Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

 

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Newsletter, Summer, 2009

 

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Queries on Meeting for Business

Addressed to the Meeting:

  • Is our Meeting for Business held in the spirit of a Meeting for Worship in which we seek divine guidance?

  • Are we careful to keep in the spirit of worship each of the concerns that emerge, whether of nurture, of Spirit, of social concerns, of property, or of finance?

  • Are Meeting decisions directed by prayerful consideration of all aspects of an issue and are difficult problems considered carefully with patient search for truth, unhurried by the pressures of time?

  • How do we respond if we notice the Meeting has lost an understanding of the presence of God?

  • Do we recognize that we speak through our inaction as well as our action?

Addressed to the individual:

  • Do I regularly attend Meeting for Business in a spirit of love and unity: If unable to attend, how do I attend to my responsibility?

  • Do I consider prayerfully the many concerns that are lifted up on any issue, acknowledging that the search for truth in unity involves what God requires, being open to personal transformation as the community arrives at the sense of the Meeting?

from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice, 2002, page 206 and 207

 

Partial Draft Minutes of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting for Business

Sunday, June 14, 2009

After a few moments of silent worship, the Meeting opened with our new Clerk, Chris DeGrado, presiding.  The queries on Meeting for Worship were read, considered and spoken to: the intimacy of our smaller summer Meetings in Whittier Room was mentioned as a positive factor.  It was suggested that future worship sharing sessions would be beneficial. Minutes of the previous Meeting were perused and approved with slight clarification. Chris spoke of her appreciation for the well-wishes and support she's been given as she undertakes the Clerkship. It was proposed and agreed that the July 19 potluck be a barbecue.  There was discussion regarding the Meeting's proposed letter welcoming the new College President.  Several suggestions were made and will be forwarded to the group working on this: an emphasis on the Meeting's appreciation for the College's help in maintaining the property and an invitation to the new President to share with us her own thoughts on religion were noted.

LaDorna Pfaff reported for Care and Counsel Committee: 1) The Committee expresses its sincere thanks to Steve Weimar and Scott Newman who are leaving Care and Counsel. 2) The new telephone directory will go to the printer this month. 3) Moira Donovan has applied for Meeting membership along with her sons, Sam and Alex Veith.  Sally Shane, Steve Weimar, and LaDorna Pfaff met with her as a Clearness Committee. Care and Counsel strongly recommends their membership.  As customary, this will be held over one month. 4) Sally Shane contacted Katie McKinstry, now living in Vermont, confirming her membership and our happiness in having her as part of the Meeting. 5) Our longtime member, Charles Cryer, died June 2, 2009, at White Horse Village.  A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, August 17, 3:00 p.m. at White Horse. The Committee would like to hear from anyone who wants to help in writing a Memorial Minute for him. 

Two Memorial Minutes were presented and read aloud to the Meeting: one for our member Richard Raymond, Jr., and the other for our member Holley Webster.

Jennifer Cheung reported for Nominating Committee:  Will Starr is leaving Jumble Sale Committee and Elizabeth McAndrew and Mac Hoffman are joining.  Gary King is on Jumble Sale Committee for one more year.  Pat Thomas is leaving Worship and Ministry Committee  and joining Care and Counsel Committee. Lynne Piersol and Alexandra Kendrick are joining Worship and Ministry Committee and Margaret Fraser will be serving a one-year term there.  Nancy Saunders and Steve Weimar will be on Personnel Committee.  All assignments approved. Johanna Sibbett, Lynne Piersol and Jon Van Til will be the Naming Committee to find a new Assistant Clerk.  Dawn Zimmerman is resigning her position as head of Jumble Sale house wares department.  A new head needs to be found.  It was noted that considerable work is involved. The Committee is contemplating laying down Library Committee since it is difficult to find people to serve on it.  Mac Hoffman has been the sole person on the Committee these past few years.  Discussion ensued: One worry expressed was that if the Committee were laid down, this could put an added burden on our Meeting Secretary. It was noted that in today's busy world people seem to have less time to use the library and some, because of its location, may not know it is there.  It was suggested that a brief write-up of a book each month be placed in the Meeting Newsletter and that some of the books be displayed at Coffee Hour to help generate interest.  Visitors and new Meeting members should be made aware of the library  There was general agreement that the Committee should continue.  Mary and Paul Mangelsdorf offered to serve on it. Approved..

