Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Newsletter for April, 2010

Queries on Stewardship of the Environment

Outreach: Addressed to the Meeting:

• Is the Meeting concerned that human interaction with nature be responsible, guided by a reverence for life and a sense of the splendor of God continuing creation?

• Are the decisions of the Meeting and its Committees relating to the uses of property, goods and services, and energy made with sensitivity toward the environmental impact of these choices?

• How does our Meeting learn about environmental concerns and then act in the community on its concerns?

Addressed to the individual:

• How am I helping to develop a social, economic, and political system which will nurture an environment which sustains and enriches life for all?

• Am I aware of the place of water, air and soil in my life? 

• Do I consider with care the necessity of purchasing substances hazardous to the environment?

• Do I act as a faithful steward of the environment in the use and disposal of such hazardous substances?

• Do I choose with care the use of technology and devices that truly simplify and add quality to my life without adding an undue burden to essential resources?

from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice, 2002, page 213

Draft Minutes of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting for Business

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Meeting opened with a few moments of silent worship.  Christine DeGrado, Clerk, presided.  The Queries on Outreach were read, contemplated, and spoken to.  One Friend spoke of the importance of seeking-out and talking with the visitor standing alone with their teacup at the Fellowship time.  Another commented positively on introducing visitors before “Joys and Concerns” at our Meeting for Worship.  This suggested change will be taken up by Worship and Ministry Committee.  Other Friends spoke of our outreach hosting the FGC Long Range Planning Committee and the Traveling Ministries, and hosting the upcoming Christian Interfaith Relation Committee in April. Another outreach has been our “interfaith” conjunctures: taking our youth to Christ Church, and possibly inviting other church youth to Swarthmore Meeting; a PYM-supported Interfaith group in Philadelphia who visits various churches; the Swarthmore Interfaith Ministerium (SWIM) in which our Meeting participates. Lastly, a Friend mentioned the important outreach of Women in Black at the train station every Friday evening.

 The Minutes from the previous Meeting for Business were perused and approved with the following changes: spelling correction of Ann to Anne BernsteinRichan Peace Fund;   sentence in last paragraph of the 2010 Budget expanded to Pamela Poe, who has professional experience in this area, offered her assistance in this endeavor.

 Kit Raven reported for First Day School (FDS) Committee.  The new Clerk, Elizabeth McAndrew and Co-Clerk, Barbara BurgerLentz were announced. Kit offered a 5-year recap of FDS while she has been Clerk:  Initially the downstairs classrooms needed major cleaning and de-humidifiers installed; New tables were added in 2009; A special Faith and Play Classroom was set up and supplied.  Notably, children from other Meetings have been attending Swarthmore’s Faith and Play program, since their own Meeting does not have one; Childcare for Middle-School age children has been instituted on a year-round basis; and group teaching evolved in the upper classes.  Looking forward, Barbara BurgerLentz presented some of FDS’s future goals: to nurture the transitioning of the large cohesive group of middle schoolers into a high school group; Even though the middle school group is large, the distribution of younger students is uneven.  This may lead to a lack of enrollment for grades 3, 4, and 5 in upcoming years. A Committee member offered her gratitude for Kit’s leadership, and having the meetings in her home. General Meeting discussion:  The Meeting asked FDS to address a change in the new FDS brochure which would include  Faith and Play and its schedule. One Friend reflected that eliminating Sunday morning soccer games would help getting more young people to attend their churches. Mary Lou said she would bring this up at the next SWIM meeting. Others said they valued having the entire community together, and they missed seeing the children in Meeting for Worship.

 Steve Weimar reported for Budget and Finance Committee.  He indicated that Budget and Finance’s goal is to get 100 percent of the Meeting community participating in financial giving. On-line giving options will be available soon.  Steve wants our giving to reflect “who we want to be.”  In that vein, he asked what people want to spend our spare change on this year.  Ideas included Friends World Committee for Consultation, and Chester Children’s Chorus.  One Friend cautioned that we might need extra funds for our on-going property expenditures.  The Nursery School has agreed to a 5%  rent increase.

