Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Queries on Peace

Addressed to the Meeting:

• How does our Meeting act to advance peace, to oppose violence, and to support the constructive use of authority in our community, our nation, and the world?

• What are we doing as a Meeting:

• to free our nation from the militarization so evident in our society and in its economy?  

• to understand the causes of war and violence and to work for the development of the  attitudes and institutions of peace?  

• to recognize and correct the causes of violence within our communities, and to work toward  overcoming separations and restoring wholeness?  

• to increase the understanding and use of nonviolent approaches for the resolution of  conflicts?  

Addressed to the individual:

• Do I live in the power of that Life and Spirit that takes away the occasion of all wars?  

• How do I maintain Friends’ testimony that military training and all participation in war and its preparation are inconsistent with the teaching and the Spirit of Christ?  

• Do I work for the establishment of alternative ways of settling disputes?  

• Am I aware that to build a world community requires that we all face our differences honestly, openly, and in trust?  

• Do I treat conflict as an opportunity for growth, and address it with careful attention?  

• Do I seek to recognize and respect the Divine in those with whom I have a basic disagreement?  

• Do I look for ways to reaffirm in action and attitude my love for the one with whom I am in conflict?  

from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice, 2002, pages 211-212

Partial Draft Minutes of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting for Business held Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Meeting opened with a moment of silent worship. Christine DeGrado, Clerk, presided. Nineteen people were present. As Moments of Light, The Clerk voiced the Meeting’s appreciation to Susan Larson and Elizabeth McAndrew for organizing the lunch for the recent Quarterly Meeting session. Yesterday’s Extended Meeting for Worship was also noted.

The Queries on Social Responsibility and Witness were read, pondered and spoken to. One Friend spoke of the time in the past when a consensus of support for integration could not be reached as twenty-nine Meeting  members refused to endorse the sale of a local home to a black family. Individuals in favor of the sale signed their own letter of support. The integration of the Swarthmore Swim Club likewise caused controversy within the community and the Meeting. Mention was made of the time when members were encouraged during Fellowship to write their Representatives on important issues (Quaker Quick Notes). Some present felt these sessions should be revived, and Peace and Social Concerns will look into the matter. The use of e-mail or a postcard was suggested as the best way to contact our Government Representatives.  

Minutes of the January Meeting were perused and approved with the phrase “ Based on Meeting interest in previous workshops” to be inserted at the beginning of the sentence “The Committee has been discussing the possibility of hiring Annette Reyman…”.  

Becca Ball and Hank Emerson, Co-Presidents of the Nursery School Board, made a report to Meeting for Business.   Becca, a former eighth-grade teacher who has two children in the school, summarized the reasons she chose the School for her own children - notably, its emphasis on tolerance, respect for the environment, attention to special-needs children and  encouragement of truly imaginative play. She offered to discuss the School further on an individual basis with anyone interested. Hank again emphasized the School’s encouragement of imaginative play and spoke about the current unit on habitat. He said that 10% of the students receive special-needs attention, including autistic children.  [For further discussion please see a copy of the printed newsletter.]

LaDorna Pfaff reported for Care and Counsel Committee: A Memorial Minute for our member John Honnold was read. Our new member, Marilyn Simmel, was welcomed by Susan Larson, Barbara BurgerLentz and Mary Lou Parker on January 28, 2011. Details regarding Friendly Gatherings on February 25, 26, and 27 were updated. Catherine King, Christine DeGrado, Susan Larson, Virginia Williams Joyce and Paul Joyce Collins Williams , Bere Saxon, and Lois Sellers will be serving as hosts.  

Susan Edwards reported for Worship and Ministry Committee: She presented the final draft of the State of the Meeting Report for 2010. A few minor changes were noted, and most importantly, a brief section will be added under Worship and Ministry describing the work of the Whittier Knittiers. This group comes together to knit prayer shawls  to keep individuals warm during Meeting for Worship and to be given as gifts. Some have been sent to Afghanistan .  With these additions, the Report was approved. Regarding times when a disruptive person may appear at Meeting for Worship, the Committee will ask some persons who regularly attend to act as “ interveners” in an attempt to  calm the person and discuss that person’s concerns with him or her in another part of the building.  Nancy Saunders will convene a working group over the next two years on initiatives to attract new members and to give the Meeting a more public presence in our community. Approved. Barbara Burger Lentz and Lois Sellers will also help.

 Our member and Swarthmore student Ian Perkins-Taylor spoke of a newly-formed Young Friends Group on Campus for which the Meeting expressed its strong support.

