the burial ground fence on the property line, replacement of the furnace and water heater, updating the audio assistance system, refurbishing the childcare rooms, and several maintenance issues. We continue to work at a “good neighbor” relationship with Stockburger’s which rents us their parking lot on Sundays. A new burial ground sub-committee is working on updating records and tightening processes.
At the end of the summer, the unsafe playground equipment was removed. We are exploring options, using Friends’ process and involving the whole community to discern the right plan, helping the children and newer Friends experience Quaker decision making.
The Financial Oversight committee led a review and update of our Bylaws. Policies regarding charitable giving were clarified. The Meeting is fortunate to have member contributions exceed expectation this year, especially with so many property expenses.
The Peace and Service committee and individual Friends have been involved in many concerns, including the Women’s March, 350 Bucks Co, the Peace Fair, the Syrian refugee families, and many other political and climate change issues. One young adult Friend used her internship at FCNL to teach us about lobbying techniques.
Care & Counsel was busy with pastoral care of our community, several applications for membership, and one wedding. Personal notes and the care quilts have provided great comfort to many friends this year, and continue to be a treasured symbol of concern. Notes will be sent to distant members before the holidays. At Easter, flowers are given to parents/grandparents of new babies and those who find it difficult to come to meeting, and Bibles are given to fourth graders. Faith & Practice is given to 8th graders at the June picnic. The wedding book is being updated. We make efforts to visit and bring older members from Pennswood and Friends Home & Village who want to attend worship with us. The women’s lunch group continues to meet monthly at Pennswood.
Last year we combined the newsletter, website, press release, bulletin boards, social media and announcer functions into one committee, with a single portal for submitting news. The Communications Committee directs information to the best format, which has greatly streamlined and simplified sharing news about meeting, PYM, Friends, and other events of interest without such long announcements. We continue to invite visitors to introduce themselves, share news of ill/absent, and joys/concerns as well as a few announcements at the rise of meeting. All committees have the ability to post materials to their sections of the website. The Facebook page has become a popular place to share both meeting and outside events of interest.
Newtown Meeting continues to have a strong relationship with Newtown Friends School. In addition to board service, NMM has invited families to worship, provided information on Quakerism, hosted a booth at Family Day, among other connections. There is a new Upper/Lower head of school, and the school began to implement the strategic plan and changed its bylaws this year. Enrollment continues to climb (235). It should be noted that we also have members involved at Buckingham Friends School and George School, and there is a high level of involvement with Camp Onas.
Newtown Meeting is a lively, engaged community. We are strengthened by the commitment shown to deepening care for one another. Our worship has been enriched by spiritual seeking and sharing on both an individual and corporate level. And our dedication to making this a better world is evident in our service to others and the environment.

Susan W. Hoskins, Clerk
November 2017
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2017 Middletown Friends Annual Report

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Middletown Friends Meeting at Langhorne
Annual Report to Bucks Quarterly Meeting
Hosted by Plumstead Meeting at United Friends School
August 20, 2017

Dear Friends,
Here is an overview of what has been happening at Middletown in the last year.

Our Ministry & Nurture Committee has visited our shut-ins and those who are ill or in the hospital, provided clearness committees for membership, sent cards and flowers on joyous and sad occasions, and attempted to be aware of other joys, concerns, and needs of our members and attenders. The Committee coordinated volunteers to provide worship services at Chandler Hall in October and June; members and attenders who participate find this to be a rich and rewarding experience. The committee also arranged for two of our young people to provide child care during meeting for worship in the summer months when First Day School is not in session. The committee also produced an updated meeting directory for 2017. We no longer need to ask for volunteers to sit on the facing bench because our benches have been rearranged in a U shape so everyone is on a facing bench! In December, we addressed Christmas cards to all our members and attenders and delivered poinsettias to our shut-ins. Finally, at the request of our treasurer, we followed up with seven inactive members who had not contributed financially or participated in the meeting community for several years and Friends approved removing these people from our membership rolls. We plan to follow up with other inactive members this year to see if they wish to maintain an affiliation with the meeting.

