Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting Monthly Meeting for … · The project will cost ... proposal (attached) from EQAT for worshiping at PECO. ... and also provide a changing tapestry of

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting

Monthly Meeting for Business

18 March 2018

Page 1

The meeting for business was clerked by Clerk Jeff Perkins. Thirty-two Friends were present.

Phil Anthony is holding the meeting in the Light as elder. The meeting began with a period of

worship and reading of the Third Query on Spiritual Nurture, Ministry, and Religious Education.

Responses to the queries:

In meeting today there were several messages about education. I am sad that the children were

not there to hear the messages and hope that we can tell the children about the messages.

I’m reflecting on the quote, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” When I think about

Quakerism, I hear a variety of messages that are a lot like going to an art gallery, some are

abstract while some are realistic. There is a variety of approaches in the way we interact with

Friends. I hear ideas that I would never have come up with that are thought provoking, exciting

and grateful.

1. Care and Counsel Committee. Committee Clerk Phil Jones presented the second reading

of Hedie and Steve Kelly’s application for membership for themselves and associate

memberships for their children Samuel and Abraham. The meeting approved the

family’s membership application. A welcoming committee consisting of Rebecca and

Dan Heider, Marlena Santoyo, and Ann and Phil Jones will be convened by Rebecca

Heider.

2. Landscape Committee. Committee clerk Cyane Gresham presented the committee’s

plan for planting the slope to the Blossom parking lot (attached). The project will cost

approximately $10,000 and is expected to be installed in June. Steve Elkinton prepared a

wonderfully detailed plot plan of the plantings and natural areas of the meetings property.

3. Hospitality Committee. Committee co-clerk Martha Rose presented the committee’s

annual report (attached).

4. Worship and Ministry Committee. Committee clerk Rebecca Heider presented a

proposal (attached) from EQAT for worshiping at PECO. The committee is asking the

body of the Meeting to support the efforts by bringing the following minute:

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting offer our support to the Power Local Green Jobs campaign

in part by sending a group from our Meeting to worship at PECO, with prayers focusing

on climate change and economic inequality. It is our hope that Spirit-led, worshipful

activism will bring us closer to the Divine and bear witness in the world to our values of

equality and environmental stewardship. The meeting approved the minute.

Committee clerk Rebecca Heider reported that Eileen Flanagan asked Care & Counsel for

a clearness committee to meet with her and consider new directions in her work and its

relationship to the meeting. The clearness committee discerned that Eileen is clear to seek

a minute of religious service from the meeting and drafted potential wording for such a

minute to be considered in the future. Rebecca explained that the next step in seeking a

minute of religious service from the meeting is for Worship & Ministry to form a

clearness committee to consider the proposed minute of religious service for Eileen. A

recommendation from that committee would then come to business meeting for



18 March 2018

Page 2

discernment as to whether the meeting is clear to take Eileen's religious service under its

care. Meeting approved the forming of a clearness committee for discernment on a

minute of religious service for Eileen's ministry. Friends further approved waiving

the standard practice of bringing the names of their committee back to meeting for

worship for business for approval before they begin their work.

5. Adult Class Committee. Committee clerk Joe Byers presented the committee’s annual

report (attached).

6. 2017 State of the Meeting Report Care and Counsel Committee clerk Phil Jones

presented the state of the meeting report. Friends approved the report to be forwarded

to the Quarter and then on to PYM.

7. Nominating Committee. Committee clerk Dan Evans presented the slate of committee

members to serve 2018 through 2019. Friends approved the committee membership

with modifications.

8. Quarterly Meeting Report. Tricia Walmsley presented the representatives’ report

(attached) as well as the Germantown Meeting Statement on the Treaty on the Prohibition

of Nuclear Weapons (attached) asking if we wanted to unite with the minute and, if not,

were we easy with the Quarter endorsing the minute. Because the minute was not

available for the advance packet for business meeting, after hearing the minute aloud, the

decision on this minute is being held over to the April business meeting. This still allows

time for consideration and approval before the Quarter's April meeting.

After some discussion we decided to hold the decision to support the Germantown

Meeting minute until the April meeting.

9. Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Linda Rosenwein presented the committee’s

request that the Meeting join POWER, an interfaith group working to organize people in

southern and eastern PA to work on criminal justice reform, support of public schools,

economic diversity, health care, and voter issues.

After some discussion we asked Linda to work with Adult RE and the newsletter to get

more information to the Meeting.

Linda also reminded the meeting that Peace and Social Concerns grants totaling $5,000

are granted each year to organizations. The committee will use the newsletter to explain

the process and remind people of the grants from last year. The committee will be

bringing the proposed grants to meeting for business in May.

