Thank you to the Yearly Meeting for the opportunity to consider and present a report of the spiritual state of the Southampton Friends Meeting. We chose to consider each of the suggested queries to structure our report.
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?
- Expressions of gratitude for services rendered to the Meeting have been forthcoming from members and corporately in minutes from the meeting.
- The meeting has committed itself to improve the facility to the point of welcoming everyone to the meeting. This includes HVAC and other physical attributes of the Meeting to improve comfort levels.
- The return of an attender that had experienced the care and concern of the meeting has encouraged us to be aware of extending love, respect and compassion to all who visit us. One attender has brought her infant who makes delightful baby noises.
- The Meeting has been holding Visioning Sessions which have created a forum for discussion about the building of our community. These sessions have fostered an environment that allowed hopes and wishes of the heart to be expressed.
- The 1st day education sessions have created an opportunity for outreach to occasional attenders.
2. How have you sought to be neighbors and in relationship with other communities?
- Members attended and participated in the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at The Old School Baptist Meeting House on 2nd St Pike in Upper Southampton and expressed spiritual outreach to other religious communities.
- The Meeting rents space to three groups at a nominal cost: Welcoming The Stranger, an immigrant educational group and two Narcotics Anonymous groups.
- As in past years several of our members have volunteered at the bucks Quarter Peace Fair, held at Buckingham Friends Meeting to help with clean up.
- Most of our active members are also members of Bryn Gweled, an intentional, cooperative community in Upper Southampton.
- We recently rented our facility to The Home Church at Bryn Athyn
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?
- The Meeting is continuing to Vigil for Racial Justice on Sundays into its third year. This is held every Sunday afternoon ever since George Floyd was murdered.
- The Meeting invited Kevin E. Levin, of the Bucks County Anti Racism Coalition to speak and modified some of the signage related to our Vigil based on his input.
- Once a month for the last several, we have been considering the Pendle Hill pamphlet “Race, Systemic Violence and Retrospective Justice“ by Harold Weaver at our monthly adult First Day School sessions
- One of our members is part of the PYM Addressing Racism Collaborative
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? Has your Meeting appointed a Climate Witness liaison?
- Three of our active members are members of EQAT. One is a Board Member
- One of our members actively participates with Philly Thrive.
- We have not appointed a Climate Witness liaison. We have decreased paper good use by purchasing ceramic plates for food service, not using plastic ware and purchasing bathroom tissue and paper towels from Reelpaper.com, a black owned company who uses recycled paper and bamboo for products.
5. What learnings and yearnings particular to your meeting would you like to share?
- Members expressed a yearning for young families to join us.
- Others stated the hope that those who visit us would return.
- There is a hope that someday we would have an endowment sufficient to cover our expenses without utilizing the principal.
6. What are things the Yearly Meeting might do to support your meeting?
- Streamlined grant proposal process.
- Continue the website donation process, which encourages people to donate easily via credit card. .
This report is a collaborative effort with input from active members of Southampton Monthly Meeting. Many thanks to all who participated. Submitted by: Carolyn A.P. Michener for Southampton Monthly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends
