How has your meeting been changing?
We have created more diversity in leadership by no longer requiring that co-clerks be drawn from only more seasoned Friends.
We have thoroughly studied and developed a seven-point plan to encourage and retain clerks.
We have laid down our Care and Nurturing Committee and replaced it with a Nominating Committee to respond to changing needs in the Meeting.
We have increased our membership and rekindled relationships by offering more and varied ways to be involved with the Meeting.
We have expanded assistance to the Recording Clerk position in response to younger members taking on the Recording Clerk task.
We have made liberal use of virtual and hybrid connections.
We have formed a School Relations Ad Hoc Committee to work on improving our connections with Westtown School.
We have increased our connections with the Quarterly Meeting’s Committee on Aging with a regular member and enhanced publicity.
Our new website better communicates our calendar of activities as well as who the meeting is, how to be more involved, and how we are expanding our outreach. We have a sprint team collaborating with all meeting committees. We want to reflect our growing diversity within the meeting.
We have expanded our team of Children’s Meeting (First Day School) educators to include regular paid professionals, high school student aids, and member volunteers.
We now have several members trained in Godly Play, offering regular Intergenerational Meetings every other month.
We have returned to our practice of having an Advent Garden event and continue with our annual Christmas Eve gathering.
We have scheduled a brainstorming session to determine ways to support the Yearly Meeting’s Carbon Footprint Program.
We have supported Combatants for Peace – seeking a lasting resolution to the Israel / Palestine conflict.
We have actively collaborated with AFSC by signing the anti-apartheid commitment.
Our DEI Committee work and our Reparations study group with Lansdowne Bethel AME Church led to three ongoing commitments:
*To provide support for the Bethel AME Church Food Pantry;
*To join in an effort to lift up and preserve the history of the Shiloh AME Church; and
*To support regenerative farming on Westtown School Farm led by FarmerJawn.
Where are you headed in the next few years?
We will work to strengthen our relationship with Westtown School.
We are making plans to improve our record-keeping and methods of retaining archival materials.
We have written a minute in support of the lawsuit to protect our right to remain free from incursions by ICE during worship, and will continue to support members of the immigrant community.
We will persist in our efforts to strengthen diversity, equity, inclusion and justice within the Meeting and our nation.
We expect our youth ministry to continue growing, making our Meeting more attractive to young families.
We hope to establish adult to adult and adult to youth buddies so that individuals can grow in supportive spiritual relationships with one another.
We want to continue to hold regular Meetings for Healing as a way to strengthen and deepen our spiritual lives within the meeting, our community, our nation, and the world. It is out of worship we can discern more clearly our calling/s.
We want to engage in more activities to help grow in relationships with one another.
We hope to schedule a run-through of our recently developed disaster plan.
Given where you are headed, might Ministry and Care help you find resources?
Support for intervisitation, Interactive Quaker Study, Healing, Addressing Racism, Ending Gun Violence.
