Earlier this month, we sent out a print newsletter to Friends in the yearly meeting. We plan to send out a print issue of the newsletter quarterly. This issue of the newsletter illustrates a new way in which our yearly meeting has been called—and our faithful response to it—the call to witness against racism. You can read it online.
Engaging in PYM-wide corporate (meaning of the body) witness is one of the strategic directions we approved in 2014. Six months after accepting those directions, we committed to a witness to address racism. The minute we approved expressly declares that the ministry is not one to be given to a group of people to carry on behalf of PYM but that we are all to find our way in it. All Friends, all households, and all meetings are asked to consider what their own response to the call is.
Many of the stories in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting reflect our journey to eradicate racism, create spaces of belonging, and transform our inner lives. This newsletter is filled with a selection of those stories from local monthly and quarterly meetings and PYM groups. Read, be inspired, and share your meeting’s stories on the PYM website so we may continue to know one another.
The next newsletter will be sent out in the Fall and will include a gathering of stories about all topics from across the yearly meeting. If your meeting has a story to submit, please do so at pym.org/news/share-a-story/.
Christie Duncan-Tessmer
General Secretary
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
