WINTER
2001 Gloria Horvay, Clerk
This year in Salem Quarter we focused on inreach as we strengthened and cared for ourselves, our meetings and properties, and our institutions. We met four times: September at Greenwich, December at Salem, March at Woodstown, and June at Mullica Hill. Our active committees consist of Worship and Ministry, Coordinator Steering, Trustees, Nominating, and Finance.
We nurtured ourselves to start the year as we gathered at the Burlington Meeting House in August 2000 for a valuable retreat facilitated by Chel Avery on “Conflict: Opportunity for Spiritual Growth.” We ended the year in June 2001 as Carol Brooks Thomas of Trenton Monthly Meeting shared with us her experiences on the topic: “When I Go To Meeting My Life Goes Pretty Well, and When I Don’t, It Falls Apart.”
We nurtured our meetings in December when members of the Oversight Committees of our Monthly Meetings facilitated small group discussions on the variety of responsibilities under their care. In March, Judy Owens of Haddonfield Monthly Meeting talked with us about “Strengthening and Deepening Our Monthly Meetings as Faith Communities.”
We cared for our Quarter properties as we met at the Alloway’s Creek Meetinghouse in Hancock’s Bridge to dream about what uses this historic meetinghouse might have and how we can accomplish them. The children of Mullica Hill Meeting took the cemetery at Maurice River under its care in April by clearing away trash, sticks and leaves that had collected through the winter. They even collected money at their meeting to buy a new gate. Our Finance Committee reported a surplus in budgeted funds and recommended half of it be used to establish a fund for long-term stewardship of Quarter properties.
Finally this year, we worked more closely with our two institutions, Friends Home at Woodstown and Friends School at Mullica Hill. Drew Smith, new Head at Friends School, spoke with us in September about his dreams of how our communities can interact and strengthen one another. A Friends School–Salem Quarter Study Group was activated and met on several occasions. Students from the Fine and Performing Arts program performed for Quarterly Meeting in December and June. Friends Home presented a detailed annual report in March. Worship and Ministry responded to a call from the Home to provide spiritual nurture and friendly caring for its residents. Both institutions write a column for Salem Quarter News, our Quarterly Meeting newsletter.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM
