Youth Programs

We Are . . . PYM Youth!

Written on: July 31, 2020

Photo: Young Friends (high school group) together in program on Thursday, July 3

This year, we start our Sessions days with all-ages worship and All Together Time on Zoom. In the last part of the hour of worship, Youth Programs staff transition us from waiting worship to All Together Time. This is when we do something all together in a worship space that uses our spirits and bodies and connects us with one another. When we gather for Annual Sessions, we are an all-ages spiritual community, even in virtual spaces. [Read more…] about We Are . . . PYM Youth!

Youth & Families at Annual Sessions

Written on: July 1, 2020

You’re invited!

Families and young people are a vital part of our PYM community and when we gather for Sessions it is to be an all-ages spiritual community. The time of Covid-19 has changed the shape of our gathering this year — and the shape of this summer for many families. We hope PYM programs will support parents and children at home who are seeking experiences of online camp and community this summer.

Summer Fun for PYM Families

Written on: June 24, 2020

It’s Summertime!

If your family is like mine, you’re planning for a different shape to this summer. Many day camps and sleep-away camp experiences are cancelled. Some parents are continuing to work from home. But alongside the continued Covid changes and challenges, we’re also finding new ways to enjoy nature, be in community, and create summer memories. Popsicles will still be cold and delicious in the summer heat! There are adventures ahead.
[Read more…] about Summer Fun for PYM Families

Youth Programs Host Virtual Camp Swatara Gathering

Written on: May 7, 2020

Young Friends and Middle School Friends gathered last weekend for an online version of our traditional Camp Swatara gathering. In addition to staples of our usual programs — worship sharing, business meeting, and committee time — we got creative and reinvented some of the most treasured parts of the Swatara gathering for this digital platform.

In lieu of the usual Saturday morning hike up the Appalachian Trail to the rock pile, we gathered in the morning for a group “hiking” game that we could all do from the comfort of our backyards and living rooms. Saturday night, the two youth programs came together again for a talent show and campfire song circle where musician Simon Purchase James led us in song. [Read more…] about Youth Programs Host Virtual Camp Swatara Gathering

First Day Programs: What do you need?

Written on: April 30, 2020

What do you need?

A small and vital question to be asking one another in these days. What do families in our meetings, and the adults who have care of religious education programs for children and young people, need to support the spiritual lives children and young people?

What do you need to gather?

There is no “right way” to be gathering in this time, when the needs of Friends and our capacities to meet them are unique and sometimes changing: [Read more…] about First Day Programs: What do you need?

Gathering Together: Support for Families & First Day Programs

Written on: March 18, 2020

Last Sunday, a handful of families in my meeting decided to try online Children’s Meeting (our First Day program for children) and worship together online. It was a last-minute decision to fire up my Zoom account and see how it worked. We posted the information on Facebook and sent out a quick email on the meeting listserv. Two hours later, when we gathered across households, we were joined by a former attender now living in Seattle, and three other PYM families who had seen the Facebook post. We came together across miles and even time zones to share songs, a reading, queries, and waiting worship. [Read more…] about Gathering Together: Support for Families & First Day Programs

Threshing on Membership Report

Written on: February 16, 2020

View a downloadable/PDF version of the report here.

Introduction
The bulk of this report is made of minutes of exercise taken by PYM Recording Clerk, Jim Herr. The minutes review the proceedings of the day. Following the minutes of exercise, the report contains a transcription of collections of “advice to the yearly meeting” in response to several queries that participants wrote down in small groups. Find in Appendix A the advance documents that were provided ahead of the threshing session.

PYM’s Young Friends Head to NYC for Winter Gathering with YSOP

Written on: February 13, 2020

PYM Youth Programs staff are heading to New York City this weekend with a group of nineteen Young Friends, and Friendly Presences (adult volunteers), for a winter gathering that includes a program with the Youth Services Opportunity Project (YSOP).

Young Friends gatherings explore spirituality, leadership, fun, and the nature of Quaker community. The YSOP-focused program is an experiment, speaking to the interest in service and witness expressed by Young Friends last spring at Continuing Sessions. [Read more…] about PYM’s Young Friends Head to NYC for Winter Gathering with YSOP

Young Friends Christmas Gathering

Written on: January 18, 2020

A lively group of Young Friends gathered at Woodstown Meeting in Woodstown, NJ for their annual Christmas Gathering, December 27th-30th. Two Young Friends led workshops for the community: an interactive performance about bravery and self-expression, and an exploration of gender identity that included decorating “genderbread” cookies. Young Friends participated in productive meetings for worship with a concern for business, shared deeply in worship sharing groups, and played a couple rowdy games of Wink. With an ice skating trip and a dance party celebration of two Young Friends’ birthdays, it was a busy and joyful gathering full of singing, laughter, and kazoos.

– Olivia Chalkley, Young Friends Program Facilitator

Winter Family Overnight Was Wonderful!

Written on: January 16, 2020

This past weekend the Children and Families Program hosted another classic Winter Family Overnight at Camp Onas under the care of program staff Kimani Keaton and Crystal Hershey. Except it didn’t feel like winter at all, it felt like the first days of spring! [Read more…] about Winter Family Overnight Was Wonderful!

« Previous Page

We Are . . . PYM Youth!

Youth & Families at Annual Sessions

You’re invited!

Summer Fun for PYM Families

It’s Summertime!

Youth Programs Host Virtual Camp Swatara Gathering

First Day Programs: What do you need?

What do you need?

Gathering Together: Support for Families & First Day Programs

PYM’s Young Friends Head to NYC for Winter Gathering with YSOP

Young Friends Christmas Gathering

Winter Family Overnight Was Wonderful!

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