Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Governance & Stewardship

Welcoming Eric Berdis as Artist in Residence

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Eric Anthony Berdis is a familiar face to annual sessions, and looking forward to bringing his energy, spirit and creativity this year as the artist in residence. Eric is coming from Richmond Virginia, were he is pursing is Masters at Virginia Commonwealth University. He looks forward to connecting threads in his work around quilting, identity and story sharing.

[Read more…] about Welcoming Eric Berdis as Artist in Residence

Annual Sessions 2019 Schedule

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There are a few changes to our schedule this year. Sessions Coordinating Committee (SCC) found there to be a significant ask from attenders for more spaciousness in the schedule. You will find that afternoons are more open, and instead of back to back programming, Friends will choose one way they want to engage with each other that afternoon; it could be worship sharing one day, and a workshop the next. You will also see that each afternoon has space for threshing, which SCC felt was a great resource to the community last sessions and created spaciousness for listening on topics that weren’t complete in sessions. You will probably notice more changes as you look at the day-to-day (like a Saturday sleep in!), these are all intentional efforts to center love and trust and care for ourselves and each other during Annual Sessions. Keep checking in, there will be more details as we get closer. We hope you will come for a day, or two, or the whole week!

See the Schedule or Register

General Secretary Report to Councils

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Mid-April to Mid-May 2019

Business and Finances:

  • The company that printed the 2018 Faith and Practice has been sold and its distribution subsidiary declared bankruptcy. We’ve moved the remaining copies of Faith and Practice to FGC’s QuakerBooks, where they are available for purchase.
  • The second quarter was closed and a report completed.
  • New templates for PYM’s accounting software can now generate reports automatically without human manipulation and formatting. The March 31 report was generated entirely from the accounting system. The Controllers from YPTC also wrote a new forecasting function that predicts trends, factors in seasonality (Annual Sessions only happens once, in July, while some of our biggest expenses, e.g. staff, rent, are steady throughout the year) and weighs the risks of not meeting budget.  The projected trends seem to be accurate so far.  We’re on the road to a more efficient, easier and more informative way of tracking our finances.
  • The first pass of the FY20 budget was done and has us at a good starting point.  In the next few weeks our new budget model will help us move the preliminary budget to a firm proposed budget for Annual Sessions.
  • Planning for a kitchen at Arch Street Meeting House that meets the needs of staff and the monthly meeting is moving forward with a meeting between the space designers, kitchen equipment experts, the MMFP clerk and Arch Street Meeting House staff.
  • Burial grounds from the 1600’s, one of which was Quaker, are likely to be disrupted by construction in the Schuylkill Yards project. PYM was briefly mentioned in a May 2 Inquirer story on the topic. We have been invited into conversations with the construction company, which is also consulting Quaker burial ground scholars.
  • We got the spring appeal out the door.  There were unanticipated data problems that took some hand-fixing and caused slight delays.

Program and Ministry:

  • 40 youth (MSF and Young Friends), four youth programs staff and seven wonderful volunteers attended the retreat weekend at Camp Swatara with Caln Quarter. Staff led a workshop titled “Hand in Hand: Supporting young people and their spiritual journeys.”
  • 31 participants attended the Spring Family Overnight at Camp Dark Waters.
  • 42 people attended the Friends in Fellowship National Trail network talk with Steve Elkinton at Arch Street Meeting House.
  • 50 People attended the Friends in Business event that focused on the Friends Education Equity Collaborative.
  • 65 Friends attended the Legislative Policy Collaborative all-day event at Friends Center on May 4th that included speakers from FCNL.
  • About 20 people participated in a conference call with Church World Service on Refugee and Migrant Justice on April 16.
  • The ‘Quakers Got Talent’ event was publicly launched. Date is June 17.
  • The Land Acknowledgement practice for all PYM Sessions is now the responsibility of First Reconciliation Collaborative.
  • Youth staff facilitated a program for Brooklyn Friends School’s 7th Grade at Arch Street Meeting House, which included learning about the diversity of vocations and witness among Friends and semi-programmed worship with a Faith & Play story.
  • Our standard Program Evaluation questions have been updated to integrate results of a Pendle Hill study on program evaluation funded by the Shoemaker Fund.
  • We’ve re-publicized the availability of childcare for councils and availability of providing Quarterly Meetings with approved childcare providers (at the expense of the meeting).
  • The restoration work at Millington Burial Ground is complete. As reported and warmly received at 2018 Annual Sessions, PYM plans to give the old Quaker burial ground in Millington, MD, to the Town of Millington to preserve and use as an historic site and green open space. The Town had asked PYM to make certain improvements and PYM engaged conservators to clean and reset the burial ground’s small number of headstones and refurbish an historic wrought iron fence.  That work was completed in early May with the reinstallation of the fence.  Admin Council’s Property Committee continues to work on the conveyance of the property and expects to report to Annual Sessions this summer. (See picture below).

