Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Queries on Equality

Addressed to the Meeting:

• How does our Meeting help to create and maintain a society whose institutions recognize and do away with the inequities rooted in patterns of prejudice and economic convenience?

• Is our Meeting open to all regardless of race, ability, sexual orientation or class?

• What steps are we taking as a Meeting to assure that our Meeting and the Committees and institutions under our care reflect our respect for all, and are free from practices rooted in prejudice?

Addressed to the individual:

• Do I examine myself for aspects of prejudice that may be buried, including beliefs that seem to justify biases based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and class, and also feelings of inferiority or superiority?

• What am I doing to help overcome the contemporary effects of past and present oppression?

• Am I teaching my children, and do I show through my way of living, that love of God includes affirming the equality of people, treating others with dignity and respect, and seeking to recognize and address that of God within every person?

from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice, 2002, page 210

Partial Draft Minutes of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting for Business held Sunday, December 12, 2010

    The Meeting opened with a few moments of silent worship. Christine DeGrado, Clerk, presided. The Queries on Education were read, considered and spoken to. The work of Stratford Friends School , which serves children with special needs, was noted. It has moved to a new campus. Most of the discussion reflected a concern regarding our Meeting’s relationship with the Swarthmore Friends Nursery School . Now that the School has an independent board, to what extent are Quaker values identified and taught? Several who have had a close relationship with the School volunteered to gather more direct information and to work with teachers and administrators on this matter. The Clerk will summarize our discussion and present it to the SFNS Board. Minutes of the previous Meeting were perused and approved with minor changes.

    Steve Weimar reported for Budget and Finance Committee: He presented updated figures on the 2010 budget as well as the 2011 budget which will be formally presented next month. Contributions are thus far shy of what is needed to avoid a deficit and the gap will hopefully be closed by year’s end. He pointed out that expenses for needed repairs to the building vary widely from year to year but it is certain that the building will soon be in need of some major work. While the Meeting will be in contact with the College on these matters, work on Whittier House is the Meeting’s responsibility. A concern was expressed that the number of people committed to the Meeting, both financially and otherwise, seems to be dwindling. The suggestion was made that each Committee should express two or three special projects it is hoping to complete and the finances these would entail. In this way all Meeting members would be better able to understand financial matters as an integral part of the Meeting.

    LaDorna Pfaff reported for Care and Council Committee: 1) Council members Lois Sellers and LaDorna Pfaff met with Associate member Richard Noburi Monari and warmly recommend him for full membership. As is customary, this will be held over one month. 2) We received a letter of transfer from Media Meeting for Marilyn Simmel, who has applied for membership in Swarthmore Meeting. Approved. Susan Larson, Barbara Burger Lentz and several representatives of Care and Council will welcome her. 3) Virginia Williams Joyce and Paul Joyce Collins Williams hosted a welcoming for our new member Joan Urban on December 11. Also present were John Van Til and LaDorna Pfaff. 4) Friendly Gatherings are planned for the last weekend in February, February 25-27. It was noted that the Potluck and Carol Sing will be tonight at 5:00 p.m. Special thanks to Barbara and David Grove for providing the Christmas tree in Whittier Room.

    Shelley Costa reported for Peace and Social Concerns (PSC) Committee: Worship and Ministry Committee has met and has discussed PSC’s proposal to have a summarized version of the Declaration of the Innocent People Called Quakers as presented before Charles II, read in Meeting for Worship. This is to commemorate the 350th anniversary of Friends Peace Testimony. While Worship and Ministry fully supports such recognition, it was felt that a planned presentation would run counter to the unprogrammed nature of Meeting for Worship. In discussion which followed some felt the reading could take place immediately after. The general feeling, however, was for dissemination of the summarized version in printed and electronic form, to be placed in the Newsletter and handed out at Fellowship, etc. (perhaps with the help of First Day School students). This will be done prior to Meeting for Worship on January 9.

    Susan Edwards reported for Worship and Ministry Committee: The Committee continues to work on the State of the Meeting Report. A draft version will be presented next month. The Committee appreciates the timely response of all Meeting Committees in forwarding their summaries. Last Sunday’s Adult Education session on Vocal ministry was well attended. Saturday, February 12, 2011, has been set as the date for the Extended Meeting for Worship. Michael Malone will be coordinating. In response to PYM’s Meeting Relations Program, Worship and Ministry has decided to invite a PYM representative to a Meeting function, such as a pot luck, on an informal basis. The Committee continues to discuss the appropriate response to the recent visitor who has proven disruptive to Meeting for Worship.

