ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING of the Religious Society of Friends

Transcription

1 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING of the Religious Society of Friends NEWSLETTER JULY-AUGUST 2015 WEDNESDAY Abington Monthly Meeting Meetinghouse Road Jenkintown Pennsylvania Abington Quarterly Meeting SEVENTH & EIGHTH MONTH Continued on page 2 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Meeting Secretary: Loretta Fox, phone: , fax: , amm@abingtonfriends.net Office hours vary. Deadline for September NEWSLETTER is August 10 th. Please give information to Loretta Fox. Clerk : Tom Dwyer JULY 1 ST JULY - AUGUST MEETING ACTIVITIES SUNDAY JULY 5 TH WEDNESDAY JULY 8 TH SUNDAY JULY 12 TH 10:30 a.m. Care of Members Committee Meeting, Short Stable WEDNESDAY JULY 15 TH SUNDAY JULY 19 TH 10:30 a.m. Sandwich Making for the Needy Mission Day trips for Middle School and High School age children will resume in the fall. (See page 3) MONDAY JULY 20 TH 7:00 p.m. MONTHLY MEETING FOR WORSHIP TO ATTEND TO BUSINESS Reports: Religious Education, Audit, Abington Quarterly Meeting WEDNESDAY SUNDAY JULY 22 ND JULY 26 TH Contributions may be sent to: Abington Monthly Meeting, c/o Assistant Treasurers Tom & Carolyn Spencer, 520 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046

2 JULY-AUGUST 2015 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 2 WEDNESDAY JULY 29 TH PYM ANNUAL SESSIONS BEGIN! (See page 4) SUNDAY AUGUST 2 ND WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5 TH SUNDAY AUGUST 9 TH Abington Quarterly Meeting Picnic! All Welcome! (See page 6) WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12 TH SUNDAY AUGUST 16 TH WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19 TH SUNDAY AUGUST 23 RD WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26 TH SUNDAY AUGUST 30 TH Summer Meetings for Worship 9:30 a.m. Outdoor Meeting and 11:15 a.m. Indoor Meeting We ask that you not bring dogs to outdoor Meeting for Worship. Service dogs are always welcome. Regardless of weather, both Meetings are held every Sunday. If it rains, the outdoor announcer may choose to begin the "outdoor" Meeting in the John Barnes Room. IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION FOR CLERKS AND GROUP LEADERS! If you are the clerk of an AMM committee or the coordinator of a group that meets at Abington Meeting, PLEASE be sure to send the dates and times that your group will be meeting during the summer and during the upcoming school year to Loretta in the office as soon as possible. Space is reserved on a first-come-first-served basis, unless there is a special need for a particular space, such as members who cannot climb stairs. Please do NOT assume that your meeting dates and times will carry over to the next year, unless you notify Loretta. Thank you for your cooperation as our Meeting calendar is prepared.

3 JULY-AUGUST 2015 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 4 We thank these Friends for making announcements at Meetings for Worship: July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 Liz Mosley John Brady Bob Sloan John McCann August 2 August 9 August 16 August 23 August 30 Bob Sloan Mat Clark Pat Conroy/Mike Green Liz Mosley Mat Clark Summer Sandwich Making for the Needy During the summer months, we do not receive the monthly donation of supplies for sandwich-making, and so we rely more heavily on donations from our members and attenders. Helping hands are also needed, but we especially request donations of bread, luncheon meats and cheese. Supplies may be dropped off in the Short Stable on Sunday morning, July 19 th before or after outdoor Meeting. Sandwich-making takes place at the Rise of outdoor Meeting on July 19 th. Thank you in advance for your generosity! The Worship & Ministry Committee invites Homebound Friends to let us know if you wish to have a small group of Friends come to your home for a Meeting for Worship. You may contact Pat Conroy for more information or to arrange a meeting. Looking for a summertime activity that the whole family can do together? Prepare a Casserole for Face to Face! Casseroles may be prepared at home and placed in the Meeting s freezer. Your casserole will be delivered to Face to Face to be served to our sisters and brothers in need. Pans with instructions and recipes are available in the Meeting House kitchen and vestibule, or see Zoe Fox. Thank you so much to all the cooks who have already made casseroles, and please continue to make more! Attention, Parents: The Worship & Ministry Committee wants to extend an invitation for you and your children to attend Meeting for Worship on Sundays together. We understand differences in the length of time your child(ren) are comfortable in Meeting for Worship and acknowledge that you may wish to leave Meeting at some point, but we would be honored to have you and your children worship with us as long as they are able to. Giant Gift Cards Our Financial Stewardship Working Group is currently selling gift cards for Giant food markets. The cards are sold at face value, in various amounts. Members who buy their groceries at Giant are encouraged to buy Giant cards at AMM. You then use the gift card (just as you would use cash) when you shop at Giant. Giant will contribute 5% of what you spend on groceries to the Meeting. See Sarah Lippincott to purchase Giant cards.

