In October, PYM announced a new partnership with Church World Service (CWS) as a covenant member. During the recent Joint Council meeting, Clerk Nikki Mosgrove led a discussion on PYM’s new relationship with CWS, a national faith-based organization focused on just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement, and disaster. This partnership allows PYM to nominate board members and collaborate closely on CWS’s work, although it holds no voting rights. CWS extended this invitation to deepen the connection, reflecting their commitment to building impactful relationships. The council plans to review this partnership at a future session to assess its impact.
[Read more…] about Partnership with Church World Service
Peace
October 2024 | Joint Council Update
On Saturday, October 12th, the three councils that support Philadelphia Yearly Meeting—Quaker Life Council, Administrative Council, and Nominating Council—held their first meeting in a new joint format. In this structure, all three councils meet together as one Joint Council to worship, discern, and conduct business collaboratively. A key feature in the joint format is the approval of minutes during the meeting. This allows the Joint Council to share the minutes in a news story with the PYM community in the week following the meeting.
Talking about the Election with Children and Youth
Authorship is credited to Melinda Wenner Bradley (West Chester Meeting), Quaker Religious Education Collaborative
The intensity of the election cycle is an experience both for adults and for the children and youth in our families and communities. Depending on their age, preschoolers to teens may be aware of the anxiety in the adults around them — and experiencing their own anxiety about the outcome of the election in November.
[Read more…] about Talking about the Election with Children and Youth
Peace Begins with You: A Gathering for Children & Families
“If we are to create peace in the world, we must begin with the children.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Peace Begins with You: A Gathering for Children and Families” is a Sunday afternoon for families with children to come together for fellowship, learning, celebrating peace and how we can each live in our truth and be peacemakers. We hope Friends in meetings will participate and bring their friends. Grandparents are welcome too! Families with children in Friends schools in the Philadelphia area are also warmly invited.
The program will include a workshop with Dwight Dunston, aka Sterling Duns, a West Philly-based facilitator, hip-hop artist, educator, and activist with deep experience in facilitating Kingian Nonviolence programs and working with children.
In addition to Dwight’s workshop, there will be intergenerational activities, parent/guardian worship sharing, a children’s story and activities, snacks (always!), and time to simply enjoy being together.
With the upcoming 2024 Election, and rising concern about election violence and societal conflict, this afternoon program is aimed at giving our children tools to explore the Quaker Way of the Peace Testimony and to know they are part of a wider community standing with courage for peace and justice.
Questions? Please email Kristin Simmons, Youth Engagement Coordinator, ksimmons@pym.org
Please register below.
Active Peace: Breathing and Living the Peace Testimony in Times of Unrest
Apr 13, 2024, 1:00-6:00pm
Tiered Pricing:
Standard Price – $100
Subsidizing Price – $125
Subsidized Price – $75If the subsidized price is financially inaccessible, please wait to register and first apply for financial assistance by using the link on the event page.
Standard Price – $100
Subsidizing Price – $125
Subsidized Price – $75If the subsidized price is financially inaccessible, please wait to register and first apply for financial assistance by using the link on the event page.
Quakers have always been called to be arbiters of peace and truth in times of societal confusion and unrest. And since the beginning, it has been pivotal to the spiritual tradition to be in accountable community while ushering in a more peaceful world.
In this workshop, we will explore the ways that Quakerism has influenced parts of society to embody and champion peace and how individuals, communities, and movements can influence Quakers to continue to evolve our way of thinking and acting to make the journey towards the beloved community a tangible reality.
Using Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work, research, and philosophy, participants can expect to deepen their own understanding and commitment to the peace testimony and explore new ways to live out peace in their homes, meetings, and communities.
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
Middle East Collaborative Shares Peace Resource
As we approach the time of remembering Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Middle East Collaborative shares this timely resource from the Fellowship of Reconciliation: “Continuing to Break the Silence: Learning and Reflection on Vietnam, Palestine, and Beyond.” A winter series of programs on Why Palestine Matters is being planned by Middle East Collaborative members Deb Wood, Sandy Rea, and Joan Broadfield; watch the website calendar and the Collaborative’s webpage for details and registration.
[Read more…] about Middle East Collaborative Shares Peace Resource
Feature Film about Friend Rustin Bayard Opens November 3rd
A movie focused on the life and work of Friend Bayard Rustin is being released in the coming days, joining the 2002 documentary Brother Outsider and offering a new way for the wider public to learn about the peace, labor, and civil rights organizer and activist. [Read more…] about Feature Film about Friend Rustin Bayard Opens November 3rd
Pennswood Village Rededicates Its Peace Pole
In 2001, Pennswood Village, the Quaker-founded retirement and health care community in Newtown, installed a Peace Pole in front of its community center. Two of the speakers were atomic bomb survivors (Hibakushas) from Japan, Mr. Shigeyuki Yama from Hiroshima and Mr. Hideo Tose from Nagasaki, the sites in 1945 of the two atomic bombs detonated over those cities which killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
[Read more…] about Pennswood Village Rededicates Its Peace Pole
Religious Education Resources and Events for June & July
Happy summertime, Friends! In the coming weeks, children and teens will be done with school and families will shift into summer routines. I’ll be back in touch in August with ideas for looking forward to the Fall, and if you’re ready to start thinking in that direction this planning guide is still a good place to begin this summer. The resources and events offered below for June and July include Juneteenth, FGC’s “YAY!” gathering, and what’s for families and youth at our Annual Sessions. I hope you will pass them along to families and youth in your meetings and communities! [Read more…] about Religious Education Resources and Events for June & July
