For the first time since February 2020, Bucks Quarterly Meeting of Friends met in person, ironically, both times at Middletown Friends Meeting. The difference between 2023 and 2020 was the presence of computers, screens, microphones, and projectors that are all part of the technology needed to hold a hybrid Quarterly Meeting. [Read more…] about Bucks Quarterly Meeting Goes Hybrid
Monthly Meeting News
Lenape Voices: the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania
On January 15, 2023 Birmingham Meeting hosted a special program with guests Adam Waterbear DePaul and Grandmother Shelley DePaul, members of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. Adam is a member of the tribal council and is its Chief of Education and Tribal Storykeeper, and Grandmother Shelley is a Clan Mother and has also been a storykeeper and instrumental in preserving the Unami language of the Lenape. Both have worked in the university setting and helped bring the story of their people to the wider world through classes and exhibits in libraries and museums, public presentations like this one, and their involvement with the Lenape Nation Cultural Center in Easton, PA. [Read more…] about Lenape Voices: the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania
Monthly & Quarterly Leadership Gatherings – January 2023
Three times a year, Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, invites PYM Friends in monthly meeting and quarterly meeting leadership roles to attend gatherings on Zoom. Over 100 leaders attended one or both of the January 18 and January 25, 2023 events, gathering for sharing, listening, and learning. [Read more…] about Monthly & Quarterly Leadership Gatherings – January 2023
Bolivian Friend Visits Philadelphia Area
Emma Condori Mamani is a Bolivian Friend who travels in the ministry frequently. She is a founder and current Executive Director of El Centro Bilingüe Internacional Amigos (Friends International Bilingual Center or FBIC for short) and has hosted PYM Friends in La Paz as well as visiting and speaking at our Annual Sessions in 2019. [Read more…] about Bolivian Friend Visits Philadelphia Area
Discussion Held on the Quaker Peace Testimony at Cropwell
Cropwell Meeting held an introductory program on the Quaker peace testimony on Sunday afternoon. Geared toward newcomers, presenter Martin Kelley gave a 25 minute overview of the history of Quaker peacemaking, from the foundational 1660 Statement to more recent expressions of Quaker peacemaking, such as the climate-change advocacy of the Earth Quaker Action Team and the “Statement on the Peace Testimony and Ukraine” release in late October.
[Read more…] about Discussion Held on the Quaker Peace Testimony at Cropwell
The Community Outreach of Greenwich Friends Meeting
On Saturday September 24th, 2022, the Quaker Bakers of Greenwich Friends Meeting participated in the 50th Greenwich Artisans Faire at the historic Gibbons House on Ye Greate Street in Greenwich, Cumberland County. Through the sale of baked goods, tea and coffee as well as the Meeting’s signature cookbook (which combines Quaker family recipes and local lore), funds are raised annually for Greenwich Friends Community Outreach activities. The Faire draws hundreds of people to Greenwich and is a delightful opportunity to meet and greet friends and neighbors. [Read more…] about The Community Outreach of Greenwich Friends Meeting
Cropwell Meeting Reaches out to Neighborhood Families with “Trunk or Treat”
Cropwell Meeting held its first annual Trunk or Treat on Sunday, inviting neighborhood families over for games, treats, a pumpkin hunt, and tours of the meetinghouse.
The area around Cropwell Meeting has changed quite a bit since Friends first settled there in the 1780s. A patchwork of Quaker family farms has given way to twenty-first century suburbs, and today the meetinghouse property is an oasis of open space in a built-up area of housing developments. Few of the neighbors have ever visited the meetinghouse. [Read more…] about Cropwell Meeting Reaches out to Neighborhood Families with “Trunk or Treat”
Middletown Friends Reach for Their Roots on World Quaker Day
It was a meeting 340 years in the making and it happened Sunday, October 2, 2022 at Middletown Friends Meeting in Langhorne as congregations from England and America worshipped together for the first time on World Quaker Day.
In 1682 members of Settle Friends Meeting in the north of England followed William Penn’s promise for religious freedom in Pennsylvania and emigrated across the Atlantic Ocean. The group landed in Philadelphia and by 1683 had founded Neshaminah Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers. Early Meetings for Worship were held at the home of Nicholas Waln and others. [Read more…] about Middletown Friends Reach for Their Roots on World Quaker Day
Ujima Friends Sewing for Africa
Since 2019, members of the Ujima Friends Peace Center have partnered with Sankofa Artisan Guild to make reusable, environmentally friendly menstrual pads, pouches, and under garments for African girls’ whose educations are compromised due to “period poverty.” The group, now known as the PanAfrican Sisterhood Health Initiative (PASHI), is led by a group of Black Women elders most of who are community workers, keepers of the culture, educators, activists, counselors and lovers of the arts. The Friends Foundation on Aging supports funding for the project. [Read more…] about Ujima Friends Sewing for Africa
Summer of Freedom Camp visits Solebury Meeting
On a beautiful day in July, Solebury Friends Meeting hosted a group of kids from the Summer of Freedom camp, run by the Ujima Friends Peace Center, which is located in North Philly. Solebury Friend Amy Manoff started the day off right. She explained to the kids how she came to be a fruit farmer and, before taking the kids to pick blueberries, answered all their questions. Kraig McClendon brought the kids out to the country for the day. He’s a photographer and enjoyed capturing the day with his camera. [Read more…] about Summer of Freedom Camp visits Solebury Meeting
