Join Friends for a three-part online series exploring Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s new book on a Quaker approach to death and dying, A Tender Time: Quaker Voices on the End of Life. Explore practical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of aging, dying well, and making end-of-life decisions guided by the Spirit and Quaker values.
[Read more…] about Aging Together in the Spirit: An Online Series
Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, will be participating on a panel with people from historic churches in Philadelphia. Christie will be offering a Friends’ perspective about their role in faith during the American Revolution and discussing its continued influence on modern American democracy. The panel will reflect on the historic practice of Congressional prayer, a tradition initiated by Rev. Jacob Duche (1737-1798), the rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia, who is best known for delivering the first prayer at the Continental Congress in 1774. This event marked the beginning of opening Congressional sessions with prayer, highlighting the significant role of faith in American governance—a tradition that continues today, illustrating the enduring connection between religion and public life in the United States.
[Read more…] about Christie Duncan-Tessmer Joins Panel on Faith’s Role in American Democracy
Our current governance structure was set up with a goal of simplifying our governance and administration. Some adjustments have been made, such as adding a Clerks Group which encourages the clerks of the councils and officers of the yearly meeting to all collaborate. Another change is that the three councils, Quaker Life, Administrative and Nominating, have met jointly for about an hour every month for many years now. Over the course of the past two years, the clerks and Governance Advisory Committee have been watching for new opportunities that allow the councils to be increasingly effective in meeting our community’s needs, responsive to the spirit and respectful of the council members’ commitment.
Please be aware of the following grants that are now available through PYM.
[Read more…] about Grant Applications Coming Due September 1 – Apply Now!
Eight national and international Quaker organizations jointly shared a vision for peace in Palestine and Israel that points toward a different future. They invited all Friends meetings, churches, schools, and organizations to join them in endorsing their call for peace with justice. PYM has signed onto the statement.
[Read more…] about PYM signs on to AFSC statement about Israel and Palestine
A primary intention of a yearly meeting is to connect its meetings, Friends and ministries. Connecting is also one of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s strategic directions. In the past year, we’ve been developing a vision of a community where all of our meetings are highly connected to one another. When Friends were asked at Continuing Sessions and in an email and a paper mailing to thousands of households what it looks like when meetings connect, their responses included impacts on committees, on individuals, on monthly meetings and on quarterly meetings. Here are a few:
You can watch a video that shares some of the ideas as well. If you have thoughts about what it will look like when meetings are all connected, you can still share them through this online form.
The next step is to develop a map that can guide us to this destination we’ve envisioned.
At Annual Sessions, the body approved a Sprint to “identify strategies and pathways to help navigate to a place where our meetings are connected based on the vision of PYM Friends.” A “sprint” is a short-term, focused, committee that will draw on the gifts and experiences of Friends across our community to get a job done or launch an initiative. The full sprint charge can be read below.
This sprint will include 5-8 people who will report back to Sessions in March with a recommended map. They will develop a wide range of ideas about the strategies, activities, resources, etc., that could move us from our current location to the envisioned destination of connected meetings. The initial list may include impossible ideas! They’ll test their ideas with PYM Friends and then develop a set of possible pathways.
The approved charge indicates that Sprint members will be PYM Friends who have familiarity with our meetings and bring a strategic and or creative mindset and carry a sense of curiosity and hopefulness. The sprint will include at least:
Friends who are interested in being considered for the sprint or who have a name to suggest are invited to share that with Cecilia Filauro, Executive Administrator, at cfilauro@pym.org by the end of August.
Sprint: Map to the Destination of Connecting our Meetings
Charge:
To identify strategies and pathways to help navigate to a place where our meetings are connected based on the vision of PYM Friends.
Background:
A destination of the first strategic direction, Connecting, is to increase the interactions that meetings have with one another. Friends have been asked to contribute to a vision of what it looks like when we arrive at the place of interconnected meetings. They responded at Continuing Sessions, at Council meetings and through a fundraising and email appeal on the subject. The next step is to make a map to get to that destination.
Composition of the Sprint:
The sprint will include 5-8 members. The membership of the sprint will include at least:
Sprint members will be PYM Friends who have familiarity with our meetings and bring a strategic and or creative mindset and carry a sense of curiosity and hopefulness.
Accountability:
The sprint will be approved by and report to the yearly meeting in session. Its members will be approved by Administrative Council (Admin) and Quaker Life Council (QLC). Between sessions the sprint will be held accountable by Admin and QLC which will ensure that it maintains momentum and the work is completed. In the event the sprint requires assistance, whether the need is perceived by the sprint itself or by others, Admin and QLC are responsible for providing the assistance.
Responsibilities (what the sprint will do):
Outcomes (what will happen as a result of the sprint carrying out its responsibilities):
Next Steps (what will happen after the work of the sprint is complete):
In 2023 our Monthly Meeting established a working group to begin the process of writing a Land Acknowledgement. From the beginning, we knew we did not want to create a few paragraphs of words that would be read at the beginning of Meetings and then quickly forgotten. Quakers have never been much for the rote reciting of words. Our statements of concern come from the transformed heart. Therefore, to do this we have spent time reading our history with indigenous peoples and taking opportunities with those indigenous peoples who reside in Lanapehoking (the Delaware Valley) and also farther afield.
