The Young Adult Friends (YAF) community (ages 18-35) have been exploring ways they can live their testimonies in alignment with their Quaker values. During February, they will gather to visit The Time is Always Now special exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in honor of Black History Month. This exhibition features 28 Black and African diasporic contemporary artists who celebrate the nuance and richness of Black contemporary life. YAFs will commemorate the legacies of Black artists and histories while reflecting on how they can carry their work forward in their daily lives, in community with Friends around them.
[Read more…] about PYM Young Adult Friends to Commemorate Black History Month
Addressing Racism
Why DOES Palestine Matter? An Invitation to a 6 Session Course with Members of the Middle East Collaborative
Authorship of this invitation is attributed to Deb Wood and other resources.
As I thought about writing an invitation to the Why Palestine Matters course, I came across the following quotation, which fits the Palestine/Israel situation so well:
“The purpose of propaganda is to make one set of people forget that other sets of people are human.”
— Aldous Huxley
The Palestine/Israeli relationship and conflict can often appear so complex and intractable that we don’t know how we can ever understand enough to move forward. News coverage often lacks the entire context, leaving us unable to honor the humanity of all involved. When we stop seeing a person or group as human, we much more easily discount and discredit their experiences and humanity, making it far easier to deny their needs and right to exist.
Program & Religious Life | A Year in Review
Hello Friends,
How has spirit moved among us in 2024? As we, the staff of PYM’s Program and Religious Life Department, reflect on this question, we have many joyful tidings to share.
The Big Picture
This year we saw many examples on how being a part of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting community gives Friends a place to share their gifts and ask for support in times of need. This flow of sharing and receiving is a core part of what it means to be “part of the body.” Our PYM programs create spaces of joy, learning, spiritual nurture, and concrete resources. And none of it would be possible without Friends like you sharing their gifts, showing up, participating, and building community together. Thank you!
Read on to hear more about the programs and events we’re proud of this year.
[Read more…] about Program & Religious Life | A Year in Review
Upcoming Grant Deadlines: December 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
Funds are available for outreach, traveling for interfaith dialog, service, or ministry, Indigenous people and communities, and more. Apply today!
[Read more…] about Upcoming Grant Deadlines: December 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
Contribute to PYM’s booklet on Addressing Racism: Share Your Ideas and Resources
In 2015 the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting committed to a yearly meeting-wide witness on addressing racism.
PYM is currently seeking content ideas to develop a booklet for meetings and communities to address racism. This initiative is similar to the booklet “Creating a Playbook on Climate Action,” a resource made in mind of a second yearly meeting-wide witness addressing climate change. The content you can contribute to the booklet could include queries, blogs, books, videos, financial tools, and activities that cover the Five Action Areas: Activism, Education, Addressing Personal Impacts, Finances, Mourning Loss and Instilling Hope as they pertain to racism.
[Read more…] about Contribute to PYM’s booklet on Addressing Racism: Share Your Ideas and Resources
Friends Join Pilgrimage for Peace Walk
From the PYM statement in response to the crisis in Palestine in October:
These are not problems that can be addressed with one approach or with attention to one side or one truth or one thread of history. We are required by our faith to work for justice and peace. We must do this together with our neighbors. Resolution won’t be immediate, but participation in the resolution must start now. [Read more…] about Friends Join Pilgrimage for Peace Walk
A Casual Connection Leads Atlantic City Area Friends Meeting to Join MLK March
Kimberly Spence, Clerk of Atlantic City Area Friends Meeting never thought a casual visit to her gym would lead her and other local Friends from ACAFM and Barnegat Monthly Meeting to join a Martin Luther King March, but it did. [Read more…] about A Casual Connection Leads Atlantic City Area Friends Meeting to Join MLK March
Monthly and Quarterly Meeting Leadership Gatherings
Three times each year, Friends in local and quarterly meeting leadership (clerks, assistant clerks, treasurers, committee clerks) gather online with the presiding clerk and General Secretary. The gatherings include timely announcements and shared conversation, and are one way that we connect across meetings in the yearly meeting. The January 2024 gatherings included several announcements to share back to meetings, and small group discussions around topics of interest. [Read more…] about Monthly and Quarterly Meeting Leadership Gatherings
Middle East Collaborative Shares Peace Resource
As we approach the time of remembering Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Middle East Collaborative shares this timely resource from the Fellowship of Reconciliation: “Continuing to Break the Silence: Learning and Reflection on Vietnam, Palestine, and Beyond.” A winter series of programs on Why Palestine Matters is being planned by Middle East Collaborative members Deb Wood, Sandy Rea, and Joan Broadfield; watch the website calendar and the Collaborative’s webpage for details and registration.
[Read more…] about Middle East Collaborative Shares Peace Resource
Westtown Monthly Meeting Statement on the Shooting of Palestinian Students
November 27, 2023
Westtown Monthly Meeting is holding in the Light Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed – the three Palestinian students who were the victims of a senseless gun attack in Burlington, Vermont, the evening of November 25, 2023. [Read more…] about Westtown Monthly Meeting Statement on the Shooting of Palestinian Students