Communications and Technology:

  • Much of the final writing and beginning layout for the next print version of Faith In Practice was completed. It features illustrations by the same Quaker artist whose work is in the appeal.
  • We fine-tuned a plan (with an 11-tab spreadsheet) for how to move forward each of the nine areas of the database (such as demographic data details and integrating email) in a way that doesn’t step on its own feet or burn up staff time.
  • We completed the background, infrastructure work for moving all employee electronic files, dating from the present back to the 1990s, to the cloud.
  • We purchased and installed a budget model for our MIP/Sage accounting software.

Staff and Administration:

  • Youth Engagement Coordinator title has changed to Youth Religious Life Coordinator. Staff believe that this title more accurately reflects the role and responsibilities of this position.
  • Support for recruitment and perhaps other duties are being thought out.
  • The current Young Adult Engagement & Sessions Coordinator is resigning the Sessions Coordinator part of her position and will remain on as Young Adult Coordinator part-time while attending school. The scheduler for Arch Street is moving on to another (full-time) position, her last day is May 17.
  • We onboarded two casual staff, one a child care provider and one assistant for Sessions.
  • We increased numbers in the Childcare Assistants Pool and strengthened the procedures on childcare to make them more broadly inclusive and take the needs of parents into account.
  • The Youth Religious Life Coordinator got certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid. All youth staff will complete this training next.
  • The 1:00 Wednesday open-door staff check in time has been used for: a discussion about the clerks’ letter to PYM and the reaction it’s getting among staff and in the community, reviewing the budget practice, and discussing social media.

Inclusion and Anti-Racism: 

  • Ops Team has included an agenda item on inclusion and anti-racism for each monthly team meeting. It is a place where we discuss our own observations and experiences.  Over time, the conversation gets deeper and more varied.
  • We need additional support with the tasks related to recruitment for open positions. This is a key point for making room for inclusion work.
  • We talked with the CEO of Prototype Entities, the consultants recommended by the Multicultural Audit Steering Committee, to explore what they offer that could meet the needs and interests of staff.
  • Our onboarding has become much more complete. It includes meeting with the supervisor, HR staff, Associate Secretaries and General Secretary for all staff, and with the supervisor, HR staff and General Secretary for part-time, as-needed staff.  In addition to standard things like HR policy and staff meetings, new staff learn about the budget, all the programs we support, how communications happen, how staff learn about what’s happening in PYM and who to talk to when you have a question or different perspective on what’s happening.

