Woodstown Meeting has kept our spiritual community thriving this past year by continuing First Day School, Meeting for Worship, Meeting for Business, and committee meetings via zoom; whenever we could not safely gather. Meeting for Worship was held outside on the meetinghouse grounds when weather permitted. Breakfast with Friends, which was enjoyed on occasional First Day mornings, also fostered fellowship remotely.
Our annual Strawberry Supper took on a new take-out only format. It enabled us to raise funds for our annual benevolences and enjoy the preparation and serving together. We were able to maintain our “closeness” while maintaining our distance.
Our social witness is supported by our benevolences – land mine detectors, local and regional projects, as well as giving to various Quaker organizations. We have an active sewing group that makes quilts that are shared with newborns in area hospitals. We are thrilled to report that the family we supported in sanctuary have successfully received green cards, are now living and working in their new community, and have seen their children enroll in college.
Outreach to our members included visits, and calls; as well as the sending of cards on birthdays, and flowers at Christmas and Easter. Additionally, we sent out our annual Scattergood calendars, a directory of members/attenders, which also included committee lists and a meeting schedule.
Both our Music at Friends programs, and making our meetinghouse available for hosting during Woodstown’s Candlelight Tour, provide opportunities for our meeting not only to welcome the community to our building, but also to sell our Equal Exchange food items, which assist in our benevolence of purchasing mine detectors.
Adult First Day School is an important and well attended religious education experience. Topics of classes this year have included ways to better understand racism, the intricacies of language, Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, insights into Quaker history, and an overview of the history of Day of the Dead celebrations.
Suggestions for further discussion this year include preventing gun violence, protecting voting rights, maintaining a Quaker presence at Friends Village, our local CCRC, as well as arranging speakers from AFSC, FCNL, and PYM.
An ad hoc committee is exploring the cost of installing Wi-Fi in our building to continue to be able to provide a reliable and vital link to our community.
Membership concerns led to a session on how to offer spiritual nurturing for young families. Creating outreach opportunities through the community and through Mullica Hill Friends School were suggested. Also, we discussed inviting some of our younger Quakers to assist with the selection of future performers for our Music at Friends program.
Monthly FCNL reports and attendance in PYM threads/webinars are keeping us more Informed and aware of our larger Quaker community.
Happily, we are back in person for First Day School and Meeting for Worship. March Quarterly Meeting will be at Woodstown in person and on zoom.
In closing, I confidently share that the state of our meeting is strong. This is primarily due to active committees and deep listening to Friends’ concerns and leadings. Our benevolences reflect our commitment to the testimonies and to the greater good.
