August Quarterly Meeting at Newtown Friends

Over 125 Friends of all ages came to Newtown Friends Meeting and on Zoom on August 16th for food, fellowship and business.

The Newtown Friends community came together to make everyone from the Quarter feel welcome. The day started with finger foods, coffee, and conversation, and saying hello to Friends they have not seen each other since the May quarterly meeting.

Then Friends were treated to a program presented by Newtown Friends Sharon Hulihan and Wendy Kane – affectionately known as the “Graveyard Girls” – entitled Unforgotten: Remembering Our Quaker Influencers. They learned about nine Friends who are buried in Newtown Meeting’s graveyard whose social influence reached far past their own monthly meeting. The program is available to view on YouTube:

While the adults were learning about Quaker influencers, the young Friends were having a scavenger hunt in the burial ground, with tasks such as “find the headstone with the penguin on it,” and “count all of the American flags,” and “find a headstone with the train on it.”

After meeting for worship, Friends gathered for a shared lunch and were invited to tour the burial ground to see the graves of the Friends who were spoken about in the morning’s presentation.

Finally, everyone gathered for Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, and heard annual reports from five meetings, a quarterly report from the coordinator, and an annual report from the Treasurer and Bucks Food for Friends.

The next Quarterly Meeting is scheduled for November 15th and will be held under the care of Quakertown (NJ) Friends Meeting.