Quaker practice invites Friends to listen deeply to the Inward Teacher and then to follow the leading that comes as a result. This is foundational to our faith, and individuals and meetings expect ourselves to be guided by Spirit in our daily decisions and with the direction of our lives. One way of responding to Spirit is through political action, including creating lasting and structural change through local, state, and federal legislation. Individuals may do this without limitation. When monthly, quarterly, and yearly meeting engagement is political, in addition to seeking unity in spiritual discernment we must also consider what is legally necessary for our non-profit organization. [Read more…] about Policy on Advocacy Explained
News
Arch Street Meeting House Installs Brand New Outdoor Exhibits
Arch Street Meeting House has just installed brand new outside exhibits. This exciting addition will elevate the meetinghouse to one of the must-see historic sites in Old City Philadelphia and will attract thousands of visitors to the historic property to learn about Quakerism for years to come. On Friday, May 27th, from 5-8, regional Quakers, history enthusiasts and supporters of the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust will celebrate this milestone with a celebration and exhibit unveiling. [Read more…] about Arch Street Meeting House Installs Brand New Outdoor Exhibits
Barclay Friends Share a Cyber Security Event
On April 27th, Barclay Friends presented on Cyber Crime, Scams and Seniors. Sean Tomlinson informed Sheila Sorkin, PYM Aging Support Coordinator that Barclay Friends are happy to provide resources like this and make them available to the public. [Read more…] about Barclay Friends Share a Cyber Security Event
Concord Quarter’s Intergenerational Radio Play Program
“Something Odd at Quarterly Meeting” . . .
Birmingham Meeting‘s children and youth have used their drama skills and interests to participate in intergenerational programs for Concord Quarterly Meeting over the last twelve years. The young people give a performance that is followed by adults and youth present being invited to respond to wondering questions on issues brought up by the story they share. Various topics have been used for their performances including scripture, Quaker history, and recently a science fiction story! [Read more…] about Concord Quarter’s Intergenerational Radio Play Program
Newtown Quaker Kids Raise $3,300 at Lasagna Dinner for Trenton Pre-School Program
Photo Above: left to right in the first row: Sarah Armour, Jack Ciccimaro, Lydia Ciccimaro and Meredith McDonald; second row Nicholas Vandenberg and Devin Vandenberg.
The Quaker Kids of Newtown Quaker Meeting have done it again! At the first in-person dinner at the historic Quaker Meetinghouse since the start of the COVID pandemic two years ago, the Quaker Kids attracted an enthusiastic crowd who contributed over $3,300 to their designated charity! [Read more…] about Newtown Quaker Kids Raise $3,300 at Lasagna Dinner for Trenton Pre-School Program
Inviting Young Adult Voices into PYM’s Granting Ministry
Photo Above: top left to bottom right: Lucas Richie (staff), Meg Rose (staff), Sarah Ennis, Yelena Forrester, Afroza Hossain, Naomi Madaras, Liana Irvine, Jeremy Graf Evans, Hanae Togami, Afiya Johnson-Thornton
From 2020-2021, PYM staff organized a program to learn how to better engage and include young adults in PYM’s granting witness. During the year-long experimental program, eight Quakers aged 18-35 (YAFs) served on one of PYM’s granting groups and then provided feedback on their experience to PYM’s Granting Committee.
[Read more…] about Inviting Young Adult Voices into PYM’s Granting Ministry
Quakers Satirized
Written by: Grace Sharples Cooke, Haverford Monthly Meeting
In her humorous cartoons about Quaker proclivities, cartoonist Signe Wilkinson (Chestnut Hill Meeting, PYM) highlights the sect’s inconsistencies. But she is not the first; Quakers have been the target of satirists since the mid-eighteenth century, after the first newspaper was published in the American colonies and satire had become common in England. In the colonies, it took the form of political cartoons or written jokes. There were four 18th and 19th century events in Pennsylvania that produced typical anti-Quaker satire.
Quakers In the News: March & April 2022
A collection of Quaker related links published occasionally.
Pendle Hill Releases Historic Lecture Series
From 1916 to 1966, the Young Friends Movement of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting hosted a lecture series, which they called The William Penn Lectures (later renamed the Seeking Faithfulness Lectures). The Young Friends Movement began the lecture series “for the purpose of closer fellowship; for the strengthening by such association and the interchange of experience, of loyalty to the ideals of the Society of Friends; and for the preparation by such common ideals for more effective work through the Society of Friends for the growth of the Kingdom of God on Earth.” These lectures were published by the Book Committee of PYM, and PYM has granted Pendle Hill Publications permission to digitize them for the public.
[Read more…] about Pendle Hill Releases Historic Lecture Series
Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting Reopens
On March 27, Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting opened its doors and welcomed Friends back to the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania meetinghouse after months of Zoom hybrid worship. Over 50 returned to benches from long-laid-down meetings in the 62-year-old mid-century meetinghouse. Twenty-five more Friends joined via Zoom, arriving from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mexico, and Ireland, all of whom have become a familiar, beloved presence. Older and younger Friends alike greeted children and young people in the restored First Day School. After worship, Friends gathered outdoors and continued fellowship amid late-March chill and flurries. [Read more…] about Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting Reopens