Our biggest activity, and one of the social highlights of the year, is our auction and potluck supper held every fall. The proceeds of the auction go to fund requests that come in during the year that are not covered by our General Fund. Some of the many requests we were able to fund this year included donations to the Bucks County Interfaith Coalition for Refugee Resettlement support a Syrian refugee family that arrived here in November 2016, the Camp Onas camper scholarship fund, the Friends Village Elevator project, and Doctors without Borders.

Our First Day School is attended fairly regularly by 4 families, for a total of 9 children. We have two other children who come occasionally. We opened the year on September 18th with a multi-age event. Using clues, the children and adults looked in the Bible to find the ingredients to bake a cake. Our focus for the fall was famous men and women in the Bible, and how God worked through them. The intention was to show that women, as well as men, had an important relationship with God. Some of the challenges faced by these women are still challenges today. We also wanted to show the children how the Bible stories had inspired art, music and even colloquial expressions that are still in use today. As usual, we had our traditional celebrations: a collection for UNICEF, Stone Soup to celebrate Thanksgiving and our Christmas play, held December 11. The play was entitled Why the Chimes Rang by Raymond Macdonald Alden. Nancy Pickering had performed the play as a child and adjusted it to work with our group. The message was that God is more impressed with gifts that are given with love, no matter how small, rather than large gifts to show off wealth or power. When we returned in the New Year, we started reading about the Prophets and their role in the society of the time. Again, we supplemented our collection of Bibles with maps, information about the country, and the politics during the time when these men lived. We used the stories to show the children how Prophets foretold the coming of Jesus and the books of the New Testament. We ended with the story of Palm Sunday and Easter. On Good Friday, the children decorated cookies for the marchers in the Cross Walk that always begins at Middletown. They also dyed eggs, using natural dyes, for the hunt on Easter Sunday. Following Easter, we spent several weeks talking about the care of our environment. We talked about water and solar energy. Thanks to David DiMicco, Alan Farneth and Lance Mervine the fence around the children’s vegetable garden was replaced. We planted vegetables in mid-May that were shared with the meeting and a local food pantry. Robin Hipple, again, helped the children plant the butterfly garden next to the Waln Building. Alan Farneth built a solar oven to cook marshmallows for S’mores.

The Pickerings faithfully take food and other donations from Middletown to the Penndel Food Pantry. In addition to food (for humans and pets), we have contributed to the “summer fund” drive with toys but especially appreciated children’s books, and veggies from the kid’s garden. We also collected for the back- to-school event, as well as Thanksgiving/Christmas and other special collections.

As stewards of our property, two large trees were taken down, and several meeting members were able to take the wood for their stoves and craft projects. We spent a significant amount of money on the schoolhouse so that it now serves as a school. We are also repairing/relaying the sidewalk from the meeting driveway to the end of our property line in front of the school. We are in the process of cataloguing our book collection, and hope that Swarthmore will want some of our oldest books.

Our Speakers Series concluded last fall with a talk on Green Burials by Gene Sonn and on the PYM Spiritual Formation program by Dale Myrtetus. We did a field trip to Grounds for Sculpture in the spring to marvel at the art and be seen outside the meetinghouse. Monthly movie nights continue to be a source of amusement for members and the community. In particular, our October showing of the first Harry Potter movie drew a large crowd of wizards and witches, along with the usual muggles. We have found that chatting in the social room while the movie is on is a great way to get to know each other better. Our September 16th movie will be one of the movies shown at theme weekends this summer at Camp Onas and campers will talk about why they love Camp so much (please join us and share stories of your time at Camp Onas!).

The Quaker Women’s Social Hour continues to provide a monthly informal gathering at a restaurant or home for a chance to enjoy the fellowship of women. Friends from all meetings are welcome.

