This has been a year of renewal for Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting. Our ad hoc Air Quality committee shepherded us through the process of hiring engineering consultants, evaluating proposals, remediating mold, revamping our HVAC system, and reinvigorating our air exchange systems. Our Warm & Cozy Campaign Leadership Team, along with support from our Treasurers and Finance committee, led us in a 2 phase fundraising campaign to pay for these projects. We raised about $48,000 in gifts in Phase one and through gifts and pledges we’ve raised nearly $70,000 in phase two. Additionally, we’re awaiting news of a PYM Quaker Building and Programs Grant that we applied for.
As a result of this extensive air quality improvement project, we’ve taken a hard look at our building and grounds. We hired a new snowplowing company and since we were satisfied with their work, we also hired them to do our lawn mowing. We sponsored a “work party” in March which was attended by over 30 Friends. Each committee was responsible for a specific area of the building or grounds and by the end of the day we removed a carload of recycling materials, a carload of books to donate, a truckload of trash, 3 trailers of chipped tree branches, and several carloads of thrift store donations.
What a great feeling to worship together in a building with clean air and clean closets!
We’ve increased the use of our building within our Meeting community. We had a full house for our Christmas Eve worship and festive potluck; we’re seeing increasing numbers attend our monthly potlucks, and our regular 5th Sunday Frugal Feasts (held to raise money for the PA Ave. Interfaith Food Pantry). Our Worship and ministry committee sponsored a series of discussions called Pamphlets & Pastries, wherein participants read and discussed Pendle Hill pamphlets, chosen by the W&M committee (and paid for out of our Education Fund). Attendance was about 30 friends for each of the three Saturday morning sessions.
We’ve also been actively encouraging the use of our building by outside groups. The Blue Mountain Zendo continues to meet weekly, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby meets monthly, and we’ve hosted several LEPOCO Peace Center events in our building. We opened our building to a PYM Young Adult Friends weekend retreat in October. Our prime location on busy Rte. 512, with ample road footage, lends itself to outreach with the use of banners. We currently have 2 banners reading “Let us see what LOVE can do–find us at www.lehighvalleyquakers.org” and “Lift your voice for Peace.” Our website serves as another opportunity for outreach and we have regular requests through the site for outside use of our building. We expanded our outreach efforts by providing a Friendly presence at our local Pride Fest. With the help of a grant from the Bucks Quarter Outreach Grant program we purchased a supply of “You might be a Quaker if…” postcards and paid the $350 non-profit booth fee for Pride Fest. Our Bucks coordinator, Wendy Kane, also provided us with fun and informative materials to display on our table. We found this event to serve as both outreach to the Lehigh Valley Community and inreach as we had robust participation from within our Meeting.
Sadly, our Meeting House was used for 4 Memorial services in the past year. Memorial Services were held for members Sally Alley, Faith Shireman, Fran Driesbach, and Gene Deisher. Despite the loss of 4 members, our membership has remained fairly stable with the addition of 4 members (2 adults, 1 child, and 1 associate member). We approved two members, Mary Lou Hatcher and Ted Morgan, for transfer to North Sandwich Monthly Meeting, New Hampshire. Our current numbers are: 115 adult members, 6, children members (under the age of 21), and associate members.
An unexpected source of quality worship emerged related to the numerous memorial meetings for LVMM members who died this year. The depth of these celebrations of life was powerful. Many outside family members and community non-Quakers felt safe in the worship setting and many were moved to speak. Two examples are the great grandson who spoke of his great grandmother with eloquence and love, and a member of the violin/viola duo who played at a service was so moved by the Quaker process that he has come to worship with us since the memorial.
Our Nominating Committee continues to work hard at thoughtfully filling all our many committees and positions. They are evaluating the work of committees and combining committees where appropriate. They are also trying to encourage younger members and attenders to take on more leadership roles. Our vibrant First Day School program helps keep families and young people engaged and willing to participate in the life of the Meeting.
Looking ahead, we’ve begun planning a simple celebration for our 75th anniversary in June 2024, perhaps to be combined with a celebration of our newly installed (and fully funded) energy efficient HVAC & air exchange systems. We’ve also started planning for a 2025 Meeting retreat–our previously scheduled retreat was canceled in 2020 and we have not held a retreat since 2018. We’re looking forward to furthering our sense of renewal and revitalization as a Meeting community as we move forward into 2024 and beyond.
