Spring is here! We often talk about renewal in this time, and there is also a duality about springtime that can feel liminal. In March, the warmer sunlight belies the chill still in the air. Flowers pop up along the edges of lawns still covered in autumn leaves. Easter has the dual, entwined messages of loss and joy. Resources and ideas are offered below for families and meetings as we move into the spring months! Please also check out and share with families in your meeting the April and May events for children,youth, and families being hosted by the wonderful PYM Youth Programs staff! [Read more…] about Religious Education Resources & Events for Spring 2024
News
PYM’s “Friends in Business” Group Celebrates the Present, Honors the Past, and Looks Ahead to a Re-imagined Future
This past December 2023, the yearly meeting’s Friends in Business group gathered for the 25th year at Arch Street Meeting House for its annual fall event. Forty-five Friends and staff attended, enjoying fellowship before and during dinner, and then a post-meal program.
The Gathering Changed My Life Too!
“Why do you want to be a doctor?” asked the medical school interviewer. I gave what must be the common answer: “I want to help people. I want to be of service, and I like the intellectual challenge of solving a problem.” [Read more…] about The Gathering Changed My Life Too!
Spring Continuing Sessions REWIND
Continuing Sessions Rewind
Last weekend, Friends from across the four states of our PYM footprint came together for Spring Continuing Sessions. We learned, listened and felt the joyous presence of Spirit in community while we explored the 2024 Sessions theme, “Called to Healing.” Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business was held on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, and minutes from business sessions will be on the website in coming days. Because the Annual Sessions schedule is shorter this summer (July 6-7), our times for business at Continuing Sessions weekends are being extended. [Read more…] about Spring Continuing Sessions REWIND
Fostering Equality in Everyday Home Life
Lois Volta, Germantown Meeting, wants you to clean your house. Not just for the aesthetic reasons, but for the spiritual and feminist reasons. As she writes, “There will always be something waiting for you to clean up. It’s better to make peace with this concept than to fight it. Let contentment and peace be just as never-ending as the laundry.” [Read more…] about Fostering Equality in Everyday Home Life
The FGC Gathering Changed My Life Also
The Gathering Changed My Life.
When I attended my first Gathering in 2002, my life was in the midst of rapid change. All the activities I had based my identity on were shifting – I was facing the empty nest (the youngest of my three children would go to a distant college in the fall), my husband had retired, I no longer had a job outside the home (no daily professional work), even my 13 years as a Girl Scout leader were ending with all the girls graduating from high school. I was stressed and somewhat frightened, not knowing how my life would unfold. [Read more…] about The FGC Gathering Changed My Life Also
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
PYM Young Friends Launches Brand-New Program for 8th-12th Graders
Why Join Young Friends?
Hey teens! This is Tara and Clare, the co-facilitators for the super awesome, brand-new program for 8th-12th graders. We know spring is a busy season and you might be wondering whether this program is something you really want to make time for. So let us tell you a little bit more about the program and about us! [Read more…] about PYM Young Friends Launches Brand-New Program for 8th-12th Graders
Winter Family Overnight at Camp Onas
On February 10 – 11, twenty Friends gathered at Camp Onas for PYM’s Winter Family Overnight! Crystal Hershey and Abigaile Brace-Higgins, PYM Children & Families CoFacilitators, planned and facilitated the event. As everyone arrived over the course of the afternoon, they opened their arms to one another for big hugs! After hauling luggage into cozy bedrooms, it was time to explore the grounds. The youth went straight to the tire swing and long rope swing hanging from huge old trees. There were trails to hike outdoors, art crafting tables in the common room, and air hockey to play in the game room. Everyone gathered in a circle outside for a game of “The Big Wind Blows.” There was a lot of laughing and chasing one another around! [Read more…] about Winter Family Overnight at Camp Onas