Since last year’s report, 1 of our members died, and we released 7 inactive members. We gained 4 new members (1 by transfer and 3 by application), for a total net loss of 4 members. Our current membership stands at 94 (6 of these are under 21).

Respectfully Submitted,
Jess Walcott, Clerk

2017 Wrightstown Friends Meeting Annual Report

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WRIGHTSTOWN FRIENDS MEETING
2017 ANNUAL REPORT TO BUCKS QUARTERLY MEETING
AUGUST 20, 2017

Membership: Our Meeting joyfully welcomed four new families this year – the Brangans, the Brights, the Kilfeathers and Eric Widenmeyer. Kate Biggs, a young person who joined the Meeting when her parents joined turned 21 this year and became an adult Member. Several individuals and families have also begun to attend regularly. We have 190 adult Members, 2 Members under the age of 21 and 20 Associate Members for a total of 212.
Nurturing our Spirit: The quality of worship continues to be strong, both in our silence and our vocal ministry. The Spiritual Exploration Group (SEG) meets the third Sunday of each month. Members of the group rotate responsibility for selecting discussion topics and facilitating group interaction. Bill Sharp led a Bible study session on the ambiguous and complex character of King David, ancestor of Jesus. In addition, a Parents Learning Circle (PLC) was initiated to discuss spiritual parenting. This group meets on the fourth Sunday of the month.
Strengthening our Community: Our members and attenders gather at the rise of Meeting the first Sunday of every month for “Meet and Eat” a pot luck lunch and a program. Topics may be internally generated, i.e. “My personal path to Quakerism” or presented by external speakers. Our Progressive Dinner attracted a great crowd to watch Linda Kenyon’s portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt. We celebrated Christmas with our 75th Annual Community Christmas Carol Sing.
Building our Future: Our Religious Education Committee completed a very successful First Day School program which focused our children on their identity as Quakers in the larger world. The attendance was strong with an average of 13 children per Sunday. Three new families with their seven children joined us. The service project for this year involved collecting books in English for Rwanda’s Peace Libraries. Our students collected 276 children’s books, thoughtfully selected to be relevant for Rwandan life. Several students also collected soccer equipment through BFS’s Outreach Committee.
Next year the service project will support Rolling Harvest Food Rescue. The program “rescues” unused produced from local farms and farmers’ markets and distributes the produce to food banks. The program is an excellent complement to our work with the Wrightstown Food Cupboard.
Our Nursery School enjoyed excellent enrollment this year and is almost FULLY ENROLLED for next year! The Just the Two of Us Program has brought many two year olds to the school and serves as a feeder for the full time sessions. We look forward to good enrollment for the next several years rightstownas multiple siblings go through the program. Because the majority of our Nursery School students and parents have little or no knowledge of Quakerism, the program serves as an important gateway to the Quaker community.
Deepening our Understanding of our History: One of our members, Sam Nicholson, served the National Forest Service during WWII as a Conscientious Objector. He and his father, a Quaker missionary who had served in Japan prior to WWII, also provided supplies and support to the Japanese internment camp at Manzanar. After the war, Sam and his father participated in relief work in Japan. Sam has written journals describing his experiences which will be made available to our wider Quaker community.
Our Meeting was also visited by the BBC this April to film a portion of a documentary on Charles Thompson, an Irish immigrant who supported the Lenni Lenape after the “Walking Purchase.” Charles Thompson was known to the native people as “One who spoke the truth.” The documentary will air in England this fall. Hopefully, we will receive a CD and can show the film to our community on our newly installed AV equipment which was provided through an Outreach grant from PYM.
Improving Our Campus: Our House and Grounds Committee initiated a project to make our second floor more accessible. A two-tiered, sturdy handrail was installed on the left side of the 18th Century “fan” stairway. Both adults and children now have support climbing on both sides of the stairs.
The Meeting also received an anonymous gift to replace the carpeting in the Social Hall and the flooring in the Nursery School and Social Hall kitchen. The new carpeting and a fresh coat of paint has given our social space a whole new look. We also are working to add a few new parking spaces and improve drainage and lighting in our main parking area
Community Outreach: The Meeting is expanding its efforts to contribute to and make itself more present in the community. We continue to participate actively in the Wrightstown Food Cupboard which serves over 130 families in the Council Rock School District. The Meeting hosted a star gazing party on September 24th. Our own Linc Merwin treated the participants to a tour of the fall sky. Students and parents from our Meeting and Nursery School attended as well as students from BFS and a few adults from other Meetings.
Other highlights included a technology night where First Day School students and their friends shared their computer and technology driven projects, David Bucura’s presentation on peacemaking and healing in Rwanda, Kassem Lucas’s presentation on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. and a visit that the FDS families made to interact with the residents at Chandler Hall.
Our Peace and Concerns Committee as well as many individual members contributed to worthy causes which involved our members and local organizations including the Center for Returning Citizens, Wine into Water, the Interfaith Coalition for Refugee Resettlement, and The Golden Rule.
The Meeting will continue to make the campus available for community discussion regarding environmental concerns.
Looking Forward: We approach next year with a sense of purpose and resolve that as a Meeting and as individuals, we will make the world a better place.