10. Approval of Minutes for February 2018. There was clarification on

a. Item 2, Rachel White’s application for membership was approved.

b. Item 7. There is no new clerk for the Quarter.

The minutes were approved as amended.

11. Announcements.

a. Continuing sessions will be held in Harrisburg next Saturday.



18 March 2018

Page 3

b. At Annual Sessions (July 2017), Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PhYM) decided to

move forward with a Multicultural institutional assessment. A group was formed to

assist as needed in the assessment process and receive and review the assessment and

then present the findings for consideration at the November continuing sessions.. The

appointed group has again delayed their report, now to 2018 Annual Sessions. The

Undoing Racism Group (URG) of PhYM asked its members to inform others and

share their concern with the lack of progress in this important spiritual work of the

Yearly Meeting.

c. Annual Reports due in the coming months:

i. April

1. Care & Counsel

2. Stewardship

3. Treasurer Quarterly Report

ii. May

1. Tuition Assistance

2. Finance (proposed budget)

3. Safety Coordinator(s)

12. Closing Worship

Storm Evans, recording clerk

NOTIFICATION FROM CHFM LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE

OF UPCOMING SLOPE PROJECT

Last fall the Landscape Committee began focused work on a plan for the slope between Chestnut

Hill Friends Meeting and Blossom (UCP) parking lot. We are pleased now to have a planting

plan that will reduce erosion; provide native plant habitat for birds, butterflies and pollinators;

grow visual screening from the parking lot; and also provide a changing tapestry of natural

beauty.

A subcommittee working group talked initially with three designers and then invited Andrew

Kirkpatrick of Schuylkill Environmental Education Center to submit a concept plan. Chris

Sohnly of Spruce Hollow Design worked with us to refine the plant list; he will act as contractor

to obtain materials and labor for installation.

The slope will first be stabilized with rolls of biodegradable coconut fiber, creating terraces for

additional soil. Plugs of short native flowering plants and grasses will then be planted, along

with a selection of native shrubs. Maintenance should be easier after plants are established.

The Landscape Slope Subcommittee has done its best to set things up to move forward this

spring. If all goes well, the coconut fiber rolls and soil will go in the first or second weekend of

April. Two to three weeks later, there will be a planting, hopefully on a weekend in late April

when everyone can join in. This can be thought of as 'the Rain Garden planting on terraces!'

We appreciate interest and support and invite participation or questions.

We continue striving to express Quaker testimonies through stewardship of our environment.

Hospitality Committee Annual Report for 2017 Submitted March 2018

Summary

2017 was very much like 2016. We served lunch on First Sundays of the months in all months except August (vacation) and December (when Christmas breakfast is held on the second Sunday of December). We setup and cleaned up on Blue Moon (fifth Sunday) potlucks, and on Finger Food Sundays (third Sunday, prior to Meeting for Worship for Business). On Easy Even Sundays (second and fourth Sundays) light refreshments were, as in 2016, handled by various committees, one month each, with occasional assistance from Hospitality Committee.

Our greatest challenge at this time is figuring out how to make Finger Food Sunday less stressful for committee members, shorter, and more helpful toward supporting Meeting for Worship for Business.

Our Membership

We currently have 19 members, whose involvement varies based on travel and other constraints. We have requested 2 new members be found. We have committee meetings twice a year, in which we sign up for coordinator duties for the next 6 months.

Ongoing Activities

1. First Sunday Lunch

In 2017, as in most previous years, we provided the food, the setup, and the cleanup, for between 70 and 90 people. Setup starts at approx. 9:30 am. The lunch begins at rise of meeting (approx. 11:40 am) and cleanup ends approx. 1:15-1:30 pm.

Challenges:

1) Set up and take down of Social Room. For a year we have been using signs on tables requesting help with clearing tables and putting away tables and chairs. Sometimes we receive lots of help from non-Hospitality members; sometimes not so much. Sometimes we receive it from aging members of the community who we worry about and wish they wouldn't. Many on the committee also have physical troubles, e.g. lifting chairs above waist level.

2) Indefatigable Appetites. Approximately 6-8 members feel compelled to make 2 or 3 dishes, rather than run out of food. Nevertheless, we sometimes run out of food before the upstairs teachers arrive for lunch. (In the old building, we usually had enough with members providing one dish.)

2. Finger Food Sunday (3rd Sunday prior to Meeting for Worship for Business)

In 2015 we began using small plates, no utensils, for food brought by the entire meeting, as a way of simplifying cleanup and allowing Meeting for Worship for Business to begin on time. We continue this approach.

Challenges:

Although it is announced at meeting and in newsletters, we continue to have 80% of food (or more) contributed by the members of the Hospitality Committee, rather than the entire meeting. While we first supplemented with running for last minute store-bought hoagies, we have more recently put out only what food arrives.