4 JULY-AUGUST 2015 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 4 A Special Invitation from Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting: You and every Friend of every age from every meeting are invited, welcome and encouraged to come to Annual Sessions! PYM Annual Sessions Open Our Eyes That We May See July 29 - August 2, 2015 Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is the thousands of Friends from 105 Meetings in four states and Annual Sessions is where we all come together. This is the time to experience living in a community of the Spirit, to connect as a yearly meeting through worship, fellowship, business, fun and learning, and to do important work together. I am inviting every Meeting to expect at least 25% of their active participants to join us at Sessions. Are there 100 people at your Meeting on Sunday morning? I hope to see 25 of them at Sessions! Is your Meeting home to 12 worshipers? At least three of them should come to Sessions! This is the space for us to experience the depth and breadth of our community and we want you there to be part of it. You can come all week and stay on the campus of Muhlenberg College or you can come for a single day or half a day. The costs of Sessions are covered by the yearly meeting. Sessions attenders only need to pay for meals and housing (and housing is subsidized for children!) First time attenders receive a free meal. Financial assistance is available we want people to come, so we make assistance available and we expect Friends to use it as needed. Yes, of course Friends of every age can come there are programs for children, middle schoolers and high schoolers. Young Adult Friends (YAFS) can opt in to rooming in the YAF neighborhood. Golf carts and speech-to-text transcription help make it accessible. If you have questions or want more details there is a LOT of information on the PYM website Also, you can contact Tricia Coscia, the Sessions Coordinator, sessions@pym.org or I can t wait to see you at Sessions this year! Abington Monthly Meeting member Mara Wai will be presenting a workshop at the Annual Sessions of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM)! The workshop entitled Noticings and Leadings in Everyday Life will take place on Friday evening, July 31 st at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. Abington Monthly Meeting needs YOUR contribution! Please make your contribution check out to Abington Monthly Meeting and forward to: Assistant Treasurer, Abington Monthly Meeting, 520 Meetinghouse Rd., Jenkintown, PA Contribution envelopes addressed to the Assistant Treasurer(s) are available on the vestibule table and on the rear windowsill in the Meeting Room. Please include your name and address with donations. Thanks!

5 JULY-AUGUST 2015 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 5 It is possible to contribute financial gifts to Abington Monthly Meeting online! Philadelphia Yearly Meeting s (PYM s) donations webpage has a section for contributions to Monthly and Quarterly Meetings. This is a secure way to give online and is also an easy way to set up an automated recurring gift to Abington Meeting or to Abington Quarterly Meeting. PYM is offering this service out of a desire to help monthly and quarterly meetings in their fundraising efforts. It is hoped that this will make it easier for members and attenders to give to their monthly or quarterly meeting. -Donations can be by credit card or by ACH checking account withdrawal. -Friends may make a one-time gift or set up a recurring gift. -The frequency can be once, every other week, monthly, quarterly, twice yearly or yearly. -Recurring gifts can be ongoing, or be limited to an end date or total gift amount. -Friends will have direct access to independently change or cancel their gift at any time. -Friends will receive an receipt from Acceptiva, PYM s online donations processor. -PYM will send a quarterly check for the total amount that was donated to the monthly meeting. -PYM will send a quarterly statement of the donor names and amount of the gifts. Go to for more information. And thank you for supporting Abington Meeting s work with your much appreciated (and needed) financial gifts. Christine McPeak, Meeting Treasurer, Carolyn Spencer and Tom Spencer, Meeting Co-Assistant Treasurers Direct Withdrawal Form for YOUR contributions You can make a gift directly from your checking or savings account to the Meeting s account, either as a one-time contribution or a scheduled monthly or quarterly amount. Scheduled amounts can be changed or stopped with just 3 days notice. All contributions will appear on your bank statement. Join fellow Members and Attenders in this convenient method of contribution. Consider whether spreading your contributions out throughout the year might make budgeting easier for you AND the Meeting! Please call Assistant Treasurers Carolyn & Tom Spencer if you have questions or need assistance filling out the form. Abington Quarter Picnic! All Welcome! August 9 th at Fellowship Farm (at the Pavilion) 2488 Sanatoga Rd. Pottstown, Pa See for directions 8:30 a.m. Greeting and Fellowship 9:30 a.m. Gather in a spirit of Worship for Business 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:00 a.m. Lunch Potluck, bring food and beverages to share; grills available 12:30 2:30 p.m. Supervised Swimming, Hiking, Fellowship, Family Fun! Further info: Amelia Diamond, AQM Clerk