Respectfully submitted,
Betsy Bayardi, Clerk

2017 Solebury Friends Meeting Annual Report

Written on:

Solebury Friends Meeting Annual Report
To Bucks Quarterly Meeting
August 20, 2017
Held at United Friends School
Hosted by Plumstead Monthly Meeting

Solebury Friends Meeting’s membership declined by three members this past year. We have 106 adult members and 42 minor members for a total membership of 148 at the end of 2016. Changes are happening in 2017 that may help our census some. A new family joined this year bringing 2 children to the First Day School and as a result of a marriage under the care of the Meeting one of our children members became an adult member.
Our House and Grounds committee produced a 5-year capital expenses report so that we can properly budget the updating of our property. A sobering amount of money. Although we do not have renewable energy sources on the property we are purchasing our power from renewable sources and have super insulated our education building.
In September 2016 a group of our Young Friends traveled to Washington as part of FCNL’s day of lobbying on Sentencing Reform. They met with Senators Menendez and Booker and Congressman Leonard Lance. One of the Young Friends, Quinn Reinert, reported back to Meeting that those they met with were impressed with our Young Friends knowledge of the need for sentencing reform and seemed supportive. The fall First Day School classes were devoted to exposing our teenagers to sentencing, the need for its reform and how we should treat one another.
On Family Day in June, we celebrated the conclusion of another successful year of the First Day Program for our Young Friends. We are grateful to our paid coordinator, Betsy Cotton, for the vital role that she plays by developing the curriculum for the year and preparing weekly lesson plans for our teachers. We have three classes for preschool, elementary and middle/high school students. We average 7 to 12 children each First Day. We decided to purchase and install the FCNL banner “Love thy neighbor, no exceptions”
In December, the children in our First Day School again made Christmas cards that were sent to members who live some distance away or are unable to attend Meeting for Worship regularly. The cards were signed by members of Meeting. This outreach elicited a few thank-yous from the recipients.
Our Annual Pancake Breakfast was successful again this year. Once again, Mercer Street Friends was the recipient of donations made at the breakfast. With the proceeds from the breakfast we were able to make a $2,685 contribution to Mercer Street Friends preschool summer program. We are most appreciative to Steve and Becky Kunkel who continue to tap our maple trees and boil the sap to produce our wonderful Solebury maple syrup.
We held a special celebration of our long-time nonagenarian members, Malcolm Crooks, Irene Fisher and Sue Tinsman where we reflected on their importance to our Meeting. They were all present to hear and feel our worship.
Our Mary Blackmar Educational Fund was established in the 1960s to provide financial assistance to members’ children attending Friends schools. Last year we provided assistance to four students and this coming year we anticipate assisting three. A majority of the funds come from the investment income of the Fund, with the balance from our annual operating budget.
Solebury continues to support the Peace Fair. We were responsible for Food Service Last year.