Changes to come:

At the recent semi-annual meeting of the Hospitality Committee, February 24, 2018, consensus arose that many in the meeting have begun to assume the third Sunday Finger Food is a full lunch for all, similar to First Sunday. Many go back and refill the small plates. It may have strayed from its original intent which (we have heard) was to serve lunch to those staying for Meeting For Worship for Business. Also, while it was simplified to Finger Food to enable business meeting to start on time, and allow Hospitality members to get to meeting if they choose, there in actuality has not been as quick a cleanup as we would like, because many linger and do not go to Meeting for Business. We discussed changes such as:

1.) Set up only 4 round tables (had been 6 or more), or, possibly use only rectangular tables for seating, with chairs on the periphery. This might help distinguish it visually from First Sunday lunch.

2.) Rename the event to stress its connection to Meeting for Business, such as, "Light Bites Before Business".

3.) In announcements, mention it is lunch for those staying for Business Meeting, though all are welcome.

We will continue to consider and fine tune these changes. Input from outside the committee is also welcome.

3. Easy Evens (2nd and 4th Sundays)

In 2015 we began assigning coffee and light refreshments to the other meeting committees, with each committee taking one month (hence 2 Sundays) per year. We are extremely grateful for this opportunity to not be on duty every Sunday. We have urged the committees to keep this simple, such as bagels/cream cheese, and one or two sweet breads or similar. We believe this is working fairly well.

4. Blue Moon Potluck (5th Sundays)

In 2017, Blue Moon Potlucks were very well attended (70-90) and were generously contributed to by the meeting members and attenders.

Challenges:

The physical challenges of the setup and take down of the Social Room furniture, as explained above, still exist, as they do for 3rd Sundays as well.

5. Christmas Breakfast

Christmas Breakfast 2017 was a rip roaring success, largely due to the fact that John Bieneck created a large drawing mural which children were invited to color in with markers. Several parents commented this was one of the best events in their children's experiences at the meeting. John has continued to create drawings since, for the

children. The exact details of the size/frequency/hanging of new seasonal drawings is under development.

Final Words

We are happy we can be of service to the CHFM community, and are in a fairly status quo place right now. The challenges we face, such as longer/heavier setups, longer/heavier cleanups, greater amounts of food required, sometimes seem tiring. However, it seems important to continue to do this for the jovial interactions that occur when sharing food and drink, and for the welcome it asserts, particularly to newcomers and to children.

Martha Rose & Al Vernacchio, co-clerks

MeetingforWorshipatPECOContext:RightnowourlocalutilityPECOonlyprocures0.25%ofitselectricityfromsolar,keepingourregiontiedtofossilfuelsandmissingawonderfulopportunityforlocaleconomicdevelopment.ThePowerLocalGreenJobscampaignispressuringPECOtomoveto20%localsolarby2025andtodoitinawaythatprioritizesjobcreationandaccesstosolarownershipforourregion’spoorestneighborhoods.ThecampaignisledbyEarthQuakerActionTeam(EQAT)inpartnershipwithPhiladelphiansOrganizedtoWitnessEmpowerandRebuild(POWER).ChestnutHillMonthlyMeetinghaslonggivencontributionstoEQATfromPeaceandSocialConcernsfunds.TherearealsoasignificantnumberofmeetingmemberswhodonatetoEQAT,andseveralwhohaveattendedEQATactions.EileenFlanagan,EQAT’sboardclerk,hasgivenpresentationstothemeetingaboutEQAT’swork,aswellasannouncementsaftermeetingandinthenewsletter.Proposal:EQATinvitesChestnutHillMonthlyMeetingtosupportthePowerLocalGreenJobscampaignbysendingagroupfromthemeetingtoworshipatPECOheadquartersat23rdandMarketonaweekdayofthemeeting’schoosing.ThiswouldbeQuakerworshipwithprayersfocusingonclimatechange,economicinequality,andourhopethatPECOwilltakeleadershipontheseissues.Whileagroupofmeetingmemberscoulddothiswithoutthesupportofthefullmeeting,itwouldfeelparticularlymeaningfulifthebodycansupportthisactionwithaminute.Nosignsorpropsarerequestedfromthemeeting.EQATwillprovidewhatevertrainingWorshipandMinistryfeelswouldbehelpful,aswellasafewEQATleaderstoactasguidesandsecurityliaisononthedayoftheaction.EQATwillbemakingsimilarrequestsofothercongregationsinthearea,thoughChestnutHillMeetingisoneofthefirsttobeasked.AnticipatedQuestionsIsthereanyriskofourbeingarrested? No.Ifsecurityasksustoleave,wewillleave.IsthereanyriskofourbeinglockedoutofPECO’slobby? Yes.IfPECOdoesnotletusin,wewillworshipoutsidethebuilding.Howlongwilltheworshipbe? That’suptothegroup,mostlikelybetween20minutesto45.Ifweare lockedoutinthecold,theSpiritmightbesatisfiedwithashortmeeting.Whatwillthisaccomplish? Well,there’snotellingwhatprayerwilldo,thoughweseethisaspartofan ongoingstrategy.SimilarmeetingsforworshipwerepartofEQAT’s successfulcampaigntogetPNCtostopfinancingmountaintopremovalcoal mining.

