Our annual Christmas program this year featured the children of Meeting offering a Godly Nativity Play, as well as musical sharing (“The Wexford Carol,” “Oh Holy Night”), children’s stories, a group reading from the Gospel of Luke, and holiday mummers leading us in a Newfoundland variation of “Green Grow the Rushes, O.”
Afterwards, we braved the frigid air for a group photo, and then joined up for a festive potluck.
Special thanks to Peggy Ramsey for ably directing the festive occasion.
Volunteers from four Monthly Meetings in the Haverford Quarter recently came together to donate flour, pumpkin, eggs, milk and other supplies, roll flaky crusts and mix tasty filling, then bake and deliver twenty freshly baked pumpkin pies to area shelters.
Coordinated by OHFM’s Faith Spear, the actual pie baking took place the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in the Haverford Meeting kitchen.
Giving thanks this Thanksgiving for the generosity of Haverford Quarter friends and our eager volunteers!
Members of Old Haverford Friends Meeting alongside volunteers from Haverford Township Tree Tenders worked together to plant eight new trees, three outside our Havertown Meeting House and five more in the historic (founded 1684) burial ground nearby. The day was crisp and clear, and the trees were full of life and promise. Special thanks to George Salloom for acting as meeting liaison with the Tree Tenders
More photos from the day:
Old Haverford Meeting has recently established a comfortable children’s space in the main meeting room (pictured below) to encourage intergenerational worship.
Melinda Wenner Bradley writes on the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting website about the move toward adding welcoming children’s areas, noting that these spaces are “part of a growing conversation about how we welcome children and their parents/caregivers in Quaker community.” Though concerns are sometimes raised “about children’s capacity for stillness and silence,” Wenner Bradley adds, “one response is to acknowledge that yes, their integration with the worshiping body will require both setting expectations and providing preparation. Another response is that the challenges of stillness and silence can be true for both children and adults.”
Wenner Bradley also notes the importance of sending a strong signal to newcomers that “Children are welcome here!”
Old Haverford’s new children’s space, also known as “the cozy corner,” includes books, craft activities, pencils and paper, and some soft animal friends who have no problem with staying silent.
Old Haverford Friends Meeting will be holding a Spring Retreat on Sunday May 19th from 8:30-1:30 PM at the Meetinghouse.
The retreat will be inclusive of worship and our 3rd Sunday potluck lunch. We will start in the morning with reflections on Quaker writings followed by sharing in pairs. Then we will experience some live music before worship, provided by Molly Hicks and Tim Simmons. After worship and lunch, we will explore some queries as a community.
Meeting member sand visitors are welcome to attend all of he retreat events, or just some!
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting will host a family gathering at the Old Haverford Meeting House on April 6th from 3 to 6 PM. There will be an intergenerational activity, time for parent/guardian worship sharing, children’s activities, play time outside, and dinner as a community. Pizza and beverages will be provided. Families are invited to bring a snack/side dish/dessert to share. All ages are welcome!
For more information, contact Kristin Simmons, Youth Engagement Coordinator: ksimmons@pym.org
You can register here!
The Friends Community Garden has taken first place for the community vegetable garden category in the Penn State Cooperative Extension of Delaware County garden contest.
Michele Taylor, one of our FCG committee members, had submitted our garden for this contest on behalf of the FCG committee a few months ago.
In notifying us of our first place, Penn State wrote:
“…you had an amazing use of the space with lots of interesting small plots and vegetable varieties. We applaud all your efforts with the community there.”
The award will be presented at a luncheon Sept. 26.
Thanks to all of our gardeners for helping to make our garden so special. This award goes to everyone who plants, weeds, harvests, mows, cleans up debris, etc. despite record breaking heat and drought conditions.
Our garden is certainly a team effort! Keep up the good work!
Congratulations!
Bonnie McMeans
Run of the Mill String Band, featuring “old time” music performed by Greg and Palmer Loux and friends, performed at Old Haverford Meeting on Saturday April 25th at 7PM. Great music and fun!
On Sunday December 7th, Friends gathered at Pendle Hill, a Quaker conference center in nearby Wallingford, in order to focus on Mindfulness. Our retreat was attended by 41 Friends, approximately a dozen of whom were children. The retreat was facilitated by Gloria Shepard, for the adults, and by Madeline Schaeffer and Marissa Donohue, for the children. We learned techniques for quieting the mind, and for meditation, both sitting and walking. We approached the subject with a “beginner’s mind.” We enjoyed fellowship and lunch served by the wonderfully accommodating Pendle Hill staff. All in all, the day was a valuable experience for all who attended. Late breaking news is that Overseers and Worship & Ministry are planning to have a refresher session probably in April — we’ll keep you posted!
Old Haverford Friends gathered for outreach at our tent along Karakung Drive for the Haverford Township Heritage Festival on June 1st.
Since the Meeting was founded in 1683, and the Meetinghouse dates back to about 1700, the festival featured an image of the meetinghouse on one of the glasses they were using to serve craft beer.
Photo credit: Matt Carlson (Thanks Matt!)