The draft letter composed by Shelley Costa to PYM about discontinued funding for Pendle Hill was discussed.  Margaret Fraser spoke to some of the assumptions in the letter, concluding that the reference to the Chace Fund is a red herring. She explained that two years ago the Chace fund was merged with the Legacy Granting Group. Money from these groups is distributed every 3 years for specific projects, not general administration.  PYM has had a line item in its budget for Pendle Hill in the past, but it has been eliminated because of the budget crunch. Since another Friend reported that the current Director of Pendle Hill indicated that its Quaker retreat center was a “priority” in the Chace Fund, there is a need to clear up the confusion.  Mary Lou Parker volunteered to re-draft the letter to the General Secretary of PYM requesting pertinent information and to circulate the draft to Friends in attendance. Several Friends suggested we donate money directly to Pendle Hill, stipulating that it is a year-by-year gift, not a yearly on-line budget item.  Another suggested supporting the one-half million dollar PYM Annual Fund drive.

 Lynne Piersol reported for Worship and Ministry Committee: she named the Quaker Quest Working Group which includes Christine DeGrado, Margaret Fraser, Sue Larson, Michael  Malone, and Sharon Gunther.  There is a question as to whether this group is under Worship and Ministry or Swarthmore Meeting, in general.  It was agreed that Quaker Quest is a Meeting-wide initiative.

Sharon reported Swarthmore’s Quaker Quest retreat program will be Saturday, April 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mark you calendars!  It will include an innovative Quaker Quest Children’s program, not just childcare.  Along with the PYM Quaker Quest facilitator and exercises, three Swarthmore members will be sharing their spiritual beliefs. Needs: a lunch food team; a greeter; and, a person to manage the book table. Swarthmore’s group met recently on a Saturday night with a Quaker Quest Core Planning Group including Haverford Monthly Meeting.

 Shelley Costa reported for Peace and Social Concerns Committee via a written report.  The Committee is in touch with College students working with “Coalition for a Free Haiti.” A fund-raising idea of babysitting in the Meetinghouse was suggested.  Members at Meeting for Business asked if extra insurance and background checks might be needed for this project. The Committee is inviting several speakers to the Meeting this spring: Julian Brelsford (water projects in Haiti), Hollister Knowlton, a Quaker environmentalist, and a Congolese activist who has done reconciliation work.

 Care and Counsel Committee Report: We are very sad to announce that Sally Shane has resigned from the Committee since her move to Lima Estates.  We will sorely miss her frankness and her humor. Mary Lou Parker reported on the Marriage Clearness for Lynne Piersol and Michael Inskeep. The Clearness Committee, which included Douglas and Susan Schaefer Davis of Haverford Monthly Meeting, and Patricia Thomas and Mary Lou Parker, heartily recommends approval by Meeting for Business. The Meeting joyfully approved the Clearness for Marriage for Lynne Piersol and Michael Inskeep.  The marriage will be June 19, 2010, under the care of Haverford and Swarthmore Monthly Meetings.

 Barbara BurgerLentz reported for the Hospitality Working Group. While the two visiting committees were here on consecutive weekends, Mary Titus’s presence in the Meeting Office on weekdays acted as a solid anchor for the newcomers. Barbara reported visitors saying they appreciated our “hands-off-approach.”  FGC is fully aware that hosting 3 meetings in 2 months is a large load.  The next group is coming the weekend of April 16. The Grateful Bread contributions, hearty minestrone soup, and desserts were greatly appreciated.  However, more people should be scheduled for cleanup.  Beckey Phipps, Clerk of PYM Traveling Ministries read a thank you note at the rise of Meeting. 

