Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

 

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2008 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report

Part One:  Overview of 2008

The year 2008 witnessed efforts by our Committees and the Meeting as a whole to continue our many activities while moving through a time of change. Steps were taken to improve communication and administrative functioning. The process of reorganizing the office and methods for scheduling events has been beneficial. We have lost seven members due to death, transfers, and release from membership, and we have gained two new members and two transfers. We also have a regular contingent of college students.  While there are fewer people attending our Meeting for Worship, we appreciate the enthusiasm and dedication of our new members and others who have developed informative and creative programs. Recognizing that declining membership and participation in our Meeting for Worship needed to be addressed, the Meeting scheduled a “taster” session of the PYM Deepening and Strengthening program. After considering this program, we decided to develop an in-house plan for facing these problems. At a well-attended threshing session in December, suggestions were offered as to how we might bring more people into our Meeting. A working group was formed to head up this endeavor. Thus, we head into a new year with the intention of focusing on building our community so that the spirit felt in Meeting for worship will touch more lives.

Part Two: Committee Activities

Budget and Finance Committee

The Budget and Finance Committee was gratified at the beginning of the year to learn that contributions from Meeting members and attenders in 2007 reached our budgeted goal for the year.  However, we were concerned to find that only 54 percent of Meeting members had made financial contributions. Feeling it was important for the life of the Meeting community to understand the reasons for such low financial participation, we decided to contact those who had not made financial contributions for at least two years to see if we could learn more about how they viewed their relationship with the Meeting or if they had concerns that were affecting their decision not to give.  A letter raising these questions was sent to about 80 individuals or households after having been reviewed by members of Care and Counsel and Worship and Ministry Committees.  The response rate was disappointingly low.  We received contributions and apologies from two members, and a substantive discussion of concerns from one.  Two other responses indicated that our records were in error and that contributions had been made.  We also received several responses from people who seemed to indicate that they were no longer interested in being part of the Meeting.  These letters and the one raising substantive concerns were referred to Care and Counsel Committee for follow-up.  About half a dozen letters were returned because the recipient no longer lived at the address.   In 2009 we will consider what next steps we should take in addressing the issues of financial non-participation and lack of response to the mailing. As of December 31, contributions did not match the 2008 budget expenditures, due to a shortfall of $7,336.

Care and Counsel Committee

Care and Counsel Committee continued in 2008 to welcome new members to Meeting, attend to the community needs of our members, and celebrate the birthdays of our longest lived members. Friendly Gatherings were held in the spring. Marriages, memorial services and other transitions were facilitated. The Committee's work improved the lives of many Meeting members and several other committees of the Meeting. Several members attended Friends General Conference and other Friends programs with financial support from the Price Moore fund under the care of the Committee. Care and Counsel Committee supported Worship and Ministry Committee in exploring the Deepening and Strengthening program of PYM including the “tasting” session. Care and Counsel Committee also provided support for Budget and Finance Committee's effort to renew and cultivate participation of members who have not made financial contributions in recent years. Finally, in a major undertaking, Care and Counsel Committee oversaw the entry of the Meeting directory into a database, modernized the directory process, and republished the directory in its 2008 edition.

First Day School Committee

Currently in our First Day School (FDS) there are three warm, vibrant classes, where values are explored.  The grade 2-5 class is a lively place of crafts and performances.  The grade 6-8 class has spirited discussions, looking in particular at the moral dimensions of events in the news.  A new high school class brings the moral discussions to the individual, personal level, that is, what does it mean to lead a good life. The disappointing news is that there are fewer children overall in FDS and no younger children.  There are occasionally young children who come to childcare, but no regular attenders and thus no critical mass to encourage others and feed into future classes.

House and Property Committee

The House and Property Committee has installed “green” lights in the Whittier Room, had hall lighting repaired throughout the Whittier House, and had the rugs in Whittier Room cleaned. We are having plumbing repaired in the Nursery School Office, and tile work done in a classroom.  The floors in the kitchen and Rushmore Room will also be scraped and waxed. Outside the Meetinghouse, the Committee has had gutters cleaned, window woodwork painted, sills repaired, and is having the fireplace and north wall investigated by a professional to see the extent of water damage.  We're trying to build a 5-year plan that will probably include installing a new roof. The Committee held a Work Session on Saturday Nov. 22, to check and discard unneeded material in a hall closet and in the kitchen.