    Mary Titus gave the Secretary’s report: She re-iterated her concern about security, especially making sure that the door to the playground is locked and not left propped open, as it has been on recent Sundays. Childcare workers and First Day School teachers will be asked to check on this. Mary Titus will make a sign for the door, saying that it should not be propped open. Also, the door from Rushmore Room to the stairs leading out to the playground often looks closed, but is not completely latched. The last folks to leave Rushmore Room are asked to please make sure this door is latched. 

    Barbara Grove reported for House and Property Committee: The Committee is planning to undertake a number of repair and painting projects in the coming year. The curtains in Whittier Room have been taken down as they need cleaning and adjustments but the Committee is contemplating leaving them off permanently.

    Susan Larson spoke on the Quarterly Meeting Session to be held at Swarthmore on the last Sunday of January. This will be an informal affair with no set program. Mushroom soup will be served and the Grateful Bread will be asked to bake.

    A letter from Mary Anne Crowley was read and distributed. This is a request for any individual’s experience with multigenerational activities within the Meeting. The Spring 2011 issue of PYM Today is doing a feature on Multigenerational Community. Articles of 800-1000 words should be submitted to her at PYM before January 7. More information can be found in the January newsletter or in the Meeting Office. 

After several minutes of silent worship, the Meeting adjourned. 

Submitted by Leslie Keighton, Recording Clerk

General Swarthmore Meeting Announcements

Directory Updates

New updates are available 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, [email protected] 

Do You Know Any of These Long-Lost Members? 

Care and Counsel Committee is searching for these members for whom we have no current address. Do you know how we can contact any of them? If you do, please contact Mary Titus at the Meeting Office, (610) 328 8699, or at [email protected]  If we are unable to find these people, Care and Counsel Committee recommends that we put them into our Meeting’ inactive category. This would mean the Meeting would no longer try to send mailings, including the newsletter. And, we would not count them for our Yearly Meeting Statistics. They would not, however, be purged from our files. Please help us find them! Submitted by the Care and Counsel Committee

• Gregory and Robin Bond-Coe

• Pricilla Burdsall

• Andrew Clemmer and Charity Clemmer

• Jerry William Frost

• Mary Louise Hickman

• Molly Johnston

• Stirling Lathrop

• John Lawrence

• Harry Andrew Leonard

• David March and Roger Japeth March

• Claire Eileen Murphy

• Susan Williams Noyes

• David Shrom

• Richard and Susan Ellen Spencer

• Jane Thorson

• James Turberg

• Virginia Van Ostrand 

Thank You Corner

Thanks to:

• Mimi Hall, for major kitchen clean-up and re-organization;

• Barbara and David Grove, for the Christmas tree in Whittier Room, and for testing the fireplace so we could have a cheery fire during the Carol Sing;

• And to others who serve the Meeting in silent and unacknowledged ways.

Scholarship Funds Available for Quaker Schools

Modest scholarship funds are available for the children of Meeting members who will be attending Quaker schools in the 2011-2012 school year. Members who are interested in applying for scholarship funds should stop by the Meeting Office and pick up an application form. All scholarship applications should be returned to the Meeting office by February 7, 2011. 

Submitted by Mark Taylor, Budget and Finance Committee

Quarterly Meeting to Meet Here in January

Chester Quarterly Meeting will be here at Swarthmore on Sunday, January 30, 2011. Meeting is at 10:00 a.m., with childcare available, followed by Fellowship. Swarthmore Meeting will provide a simple soup. Bring a sandwich to accompany it, if desired. Quarterly Business Meeting will follow.

Submitted by Susan Larson

Adult Religious Education Session

On Sunday, January 2, 2011, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Meeting member Paul Joyce Collins Williams will lead a discussion on the Pendle Hill pamphlet, "The Mind of Christ: Bill Taber on Meeting for Business.” Copies of the pamphlet will be for sale at Fellowship in Rushmore Room. 

Submitted by Sue Edwards for Worship and Ministry Committee

Commemorating 350 Yeasts of Putting the Peace Testimony in Words

As 2010 turns to 2011 the Peace and Social Concerns (PSC) Committee invites all to reflect on Friends' Declaration to Charles II of England in November, 1660. Our Committee reached unity on giving the Meeting opportunity to meditate on the words of the Declaration in a worshipful way. We wish to thank John McKinstry for ushering in this observance at the end of Carol Sing on December 12, 2010. John eloquently expressed the significance of the peace testimony and evocatively read aloud the excerpt of the original 1660 Declaration that appears on pages 76-77 of Faith and Practice. During the coming weeks, PSC will circulate cards with this excerpt, inviting Friends to reflect on its content and significance. In order to respect the tradition of unprogrammed Meeting for Worship that our community upholds -- and yet bring timely observance of this testimony directly to worship -- we are inviting Friends to meditate on the written declaration in their own time, and then to speak, or not to speak, as they are so moved during the next few Meetings for Worship. This is not structured Worship Sharing, but rather open worship, with printed words offered in the spirit of query meditation. Sunday, January 9, 2011, can be regarded as concluding date for this observance of 350 years of Friends' words and practice.

