London Grove Monthly Meeting Christmas Newsletter 2015

A message from our Clerk :

Dear Friends,

As a faith community our London Grove family had a vibrant year marked by a noticeable sharing of joys & sorrows and a desire to positively impact the world we touched. 2015 was a year of new beginnings that, as way opens, will carry us forward into the next year and beyond.

We felt and acted upon a desire to support our current membership as well as our historical roots by establishing both the Leadership Grant Fund and the Helen Corson Biography Project.

We were led to emerge as a positive presence in our surrounding community by formalizing the Quaker Care Committee and actively providing resources and a loving presence to those in need.

We promoted the use of our historic facility for numerous memorable events such as the Kennett Underground Railroad Council Research Symposium in May, Understanding Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Seminar by our own Winden Rowe on Veterans Day and numerous family reunions.

We also mourned alongside the families of too many of our members who we lost this past year. And yet in true Quaker fashion, we also celebrated their lives and their contributions in deeply centered worship.

And so we now turn our attention to the coming year. We do so with a confident expectation that London Grove Monthly Meeting will continue to grow as a spiritual sanctuary and a vibrant community engaged with each other and with the world outside our four walls. As we take this time to reflect on the events of this past year and the promise of the next, let us consider the call to “walk cheerfully over the world answering that of God in everyone.” It is a fundamental concept that defines us as members of the Religious Society of Friends, a call to faithful living that has served us well for almost 400 years.

Hoping the Spirit is well with each of thee.

Robert Frye, Clerk, London Grove Meeting 1 Care Committee

Greetings from our committee. We have had a busy year. We were approved as a standalone committee last December. We helped with the Kennett Food Cupboard fund raiser, gave Giant gift cards to two people who were experiencing hunger and worked with the kindergarten to collect many bags of food and $375.00 in gift cards for one elderly man who was living on rice and potatoes. In spring, we used leftover plants from our Plant Sale and seeds from last year to work with residents to plant flower and vegetable beds at Friends Home. When I chanced to visit, they had put out a bench and several chairs for all the residents to enjoy. We just sponsored the Simple Meal and raised funds for UNICEF ($284.97) and Family Promise ($249.00). We are working with Committee to further the homeless efforts in our area. We are also helping the Kennett Food Bank provide fixings for 550 Christmas baskets they are giving out to the community. We collected many bags of can goods and nonperishable food all year to give to Kennett Food Cupboard.

For the future, we are hoping we will continue to combine our efforts with all committees to benefit those in our Meeting and the community who need us. We do not know where the Spirit may lead us but wait for that inner light to give us direction. Thanks to all who have given of your time and gifts this past year. There is more work to be done and I think we are ready for any new challenge.

Love and Light, Georgia Delaney, Clerk

Plant Sale

The Plant Sale was held this year on May 9. The weather was showery all day, but the plants and the public who came to buy our plants were happy!! We sold nearly everything we had and were all cleaned up, the grounds were back to “normal” by 4 PM. By the following Sunday every single plant had found a good home.

The Plant Sale Committee is already preparing for the 2016 Plant Sale. Orders have been placed for plants from our growers and the committee will be meeting monthly until Plant Sale Day on May 7. This will seem a bit earlier than usual but Mother’s Day is May 8th and we ALWAYS have our sale the day BEFORE Mother’s Day.

We are very grateful to our Meeting community for all the support….especially to the Myers family for the use of their field for parking, to Allen Thomforde for the use of his big tent, to Doug Mooberry for the use of his truck for hauling many loads of plants and to Elinor Thomforde, Pat Mooberry and many others who make huge donations of plants that they dig from their gardens.

