Spiritual State of Reading Meeting Report
Reading Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
March 2024
(Maidencreek Meeting is under the care of Reading Meeting)
General comments:
Reading Meeting is still learning to be comfortable as a smallish meeting. On an average Sunday, we are lucky to have 20 people, including children and baby sitters attending worship. We are providing Sunday school classes for the young teenager, during September- May.
The wearing of masks is optional and social distancing is being practiced.
Our worship is hybrid with some Friends at a Meetinghouse & some on Zoom. We worship at our Maiden Creek Meetinghouse from Father’s Day to Labor Day weekend, and at our 6th street Meetinghouse the rest of the year. In an effort to keep our community together, we no longer open the 6th street meetinghouse in the summer time. The Maiden Creek meetinghouse now has permanent electricity and internet connection with underground wiring supplied by the caretaker’s cottage/former schoolhouse.
Sunday worship begins with Opening Exercises, then we settle into worship, towards the end of worship, we are invited to share joys, concerns, gratitude’s, and requests for prayer. Then we circle around zoom and in the room for introductions, greetings, and announcements. Then this is followed by some social time, including pot-luck meals in the 1st Sundays of each month at 6th street and a summer picnic at Maidencreek. The children are with us during opening exercise, then they go to their class rooms, then return before worship ends.
Once per month, usually the 3rd Tuesday, we have “Zooming in the Spirit.” We have been exploring various topics including, Arther Larrabee’s list of core Quaker values, the Spices, Unity vs Consensus, Discernment, and Stewardship, prayer/holding Friends in the Light, and a discussion about knowing when to share a message out of the silence.
We have a monthly games afternoon, a book discussion group, and an afgan blanket making group.
This past Christmas our celebrations included an intergenerational talent show. We also supported some young people in the Family Promise program.
This past fall both meetinghouses were part of 2 different tour group visits, including Reading Pa’s 275 anniversary.
This summer we are planning to have tables at Reading Earth Day faire and at the Reading Pride faire.
With the assistance other Friends, Jim and Taylor Lamborn still do the majority of the property care of the Robinsen Cemetery, 6th Street Meetinghouse, and the Maiden Creek property. The Pottsville cemetery is still in the process of being transferred to the catholic church that it sits next to; another lawyer that represents a higher command of the catholic church is reviewing the paperwork.
In an effort to assist with Taylor Lamborn’s forced retirement of managing and taking care of the 6th street rear lot, a few steps are being taken. One step is a trash pick-up committee has been formed. This is not an easy task, sometimes it takes a few garbage bags to hold all of the trash, and vomit that is removed. Another step is to install a new gate system that will allow only the paid renters in the rear lot. This $20,000 system will be installed in the near future. We have also created a new volunteer position of that will be the point of contact with the renters. We are still looking to fill that position.
We have some problems with the homeless population that store their things on our 6th street property. We are in the process of posting signs warning people that personal property will be removed if left on the property. We want to help the homeless people, but we need to think about the integrity and safety of our property. We do financially support various Berks County social service agencies that assist people that are homeless or at risk for being homeless.
For a few months this year and for several, and several months into the future, we are discerning what does good stewardship look like in terms of our money investments, and our carbon footprint.
We have a wedding to look forward to. Jessey Shaffer is a member of Reading Meeting, and Jason Eaby is a member of Nottingham Meeting of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. They want to be married under the care jointly of both Meetings during Camp Swatara weekend. May the (Fourth) Force be with you.
We are looking forward to continued participation with Quarterly Meeting, especially for the family retreat weekend at Camp Swatara, during the first weekend in May. (May 3-5, 2024)
A meeting of the Worship and Ministry Committee of Reading Monthly Meeting was held via Zoom at 6:30 PM on February 1, 2023. Present were Jessy Schaffer, Roger Lawn, Michele Uhrich, Jim Morrissey, Janet Lamborn and Chris Field.Prompted by an email from PYM, we considered and responded to the following queries in preparation for writing a Spiritual State of the Meeting report, which Janet agreed to write:Over the past year, within your meeting community:
• how is Spirit moving in your worship, and how have you nurtured deep, Spirit-led vocal ministry?
Our response: The Zooming in the Spirit discussions and opening exercises have provided inspiration for worship. We don’t recall any recent messages that have not been Spirit led. We agreed that the practice of “kindling,” or entering into silence upon entering the meeting room might be helpful.
• how have you fostered an environment in which members and attenders of all ages and abilities know they are loved, cared for, trusted, and respected?
Our response: Potluck, the Christmas tea and program, and decorating, and an intergenerational group that meets regularly to play Dungeons and Dragons, have generated community among us. Opening exercises are also a way of sharing which can be inclusive. We might consider adding to our game repertoire.
• how have you sought to be neighbors and in relationship with other communities, and how have you been changed by these connections?
Our response: Janet organized a collection of money and gifts to donate through Family Promise to two needy youths. We have a friendly and cooperative relationship with the Lutheran church next door. Sometimes they use our parking lot, and sometimes we use theirs. We also relate to members of the surrounding community through parking space rentals, and are considering holding a book group meeting at the Sixth Street Deli which rents three spaces from us. Our new bulletin board is another way of interacting with those passing by and inviting them to join us. Michele and Chris recently had friendly encounters with several people in the neighborhood while we were picking up trash on the meetinghouse grounds.
• how have you been called to address issues of social justice, inclusivity, and difference, both within your meeting and in the wider world?
Our response: Worship is a source of Spiritual enrichment that nurtures and supports our individual actions. We might be more comfortable with the query if the word “called” were replaced by “led.” We are planning a book discussion about The Color Purple by Toni Morrison, as suggested by FGC.
Report submitted by,
Janet Lamborn, clerk, Reading Monthly Metting of the Religious Society of Friends
