We’re counting down to Annual Sessions! Here are 12 great reasons to join, July 26-30. [Read more…] about 12 Days to Annual Sessions … 12 Reasons to Join!
Families
Meet the Father and Daughter Co-clerking Duo of Old Haverford Meeting
When Kristin Simmons’ youngest daughter was born, her husband Tim was working at Delaware Valley Friends School. As lifelong Catholics, they were feeling disillusioned with church, and decided it was time for a change. Together the family turned to Quakerism, looking for a simpler, connected life to the divine Light. It was both faith and community that drew the couple to Old Haverford Monthly Meeting seventeen years ago. When Kristin was young, her mother worked as a librarian at a Quaker school for 20+ years and committed time focusing on social justice issues and sharing key insights among various faith groups. Kristin’s father, George Salloom, and his wife remained practicing Catholics until about seven years ago when George became a member of the Quaker community.
The father and daughter duo, George and Kristin, now serve as co-clerks at Old Haverford Meeting. They both hold master’s degrees in social work; George graduated from Howard University while Kristin graduated from University of Pennsylvania. Kristin also currently serves as PYM’s Youth Engagement Coordinator on the Program and Religious Life team. Their stories of how they became Quakers and co-clerks of Old Haverford Monthly Meeting are heartwarming and engaging.
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Quaker ‘Must See’ for Summer Family Fun
As summer approaches, families looking for enriching summer activities to enjoy together don’t have to search very far. Fun is right in our own backyard throughout the Delaware Valley area. Enjoyable excursions for the whole family connect Quaker history and our Friends community. We’ve gathered a list of “Must See” local Quaker Family Fun sites to visit this summer. [Read more…] about Quaker ‘Must See’ for Summer Family Fun
PYM Youth Programs Welcomed Spring with a Series of Weekend Events
PYM Youth Programs welcomed Spring with a series of weekend events that included young people of all ages! We’re excited for our upcoming Annual Sessions July 26-30th. Be sure to stay connected for news about Fall programs for children, youth, and families!
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Supporting Children and Teens After Violent News
In the last two weeks we have been repeatedly confronted with the legacy of gun violence and ongoing, communal trauma in this country. The three events in recent days have happened in the kinds of everyday places that should be safe — the grocery store, church, and school. How do we talk to children and adolescents about gun violence, racialized violence, and senseless tragedy? Parents and caregivers are helping their children process their feelings alongside their own, and signs of anxiety are different in children and adolescents when compared with adults. Pastoral care for children begins with pastoral care for their caregivers, and the resources below are offered to support parents and families—please share.
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How Do We Pray with Children?
How do you pray? What personal practices do you have that bring you into relationship and conversation with the Spirit? How do prayer practices nurture your spiritual life and anchor your experience of gathering with others for meeting for worship? In my experience, we don’t talk a lot about prayer in Quaker religious education — how to pray with children, teach prayers to children, or why we might offer this as a practice for their “spiritual toolbox.” I’ve been collecting ideas and resources over time, hoping to bring together interested Friends to talk about prayer with children. On December 2, several Friends gathered for an online Religious Education Conversation on “Prayer with Children,” and what is shared below is from a presentation, participant sharing, and group reflections. [Read more…] about How Do We Pray with Children?
Part 2: Where are we going? Supporting Families and Religious Education
Queries from PYM Faith and Practice are read at the beginning of worship each month at my meeting; one of the youth in our Young People’s Group is the reader. In May, they were the ones about religious education: Nurturing Our Community: Religious Education in the Home and Meeting. As we think about returning to weekly programs for our children and youth, what guidance do these queries offer? This summer is a moment to pause and consider the experiences and lessons of these past months and how they might shape our programs and support for young Friends and families in our meetings. The PYM queries ask us is place in the center of our religious education programs preparation, formation, and belonging.
[Read more…] about Part 2: Where are we going? Supporting Families and Religious Education
Part I: Where have we been? Where are we going? Supporting Families and Religious Education
This is the first of a two-part story focused on local meetings and their experiences with programs and support for children and youth, and their families, in the last fourteen months of “pandemic times.” Families in our local meetings come in all different varieties; these stories are focused on families with children and the people parenting them (who also come to that relationship in a variety of ways, including foster parents and grandparents).
The people who support children and youth programs in meetings, in their Quarter, and the Yearly Meeting have expressed many feelings in this time — sadness at separation, joy in creativity, mourning for connections lost, delight in new ideas, frustration with lack of support, fear that families will not “return” when others resume community in person. I’ve written about the liminal time we’re in, and the opportunities this disruption/interruption provides to think in new ways. I’m also holding a keen awareness of the exhaustion and longing to return to “normalcy” that Friends may be feeling; it feels important to balance encouragement about new possibilities and succor for what feels lost or overwhelming. [Read more…] about Part I: Where have we been? Where are we going? Supporting Families and Religious Education
Pastoral Care for Our Children in These Times
As the pandemic continues, and this week our nation struggles once more against the legacy of racial injustice and violence, our children look on.
Children and teens are experiencing the continued uncertainty of Covid and its impact on school, peer relationships, and future plans. Additionally, the events in Washington D.C. on January 6 were deeply disturbing and young people may feel anxiety, confusion, fear, sadness, or anger, and have questions about what they see and hear in the media and from friends. As parents, we’re holding space for our children’s feelings alongside our own anxiety, fury, and questions about moving forward. What follows are resources specifically for children, youth, and families.*
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Christmas Together in New Ways
Meetings may be seeking to create meaningful Christmas programs that keep Friends connected while also being safe about Covid-19. Two online Conversation Circles were hosted by the Youth Religious Life Coordinator to share ideas and support each other with how to plan for celebrations in this challenging time. [Read more…] about Christmas Together in New Ways