How We Put
Faith in Action
The Land
On the left: Land of the Lenni-Lenape, 2013 Autumn Drive, Chadds Ford, PA, by likeaduck, License: CC-BY-2.0. On the right: Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape PowWow 2014, image by Larry Wilder, License: CC-BY-2.0
“The land upon which we gather is part of the traditional territory of the Lenape, called ‘Lenapehoking.’ The Lenape People lived in harmony with one another upon this territory for thousands of years. During the colonial era and early federal period, many were removed west and north: the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, Munsee Delaware Nation, and the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown. Some remain among the continuing historical tribal communities of the region: The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, the Ramapough Lenape Nation, the Powhatan Renape Nation, the Nanticoke of Millsboro Delaware, and the Lenape of Cheswold Delaware. We acknowledge the Lenape as the original people of this land, and their continuing relationship with their territory. We acknowledge the continued presence of Lenape people–both recognized and unrecognized–in their homeland, and we affirm the aspiration of the great Lenape Chief Tamanend, that there be harmony between the indigenous people of this land and the descendants of the immigrants to this land, ‘as long as the rivers and creeks flow, and the sun, moon, and stars shine.’”
Approved by the Right Relationship with Lenape People Working Group
May 2024
Refugee Resettlement Project
The Refugee Resettlement Project began at Birmingham Meeting in 2015 in response to the ever-increasing number of people across the globe being forced to leave their homelands due to armed conflict, violence, persecution, famine, and poverty. Birmingham members were soon joined by volunteers from other Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith communities, as well as non-religiously-affiliated community members, to form the West Chester Area Refugee Resettlement Project. The team assists refugees in transitioning to their new lives in the U.S. by securing and furnishing initial housing; helping them obtain Social Security numbers/work authorization documents; access medical and social services; find employment; connect with ESL classes and tutoring; enroll children in school; learn about U.S. currency/banking/bill paying---welcoming them and orienting them to American culture and our community.
The WCARRP partnered with Church World Service, a government-authorized resettlement agency, to resettle a seven-member Congolese refugee family and with the Asylum Seekers Sponsorship Project to assist a Ugandan asylum seeker. WCARRP was recently certified as a Private Sponsor Group by Welcome Corps, a U.S. State Department program, to sponsor two Colombian refugees.
Birmingham MM and members of the WCARRP have been incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to welcome and get to know these newcomers, who have inspired us by their example of perseverance in exceedingly difficult circumstances and enriched our lives with their friendship.
We Strive to Save Lives
On the left: Youth in our Peace Center.
On the right: EOD Soldiers oversee Humanitarian Mine Action training with Chad Students. Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons.
Birmingham Friends Meeting, through the leadership efforts of members Ted Brinton, John Lavin and Ruth Young, has raised money to buy mine detectors for use in developing countries, where warfare has rendered land unusable because of buried mines. This work and support has been taken up by our Youth committee and Peace and Social Concerns Committee, who continue to raise funds for purchasing the detectors.
Who has not seen the distressing photo of a child maimed by stepping on a mine, or read the sad story of a family bereavement from working in a mined area? Providing the means to detect buried mines is a win-win proposition: it prevents injuries and fatalities and it allows land, contaminated with buried mines, to be returned to much needed food production. The detectors have been bought from the Schonstedt Instrument Co. which donates a second one for free with each purchase. The detectors are then distributed worldwide by the UN Mine Action Service. The benefits of these efforts have been huge.
For More information about this program go to: https://www.friendsjournal.org/demining-for-peace/