Visits to Quaker Meetings and Organizations:

  • Melinda Wenner Bradley, Youth Religious Life Coordinator, attended the Committee on Friends Education religious life gathering at Lansdowne Friends School.
  • Melinda attended a Good Friday service with Friends at Mullica Hill Meeting.
  • Melinda shared a presentation at West Chester Friends School about her travels among Quakers in Kenya.
  • Melinda participated in a QREC Conversation Circle on supporting Quaker Parenting.
  • Wendy Kane, Transitional Meeting Engagement & Data Coordinator, visited Solebury Monthly Meeting. We’re sending a save the date type postcard for sessions which has been in design this week.
  • Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, attended Freedom Seekers Memorial event at Providence Meeting.
  • Christie visited Reading Monthly Meeting.
  • Christie met with Doug Bennet (President Emeritus, Earlham College), the General Secretaries of other Northeast/Mid-Atlantic yearly meetings, the heads of FGC and Pendle Hill, Steven Lawrence (pastor of White Rock Baptist Church, Convenor of New Conversations on Race and Ethnicity), Mikal Anderson (Founder & CEO of Prototype Entities).
  • Christie and Linell McCurry, Associate Secretary for Business and Finance, attended Fairhill Burial Ground’s 25th anniversary celebration.

2019 Annual Sessions -Young Adult Friends Epistle on Membership

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To All Friends Everywhere:

Greetings from a gathering of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends, together on Lenni-Lenape land at Haverford Friends Meeting for our spring retreat, April 26–28, 2019.

Issues surrounding our structures of membership have long weighed on the hearts of young adults—among others—in the PYM community. Among YAFs, it has never been a requirement to hold a formal membership affiliation in order to serve in clerking roles. While we were together, we made time to think through these concerns: to share our stories about membership and belonging, and to be in dialogue with our recently appointed presiding clerk, Chris Lucca. We know this exploration to be one of many, as Britain Yearly Meeting and New York Yearly Meeting have been grappling with similar questions on membership. Just across the road, our recording clerk was part of an intergenerational group at the Haverford Corporation, holding a simultaneous discussion. [Read more…] about 2019 Annual Sessions -Young Adult Friends Epistle on Membership

Young Friends Program Announcement

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This communication was shared with Young Friends Program contacts on April 24, 2019
Dear Friends,
I’m writing to share with you a change in the youth programs staffing for this summer and some of the next steps.
Lori Sinitzky has shared that, for health and family reasons, she needs to step away from the Young Friends Program Facilitator position. She has recognized that the issues before her will be a demand on her time and her ability to be fully present for this important work. We are grateful to Lori for the loving care she has given the role and the Young Friends community. She brought thoughtful planning and deep listening as well as grounding in Quakerism and support for young people on their spiritual journeys. She has our gratitude and love as she goes forward.
There will be a search conducted to find a new Young Friends Facilitator, and the voices of Young Friends and others in the youth work community will be involved in the process. Aeryn Luminkith continues in her role as Young Friends Assistant, and she will be part of the search committee.
Camp Swatara (May 3-5) will be Lori’s last event with Young Friends. There will be several adults in attendance at Swatara to support Lori and Young Friends, including Aeryn as Assistant. Robert Rosenthal, Karen Gallagher, and Kody Hersh, former Young Friends staff, and I will be serving as Friendly Presences.
There will be time to bid Lori farewell at Swatara. The weekend will also focus on the transitions our youth are celebrating. A traditional ceremony will be held during which Middle School Friends graduate into Young Friends, and Young Friends into the Young Adult community.
Two other upcoming events to anticipate:
Young Friends will gather in residence together with the PYM community at Annual Sessions, July 24-28, and the late summer gathering for Young Friends will be at Camp Onas from Wednesday, August 21 to Saturday, August 24. The late summer gathering is a shorter week this year as an experiment better to accommodate the needs of Camp Onas and hopefully make it possible for more Young Friends to attend at a time when there are other demands on time, like summer jobs and preseasons for sports and music. More information about both events will be shared in the coming weeks, including plans for staffing. We are clear that the priority is to create space for the Young Friends community to gather, grounded in a stable, supportive community of adults and other youth who know and care about this program.
Zachary Dutton, Associate Secretary for Program and Religious Life, and I will host an online conversation for f/Friends interested in asking questions or sharing their thoughts with us. The conversation will be hosted on Zoom (you can join by videoconference or phone call) on Tuesday, April 30 at 8:00pm. You can join us by using this link that evening: https://zoom.us/j/845327012 or dialing (646) 558-8656 (Meeting ID: 845 327 012).
If you would like to reach out at another time, my office number is: 215-241-7171.
We wish Lori well as she embarks on the next chapter. While we are sad to see Lori go so soon, we celebrate that others will get to receive her gifts as warmly as we have.
In faith and service,
Melinda Wenner Bradley
Youth Religious Life Coordinator
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