 Virginia Williams Joyce reported for Nominating Committee. She asked that people think about their own gifts and what Committee might benefit from them.  Please make recommendations to any member of the Nominating Committee; Barbara BurgerLentz, Jennifer Cheung , Barbara Grove, Susan Larson , Mary Manglesdorf, Elizabeth McAndrew, and Virginia Williams Joyce. Below are some changes to the Committees:

Library Committee: new members:  Alex Kendrick (2013), Paul Joyce Collins Williams (2013)

Peace and Social Concerns Committee: Appointment: Susan Larson (2013); resignation: Jennifer Cheung

First Day School Committee:  Reappointments: Elizabeth McAndrew (2011, special one-year appointment) New Clerk: Elizabeth McAndrew

Chester Quarterly Meeting Representative Appointment: Elizabeth McAndrew (2013), as co-representative with Susan Larson

Worship and Ministry Committee: Reappointments: Sue Edwards (2013); New Clerk: Lynne Piersol

Care and Counsel Committee: Resignations:  Sally Shane

Nominating Committee: New Clerk: Virginia Williams Joyce

Personnel Committee: New Clerk: Nancy Saunders

 Mary Titus gave the Meeting Secretary Report:  the Rise Up! group wants to bake in the kitchen from March through May, twice a week, Sunday 2-5 unless there is another scheduled event, and Thursday night 10:00 p.m. – 1:30 a.m. They will arrange with College security to get let them in.  It was brought up that if the baked goods were sold, the kitchen might need to have food-safety inspection.  It was suggested that if the Rise Up! group ask for donations, instead of selling the items, we might avoid the safety inspection.

 Clerk’s Report: Please return outstanding Meetinghouse keys if you are not using them. PYM has requested census of both Meeting for Worship and FDS on each Sunday in April.  Phyllis Raymond volunteered to take the count in the Meetinghouse, with help from Barbara BurgerLentz in the FDS.

The letter Mary Manglesdorf wrote to Governor Rendell against gambling as a state-fund-raiser will be reviewed at next month’s Meeting for Business.

We need a second Swarthmore representative for PYM Sessions.

Will Richan wrote a note of thanks for the contributed children’s books, which included left-over children’s books from the Jumble sale, and a box of books mailed from a Friend in Florida .

Paul Joyce Collins Williams reported for PYM: 

• ArtsOnCherry Exhibits, March through September at Friends Center; 

• March 26-28 is the 330^th Annual Sessions of PYM at Arch Street Meetinghouse; 

• April 17 is a Gathering of Meeting on Worship and Ministry at Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting; 

• April 30-May 2 is PYM Middle School and Young Friends Programs at Camp Swatara; 

• May 15 is Peace and Concerns Standing Committee’s Annual Event at Burlington Meeting House.

 After a few minutes of closing worship, the Meeting for Business was adjourned.

 Respectfully submitted by LaDorna Pfaff, Acting Recording Clerk

General Swarthmore Meeting Announcements

After "Thank You" Corner, event notices are listed chronologically

The "Thank You" Corner

Thanks to :

• The Hospitality Working Group who helped make the FGC weekends (Long-Range Planning and Traveling Ministries Committees) at our Meeting a success, including:

• Barbara BurgerLentz, Clerk of the Working Group, organizer-plus! everything else

• LaDorna Pfaff - hosting, baking (whole wheat breadsticks, yum), sleeping bag, cooking, serving, cleaning and driving

• Christine DeGrado - hosting, baking and cooking

• Elizabeth McAndrew - hosting, cooking, serving and cleaning up

• Nancy Saunders- baking

• Catherine King- baking and cooking

• Susan Larson - hosting, cooking, driving and cleaning

• Lili BurgerLentz - hosting, cooking, serving and cleaning

• Lisa BurgerLentz - serving and cleaning

• Terry Hauger - driving

• Virginia Williams Joyce and Paul Joyce Collins Williams - hosting

• Pat Thomas - hosting, cooking, cleaning and serving

• Mary Titus - general support and organization

• Margaret Fraser - cooking, serving, cleaning, and

• Sharon Gunther - hosting, cooking, serving and cleaning

What a Hospitality team!

• Sharon Gunther, who took the wonderful picture of Mary and Paul Manglesdorf which appeared in last month's newsletter

• Joanne Shallcross for donating a new coffee pot

• And, to all who give to the Meeting in silent and unacknowledged ways.