Context:EileenFlanaganaskedCare&Counselforaclearnesscommitteetomeetwithherandconsidernewdirectionsinherworkanditsrelationshiptothemeeting.JoeByers,GinnyChristensen,HeatherGray,andAmeyHutchinsmetwithEileenonMarch9,2018.ThecommitteefeltthatEileenwascleartobegintheprocessofseekingaminuteofreligiousservicefromthemeeting.Theclearnesscommitteeisnotrequestingapprovaloftheminuteofreligiousservicebutrequestingthemeetingtotakethenextstepinconsideringthatminute.

ProposedMinuteforApprovalatMarchMeetingforBusiness:FriendsapprovetheformationbyWorship&MinistryofaclearnesscommitteetoconsidertheproposedminuteofreligiousserviceforEileenFlanagan(seebelow)andtotestthemeeting’sclearnesstotakeEileen’sministryunderitscare.Theclearnesscommitteewillreportbacktomeetingforbusinessandrequestthemeeting’sapprovalfortheminuteofreligiousserviceifwayseemscleartodoso.

ProposedMinuteofReligiousServiceforEileenFlanagan:ChestnutHillFriendsMeetingrecognizesthatourlongtimemember,EileenFlanagan,hasbeencalledbytheSpiritintoapropheticministryofhealinghumanity’sseparationfromtheearth,eachother,andtheDivine.Herministryincludeswriting,teaching,publicspeaking,andtravel.Groundedinhercommitmenttofollowdivineguidanceandtestedbyherfaithfulpublicactionforenvironmentaljustice,herministryisanexpressionofthepropheticQuakertraditionofchallengingthosesystemsandpracticesthatkeepusfromlivinginrightrelationshipwithCreationandeachother.Wehavereceivedtheblessingofherministryinourowncommunity.Wesupporthercalltopublicministry,withprayer;byprovidingacommitteeforsupportandaccountability;andbyreceivingdonationsandgrantstoChestnutHillMeetingtobereleasedtoEileenforthecostsofthiswork.Eileenandhercommitteewillreportannually.Attheendofthethirdyearthemeetingwillrevisititscommitmenttosupportthisministry.WecommendEileentoall,inthehopethatshewillbekindlyreceivedwhereversheserves.

ADULT CLASS COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT

March 18, 2017

The Adult Class Committee provides the meeting with learning events from September through June each year.

This Year by the Numbers …

Number of events presented 24Overall number of participants in events Approaching 400Most popular single learning event 48 participants Average size of participant group: 15-20Names on our e-mail invite list: 100 and countingCHFM community members who presented 14Outside guests who presented 13

Inside the Committee • The distinction between classes and forums has softened this year. We’ve come to think

more in terms of “learning events” instead—whether the learning be inwardly or outwardly focused. Most events continue to be offered at 9 A.M. on Sunday mornings—but other times and days can also serve.

• We have worked diligently this year to share the work of the committee among our members more fully so that all of us have an opportunity to make significant contributions. With all our members bringing an experience of full participation in the work, it is hoped that the task of calling a new committee clerk this spring may be simplified. We ask the meeting to hold us in the light as we discern our way forward.

• Where do our ideas come from? Many places: from Friends suggesting issues the meeting is grappling with, from current events, from people who volunteer to present, etc.

• How do we work to create programming? Sometimes we choose a theme for a month, sometimes committee members pair up to develop presentations, etc.

• The committee met 4 times this year: 3 planning meetings (1 for each of our program trimesters), plus 1 yearly retreat.

• The committee affirms and subscribes to the overall safety policy of the meeting. Our event hosts additionally have a special care for the safety of our guest presenters and any guest participants who may occasionally join us.

Thank-You • Big shout out to Marlena Santoyo and Signe Wilkinson, great friends of the committee, for

co-producing some of our events this year. • Acknowledgments to committee member Patrick Jamieson and his son Finn for providing

crucial AV technical support to our presenters.

Sample Feedback • “The CHFM adult class offerings that you've been organizing are nothing less than fabulous.

I've been watching and marveling. SUCH a valuable addition to the life of our meeting! Many thanks for this wonderful work.”

• “The whole meeting is thriving in many ways because of the work of all of you on the committee.”

• “This is so thoughtful and impressive; thank you for all the wonderful work you do for the meeting.”

