of the Religious Society of Friends
Concord Quarterly Meeting Newsletter Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2026
The Lenni Lenape, The Cultural Heritage - Past & Present
On January 25, Megan Rose will join Concord Quarter to engage in learning about Indigenous history, language, and contemporary politics. She will focus especially on the Lenape people, the original inhabitants and stewards of southeastern Pennsylvania.
What are those red rocks around Westtown campus? What’s the difference between “Lenape” and “Lenni Lenape”? How do you correctly pronounce Okehocking? Where are Lenape peoples now? How might we work towards right relationships? Bring your wisdom, experiences, and questions to this interactive presentation.
An Unexpected Indigenous Past
In 2018, I was granted a sabbatical from Westtown School to research my father's hometown, Waterford, PA, and its involvement in the Underground Railroad. John Brown lived in Crawford County (about 18 miles south of Waterford) for ten years, where he operated a tannery. His cousin and abolitionist ally, Miles Barnett, lived in Waterford, which is less than 15 miles south of Lake Erie.
I was intrigued to learn that John Brown was actually a distant relative (he is my fourth cousin) and that a number of my father's ancestors had arrived in what is now Massachusetts in 1630. This, of course, led to a reckoning of what those ancestors had done to claim and develop land in the region. I found that three of my ancestor families had enslaved people of African descent. In total, twenty-five of my male ancestors had fought against indigenous people in the Pequot War (1636-1638), Metacom's (King Philip's) War (1675-1678), and the French & Indian Wars (1754-1763). Descendants of these men (and ancestors of mine) had fought in the Revolutionary War, signed the Declaration of Independence, and given birth to John Brown. One, James Rogers, was the child of the founder of the Rogerenes, a splinter religious group who held Peace Conventions with Quakers in Mystic in the 1800s. James Rogers also enslaved people. Revealed in my own family tree was the complexity and deep dissonance of our history.
To be faced with a personal connection to the foundings of our modern nation spoke to me in a way that my history classes never had. How would it ever be possible to reconcile the privileges I've been given with the grave injustices upon which they are based? I endeavored to bring these concepts to my classroom and use my own uncertainty to deepen my students' questioning and reflection.
A few years later, I happened to join a friend to hear from representatives of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, who were speaking at Swarthmore. In 2022, I enrolled in a free class they were offering to revitalize the Lenape language. It felt like one path towards reparation had opened; an avenue where my language skills and teaching profession could bring lifeblood to a critically endangered language.
Since I've started, I've come to learn that there is far more to learn. The Lenape Nation has neither federal nor state recognition. (In fact, the state of Pennsylvania has not recognized any indigenous groups.) There is deep conflict with federally recognized Lenape nations and real questions about who decides what constitutes indigenous identity.
Again, the complexity is better discussed and considered than simplified or smoothed over. In the past three years I've brought these questions, along with some basics of Lenape language, history, and culture to my classroom and given dozens of presentations outside of school. One outcome has been the Lenape Voices project. Inspired by the artist Gunter Demnig's Stolpersteine (Stumbling Stones), a grassroots project to memorialize victims of the Holocaust, we've created close to fifty rocks that represent Lenape vocabulary for the world around us. For the 2025-2026 school year, I've been awarded the David Mallory Fellowship and will clerk a cohort of interested colleagues to develop strategies and curriculum to deepen our learning of indigenous culture. It's important that all these endeavors are conducted with humility, open inquiry, and dialogue, grounded in many of the principles I've learned working at Westtown (2004-present) and in progressive education for the past three decades.
When the Shadbush Blooms (Lee & Low Books, 2007) is a beautiful book about the Lenape people and shares the message that their world is not just history, it is also lived by their people today. This makes it a wonderful example of “windows and mirrors” in children’s literature - giving young people windows into the lives of people different from themselves, and a mirror to see their own identity reflected in shared experiences across time, cultures, and communities. A few years ago, during Covid-distancing, we read the book aloud during a CQM outdoor gathering at a local park. It was well received by all ages!
The story follows the Lenape cycle of seasons of the year and is told in alternating voices by “Traditional Sister” and “Contemporary Sister,” each a Lenape child speaking from her own time. The book is a look back, about tradition and change, while also connecting us today. In addition, there are Parent/Teacher pages with Lenape words, meanings, and a pronunciation guide in the book, which is recommended for Pre-K through 6th grade and ESL students. An extensive teacher’s guide can also be accessed on the publisher’s page: www.leeandlow.com/books/when-the-shadbush-blooms.
Carla J.S. Messinger, co-author of When the Shadbush Blooms, is a Lenape descendant and the Director of Native American Heritage Programs (lenapeprograms.info). She shares: “When the Shadbush Blooms demonstrates how much Lenape children share with children of every other heritage: family relationships, seasonal activities, work and play. At the same time, it shows how similar all of those activities and relationships today are to those experienced by Lenape children centuries ago. I hope that showing the continuity of Native culture and its commonality with other cultures will give non-Native children a better understanding of our past and present, and of the humanity we share. We have endured; we are still here.”
