Reading Monthly Mee�ng, 108 North Sixth Street, Reading, PA - www.readingfriendsmee�ng.org

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that

you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and

blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present dark-

ness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

- Ephesians 6:10-12. Text chosen by Rev. Al Sharpton for his eulogy for George Floyd, Houston, TX , 6/9/2020

If you plan to use the mee�nghouse in the coming

months, be sure to schedule it on the calendar in the

Jim Lamborn, clerk, House Commi�ee

Adap�ng Our Mee�ng to the Pandemic

Ten friends met via Zoom for Mee�ng for Worship

with A�en�on to Business on June 14 (Flag Day).

Janet Lamborn, clerk of mee�ng, asked us to consider a

query for worship sharing that addresses the divisions in

our mee�ng. Can we move forward with outreach plans

to invite or welcome new people to our mee�ng or

should our energies be focused on healing our commu-

nity?

Jim Morrissey recalled serving on a commi�ee many

years ago to consider whether or not the mee�ng

should accept same sex marriage. It was a slow, difficult

process. Jim said, “It takes �me to work through difficult

issues un�l we find an answer that everyone can live

with, maybe not embrace, but live with.”

Next Friends labored to set up a summer schedule for

the mee�ng, one that would keep everyone safe in a

pandemic but also honor our tradi�on of summer

mee�ng at Maiden Creek Mee�ng House. The following

summer schedule was adopted:

6th Street Mee�ng House will remain closed. A sign

will be posted so visitors will know why it is closed.

Zoom mee�ngs will con�nue at 10am, but with no

opening exercises. Janet will send out the link each Sat-

urday as we have been doing. She will open the mee�ng

but only stay for a few minutes. Zoom worshipers can

manage the closing and there will be �me allowed for

visi�ng.

Worship outdoors at Maiden Creek will begin on

June 21 (Father’s Day). Friends should bring their own

chair, wear a mask and prac�ce social distancing. A

sound system may be needed to help Friends hear mes-

sages. Jim Lamborn will research equipment choices.

Janet and Jim will consult with Friends to decide if a

sound system purchase is necessary.

The Maiden Creek Mee�ng House is being renovated

inside and out. No mee�ng can be held inside un�l it is

finished. Therefore, Janet will publish the weather fore-

cast with the Saturday zoom link.

Our Summer Mee�ng for Business will be a zoom

mee�ng on Friday, August 7 at 6:30pm. At that �me we

will decide if we will have a mee�ng picnic this year.

Nomina�ng commi�ee: Marie Ryan, clerk, reported

that three commi�ees are without clerks: Trustees,

Outreach and Peace and Social Order. The nomina�ng

commi�ee is short one person. Usual prac�ce is for the

commi�ees to choose their clerks. Marie will send out

emails to these commi�ees to encourage the process.

If no clerks are chosen, the nomina�ng commi�ee is

expected to name someone to be clerk and bring that

person’s name to the mee�ng for approval.

Roger Lawn observed that at the heart of this search

for clerks is dissension in the mee�ng. It is difficult to

heal a riC in the mee�ng when there is no face-to-face

discussion. He said ”The pillar of a mee�ng is communi-

ty. Dealing in love with each other is the most important

thing, Zoom makes that very difficult.”

Taylor Lamborn added that we can proceed with cau-

�on as there is no cri�cal need for the clerks at this �me.

However, the nomina�ng commi�ee needs the third

member. This will be on our agenda every month un�l

we have one.

Air quality at 6th Street: When asked, Marie Ryan said

that she did find that the air quality at 6th Street has

improved. Friends agreed that it is important to spend

whatever is necessary to keep the mee�nghouse free of

mold.

(con�nued on page two)

2

Adap�ng to Pandemic (con�nued from page 1)

GiCs and Loans: Heather Ehrlich, clerk, reported that the

commi�ee has chosen to distribute funds early, already

budgeted for 2020 to chari�es working to help people

through the pandemic. They are Helping Harvest, $400, Vet-

erans Making a Difference, $250.00 and Opportunity House,

$175.00. Friends thought this was a good idea.

Outreach Commi�ee: Janet Lamborn reported that all are

welcome to a�end the zoom mee�ng on Tuesday, June 16

at 7pm. Let Janet know of your interest and she will send

you the zoom link.

The Friends General Conference Virtual Gathering “Sink

Down to the Seed Sown in the Heart” will be held June 28-

July 4, 2020. You can register to par�cipate in the en�re

week’s programming or just one or more aspects. This is a

good opportunity to experience this yearly event if you have

never a�ended a gathering in person. Register here.