Presentation by Haiti Earthquake Survivor, Julian Brelsford

Friday, April 9, 2010, 7:30 p.m. in Whittier Room

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee is honored to sponsor a presentation by the Haiti earthquake survivor, Julian Brelsford. He is a member Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Julian will offer these queries from his experience:

• What are the biggest challenges Haitian communities face today?

• Is there nay hoe of long-lasting change in Haiti?

• How do Quaker views of spirituality, peace, and equality relate to our work?

Come one, come all, to this unique opportunity to supplement our own humble, compassionate musings with Julian's privileged insights on activism in the Spirit.

Quaker Quest Workshop, April 10, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

• Swarthmore Friends Meeting Quaker Quest Workshop/Retreat

• Saturday, April 10, 2010

• 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

• with Amy Kietzman and PYM Quaker Quest Trainers

• Children's program is being planned

• Lunch will be served

• RSVP to Meeting Office is encouraged

Quaker Quest is a spiritual path for our time: simple, radical, contemporary!

We need help in the following ways:

• Lunch offers of soups, salads, bread, cookies, fruit, cheese

• Lunch set up, tables plus Morning coffee/tea/drinks, snacks (3 people)

• Lunch clean up (3)

• Greeters, greet upon arrival, usher to and from sessions and lunch (3)

• Small group facilitators/time-keepers (5)

• videographer to record session presentations

To volunteer and sign up, contact Susan Larson, or sign up on the sign up sheets in the Rushmore Room.

Thanks in advance for your participation in Quaker Quest.

Volunteers Needed in the Meeting Office

The Meeting Secretary will be out of the Office from Monday, April 19 through Friday, April 23.  We are looking for one or more volunteers to pick up phone messages, sort the email, and look at the email. It takes only and hour or two, and isn't hard to do.  If you would like to donate your time, please call the Office at 610 328-8699 or email Mary at [email protected] 

Forum with Zawadi Nikuze on April 25

Peace and Social Concerns is honored to sponsor an evening forum with Congolese activist Zawadi Nikuse on Sunday, April 25, at 7:00 p.m. in Whittier Room.  Ms. Nikuze coordinated reconciliation work in the eastern province of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.  As part of the African Great Lakes Initiative on Peace and Reconciliation, her work includes facilitating workshops on healing from violence, rape, and the trauma of displacement.  Ms. Nikuze's fluency in French, English, Swahili, and three regional languages have been essential to her powerful work.  Come and be inspired by the far-reaching effects of Zawadi Nikuse's embodiment of our Peace Testimony.

    Submitted by Shelley Costa, Co-Clerk of Peace and Social Concerns Committee

Meeting Portrait: Bird Walk and Breakfast  May 2 -- A First Day School Favorite

One of the most loved traditions of the Swarthmore Monthly Meeting First Day School program is the annual bird walk and breakfast.  For as long as anyone can remember, First Day School students and Meeting members have been gathering early in the morning on the first Sunday in May to see and hear a symphony of birds.  The walk across the campus and through the woods never disappoints, as the flowers, birds and wildlife are all worth the trek.  Johanna Sibbett has been leading this adventure for many years and robins, blackbirds, doves, cardinals and blue jays are almost guaranteed.

After an hour of hiking and bird watching, the assembled group returns to the Meetinghouse for a wonderful breakfast prepared by Bill DeGrado and a rotating group of chefs.  The Bird Walk breakfast always includes eggs, sticky buns and strawberries, and Bill is always surprising us with scrumptious additions to the menu.  This year's Bird Walk will be held on May 2, 2010.  The bird walkers will gather at 8:00 a.m. and breakfast will begin at 9:00 a.m.  All Meeting members and attenders are invited.  Pleases join us for breakfast, followed by Meeting for Worship, even if you can not make it for the bird walk.