We are happy to be able to contribute the proceeds of over $17,000 to the following Quaker and Community organizations:

American Friends Service Committee, Friends Home of Kennett, London Grove Friends Kindergarten, Kennett Area Community Service, Tick Tock Early Learning Center, His Mission, Kennett Senior Center, Friends Journal, Friends Committee on National Legislation, La Communidad, and Path Stone (Alliance for Better Housing). Betsy Walker, Chairperson

2 Recorder’s Report

Membership (as of November 2015) 286 Adults and 27 Children

NEW MEMBERS:

By transfer in: Robert A Lowe – from Lancaster Monthly Meeting

By application: Winden S Rowe

LOSS OF MEMBERS:

By death: James M Brofee (2/16/15

C. James Yeatman (4/7/15)

Patrick K. Chase (9/28/15)

Phyllis H. Wickersham (11/5/15)

George P. Wickersham (11/14/15)

By Transfer-out: Evan and Pamela Draper to Green Street Meeting, Philadelphia., Pa. 3/1/15

Betsy Walker, Chairperson

Nominating Committee

Holiday greetings from the Nominating Committee.

Nominating Committee is charged with discerning the talents and leanings of members and attenders and nominating the right individuals for committee and leadership positions. The new committee service season is well underway and as we near the holidays we are pleased to report that all committees are well staffed and functioning as intended. This year we were fortunate to have Bob Frye move up to LGMM Clerk and Susanna Davison accept the position of Assistant Clerk, in preparation for moving up to Clerk in two years.

Today our committees are dealing with many important issues from maintaining our beloved meeting house, to providing stimulating First Day School for our children and adults, to searching for ways to deepen our spiritual connection to each other. We are grateful to all of you who have stepped up to serve on committees and to do the work that keeps our Meeting thriving.

The Nominating Committee wishes everyone a joyous and prosperous new year.

Sam Cypressi, Clerk

3 Property Committee

The London Grove Friends Property Committee continues to support the spiritual and social life of our Meeting by enabling the active use of its buildings and grounds by their good maintenance. Due to the good works of those who preceded us, we are blessed with a beautiful historic Meetinghouse and its’ associated London Grove Oak whose large arms reach out and embrace all who have worshiped here. Our facilities not only provide a place for worship as a spiritual community, they serve as well as a place for marriages, memorial services, family reunions, recitals and public forums in our greater community. This past year, the Keeper of the Calendar reports that our Meetinghouse had scheduled 402 events involving 186 days of school, 76 committee meetings, 69 community events and 71 meetings for worship. Added to these numbers are the hundreds of community people who come to our annual plant sale held on the meeting grounds.

Our work this past year has focused on a diverse set of areas. The first is to continue the maintenance of the meetinghouse and driveways. To this end, we sealed the surface of the new driveway and the walkway to the meetinghouse entrances. A hearing loop to enable assistance to those with hearing devices was installed. Ceiling fans in the social room were cleaned and ceiling tiles in the half-day classroom were repaired and painted. Toilets were repaired or replaced.

In the surrounding grounds we plan the removal of three trees, which have either died or are nearing the end of life. The committee has also approved the design of an information stand, which can hold information about the Meeting, the tree and burial ground. We will reach out to other interested committees to help in the wording of the flyer.

Progress has been made on needed repairs to the caretaker’s house. Two windows have been replaced and the powder room floor has been replaced. The remaining repair of four additional windows and the west gable end re-stuccoing will be completed in the coming year.

Looking toward the future, the meeting will need to attend to its septic system performance as well as improve the meetinghouse energy usage. The later will involve more insulation for the attic and improved storm windows. Over a longer horizon, we should aspire for a different heating and cooling system based on hydrothermal energy. Mark Myers, Clerk of the Property Committee

4 Peace and Social Justice Committee

The members of the London Grove Peace and Social Justice Committee look forward to a time of assessing our call to service and our capacity to follow that call with care.

Currently, we are supporting a study of the life and work of Helen Corson. Helen was a long time member of London Grove whose work in areas of social justice inspired a monetary award given to local high school students. By delving deeper into Helen’s life we seek to understand the Light that moved her in her time, so that we might be more responsive to the Light in ours.

We have been asking ourselves how to reinvigorate the work of this committee in the London Grove community. To that end, we have been in communication with Friends at other Monthly Meetings in the Quarter, to ask about work they have been doing. We seek to determine if our actions might be more effective if we worked in concert with each other. Recently, we met with Friends from Centre Meeting and from Kennett Meeting to discuss possible areas of cooperation. We feel a particular calling to help with the “Family Promise” initiative that is springing up in the Kennett area.