- Bonnie Knutsen

* * * * * * * *

Correc�on: The mee�ng notes for April 2020 state

incorrectly that the Trustees have a project pending to paint

the metal fence in the front of the 6th Street Mee�ng

House. As the April minutes state, Trustees have a quote for

$4,000. “It is high due to the likelihood of it (the fence)

having lead paint. A tent would be needed to contain dust .

This will be revisited in the future.” bck

* * * * * * * *

Curious about Po'sville Cemetery? A website called

Find a Grave describes it as “ small and well maintained”

and “about the same as it was in 1905.” To see a picture or

read the names of the thirty or so Friends buried there, click

on h�ps://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2440760/

friends-burying-ground.

* * * * * * * *

A Key Exchange: Trustees have decided to have new keys

made for the Reading Mee�ng House since compiling a list

has been very difficult.

Taylor and I have keys so PLEASE SEE one of us for your

new key. The locks will be changed in the future and we will

announce the date of this change at least a month ahead.

- Cys Sica

* * * * * * * *

RMM has been asked to provide lunch for a gathering of

the U-Turn youth, date not yet set. They are planning a

"gardening party" to clean up and plant behind the 5th

Street office. It will be their first �me together in person

since February. If you can help with lunch, please let me

know.

- Judy Ballinger

Congratula�ons to Henry Hughes who graduated

from Lewisburg Area High School in Lewisburg, PA on

May 20. Here he is pictured with his Dad, Tom

Hughes, his stepmom Rachael and his brother, Devin.

Tom reports “Only immediate family were allowed

to a�end. He walked across an empty stage save

some dignitaries in front of an empty auditorium save

the videographer and me, his brother, Rachael, his

mom, and stepdad. Then in another room he got his

picture taken and then we took more photos outside

the school. It only took like 10 minutes. Each family

went in one at a �me. The school will launch a video

with music and speeches and such at a later date.

Henry has plans to join the PA Na�onal Guard, but

that may not happen because of his anemia. If he

can't get in, he is going with Plan B which is taking

classes at HACC (Harrisburg Area Community College)

for Computer and Informa�on Sciences as he wants to

be a network engineer or work in networking at some

capacity. The Na�onal Guard would have given him

training in this capacity, which was the major impetus

behind him wan�ng to join. Right now he just had

more bloodwork done and he is awai�ng the results.

* * * * * * * *

Best wishes to Claudia Mahon as she makes plans for

the future. She writes, “I lived at my parents’ home

un�l my father passed. I bought this home in Penn

Township nine years ago with a ten year plan.

I’m downsizing or smart sizing because I don’t need

a 5BR house on 3 acres! It’s too much now that I’m in

my 70s. I am going to rent in Berks for the next year

or two and decide if I’ll move to one of those re�re-

ment states friends have relocated to.

I no longer have any family in the area, and my

daughter lives in Brooklyn. As she grew up in Bucks

County, she doesn’t have �es to Berks with her grand-

parents and the farm gone. I’ll s�ll be here, at least

for awhile. I’m so involved with things here, I can’t

see me leaving.”

Restoring Maiden Creek Mee�nghouse

For major nonemergency work, trustees endeav-

or to get three quotes, and speak with the bidders

on-site. Such was the case for the refurbishment

work needed at the Maiden Creek Mee�ng House.

Junge Construc�on was not the lowest bidder,

but he (Brandon Junge) clearly spent more �me

assessing the work, displayed an affec�on and

knowledge for the historical nature of the building,

and brought other sub-contractors in to assess

from their skill perspec�ve. A�ending trustees

were in agreement.

The work at the mee�nghouse started first with

a crew of volunteers who carefully moved all the

benches (some fragile) to the shed and the bench

cushions to the 6th Street Mee�ng House. Bran-

don’s crew started work Monday June 1st and will

remain un�l the project is finished.

The work is going well. Shu�ers and hinging

hardware have been removed, sanded, repaired

and repainted. The shu�ers look like new. Miss-

ing/non-conforming hardware has been replaced

with authen�c. Prior “patch” repairs are being

properly remediated. Several missing/broken roof

slates will be replaced. A mason has addressed

needed exterior stone areas.

Shortly, the interior walls and ceiling will be

cleaned and repaired. They will be painted in

Sherwin Williams “Alabaster white” (SW7008), a

color with a slight brown �nt which goes well with

the brown wainscot. The wainscot and fixed

benches will be leC as is.