• “Such a good program you have organized!” • “I enjoy receiving your program announcements. Your curriculum and programs are quite

remarkable.”

Complete List of Learning Events This Year

Date(s) Title Presenter(s)

March 26 God Loves the Stranger: Stories, Poems & Prayers Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg

April 2/9/30 Encountering Islam: Exploring the Holy Qur’an Imams Muhammad Abdul-Aleem and Salaam Muhsin

May 7 Taizé Chanting Loretta Lucy Miller

May 15 Peace-Building in the Americas: A Conversation Visiting Friend Mónica Maher

June 4 Faith and Practice Visiting Friend Howard Cell

June 11 Lessons in Forgiveness from “Angels in America” Bill diCanzio

June 11 Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network PIHN Committee

June 25 Friends Committee on National Legislation: A Conversation Visiting Friend Emily Temple

September 10 Religious Influence on Art of the Middle East Rachel Eschenbach and Diane Dunning

September 24 The UN "Lifeline" Program: Helping Struggling Refugees Survive Visiting Friend Carol Shearon

October 1 Ujima Friends Peace Center Visiting Friend Dr. Ayesha Imani

October 25 “Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box” Angela P. Dodson

October 29 “Dreams and Nightmares: Sueños y Pesadillas” Liliana Velásquez

November 5 Sharing Our Spiritual Journeys: Talking About Things That Matter Ellen Deacon and Jeff Perkins

November 12 “Our Life Is Love” Visiting Friend Marcelle Martin

December 3 Paying Attention Spiritually ... Lessons from Travel to India and Nepal Sarah Sharp

December 17 Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 Dylan Steinberg

January 7 Centering Down: A Grab Bag of User-Friendly Tools Katy Hawkins, Ph.D.

January 14 Friends Do What?! Susan Lee Barton

February 4 Systemic Racism Jean Warrington, Peter Warrington, and Visiting Friend Dr. Ayesha Imani

March 4 Enjoyable Conversation About End-of-Life Issues Betsy Wallace and Sarah Whitman

March 11 The Quaker Sanctuary Tradition Visiting Friend Linda Rabbin

—Submitted by Joe Byers, Committee Clerk, March 18, 2018

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting State of the Meeting Report, 2017

Since our last State of the Meeting Report in 2011, Chestnut Hill Meeting has undergone tremendous change and growth. In 2013 we held our first meeting for worship in our new meetinghouse. The new meetinghouse has ushered in a new era for us, bringing both joys and challenges.

Community With a larger, more accessible space, our attendance has grown to about 80 regular attenders per week. We have been blessed to have had several families and individuals requesting membership each year, so that our membership has remained steady at around 200, even as we have lost about 60 members in the past decade due to death, transfer, resignation and release. We feel especially grateful that our new members and attenders include people of color and families with children, making us a younger and more diverse community than we were in prior decades. Our discernment about the membership process is ongoing, with specific considerations about how long someone should have attended before requesting membership and how to handle membership requests from individuals with mental health challenges. In a joint committee meeting of Care & Counsel and Worship & Ministry, we discerned that preparing our attenders for membership is a long-term process that begins with their first visit. Our challenge is to find ways to encourage their active involvement in our community, instruct them in our Quaker practices, and nurture their spiritual growth. In recent years our after-meeting hospitality offerings have increased, with refreshments now offered almost every week. Having more opportunities to make connections among ourselves and with newcomers makes us a stronger, closer community. It also places a greater burden on our Hospitality Committee, and over time we have found ways to make this more efficient, for example in rotating responsibility among committees and serving simpler refreshments when we can. With more visitors and rentals, we have worked to address safety issues at the meetinghouse under the direction of two new Safety Coordinators. They are guiding committees in examining all aspects of our Meeting life from the perspective of safety, including physical safety (e.g., fire evacuation procedures), child safety, the safety of renters in our building, and the safety of Meeting employees and volunteers. This safety effort was in part prompted by some instances of worrisome behavior by individuals with evident mental health issues. The counsel of meeting

2/28/2018 DRAFT State of the Meeting Report Page 1

members who are mental health professionals has been important in guiding our search for appropriate responses. One outcome was the scheduling of a Mental Health First Aid training offered as a Saturday workshop; some 25 people from our Meeting and at least one other monthly meeting attended. Our work on safety guidelines is ongoing, as is our discernment in how to balance our commitment to inclusivity with our responsibility to keep our community safe.

