About fifty people packed into the Cropwell Meetinghouse in Marlton, N.J. on Sunday, December 21, 2025, to experience the return visit of the Greater Philadelphia Choral Society. The meetinghouse was decked in greens and the stove fire was roaring as they performed a beautiful holiday concert, then led everyone in a suite of favorite Christmas songs.
Cropwell Quaker Meeting is a small-but-growing Friends community in Marlton/Cherry Hill NJ. Come join us for public worship every Sunday at 10am. At Cropwell we treasure our friendliness, our desire for a community grounded in the Holy Spirit, our in-person worship, and our genuine desire for new members. We try to have special events every month, such as introductions to Quakers, speakers demonstrating Quaker faith in action, or all-ages crafts.ย Learn what to expect if you visit.
This Sunday, over 70 Friends, neighbors, and carolers packed into Cropwell Quaker Meeting in Marlton, NJ to sing classic Christmas songs. The Greater Philadelphia Choral Society came back for a second year to share their music. They had selections from “Gesu Bambino,” G.F. Handel’s “Messiah” and a version of the Lord’s Prayer sung by GPCS artistic director William Gorton. They also led us in a group sing-along, with popular favorites that included “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and “Silent Night.”
Sweets, hot mulled cider, and other light refreshments were provided after the event and many visitors stayed to talk. Earl Evens presented his locally famous handmade cutting boards to choir members. Every family received Christmas ornaments handmade by Debbie Sutton .
Outreach
There were 71 people in the meetinghouse this year, 13 more than last year’s event. About 30 of the visitors were members of the choir or their families (as the choir is based in nearby Cherry Hill, these are neighbors who might consider visiting or recommending Cropwell Meeting for worship). One local family returned from our Halloween event and brought relatives. Perhaps a dozen people were family members of Cropwell members while others were friends of theirs invited to attend.
Between visitors at 10am worship and visitors at the Christmas sing, 10 people signed up for the Cropwell events email list.
Cropwell Quaker Meeting is a small-but-growing Friends community in Marlton/Cherry Hill NJ. Come join us for public worship every Sunday at 10am. At Cropwell we treasure our friendliness, our desire for a community grounded in the Holy Spirit, our in-person worship, and our genuine desire for new members. We try to have special events every month, such as introductions to Quakers, speakers demonstrating Quaker faith in action, or all-ages crafts. Learn what to expect if you visit.
Almost 60 people came to Cropwell Meeting this past Sunday to welcome Christmas at our second annual sing. About a third of them were featured singers from the Greater Philadelphia Choral Society (GPCS).
The meeting was happy to be joined by a carload of visitors from Barnegat (N.J.) Meeting, another small South Jersey meeting with a passion for outreach. Cropwell was also .delighted to learn that some of the GPCS singers were residents of Medford Leas, the nearby Quaker retirement community where some of our members live.
Greenery and wreathes were hung around the meetinghouse:
The singers began with breathtaking solos:
Perhaps the most tender moment was the entire group singing “SilentNight” together. The sounds reverberated through the meetinghouse, as if the walls themselves were humming along:
After the concert, everyone enjoyed sampling from two large tablefuls of sweets, from mulled cider, to brownies, to an assortment of cookies. One Cropwell attender made beautiful pine cone Christmas ornaments to give away to visitors (they were all different too, some with bells, others with berries!).
It is important to have regular events advertised and open to the public. As usual, Cropwell Meeting publicized the concert on local Quaker calendars, Eventbrite, and Google listings. We also gave flyers to all of the households in the Marlton Village homeowners association adjacent to the meetinghouse.