Lisa Dainton reported for the Nursery School Board of Directors: The Board is in the process of selecting a new President.  The School is currently operating with one Director in that Carol Williamson has retired.  Joanne Swanson is the sole Director, though she does have an assistant.  Over the summer the Board will decide on whether to find another Co-Director or keep things as they are now.  With the help of Attorney Sue Garrison, it is hoped that the problems with the State will soon be completely resolved.  Progress is being made and it appears now that the School will recover those payments in fines and taxes it has been required to make and win its claim as a non-profit entity.  The Meeting minuted its appreciation to Lisa for her work both before and after the establishment of the School's Board.Concern was expressed regarding the Meeting's on-going participation in the affairs of the Nursery School, especially its spiritual growth, now that the School is more independent in nature.  It was noted that at least one-half of the Board members will be Quakers.  After further discussion, it was decided that Lisa should convey to the Board the Meeting's desire to establish a Quaker Life Committee in support of the Board.  The importance of regular communication between the Board and the Meeting was stressed.

Mary Titus reported that there are some problems with finishing the Directory but it should be out shortly. 

Lynne Piersol appealed for support for the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Annual Fund Drive which is running behind its goal with only two weeks left.

After a few moments of closing worship, the Meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Leslie Keighton, Recording Clerk

 

General Swarthmore Meeting Announcements

Summer Camps at Whittier House

Launfal Summer Camp and Swarthmore Recreation Association (SRA) will once again be using our facilities this summer.  Launfal will be assembling their campers in Whittier Room in the morning, and then again in the afternoon, Monday through Friday, from June 22-August 14. SRA will be using the nursery school classrooms and Rushmore Room Monday through Friday mornings, June 29 through July 31.

A new renter, "Path to Peace," will be using Rushmore Room on Tuesday and Friday mornings during August.

These camps are an important source of rental income to the Meeting.  Friends are reminded that traffic around the Meetinghouse will be congested at certain times of the day.

The Meeting Directory is Ready

The Meeting Directory is ready for you to pick up.  You can stop by the Meetinghouse and pick up you copy on any Sunday or during the week when Mary is here.

Volunteers Needed in Meeting Office

We are looking for one or more people to work in the office for a few hours a day while Mary is away.  The dates are July 7 - July 14.  You would answer the phone, handle the email, and sort the mail.  It's easy and fun.  Mary will show you what to do.  If you are interested, please call the Office at 610-328-8699.

July Potluck is a Barbeque!

On Sunday, July 19, the Meeting will have a barbeque instead of its traditional potluck brunch.  We will need four portable grills, which we will set up outside.  If you can bring your grill, please let Chris DeGrado know. More details on the barbeque later.

Thank you, Friends

"Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; and bearing one with one another, and forgiving one another; and not laying accusations one against another; but praying one for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand."

Isaac Penington, 1667   

To all the friends who have extended condolences, sympathy and support following the death of our daughter, Lucia, we express our heartfelt appreciation.  Your words and actions have provided help, comfort and Light at this difficult time in our life.

    Virginia and Paul

Scholarship Funds Available

Swarthmore Meeting has some funds in the Price /Moore fund that are available to members and attenders who would like to attend the summer residential sessions and who need financial assistance.  If you wish to apply for scholarship aid, please send a pre-event written request to the Meeting Office, forwarded to the Care and Counsel Committee. The Price/Moore Fund is also available for tuition to Pendle Hill workshops and retreats.

Friends General Conference - June 27 to July 4, at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, VA http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Summer Sessions - July 29 - August 2, at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA http://www.pym.org/pm/ann.php

Submitted by LaDorna Pfaff, Care and Counsel Committee

Chester Children's Chorus Choral Concerts, Dance Gala - July 24, 25, and 28

They're free, they're fun, and they're a way for all of us to help Chester children celebrate their accomplishments.  The Chester Children's Chorus (CCC) summer choral concerts will be Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25, at 8:00 p.m. in Lang Music Building.  The Dance, Drum and Puppet Show Gala will be Tuesday, July 28, at 1:30 p.m., also in Lang Music Building.  Please come to enjoy the shows -- and bring your friends, your children, and your children's friends.

Submitted by Andrea Knox

Welcoming Tea for College Students

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE: On Sunday, September 5, (not August 30 as previously posted) Swarthmore Meeting will host a welcoming tea in Whittier Room at the rise of Meeting.  We are extending the invitation to new freshmen, as usual, and also to all retuning students and faculty.  Come celebrate the new school year and meet Swarthmore College students and faculty.

Submitted by LaDorna Pfaff, Care and Counsel Committee

Jumble Sale is Coming!

What is one of the biggest community-building events of the year for Swarthmore Meeting? Our Jumble Sale! Jumble not only raises an important chunk of our annual budget, but Jumble also builds relationships within the Meeting and with our greater community.

Jumble serves the best lunch (ever!). The Mushroom soup is reason enough to spend the day.

