On Sunday morning, April 3rd, members of Haddonfield Friends Meeting gathered for a celebration focused on peace and healing. This came about with the confluence of two events at the end of last week: receiving a sapling from the historic Salem oak tree and finding several trees at the entry to our graveyard had been spray-painted with graffiti including two swastikas. [Read more…] about Follow-up from Haddonfield Friends Meeting
Communications & Outreach
Abington Quarterly Meeting Endorses Minute of Reconciliation
Abington Quarterly Meeting in session endorsed Abington Monthly Meeting’s Minute of Reconciliation and agreed that it should be made available to all members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Abington Quarterly Meeting and Abington Monthly Meeting have also created a list of resources for friends who would like to learn more. You can find these resources at the end of the article. [Read more…] about Abington Quarterly Meeting Endorses Minute of Reconciliation
Meeting Target of Hate Symbols
“Intolerance festers and metastasizes in darkness and silence: it depends and feeds upon apathy and indifference. Each of us can play a part in preventing that from happening.”
— Dave Austin, Clerk, Haddonfield Friends Meeting
2022 Spring Continuing Sessions Minutes
Held by Zoom video conference [Read more…] about 2022 Spring Continuing Sessions Minutes
Approved Policy on Advocacy
Administrative Council, after months of research and listening, approved a Policy on Advocacy in our yearly meeting which encourages Friends to follow their individual leadings and also articulates the limitations of a religion under the law. This story shares the policy and offers context and examples.
[Read more…] about Approved Policy on Advocacy
Christian Leaders Send Open Letter to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill
General Secretary, Christie Duncan-Tessmer, in consultation with Presiding Co-Clerks, Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch and Frank Barch, joined over 100 Christian leaders of the governing board of the National Council of Churches in Christ in signing an open letter to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, asking him to speak out against his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The letter, sent to Kirill today, March 11, laments the “tragic and terrible loss of innocent civilian life” and includes an “earnest plea that you use your voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war in Ukraine and intervene with authorities in your nation to do so.” [Read more…] about Christian Leaders Send Open Letter to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill
Resource Friends Offer Tech Support to Meetings
Resource Friends help our community thrive by providing support in specific areas of concern in our monthly and quarterly meetings. These are Friends who offer a diversity of gifts and extensive “how-to” knowledge. [Read more…] about Resource Friends Offer Tech Support to Meetings
Religious Education Resources for March & April 2022
A parent in my meeting shared with me that they were not sure how to talk to their children about Russia’s war on Ukraine. I recalled a line in an article that had resonated for me as a parent and educator: We don’t have to protect children from difficult feelings, but we must not leave them alone with them. The Tote Bag newsletter for March/April has many resources and events to share with meetings and families, but these ideas for supporting one another and talking about ways to create peace are perhaps the most important. [Read more…] about Religious Education Resources for March & April 2022
Statement Against Expression of Racism in Our Country
February, Black History Month, began with threats of bombing directed to Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The month ended with the bombings in the Ukraine. Friends believe that there is that of God in everyone. We deplore this violence. The following statement was crafted by PYM’s clerks group in February with the intention of publishing it that month. Staff transitions and the war in Ukraine interrupted and delayed that intention.
[Read more…] about Statement Against Expression of Racism in Our Country
The Mighty Salem Oak
Get a Seedling from the Mighty Oak
The seedling offspring of a 600 year old grand oak tree from Salem Monthly Meeting (NJ) are being planted in sixty Quaker locations – 20 of them are still available. In 2019 this historic tree came down. The tree was so loved that the meeting held a memorial service for it. The memorial program is reprinted below. Salem Meeting had gathered her acorns the previous year and following the tree’s demise they collaborated with the NJ Forest Service to plant them. The seedlings are now large enough to be replanted. Forty will join the landscape of New Jersey meetings. Many more are ready to be claimed for meetings or other Quaker grounds in PYM. If you would like one for your meeting, there is a simple two-step process: [Read more…] about The Mighty Salem Oak