A powerful speaker with a message of kindness, advocacy, and partnerships within the community, Nikki Mosgrove, of Trenton Friends Meeting and Nia Ministries, spoke to the truth that what is right is not always comfortable. She opened with Micah 6:8, a theme of this year’s Annual Sessions. [Read more…] about Nikki Mosgrove’s Keynote on Investing in Community + Land Acknowledgment
Governance & Stewardship
Meeting For Business – Minutes of Thursday July 29
With 82 Friends in attendance, Meeting for Business in Worship was held virtually from just before 1:00 to just past 4:00 PM during the afternoon of July 29th. The agenda offered the following items of business: Introductions, Epistle Writing Committee, Administrative Council and Treasurer’s reports, the 2022 PYM Budget presentation, and the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Sprint Report and work. Minutes follow with thanks to the PYM recording clerks, Jim Herr and Kri Burkander. [Read more…] about Meeting For Business – Minutes of Thursday July 29
Annual Sessions 2021 Begins with Spiritual Formation Retreat
The 341st Annual Sessions 2021 commenced with a virtual Spiritual Formation Retreat that was led by .O (she/him/?/they/them) and organized by the Spiritual Formation Collaborative. The retreat was offered to ‘prepare and till the soil of the soul,’ so that Friends are empowered to move forward with the work of addressing and removing injustices, and nurturing justice.
[Read more…] about Annual Sessions 2021 Begins with Spiritual Formation Retreat
What Sessions Gives to PYM Community. Why Come? What are the Takeaways?
In the lead-up to Annual Sessions, we asked a few members of the PYM community why they attend sessions and for some of their favorite memories from past annual sessions. Here’s what they had to say… [Read more…] about What Sessions Gives to PYM Community. Why Come? What are the Takeaways?
State of the Meeting Reports 2020
Each year at Annual Sessions there is a thick book with printouts of the prior year’s collected ‘State of the Meeting’ reports. Last year we were unable to share in the special joy of leafing through those printed reports. People missed learning about each meeting’s activities.
This year we have compensated for that loss by creating a virtual “book” of all of the reports. You can access them in this news story and they will also be in the Annual Sessions Advance Documents. [Read more…] about State of the Meeting Reports 2020
Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Pam/Tommy Greenler
Tommy Greenler (stage name Pam) is a drag performer and musician living in Atlanta, Georgia. They were born into a Quaker Family and raised on a small farm in rural Wisconsin, spending much of their childhood very involved with Monthly Meeting, Yearly Meeting, and FGC Quaker Youth programs. Pam’s keynote address will be Thursday evening, and this interview gives you a sense of the person, performer and Friend you will be meeting virtually next week. A composer, musician, and artist, Tommy/Pam talks about their identity and its expression through performance art.
[Read more…] about Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Pam/Tommy Greenler
Travel & Witness Grant Report: Quaker Travel in New Zealand
In 2019, PYM’s Travel and Witness granting group awarded Jan and John Schmidt, members of Raleigh Monthly Meeting, a grant for travel to Wellington, New Zealand. Jan and John would be staying there under the care of the Wellington Friends Meeting as Volunteer Resident Religious Worker (the official term for their status).
Travel and Witness’ international outreach funds are available to people engaged in promotion of international understanding, justice and peace through travel. Quakers within and outside of PYM may apply. Now in their second year in New Zealand, Jan and John joined Travel and Witness’ quarterly meeting in June 2021 to share their experience. The granting group recorder took wonderful minutes of Jan and John’s account, shared below.
[Read more…] about Travel & Witness Grant Report: Quaker Travel in New Zealand
Takeaways From the Budget Q&A Session on July 20, 2021
On Tuesday, July 20, PYM Treasurer, Andrew Anderson welcomed Friends to the Q&A session for the budget for Fiscal Year 2022. After opening worship, Andrew briefed the community on topics covered in four financial documents posted as advance documents on the Annual Sessions pages. A report follows. [Read more…] about Takeaways From the Budget Q&A Session on July 20, 2021
Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Cherice Bock
Cherice Bock is our Keynote speaker for Saturday, July 31st at 4:30 PM. She lives in Oregon and is an adjunct professor of ecotheology at Portland Seminary. Cherice serves as the Creation Justice Advocate at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. She holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and an M.S. in environmental studies from Antioch University New England. She is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental studies at Antioch University New England.
Cherice is an editor of Barclay Press’s Illuminate (Bible study curriculum written by Friends, for Friends). She also edits the environmental studies journal Whole Terrain as well as curates web content for the watershed discipleship website. As a recorded Quaker minister, Bock sees environmental concerns as one of this generation’s most important social justice issues.
In the interview below she shares some of her thinking around this important issue and its relationship with her faith. [Read more…] about Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Cherice Bock
Affinity Groups at PYM Annual Sessions 2021
PYM Annual Sessions 2021‘s affinity groups continue to be an integral part of Annual Sessions every year. They are important because affinity groups offer a space to connect, and strengthen community by bringing people together to support each other in safe spaces.
[Read more…] about Affinity Groups at PYM Annual Sessions 2021
