1. In this past year, how has your meeting worked to create and strengthen the reality of a Beloved Community? How has your meeting fostered an environment in which members and attenders of all ages know they are loved, cared for, trusted, and respected?
- In 2022 we had the joy of welcoming our community back more fully into the meetinghouse, as the spiritual and social center of gravity shifted from online to in person. Even as more worshippers are returning to the meetinghouse, we remain committed to offering hybrid worship in which the worship room is connected with a virtual gathering on Zoom. The pandemic revealed to us that we must have a remote option to be accessible and welcoming to all members of our community, which includes those who are prevented from being there in person by health concerns, disability, or geographic distance. Our experience has been that worship can be gathered even when some members of the community are not physically present, and we observe that ministry comes from both groups and demonstrates the shared Spirit among us.
- This year we were challenged to explore how to be welcoming to a minister with hearing loss whose speech is somewhat difficult to understand, along with other concerns. This discernment is ongoing, but it has already been a rewarding learning experience, teaching us to be open to new ways of listening to and connecting with each other.
- We also renewed our effort to organize spiritual friendship circles. Interest was strong and three new groups have begun to meet, one of which meets virtually. It is our feeling that such groups foster the spiritual growth of individuals and build connection across our community, including among those unable to join us in person.
- The Religious Education Committee, after a loss of attendance during online programming, has experienced a growth in both elementary- and nursery-age children. The committee and volunteer teachers have worked to create programming that keeps children engaged. Having members of the meeting visit the classroom, having the children sometimes talk about their experience at the close of meeting, and offering events like a Christmas pageant are some of the ways the children interact with older members. A dedicated, trained nursery teacher means parents of the youngest children know their child is safe with a loving, consistent presence each week. Our middle-schoolers have been helpful in the classroom, and we are now focusing on finding ways to engage them with meaningful experiences for their own age group.
2. How have you sought to be neighbors and in relationship with other communities?
- We were energized by sharing our Quaker faith with visiting school groups and Interfaith Philadelphia.
- We welcomed numerous visitors to our Skyspace art installation in the past year, with many openings at capacity. This continues to be an opportunity for outreach to our neighborhood and the wider art world.
- We continue our membership with the interfaith organization POWER, which has offered an opportunity to connect with leaders from various faiths and diverse congregations who bring their own perspectives and leadership to the challenges faced by our city and region.
- For the 2022-23 school year, our FDS is focused on World Religions and have teachers bringing experience and interest in varied faith backgrounds including Judaism Buddhism Christianity and Islam. The lessons incorporate concerns around race, inequality, and environment, along with discussions of faith and significant holidays. Across the spring and summer of 2022, we planted a garden and in the fall took the children to Historic Fair Hill. These were opportunities to practice our connection to the earth as well as discuss the heritage of the Leni-Lenape people and of the various people connected to the Fair Hill burial ground and to the neighborhood.
- We offer annual grants to regional and neighborhood groups that our meeting has elected to support financially.
- We value the opportunity to serve as a polling place for three divisions, which supports our surrounding community and brings hundreds of neighbors to our meetinghouse twice annually.
- We continue to support Family Promise (formerly PIHN) and this year were able to house one family after a hiatus due to COVID. Our PIHN Committee formed an ongoing relationship with this family and continues to support them.
3. How has your meeting been called to address issues of racism this past year? What additional concerns and initiatives have your meeting or meeting members been led to address?
- • Our meeting community has made slow but steady progress in engaging with issues around racism. In 2017, the meeting approved a minute committing to addressing racism, which led to a working group, and finally to a standing Addressing Racism Committee (ARC). This committee, along with our Adult Class Committee, our Peace & Social Concerns Committee (P&SC), and our Library Committee, as well as other committees and individuals, have organized classes, guest speakers, and book discussion groups to educate about and discuss individual and systemic racism.
- In 2022 the ARC brought forward a proposal to commit $5,000 each year toward reparations, to be directed to the Ujima Friends Peace Center. The meeting approved this proposal and discernment is underway about how we are called to find the funds to meet this commitment.
- Additionally, P&SC focused on the topic of gun violence in Philadelphia, bringing us opportunities to educate ourselves and discuss the issue within the meeting.
4. How has the Spirit guided your work on climate change? How has your meeting addressed the five action areas identified in the climate change sprint report? (.pdf) Has your Meeting appointed a Climate Witness Liaison?
- Our care for Eileen Flanagan’s minute of religious service continued this year. Eileen’s calling to work in the area of environmental justice, as well as our support of that work, continue to bring us joy and fortify our connection to the underlying issues. Eileen’s involvement with EQAT has brought visibility to their campaigns, and a growing number of individuals in the meeting have become involved in climate activism through EQAT.
- Our Property and Landscape Committees have care of our land and building and are guided by principles of good stewardship for the environment.
- The Meeting’s limited invested funds are managed by Friends Fiduciary Corporation consistent with Friends’ concerns for the environment.
- Although several individuals follow personal leadings to work in the area of climate change, no committee has formally undertaken to address the climate change action plan released by the Yearly Meeting, and we have not appointed a climate witness liaison.
5. What are things the Yearly Meeting might do to support your meeting?
- We appreciate the support from Melinda Wenner Bradley, during her time as Youth Religious Life Coordinator, both for her visit to the meeting and for the online events some of our families attended.
- We value the Yearly Meeting’s educational offerings on a variety of topics and take advantage of them where we can. Areas where we could use more support include:
- Improving accessibility at the meetinghouse, including making it possible for all to participate fully in meeting for worship. Could the Yearly Meeting provide someone to do an accessibility audit for local meetings to highlight areas of concern and suggest means of ameliorating them?
- Building confidence in resolving problems between individuals and within committees. A workshop with role playing might be helpful.
- Collecting and implementing best practices around issues like membership clearness and memorial meetings. These are challenges that all local meetings share, and it would be valuable to learn from the experiences of other meetings.
- Guidance on committee structures and other roles in the Meeting so that we don’t feel so stretched to meet the basic needs of the Meeting. Again, a knowledgeable outsider’s perspective on our committee structures might help us see areas where change is needed.
Respectfully submitted by the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting Worship and Ministry Committee:
- Rebecca Heider, Clerk Jeff Perkins
- Ellen Deacon Carolyn Schodt
- Dan Evans Betsy Wallace
- Katy Hawkins