We will continue our long-standing contribution of funds to agencies such as the African Great Lakes Initiative and Quaker Peace Teams and continue to support local service oriented organizations.

We grieve the death of Patrick Chase, our friend and long-time clerk. We hope to honor his memory as we move forward in the work of healing the world.

Don LaBranche , Peace Committee

Meeting Inreach

We wish all of you a wonderful Christmas! This annual Christmas Newsletter allows London Grove Meeting to exchange holiday greetings with Friends near and far. The year has been full of change.

Our committee was deeply saddened by the death of Co-Clerk, Marianne Whitlock. Marianne served on the committee for a number of years, working with Susanna Davison to produce the monthly London Grove Bulletin and this annual Christmas Newsletter. She is sorely missed as a key to this committee’s work.

Susanna Davison has continued the work and produced the monthly London Grove Bulletin. We welcome each of you to write articles, sending them to us via email by the third Monday of the month for the following month’s issue.

Another important role of the Inreach Committee is to prepare the Childcare Calendar, for the many activities in the Meeting House. We have many volunteers who assist in Children’s First Day School and who care for children during Meeting for Worship for Business, Adult First Day School and during worship over the summer months.

Due to changes in the law, we are now required to obtain “clearances” for those who work with our children. 5 Meeting Inreach (Cont….)

Pennsylvania waived the background checks fees for volunteers. Only adult volunteers are required to obtain certification. Many of us already have these clearances as the same clearances are required for those who work in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other organizations such as the Boy Scouts. While this change seems excessive, the greater goal is to assure the safety of all our children. We will need to have anyone working with our children have their current clearances by July 1, 2016 and moving forward clearances will need to be obtained every 3 years. Please contact any member of our committee if you need help with the process. Please do not let this bit of bureaucracy keep you from enjoying time with our children.

If you are not already on the schedule, please consider joining this effort. You may stipulate conditions such as “twice a year” “only second hour” or “not during summer.” We will work with you to assure that you and the Meeting’s children have the pleasure of each other’s company!

Our committee truly wishes everyone a wonderful season and year.

Carolyn Muller, Clerk

Memorial Committee

Holiday greetings from the Memorial Committee. We are responsible for the care and oversight of Memorial Meetings for Worship, offering assistance to London Grove Meeting members and regular attenders in planning the details and carrying out the service and if requested, helping with a reception afterwards. Our committee works well together to see that the family’s wishes are carried out to the best of our ability.

This year we held memorial services under our care for James Brofee, Donald Pusey, James Yeatman and Patrick Chase. These members served London Grove dutifully through their years and will be greatly missed by our members.

London Grove memorial committee served as a Friendly presence for the service for Dee Zagorski, the mother of Lori Ruggeri. Lori is the assistant teacher at London Grove Kindergarten.

The family of Sarah (Sally) Rickerman asked if a memorial service could be held under the care of London Grove, due to the fact that Mill Creek Meeting was too small. Our committee felt honored to be asked. Sally was a longtime member of Philadelphia Friends Meeting and has been involved in Quakerism most of her life.

The Memorial Committee would like to extend a huge thank you to the London Grove Kindergarten and their committee for all their help. They often have to clear the Social Room for receptions.

Best wishes for the New Year.

Pat Mooberry & Grace Pfeifer, Co-Clerks

6 Worship & Ministry

Greetings from the Worship and Ministry Committee! Over the past year, our committee has provided coordinators for Meeting for Worship, as well as upheld the Spiritual Nature Group that grew out of the “Deepening our Worship” workshop that was held several years ago. We also wrote to members and attenders who we had not seen in a while – sending blessings and conveying that we missed them. We arranged outdoor Meeting for Worship during the summer and on one very hot First Day, after deciding to move the Meeting inside due to the extreme heat, found that some Friends were not to be denied the opportunity to worship under the oak tree and that day there were two groups at London Grove – the insiders and the outsiders!