General Secretary Report to Councils

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Mid-March to Mid-April 2019

Business and Finances:

  • We evaluated our Operating Reserve status and it is holding steady. Last year, after PYM met its Operating Reserve goal of $1.2 million the Finance Committee approved a rubric to apply on an annual basis to ensure the Reserve is not becoming underfunded or overfunded.  This month we reviewed it and found that the Operating Reserve is at 97% of six months of annual operating expenses for the fiscal year just ended ($1.29 million) – an excellent result. [for more details about the operating reserve go to the end of the report]
  • We expanded our accounting software to include a budgeting module which will allow us model different options, provide needed historical data to department heads for their budgeting purposes and upload the approved budget at the touch of a button, saving us literally weeks of work.
  • We prepared 2018 financial statements for the audit of the Friends Pension Plan. PYM administers the Plan which is a multi-employer plan sponsored by PYM and FGC and covering several other Friends meetings and organizations.
  • Wrote and designed the spring appeal with a theme of water and featuring illustrations by a Quaker professional artist (they are beautiful!). Final personalization and segmenting will be completed midweek and they’ll be in the mail before the next monthly report.
  • The 2018 Annual Report was mailed it to all PYM donors. This is the first time all donors have received an annual report.The Annual Report was also sent as part of the annual covenant outreach mailing to monthly meeting treasurers. The mailing also included a gift of the new Faith and Practice.

Program and Ministry:

  • 117 Friends from 50 Monthly Meetings, including 30 youth attended March 23 Continuing Sessions in Reading Pennsylvania.  The logistics were more complicated than previous Continuing Sessions featuring an action on site against the Berks County Residential Center (Family Detention Center), youth programming at Reading Meeting and Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business held at Miller Center for the Arts.  A report of the day, a story about the action and business minutes are online.  Participants were sent an electronic invitation to provide feedback about the day. 15 staff members worked hard to ensure that the 3-site Continuing Sessions held in Reading was a success.
  • On Sunday, March 31st Birmingham Meeting hosted PYM’s second 2019 Friends in Fellowship event, welcoming 100+ F(f)riends to worship, followed by a talk the Director of the Hagley Museum and a tour of William Brinton House. [learn some Quaker history from the event at the end of this report!]
  • Tote Bag, a monthly e-newsletter with resources for religious education and families was sent to over 1100 subscribers on April 1.
  • Quaker Family Meetup event for PYM families was held on April 6 at Princeton meeting featuring an afternoon of fellowship, play, worship sharing, and spiritual refreshment. And snacks.
  • Teachers at Goshen Friends School participated in an in-service about Quakerism and nurture for children’s spiritual lives facilitated by PYM staff.
  • An online conversation with Youth Coordinators in Quarterly Meetings was organized and facilitated by PYM staff.
  • Many, many quilt squares have been received by meetings and other Quaker groups (like our Young Adult Friends)!
  • Resource Friends worked with and supported two meetings which have a concern for worship and care of members.
  • Princeton Meeting had a workshop on Quakerism, its past and its present facilitated by PYM staff.
  • The inaugural Collaborative Housekeeping Newsletter was sent out to Friends who are involved in PYM Collaboratives. The newsletter contains information relevant to collaborative resources, support, and time frames for submission dates to support their work.
  • Annual Sessions 2019 – There’s always something on staff desks about Sessions. Some of the details being worked out right now are logistics regarding space, dining choices, and program.
  • Monthly/Quarterly Meeting Bridge Contacts now number 28; a group of Bridge Contacts convened at Continuing Sessions to help shape the PYM program with Meeting and Quarterly Meeting input.