6 JULY-AUGUST 2015 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 6 Abington Friends School For full information about upcoming events and activities at AFS, please visit the website at PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING Annual Sessions Updates Opening Celebration & Keynote Speaker Please join us as we open Annual Sessions Wednesday evening, July 29 with a musical celebration by Tribe 1, and for a powerful presentation by Victoria Greene of Green Street Meeting, our Keynote Speaker Saturday evening, August 1. Both programs begin at 7:15 in Seegers Union on the Muhlenberg College campus. Registration is now open! Workshops Annual Sessions offers Friends a unique opportunity to explore leadings, concerns, and passions with one another. Sessions Planning Group received a wonderful variety of proposals that Workshops that will allow Friends to explore matters that are currently relevant and exciting to the Yearly Meeting community, and that honor our theme, "Open Our Eyes that We May See". View the workshops descriptions: Volunteer at Children s Sessions Volunteers: inspire Quaker Youth by supporting a vibrant children's program developed by Group Leaders. Work Grants are available. Positions for all levels of experience! Information: Gracie Coscia, ChildrensSessions@pym.org or PYM Connect Online Conversations is a new and exciting way for people to connect with one another anytime, anywhere, 24 7, worldwide.our new Online Conversations features special places to connect, collaborate and grow together. Conversations are virtual discussion groups that anyone may participate in to ask questions, share knowledge, explore spirituality and more. Join in the conversation! Sign up to connect! Young Friends at Camp Onas, August Join high-school-aged Quaker-affiliated Young Friends at Camp Onas for our big bash beginning of the year gathering! We'll get to enjoy the regular aspects of a gathering, like worship sharing, workshops and work crews, along with the special Camp Onas treats, like flying through the air on the rope swing, the hike to the Sheep's hole, opportunities for boisterousness in the swimming pool, and and having both the talent show and the dance! We Carpool! Financial aid is available. Details: or Hannah Mayer, , HMayer@pym.org Nurture Quaker Faith, Practice, Witness & Community "Use your capabilities and your possessions not as ends in themselves but as God's gifts entrusted to you. Share them with others; use them with humility, courtesy and affection" - from PYM Faith & Practice. The generosity of members and attenders is a spirit which nourishes our community of Friends. We hope that Friends are faithfully supporting the financial needs of their Monthly Meeting. As we near the end of the 2014 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Annual Fund campaign, we also ask each Friend to consider making a meaningful gift to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting before June 30th. Your gift supports the ministries of our community. Thank you! Ways to Give: online at by mail to PYM, 1515 Cherry St., Phila., PA or by phone at

7 JULY-AUGUST 2015 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING PAGE 7 Friend-ly Employment Opportunities Interim Web Content Associate The Interim Web Content Associate provides support to the online communications efforts of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting by working closely with the Interim Communications Manager on selected web content management projects. Bachelor's Degree and 3+ years experience working with web content. Details: /interim-web-content-associate Annual Sessions 2015 On-Site Children's Assistant Philadelphia Yearly Meeting seeks an On-Site Children's Assistant for the 2015 Annual Sessions, taking place at Muhlenberg College from July 27th through August 2nd. Details: /on-site-childrens-sessions-assistant-sessions On-Call Child Care Assistants Philadelphia Yearly Meeting seeks individuals to provide childcare during meetings and events for our youngest friends. Details: For more information about our Yearly Meeting, please check the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting website:

8 ABINGTON MONTHLY MEETING of the Religious Society of Friends 520 Meetinghouse Road Jenkintown, PA The THIRD QUERY on SPIRITUAL NURTURE, MINISTRY, AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION will be read and considered at Monthly Meeting for Business on JULY 20 TH, 7:00 P.M. DOES OUR MEETING encourage the ministry of both word and deed? How does our Meeting recognize, develop, and nurture the gifts of our members and attenders of all ages? Does our Meeting prepare all its members and children for worship and for a way of life consistent with the principles of the Religious Society of Friends? How do we teach about Quaker practices in business and worship and their importance to the functioning of our Meeting community? In what ways do we support each other in order to seek God s will and act upon our understanding of truth? Is there opportunity in our Meeting to share the excitement of religious discovery and the possibility of religious transformation? Does our Meeting provide opportunities for all in the Meeting to learn about: the Inner Light, the living Christ within, the Bible, the writings of Friends, our Christian heritage, other religious traditions and their respective roles in the history and formation of Friends principles? the common testimonies Friends declare? the variety of expression Quaker faith takes today? DO I MAINTAIN as part of my personal and family life those daily practices that focus on continued spiritual growth, with disciplined worship, inward retirement, and communion with the divine spirit? Do I frequently read the Bible and other religious literature, including the records of the lives and experiences of Friends? Do I take the time to explore these resources with others, and likewise encourage my children? Do I share my own faith and spiritual journey, and encourage such sharing within my family?