Shelley Costa reported for Peace and Social Concerns Committee: Regarding the workshop “Home as a Sacred Place”  presented by Annette Reyman, a working group was formed and the Committee presented its proposal: Four sessions from 7:30-9:00 p.m. on Tuesday evenings March 22, 29 and April 5, 12, to be held in Whittier Room, rent free. There will be a minimum of 10 participants (4 have already signed up) at $35.00 each to cover the overall cost of $350.00. The sessions will be advertised in the March Newsletter as well as at nearby Friends Meetings and other faith communities and to the public in general. Strong support was expressed and the proposed dates found to be open. The Meeting approved with the understanding that a maximum number of participants be established owing to the size of the room. The pot-luck lunch next Sunday honors Joanna Sibbett and the Cooking for the Homeless program. People are encouraged to bring photos and other remembrances. A play about the Cooking for the Homeless will be presented with children taking a central part. Approval was given to have the Meeting listed as one of the sponsors of an upcoming Environmental Fair to be held at Strath Haven High School . The film “Gasland” on the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing in drilling for gas will be shown at the Science Center on  Swarthmore Campus at 7:30 p.m., March 18. A panel discussion will follow.

Steve Weimar reported for Budget and Finance Committee: The Committee is contemplating changing the fiscal year from calendar (January through December) to fiscal (July thru June). Andrea Knox has stepped down as Co-Clerk. In conjunction with other Committees, a weeknight calling-session is being planned which will try to reach some 90 or so Meeting members who in the past have not supported the Meeting financially—this to determine if they feel they can as well as their continued interest in the Meeting. George Alexander will be coordinating this session.  

 The Clerk made several announcements and noted a second response of appreciation from Yearly Meeting Young Friends Group who recently met here over a weekend. A policy regarding those who wish to sell things to the Meeting community on Meeting premises will be discussed later.  After a few moments of silent reflection, the Meeting adjourned.  

 Submitted by Leslie Keighton, Recorder

General Swarthmore Meeting Announcements

Thank You Corner

Thanks to:

• Barbara BurgerLentz for helping to solve the office scanner problems;  

• Elizabeth McAndrew and Susan Larson for organizing and facilitating the Quarterly Meeting’s  most-appreciated lunch;  

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

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] 

Upcoming Forum in March

March 6, 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. – Whittier Room  

Margaret Fraser will share reflections on two weeks of travel during last fall:  - To Cuba , where she traveled on the invitation of the American Friends Service Committee and co-led  workshops for Cuba Yearly Meeting.  - To the Dominican Republic , where she was on the Quaker delegation for the Historic Peace Church conference entitled “Hunger for Peace: Paths, Faces and Cultures.”

Submitted by Sue Edwards, Worship & Ministry Committee  

Memorial Minute for Cornelia Dashiell McCurdy

Cornelia “Corney” Ringgold Dashiell McCurdy, Swarthmore Meeting member, died at her home in Swarthmore, October 28, 2010, at eighty-five-years-of-age. She was born July 23, 1925, in New York City to Alfred S, and Cornelia R. Dashiell. She was graduated from George School in 1943. While attending George School , she met the love of her life, the school’s physician, “Dino” E.P. McCurdy, M.D. After meeting him for the first time at fifteen-years- of-age, she said “He’s mine!” She and Dino had five children: Dino, Richard, Cornelia (Terri), Marcia, and Gretchen. George School instilled in her values of academic excellence and the values of Quaker tradition. She used both as a touchstone for her family. She joined Swarthmore Meeting February 15, 1966. Being a skilled “domestic engineer,” she orchestrated flute and piano practice times for the children in her home, and she could  effortlessly add two or three other people to their dining table. She was a magnet to many of the neighborhood children, who often flowed through their Swarthmore home on Chester Road . She loved to organize social events; she and Dino spent many summer weekends entertaining families from Swarthmore Meeting in their second home  in Ocean City , Maryland . She added a sense of humor to her organizing – for instance, displaying a bright orange  sign on her porch…”Kookie Sale” for the annual Girl Scout cookie drive. She used her efficient organizational skills to help unstintingly with the house wares department in the Swarthmore Meeting’s Jumble Sale. She had a welcoming magnetic personality that many, many of the long-time Meeting members fondly remember.  A Memorial Meeting for her was held in Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse, Saturday, December 11, 2010. She is survived by her beloved husband of 67 years, five children, thirteen grandchildren, and seven great-great grandchildren.

Read any Good Books Lately? 