Communications and Technology:

  • We received information from 36 meetings to allow us to be able to communicate with Friends from those meetings more reliably and to connect them to programs and events in our community. This year we initiated a new way of doing this which is far less time-demanding of Friends in the meetings and puts the onus instead on the PYM office.
  • Nearly 500 Friends responded to our request for contact information updates which has been entered into our database.
  • In addition to the Spring Appeal, mentioned above, we designed and sent information on Refugee and Migrant justice and Eco-Justice initiatives. We collaborated with Young Adult Friends to design the butterfly-themed posters “No Cages No Walls” for the worship action at Berks County Residential Center.

Staff and Administration:

  • Identified a source for mandated reporter training for Program & Religious Life staff. In-person training will be scheduled for September 2019.
  • Onboarding is a key aspect of our staff and inclusion work because this is where employees begin to understand what we do, why we do it, and how we work together. We are continually strengthening and refining it.  This month we clarified how staff who are only occasionally active, like babysitters, are onboarded.
  • The Children and Families Youth Program Assistant position is turning over. Interim support is being identified.
  • We are still recruiting for Event Support Staff for Arch Street Meeting House.
  • We turned the annual staff chili cookoff into a retirement party for Carol Walz and, with a mix of joy and sadness, celebrated her 24 years of skilled and dedicated service to the PYM community as Director of Grantmaking. Her successor, Nick Gutowski, is on parental leave with his new daughter.  We have an experienced grants administrator coming in on a part-time consulting basis until Nick’s return.

Inclusion and Anti-Racism: 

  • Based on conversations in staff meetings and the climate survey that was conducted in the fall, the Operations team (senior staff) has committed to five practices including improving Onboarding, reviewing and revising policies, recognizing and discussing patterns of diversity, providing culturally competent supervisor training and learning from assessment tools.
  • The staff as a whole has begun identifying what we will all commit to, based on the climate survey, previous work and facilitated discussions with the Director of HR and Inclusion. This process will be ongoing.
  • The General Secretary was appointed by the National Council of Churches to their newly re-established task force on ending racism.

Visits to Quaker Meetings and Organizations:

  • Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, attended the FWCC Section of the Americas Section Meeting in Missouri.
  • Christie attended the National Council of Churches board meeting.
  • Christie attended the Interfaith Philadelphia Religious Leaders Council meeting.
  • Christie visited Reading Meeting for worship and business meetings.
  • Grace Sharples Cooke, Associate Secretary of Advancement & Communication, attended Birmingham Meeting for worship and the Friends in Fellowship event.
  • George Schaefer attended Abington Friends School’s Quaker Day.

Further notes (referenced above)

  • Maintaining an operating reserve is a nonprofit best practice. Operating reserves help organizations weather change and adverse economic conditions until they can adjust their operations.  PYM’s reserve helps ensure our financial stability and long-term sustainability.  To “refill the granaries” after the 2012 financial crisis when we spent down our reserves, PYM used surplus budgets for several years and dedicated the surplus cash to building the Operating Reserve.  When Annual Sessions first approved the reserve in 2014, the goal of $1.2 million represented six months’ worth of PYM’s operating expenses.
  • The Friends in Fellowship event included a “surprise reveal” of original research on Quakers conducted by the Hagley Museum. The Duponts were originally drawn to invest in the Brandywine region because they admired Quaker principles and respected Quaker talent and integrity. Research revealed that Alfred Dupont was the mysterious supporter who loaned $1200 to underground railroad stationmaster Thomas Garrett, so Garret could discharge a court-assessed $1500 fine for his material support to a group of enslaved people escaping from bondage.

Spring

To what purpose, April, do you return again?  Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness  Of little leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.

The sun is hot on my neck as I observe  The spikes of the crocus.

The smell of the earth is good.

It is apparent that there is no death.

But what does that signify?

