Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Governance & Stewardship

Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Cherice Bock

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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

Takeaways From the Clerks’ Listening Session

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In powerful way, listening can really generate a sense of community and belonging. This was felt recently when eighteen Friends from across the yearly meeting gathered for a Clerks’ Listening Session Tuesday, July 13th, from 7:00 to 8:30.

They shared joys, concerns, and experiences of the past year as well as particular hopes or questions they wished to share as our yearly meeting community heads into our annual five-and-a-half day gathering to worship, learn, and grow together in fellowship and business.

[Read more…] about Takeaways From the Clerks’ Listening Session

Young Adult Friends: Engagement, Program, and Work

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The Young Adult Friends (YAF) program has flourished through years of service by Meg Rose, Young Adult Engagement Coordinator, and her predecessor,  Elizabeth Piersol Schmidt. As we look ahead to when Meg is leaving Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to begin a career in social work in late July, it is worth looking back at all that ties this engaged set of young adults to one another, to their leadership commitment to peers, and to this Faith.

The YAF program supports the spiritual vitality and community of PYM by creating programming specifically for young adult Friends (age 18-35-ish), as well as strengthening commitment and involvement of young adult Friends in PYM’s multigenerational community.

Read Minutes of Appreciation for Meg.

[Read more…] about Young Adult Friends: Engagement, Program, and Work

Anna T. Jeanes Cremation Fund and FEMA COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Available

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Featured Photo: The Philadelphia Inquirer – October 1, 1907

Anna T. Jeanes Cremation Fund

Friends are reminded that the Anna T. Jeanes Cremation Fund is available to reimburse cremation costs of members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting monthly meetings.

Application may be made by monthly meeting pastoral care committees, family members, administrators or executors for a deceased member of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Applications may be submitted up to one one year after the member’s death, after cremation costs are paid, and once required documents are available. Reimbursement maximum is $800. Contact PYM grants staff at grants@pym.org for help applying. [Read more…] about Anna T. Jeanes Cremation Fund and FEMA COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Available

Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Mai Spann-Wilson

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Mai Spann-Wilson is giving an Annual Sessions Keynote talk and offering a series of workshops during Annual Sessions. His keynote address on Friday, July 30 from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm will engage All-Ages work on Anti-Racism. An experienced, licensed social worker, Mai has worked with people of many different backgrounds. Learn more about his calling and his vision for his workshops in this interview.

[Read more…] about Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Mai Spann-Wilson

Happiness Is a Meetinghouse Re-Opened – Here’s How Meetings Are Getting There

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June was a big month for the Friends community as it emerged from pandemic conditions. A number of meetings have been “open” in one way or another for a time, others have met only via Zoom. Those that have been meeting in person for some time (including Centre, Quakertown, Little Egg Harbor, Plumstead, Horsham, and Third Haven) found that as (mostly) smaller communities they could find ways to safely meet. Some set up outside worship, developing and sharing safety protocols that were appropriate to meeting under the wide open sky. Numbers of communities–large and small–accessed indoor in-person worship once local restrictions eased by keeping windows open, or functioned safely by having plenty of space between people and requiring masks.

[Read more…] about Happiness Is a Meetinghouse Re-Opened – Here’s How Meetings Are Getting There

PYM Guidance on Re-Opening

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Philadelphia Yearly Meeting shares this resource to guide others in their process of re-opening. As is our Quaker practice, we have produced a series of queries to consider. After each set of queries, a few resources are included for further exploration. No matter what, follow CDC, state, and local guidelines. [Read more…] about PYM Guidance on Re-Opening

Youth Programs at Sessions Reimagined!

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We’ve scrambled our plans for Annual Sessions and made something new! Register here for all programs described below!

Recognizing that young people are both “Zoomed out” and families are out and about more this summer, Youth Programs staff have rethought and remixed our approach to Annual Sessions this year. We’re very excited to partner with Historic Fair Hill to offer an in-person event on Sunday morning, July 25, for children and youth of all ages and their families! During the week of Sessions, we scaled back online programming to focus on special guests and programs that explore identity, inclusion, and belonging. With these programs, we’re kicking off our Youth Programs theme for this year: “Building the Quaker Community We Want to Be.”

[Read more…] about Youth Programs at Sessions Reimagined!

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