Yardley Friends Welcome New Clerk Ted Taylor
Reprinted with permission from the Yardley Friends Meeting February 2024 newsletter
Yardley’s new clerk Ted Taylor
I join with Friends in thanking Marna for leading our community as our clerk for the last two years. The minute we approved at our last Meeting for Business [see below] only begins to describe my personal gratitude and appreciation. She is passing the baton to me after running an amazing race! I only hope to honor her commitment and service in my own time as your clerk.
In the meeting for worship that preceded January’s business meeting an image came to me that I shared as vocal ministry. As most of us who are able to enjoy the quiet space of our meeting room do, I was focused on the fire blazing in the fireplace. The fire is set to burn for the entire worship hour, and to do so without the need for disruptive tending. And if built properly, it does – it burns hot and bright once it catches, and then settles into a steady blaze until the last quarter of the hour when it settles into a slower, more diffused fire. The initial stack of logs dissolve into a low pile of glowing embers – an hour-long journey of energy transformation.
In the past several years other Friends have passed the baton of “fire-builder” to me, most recently Jeff Bishop. Jeff wisely instructed me on the art of setting a flammable base, with newspaper and wood scraps for kindling, adding layers of well-placed logs in a pattern that allows good ventilation. There needs to be at least three layers of logs placed in a crosswise pattern, enough for the pile to burn through the entire hour.
The ministry I shared that First Day morning was the insight that our work as a spiritual community – in our worship, our witness, and our business – aligns with the life of our weekly fire. Both as individuals and as a meeting, we have the opportunity to establish ourselves in a way that allows for a healthy, warming, sustaining fire. Spiritually and relationally, we can set a proper foundation for igniting the flame of Spirit and ensure that that energy is sustained by a structure that allows Spirit to move easily among the gathered, and as the flames diminish at the end of the experience, we gather the scattered embers together to make sure that the heat we need is concentrated and preserved for as long as possible.
May Yardley’s life together in community, and our own individual spiritual lives model a well-built fire in 2024. I look forward to enjoying the flames!
Minute of Appreciation for Marna Matthews
First Day, 14th of First Month 2024
Outgoing clerk Marna Matthews
In response to her loving leadership of our meeting community, Yardley Friends Meeting offers its deepest gratitude to our outgoing clerk of meeting, Marna Matthews. Beginning her service in the First Month of 2022, Marna has faithfully led our meeting over the past two years – in post-pandemic recovery – with a spirit of grace and peace. During her tenure the life of our community has flourished in many ways: new members have been accepted into our meeting; with Marna’s leadership each has found a space to be nurtured and to grow in faith. Our new labyrinth’s construction and dedication service was expertly facilitated by Marna. Marna’s consistent leadership supported us as we built community and raised funds through our renewed annual Flea Market event. Marna’s leadership also supported the ongoing rehabilitation of our meeting property, including restoration of our meetinghouse flooring. We thank her for all of her loving care of our meeting for these two years and with gratitude continue to hold her in the Light.
As approved today at Meeting for Business in the Spirit of Worship,
Ted Taylor Clerk