Get ready for a Super Quaker Weekend! During the last weekend in September, PYM Youth Staff will be joining in youth and family-centered events throughout the region, leading up to World Quaker Day on Sunday, October 1st, hosted by our friends at Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). No matter where you are located within PYM, there’s something for everyone to enjoy and participate in during this Fall weekend. All are welcome! [Read more…] about It’s A Super Quaker Weekend!
Religious Education
Religious Education Resources & Events Fall 2023
In this year’s Fall issue of the The Tote Bag: PYM Religious Education and Family Resources newsletter you’ll find events and resources to support getting ready for children and youth programs in meetings, including programs on welcome and safety for adults who serve religious education programs. Also shared below are ideas for celebrating our world family of Friends with World Quaker Day on October 1st and the upcoming 400th birthday of George Fox. The Anti-racism Learning & Action section of the newsletter focuses this time on Native Justice and recommended books that center Native American voices.
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Young Adult Friend Alex Emmert Shares Experience With Quakerism and Annual Sessions
We sat down with 19 yr. old Young Adult Friend, Alex Emmert to find out what drew him to Quakerism from his upbringing as Baptist, what he enjoyed most about Annual Sessions and what he is looking forward to seeing from Quakers in the next decade. Alex shares his personal, truthful experiences with Quakerism and insights on outreach to other young adults seeking solid spiritual grounding. [Read more…] about Young Adult Friend Alex Emmert Shares Experience With Quakerism and Annual Sessions
12 Days to Annual Sessions … 12 Reasons to Join!
We’re counting down to Annual Sessions! Here are 12 great reasons to join, July 26-30. [Read more…] about 12 Days to Annual Sessions … 12 Reasons to Join!
Chester Meeting Minute of Love for the Ugandan LGBTQAI Community
June 13, 2023,
Chester Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends,
To Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Friends,
In this time of pandemic, Chester Friends Meeting has held blended worship, and in these years we have been blessed with visitors. One, Karl Malchut from Evanston, IL, has become a regular attender. He has been zoom visiting with concerns for transgender and gender minority youth and has actively been supporting a faith community, the Talented Youth Community Fellowship of Uganda.
As that community has been facing increasingly punitive threats due to persecution unto death from the highest levels of government, Karl was moved to bring a minute to the meeting. It was shared by us broadly to our meeting community, and on Sunday, June 11, we heard it and united. We committed to sharing it widely, not knowing what response would be but knowing that out of love we had to do something. [Read more…] about Chester Meeting Minute of Love for the Ugandan LGBTQAI Community
Religious Education Resources & Events for Summer 2023
While many meetings take a break in religious education programs during the summer months, there are opportunities during the summertime to connect with families and start to think ahead to next fall. Events and resource suggestions below! Later in June, watch for the Youth Programs staff to share activities for meeting and home in preparation for Annual Sessions, July 26-30. These will be shared for meetings to do over the summer, or send home to families. [Read more…] about Religious Education Resources & Events for Summer 2023
What’s Up with Young Adults?
Presbyterian author and theologian Frederick Buechner writes,
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep needs meet.”
Greg Woods opened a workshop with this quote when young adults from across the yearly meeting gathered at Haverford Friends Meeting in early May. During our time together, young adults supported each other in deep discernment around who we are called to be in the world. The Spring retreat was the first overnight retreat since the pandemic shutdown in early 2020, and from the strong attendance and thoughtful reviews shared after, it is clear the young adult community hungers to gather, go deeper in Spirit, and learn from each other.
Margaret Fell: “Mother of Quakerism”
A question that we might ask today, “How can we make our meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured and strangers are welcome?,” is one that would also have resonated with Margaret Fell Fox. Known as “The Mother of Quakerism,” Margaret Askew was born in 1614 in the Lake District of northern England. She married and became Margaret Fell at the age of 17 and was the mother of eight surviving children with Judge Thomas Fell. When she died in 1702 at the age of 88, Margaret Fell Fox had outlived her second husband, George Fox, by eleven years. The Quaker movement in 17th century England survived early persecution and grew as a religious movement in part because of Margaret’s social privilege, organizing skills, care for community, and deep faith. [Read more…] about Margaret Fell: “Mother of Quakerism”
PYM Youth Programs Welcomed Spring with a Series of Weekend Events
PYM Youth Programs welcomed Spring with a series of weekend events that included young people of all ages! We’re excited for our upcoming Annual Sessions July 26-30th. Be sure to stay connected for news about Fall programs for children, youth, and families!
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Earth Day Recommended Reads: Resources for Children, Youth & Families
Resources To Support Our Witness to Walking Gently on the Earth!
“We recognize that the well-being of the earth is a fundamental spiritual concern. From the beginning, it was through the wonders of nature that people saw God. How we treat the earth, and its creatures is a basic part of our relationship with God. Our planet as a whole, not just the small parts of it in our immediate custody, requires our responsible attention.” — Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, 1997.
[Read more…] about Earth Day Recommended Reads: Resources for Children, Youth & Families
