Reading Monthly Meeting continues to be a small but determined group of Friends who support one another in our search for meaning and purpose in our lives. We find joy in being together on Sunday mornings via Hybrid worship with around ten to fifteen friends in person and four or five on Zoom. These are rough estimates. Messages in worship are often inspired by the opening exercises shared by various people each Sunday. While many of our committees have been laid down, we do have an active Worship and Ministry committee which meets monthly and endeavors to keep the life of the Spirit alive among us.
We are finding ways to support and grow connections in our meeting community. On first Sundays we share potluck meals thanks to a dedicated crew
of volunteers who help to make it happen. Recently we held what we hope will be the first of many game days, playing a board game after meeting. A small group of D&D enthusiasts has also been meeting for some time. And we have planned our first ever movie night at the meetinghouse. At Christmas we decorate the meetinghouse and have a sharing of talents during our annual Christmas program. And at Easter we look forward to sharing in the joy of the little children as they search for eggs hidden by our one teenage older brother. A group of volunteers takes turns keeping our grounds free of trash and debris so it is a safe and inviting space in our troubled city.
The children continue to be a blessing to our community as they attend regularly and sometimes bring friends. Some adult worshipers are challenged by their energetic presence at the close of meeting which can be distracting. We have hired a teacher for the younger children who is a family member but is not a Quaker. Two friends share the challenge of providing religious education to our teenager. We hope for more children and for more older friends to share in their spiritual nurture.
In considering the queries and advices offered by PYM in preparation for writing our Spiritual State of the Meeting Report, the following are some thoughts that were shared at our Worship and Ministry committee meetings in addition to those above:
How has your meeting been changing?
Our numbers have dwindled but we have a number of newer members and regular attenders. We are adapting to being a smaller meeting community. Zooming has changed our meeting. It enables some people to join us who otherwise wouldn’t. But some of us long for less Zooming and more in person community. We can choose to sit back and let the meeting evolve as it will, or we can try to guide it into something more in alignment with our hopes for the meeting. In the coming month we will give thought to ways in which we can do the latter, and also to how we might build a stronger meeting community and reach out to people in need of a spiritual home who don’t even know we are here.
Some new attenders have shared that they are in need of a supportive community during these troubled times. We agreed that we are all in need of mutual support due to the chaos wrought by the current president of our country. We are exploring ways in which we can support the new attenders and each other. We agree that it’s important that attenders find a spiritual home in the meeting. We noted that doing outreach might just be a matter of letting people know that we are Quakers.
Where is (our meeting) headed in the next few years?
This query was met with laughter because our collective future is so uncertain right now. We were reminded us that we can decide where we want to be going and take action to head the meeting in that direction. For some that might mean becoming politically active. One friend questioned how having an intended direction could fit with continuing revelation and the idea that “way will open.” Our intention might be to welcome change.
Please share any triumphs or troubles you have had regarding the climate witness.
It was noted that we are continuing to use non disposable dishes at our potluck meals in order to limit the amount of trash we create. Our conversation revealed ongoing differences in opinion between those who would like to support EQAT’s advocacy of divesting from Vanguard and those who feel we should let Vanguard know that we want our money to be invested in climate friendly businesses.
In response to the Advices on Spiritual State of the Meeting Reports
We had a number of new attenders in the aftermath of the inauguration but have not seen these new friends recently, which is disappointing. We are delighted that Jennifer Hanf has volunteered to create a quarterly newsletter and monthly calendar for the meeting. The first issue was distributed in March and well received. We have made hybrid meetings work for us at both our Meetinghouse in the city and at Maidencreek, where we meet during the summer months. Our physical properties have been well maintained and our finances are in good order. We are continuing to adjust to being a small meeting rather than the large one that we once were. While we don’t have the membership to maintain all the committees that we once had, we are supportive of individuals in the meeting who volunteer in various ways in the community, and we are again planning to have a presence at Reading’s Earth Day event in City Park and at the community Pride event. Worship and Ministry committee meetings and our monthly Zooming in the Spirit discussions supplement Sunday worship in meeting the spiritual needs of our community.
Chris Field, Clerk of Worship & Ministry Janet Lamborn, Clerk
