The area around the Medford Friends meetinghouse looks a lot different today than when it first opened in 1814.
Two hundred years ago, there was no Medford Township. The modern-day Union Street did not exist. The area, known then as Upper Evesham, was just a small village. The Medford Friends’ meetinghouse was one of the centers for the community.
Prior to 1814, Medford Friends had grown into a large community. Current member Janet Jackson-Gould said the current meetinghouse was constructed to facilitate a rapidly growing congregation.
“They had a smaller meeting house in the back of the lot, which was all wood,” she said. “They just outgrew it.”
The new meetinghouse was constructed just off present-day Union Street. Made of brick instead of wood, the meetinghouse has stood the test of time as Medford Township was founded and the area around it developed.
This year marks the bicentennial of the meetinghouse, yet very little has changed with the building. Outside of a 1984 renovation that added a community room, kitchen and bathrooms, the original building has not been altered.
The meetinghouse has seen a variety of people come through its doors in the last 200 years. Today, Medford Friends has about 100 members. Some have had family members coming for generations, while others are new to the community.
“It’s really interesting, because we have a number of new members and families,” Jackson-Gould said. “A lot of people have moved here.”
Medford Friends is actually older than the United States, having been founded in 1759. It was founded with a focus on serving others.
Today, Medford Friends continues to serve the community through a variety of programs. The group has helped to build a peace center in Central Africa and a school in Afghanistan.
Back home, Medford Friends works with the homeless and donates to multiple food banks in the area. But one of its more unique programs is its work with mothers who are in prison and unable to see their children.
“We have a reading program for mothers who are in jail,” Jackson-Gould said. “We give them a tape recorder and a book to read. Then we give the tape to their kids.”
Medford Friends has numerous projects with local prisoners. Many of the early Friends members were persecuted and put into jails. While such persecution does not take place today, the organization still maintains its connection to its early roots.
Friends did take some time out on Sunday, June 8 to celebrate its meetinghouse’s 200th anniversary. Members gathered outside on the groups for a picnic lunch with music, games and other entertainment. Members of other meetinghouses in town also came to the event.
Jackson-Gould described the celebration as one of unity. The Medford Friends’ meetinghouse has hosted local Quakers for 200 years and Jackson-Gould believes the community is strong enough to continue gathering in the building for centuries to come.