But more than lunch and a fundraiser, this year Jumble Sale can play an important role in helping families solve difficult problems.  I know that this year I am looking to Jumble to provide some household items that I would not have thought twice about buying at a store in years past.  This year, like many families, we just don't have the money to buy a lot.  At Jumble families can find linens for their tables, saucers for their plants, bowls for their kitchens, alarm clocks for their middle-schoolers, tables for their dining rooms, and who knows what else.  Folks can buy these things at a fraction of what new ones would cost and we keep a massive amount of stuff out of the waste streams.

Jumble Sale needs three things from our Meeting Community:

  1. Bring us your old "treasures" ready to be someone's new necessities.

  2. Make plans to help us October 20 to 24 (We can't do it without your help!)

  3. Attend this summer's Jumble Kabob night - hosted at the BugerLentz home, Thursday, July 23. We will sample all kinds of Kabobs (including dessert Kabobs) while we plan for a well-run Jumble Sale.

Submitted by Barbara BurgerLentz, Jumble Sale Committee

First Day School

As the First Day School (FDS) takes its summer hiatus, I would like to reflect on the special moments of the last year and the kids I will miss as they move on to a new classroom.  I started teaching the FDS 3rd-5th grades two years ago in partnership with Joanne Shallcross and Bill DeGrado.  We began harnessing the creativity and energy of the kids with "existential arts and crafts." While the kids created glue and stick structures or hanging pipe cleaner signs, we talked about belief, religious holidays, and Mary Fisher.

This year we had a great time at our 2nd annual graveyard trip and sleepover.  This year we explored the Fair Hill Burial Ground in North Philly where Lucretia Mott is laid to rest.  We enjoyed learning the history of the Burial Ground, some of us learned how to make stone rubbings, and we learned about the struggles of the surrounding community.  Returning to the Meetinghouse, we shared pizza, communed in the Meeting  Room, and watched a movie before settling in for another successful sleepover.

Other highlights included making decorations during craft day.  This year we toned-down the duct tape but found a new obsession with paperclip garland.  Craft day was followed quickly by our holiday Pageant where "Barack Obama "helped the Grinch grow his (her) heart and find the gifts for the baby Jesus.

In the spring we exercised our social conscience with a Hoop-A-Thon basketball event to raise money to support the healthcare and educational needs of children in a third world country. (It was also a good excuse to get outside, play some ball, and eat some pizza.) And, we finished up the year with a great family canoe outing (yea Lise!)

Although many of our kids are moving on to the middle school class, I am looking forward to doing great things with Max, Lizzie, David, and anyone who can join us.  (We still hope the middle school can join us for our 3rd annual All Hallows Graveyard Sleepover; thinking about Center city's historic cemeteries.)

And, as ever, we will be making great snacks with Bill for fellowship and we will continue exploring our Quaker faith and the faiths of others.  If you want to add to your kids to our fun, we welcome all. Please give a call to the Meeting Office for details or contact Barbara BurgerLentz

Submitted by Barbara BurgerLentz

 

Memorial Minute for Holley Webster

Longtime Swarthmore Meeting member, Holley Webster died May 22, 2007.  She was born November 16, 1916, and proudly spoke of her New England roots going back to the Mayflower.  She was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University, New York, with a double major – in History and Literature, and a double minor – in Philosophy and Political Science. In 1940 she married Morris Webster. They had three daughters: Caroline, Nancy, and Elizabeth.  The family joined Swarthmore Friends Meeting in December, 1953. 

Holley’s Quaker Face

At Meeting she was friendly and generous, always greeting newcomers, and sensitive to people who were experiencing hardship. She was deeply committed to Quaker values of equality, simplicity, and integrity.

She was a gifted speaker, and often gave messages at Meeting, such as her summaries from reading Pendle Hill pamphlets, and messages about her inspirations from other Quakers, especially those in the Meeting. She was the guiding light for the Discretionary Fund, and a high-energy Clerk of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee. She worked for Pendle Hill as a proof-reader for their pamphlet series until shortly before her death. She and her daughter, Nancy, were powerful engines in our Meeting.

Holley’s Civic Face

She was a longtime member of the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom. She always spoke about the good side of today’s young people and was interested in cultivating them. She was a Girl Scout leader and the high school faculty sponsor of “Peace Groups against the Vietnam War.” She enabled high school students to mobilize against the war by organizing candlelight vigils and by training some as marshals for the November 15, 1969, massive Moratorium March in Washington D.C.

Her life’s pleasure was to go to plays, write reviews, and chat with actors and directors. One of her first reviews was the 1950s in the Chester Times for a Black theatre company.  She produced the Stage newsletter for over 30 years, organized 22 community workshops for theatre people, and joyfully volunteered at the Player’s Club for over 50 years.

