Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Communications & Outreach

Statement Concerning Recent National Events from Westtown Monthly Meeting

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From the early years of Quakerism, Friends have felt themselves called to make public statements on current affairs. We offer this statement in that spirit.

We, the members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) of Westtown Monthly Meeting, are committed both to upholding the equal rights of every member of our society and to the search for truth. When we comport our lives with integrity, there is a fundamental integration of our beliefs and harmony in the manner in which we act in daily life. [Read more…] about Statement Concerning Recent National Events from Westtown Monthly Meeting

Statement Concerning Recent National Events from Schuylkill Monthly Meeting

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As a people committed to peacemaking, grounded in our testimonies of truth, peace,
integrity and equality, Schuylkill Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) denounces the recent violence enacted at the US Capitol and elsewhere. We
also condemn the incitement of citizens to violence by political leaders in recent months. [Read more…] about Statement Concerning Recent National Events from Schuylkill Monthly Meeting

Join Virtual Worship “Near” You

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For Meetings Who Want to be “Found “ by Seekers Everywhere

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is compiling monthly meeting virtual worship offerings to post online. If you are part of your meeting’s leadership team and your meeting has not yet filled out the worship and events survey there is still time to do so. Once you fill this out, we will get the information on your meeting’s page on the PYM website. This will help people find you.

Tax-Smart Giving

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We are a community of Friends connected by faith, and worship is a big part of what we do together.  But Friends meetings and PYM are also responsible ​​​​for properties, utility bills, staff, and programming that our Quaker community values and relies on. All of this requires financial support.

​​Here are some tax-wise suggestions on how to provide that support without breaking the bank.

[Read more…] about Tax-Smart Giving

Restoring Civility Across the Political Divide: Author Interview with Karen Tibbals

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Karen Tibbals uses her background in market research and Quaker religious studies to help people understand how others–on opposing political sides and with different ethical frameworks–make decisions. This work, like the graphic image above, draws groups with differing opinions into relationship (pink and blue become purple!) Her book can help liberals and conservatives identify the truths they share, and it explains the success of modern societal accomplishments like gay marriage and outlines why guns feel safe to conservatives and scary to liberals. Here we interview her about who she is, and how she came to publish the very helpful books she writes.

[Read more…] about Restoring Civility Across the Political Divide: Author Interview with Karen Tibbals

Historic Quaker Treasures Added to Unprecedented Digital Archival Effort

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18th century manumissions and 17th century burial records are among tens of thousands of early Quaker documents recently added to a major digitization project spearheaded by Christ Church Preservation Trust. Contributed by Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges, these records will be available to free online access for the first time.

The “Digitizing Philadelphia’s Historic Congregational Records” project began two years ago, when the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) awarded a Hidden Collections grant to Christ Church Preservation Trust. The $385,000 award — funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation — allowed the Trust to digitize the records of eleven of Philadelphia’s historic congregations, including the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Gloria Dei, Christ Church, Mikveh Israel, the First, Second and Third Presbyterian Churches, St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s Episcopal Churches, St. George’s Methodist Church and the First Baptist Church. [Read more…] about Historic Quaker Treasures Added to Unprecedented Digital Archival Effort

Yearly Meeting Epistle — 340th Annual Sessions, August 2, 2020

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To Friends everywhere:

Greetings from the 340th Annual Sessions of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. These Annual Sessions took place in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic that led Friends to meet via Zoom videoconferencing technology. This pandemic has exacerbated the very racial injustice and societal inequities that have hindered our spiritual growth within the PYM. [Read more…] about Yearly Meeting Epistle — 340th Annual Sessions, August 2, 2020

Young Adult Friends Epistle from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions 2020

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To all Friends everywhere:

Greetings from a gathering of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends, together from many different homes for Annual Sessions, July 29–August 2, 2020. Many of us gathered from the lands around Philadelphia, on the traditional homelands of the Lenni Lenape. We humbly acknowledge that many or all of us are settlers here, and live on stolen lands. [Read more…] about Young Adult Friends Epistle from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions 2020

Zenaida Peterson Leads A Poetry Project for All

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Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Poem 2020

Our Annual Sessions poet-in-residence, Zenaida Peterson, will weave
together a yearly meeting POEM based on your reflections!

All ages are invited to participate and Families with children can work together. You can assist younger children in writing their lines of poetry, or scribe for them. We hope everyone in a household will share as they are led!

The queries

How do we find Spirit in the shadows during this time?

What does it mean to be Faithful now?

  • Begin your poetry experience:
  • Pick one of the queries to reflect upon. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
  • Reflect. Discern. Write!
  • Tease out your favorite lines.
  • Email those lines to poetry@pym.org

Mail your poetry

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Attn: Annual Sessions
1515 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102

The poem will be revealed at Annual Sessions

Zenaida will receive the reflections, and weave together all the lines Friends of our yearly meeting have submitted to create a Yearly Meeting Poem 2020. This will be revealed during the week of Annual Sessions, July 29-August 2.

2020 Poor People’s Campaign: A 52 Year History Renewed

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In 1968, the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) was first named as a key concern of Friends in America. American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) Associate Executive Secretary, Stephen Cary,  remarked that the PPC “…has made poverty in America visible, and never again will it be possible to pretend that it is not real.”

52 years later, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) recognizes that we need to work together as a community to continue to make poverty and all the injustices that contribute to it more visible.  As part of that process, PYM’s Quaker Life Council recently minuted an endorsement of the PPC, as has PYM’s Young Adult Friends community, Trenton Meeting of Friends and Haddonfield Quarter. PYM has also offered youth programming (described later in this story) around this initiative and will continue to support the community’s energy on addressing the causes and consequences of poverty in America today.

[Read more…] about 2020 Poor People’s Campaign: A 52 Year History Renewed

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