ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING of the Religious Society of Friends NNEEWWSSLLEETTTTEERR NOVEMBER 2016 ELEVENTH MONTH 520 Meetinghouse Road • Jenkintown • Pennsylvania • 19046 NOVEMBER MEETING ACTIVITIES SUNDAY 6TH Change your clocks! 10:00 a.m. First Day School: Adult Class—John Whittier, Quaker poet and activist, John Barnes Room 10:00 a.m. Children’s First Day School—Classrooms 11:15 a.m. MEETING FOR WORSHIP 12:15 p.m. Coffee Hour—hosted by our Peace & Social Concerns Committee 12:30 p.m. Care of Members Committee Meeting, Library 12:30 p.m. Worship & Ministry Committee Meeting, Short Stable 7:00 p.m. Sundays at Seven, Short Stable TUESDAY 8TH 7:30 a.m. Election Day Silent Vigil, Meeting House SUNDAY 13TH 10:00 a.m. First Day School: Adult Class—How to Deepen Quaker Meeting for Worship 10:00 a.m. Children’s First Day School—Classrooms 11:15 a.m. MEETING FOR WORSHIP 7:00 p.m. Sundays at Seven, Short Stable SATURDAY 19TH 9:00 a.m. Meeting Clean-Up Day, gather on Meeting House porch SUNDAY 20TH 10:00 a.m. First Day School: Adult Class—Rufus Jones, foundations of the modern Meeting and American Friends Service Committee, John Barnes Room 10:00 a.m. Children’s First Day School—Classrooms 11:00 a.m. Sandwich Making and Mission Day—Short Stable 11:15 a.m. MEETING FOR WORSHIP 12:15 p.m. Coffee Hour—hosted by our Property Committee 12:30 p.m. Attenders Committee Meeting, Library Continued on page 2 Abington Monthly Meeting Abington Quarterly Meeting Philadelphia Yearly Meeting www.abingtonmeeting.org www.abingtonquarter.org www.pym.org Meeting Secretary: Loretta Fox, phone: 215-884-2865, fax: 215-884-3264, [email protected] Deadline for December NEWSLETTER is November 14th. Please give information to Loretta Fox. Clerk : George Schaefer Contributions may be sent to: Abington Monthly Meeting, c/o Assistant Treasurer Wanda Wyffels, 520 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046 NOVEMBER 2016 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 2 12:30 p.m. Religious Educaiton Committee Meeting, Short Stable 7:00 p.m. Sundays at Seven, Short Stable MONDAY 21ST 7:00 p.m. MONTHLY MEETING FOR WORSHIP TO ATTEND TO BUSINESS–Reports: Funeral, Nominating, School Committee, Hospitality SUNDAY 27TH 8:30 a.m. Inreach/Outreach Committee Meeting, Short Stable 10:00 a.m. First Day School—Multigenerational Fireside Chat, John Barnes Room 11:15 a.m. MEETING FOR WORSHIP 12:15 p.m. Coffee Hour—Host(s) needed! For Homebound Friends Our Care of Members Committee sponsors a group of AMM members who connect and visit with homebound Friends. If anyone knows of a homebound Friend who may enjoy receiving cards or visits, please contact Bette Conover. Your Financial Support is Vital to Our Meeting! This is a friendly reminder that although we do not pass a collection plate, our Meeting relies on your financial support, as well as your love and hard work. If you feel moved to make a donation, you can leave it in the wooden donation box on the wall in the foyer, or in the box on the rear windowsill of the Meeting House. Checks may be made out to Abington Monthly Meeting. No amount is too small, because every donation assists in supporting our Meeting community, our Meetings for Worship, and our Meeting House itself. Additional ways to donate can be found on our website www.abingtonmeeting.org. Our Property Committee invites Friends to participate in a Day of Service to clean up our Meeting property on November 19th The purpose is to help clean up the property and to recover and split the wood generated by the tree work. Property Committee will provide coffee and doughnuts. $10 Giant Gift Cards for the Interfaith Food Cupboard Sarah Lippincott has started taking orders and collecting money for the $10 gift cards for the Interfaith Food Cupboard for Thanksgiving. Last year we, as a group, donated $700 in $10 gift cards. As a reminder, Friends pay for the cards through our normal Giant Cards program, so AMM gets 5%, and Sarah delivers them to Interfaith in time to hand out with their Thanksgiving food packages, so that their clients can get whatever else they need for their personal Thanksgiving traditions at Giant. Interfaith Food Cupboard is within 1 mile of the local Giant store, so walking distance for most. If Friends would like to order the $10 cards, they should email Sarah and let her know how many they would like to donate. They can either mail a check or pay for the cards when they see Sarah. NOVEMBER 2016 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 3 Clerk’s Corner Memory creates meaning. The Meeting for Worship held on October 15, 2016, memorializing the African Americans and others known only to God buried at Abington Meeting was the beginning of a much needed revision of our memory