Minute of Reconciliation

Those gathered for the Discernment for Unity session on May 4, 2021 carefully considered the rewording of our minute and came to unity on the wording below. This minute of reconciliation was approved by Abington Friends Meeting on May 10, 2021:

After considerable reflection and discernment, Abington Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) believes that if we are to truly uphold our Testimony of Equality, Equity and Justice and honor the legacy of Quaker abolitionists and equal-rights activists such as Benjamin Lay and Lucretia Mott, we must also acknowledge and take active steps to redress the evils they fought against. We wish to engage in racial reconciliation and healing through acknowledging, apologizing, and atoning for wrongs our Meeting has committed in the past that influence the present. We acknowledge that the land our meetinghouse and school currently occupy was once home for the Lenni-Lenape. We also acknowledge that early members of our Meeting were members of the white settler population which benefited from the takeover of land and from the violence committed against Indigenous Peoples as a result of such actions as the Doctrine of Discovery, the Walking Purchase and Quaker Indian Boarding Schools. We acknowledge that some early members of our Meeting were enslavers and that the enslavement of Africans contributed to the accumulated wealth we have today. We apologize for these truths not being fully acknowledged by us sooner and because these actions have contributed to the physical and emotional trauma still being experienced today. We wish to atone for these past oppressions and injustices in the hope of bringing healing through retrospective justice to African Americans and Indigenous Peoples. To this end, we have set up the Bothwell Reparations Fund to which members and attenders may contribute. Also, we will continue with our deeper education to better understand and seek a renewed and ongoing right relationship.

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Planning your Visit

New to Abington Friends Meeting?

All are welcome here!
All are warmly invited to attend Meeting for Worship and other activities at Abington Friends Meeting! Please come for a visit!

Our official name is: Abington Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. We are called "monthly" because we meet once a month to attend to business, but we have meeting for worship every Sunday.

Indoor Meeting for Worship
10:00 AM until 11:00 AM
Year-round

Outdoor Meeting for Worship
Every Sunday, mid-June - early September (weather permitting)
10:00 AM until 11:00 AM (happening at the same time as indoor Meeting for Worship)
In addition to our normal indoor Meeting for Worship, we hold optional outdoor Meetings behind the Meeting House during the summer.

Programming for Children and Youth (also called First Day School)
Youth Programming (grades k - 8)
Every Sunday, September - May
10:00 - 11:00 am
Childcare (all children younger than kindergarten)
Every Sunday, year-round
9:45 - 11:15, with additional times to support adult class and Meeting for Business, September - May
Click Here for more information on Programming for Children and Youth

Adult Classes
Occasional Sundays, September – May
11:15 AM. All ages welcome.
First Day School for Adults consists of talks and activities that provide a Quaker perspective on the issues and challenges of everyday life.

Parking
Members and attenders park on the right side of the driveway leading up to the Meeting House (accessible from our entrance on Greenwood Avenue) or in the parking lot on the west side of the Meeting House. Please note that our meetinghouse driveways are one-way, so vehicles must enter from Greenwood Avenue and exit onto Meetinghouse Road.

Orientation
As you enter the Meetinghouse, which is what we call our place of worship, the room where the Meeting gathers will be the first door on your right. The John Barnes Room, which is where we meet for adult classes and special events will be the first door on your left.

Meeting Etiquette
Because Quakers worship in silence, please lower your voice when approaching the Meeting House before Meeting for Worship. Likewise, please silence your cellphone.

There is no pastor or minister. Instead, attenders rise and speak when the Spirit moves them, generally keep their comments brief and of a spiritual, heartfelt nature, and allow ample time for others to reflect on what has been said before rising to speak. Statements often have a common thread; however, this is not a requirement.

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