From Budget and Finance

Due to unseen circumstances, some Friends and attenders may have inadvertently received two identical Appeal letters during our recent spring mailing.  We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Reflections on Jumble

As Spring gets us up and out a "Young" woman's fancy turns to ....Jumble! Last year was my first year Clerking the Jumble Committee and while it was a few bursts of mad work, my refection centers on the overwhelming sense of fun I had working with my Swarthmore Meeting family.

All the people I worked with last year, including High School students from Strath Haven (awesome), the Department Heads (you guys rock!) the clean up Genie (yeah), Mr. Brown, my own family (who support Jumble in ways the Meeting cannot fathom) and everyone who lifted, swept, priced, sold, cooked, cleaned, served, haggled, chatted, smiled, and laughed were the key to creating a joyous community event.  

While we would have liked to have earned more money (considering the donations we were working with last year, we did great), we learned a lot and had many special moments.  For instance, late in the day of Jumble someone handed me an envelope containing $24 and a short note.  Florence Lewis who lives at Plus Mills agreed to bake for Jumble.  She had baked 2-3 Black Forest cakes but the smell of the baking so aroused her neighbors that they all came knocking on her door.  She tried to explain that the cakes were to be sold at Jumble for the benefit of the Meeting.  Her neighbors simply paid her for the cakes right then and there.  The cakes never made it to Jumble but the sprit and the cash did.  Thank you, Florence.

Even without Florence's cakes our County Store had plenty of goodies and lots of smiles. Between our Breakfast (Coffee and Donuts in line), Lunch, and the Country Store, our Jumble is becoming known as much for our edible treasures as well as our re-found ones.  We will be building on this! Also last year, thanks to Phyllis Raymond, we started to name all our departments; we already have the Garden Spot and the BookMark.  The Jumble Committee welcomes new suggestions for our other departments as well (Maybe Sue and John's Mushroom Café for lunch?)

Already we are working on Jumble 2010.  Just last Sunday on that beautiful day, I spotted someone doing some early Spring Cleaning; they had set out a foozball table.  Quickly I recruited a Jumbler (thanks Gary) and in less than 45 minutes we had the prize in the Meeting basement.  If you see treasures at the curb, collect them.  If they don't fit in your car, give me a call and we can try to get a Jumble Quick Response team out to collect.  Also, if you know of someone moving, let me know maybe we can make arrangement to collect donations.

And lastly, please consider joining us. Overall my great joy is working with our Jumble team; we have fun when we can and work hard when we have to.  We don't just work and meet; besides Committee Meetings this year we will have our second annual Jumble Kabab Fest in July and we are working of a Jumble Relaxation Retreat in May.  So, again, join us in our Joy!

    Submitted by Barbara BurgerLentz, Clerk of Jumble Committee

Directory Updates

New email addresses and mailing addresses can be found in the printed copy of the newsletter.  If you have a new address, phone number, or email, please notify the Office so we can keep our records up-to-date.  If you would like to receive a directory, please contact the Office, 610 328-8699.

You Can Now Contribute on Our Website!

The Budget and Finance Committee has created a link on the Swarthmore Friends Meeting website at the top of  the homepage noted Donate Online  (found at http://swarthmore.quaker.org). This will allow contributors to make donations through automatic deductions by credit card or bank transfer.  The company that the Meeting has retained to manage this process, Acceptiva, is also used by Providence Friends Meeting.

Please consider contributing in this manner.  In addition to being more convenient and paperless, it allows givers to plan and schedule recurring donations in advance and the Meeting to receive funds throughout the year instead of mostly at the end and to better anticipate the amount of contributions each year.  You will receive an acknowledgment letter from the Meeting for your contribution.

Rise Up! to Bake in Whittier Kitchen

Rise Up! a Swarthmore College-based baking group consisting of students and staff, has begun baking twice a week in our kitchen.  The group is involved in social justice work on campus, and will be selling their baked goods to raise money for charity.  For this semester, they will be raising funds for Nuestra Casa campaign, which is devoted to creating a community house for the Kaolin Mushroom Workers' Union. A schedule of their baking dates and times in in the Meeting Office.