2015 brought challenges to the spiritual life of our Meeting. After the excitement and celebration of our 300th year in 2014, and reflecting on where we would like to go in our next 300 years, our hearts were deeply saddened by the loss of a number of people who have been part of our community; Jim Brofee, Patrick Chase, Phyllis Wickersham, Marianne Whitlock, Marcus Macaluso, Jimmy Yeatman, Don Pusey and George Wickersham. As we remember and miss each one of them, we can certainly realize how very precious each person in our community is.

The Worship and Ministry Committee is in a time of transition, as are many committees, our Meeting and the whole world. It is a time of change. Looking ahead, the committee is exploring ways that we mightdeepen our connections to each other and to the Devine. We have discussed various possibilities including workshops, a retreat, or spiritual formation groups. We welcome your feedback and input.

Our committee includes: Ginny Green, Rebecca Mitchel, Terry Anderson, Mina Johnson, Rick Hearne, Jack Yeatman, Heather Hayes, Brenda Macaluso and Lisa Cypressi.

May your hearts and lives be filled with peace and joy in 2016. Many blessings to you.

Ginny Green, Clerk

Care and Membership

Care and Membership Committee wishes everyone a joyful holiday season. Isn’t it amazing how we can all feel closer to one another, how the spirit of the season can lift us all, and how we can sing and wish peace to the world at just that time of year when days are shortest and the bleak winds of winter are closing in? And doesn’t this say something about our potential to be loving, joyful and caring of one another throughout the year? Care and Membership Committee strives to assure that such love and joy- the same that we sing about at Christmas-reaches everyone in our Meeting community and does so the whole year round.

In 2015 our committee devoted special attention to the needs of members who experience a challenge, setback, hurt feelings, or a conflict with another meeting member. The Committee invites anyone so affected to contact us through our clerk or other committee member, with assurance that your inquiry will be kept in complete confidence. Once contact has been made, various ways open. Possibilities include: (1) a Listening Session in which two trusted people offer love, understanding and support in a spiritually guided manner without judgement; (2) a Clearness Committee which would begin like a Listening Session and then move on to work with the member in finding a path forward; (3) Mediation in support of Friends or attenders who find themselves in conflict and seek clarity and

7 Care and Membership (cont…) reconciliation ; one or more trusted Friends, serving as Mediators will guide communication, focus listening and help the Friends to understand one another’s perspectives; (4) Professional Counseling – through Friends Counseling Service, whose licensed mental health practitioners provide physiological support to members and regular attenders of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s monthly meetings and their families at affordable fees based on a sliding scale of income. Friends Counseling Service can be contacted directly and confidentially through its coordinator, Kenneth Brick (215-241-7019) or by visiting www.pym.org/friends-counseling-service.

All are invited to extend their holiday joy at our Soup Luncheons to be held on January 10 and March 20, 2016.

Dennis Newbold, Clerk, Care and Membership

Meeting Outreach

Greetings from the Outreach Committee!

Where did the year go? The year began for our committee with a very well presented forum given in April by Jessie Mooberry, who is volunteering with Uplift Aeronautics. The company’s mission is to provide food and supplies for families in need in torn countries like Iran and Syria, but they also help people in remote communities which are inaccessible by other forms of transportation. She is currently helping in Istanbul. In November, a new and dynamic member of our Meeting, Winden Rowe, made a fantastic presentation of the neurological and sociological challenges for people with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). She shared that there are alternative therapies which help reduce the stress of this disorder, working in conjunction with medications and counseling. She was able to put it all in layman’s terms AND make it interesting!

In 2016, please join us for a spectacular evening of rhythm and blues music by the Dukes of Destiny! They will be performing at the West Grove Meeting on January 30th, with a snow date of February 6th. Many of our members have gone to their concerts year after year when the band was a BIG part of the Turtle Dove folk music programs. In March, we will host an Alternatives to Violence forum given by Rick and Rachel Grier-Reynolds. They have done workshops in Delaware for many years. There may be interest in having a workshop later in the year. When Halloween rolls around, we are planning a family fun night. We are also interested in focusing on a more spiritual outreach going forward. We miss our connection with Greater Works Ministry. One possibility for this is to contact local churches for some of our events.