Worship With a diverse and constantly shifting population, our Meeting’s spiritual condition is difficult to describe; we are not homogeneous. While we have many long-time, well seasoned members and attenders, we also have a constant stream of people new to Quakerism. Many in both categories would probably accept the label of “seeker,” indicating that their beliefs and spiritual practices are open to new sources of inspiration and that they are actively working to deepen their spiritual lives. There is a vibrancy of seeking here among newcomers who are drawn to the Meeting because it offers an experience of quiet and an opportunity for centering amid all of the outside bombardment of noise. An influx of new people has affected our worship experience. Our meetings for worship tend to be quite vocal, often with 6 to 8 messages, and we sometimes have less grounded ministry, drawing too heavily on personal stories or current events. This problem is compounded when new attenders hear ungrounded ministry and take this as a model for what vocal ministry should be. We attempt to address this by offering many opportunities for members and attenders to learn more about Quaker history and practices, including: offering new members a Special Friend for their first year of membership; organizing spiritual friendship groups; and hosting Seekers’ meetings several times a year. We sometimes use eldering to address concerns about vocal ministry, but we believe this practice should be Spirit led and deeply grounded, consisting in large part of listening, compassion, and building trust. In our meetings for worship with attention to business we try to balance the need for effective decision-making with opportunities for grounded discernment. We are always considering ways to increase attendance at these meetings, as only a small group (20% to 30% of those coming to worship) currently participate in our decision-making. In past few years we have benefitted from the practice of assigning at least one elder to hold our proceedings in the Light.

Education We believe that one of our key responsibilities is to nurture and support the spiritual journeys of the children in our Meeting, instilling in them the principles of our Quaker faith as well as the capability and responsibility to act on principles in their lives. Our hardworking Religious Education Committee runs First Day School for 50+ enrolled children, with anywhere from 20 to 40 attending each week. Several families have been attracted to Chestnut Hill Meeting because of our vibrant FDS program, and some even travel a significant distance to get here.


Family Meetings for Worship, held several times a year, are a valuable opportunity for intergenerational connection. One challenge is that a dedicated group of RE committee members has been worn out by the demands on their time and energy without the support they need from the Meeting at large in terms of volunteers and new committee members. We are also concerned about the spiritual wellbeing of our RE Committee because they consistently miss most or all of worship due to their teaching responsibilities. A recently-hired FDS coordinator should give some relief to the committee and make our FDS more sustainable. Our Adult Class, typically offered twice a month before worship, is another tool we have to deepen the spiritual foundation of our meeting. The Adult Class has grown larger and more active over the past few years, with an average of 20 attendees at each class; on occasion attendance has exceeded the capacity of the room (about 25). A wide variety of class offerings are intended to educate our community about Quakerism as well as other faith traditions and to explore topics of current interest. We offered a series of classes on the fundamentals of Quakerism, as well as on prayer, vocal ministry, queries, and the Yearly Meeting’s new draft Faith and Practice. Members shared accounts of their own ministry in the world. Another series helped members better understand Islam and connect with a local mosque.

Our Witness to the World We are troubled by the state of the world and challenged to find ways to bear witness to violence and injustice. As part of our commitment to peace and equality, we are called to engage in a variety of actions to work toward a better world. We lift up and support many individual ministries, prominent among them Earth Quaker Action Team and Historic Fair Hill. Our Peace and Social Concerns Committee offers $5,000 a year in grants to organizations nominated by our members. We also support several ministries of the Meeting. For the month of July we host homeless families through the Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network and we support this organization in other ways throughout the year. A new Meeting ministry has been the emergence of a Refugee Support Working Group, which has raised more than $7,000 for Lifeline, a program run by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees to provide cash assistance to Syrian refugees living in Jordan. As part of our commitment to equality, we are led to work against systemic racism in our society as well as within ourselves. In 2017 we co-sponsored a class on Mindfulness and White Privilege. Our Worship and Ministry Committee chose the question of white privilege and its effect on our spiritual journeys as the topic for our annual retreat. Our Meeting spent several months in discernment around a minute on racism, approved in November 2017. In crafting this minute, we worked together to find a balance between acknowledging our past failings and pledging our commitment to future action. Following this process, committees and individuals in our community are discerning how we are called to carry out the challenging work of exposing and redressing racism within our Meeting and in the world beyond.


When we built this meetinghouse, it was our hope that it would be a community resource as part of our ministry of outreach, and in many ways that desire has been fulfilled. On a given week, in addition to our Meeting’s own events, our meetinghouse is the site of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotic Anonymous meetings, classes offered by Mount Airy Learning Tree, concerts, weddings, and baby showers. We are the home of member Katy Hawkins’s Shiné yoga program, with classes four days a week. Twice a year we serve as a polling place. We are pleased to be able to offer a welcoming, accessible venue to so many in our community, and we see this as part of our ministries of hospitality and outreach. We continue to learn about our leadings as individuals and as a community and our capacity to love and act in the world, as well as our limitations.