Not only under ground are the brains of men  Eaten by maggots.

Life in itself

Is nothing,

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,  April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

General Secretary Report to Councils

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Mid-February Through Mid-March 2019

Business and Finances:

  • PYM has been using the services of Your-Part-Time-Controller (YPTC) since November. YPTC identified and implemented a range of process efficiencies in closing the books for quarter ended December 31, 2018.  Based on the updated process we expect to generate financial information more quickly and easily than in the past.
  • The 2019 Annual Report was completed.

Program and Ministry:

  • Preparation for Continuing Sessions has been a primary focus including:
    • Programs for children and youth
    • The action happening at the beginning of Continuing Sessions, which will be largely worship, bringing together young adults from across our geography. This is a way in which recent shifts in the young adult engagement have allowed PYM and young adult Quakers to reach a much broader audience of Quakers and Quaker-interested people
    • One Quilt One Yearly Meeting will be featured at Continuing Sessions as well. Meetings are sending in their quilts, receiving support from our Community Engagement Coordinator, and are invited to bring finished squares to sessions.
    • Lunch for the Bridge Contacts at Continuing Sessions will start building community and shape a newfound role for them
    • Three locations for conducting Continuing Sessions were visited (Miller Arts Center, Reading Monthly Meeting, and the Berks Detention Center).
  • The Pastoral Care Thread Gathering drew 35 attendees, focusing on care through a multigenerational lens. It has received very positive feedback so far. Members of program staff worked to prepare and conduct workshops related to pastoral care & ageism, pastoral care for youth and families, and pastoral care for young adults.
  • Our “Aging in the Light” program presented workshops that included how to build an aging resource team at Quaker meetings.
  • Our first Friends in Fellowship event titled “About Faith” featured a moderated discussion with panelists Marcelle Martin, Steven Davison, AyishaImani, and David Watt. Fifty people were in attendance.
  • The Friends in Business planning team was expanded and the group met to consider additional or alternative opportunities for the Friends in Business program.
  • Our Grantmakers Luncheon, a semi-annual gathering of Friends who serve on granting groups, heard reports from many groups and celebrated Carol Walz’s 24 years of service to PYM granting.

Communications and Technology:

  • Launched the component of our database that supports all of our grant work!
  • Began a new way of doing bulk updates of our database with a consultant funded by a donor.
  • Verified that our website is enabled for the blind and initiated planning on how to boost that capacity.

Staff and Administration:

  • Recruitment & Onboarding:
    • Recruitment for Arch Street Meeting House Events Support Staff position is underway.
    • Onboarded new Childcare Assistant using the full onboarding plan – it is a shift to provide such multi-faceted connections with a very part-time position. As a reminder, the new onboarding process focuses on welcoming the employee, ensuring they have all the tools and support needed to get started and be successful in their job and builds an inclusive and cohesive work environment as staff members have a role in supporting the new employee.
    • Contracted with an employment agency to secure support for granting activity on an interim basis while permanent granting staff are out of the office on leave or retirement for an extended period this spring.
  • Collaborated with the Youth Program staff and identified training priorities. These are mandated reporting, Food Safety and Mental health First Aid. Significant consideration is being given to scheduling to ensure trainings are accessible. Several online options have been identified.
  • Collaborated with the Youth Program staff and identified training priorities. These are mandated reporting, Food Safety and Mental health First Aid. Significant consideration is being given to scheduling to ensure trainings are accessible. Several online options have been identified.

Visits to Quaker Meetings and Organizations:

  • Grace Sharples Cooke, Associate Secretary for Advancement and Relationship visited Third Haven Meeting to facilitate strategic conversations about long-term planning.
  • Grace worshiped at Camden Meeting in Delaware.
  • Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, worshiped at Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia (Arch Street).
  • Christie worshiped with Westfield meeting and attended the Haddonfield Quarter business meeting.
  • Grace, Christie, Lynne Calamia, Executive Director of Arch Street Meeting House and Carol Walz, Director of Grantmaking visited Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting’s program. Lynne and Carol led sections of the program.