We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fighting with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; this is our testimony to the whole world.... The Spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil, and again to move us unto it; and we certainly know, and testify to the world, that the Spirit of Christ, which leads us into all truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the Kingdom of Christ nor for the Kingdoms of this world.... Therefore, we cannot learn war any more.                 (Reprinted from PYM Faith and Practice, pages 76-77)

Seeking Members for Environmental Working Group

A new Environmental Working Group is taking shape with a few excellent members. However, in order to achieve a form in which we can support the many Meeting concerns with regard to the environment, we definitely need more volunteers. Don't worry if you feel that you cannot act as the group's leader -- PSC is modifying last month's request to seek members only. Leadership will unfold in due course. Thank you!

Submitted by Peace & Social Concerns Committee

Worship, Ministry, and Eldering

Gatherings of Friends with a Full Morning of Extended Worship

1)    Saturday, February 12, 2011, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Swarthmore Meeting, 12 Whittier Place, Swarthmore, PA 19081

2)    Saturday April 2, 2010, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Camden Meeting, 122 East  Camden-Wyoming Ave , Camden DE 19934

• Do you long to taste the kind of worship known by early Friends?

• Do you pray for God to be more central to your life?

• Do you long for the fellowship of others seeking a deep communion with the Divine?

Consider gathering with us in Extended Worship!

We invite you to gather with us for a full morning of unprogrammed worship, lasting three hours or so.  The extended period is an invitation for the Spirit to work within each person and the group in transforming ways.  Many find much spiritual nourishment in the silence, where vocal ministry can ripen and be spoken in keen discernment about the movement of the Spirit within each of us.  Many are surprised at how quickly these hours can pass.

If your longing is to make more space inside you for God, and to taste the deeper possibilities of Quaker spiritual life, participating in these days of Worship and fellowship is a rich way to do so.  For those called to ministry of any sort, including spiritual nurture of others or your Meeting, this day can be a rich time for seasoning and discernment.  Come gather with others who also feel a call.

We share a brown bag lunch and fellowship afterwards.  Worship Sharing in the afternoon flows out of the morning Worship.  We seek to let God guide our time, rather than depend on our own planning. Afternoon activities usually involve Worship Sharing, and occasionally prayer, discussion, or singing.

Please join us. All are welcome.  Bring a bag lunch.  We welcome donations to meet our expenses.  Call a week in advance if childcare is needed.  For more information, please contact the Meeting Office...forward questions to Marcelle Martin, Mike Malone (Swarthmore Monthly Meeting, Pennsylvania ), or Susan Kight (Camden Meeting, Delaware )

Save the Dates: Friendly Gatherings

February 25, 26, and 27, 2011

The Meeting will organize Friendly Gatherings at people’s homes in late February. Please save a spot in the weekend of February 25 to 27. We know your calendar is probably full for December, but please save these mid-winter dates. Traditionally these gatherings provide warm conversations, good food, and are a good way to get to know each other better. The selections will feature family-style meals and rejuvenating tea parties. Hope to see you there!

Submitted by the Care and Counsel Committee 

Recent Meeting Activities

(photos will follow shortly)

1. Meeting Members Serenade Mary and Paul Mangelsdorf. Several Meeting members recently visited the Mangelsdorfs as they continue their convalescence. The members brought their songs and best wishes. As this picture attests, a good time was had by all.

2. Betsy Wray has a Birthday . Meeting member Betsy Wray recently celebrated her 93rd birthday after Meeting for Worship. Chloe and Sage CostaBaker made Betsy a beautiful bead necklace with 93 beads, which Betsy is proudly wearing.

 3. Potluck Dinner and Carole Sing on December 12.  The Meeting Secretary contemplates the many delicious offerings for dinner.

 4. The Children during the Carol Sing on December 12

  5. FDS Children rehearse for the Christmas Pageant on December 19

Wider News from Friends

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting  (PYM) News

 For a complete list of activities go to www.pym.org  

1. PYM Today seeks articles for the Spring 2011 issue -The Spring 2011 issue of PYM Today will feature the Multigenerational Community. Do you have a special story, idea or leading you want to share? We would love to hear from you! The PYM community is enriched when our spiritual journeys are shared with one another. Please consider writing about your experiences with multigenerational activities within your own Meeting, First Day School , or Committee. Please send articles (800-1,000 words) to Mary Anne Crowley via email at [email protected]  or mail to: 1515 Cherry Street , Philadelphia , PA 19102 . The deadline for submissions is: Friday, January 7, 2011.

