Report to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of
Chambersburg Friends Meeting
March 2024
Thank you for the opportunity to write about the state of our meeting. It is a welcome event to review the past year and see where we have been and where we are going. A narrative seems the best way to go.
Being that the meeting is small with thirty members and about thirteen contributing members and twelve or so attenders and frequent visitors, we can be one committee and address issues as they arise.
The problems in our country reflect back to us and as grim as they are, our vocal ministry and messages are that of hope rather than futility. Topics in our adult education forums are timely and discuss contemporary phenomena as Conspiracy Theory, Punishment throughout religions and Adverse Childhood Events.
Outreach takes on the form of volunteering in food pantries, preparing health kits with the Mennonite Relief Center, collecting books for the Friends of Legal Services annual book sale, visiting nursing home residents with a therapy dog, and working to register voters.
With fewer members, we have had to review our budget and modify the covenant to the Yearly Meeting this year. We must consider apportioning monies toward outreach in hopes of making us more visible. Even though Covid cases have significantly declined, after a hiatus of a year of not using Zoom hybrid meetings, there is an interest to restore Zoom meetings. There are people who cannot make it to Meetings due to distance or disability or Sunday morning obligations. We must make ourselves more visible to sustain us.
To conclude, our Meeting has a deep spirituality and community that is revealed by acts of kindness, empathy, and benevolence. Visitors find their way to the Meeting house, some stay, and some go. It is always refreshing to greet someone who wants to find out what Quakerism is all about. It is a welcome challenge to answer questions but also a pleasant time to find where they are on their spiritual journey. Our meeting is a safe haven, more than a space but where people come together every First day to listen and wait and connect with the Inner Light.