as Friends. For sure, it is a revision that sheds an unflattering light on our past, one which exposes our historic shortcomings as a religious community committed to equality and answering that of God in everyone. But, this correction is necessary if we are to begin to heal as a community. Our work for racial justice must be grounded in truth if we are to carry our witness forward. When I was young, I remember being told that the reason my Meeting was not more diverse was because Quaker Meeting, especially of the east coast silent worship variety, didn’t appeal to persons of non-European backgrounds. We know now that this is just not true. Research has revealed that Friends, even those sympathetic to the abolition of slavery before the civil war, created obstacles to full membership for African Americans. For this reason, the story of Quakers historically united in working for racial justice must be revised. Quaker Bible scholar, Henry Cadbury understood that this lost connection between European Friends and African Americans affected the social conscience of Friends. Almost eighty years ago, he advised us “to appreciate what we owe them” for having taught to us in their struggle for dignity and freedom, “the very tenets of our own religion.” It is in remembering this connection that Friends can find renewed meaning and a renewed vision of racial justice for ourselves and our communities. Of course, it means opening ourselves to new insights, welcoming new light from wherever it arises. It also involves revising our memory of how and why things happened and making them meaningful to our future. The Memorial Meeting was a programed Meeting for Worship punctuated by periods of silence when people spoke as they were led by the Holy Spirit. It was only the third time that I had experience a programed Meeting for Worship. But, I was moved by the power of the ritual, its solemnity and beauty, to focus our energies and release them in a way which was restorative and healing. It created a sense of unity and purpose that I continue to carry with me. As Friends, we are advised to always keep in mind that unity is not so much an accomplishment as it is a process. It is a living process that requires our attention and purpose whenever we gather as Friends. It is what guides our desire to serve each other in love and truth. Yet, we cannot create unity if we are living in ways which are out of step with one another and with our past. It is this practice, of continual reconciliation, of always seeking unity, of “minding the oneness,” as George Fox advised us, in all our actions, that gives our lives integrity, allowing them to speak to the world with authenticity and power. It is my hope that the power of the truth about our past will inspire us to work towards a future that is united in love and acceptance for all of God’s people. May we find comfort in the unfolding of beauty in our lives through faithfulness to our past and in commitment to our present practice of working for racial justice and equality as a community. George Schaefer, Clerk NOVEMBER 2016 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 4 SUNDAYS AT SEVEN An informal discussion group addressing Quaker topics Each fall, beginning in October, we look at our Quaker beliefs and our own spiritual journeys. This weekly discussion group may include members of our Meeting, attenders, and anyone interested in knowing more about Quakerism. We meet around the fire in the Short Stable on Sunday evenings, beginning at 7 p.m. and ending at 9. The relaxed setting provides an opportunity to examine and share beliefs, discoveries, doubts, questions, and to get to know one another in a friendly, spiritually oriented and sometimes profound way. November 6 - Faith into Action: Introducing the Testimonies - Simplicity What is a testimony? A concern? A Query? We open "Faith into Action" with the Testimony of Simplicity. How do we live our beliefs? Where are we challenged? A testimony in favor of simple living, advocating we refrain from excessive consumption and secular involvements. In excess, these can so demand our energies and thoughts that they may leave us with no time for spiritual self discovery or for making the world a better place. How do we practice simplicity in our affluent society? November 13: - The Peace Testimony - Born during the Reformation, the Quaker peace testimony remains a radical challenge today - to live Jesus' message of love, forgiveness and reconciliation. What are different ways Friends act on the Peace Testimony? What are its implications in today's world? Have you ever felt moved to take action? What stands in your way? November 20 - The Testimony of Integrity - The call for integrity in daily life lies at the heart of Quakerism.