https://www.fgcquaker.org/cloud/plymouth-friends-meeting
Meetings for Worship
First Day Meeting: 11:15 am Plymouth First Day School: 11:30 am Monthly Fourth Day Meeting: 7:00 pm Fifth Day Meeting with PMFS: Meeting 8:45 am
Newsletter Address: 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Tenth Month, 2019
Clerk Care & Concern Treasurer Newsletter Editor Rebecca Cratin Bonnie Miller Linda L. White Pattie O’Donnell 1223 Forsythe Drive 153 E. 9th St. 519 Ft. Washington Ave. 1620 Aidenn Lair Road Ft Washington, PA 19034 Conshohocken, PA 19428 Ft. Washington, PA 19034 Dresher, PA 19025 215-542-8738 610-828-4970 215-641-4564 215-704-1666 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Asst. Clerk: Fran Blackstone [email protected]
Oct 2019 Tues Oct 1 7:00 pm Care & Concern Sun Oct 6 9:00 am Abington Quarterly Meeting Upper Dublin Meeting Sun Oct 6 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm World Quaker Day Event @ John Woolman Memorial Sun Oct 6 6:00 pm TV Show: Quakers, The Quiet Revolutionaries on WHYY Sat Oct 12 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Harvest Festival at Historic Fair Hill Burial Ground, 2901 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia Sun Oct 13 9:00 am Worship & Ministry Tues Oct 15 6:30 pm William Penn presentation at the Andorra Library Sun Oct 20 9:00 am Meeting for Business Sun Oct 27 After meeting Friendly 4th potluck luncheon – all are welcome Sun Oct 27 After Meeting Return of the Music Circle
Nov 2019 Sun Nov 3 9:30 am Care & Concern (note one-time change in date/time) Fri Nov 8 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm Cornerstone Cafe Sun Nov 10 9:00 am Worship & Ministry Sun Nov 17 9:00 am Meeting for Business Sun Nov 24 After Meeting Friendly 4th potluck luncheon – all are welcome Wed Nov 27 10:00 am Thanksgiving Program at the School Thurs Nov 28 10:00 am Meeting for Worship for Thanksgiving
Nurturing Our Community: Care for the Meeting Do we help each other to live with integrity and contribute that integrity to the life of our meeting? How does our meeting learn of members’ needs and offer its assistance? How does our meeting nurture members in all stages of life? How does our meeting welcome those new to Friends and integrate them into our community? When a member’s conduct or manner of living gives cause for concern, how does the meeting respond? Am I ready both to offer and to accept meeting assistance when needed? Do I treat adults and children alike with respect and without condescension? What opportunities have I taken to know, work and worship with Friends in the larger spiritual communities we share?
Harvest Festival Saturday Oct 12, 1 pm – 4 pm
Come celebrate fall with us!
Historic Fair Hill Burial Ground invites you to the Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 12. There will be FREE family friendly fun, with a special presentation at 1pm, in honor its recent Zone of Peace Award. HFH Burial Ground is the resting place of leaders of the Underground Railroad. Enjoy an afternoon of hayrides, food, music and more in this historic, peaceful place.
WHEN: Saturday, October 12 from 1pm – 4pm WHERE: Historic Fair Hill Burial Ground, 2901 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19133
Mark Your Calendars: Leaf Raking Saturday, Dec 7 9am – 2pm
We have chores both inside and outside that need to be done (waxing benches, washing windows). Contact Carol Coffin or Fran Blackstone with your soup or dessert contribution. 7
October 6th 2019 World Quaker Day
Quakers around the world celebrated World Quaker Day on October 6th. There are approximately 400,000 Quakers worldwide in North, Central and South America, Europe, the UK, East Europe, Russia, Africa, Southeast Asia, The Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The theme this year is Sustainability: Planting Seeds of Renewal for the World we Love. Sustainability highlights the importance of the daily spiritual nurturing required for all peoples to be able to be stewards of God’s creation, loving brother and sisters to one another, and a people of compassion and healing.
This Sunday, October 6, 06:00 pm on WHYY will broadcast the film Quakers: The Quiet Revolutionaries. The Quiet Revolutionaries covers the beginnings and rise of Quakerism in the 1600s to its current form in present day America and throughout the world. It describes the remarkable impact of this early sect on our eventual adoption of civil liberties, abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and non-violent civil disobedience leading to universal civil rights. The documentary also addresses the mystical/spiritual side of Quakerism and how that informs social activism leading to social change.