We reach out to you with blessing for peace, love, joy and good health; Rebecca Mitchell, Georgia Delaney, Linda Currie, Grace Pfeifer, Eva Glick and Ruth Thompson.

Rebecca Mitchell, Clerk

8 Burial Ground Committee

The nine Meeting members of the London Grove Burial Committee oversee the upkeep and care of our two burial grounds; the main burial ground near the Meeting House and the Orthodox burial ground at the intersection of Newark & Spencer Roads. The main burial ground has been maintained by Medina’s Landscaping. The Orthodox burial ground, inactive for many years, has been maintained by Gerald W. Harris and his family.

As of November 20, 2015, there have been nine burials in the main burial ground. Three of these burials were members of London Grove Meeting. All except two were ashes burials:

James M. Brofee, C. James Yeatman, Edward D. Gregory, Jr., David C Haring,

Lavilla Ingham, Ruth S. Spencer, Robert A. Thomas, Patrick K. Chase, Hope W. Martin

Five new deeds, including two for non-members, have been issued thus far this year. As has been our practice for many years, six unneeded burial sites were repurchased at their full purchase price. We encourage families with unneeded sites to contact the clerk, Charles C. Brosius, at 610-869-9235.

A large portion of income for the main burial ground is earnings from three restricted reserve funds held by Trustees of the Meeting and invested with Friends Fiduciary Corp. Other income is received from Perpetual Care fees paid at the time of burials and contributions specifically designated for the upkeep and care of the main burial ground.

In response to frequent requests, following is the current burial ground fee schedule as approved by the Monthly Meeting: Members of LGMM Non-members

Casket burial sites $ 200 each $1,000 each

Ashes burial sites $ 200 each $ 500 each

Casket burial fee $ 500 $1,000

Ashes burial fee $ 200 $ 500

Headstone foundation $ 200 $ 200

Perpetual Care fee (once per site) $ 500 $1,000

Each casket site will accommodate not more than one casket and one ashes burial. Each ashes burial site will accommodate not more than two ashes burials. Three business days’ notice is required to prepare a burial site. Casket burial fees double on weekends or holidays. Fees for burials required in difficult weather or ground conditions may be adjusted.

John P. Anderson, Secretary/Treasurer

9 Merry Christmas and Best Wishes from the Kindergarten Committee.

London Grove Friends Kindergarten is a special place, and the traditions started 55 years ago continue to this day. In December, these traditions include making cookies and hand dipping candles in red wax to be placed in an apple and carried as the children sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” during the Christmas Program. Kindergarten at London Grove is great fun, and starts children on their educational journey with a joy for learning.

Events this past fall included our first ever Alumni Night in October. If you are an alumni and wish to be on our mailing list please send an email to Deni-lyn Lane, our Head of School and Half Day teacher, at [email protected] Also this fall we sponsored a “Hocus Pocus” activity at the Unionville Community Fair and the teachers carved a pumpkin at the Great Pumpkin Carve in Chadds Ford, PA. Both classes made a scarecrow for display on the streets of Kennett Square, PA.

Upcoming events include an Open House, on Sunday, January 10th, from 12-2 PM. Also starting in January is a “Little Acorns Preschool Playtime”, which is a small playgroup for mothers and their pre- school aged children, meeting once a week during the afternoon. This summer we will again offer two weeks of Summer Camp, for children ages 4-7. Please help us spread the word about our school.

We have very engaged, wonderful teachers, with fun classrooms, but we are enrolling lower numbers of students than in past years. Our main competition is the excellent local public schools, which offer a free kindergarten program. This current school year with 8 children in our Full Day Class, and 11 in our Half Day Class, we are operating at 56% enrollment. The afternoon enrichment class is almost fully enrolled. We have been working to expand our marketing efforts. This fall we upgraded our website, which features our new logo with the tagline, “Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow”.

If you would like to support our kindergarten, please consider making a donation as part of our annual appeal. You can donate on our website, www.londongrovefriendskindergarten.com, or by sending a check to the kindergarten.