Both in people and in plays she valued character. She said people who have character have goals; she was interested in how they worked to achieve their goals, and how they dealt with their achievement or lack of achievement.

    We will remember Holley as a most-valued member of our Meeting community, who had, and achieved, many civic and Quaker goals.

Presented at Meeting for Business, June 14, 2009.  Prepared by LaDorna Pfaff with input from many other local Quakers.

 

Memorial Minute for Richard Lee Raymond, Sr.

    Richard Lee Raymond, Sr., a long time member of Swarthmore Friends Meeting, died the day before Thanksgiving, November 26, 2008.   He was born in Prospect Park in 1928 and his family moved to Swarthmore when he was in elementary school.      He became a member of Swarthmore Meeting and graduated from Swarthmore College, where he met the love of his life, Phyllis Ann Hall.  They were married at the Swarthmore Friends Meeting on August 16, 1952.  

    After college, Rich graduated from Naval Officers Candidate School and served in the Navy in the Atlantic fleet during the Korea War.   He obtained his M.Ed. from Indiana University in 1956 and graduated with honors from George Washington University Law School in 1959. 
 
    Rich and family located in Media, Pa, where he founded his law practice, taught business law at Widener University and was president of the Rose-Tree Media School Board.  

    The family, which had grown to include three sons (Richard, Jr., David, Philip) and one daughter (Jean) moved back to Swarthmore and the Meeting, where Rich became a member of Overseers.  He and Phyllis taught First Day School to Jr. High class and were active in the Jumble Sale.  

    A talented actor and singer, he and Phyllis enjoyed being in musicals at the Swarthmore Players Club, where he served as President.   He was a member of the Swarthmore Swim Club Board and was named Swarthmore Recreation Association Volunteer of the Year in 1973. 

    The Meeting celebrates his life and wonderful marriage.  We treasure the moments spent with Rich and will miss the twinkle in his eye, reflecting the Inner Light.  

Presented at Meeting for Business, June 14, 2009.  Prepared by Mary Lou Parker and Phyllis Raymond.

 

 

Newsletter Calendar for Summer, 2009

Date Time Event
Sunday, July 5 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. Hymn singing in Whittier Room*
 

10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

Meeting for Worship in the Whittier Room*  Until Labor Day there will  be NO First Day School.  There will be family-style, multi-age childcare provided by the Meeting's teens*

 

11:15 to 11:45 a.m.

Fellowship in Rushmore Room

 

2:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Wedding Rain Date in Meetinghouse

Monday, July 6

7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Budget and Finance Committee in Meeting Office

Saturday, July 11

12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.

Bridal shower in Whittier Room

Sunday, July 12   Similar Sunday schedule as above
 

4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Prayer Shawl Crafters in Meeting Office

Saturday, July 18

9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Cooking for the Homeless in Whittier Kitchen

 

6:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Transitions Book Discussion Group in Whittier Room

Sunday, July 19   Similar Sunday schedule as above
 

11:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Potluck Barbeque in Rushmore Room

Thursday, July 23

6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Jumble Kabob Night at BurgerLentz home

Sunday, July 26

9:30 to 11:00 a.m. 

Similar Sunday schedule as noted above*

 

4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Prayer Shawl Crafters in Meeting Office

Sunday, August 2

 

Similar Sunday schedule as noted above*

Monday, August 3 

7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Budget and Finance Committee in Meeting Office

Thursday, August 6 

7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Worship and Ministry Committee, if needed. place to be decided
Sunday, August 9   Similar Sunday schedule as noted above*
 

4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Prayer Shawl Crafters in Meeting Office

Monday, August 10 

7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Jumble Sale Committee in Meeting Office

/Saturday, August 15 

9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cooking for the Homeless in Whittier Kitchen
Sunday, August 16   Similar Sunday schedule as noted above*
 

11:15 to 1:00 p.m.

Potluck Brunch in Rushmore Room

Tuesday, August 18 

12:00 noon Deadline for September newsletter

Thursday, August 20 

9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Newsletter Folding Party in Whittier Room
Sunday, August 23   Similar Sunday schedule as noted above*
 

4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Prayer Shawl Crafters in Meeting Office

Tuesday, August 25 

7:30 to  8:30 p.m. First Day School at Kit Raven's home
Sunday, August 30   Similar Sunday schedule as noted above*
Sunday, September 6   Meeting for Worship in the Meeting house, not in Whittier Room.  First Day School resumes.
  1130 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE from printed newsletter. Tea for Incoming Students and Faculty in Whittier Room

 

SWARTHMORE MONTHLY MEETING

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