Physical Space We are still adapting our building and its grounds to our needs as a community. Our Property Committee has worked hard to learn about and maintain our new space, as well as to address unexpected issues such as roof damage and plumbing repairs. With larger outdoor space, our Landscape Committee has been challenged to plant and maintain landscaping that is both functional and attractive, including gardens of native plants in stormwater swales. We built an outdoor playspace for our children with help from a design class at a local Friends school. In 2017 we installed solar paneling on the roof to reduce our environmental impact. Our Skyspace light installation, Greet the Light, designed by Quaker artist James Turrell, has been experienced by more than 11,000 visitors since we opened it to the public in October 2013. The contemplative nature of the experience has affinity to our Quaker worship, and some of those who first visited to see it returned later to worship with us. At the same time, the additional work of hosting and maintaining this artwork has brought us new tasks and considerations as a community. The newly formed Skyspace Committee schedules, advertises, maintains, and hosts Greet the Light.

Financial Health Our budget and financial situation has changed along with the growth of our community and our move into the new meetinghouse. The Meeting undertook a coordinated capital campaign to raise the funds for the meetinghouse and the Turrell Skyspace, reaching out to the Meeting community and the wider world. As the fundraising and building stages came to a close, we had more energy to devote to other priorities; some committees were dissolved and others created to address our changing needs. One of these new committees, the Stewardship Committee, ensures long-term capital reserves to enable us to meet future needs, including preserving the Turrell Skyspace.


Chestnut Hill Meeting does not have an unrestricted endowment, so the operating expenses of the Meeting are mostly met through donations from members and attenders. Donations have increased from across our community, and we receive additional income through an active meetinghouse rental program, primarily to local religious and non-profit groups. This income covers the day-to-day expenses of running the Meeting as well as covenants and grants programs. We offer grants to various nonprofits through our Peace and Social Concerns Committee, and our Finance Committee oversees the distribution of funds to the various Quaker organizations that we have committed to support. Through growth in all of these areas, our budget has almost doubled since the last report, allowing us to support a rich and active Meeting life. Our overall financial situation is healthy as the Meeting has run balanced budgets every year since moving into the new meetinghouse, improved its balance sheet by paying down part of our mortgage, and set aside funds for the future needs of the Skyspace. We are grateful to have had this opportunity to assess our strengths and challenges as a community. We are blessed in the foundation of Quaker tradition and institutions as well as in the renewal we gain from the constant inflow of new energy and ideas. All of these bring us closer to each other and to the Divine.


Nominating Committee Report Legend: Not Continuing Submitted: 3/18/18 New Members Page 1 of 3 † (One Year Appointment)

Nominating Committee Report: Committees of Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting

The Nominating Committee is pleased to nominate the committee members shown in the third column for terms ending 3/31/2020. (The continuing members of committees are shown in the second column for informational purposes.)

This chart below does not include officers who are members of committees “ex officio.” See list following the chart.

Committee Continuing Terms (Ending 3/31/2019)

Appointments (Terms Ending 3/31/2020)

Adult Class Sarah Whitman Irene McHenry Randy Granger

Heather Gray Anne Hawkins Phil Moore Nancy Stedman

Care & Counsel Mickey Abraham Joe Byers Phil Jones Miyo Moriuchi Nan Thompson

Jude Brandt Peter Warrington

Finance* Storm Evans Craig San Pietro Dylan Steinberg Erica Warshawer

Chuck Bragitikos Christopher Strom Peter Warrington

Hospitality Nancy Brockway Linda Clark Ann Jones Betsy Wallace Peter Warrington

Sunil Acharya John Bieniek Monika Brandmair Jennifer Chernak Nancy Cox Pauline Doyle Diane Fiske Ken Martin Alison Marzuoli Loretta Lucy Miller Martha Rose Al Vernacchio Liz Williams




Landscape Diane Dunning Diane Fiske Cyane Gresham Ann Jones Nancy Stedman Beth Zelasky

Miriam Fisher Andrew Freifeld Roger Walmsley

Office & Administration*

Dan Evans Amey Hutchins† Thomas Taylor

George Benz Carla White

Outreach Marlena Santoyo Jean Warrington

Bill DiCanzio Pauline Doyle Heather Gray Michelle Martin Donna Pucci Barbara Sherf Nan Thompson

Peace & Social Concerns

Zach Duncan-Tessmer Marlena Santoyo

Betty Hartzell Linda Rosenwein Bob Rosenwein Kerri Strom Jean Warrington Kay Wood

PIHN John Florence Carla White Signe Wilkinson

Evangeline Bragatikos Barbara Buonocore Toni Bushnell Jan Collins Nancy Cox Tricia Walmsley