William Penn Presentation at the Andorra Library Tuesday, Oct 15 6:30 pm The name William Penn is familiar to us in the Delaware Valley because his name is on oatmeal and local restaurants, and his statue is at the top of City Hall. The William Penn foundation is a major donor committed to improving the quality of life in the city and the region. As Friends at Plymouth, we owe our existence to the establishment of Pennsylvania as a safe haven for Friends. The land that our Meeting House sits on and all of Plymouth Township (5327) was purchased from the Penn in 1685 by Francis Rawle and James Fox.
Who was this man and what legacy does he leave other than his name on restaurants and a statue that is now dwarfed by the skyscrapers that sprout from the streets of his beloved city, a city which struggles daily to live up to its nickname of the city of brotherly love? The introduction to Andorra Library presentation on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 6:30 states that he was: a non-violent Quaker revolutionary, founded Pennsylvania in 1682 without firing a single shot and without building a single fort! He did it with the power of his pen, his treaties, and his eloquent diplomacy. Philadelphia was Penn's "Holy Experiment" where people who were persecuted in England and Europe could find freedom of worship, and greater political, economic and social equality. Many of Penn's laws for Pennsylvania were adopted into the 1787 Constitution of the United States. Wikipedia adds: He urged for a union of all the English colonies in what was to become the United States of America. The democratic principles that he set forth in the Pennsylvania Frame of Government served as an inspiration for the United States Constitution. As a pacifist Quaker, Penn considered the problems of war and peace deeply. He developed a forward-looking project for a United States of Europe through the creation of a European Assembly made of deputies who could discuss and adjudicate controversies peacefully. He is therefore considered the very first thinker to suggest the creation of a European Parliament. A man of deep religious convictions, Penn wrote numerous works in which he exhorted believers to adhere to the spirit of Primitive Christianity. He was imprisoned several times in the Tower of London due to his faith, and his book No Cross, No Crown (1669), which he wrote while in prison, has become a Christian classic.
Take some time to get to know this early Friend. A few books will be set out in the Meeting Library for your reading. William Penn Quiz – right answers awarded extra brownies at October’s Friendly Fourth 1. What happened to William when he did not read all of what was written on a paper before he signed it? 2. What legal precedent (that stands today) was set for the management of juries during trials by the trial of William for preaching before a gathering in the street 3. What was Williams stand on slavery? How was this different from Native Americans?
Quaker Speak – The Quaker YouTube
Quaker Speak is a Quaker YouTube channel where Friends of all different backgrounds are interviewed and ask about core questions of our faith. QuakerSpeak interviews are personal and intimate. They seek to give viewers worldwide an experience that is entertaining, informative, inspiring, challenging, inviting, unifying and collaborative. New videos come out every Thursday. View them on the web at https://quakerspeak.com/ or subscribe here https://quakerspeak.com/subscribe/ The most recent months videos include: Growing up Quaker My Quaker Practice Evangelical to Quaker Quaker Wedding - What to expect New Roofs – Many, Many Thanks
Over the summer members and attenders of our Meeting and our School worked to repair and re-roof the horse shed and the Graveyard/PTO shed. Many hands made light work of the removal and disposal of the old roof shingles, repair of the roof sheathing, rafters and lath, and then the installation of ice and rain guard over the entire roof along with new shingles. People contributed according to their abilities: children picked up nails, the ground crew disposed of all the old roof materials, the roof crew endured the heat of the sun, people stopped by with water and food, and the bookkeepers and buyers purchased materials. With the Meeting and School contributing the labor the total cost for 2,100 sq ft of roof repair and replacement was $3,519 shared equally by the Meeting and School. If this project had been hired out, the cost would have been thousands of dollars more. We have a remarkable community that finds ways to meet challenges. This is but one example. Besides the financial benefits, these project provide the invaluable opportunity for our community to create time for us to get to know one another. Blessings to all.