Karen Conlan, Clerk

10 Library Committee

The library committee invites you to browse the New Book display. Books acquired in 2015 are listed below:

Main Collection:

Michelle Alexander – The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness Wendell Berry – This Day. Collected and new Sabbath poems Peter Brock – The Quaker 1660 – 1994 Marion Eames – The Secret Room Erik Erikson – Gandhi’s Truth. On the origins of militant Mohandas K. Gandhi – An autobiography. The story of my experiments with truth Douglass Gwyn – Conversation with Christ. Quaker meditations on the Gospel of John Hafiz – A Year with Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky Rufus M. Jones - The Quakers in the American Colonies James Kimmel, Jr. – Suing for Peace Hans Kung, editor – Yes to a Global Ethic George Lakey – Facilitating Group Learning. Strategies for success with diverse adult learners. Dawn G Marsh – A Lenape Among the Quakers: the life of Hannah Freeman Ven Mehta – and his Apostles Berry Miles – Peace. 50 years of protest Pennsylvania Forestry Association – Big Trees of Pennsylvania. 2006 Edition Mulana Jalal al-Din Rumi – The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks Jacqueline Woodson – Brown Girl Dreaming

Young adult collection (now located in the main library to the left of the entry): Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle and Michael G. Long – Bayard Rustin. The invisible activist

Children’s collection: Richard Ammon – An Amish Christmas The Adventure Bible Pat Boone – Favorite Bible Stories for the Very Young Mohandas K. Gandhi – Mahatma. A Golden Treasury of Wisdom. Thoughts and glimpses of life

Religious Education Committee

Merry Christmas from the Religious Education Committee! We hope this greeting finds you well. It is always impossible to believe how quickly the time goes but, go with it, we must! 2015 has been a bittersweet year for the members of the Religious Education Committee. We sorely miss our dear friend, the late Jim Brofee, who contributed so many wonderful ideas during the time he served with us. His ability to truly be present with those with whom he was working translated to some effective and positive changes within the operation of our committee. He gave us much to aspire to and we will forever treasure his memory.

11 Religious Education Committee (cont.)

We have been blessed this year to have two dynamic Adult First Day School teachers, each teaching once a month. Mark Myers is teaching a monthly Quakerism class and Donald La Branche is teaching a monthly Bible Study class. We now have three trained Faith and Play storytellers for our Children’s program. Barbara Haines, Susanna Davison and Mariah McIntosh are on a rotation sharing Faith and Play stories with the children every couple of months. We continue to seek volunteers from the Meeting community to further enrich the spiritual education of our youngest learners and implore any friend interested in working with the children to contact a member of our committee to find out more about teaching or helping with our Children’s First Day School program.

December is one of the busiest and most fun times of the year for our committee as we prepare for our Christmas festivities. Below, find an outline of December’s activities and events. We hope you will partake and bring some children with you!

• Sunday, December 6th: Meeting for Business; Children’s First Day School (during worship) will be learning the song the children will perform at our Christmas morning program on Dec 20. • Sunday, December 13th: : Our annual Intergenerational Ornament Making! Come snack, socialize and make ornaments for our beautiful tree! • Saturday, December 19th : Any young friends of high school age or older are invited to join us at the Meeting House at 10 am to decorate and prepare for our Christmas morning and evening programs the following day. Contact clerk Mariah McIntosh if interested: [email protected]. • Sunday, December 20th : Our Christmas Morning and Evening Programs! Please join us Sunday morning at regular worship time (9:30) for Worship, Christmas hymns, and a Christmas story. Then join us again that evening at 8 pm for our live nativity – all children are welcome to participate! Cookies, punch and a visit from Santa to follow! • Sunday, December 27th : Quakerism class taught by Mark Myers

In Friendship,

The Religious Education Committee: Mariah McIntosh (clerk), Susanna Davison, Karen Conlan, David Watkins, Donald LaBranche, Greta Rech, Barbara Haines, Leona Provinski, Lori Ryan, Wyatt Thompson

“Let there be Peace on Earth and Let it begin with me”.

12 London Grove Friends Meeting 500 West Street Road Kennett Square, PA 19348

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