In addi�on, the deteriora�ng sign in front of the

mee�nghouse is being replaced and enhanced by

a sign contractor.

We look forward to the Maiden Creek Mee�ng

House’s fresh look the end of June or early July!

Expenses will be covered by the generous Norton

Maiden Creek Mee�ng House Fund and several

mee�ng donors. Your contribu�ons to this project

are welcome.

-Ann Bodnyk

A volunteer work crew moved the benches to the shed.

Crew members Taylor Lamborn, Jim Lamborn, Tom Hughes,

Rich Whiffen and Peter Frank assured Ann, who drove the

truck and took these pictures, that they were smiling.

The contractors are being very careful that no sawdust or

paint hits the flooring.

Moving the benches allowed work to progress

during inclement weather and for tool /supply storage.

Maiden Creek Mee�ng House gets a makeover.

4

Please join us for worship this summer at 10am via Zoom or at Maiden Creek Mee�ng House. We are an

unprogrammed mee�ng and a member of Caln Quarter and Philadelphia Yearly Mee�ng. Contact the mee�ng

at 610-372-5345. Learn about us at our web site, www.readingfriendsmee�ng.org.

The Reading Monthly Mee�ng Newsle�er is published at our website and in print 10 �mes a year by the

Communica�ons Commi�ee. Send news for the newsle�er to Bonnie Knutsen at bknutsen@ptd.net. Submit address,

telephone or Email changes to Carl Knutsen at webagent@readingfriendsmee�ng.org.

Clerk of Mee�ng: Janet Lamborn Mailing Address: PO Box 148

Treasurer: Ann Bodnyk Kutztown, PA 19530-0148

Clerk of Trustees: Pat Jackson

A Commi'ee Ponders Our Situa�on

Note: The following excerpts are taken from the Minutes of the

Worship and Ministry Commi$ee Mee�ng on May 28, 2020.

Janet Lamborn ini�ated the Zoom mee�ng for us before

she returned to work. Remaining in a�endance were Roger

Lawn, Judy Ballinger, Jim and Nan Morrissey, Bonnie

Knutsen and Chris Field, clerk. . . . . .

We then turned to a discussion of “spiritual troubles in

Reading Mee�ng”. Roger noted that there are a number of

divisions among us. The clerk of trustees has stepped

down because that role has interfered with her spiritual

life. There have been disagreements about the caretaker’s

co�age at Maiden Creek, concern about the unfinished

work of finding a collec�ve vision, and some conten�on

over the topic chosen for a banner that the Peace and So-

cial Order Commi�ee planned to hang in front of the

mee�nghouse. Blair Seitz shared an email message with

some Friends about his frustra�on over a lack of support

among mee�ng members for the many worthwhile ac�vi-

�es he has planned and facilitated.

ACer taking �me for silence, the following thoughts were

shared: We need to look at be�er ways of communica�ng

among various mee�ng groups so that surprises during

Mee�ng for Business might be avoided. Perhaps we need

to simplify mee�ng ac�vi�es since our numbers have dwin-

dled, to lighten the burden.

We need to be guided by Love and base our answers in

Love. We need to show more apprecia�on for what each

of us is doing, and avoid geVng caught up in the current

poli�cal climate of blaming and finger poin�ng.

We miss some of the Friends whom we looked to for

guidance and leadership in the past. All we have now is us,

and it is up to us now to carry on, but we also have “the

Teacher,” in the words of early Friends. We need to rely on

that to lead us through. Each of us needs to bring our

measure of the Light to improve the situa�on in our

mee�ng. We are not perfect, but we are a beloved com-

munity. What we have is us. Not just us, but us. Let us try

what Love can do!

RespecWully submi�ed,

Chris Field

Happy, Happy Birthday to Nan Morrissey who

celebrated her 90th birthday on June 3 at the High-

lands. She and husband Jim came to Reading Mee�ng

with their four children in 1964, moving here from

Boston, MA where they a�ended Wellesley Mee�ng.

Above, Nan and Jim enjoy the 2019 summer picnic.

Also celebra�ng summer birthdays are

Kerry Lee, 6/26, John Loomis, 6/27,

Carol Anne Donohoe, 6/28, George Fox, 7/1624,

Joe Morrissey, 7/16, Youyi Ma, 7/25 and

John Rivera, 8/6.

The Last Word

We never lose Hope. Remember it’s right there

between Faith and Charity.

Nancy Pelosi, 6.3.2020