David Smith, Clerk

2017 Yardley Friends Meeting Annual Report

Written on:

Yardley Friends Meeting Annual Report to Bucks Quarterly Meeting
August 20, 2017
Held at United Friends School

In a year of unrest and fearful, uneasy feelings Yardley Friends Meeting has worked on making our Meeting a place of compassion. We continue to work on our own feelings and hear the feelings of others. We explore our thoughts while working on listening compassionately to those we may not agree with. Our circle is growing.
A lot started with a talk by Dan Gottlieb. In March we filled the meetinghouse for his talk on Cultivating Compassion in a World that Seems Inhumane. We followed up the next week with pot luck to extend our talk. The pot lucks have turned out to be a monthly event. This is bringing more people from our Meeting and also the surrounding community.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Membership Development Fund provided a grant which paid for Dan Gottlieb’s fee. Having grants available for the purpose of trying to increase awareness and membership is a big help. We recommend to any Meeting with ideas to increase their membership to contact Membership Development about a grant. Yardley Friends Meeting thanks Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and the Membership Development committee!
At least four new very regular attenders and a few others have become very active. Others who have attended for quite a while have become members. New members are two adults and five children, including one infant. This month we will celebrate our new members with a pool party for the whole Meeting.
Dan Gottlieb talk and the pot lucks are only a couple of exciting things we did this year. A few other events were:

  • Simple Gifts (an uplifting workshop and concert by two women playing international folk music with instruments from around the world. We were joined by many from the surrounding community)
  • Game night for young friends.
  • Autumn market
  • Milk weed planting (intergenerational)
  • Spring Fling (book sale, car wash, milk weed give away, ice cream)
  • We continue our tradition of 11s (snacks) and have a discussion after Meeting for Worship

We hired two teachers for middle school and younger friends. This enabled us to focus on each age group and bring more interest to children of all ages.
Jenna Schwoyer , who has been teaching middle school took a leave to have a baby boy. With the help of Jeff Bishop the children made a wooden toy chest for the baby and had a luncheon to give Jenna the gift and meet the baby Oliver. The children miss Jenna and hopefully she will work with the high school friends in the future.
One member, Linda Sepe, who moved to Maryland a few years ago officially transferred to Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting.
We had a holiday party in December at Pennswood Village, where many of us got to share a beautiful evening with Carol Cadwalader. She passed soon after at 102. Carol brought so much love, caring and wisdom to the Meeting for many years. With the passing of Carol, only a couple of that generation is among us. Many things they’ve said and done throughout the years live on. We trust their example helps us in life and in our work at Yardley Friends Meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Jacobs, Clerk

2017 Lehigh Valley Report to Bucks Quarterly Meeting

Written on:

Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting
Annual Report to Bucks Quarterly Meeting
Presented at Bucks Quarterly Meeting, August 20, 2017
Plumstead Meeting hosted BQM at United Friends School, Quakertown PA