2. January 7- 9, 2011, Young Adult Friends Weekend Retreat -  (Friday 7:00 p.m. – Sunday 12:00 noon). Exploring Leadings and Vocation in Community. A weekend retreat for Young Adult Friends (18-35) at Swarthmore Friends Meeting. Organized by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Young Adult Friends (YAF) Working Group especially for YAFs in PYM, Baltimore Yearly Meeting & New York Yearly Meeting. YAFs from other areas are welcome too! Registration is now-online! Sign-up now! Website: http://www.pym.org/event/young-adult-friends-weekendretreat  We'll begin with dinner on Friday evening, and end after worship with the Swarthmore Friends Meeting on First Day. (Part-time participation  is ok, if necessary.) Come join for worship, fun, fellowship, cooking, workshops, and more. We'll explore discernment of leadings and vocation together and there will even be a workshop on hula hooping! Retreat content will be primarily led by participants, so let us know if you want to lead a workshop, etc. Registration Fee: $30 (covers food costs). Don't let that keep you away - if the fee is prohibitive for you, let us know in your registration and we'll work something out! Contact: Sadie Forsythe, Young Adult Coordinator, at 215- 241-7075; [email protected]

3. January 30, 2011, "Inspired Pasta & Courageous Conversation" – . Providence Friends Meeting. Featured speaker: George Lakey (Earth Quaker Action Team). Come to share the sources of our inspiration: a person, a place, an idea, an event. "Inspired Pasta & Courageous Conversation" is a series of talks at Providence Friends Meeting  in Media , Pennsylvania . Pasta Lunch at 12: 30 p.m., followed by Courageous Conversation at 1:00 p.m. For more information visit: www.providencemeeting.org/pasta-peace Sponsored by the Media Meeting's Peace & Social Action Committee.

 4. February 1-9, 2011 - A Silent Retreat for Friends. Friends and attenders who are drawn to the mystery we call God may find a retreat helpful. An eight-day silent retreat is again offered in 2011 at St. Raphaela Center in Haverford PA, from Tuesday, February 1 to Wednesday, February 9, 2011. The St. Raphaela Center is a large house with pleasant walking outdoors. The Sisters are most welcoming. All retreatants have private rooms and the run of the house, chapel, and spacious grounds for a prayer-filled time away. Renee Crauder, from State College Meeting, is the spiritual director for this retreat, which is co-sponsored by the Religious Education Concerns Group. The cost for the eight-day retreat is $455. This includes room, board, the facilities of the Center, and Renee's availability. A non-refundable deposit of $100 is due at the time of registration. The retreat is limited to five retreatants. To register, call St. Raphaela Center at 610-642-5715; for more information, email [email protected]

5. February, 26, 2011 (Saturday; 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) – You Can Do It Day (with an attention to the children in our Meetings). Friends Center , 1515 Cherry St. , Philadelphia , PA. We Can Do It Day offers support and skills training to Meetings through workshops, information, a children’s program and fellowship. Coming in the Winter We Can Do It Day will focus on our care for and inclusion of children in the fabric of the Meeting’s life, from pastoral care to effective witness, from worship to property concerns, from parenting to First Day School . Caring for our children is the work of the entire Meeting. Watch for registration materials in January. For more information, contact Pam Anderson at [email protected]  

Upcoming Programs at Pendle Hill

Pendle Hill, a Quaker study, retreat, and conference center in Wallingford , PA , offers programs throughout the year on Quaker faith and practice. Matching scholarships and bring-a-friend discounts are available for most programs to help enable Friends to attend. For more information visit www.pendlehill.org  or call ext. 3 at (610) 566-4507 or (800) 742-3150. 

January 14-16, Minding Our Lives: Looking Deeply at the Present Moment, with Richard Brady and Beth Popelka

February 4-6,  John Yungblut - Guide on the Mystic's Journey, with Charles Finn

February 4-11, The Practice of Presence; A Mindfulness Meditation Retreat, with Mary Grace Orr.

Newsletter Calendar for January, 2011

SWARTHMORE MONTHLY MEETING

Christine DeGrado, Clerk of Meeting; Leslie Keighton, Recording Clerk;  Stephen Weimar, Treasurer; Susan Edwards, 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