FALL 2004Phil Anthony
(856) 769-0066 (voice)
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salemqtr@verizon.net
t’s good to be back in our accustomed format! This issue of Salem Quarter News contains material that I’d hoped to publish in the Summer issue, along with minutes and reports from June’s Quarterly Meeting.
Perhaps foremost among the items I’d wanted to print three months ago is Lester Heritage’s poetic tribute to Emma Engle. At her age, perhaps death was no surprise, but it was certainly a sorrow for those who had worked with her in the Quarter. My first official duty as coordinator, in fact, had been attending her 90th birthday party. And she continued on the Steering Committee for several years after that, giving us the benefit of her experience and caring, before becoming its only member emerita. Like Lester, I miss Emma.
SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY MEETING
Greenwich Monthly Meeting
Lower Meetinghouse
Sunday, 12 September 20042:30 pm Gather 3:00 pm Meeting for worship for business 5:00 pm Brown-bag dinner: desserts provided by Mickleton and Mullica Hill MMs 6:00 pm Program: Friends and the African- American Community, Margie Hoffman, Burlington County Historical Society 7:00 pm Candlelight worship Child care provided Our cover is another hold-over that finally sees the printed page. Jacob Geary drew it for me last spring at the Mullica Hill Retreat. I don’t know if many of us would visualize our faith in terms of a superhero wielding the sword of God’s Light and fending off the corrosive fires of hate with his palm; but I don’t know that everyone would agree with my visualization either—or thine, Friend! Thanks, Jacob, for helping us see our faith in—dare I say it?—a new Light!
I usually hold off writing about our upcoming quarterly meeting till the end of my column. This time, I’d prefer to tell the story of meeting our speaker, Margie Hoffman of the Burlington County Historical Society, right up front. It was at Seaville MM on one of my periodic visits, last summer. She was visiting too, meeting a friend from Cumberland County with whom she was going biking later on in the day.
We began to talk ... and I found, as often happens when I join Salem Quarter’s monthly meetings to worship with them, that I’d made a friend. We kept in touch. And then, on the phone last spring, I learned about a program she’d put on for Black History Month. She’d been researching African-American genealogy, and had discovered some of its connections with the Friends who settled South Jersey.
Most important, she said, she believes that the intertwined history has lessons for us today in our relations with the African-American community. While the history is important, it’s those implications she wants to lift up at Greenwich MM on Sunday, 12 September; see the sidebar for our schedule and follow this link for driving directions. I hope many of you will come to hear Margie at quarterly meeting.
In the meantime, the Quarter’s meetings continue with their round of activities. Greenwich MM sponsored its art show again last spring. Mickleton MM is planning a pig roast this fall—see the Quarter Calendar for details. Mullica Hill MM will host a potluck dinner and presentation on the Friends World Committee for Consultation in September; again, details are in the Calendar.
As I write, I’m looking forward to Salem MM’s annual worship at the Lower Alloway’s Creek Meetinghouse. Two of Seaville MM’s members presented that meeting’s minute on same-gender unions or marriage for consideration at our June quarterly meeting, and those Friends will marry at Seaville at the end of August. (I think this is a new trend among Quakers—Mickleton MM will celebrate a marriage the following day. That makes four for me personally this summer!)
The traditional summer Friday night programs at Woodbury MM are winding down, and the meeting is gearing up for the busy-ness of fall. And Woodstown MM took part in ecumenical Bible study with other local congregations; the session I attended at the meetinghouse was particularly deep and worshipful.
Friends, this is a vibrant, wonderful Quarter. I’ll miss Emma Engle, as I miss others who have loved, cherished, and nurtured Salem Quarter. But because of their caring—and yours—the Quarter itself goes on.
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Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 09:14 AM
