July 28th through August 1st
DeSales University, Center Valley, PA
All Friends in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting are invited.
Please do not stay away for lack of funds. Financial aid is available.
Check out the Sessions Blog for photos from this year's Summer Sessions.
Every year, hundreds of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting members and attenders gather for our Annual Sessions, planned for July 28th through August 1st at the beautiful campus of DeSales University near Allentown PA.
This year's sessions are titled "We Make the Road by Walking - How Are We Called to be Prophetic in our Witness?" The Sessions will help us walk the road in right relationship with the earth and with each other, deepen our discernment, strengthen our community and increase our skills to live lives more clearly expressing our witness.
We are fortunate to have two young speakers whose lives are shaped by their response to the call of prophetic witness, and who will share their leadings and insights.
On Wednesday night,
Shane Claiborne will present "Economics of Rebirth". Claiborne is the author of several books including The Irresistible Revolution, Jesus for President, and Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers. He is the founding partner of "The Simple Way", a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped to birth and connect radical faith communities around the world. More information about Claiborne can be found at
www.TheSimpleWay.org.
Our children will have the opportunity to hear Shane's introduction, then have the chance to be with
Therese Miller for their own plenary called:
Dancing Candles. They will explore together: How does your light shine? How does God's light shine through you? Therese will use stories, song and movement to help us see ourselves as God's hands and feet, and heart and voice, in the world. We'll learn about many brave and interesting people who have dared to step out to make things better and safer and more fair for others. So bring your stories, your ideas and your happy feet. We might just make the road by dancing.
Saturday night's closing session will feature
Noah Baker Merrill, a member of Putney Monthly Meeting, Northwest Quarter, New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM). He was recently honored as one of "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World" by Utne Reader magazine for his work as cofounder of
Direct Aid Iraq, an innovative humanitarian aid and peace-building network staffed by both Americans and Iraqis. Baker Merrill will speak on "Where the Resurrection Meets the Road".
We also are offering an exciting new program: Tools for Action: Prophetic Witness School: Mini clinics for skills and inspiration.
Summer Sessions 2010 also offers a chance for our young Friends to get together with other young Friends like at no other time of the year. Fun, rich activities are planned for
children throughout the four days, along with programs for
Middle School Friends,
Young Friends, and
Young Adult Friends.
Over 30 workshops and interest groups are scheduled, including Ten Ways Prophesy Emerges Amongst Us, Friends Direct Action Witness with The Earth Quaker Action Team, Your Meeting's Spiritual Hospitality - A Quaker Quest Objective, and Worship with Children: Play and Practice.
A number of sessions will be devoted to important Yearly Meeting business, including how our Yearly Meeting budget reflects our priorities and commitments, discerning PYM's War Tax Refusal Policy, and discussing how Yearly Meeting Sessions meet the needs of our community and deciding how future sessions will be scheduled. In addition, we will learn of the Young Adult Friends' June delegation to Israel/Palestine, and further our discernment, commitment and action around PYM's exciting new Eco- Justice initiative.
You can receive a discount by registering by July 15th, and children must be registered by that date. For more information, please contact Lou Ann Merkle at
LouAnnM@pym.org or 215-241-7238.
For more info, please contact the Sessions Coordinator at louannm@pym.org or 215-241-7238