Our working group agrees that there should be a minute that records our affirmation of the people whose land we live on, and that there have been steps and missteps in our relationship with them that have caused them much pain and suffering. In addition, this minute needs to affirm our desire to learn from them and to support Indigenous people’s initiatives and challenges.
To achieve these goals, our Monthly Meeting approved the minute to follow, along with queries. We have set the Tenth Month of each year to review the queries, with reflection on what has occurred in the prior year and what is rising as a concern to engage in the coming year. The intent of the working group is to have our consideration be a live and dynamic, prayerful consideration each year by the members and attenders of our Monthly Meeting, thereby replacing the rote, mindless reading of Land Acknowledgment words. Instead, it is hoped that fresh, prayerful consideration of the queries will continually open our community to new ways of relationship and to learning along with our indigenous neighbors.
Plymouth Monthly Meeting
Right Relationship with Indigenous Peoples Minute and Queries
Approved June 16, 2024
The land occupied by Plymouth Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) is located in Lenapehoking (the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania). It is on the hill east of the Manaiunck (Schuylkill) River, above Conshohocken, one mile west of the former Lenape village of Lokanahunshi (“Elm tree”), along the Wissahickon Creek.
The homeland of the Lenape people has been along the rivers and streams of
Lenapehoking for over ten thousand years. Due to colonization, slavery, genocide, and
forced removal, many Lenape were forced to reservation lands in Canada, Wisconsin,
and Oklahoma. Others who remain in Lenapehoking are our neighbors and continue to maintain their identity. Other Indigenous peoples have made their home in
Lenapehoking through past centuries and today.
As Friends, we are inheritors of our prior generations’ steps and missteps in their relationship with the Lenape and other Indigenous peoples.
We commit ourselves to prayerfully consider the following queries:
1. How are we seeking to understand the role that prior generations of Quakers
played in displacing Lenape peoples from Lenapehoking and in participating in
programs of cultural erasure (such as Boarding Schools)?
2. How are we seeking to renounce those Christian Church ideologies that
legitimized colonization, genocide, and cultural erasure of Indigenous peoples in
Lenapehoking and elsewhere (such as the Doctrine of Discovery)?
3. In what ways do we seek opportunities to meet Lenape peoples and to learn
directly from them about their history, culture, and current concerns?
4. In what practical ways (monetary or other) have we supported Lenape or other
Indigenous peoples in their initiatives and challenges?
5. In what ways have we embraced Lenape perspectives and knowledge of the
land, water, and air in the stewardship of the land where our Meeting house is
located?
Summer is waning, the crickets are singing, and it’s time to get ready for the next year in religious education programs! The Fall issue of The Tote Bag: Religious Education and Family Resources is here to support getting ready for children, youth, and intergenerational programs in meetings. This includes new resources to support middle school engagement, explore Bible stories with children, and how to talk together with young people about election issues. With the upcoming election in November, staff have been thinking about how to support families and young people to feel grounded in our testimonies of integrity and peace. Two specific events for adults and children/youth are happening this fall. Read on!
[Read more…] about Religious Education Resources & Events Fall 2024
Our current governance structure was set up with a goal of simplifying our governance and administration. Some adjustments have been made, such as adding a Clerks Group which encourages the clerks of the councils and officers of the yearly meeting to all collaborate. Another change is that the three councils, Quaker Life, Administrative and Nominating, have met jointly for about an hour every month for many years now. Over the course of the past two years, the clerks and Governance Advisory Committee have been watching for new opportunities that allow the councils to be increasingly effective in meeting our community’s needs, responsive to the spirit and respectful of the council members’ commitment. [Read more…] about New Schedule for Councils Meeting Jointly
For many years, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting has supported donations to monthly and quarterly meetings by setting up PYM’s online giving platform to accept contributions and then disbursing those funds to meetings four times a year. We are happy to announce that our recently upgraded online donation software, QGiv, will now allow donations to be transferred directly to meetings—instantly!
The new system looks nearly identical to the old one. However, on the back end, it is connected directly to each meeting’s bank account. When a donation is made, it is deposited into a meeting’s account, and the appropriate person for each meeting, such as the clerk, treasurer, or administrator, will receive the notification. You can contact Joey Leroux, Director of Grantmaking and Data, with any questions. PYM will continue to cover the transaction fees and the cost of the service.
We have already begun implementing this process, with 35 meetings set up to date, and we hope to get all meetings set up soon! That means you can give directly to your meeting today. Since July 1, Friends have contributed significantly through this new system, giving $9,835 directly to their monthly and quarterly meetings.
If your meeting is not on the list yet, your meeting’s clerk or treasurer can submit this form to sign up now.
We believe there are many benefits to the new system:
We’re excited in the way only people who love spreadsheets can be! Please reach out with your thoughts and questions. If you are interested in additional ways to give to monthly meetings, please contact Joey, and he will assist you with different ways to contribute. You are also invited to reach out if you are considering other ways to support the wider yearly meeting.
For More Details on How Donations Are Managed:
When a donation is made:
Where donation information is stored:
How donations are acknowledged:
Update your contact & Meeting information at pym.org/updates