If you’re looking for books about Native peoples, a great resource for guidance is Choosing Excellent Children’s Books By & About American Indians, with suggestions by Dr. Debbie Reese, founder of American Indians in Children’s Literature.
Clerks Gather and Connect
The Gathering of Monthly Meeting clerks on October 19, 2025 was, in the words of Debbie Murray-Sheppard, “a really good Clerks meeting.” While the agenda may not have been fully exhausted, the time was profoundly fruitful. The room was filled with a sense of genuine community, where the weight of a clerk’s role was lifted by the powerful realization: “Hey! Wait… there are other clerks experiencing what I am?”
We celebrated encouraging news from across the Quarter. Willistown Friends Meeting is moving to a tri-clerk model, while Westtown is adopting dual clerks with year-long terms. Birmingham’s practice of a four-year commitment was also shared. These structural conversations flowed naturally into a deeper discussion on process and the ownership of responsibility by the entire meeting body. In a heartening report, Willistown shared that after four years of inward-focused reflection and reform, they are feeling spiritually strong and are now turning their energy outward.
The meeting was not without its sobering moments. Some Monthly Meetings expressed challenges and associated costs related to aging properties and ongoing upkeep. Fellow clerks were able to empathize and offer support to one another.
Central to our dialogue was the need to “lay things down” to make space for new leadings. We pondered whether doing too many things stretches us thin, creating task oriented subgroups at the expense of spiritual unity. Friends began looking beyond individual meetings, envisioning the Quarter’s role in building an extended Quaker community and asking, “What might we do together that is greater than what any one meeting can do?”
With a desire to continue this vital connection, the clerks agreed to meet again in January. They also requested that each clerk pose three questions to their home meetings:
- What are we doing that is important?
- What are we doing that feels less important?
- What do we wish we could be doing?
This gathering, which included faces not often seen at Quarterly Meeting, felt like a seed of great potential. By engaging our clerks in this spirit of shared support, it opened a connection to more Friends across our Quarter, strengthening the bonds that make us a more unified community.
Outdoor Life at Parents Morning Off
We had a blast at the CQM Parents Morning Off/Forest School event held at Tanguy Homesteads on December 6th. Eight children, grade K-3, attended from throughout the Quarter. It was a cold morning and we even saw some snow flurries, but it didn’t keep us from enjoying our outdoor adventures. With the well-seasoned and careful guidance of Teacher Michelle and her team of volunteers and the assistance of Teacher Crystal from the PYM Children and Families Program, we explored the bamboo forest, and perimeter of the Tanguy Pond. We read a book about hiking and shared what you need to have on a hike:
Owl eyes, Deer ears, a Mouse mouth, and Fox feet, so that you don’t miss seeing, hearing, and sharing what you discover!
We built animal habitats from old bamboo poles and sticks and played together pretending to be different animals and prehistoric creatures. We drank hot chocolate at the picnic table and talked about the different things we had seen. Back indoors it was time to make our journals using paper, colored pencils, and our imaginations. The lunch of pizza and hot bread sticks warmed us up and we enjoyed some nature games together before it was time to go. I’m not sure who had a better time, the kids or the adults. I would say everyone! Thanks to Tanguy Homesteads for offering us this wonderful space and to all the staff and volunteers.
Travel in the Ministry to Kenya
In early October, Melinda Wenner Bradley and Matt Bradley, West Chester Meeting, traveled to Kaimosi in the western highlands region of Kenya. Their visit included Melinda leading a Godly Play/Faith & Play training at Friends Theological College with Marian Baker and Matt visiting Friends schools in the area. On World Quaker Day, October 5, they visited with Friends at Malava Friends Church. You can read more about the time there on the Faith & Play Stories website:
https://quakerfaithandplay.org/playing-in-the-light-in-kenya-thank-you-for-this-chance/
Concord Quarter Tuition Grants: Attention Parents and Guardians, a child who is a member of, or who has at least one parent or guardian who is member of, Birmingham MM, Concord MM, Goshen MM, Middletown MM, Willistown MM, West Chester MM or Westtown MM, is eligible to apply for and receive a tuition aid grant from Concord Quarterly Meeting. These grants are for students enrolled in kindergarten through Grade 12. Once awarded, they are sent directly to the Quaker school where the student is enrolled. All schools that receive these tuition assistance grants must be designated as a Friends School by the Friends Council on Education.
The application to be signed by the Meeting clerk and returned by 2/28/26: https://concordquarter.org/documents/?category=Tuition
Our Work in the World
What would you do if one of your major committees would like to be laid down due to lack of energy and leadership. This is the situation our Nominating Committee was facing when putting together the officers and committee members for our standing committees two years ago. The committee was Peace and Social Concerns, an important focus for any Meeting.
Our Nominating Committee had already been struggling to find members for our committees let alone look to replace an entire committee. We had been looking at alternate structures to help us find an answer. We came up with a structure we call Our Work in the World. It lets us to have a flexible structure that allows Members to pursue their own interests and to lay themselves down if there is no longer any energy.
