Eastland 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 Eastland Preparative Meeting Report
See report of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.
2018 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
We continue to meet in numbers small, to seek the Spirit that connects us all.
Our first day school begins gathering at 10am and we settle into discussions about messages from the Bible until our 11am Meeting for Worship. We gather with our friends from Penn Hill monthly and join with our friends from Oxford quarterly. We are enriched by the camaraderie and spirit of other friends.
This year we have been saddened by the absences of our children and miss their presence. It was good to see them again at our Thanksgiving celebration. We remain hopeful that our First Day School for children will resume. Friends at Eastland continued to contribute to help resolve outstanding debts of the George Fox Friends School and also helped provide laptops for Belize Friends School. Our Quaker Sewing Ladies group continued to gather and produce lap quilts for nursing home residents. We began making plans for needed repairs to our physical space that will make it more welcoming and accessible.
Our Yearly Meeting has asked us to consider diversity and division in the world around us and amongst ourselves, and to reflect on what we do to promote the Spirit in our meetings and strengthen our Quaker roots.
Many of us find that the discussions of biblical messages and the teachings of Jesus in first day school strengthen us and help promote the work of the Spirit within ourselves. In reviewing these events from long ago we are reminded that though time and circumstances may be very different, human nature and our desire to connect with something greater than ourselves remains the same.
We are a diverse community of people with different backgrounds and education. We try to create an environment that is welcoming to everyone. We recognize that diversity can sometimes become divisive and this year we have labored with our friends from Penn Hill to reduce conflict and promote tolerance and understanding. We have been reminded to let go and let God, to be encouraging of the good and to trust in the Lord.
2017 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
Eastland members continue to meet regularly. We gather at 10 am for First Day School to discuss bible lessons for adults and have a separate program for the children. Meeting for Worship gathers at 11 am. We are glad to welcome visitors. Most of our visitors are from BYM.
Attendance at Meeting for Worship varies. We are a small group and find spiritual support in a wide variety of Quaker interactions. We are blessed by a Quarterly Meeting that covers a small geographic region, allowing us to interact regularly with members of Nottingham Meeting, the Brick, Penn Hill and also Sadsbury Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. We continue to strive to stay connected to BYM through Interim Meeting, Annual Sessions and Committee work.
We let our lives speak. Many of our active members and attenders are employed in service jobs allowing us regular interaction with our neighbors, our community and a wide diversity of living styles and cultures. We have elderly members that also find support within our Meeting community, keeping them connected and providing some assistance as way opens.
2016 Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
Eastland members continue to meet regularly. We gather at 10AM for First Day School to discuss Bible lessons for adults and have a separate program for the children. Meeting for Worship gathers at 11 AM. We are glad to welcome visitors. Most of our visitors are from BYM.
Attendance at Meeting for Worship varies. We are a small group and find spiritual support in a wide variety of Quaker interactions. We are blessed by a Quarterly Meeting that covers a small geographic region, allowing us to interact regularly with members of Nottingham Meeting, the Brick, Penn Hill and also Sadsbury Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. We continue to strive to stay connected to BYM through Interim Meeting, Annual Sessions and Committee work. We had a productive joint meeting of Nottingham Quarter member to prayerfully consider and discuss the queries within the current draft of Faith and Practice.
Our members were able to provide physical assistance with the closing of George Fox Friends School and assisted with a variety of sales of office and school items. We participated in the 200th anniversary celebration of Drumore Meeting, coordinating outreach with Lancaster and Sadsbury Meetings. Lancaster Meeting developed a brochure that included all the Lancaster County Meetings and was individualized for each meeting to hand out to visitors as additional outreach. The local Historical Society provided an opportunity for a presentation to about 250 attendees about the Southern Lancaster County Quaker involvement in the Underground Railroad and a repeat presentation at Quarterly Meeting brought some additional visitors to Penn Hill Meeting House.
We let our lives speak. Many or our active members and attenders are employed in service jobs allowing us regular interaction with our neighbors, our community, and a wide diversity of living styles and cultures. We have elderly members that also find support within our meeting community, keeping them connected and providing some respite to their family members.
