Recent Events:
December 24, 2024
We enjoyed a return to Christmas eve caroling in the Forum Room although our planned emcee was struck down by Covid but our pianist managed by to pick out carols from the shouted requests from the audience! Thanks to Bev Benson for the wonderful arrangements!
November 24,2024
Haverford College students initiated the resumption of Quaker singing before Meeting for Worship. Carol Mosher graciously provided piano accompaniment.
September 22, 2024
We hosted parents and children from Friends School Haverford in Young Friends Meeting. We studied the Stewardship Testimony about the sea and animals that live in the sea. Our young Friends created pictures of sea life, including these 2 fish pictures by Rita and Lewis:
September 6, 2024
Over 30 Haverford College students, over 2/3 of who were Quakers or had attended Quaker schools or camps, joined over 12 Meeting members and attenders for a delightful potluck dinner. Meeting members stepped up to the plate in record time to provide delicious food and drink for this enthusiastic and hungry crowd! After dinner, several Haverford students sang and danced in the Forum Room. We are looking forward to November's dinner!
April 21, 2024
Motrja Waters of United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, spoke at our Simple Meal about the efforts of the UUARC in Ukraine. The meal was attended by Artem Shebella and Vitaly Shebella, Ukrainian refugees who are being sponsored by Robert Urquart. The Young Friends Meeting children, with the guidance and efforts of Bev Benson, made paper sunflowers with packets of sunflower seeds, to list places to contribute to Ukrainian relief organizations.
On April 13, thanks to the efforts of Bev Benson and others, we had a reception celebrating our Arts of the Quarter Exhibition. Guitar performances by Molly Hicks of Old Haverford Meeting and Tim Simmons were followed by a group drumming free-for-all by the attenders! It was a blast!
On April 10, Bryan Monti, a denizen of Zeist, the Netherlands and a frequent attender on Zoom of Meeting for Worship, visited and gave a reading of his poetry. to a rapt audience.
On April 7, our member Jim Krippner and David Herrington Watt, a member of Radnor Meeting, both professors at Haverford College, spoke to us about their new book, Henry Cadbury: Quaker, Pacifist and Skeptic.
Middle East Conflict Forums:
March 17: How can Friends promote peace and justice in the region? We will review what AFSC
and Friends’ organizations are doing now, and what’s been done in the recent past. Members of
PYM’s Middle East Collaborative have been invited.
March 3: Charmaine Seitz, Writer/Editor. spoke about “My Experience in Palestine and The Role of Media”. Charmaine worked as a journalist in Ramallah for the Jerusalem Media Communications Center (JMCC) before starting her own communications company. An Earlham College grad with an MA from Hebrew University, she understands Hebrew and speaks fluent Arabic. Charmaine is a member of Harrisburg Friends Meeting. She is married to a Palestinian, Shehada Abualshreikh.
Mike Merryman-Lotze of AFSC spoke on AFSC initiatives in Palestine and Israel.
March 17: How can Friends promote peace and justice in the region? We will review what AFSC
and Friends’ organizations are doing now, and what’s been done in the recent past. Members of
PYM’s Middle East Collaborative have been invited.
On March 24, we had some joyful intergenerational egg dyeing activity!
On March 24, Peter, Bethann, Bridgid and others joined our Young Friends in dyeing Easter eggs and filling some of them with goodies to eat at home. It was a joyful, colorful morning!
On February 25, Diane Randall, former Executive Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation, spoke about "Quakers Organizing in Defense of Democracy" to a large crowd of members, attenders and visitors.
On February 4, our Young Friends began to prepare for the rebirth of spring by planting asters, ironweed and other native species in coldframes. They broke away to check out the latest activities of Grace's Country Mouse Houses on the Meetinghouse window sills.
On December 17, we all made paper chains, decorated the tree and enjoyed a delicious lunch together:
On November 15, Blair Seitz, Bob Walk, Steve Curfman (our Benjamin Lay Fellow, who is a student at U Penn) and Meg Lytton journeyed to Harrisburg to join the Interfaith group "With One Voice" to urge the Pennsylvania Senate to pass an Extreme Risk Protection, also known as a Red Flag, Law. On the Capitol steps, we joined Episcopalians, Jews, Unitarians, Methodists, Catholics, B'hai, and others.
Interfaith Group on the Capitol Steps
Steve Curfman, Memorial Walk Bob Walk, with Memorial T-shirt
On November 5, Adam Garber (with help from his daughter), Executive Director of CeaseFirePA, spoke to us about "With One Voice: The Faith Community's Response to the Gun Violence Epidemic". Several participants plan to go to the November 15 event in Harrisburg, to advocate for legislation for reasonable gun control legislation.
On October 29,2023, we gathered in the Forum Room to hear Grant Maurer, SE Pennsylvania organizer for CeaseFirePA discuss
"Gun Violence in Pennsylvania: Root Causes and Solutions." We learned a lot and looked forward to the presentation on 10/4 by Adam Garber, Executive Director of CeaseFirePA, who will be discussing " With One Voice" : The Faith Communities Response to the Gun Violence Epidemic."
On October 13, 2023, we hosted several Haverford College international students who stayed on campus during fall break. We really enjoyed visiting with them and hope to see them in the future!
Potluck Dinner with Haverford Quaker Students at Haverford College September 8, 2023:
We had a very successful and very well attended (especially by students) pot luck dinner. David Castro from Radnor also attended and presented information about the Benjamin Lay fellowship to the students. We are grateful to Walter Hjelt Sullivan for all he did to arrange the rooom and get pizza and drinks and to Nadia, Erin and Dick for the plethora of delicious desserts! We received this lovely note from a Haverford student afterward:
Good evening,
Could you please pass this message on to Dick, Meg, and all other Haverford Meeting members who were involved in yesterday's Quaker dinner with Haverford College students?
I just wanted to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and gratitude again for your dedication to hosting last night's Quaker dinner and, on a larger scale, bridging (literally, by crossing the bridge over to campus!) the gap between the two institutions. I am just starting out my journey as a first-year at Haverford, and one of the factors that weighed heavily in my decision to come here was the college's Quaker history and ongoing Quaker ethos. As such, I was delighted to learn that the Haverford Meeting would be hosting this dinner program. It gave me an opportunity to meet and connect with other Quaker students, Walter from the College, and several Haverford Meeting members. I look forward to continuing to express my Quaker identity by attending Haverford Meeting soon (sadly tomorrow conflicts with my home Meeting's Meeting for Business), and I thank you again.
All my best and most sincerely,
Shay
Best wishes,
Shay O'Connor
Haverford College
he/him/his
Midsummer Night Open Mic:Despite a few raindrops, everyone had a great time at the August 12 Midsummer Night Open Mic event. MC Emma Strawbridge ushered us through a wonderful program of poetry, stories, and music. Dance and bubble wand demonstations by Issac and Owen Lehman were highlights! We were delighted to have members of Radnor and Old Haverford Meetings join the fun. Many, many thanks to Bev Benson and the Artists of the Quarter for organizing this event!
Parents and others interested in preparing for the fall's Children's Meeting met for a pancake breakfast on Sunday, August 6, 2023 to plan next steps. We had a productive time and enjoyed having visitors from Radnor and Old Haverford Meetings join us.