The members of Peace and Social Concerns had agreed the committee should be laid down, but some had shared they would like to see a simpler form take its place because witness is an essential component of our Quaker faith, and there is much Spirit-led action among our Members and Attenders to recognize and celebrate. The structure looks like this:
Each working group which falls under the umbrella of “Our Work in the World,” is:
- Self-selected (not appointed by the Meeting), be open to anyone who shares that leading, and have at least two Members of the Meeting. The majority of the members in a group under this heading would be active in our Meeting.
- Name their own convener.
- Define their goal or mission and lay themselves down when the goal is met or energy for the work no longer exists.
- Be asked to give an update to Monthly Meeting once a year.
- Let the Finance Committee know during the budget preparation time if they want funding for the coming year.
Our Work in the World working groups are coordinated by our Assistant Clerk. The Assistant Clerk is responsible for checking in with each group at least once a year, ensure they report to Meeting at least once a year and coordinate the formation of any new groups. Our current groups are:
- Right Relationship with Lenape People
- West Chester Area Refugee Resettlement Interfaith Project
- Beekeeping
- Land Mine Detectors
- Youth Committee initiatives
- Outreach
We are currently examining our entire committee structure and hope to create a more flexible approach focused around our spiritual work, our work for the Meeting & our work in the world.
Concord Meeting: Stuck Between a Barn and a Hard Choice
Concord Monthly Meeting has been directed to rebuild the old farm barn on the Chichester Friends Meeting property by the Upper Chichester Township under their Ordinance that buildings of historical nature must be properly maintained. The Caretaker’s House (c.1710) is the oldest home in the Township, which makes it notable and meets the Township definition of “historic.”
When Chichester Monthly Meeting was “Laid Down” in 1931, most of the remaining Members transferred their Membership to Concord Monthly Meeting, and the Meeting ownership of the seven acres also was transferred to Concord, along with a very small endowment to support the Burial Ground. Concord Meeting then used its own funds to maintain the facility, and Meetings for Worship have been held at least two times each year to maintain the religious tax-exempt status.
In late Spring, the Township sent the Meeting a notice that the Cemetery wall on Meeting House Road had partially fallen, and as a safety issue, the wall had to be repaired. Concord immediately made the needed repairs, which resolved that part of the complaint. The Notice also directed the Meeting to repair the Barn and Carriage Shed, which had serious structural issues and was unsafe.
The Meeting asked for a “budget amount” for repairing the Barn and Carriage Shed from a Lancaster County contractor, and the estimate was $150,000, an amount that the Meeting could not afford. Concord Meeting had informed the Township that the cost for the rebuild would be an estimated $150,000, which the Meeting is not in a position to fund at this time. Since the barn would not be used for religious purposes, no grants could be obtained for the rebuild project, leaving the entirety of the rebuild cost on Concord. Concord has been fined $700 because the two buildings have not been repaired.
Tearing down the Barn and Carriage Shed would not be nearly as expensive, and rebuilding those structures would serve no useful purpose for the Meeting. There are Township regulations that prohibit keeping farm animals in the Township, so the only other use would be to keep the barn for storage, which would not generate any income. Also, it has been almost a century since Friends came to the Meeting in carriages, so holding on to the Carriage Shed would also serve no useful purpose for Chichester Meeting. However, Concord Meeting has kept the Meeting House and the Caretaker’s House in good condition at a considerable expense, so the property has not been neglected.
Until recently Upper Chichester Township and Concord Monthly Meeting have had a very good relationship with one another, and the Meeting has appreciated the Township’s assistance and cooperation. We are at a loss to know why the Township has had this change of heart, and they are making it very difficult for us to obtain a Demolition Permit, or to agree to drop the legal actions. The Meeting and Township Officials have previously worked well together, and this change of attitude has been disappointing.
Friends had originally built Meeting Houses to facilitate Friends’ activities and the Community needs. The Meeting Houses served and supported Friends’ endeavors, as was the case in Chichester. Now it has evolved into a situation where Concord Meeting is supporting the Chichester facility, which does not appreciably support Concord Meeting or the local community. Chichester Meeting has become a liability to Friends, especially to Concord, and the Township Officials have demanded action. Concord Monthly Meeting is now stuck in the middle.
Concord has been seeking legal counsel on how we should proceed in possibly appealing Township’s Complaint and seeking a Demolition Permit. Other Meetings have encountered similar difficulties when a real estate developer is interested in the Meeting’s property. Possibly Concord needs to divest itself from the legal and facility maintenance problems. Possibly we need to find a way for the property to sustain itself. Possibly we need to do a combination of both.
We have created a SPRINT Group to find a solution and act. We are appealing to Concord Quarter for help, and welcome all assistance, guidance, and support from the Quaker Community and beyond.
Converted from pages 1-3 of the January 2026 Concord Quarterly Meeting Newsletter.