Books for Quakers (and anyone else seeking to listen and learn from the heart) A Quaker list of Spiritual readings The following are suggestions for essential books and pamphlets that would be helpful to individuals. meetings or worship groups. These recommendations were compiled by members of the FDC New Meetings Project mentoring teams. Some of these books are available in the Meeting Library. Others can be purchased directly from FGC Book Store.
A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly Beyond Consensus: Salvaging Sense of the Meeting by Barry Morley Encounter with Silence: Reflections from the Quaker Tradition by John Punshon Four Doors To Meeting For Worship by William Taber Gospel Order: A Quaker Understanding of the Faithful Quaker Community by Sandra Cronk Holding One Another in the Light by Marcelle Martin Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality by J. Brent Bill Quaker Spirituality by Douglas V Steere Letters to a Fellow Seeker: A Short Introduction to the Quaker Way by Steve Chase Light Within and Selected Writings by Isaac Penington Listening Spirituality, volumes 1 and 2 by Patricia Loring Matthew 18: Wisdom for Living in Community by Connie McPeak Green and Marty Paxson Grundy Members One Of Another: The Dynamics Of Membership In Quaker Meeting by Tom Gates Peace be with You: A Study of the Spiritual Basis of the Friends Peace Testimony by Sandra Cronk Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment by J. Brent Bill Spiritual Discernment: The Context and Goal of Clearness Committee by Patricia Loring Information about PFM Business (held over from Sept newsletter)
Status of repayment of construction project loan We have been enjoying the fruits of the completed construction projects this past year; Meeting House restoration, kitchen remodeling, new heaters/air conditioning, and the new water management system. Each of these projects has improved our building's support of the community here at Plymouth as we support our activities with hospitality from the kitchen. The projects are providing comfortable meeting spaces as the summers become hotter and winters more unpredictable and they have restored our beloved Meetinghouse as well as protecting it from the increasing volume of rain.
The Monthly Meeting discerned that the projects needed to be initiated immediately and completed as soon as possible because of the damage caused by the termites and water in the soil below the Meetinghouse, the regularity of heater failures and the steady decline of the kitchen facilities making them difficult to clean and repair. Therefore, donations were requested from the community and a loan from Monthly Meeting’s invested funds was obtained to cover expenses with the intent to pay back the funds in the next 5 to 10 years. Current status of the loan as of August 2019 is: Completed construction project costs = $132,501 Donations received as of Aug 2019 = $56,158 Remaining balance due on the loan = $76,343
Please continue to make regular donations specifically designated for the construction project loan.
Make checks payable to Plymouth Monthly Meeting To the attention of the Construction Project Loan
Send Donations to: Linda White – Treasure PMM 519 Fort Washington Avenue Fort Washington, PA 19034
Hiram Corson School House An opportunity has been presented to the Monthly Meeting and our school to receive a one room schoolhouse on to our property that was once the Hiram Corson grade school (built ~1850). Current construction on the Hiram Corson homestead requires that the 16’ x 18’ schoolhouse be demolished or moved. A group of Whitemarsh citizens are working to find a way to move the schoolhouse to a location where it can continue its purpose as a place of education. The Monthly Meeting and its school (PMFS) have been approached to host the building on its property. At the regular monthly meeting for business on September 15th, the request to approve receiving the schoolhouse will be put before the Monthly Meeting.
In preparation for this request two called business meetings have been held in the past 4 weeks to consider if the Monthly Meeting should receive the schoolhouse on to its property. During those meetings, a presentation was made explaining who Hiram Corson was, the importance of the school to Quaker and local history, future use of the building by Monthly Meeting, PMFS and the community, and the cost for its moving and renovation.
Notes about the project, pictures of the schoolhouse and the minutes of the called meetings are posted on the web site (https://www.fgcquaker.org/cloud/plymouth- friends-meeting ). Initiation of this project is dependent on three conditions, each if not achieved would stop the project: 1. Can the building be picked up and moved and if so, can it be moved to the designated site? The house moving company has evaluated the building and the route to the site. They reported that the building can be moved. 2. Monthly Meeting and the PMFS School must approve the moving of the building on to the property: PMFS has no objection. Waiting for approval Monthly Meeting to decide if they approve. 3. All money needed for the moving of the building, building the foundation, and renovation of the building must be raised before the building is moved onto the property. No money is available for this project from the Monthly Meeting or School budgets. Funds need to be raised from the community.