How to sum up a year at Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting in a page or two? It’s a mix of panicked activism, deepening prayer, caring for each other, and some fun and silliness thrown in. Here are some of the highlights for 2016.
During meeting for worship, we usually have about 30 to 45 people. Within some worship periods we’ve had eight messages, and during other meetings for worship we’ve had none. We have about 90 members, and about 67 are active. We have about 38 active, regular attenders, many of whom are long-time members of our community. Between 18 and 27 people attend Meeting for Business regularly. We hold Meeting for Business on the second First Day of the month after Meeting for Worship and Announcements. Our Announcements (and After Thoughts and Holding in the Light) can take about 20 to 25 minutes after the rise of meeting. Yet, it is enjoyed and appreciated in part because it’s the only time all of us are together at once.
We have two paid care-takers in the Nursery every week during worship and the planned activities. Occasionally we have four or five children in the Nursery. However, usually we have one child, and some days we have none. Religious Education faced the challenge of decreasing numbers of children in First Day school. We have about 8 to 10 children total and they don’t come every First Day. RE’s creative solution was to have a different 2-person team each week lead the class of the whole mixed age group of children. Each semester had a theme—for example in the Fall it was Bible stories.
A group has been meeting regularly to discuss readings in Quaker history. It has traveled to several Quaker historical sites as well.
In the Fall of 2016, Donna Hartmann led four sessions of “Quakerism 101,” with a focus on being a Quaker in our particular meeting.
We are so fortunate that Annual Sessions was held at nearby Muhlenberg College this year and many could attend. In addition, we hosted Quarterly Meeting in November, 2016.
Worship and Ministry committee has prepared our own creative queries based on the committee’s sense of the needs of the meeting. This has increased the wisdom and grace of those who attend the monthly Query discussion.
Spruce Lake Retreat, Canadensis PA, was the site of a weekend-long meeting retreat in April. The meeting paid for lodging (but not meals) for 68 members, attenders, and family members to participate in worship sharing, story sharing, skits, games, reflection, and hikes.
Now Lehigh Valley has a presence on Facebook at “lehighvalleyquakers”. Also, we had WiFi installed at the Meetinghouse. Regular maintenance–such as installing six new windows in the Gathering Room, buying a new refrigerator, and repairing the heavy-duty dishwasher–is on-going. The Meeting approved hiring a Certified Public Accountant to perform a financial review of LVMM. On other financial efforts, sadly, we seem to realize there will be a budget shortfall late in the fiscal year. And once again, after a dedicated few roused us all to act, we managed to end the year on budget.
Social concerns are an on-going and vibrant part of the Meeting. We are inspired by the Friends Committee on National Legislation to act in various ways for a better world. We continue to be involved with Citizens Climate Lobby and LEPOCO. In addition, in the Fall as we approached the presidential election, we had three workshops on “Constructive Conversations in Difficult Situations” led by Mary Lou Hatcher. We enjoyed what has become an annual event: The Harambe with traditional Kenyan food. This builds community as we raise money to support two or three young women who are attending schools in Kenya.
Social Concerns Committee has provided us with many opportunities to write postcards to our various representatives. We support the Pennsylvania Avenue Interfaith Food Pantry with canned goods, and with money from our Frugal Feasts. Safe Harbor is a shelter in Easton for homeless people. Once a month, members and attenders help cook and serve food to 30 to 35 residents at Safe Harbor. In total, 44 different individuals, both members and attenders, have helped throughout the year.
In October, one of our members gave the invocation in the Pennsylvania Senate. Through contact with our state Senator Lisa Boscola, and Senator Charles T. McIihinney, Jr., John Marquette served as Guest Chaplain and gave the invocation to open a state Senate Session. For a community of faith, deeply rooted in Pennsylvania’s history, this is appropriate. This served as a reminder that Quakers helped establish the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a place of religious liberty, and that Quakers are an active presence in the state today.
Once a week, three members of Lehigh Valley have been tutoring five of the six members of a Syrian refugee family in Allentown in conjunction with the Lehigh Valley Council of Churches.
We have raised money, as well as our presence, in the wider community through our annual Craft Fair and Book Sale. And we have enjoyed the Talent Show and our own Quaker Jeopardy.
In 2016 an attender and several members died: Marq Calhoun, an attender who was brought up in our meeting; Mary Lou Muhlhausen and Kirt Muhlhausen, long-time members; and Lew Dreisbach, a former long-time member.
We have two new members: A transfer, William Evan Lifer, and one new member, Jamie Weis.
It’s difficult to gather themes, or steps forward or even steps backward, but as we seek, The Light will show the way.

Christine D. Murray, clerk
Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting, Bethlehem PA