8:30 AM – Arrivals
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM – Meeting for Worship
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM – Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business*
12:30 PM – Break
1:00 PM – Lunch & Fellowship (determined by each host meeting; also available online)
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Members One of Another interactive program (all ages)**
4:30-6:30 PM – Young Adult Friends (ages 18-35) Fellowship, only available at Arch Street Friends Meeting

* Meeting for Business will be hybrid. Clerks will gather at Arch Street Meeting House, and regional locations will welcome Friends to participate in a hybrid format, joining the clerks via Zoom.

** The afternoon program will be onsite or online. You may join in person at a regional location or participate with Friends online.

Three times a year, Friends across all four states in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting region have the opportunity to join together for an online meeting for worship for all ages. All Together Worship happens from 10-11am on the Sunday morning of every Continuing and Annual Sessions weekend. We come together from meetinghouses and homes for an intergenerational, semi-programmed worship held in care by the Yearly Meeting elders and Presiding Clerk.

The Zoom link to join All Together Worship will be the same one being used for that Sessions weekend; individuals and meetings will receive it when they register for Sessions.

9:00 – Worship 9:30 – 12:30

• • PYM Discernment and Expectations
  • Welcome
  • Updates from the presiding clerk: The clerk provides an overview of our day together, laying out key items to hold as we attend worshipfully to business
  • LGBTQIA minute from Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting: PQM approved a minute in the fall and has asked for endorsement by PYM.
  • Affirmation of Church World Service Membership: PYM has a decades-long relationship with CWS. CWS recently changed their governance structure and PYM Friends are asked to affirm our status as a “covenant member.”
  • Status of Unity Meeting: New life is rising in Unity Meeting as Ujima repopulates it.
  • PYM’s Lawsuit: In January PYM and other yearly meetings filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security’s revised policy on access to sensitive places. An update will be shared.
  • Lobbying Guidance: After a year of listening and discernment, Guidance on Advocacy and Lobbying for PYM will be considered for approval.
  • General Secretary Report: The General Secretay will report on the strengths and possibilities for connection in our yearly meeting
  • Break

• • Approve minutes
  • How are we called at this moment: Friends will consider how PYM and our meetings can be safe spaces for those impacted by recent changes in the United States.
  • Nominating Report: Nominations for PYM governance roles will be shared for approval

• Sessions update*: Join our annual sessions this summer at Cheyney University, the first HBCU. Plus an update on PYM Friends’ thoughts about Sessions.
• Joint Council Report*: The Joint Council is the governance structure that cares for the yearly meeting in between Sessions. The co-clerks will report on the council activity since the Fall.
• General Secretary Search Committee*: The committee responsible for seeking our next General Secretary will report on the status of their charge.
• Climate Benchmark Progress Report*: An update on PYM’s work to hire a consultant to help PYM reach its carbon emissions goal of net-zero by 2030.
• Approve minutes*

*We hope to move through the entire agenda on Saturday. However the Clerk recognizes that we may need extra time. In the event that spirit moves us in such a way that requires an extension, we will add an hour of time on Zoom on Sunday, 3/8 from 11:30am to 12:30pm. We will make this call by noon on Saturday.

Annual Sessions is one of the oldest Quaker traditions! Today, all over the world, yearly meetings gather once a year to bring together members and attenders from their local meetings. We call them “Sessions” because meeting for worship with attention to the business of the Yearly Meeting is central to these times together. Continuing Sessions are our one-day events on the second Saturday of November and March, where we attend to the continuing business of the Yearly Meeting and enjoy fellowship across generations. During all these times we ask: What is God’s big idea for PYM Friends?