Caln Meeting was the third (and most successful) attempt to establish a meeting of Ohio Friends in southeastern Pennsylvania. The meeting had a rather unusual history before being re-named Keystone Fellowship when a MM was granted in 2006.
Caln Meeting first met in Tenth Month 1999, being formed by individual Friends who had been associated with the earlier Quarryville Meeting and with other isolated Friends. Most early attenders held membership in various meetings in Ohio YM, but not all. Friends originally met in the Caln Meeting House west of Downingtown.
The name "Caln" has three accepted pronunciations. People who live in Caln Township pronounce it "kallin" with a short "a" sound. Attempts to pronounce the word in one syllable usually result in the vowel being either like the short "a" in "cat" or like the "ah" sound in "cot."
The new meeting soon came under the care of Rockingham MM and was known as "Caln Allowed Meeting." Rockingham MM met in the Caln Meeting House twice to encourage the nascent meeting. Because many of those who attended remained active in other meetings, it was decided to meet at Caln the second and fourth First Days of each month at 2:30 p.m. During these early days at Caln, the meeting read and discussed Mildred Ratcliff's journal after worship.
In 2004, Caln Friends adjusted their meeting times. Rather than meeting twice a month, they decided to hold the meeting every weekend, with flexibility as to meeting on First Day or Seventh Day. The meeting met either in the Caln Meeting House or the Downingtown Meeting House on the second First Day of the month and met in the home of an attender the other weekends of the month. This idea was originally called the "three and one" proposal. An immediate advantage was that Friends who travelled a distance would usually have Friends at their home once a month. The "home" meetings came to include a meal afterwards and extended visiting.
The meeting began around 2004 to hold informal business meetings. Mike Kinch served as the informal clerk. The small amount of business revolved around answering the Ohio Queries and arranging the meeting schedule. Later, Steve Geyer became the informal clerk. On 3/26/2006, Caln Friends minuted a decision to seek Monthly Meeting status. When the process was completed, the group assumed the new name of Keystone Fellowship Meeting. |
