The meeting was held in person at NCCL at the rise of meeting for worship. Nine Friends were in attendance.
After a moment of silent worship, the clerk opened the meeting by suggesting that we structure it around the six questions that reflect those used in previous “State of the Meeting” meetings.
1. Question 1: How is Spirit moving our worship, and how have we nurtured deep, Spirit-led vocal ministry?
We do not have many messages but our meetings are not without spirit. Every message is received with affirmation. Above all, spirit emerges from things that are “just said”—during worship-sharing, for instance, or informal mingling.
There is a loving interchange among people of different ages.
Both the invitation during worship to hold people in the light and the worship-sharing at the end of worship give each attender an opening to participate vocally in our meetings.
One Friend often speaks of this as a “loving community,” and she is grateful that our community is strong enough to draw people from 45 miles to join it each week.
2. Question 2: How has our meeting fostered an environment in which members and attenders of all ages and abilities know they are loved, cared for, trusted, and respected?
The Care Committee plays an important role in drawing the group together.
There are many gestures of concern for one another, from care for children to thoughtfulness for the elderly, as seen in the determination to build a ramp for the mobility-impaired, or furnishing gifts of books for children, or having patience with a recording clerk who is hard of hearing. “We foster through humor (and blasphemy and sacrilege)”.
Each person has the opportunity to speak during worship-sharing, and children as well as adults are invited to share in this.
A birthday card is sent to each member or attender, and there are regular email messages to the whole group conveying draft minutes of meetings, the agenda for each meeting for business, and reminders of special meetings.
Holding meetings for business and committee meetings on Zoom has made attendance at them easier and saved much night-time driving.
Nondrivers are learning to live without petrol. One Friend appreciates offers of rides and the sharing of meals with other Friends. This allows one Friend to reach out to other. Friend says that she doesn’t feel obligated to come, she WANTS to come.
3. Question 3: How has our meeting sought to be a space of renewal, of Hope and strength so that we may witness in the world for Love and Peace?
Three Friends showed care and concern for the squatter who has taken up residence on the patio at London Britain Meeting House.
One Friend wondered if “perception” might serve better than the word “hope,” because there is much mutual perception in our group. We don’t need to go on and on about things—we perceive how we can be responsive to one another.
Another Friend appreciates the fact that as the weight of the Trump presidency settled over us, the Meeting came together. Attendance at worship became greater; resisters were supported; but the group has also worked to find mutually responsive ways to address the issues this administration raises.
We do renew each other by coming together.
With much care from the clerk of the committee, we have sustained London Britain Meeting House. London Britain is itself a space of renewal. It is restorative. One Friend feels great gratitude that she was allowed to bury a beloved pet there.
Being a member has never been a big thing in Newark Meeting. We welcome attenders as warmly as members.
4. Question 4: How has our meeting sought to be neighbors and in relationship with other communities, and how have we been changed by these connections?
We have valued being able to meet at NCCL, enjoyed experiencing the art work and lesson plans there, and loved the one opportunity to participate in their Green Fest. NCCL’s faculty and staff have said that they, too, appreciate their association with our Meeting.
With one Friend’s steady support over decades, we have participated in serving meals and making charitable gifts at Hope Dining Room.
The same Friend is also on the board at West Grove Child Care
Another member is a long-standing member of the Interfaith Group, to which two other Meeting members also belong.
Two Friends have played a consistent role in Western Quarter Meeting, and our membership has participated in the meetings of Western Quarter four times a year.
Another member has gathered 347 Pendle Hill pamphlets for the use at Crosslands in the hope that she can expand the appreciation there for the Society of Friends.
We have given support to the annual NAACP Awards Banquet.
We have supported yet another Friend’s work with Food Not Bombs in Wilmington.
The clerk of the London Britain committee has made acquaintances with people living near London Britain Meeting House. Neighbors have come to join us for worship there, and one has daughter buried there.
Twice we held an art fest at London Britain Meeting House and would like to do so again.
One Friend related how her association with Newark Meeting has enabled her to remain in recovery communities that help her. She joins Many Paths group that she appreciates.
One of our members has benefitted us all by paying to have a Port-a-Potty at London Britain Meeting House.
5. Question 5: How has our meeting been called to address issues of social justice, inclusivity, and difference, both within our meeting and in the wider world?
Again, we help regularly at Hope Dining Room and help support Food Not Bombs. State of the nation at this time has made it more imperative that we address these issues while they are being rejected by others in the country.
We face a real challenge in the advanced age of our membership.
It is a source of sadness that we do not have new people. Even among the families of our long-term members, the younger generation have not remained Friends. It makes us wonder what we have done wrong.
Or, one Friend cautions, not what we have done wrong, but how we can use the qualities we have to draw people together. She says she does engage with the people whom she encounters.
Another Friend pointed out that the big donation enabling the ramp at London Britain was a good example of effective inclusivity.
Yet another Friend suggested that it would be useful to have some answer to “what we believe.”
But another said we avoid speaking about what we believe because we are so aware of how we all have our own cast on things. We are seekers. We do, however, have our testimonies and our queries. As one Friend put it, “I say we’re for peace and against war: that’s what’s important.”
We also have to be respectful of other spiritual traditions. To say that the Christmas story is a fairy tale is disrespectful to Friends who do believe in it.
6. Question 6: Are there further questions or needs?
One Friend expressed gratitude to PYM for asking that we hold this kind of meeting. It is a helpful exercise.
Another said, “I have a fear about the future, but I am willing to put energy into today.”
As a compelling closing reflection, a Friend compared Quakers to an iceberg, with just a very little bit above the water level but moving a lot in depth.