Here is an invitation to do just that. Each 2nd and 4th First Day, Library Committee will offer books from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) Library. Think of it as a tiny bookmobile. PYM Library fills our orange crate with interesting and timely selections from their collection. You are invited to check out books. You also can make requests and suggestions and we will do our best to honor them. Visit their website http://www.pym.org/library/  From the Library page browse the entire catalogue. The orange crate is kept in the office so you can check out and return books even if it is not a 2nd or 4th First Day.  

Submitted by Alex Kendrick, Library Committee  

Scholarship funds Available

Swarthmore Meeting has a Moore Price Fund for helping people attend Philadelphia Yearly Meeting workshops, Yearly Meeting Sessions, Friends General Conference, and Pendle Hill classes that are  relevant to your ministry in the Meeting. Several of the institutions also have matching funds.  To apply for scholarship assistance, write down the specific program, dates, and the amount needed.  We need to have the application before the event. Tell someone on the Care and Counsel Committee  that you are requesting a scholarship, and put the written application in the Care and Counsel mail box. If the request is received early enough, money can be distributed before the event.  

Peace and Social Concerns Community Forum:

Screening of Gasland and Panel Discussion

Home As a Sacred Space: A Month-long Weekly Workshop

Tuesdays 3/22-4/12, 7:30-9:00 p.m., Whittier Room, Swarthmore Friends Meeting  

As a community, we joyously honor the Light within each other. But what about the Light within ourselves? In the midst of busy lives, we may find it a challenge to keep our space clear and ordered. Yet  just like other personal disciplines such as eating right, exercising regularly, and carving out time for spiritual centering, building home organizational skills can be an important "self-centered" way through which Spirit can enter our lives, energize us, and sustain us.  The Meeting is delighted to host Home As a Sacred Space, offered by Annette Reyman of All Right Organizing. This workshop allows participants to reflect on how their spaces reflect their values, guiding them toward an enlightening spiritual approach to organizing that reflects our testimony of simplicity and all its benefits. Home As a Sacred Space will take place in Whittier Room on four consecutive Tuesday evenings, March 22 -April 12, from 7:30-9:00 p.m. The cost of participation is $35 per person.  Please note that funds are available for Meeting members or attenders experiencing financial hardship. You can register by contacting Shelley Costa via the Meeting Office, 610 328-8699, or by submitting the following information to the Meeting Office, Swarthmore Friends Meeting, 12 Whittier Place, Swarthmore, Pa 19081, or email [email protected]. Registration deadline is March 15.  

• Registration for Home As a Sacred Space

• Name

• Telephone

• email 

• Check for $35 enclosed (please make payable to "All Right Organizing"); or  a note saying you wish to participate but the registration fee is unaffordable at this time.

Share Your Gifts with Us

The Nominating Committee asks Members and attenders to look over our Committee list to explore how you can contribute your insights, skills, and energy with our Meeting. You are welcome to talk with Committee Clerks and to attend Committee Meetings to check them out.  Some Committees are open to Members only.  

• Budget and Finance Committee, Andrea Knox and Frank Costello  

• Care and Counsel Committee, LaDorna Pfaff and Susan Larson  

• House and Property Committee, Barbara Grove  

• Jumble Sale Committee, Barbara BurgerLentz  

• Library Committee, Paul Joyce Collins Williams  

• Nominating Committee, Virginia Williams Joyce

• Peace and Social Concerns Committee, Shelley Costa  

• Personnel Committee, Nancy Saunders

• Worship and Ministry Committee, Sue Edwards  

Wider News from Friends

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting  (PYM) News

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

1. Quaker College Fair. Saturday, March 5, 2011, 12:00 noon-3:30 p.m. at Arch Street Meetinghouse. This highly personal exposure to colleges and the college process is tailored to the Quaker student’s needs. To learn more about the Fair and to reserve free parking contact Grace Sharples Cooke (Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s new Friends in Education Coordinator) by email at [email protected] or by phone at 215-241-7224. Attractive to high school students in both public and private schools, this Fair familiarizes students and their  families with the remarkable benefits of a Quaker higher education. It also helps families understand the college process, learn about financial aid options, and get a sense of what the college search can be like from the perspective of students who have recently been through it. During the Fair students engage in two-way discussions with Quaker panelists from a diverse range of backgrounds (medicine, government, education), and also mingle with admissions staff/representatives from local and more distant Quaker institutions of higher education  (Earlham, George Fox University, Global College of Long Island University, Guilford College, Haverford College,  Malone University, Pendle Hill, Swarthmore College, Wilmington College, and Whittier College). The Fair is free. Refreshments are provided.  Reservations are not required, but by emailing [email protected] free parking may be secured.  