Property & House Lisa DiGiacomo Storm Evans Michael Quirk

George Benz Dan Evans Cyane Gresham Lynn Mather Bob Reynolds Chris Singler

Religious Education Diane Dunning Tricia Walmsley Jean Warrington

Crystal Bianchi Meg Mitchell Andrew Freifeld Jon Landau John Roberts




Skyspace Phil Jones Vera Krymskaya Martha Rose George Benz Bob Reynolds

Signe Wilkinson Heidi Heller Alison Marzuoli Bill McCall Betsy Robertson Jessika Remolona

Stewardship Nikka Beaugard Diane Fiske

Mary Day Kent Jon Landau Bill McCall Christopher Strom Signe Wilkinson

Worship & Ministry Lilly Basgall Steve Elkinton† Rebecca Heider Craig San Pietro

Ellen Deacon Katy Hawkins Loretta Lucy Miller Janaki Spickard-Keeler

Committees/Positions Without Fixed Terms.

Burial John Roberts Shannon Roberts

Library Esther Gilbert Ken McEwan Mira McEwan Meg Mitchell Sarah Sharp

Tuition Assistance Betty Hartzell

Quarterly Meeting Phil Anthony Roger Walmsley Tricia Walmsley

FCNL Liason TBD

Safety Coordinators Storm Evans Sarah Sharp

* Ex Officio Memberships:

Finance Committee: Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer Office & Admin. Committee: Recording Clerk, Recorder, Meeting Secretary

Respectfully submitted: Dan Evans, Meg Mitchell, Sarah Sharp, Liz Williams

Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting Report03/18/2018

Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting representatives met at Friends Center and by conference call on Tuesday evening, 3/13/2018.

The next Quarterly Meeting session will be held at Green Street MM on First-day, 4/22/2018. The program, which will follow worship and potluck lunch, will be a workshop entitled “Spiritual Deepening and Healing”, presented by Green Street’s Valerie Anderson and Tracey Smith. Details of the schedule are still in progress.

An item for the business agenda will be a minute of concern on nuclear arms brought forward from Germantown MM (attached). Germantown lifts up a treaty on prohibition of nuclear weapons approved by the United Nations General Assembly last summer, which no nuclear power supported. It calls on the United States and all other nations to sign and ratify the treaty, and asks other Friends’ groups to “walk with us as we seek all nonviolent methods for achieving the worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons and a more peaceful world.” Germantown MM requests that other monthly meetings and the Quarter unite with the minute.

One step in walking with Germantown MM, it was suggested, might be participation in the fifteenth annual Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation on First-day, 4/29.It will start at the Arch Street Meetinghouse and proceed to the Al Aqsa Mosque. Signs supporting nuclear disarmament might be carried by some members of the Quaker contingent; it will be explored whether the walk’s organizers find that consistent with this year’s theme, “Recognizing the One in All of Us”. Friends in the Quarter are urged to take part in the walk.

Work continues to define what “under the care of” means for Friends’ organizations. A member of the board of directors of one institution in Philadelphia Quarter suggested that it may be different for our various organizations. Two organizations have responded that the Quarter contribution of $500 annually is not necessary. It is expected that the topic will be explored further at the April business meeting.

With the Quarter representatives’ group serving as a Quarter nominating committee, it is hoped that nominations for a rising clerk, a recording clerk, and an assistant treasurer will be brought forward in April. It was also agreed that the current clerk would continue for an additional year as “mentoring clerk” to her or his successor. Names have been suggested for rising clerk and assistant treasurer. The Quarter is still looking for someone willing to serve as recording clerk.

Philip G. Anthony, Roger Walmsley, and Tricia Walmsley, Quarter representatives.

Germantown Meeting Statement on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

January 14, 2018

On July 7, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly, by a vote of 122 to 1, approved a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The comprehensive scope of this treaty is heartening and unprecedented. But the obstacles to the treaty?s full implementation are enormous. No country with nuclear weapons supported the treaty. The United States and other nuclear powers have been hostile to it as they maintain the dangerous logic of nuclear deterrence and the possibility of nuclear devastation. This important UN action has received too little publicity. It is clear that the treaty needs to be widely publicized in this country and throughout the world.

Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends strongly supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We applaud the initiative of Multnomah (OR) Friends Meeting in alerting Friends to the importance of this international instrument. We are guided on this issue by the Quaker Peace Testimony, which calls on us to live in the virtue of that life that takes away the occasion of all wars. We affirm the longstanding work of Friends and others in calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, which, like chemical and biological weapons, deserve to be singled out for their particularly horrifying nature. We strongly support the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and call upon the United States and all nations to sign and ratify it. We ask others to walk with us as we seek all nonviolent methods for achieving the worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons and a more peaceful world.

Documents

Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting Monthly Meeting for … · The project will cost ... proposal (attached) from EQAT for worshiping at PECO. ... and also provide a changing tapestry of