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

I have called you by name and you are mine. When you walk through the waters, I will be with

you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire you shall

not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. You are precious in my eyes and honored and

I love you. Isaiah 43: 1-2

Autumn Calendar

Sunday, 10/18 Caln Quarterly Mee�ng in early

a�ernoon. Zoom link will be emailed.

Thursday, 10/22 Worship and Ministry Commi*ee

meets via Zoom, 6:30pm. Chris Field, contact

Saturday, October 24 9am Friends meet to prepare

the mee�nghouse for opening for worship with

a*en�on to COVID protocols. Jim Lamborn,

contact

Monday, 10/26 6:30pm Friends meet via Zoom to

consider PYM queries. Janet Lamborn, contact

Sunday, 11/1 The mee�nghouse will be open for

worship. Zoom mee�ng will con�nue

Saturday, 11/7 PYM Fall Con�nuing Sessions

Notes From Mee!ng for Business, 10.11.2020:

Reading Friends Adopt Vision Statement

A�er many months of effort by the Care and

Concern Commi*ee, the Worship and Ministry

Commi*ee and others, Reading Monthly Mee�ng

adopted its first Vision Statement.

The statement (see page 3) won praise from Friends

and the cau�on “it is something we need to use.”

Other comments were “it may not be where we are

now but where we hope to be”, “it is not set in

stone, we can modify it as needed,”and “it is to help

us evaluate us, not the statement”. Friends ex-

pressed special thanks to Charlie Gilbert who started

this project and Roger Lawn who pushed us to com-

plete it. Worship and Ministry Commi*ee accepted

the assignment of bringing the vision statement to

our a*en�on, probably semi-annually.

The vision statement will be mounted on the web-

site, shared on our Face Book page and posted on

our outdoor bulle�n board.

Trustees Tackle Mold, the Co(age,

Roger Lawn, clerk of Trustees, reported on the

many different topics Trustees are working on. Mold

mi�ga�on is a major goal as the Mee�ng works to

clean out the basement. For more, see page 4.

The future of Maiden Creek co*age is uncertain.

Janet Lamborn, the present occupant, is assured she

can stay there un�l the end of 2021. Under a new

lease, Janet will now pay rent and not be responsible

for maintenance of the building. Care of the grounds

by her family con�nues in lieu of most of what would

normally be the rent.

(con!nued on page 2)

From Care and Concern

The Care and Concern Commi*ee reminds

members and a*enders that all are invited to

contact any commi*ee member with any concern

for themselves, their family, or other Reading

Monthly Mee�ng friends. The commi*ee con�n-

ues to meet regularly and can respond to

requests between scheduled mee�ngs.

Most recently the commi*ee met to establish

the procedure for mee�ng financial aid requests

from members and a*enders. Our next mee�ng

is scheduled for November 15, 2020 at 6:00 pm.

-Charlie Gilbert

2

Friends Adopt Vision Statement

(con!nued from page 1 )

Some�me in the coming year, the mee�ng must

decide if it can afford to repair the co*age or must

sell it or have it demolished. Trustees are collec�ng

informa�on to prepare recommenda�ons to present

to the mee�ng.

Judy Ballinger reports that Opening Exercises will

con�nue at Zoom mee�ng. Ed Schaeffer will lead,

featuring music, the second Sunday of every month.

If you would be willing to lead an Opening Exercise,

please contact Judy or Chris Field.

A Camp Swatara planning commi*ee for 2021 is

forming. If you would like to join, please contact

Janet Lamborn.

Reading Friends will meet on Sunday, November 8

for Mee�ng for Business. The �me will be 12:30pm

so Friends can return home and a*end via Zoom.

-Bonnie Knutsen

Something New in our Library!

We have subscribed to the Pendle Hill Pam-

phlets, and most of the pamphlets that we own

are now arranged in alphabe�cal order in boxes

on the north windowsill. Some are in the display

rack on the same windowsill. For those of you

who are not familiar with the pamphlets, here is

a descrip�on excerpted from the Pendle Hill

website:

“Many remarkable gi*s have come out of the

Pendle Hill experience, but few are more remarka-

ble than the series of Pendle Hill Pamphlets, ongo-

ing now for some 85 years. Conceived as the pub-

lished equivalent of messages spoken in a Friends’

mee!ng for worship, these brief essays reflect the

range and vision of unprogrammed Quaker reli-

gious thought and prac!ce. …”

We also now have this print catalog of all the pam-

phlets published through 2018, on the windowsill

next to the collec�on: h*ps://pendlehill.org/

product/index-of-pendle-hill-pamphlets/

Many of us have been spiritually enriched and in-

spired by these li*le gems of wisdom. Do you have a

favorite Pendle Hill Pamphlet? The library commi*ee

would like to know so we can order any that might

be missing from our collec�on.

