Penn Hill Preparative Meeting Spiritual State of the Meeting Reports
The text of recently received Spiritual State of the Meeting Reports are below, with the most recently received at the top and older reports below. To jump to a particular report, simply click the year listed below. Previous reports were included with those of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.
| 2016 Report | 2017 Report | 2018 Report | 2019 Report |
2019 Spiritual State of Penn Hill Preparative Meeting Report
See report of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.
2018 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
We are remembering that William Penn settled Pennsylvania, stating “Let us see what Love can do.” The Love sculpture in Philadelphia reminds us that great things happened. It is no accident that the US started there, as it was the most advanced city in the late18th Century. Much of our Constitution is taken from Penn’s ideas. There was no militia in the colony until the French/Indian War forced a majority of Quakers to resign, since they opposed war.
Penn Hill has had a difficult year. We have tried to use Quaker Process, not always successfully. Recently, the trustees have been having separate meetings, which had not been the case for the last few years. We are happy that a longtime member who had not been attending for several years has rejoined us and has been very helpful in seeking and providing clarity on decisions. We now have a plan in process for wise investment of our funds, with a longtime management company.
We have reached out to the community with successful yard sales to raise money for Right Sharing of World Resources and the George Fox Friends School. Some have shown interest in Friends and we have had good discussions, but as yet we have not attracted new worshippers.
2017 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
This past year, at Penn Hill Friends Meeting, we have been challenged to deepen our understanding of what achieving a sense of the Meeting means. We have been struggling with communication and consensus issues. We participated in a Meeting intended to improve communication, called by Little Britain Monthly Meeting. We were grateful for generous support, through listening and moderating, from Eastland Friends as part of this meeting. However, the issues remain, and we have asked for assistance from the BYM Committee on Ministry and Pastoral Care. One positive result of our struggling with these issues has been that two of our members have become more active.
We continue to have fruitful First Day School sessions, enriched by our itinerant preacher attender, who has extensive biblical and historical knowledge.
Our Meeting gained two members this year.
2016 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
No report received.
