

Adult and Children's Activities
2025 Schedule of Special Events

Sunday, December 29, 2024, 9:45am to 10:45am
Worship Sharing - What is your mindset for the new year?
Read the poem, “Where does the Temple Begin, Where Does it End?” by Mary Oliver, POETRY: Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End? by Mary Oliver – The Value of Sparrows
Worship sharing focuses on particular questions (Queries) and helps us to explore our own experience, sharing more deeply than we would in normal conversation. It seeks to draw us into sacred space, where we can take down our usual defenses and encounter each other in “that which is eternal.”
The guidelines for worship sharing have been evolving among Friends for the past half century, drawing on many different sources. Click here for basic guidelines for worship sharing.
Queries
Does the poem speak to you? If so, what does it say to you?
What is your mindset as you approach 2025? Your heartspace?
What is your challenge or leading in the new year? How is Spirit beckoning our community?
Sunday, Jan 5, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Being an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Community
Being an Ally to the LGBTQ+ Community by Amber Roadcap, Executive Director, LGBTQ
Center of Central PA. The director of the newly purchased hub for LGBTQ folks in Central PA will share how they serve individuals and how Quakers can be a faith ally. Ms. Roadcap will also give an overview on inclusive pronouns and answer any questions attendees may have around the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sunday, Jan 19, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Bible Exploration
Bible Exploration with Ruth Woodlen, Ruth Woodlen is an ordained Methodist Minister and has served churches in southeast PA. She holds a Masters in Divinity and has assisted us in exploring the Bible in previous forums.
Saturday January 25, 2025
Citizen George - pizza and movie night
We will watch the film Citizen George which premiered this past summer at the Friends General Conference gathering. Citizen George presents the life and work of Philadelphia-based Quaker activist George Lakey, a non-violent revolutionary who has worked his entire life for justice and peace, guided by his ideal of societal transformation. See flyer here. The event is free but bring a dish to share. Pizza will be provided.
6 to 6:45pm – pizza dinner
7pm – Movie starts
Harrisburg Quaker Meeting House
1100 N 6th St., Harrisburg, PA 17102
Sunday, Jan 26, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am (the original AVP program is postponed)
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
Learn about FCNL, a national Quaker organization. John Hayden of Harrisburg Friends Meeting will report on his work with FCNL and local activities concerning the Dauphin County Prison System.
Sunday, February 2 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Bible Exploration - “In the Flesh vs. In the Spirit” Galatians 5:1-26
Bible Exploration with Ruth Woodlen, Ruth Woodlen is an ordained Methodist Minister and has served churches in southeast PA. She holds a Masters in Divinity and has assisted us in exploring the Bible in previous forums.
Sunday, February 16, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Bible Exploration - Galatians - Living the Gospel
Bible Exploration with Ruth Woodlen, Ruth Woodlen is an ordained Methodist Minister and has served churches in southeast PA. She holds a Masters in Divinity and has assisted us in exploring the Bible in previous forums.
Galatians 6:1-18.
Sunday, Feb 23, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Quakers and Anti-Slavery Efforts in Central Pennsylvania
Quakers and Anti-Slavery Efforts in Central Pennsylvania by Matt Green
Exploring the 19th century struggle to free enslaved persons, particularly through organizations such as the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and the Underground Railroad, provides valuable insights into the intersection of values and activism. Quaker principles, often summarized by the acronym SPICES (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship), guided their anti-slavery efforts, emphasizing equality and community responsibility. By examining
their actions, we can see the importance of community collaboration, steadfast integrity, and a commitment to peace and equality - all vital in transformative activism.
A Quaker from Exeter Meeting in Douglassville PA, Matt has expressed his lifelong passion for history as a volunteer researcher for Pottsgrove Manor, a colonial home of ironmaster John Potts, founder of Pottstown and for the “Bound To Serve” Black History program. He worked as an interpretive Park Ranger at Valley Forge National Park and currently as a tour guide at the Peter Wentz Homestead in Montgomery County. Matt focuses on the American Colonial period and the development of the iron industry in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Sunday, March 16, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Friendly Singing with Marci Pickering
Sunday, March 23, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Spiritual State of the Meeting
The Spiritual State of the Meeting Report to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) provides a narrative, approved by the meeting, on its own spiritual and cultural matters. The report responds to queries that come from our book of Faith & Practice and the PYM Ministry & Care Committee. The PYM community relies on these reports to share the joys and struggles in the lives of our local meetings. They provide direction for Yearly Meeting business and programming so they meet Friends’ needs. Harrisburg Friends Meeting will gather and will ponder several guiding queries from Faith & Practice chosen by PYM. Our responses will be compiled into our report.
May 18 and June 22, 2025, 9:45am to 10:45am
Finding Clarity - How Quakers find Clearness (2 sessions)
Many of us face a dilemma when trying to deal with a personal problem, question, or decision. For people who have experienced this dilemma, Quakers have developed a method called a 'Clearness Committee' that draws on both inner AND communal resources to deal with personal problems. The Clearness Committee is testimony to the fact that there are no external authorities on life's deepest issues, not clergy or therapists or scholars; there is only the authority that lies within each of us waiting to be heard. In the first session, we will learn about the process of a Clearness Committee, and in the second session we will put this method into practice.
Date to be determined
Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP): Transforming Conflicts and Lives in Post-War Palestine and Israel by
Joe DiGarbo and Steve Alderfer from Lancaster Friends Meeting helped to introduce AVP in Palestine and Israel during a military occupation which involved periods of military violence in Gaza and the West Bank. Israelis and Palestinians who have lived both a separated yet integrated existence welcomed AVP workshops. The extenuated war on Gaza has halted this effort.
A grassroots worldwide movement dedicated to building peace in ourselves and our homes and communities, AVP provides a clear vision and path to living that brings out the best in people. Starting in 2013, Joe and Steve introduced AVP to Israeli organizations as well as Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. They will discuss AVP’s potential for both groups since Gaza has been largely destroyed and the social fabric of both heavily imprinted by violence.