- Chris Field

Reading Friends Vision Statement Reading Monthly Meeting is an inclusive fellowship of families and individuals who nurture and support one another for spir-itual growth and individual and community well-being. We take guidance from Quaker writings, Christian scripture, and the wisdom of other religious and thoughtful texts. We are committed to religious edu-cation for adults and children. While we worship mostly in silence, words and music contribute to our gatherings in the meeting house. The Light leads us to embrace simplicity, peace, and social and environmental justice. Listening to the Spirit during Meeting for Worship, in small groups, or as individuals we discern leadings and witness change. We support those among us who are led to speak out, to engage in social ministry and activism. We are supported by our wider Quaker connections and alliances with other groups. The places where we worship provide an inviting atmosphere, safety, respite, and retreat. We reach out to our community and welcome fellow seekers to our spiritual home.

adopted October 11, 2020

Masonry repairs to the steps at the Maiden Creek

Mee�ng House are the final step in Maiden Creek

restora�on and solve a safety concern.

A stone from Phil Bohne’s stone pile replaced a

badly eroded one in the Southwest steps. The

southeast steps also received a new stone. Thank

you to Taylor Lamborn for his very long extension

cord and to Peter for loaning his tarps.

- Ann Bodnyk

On Homeless Youth and our �es to Family Promise of Berks County

For the past several years, Reading Monthly Mee�ng

has been involved in suppor�ng U-Turn, the Family

Promise program for homeless youth.

Their official statement for U-Turn is:

“The U-Turn program serves homeless teens and

young adults up to age 22 with advocacy, case

management, shelter, permanent housing and a

Drop-In Center.”

In 2019, 119 youth were served. The program has

served unaccompanied, homeless and at-risk teens

since 2011. The central office, 325 N. 5th

Street,

Reading, serves all Berks school districts.

Youth are welcome to come to the home-like seOng

of the center on Tuesday and Thursday a�ernoons to

shower, do laundry, get snacks, use the kitchen, com-

puter, internet, and meet with their peers and the

case manager. The U-Turn case manager, now Annie

Herman, also works out in the field. U-Turn aims to

help youth set and achieve educa�onal, employment

and housing goals.

Family Promise/U-Turn states:

We believe that youth deserve to graduate from

high school, pursue higher educa!on, dream big

and build new opportuni!es for themselves and the

community around them without the fear of not

having a roof over their heads and food to eat.

When the pandemic led to school and church clo-

sures last March, alterna�ve prac�ces were put in

place. Housing was found for some families, (many had

to disperse among friends and rela�ves), and the

youth only came to the center to pick up carry-away

foods and snacks. September has brought new situa-

�ons. One of the girl who came to our Holiday Extrava-

ganza is a student on campus at Kutztown, and two of

the fellows have jobs and apartments. There are new

youth coming. U-Turn efforts are focused on providing

support in job and apartment searches.

During the past 7 months, RMM has provide a cash

dona�on used for U-Turn carry-out food and bus

passes. In September, we received a new request from

Family Promise: to help provide school supplies for the

9 elementary-aged children in the general program.

With 10 members dona�ng $20-30 each, and 2 dona-

�ons of over $100, we were able to fill 9 new Jansen

backpacks with abundance!

Chris, Deb and Judy had a (masked) porch party to fill

the backpacks with notebooks, puzzle-books, markers,

games, art supplies, books, and a few toys…..thinking

of the homeless parents of young children in virtual

learning, as well as of the children.

October 22 will be the first sit-down meal offered to

the youth. Thank you to those who are providing the

food: Jinchun, Fran, Deb and Chris. If meals con�nue

to be possible, I hope our mee�ng can offer a meal

each month.

I also encourage anyone who wants to help another

way, to consider dona�ng items listed below:

bus passes (purchased at bartabus.com), water

bo*les, juice boxes, microwavable soup, microwava-

ble mac n cheese, granola bars, crackers, snack bags,

individual cereal boxes.

These items may be delivered to the day center at

325 N. 5th Street, Reading. Call 610-373-3323 before

you deliver. Or call Judy to deliver for you.

(609-425-6631).

I will end with the biggest need of all: Landlords will-

ing to rent apartments to Family Promise. They have

received a grant of $300,000 for rental costs, but there

are few apartments available and a long wai�ng �me. If

you know of any landlords who might be happy to sup-

port a good cause for a solid income, Please tell them

about Family Promise!

- Judy Ballinger

Judy with backpacks loaded with

goodies for homeless children, all

sponsored by Family Promise.

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: Roger Lawn

The Last Word

“Having a grievance or resentment is like drinking

poison and hoping it will kill the enemy.”

- Nelson Mandela

Basement Cleanout Happening Now

In an effort to remove mold from the 6th Street

mee�nghouse, everything that supports the growth

of mold will be removed from the basement by pro-

fessionals, beginning in January.

Anything that stays in the basement should either be

in a sealed plas�c container (marked with available

green tape) or not be something on which mold can

grow. If you have le� tools or materials in the base-

ment that you wish to keep, please retrieve them this

year.

Here are pictures of items free to any taker. Also

available are two, old mee�nghouse benches, old

wooden ladders, a blackboard, pieces of a blackboard

from MC, a book shelf, tools and lawn equipment.

Items removed from the basement must be bagged

first to prevent the spread of mold.

Let a member of Trustees know if you see something

that should be kept or you know of an organiza�on to

which an ar�cle can be donated.

- Roger Lawn

4 upholstered chairs

4 black, barrel chairs

2 desks from MC and

many pink chairs A round table

Many racks and

folding chairs

5 small, blue chairs