Please Return Unused Keys to the Meeting Office

We are facing a key emergency.  Approximately a dozen keys are known to be in the hands of Meeting members who no longer need to get into the Meeting Office; on the other hand, we have several Committee Clerks who have an immediate need to get into the Meeting Office and cannot because we have no keys to give them.  The College will not issue us any additional keys.

Please -- if you no longer need your key to the Meeting Office, return it to us.  You can drop it off during the week or on a Sunday, or mail it in a padded envelope.  If you can no longer find you key, please let us know that also.  Thanks.

Swarthmore Friends First Day School Visits Christ Church in Philadelphia

On Sunday, March 3, Mark Taylor and I escorted a group of our First Day School 3-5th-grade and Middle School students down to Old City Philadelphia to attend the 11:00 a.m. service at Christ Church, the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.  This trip came about from this year's theme in the 3-5th-grade of learning about different religions.  Since spring was springing we decided to do our first interfaith visit.  The choice of where to go had many factors.  As our first visit I wanted to find something different from Quakerism but not that different (Episcopal is not Hindu) and I wanted to go somewhere with lots of stories relevant to our kids.  Christ Church fits the bill with its Protestant Liturgy and its place in the religious and political history of the country.

We arrived in Old City on a beautiful day in plenty of time for discussions in the church courtyard before the service.  The kids and our parent contingent were fascinated by the graves and markers in the church yard.  Several of the graves were for signers of the Declaration of Independence.  With all the parents helping out we talked about history, about the reformation, about Communion, and about how to follow a church program. 

Finally we went in and were met warmly by ushers and by the assistant Minister, Susan Richardson, who I had talked with by email before the visit.  We moved into pews looking a lot like box seats at the ball game (wooden though, not metal and plastic). We all looked up and around.  High, high ceilings and beautiful wood molding painted a perfect white.  I had been in the church before and in my mind it was ornate, but it really wasn't; it was fancy and mighty distracting, but no stained glass, no murals, no gilding. 

The organ started to play.  Our students thought it was very somber but they were also reacting to more evidence of burial plots inside the sanctuary (some kids thought that was a little creepy).  The choir started and robed celebrants came forward.  The students tried to follow the service in using programs, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Hymnal.  There was a lot of stuff to look at.  Respectfully our kids stood and sat when required but none took the extra step of kneeling on the provided cushions.  Some tried to speak along with the words; some did not.

Once the Sermon was done, the students got a little fidgety but the communion liturgy hadn't even started yet.  An Episcopal service, at least this one, is not short, but it is busy.  We were all welcomed to come and partake of the blessed bread and wine, but like the kneeling, the kids didn't seem to feel compelled.  As the service finished up I was glad to see our kids, even though they were tired and hungry, were attentive and marvelously well-behaved.

After the service we had two brief discussions with Rev. Richardson and the church historian.  Rev. Richardson answered lots of questions from parents and kids. The historian talked about the history of the people who worshiped there and about the relationship of the early congregation to Quakers. He noted that the outside of the churches built in Philadelphia were specifically kept simple to blend in with the Quaker sensibility of America's colonial capital.  It was also noted that the Baptism Fount in the rear of the church was actually the one used in England to baptize William Penn. We learned about slaves and church and about women and church and we were encouraged to live in the history our community provides and learn from it.

May aspects of the service brought up more questions for our parents than our kids.  For instance, the kids did not seem to react to the to the Priest being a woman. Seeing a woman in the role of chief celebrant, wearing the Lenten robes was still different for me, but not the kids.  This both makes me feel old but also reinforces our need to keep teaching the kids about how Quakerism fits into the varied landscape of American religion.

We have already had some interesting discussion with our kids after the visit.  Most reported having had fun on the visit and want to do more.  Most interesting, both Lizzie King and Max Starr in our discussion expressed the idea that being told what to pray about wasn't their style (paraphrasing here). Max and Lizzie also like returning the simplicity of their Quaker roots.