2. Inspired Pasta & Courageous Conversation, Sunday, March 27, 12:30 p.m. Speaker: Joe Volk, Friends Committee on National Legislation. ) Lunch at 12:30 p.m. followed by a talk on Quaker witness on Capitol Hill. 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 ( Media , PA ). Pasta Lunch, followed by Courageous Conversation at 1:00 p.m. For more information visit: www.providencemeeting.org/pasta-peace  Co-sponsored by Peace & Social  Action and Program & Outreach Committees.  

3.  Peace & Concerns Annual Event – Saturday, March 26, 10:00 a.m.- 6:30 p.m. - Honoring the 350th Anniversary of the Peace Testimony. The Peace and Concerns Standing Committee invites the Yearly Meeting to a multigenerational celebration of the 350th anniversary of George Fox’s visionary and spirit led Quaker declaration of peace to Charles II. The Peace and Concerns Standing Committee celebrates the anniversary of the Peace Testimony with worship, panelists, choral music, drumming and chanting! We will devote the day to deepening our understanding of the Peace Testimony and enlivening our response to world events in light of that testimony.  How do we work together for peace? Featured speakers include Dan Seeger (The Peace Testimony in a Time of Terrorism), Barbara Simmons (On Building a Peace Center) and Matt Southworth.  George Lakey will be the featured speaker for the William Penn Lecture scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on the same day (see details below).  Childcare, lunch ($10) and dinner ($15) are provided, pre-registration is required. The Arch Street Meeting House is located at the corner of 4th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia . For more information contact Patricia Finley, Clerk, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Peace & Concerns Standing Committee, http://www.pym.org/committee/peace-and-concerns-standing-committee

4. William Penn Lecture, Saturday, March 26, 7:00 p.m. The first William Penn Lecture of this century will be given by George Lakey on March 26 at Arch Street Meetinghouse. The original William Penn Lectures Series began in 1916. They were held annually through 1966 and are warmly remembered by Friends who attended them as occasions to look forward to for fellowship with our community, inspiration and a challenge to live into our faith.  The lectures were created and supported by the “Young Friends Movement” of PYM (these days “Young Friends” refers to high school age Friends but in the beginning of the last century it was the community of young adults from both Yearly Meetings).  George Lakey’s talk is entitled “Powerful Beyond Measure: The legacy of Quaker Leadership in the 21st Century.”  George is a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. He is a trainer, organizer, author, sociologist, professor, and social change leader. He is currently active in the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT), an organization of Friends, and friends of Friends which is using non-violent direct action strategies currently to halt mountain top  removal coal-mining in Appalachia.  Refreshments will follow the lecture. Childcare is provided, no registration is required. The Arch Street Meetinghouse is located at the corner of 4th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia . Read also about the Peace &  Concerns Standing Committee’s Annual Event scheduled from 10:00 a.m.- 6:30 p.m. on the same day, this year honoring the 350th Anniversary of the Peace Testimony.  For more information, contact Christie Duncan-Tessmer, Associate Secretary for Program & Religious Life, [email protected] or 215-241-7008.  

5. "The Recruiter" Film Screening, Thursday, March 31, 7:00 -9:00 p.m. Join us at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 at Friends Center for the Philadelphia premier of the Independent film "The Recruiter," an official 2008 Sundance Film Festival Selection. This acclaimed documentary highlights the efforts of Sergeant First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful Army recruiters working in America , and his nine-month crusade to enlist three high school students, Lauren, Matt, and Bobby, in the Army. The film follows these three possible conscripts as they complete their last semesters of high school and weigh their options. After their graduation, the film travels with them to basic training, where they transition from students to soldiers. After seeing the day-to-day lives and realistic possibilities of these young people, whatever preconceptions you may have of their best options will be put to the test.  Following the film, a panel of veterans, educators, and young people will discuss the issue of military recruitment in high school and answer questions.  Sponsored by Penn Army of None, a Working Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Peace and Concerns Standing Committee.  

Upcoming Programs at Pendle Hill

Pendle Hill, a Quaker study, retreat, and conference center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, 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. 

February 25-27, Telling our Spiritual Stories: Lessons from the Inward Teacher, facilitated by Lucy Duncan and Kathy Hyzy

March 1, 7:30 p.m., Art and Life of the Spirit, with Jennifer Elam, Free Tuesday Evening Speaker Series

March 4-6, Transformative Narrative Portrait, with Yvette A. Hyater-Adams

March 11-13, Vitality and Ministry in the Monthly Meeting, Jay Marshall and Jennie Isbell

March 18-20, Beyond Consensus, Spirit-led decisions for all Faiths, Mary Ann Downey

Newsletter Calendar for March, 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