Love Thy Neighbor at Continuing Sessions

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Friends of all ages are welcome to join the action at Berks on Saturday, March 23, as well as the alternative multigenerational program at Reading Meeting that morning, from 10am-Noon.

At Reading Meeting that morning, we will welcome Friends who are not participating in the action at Berks and would also like to participate in a morning program focused on community and witness. Youth Programs staff Amy Connelly and Melinda Wenner Bradley will be present to facilitate a multigenerational program that includes fellowship, worship, and an exploration of welcoming the stranger and loving our neighbors.

Like the action at Berks, the morning at Reading Meeting will be grounded in semi-programmed worship for all ages together. Following a Faith & Play -style story and worship, all ages will participate in a workshop on how we welcome one another in our homes, schools and work, meeting communities, and PYM. There will also be an activity to write letters to Governor Wolf and make cards for children held in detention centers.

In addition to the all-ages program at the meetinghouse, child care for our youngest Friends will be available there throughout the whole day, beginning at 9:30am. Parents are welcome to drop off children at Reading Meeting and proceed to Berks for the morning action there.

Children and youth of all ages are also welcome to participant at the Berks action. Children in 5th Grade and younger should be in the care of their family; the Children and Families program Facilitator Kimani Keaton will be present with families.  Middle School Friends and Young Friends (high school) will gather with their Youth Programs staff on site at Berks: Elizabeth Croce and Colleen Hayes with MSF, and Lori Sinitzky and Aeryn Luminkith with Young Friends.

Children and youth will convene at Reading Meeting for lunch, and in the afternoon Kindergarten-12th Grade will gather for a “one room schoolhouse” activity to debrief their participation at the Berks action or the morning program at the meetinghouse before spending time with their program age-group. For more information about Youth Programs in the afternoon at Reading Meeting visit the Youth at Continuing Sessions event page.

Let us know you’re coming by filling out the Registration for Continuing Sessions and clicking “Going” to RSVP on Facebook!

An Invitation from our Yearly Meeting Clerk

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An Invitation to Seeking Faithfulness through Worshipful Resistance

“That is to say that each generation of young Friends by its experiments must discover for itself the truths on which the Society is built if it is to use those truths and to continue and to enlarge the work of the Society.” (Young Friends Committee, 1926, cf Faith & Practice, 2018, p. 123)

At the last day of Annual Sessions, our Young Adult Friends shared their concerns regarding migrant family detention in Pennsylvania.  In response to their concern, we invited them to begin an ongoing conversation towards a greater, mutual understanding.  We pledged our “… spiritual, financial, and logistical support” to these Friends. From that pledge grew a day-long event of worshipful resistance at the Berks Residential Center, as well as an alternative peaceful multigenerational action at Reading Monthly Meeting.  This is our faith-in-action. More importantly, it is an expression of our yearly meeting’s willingness to-be-teachable: to be open and available to shared, on-going interpersonal revelation.  Our yearly meeting has a history of benefitting from the work of Young Adult Friends:

In 1913, a group of Philadelphia young adult Friends from each branch (i.e., Hicksite & Orthodox) began to meet regularly to study the separation and issued a report the next year stating that it was not a matter of doctrine but of authority that had caused the separation.  (Faith & Practice, 2018, p. 89)

Those Young Adult Friends took the first steps to ending our Great Schism.  We are challenged presently to address peacefully our present-day differences that divide, even separate our blessed community into factions and opposing camps.  Come to March Sessions.  Be a part of our collective efforts to labor faithfully for the shared good of our yearly meeting.  Be an agent of peaceful, meaningful change within our yearly meeting and in the wider world.  Be Friendly.  Be teachable.  Be present and together.  Let us follow the leadings of our Young Adult Friends.

 

With the hope of Peace Within & Among Us,

Christopher A. Lucca,

Alternate Clerk Serving As Presiding Clerk

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

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