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MFM October News - A Sampling

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Memphis Friends found our first meeting spaces at Rhodes College in 1984. When our campus sponsor left Memphis, we moved to the Seventh Day Adventist Church on East Parkway, then to a rented building in Cooper-Young. When we learned the owners were going to sell that building, we began in earnest to find a place we could count on. The search began in midtown, but since an accessible building meant having both worship space and first day school on one floor, we began to look further east. We were led to 3387 Walnut Grove, and moved in the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2008.

Being homeowners challenges our testimony of stewardship. Over the ensuing 14 years, we have made many improvements and dealt with many emergencies. We began by removing a wall to create a comfortable space for worship. Next we installed doublepaned windows in stages throughout the house for both weatherization and sound control. (Walnut Grove carries 10,000 vehicles per day.) Within four years we put on a new roof – light-colored to keep cooler in summer. Next we had landscaping done in the back and side yards and made improvements to drainage around the building. We also created handicapped access at the kitchen door and in the bathroom off the main hall. Between improvements like these, we dealt with emergencies: gas leaks, water leaks, failing AC and heating units, wind damage, and break-ins. But we managed.

This summer, House & Grounds had the exterior re-painted and rotted wood in the eves and in the back of the house replaced with hardy board. We had no idea what all that involved until work started August 22 and it took 3 or 4 men a full week of 12-hour days to make the needed repairs. Then the house was power-washed, scraped and caulked. It wasn’t until the end of the second week that paint went up – a green hue on the siding, white trim, and midnight blue on the front door.

Our profound thanks to our H&G Clerk, Sandy, for finding a good contractor and being present at the house during both weeks to answer questions as they arose.

Opportunities of Ownership

Page 1 gives a pretty good idea of the work involved in owning a meetinghouse, but that’s not the whole story. Being home owners provides a really gratifying array of opportunities as well.

• It has given us a chance to share space with other local groups, at least until the Covid shutdown. That has included Pax Christi, Memphis Zen, Servant Leadership classes, Search for God, Alternatives to Violence workshops, and maybe others that have slipped our memories.

• We are able to host groups from our Yearly Meeting: SAYMA M&N, SAYMA rep meeting, and SAYF (Southern Appalachian Young Friends). In spite of the distance, they have come.

• We have offered hospitality each spring for many years to middle school kids and teachers from the Arthur Morgan School in Celo, North Carolina when they stop in Memphis to visit the National Civil Rights Museum and other sites.

• Traveling Friends often enjoy our guest room for a few days as they pass through Memphis or arrive in the city for conferences, etc. We have a fortunate location near a grocery store and restaurants, and the Poplar Avenue bus line.

• We have been able to offer temporary emergency housing to Friends or individuals and/or families connected to Friends giving them some breathing room to make more stable plans.

• We have dedicated a room to create a circulating library of Quaker books to help members and attenders learn about Quaker Faith & Practice.

• We have a large space for First Day School with its own bath and half-kitchen as well as a door to the back yard for outside activities.

• Our full kitchen allows us to hold in-house potlucks. Although those have been suspended since the shutdown, they will resume as soon as it feels safe to do so. • There are 3 raised beds for gardening projects.

• Our sign on Walnut Grove lets passers-by know there is a Quaker Meeting in Memphis.

• And we have room for a piano.

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