The spiritual state of the meeting is sound. For many months we’ve been hungry to hear more queries and offer adult religious education. We are beginning to implement both. We are also beginning to explore “worship sharing” more intentionally.
We no longer meet twice a week, instead we only meet on Firstday in person or via zoom. At 10 a.m. we have a “discussion” which could consist of a query, meeting for business, visit from an organization (e.g. The Eastern Service Worker’s Association, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) or American Friends Service Committee).
We continued supporting CODI, a non-profit which strives to optimize independence by assisting individuals with disabilities in reaching their fullest potential. We collected donations throughout the year.
We also continue to collect donations for migrant workers from January – April. We are grateful to Medford meeting for their help in coordinating the delivery of donations.
This Martin Luther King Day, the meeting participated in a march in Atlantic City. Friends of Friends also participated. The Meeting found this very rewarding. We plan to be even more engaged next year.
Attendance for worship on First day generally runs between 8 and 13 people. People rarely attend via zoom anymore, but we continue to offer it.
We applied for two grants this year to fix problems with our parking lot and also our outdoor steps. We need to have those things repaired so that the building will be safe and attractive for newcomers. Every month we have a workday to maintain the building. Consequently, the building and landscaping is starting to look much better. We have a lot of work in front of us but the difference we are making is very visible. Once this phase of the work is complete, we can be more intentional about outreach.
We have also started a letter writing campaign group that meets every few months. This was birthed out of our concern for the people living in Gaza after the attack on October 7, 2023. To date over 34,000 people living in Gaza have been killed.
We have been intentionally visiting other Meetings every three months. This gives us ideas for our own meeting, helps us to connect with other Quakers, and reminds us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.