    Submitted by Barbara BurgerLentz

From the "Care and Counsel Corner"

Community Transit Services for Seniors and Disabled Residents

Community Transit of Delaware County provides rides to medical appointments, malls, grocery shopping, church, senior centers, banks, libraries, or just to visit friends anywhere within Delaware County.  The service is available to seniors, disabled residents of any age, and people who need medical assistance transportation.

Fees are calculated by zones.  Typical fees from Swarthmore area to Taylor Hospital run $4.45 each way.  People on Medicaid ride free. Trips to Philadelphia and other surrounding counties can also be requested.  Community Transit provides shared ride service Monday through Saturday.  Even though the bus picks you up curbside at your home, it is not exclusive taxi service, so trips may take longer than a private automobile.

For information and reservations telephone (610) 490-3060.  There are flyers in the Meetinghouse lobby.

Wider News from Friends

Peace Center of Delaware County First-Friday Free Films

Friday, April 2, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. - Hearts and Minds (1974, 112 minutes, Rated R for war violence, language, and brief nudity), the restored version of the classic film about the U.S. war in Vietnam and 1974 Best Documentary Oscar winner will be shown on the large screen at the Peace Center of Delaware County, 1001 Old Sproul Road, in Springfield, Delaware County. 

April 2010 marks the 35th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war.  Directed by Peter Davis, using his own war footage, newsreels, presidential speeches and interviews with the likes of Robert Kennedy, Gen. William Westmoreland and Daniel Ellsberg, Hearts and Minds is about a time of war that defined a generation and an arrogant belief in the rightness of U.S. action around the world that reverberates throughout our times.

The First-Friday free film showings at the Peace Center of Delaware County are co-sponsored by the Brandywine Peace Community. Doors open for light refreshments at 6:30 p.m.

The showing of Hearts and Minds will be followed by an after-film discussion with Dr. Sophie Quinn-Judge, who was an aid worker in Vietnam during the war.  Quinn-Judge is director of the Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture, and Society, and is just back from an extended visit to Vietnam.  Sophie is a member of Media Monthly Meeting.

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting  (PYM) News

Only several items been transcribed here.  For a complete list of activities go to www.pym.org .

PYM Annual Spring Phonathon

PYM is gearing up for our Annual Fund Spring Phonathons, April 6 though June 24.  The phonothons are at 1515 Cherry Street. Volunteers are needed to call Friends; supper and training are provided, beginning at 6:00 p.m. You'll be home at 9:00 p.m. Please mark your calendar for these Tuesday and Thursday dates: April 6 and 8; May 4 and 6; May 18 and 20; June 1 and 3; June 15 and 17; and June 22 and 24. If you would like to join our amazing team of phonathon volunteers, please contact Jan Hatchard at (215) 241-7115 [email protected] or Kay Henley at (215) 241-7271 [email protected]

    Submitted by Lynne Piersol

ArtsOnCherry Exhibit and Sale

Between March and September, 2010, our Yearly Meeting will have an exhibition of art works from Friends, including our member Lois Sellers, at the Friends Center at 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia.  Some items in the exhibit will be for sale.

Middle School and Young Friends Program

Friday, April 30 to Sunday, May 2, the PYM Middle School and Young Friends Program will gather at Camp Swatara. 

PYM Standing Committee on Peace and Concerns

Saturday, May 15, the PYM Standing Committee on Peace and Concerns will hold its Annual Event at the Burlington Meetinghouse, the Yearly Meeting' conference center.

    Submitted by Paul Joyce Collins Williams 

Upcoming Quakerism Programs at Pendle Hill

For a complete list of programs and registration information visit www.pendlehill.org or call (800) 742-3150, extension #3.  Matching scholarships are available.

Newsletter Calendar for April, 2010

SWARTHMORE MONTHLY MEETING

Christine DeGrado, Clerk of Meeting; Leslie Keighton, Recording Clerk;  Stephen Weimar, Treasurer; Lynne Piersol, Clerk of Worship and Ministry Committee; Mary Titus, Meeting Secretary

Office hours: Tuesday though Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Telephone: (610) 328-8699; email: [email protected], website: http://swarthmore.quaker.org