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
Social Change
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.
Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting on “Going Veggie” and Using “Creating a Playbook for Climate Action”
Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting has embraced a new initiative to support climate action by “going veggie” on the third Sunday of each month. This meeting-wide project is the result of collaboration between the Climate Action and Hospitality Committees, reflecting a shared commitment to addressing climate change.
Sarah Whitman, a member of both committees at Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, shared her perspective and the behind-the-scenes on this new initiative. “Last spring, we started a Climate Action Committee to help the meeting address climate change,” Sarah shared. “There have been individual leadings and practices related to climate change, but not a project that the whole meeting does together. I happen to be a member of both Hospitality and the Climate Action Committee, so I felt like this was an opportunity for synergy between those two committees.”
Update From the Listening and Lobbying Sprint of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Authorship of this update is attributed to the Jeanne Elberfield and the Listening and Lobbying Sprint of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
Friends, I am writing this update with much optimism in my heart and mind. The Listening and Lobbying Sprint is working diligently towards a draft policy and guidance addressing political lobbying for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Over the past few months, we have learned from a nonprofit expert and PYM’s lawyer about the IRS definitions and limitations on lobbying for a 501(c)(3). We have had regular conversations about how this information helps us to find a solution that mutually satisfies Friends who are led to political advocacy, the PYM Quaker community with diverse leadings and ministries, and the PYM as a 501(c)(3). We continue to ask Spirit to guide our hearts and minds as we navigate our way forward. [Read more…] about Update From the Listening and Lobbying Sprint of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Fostering Equality in Everyday Home Life
Lois Volta, Germantown Meeting, wants you to clean your house. Not just for the aesthetic reasons, but for the spiritual and feminist reasons. As she writes, “There will always be something waiting for you to clean up. It’s better to make peace with this concept than to fight it. Let contentment and peace be just as never-ending as the laundry.” [Read more…] about Fostering Equality in Everyday Home Life
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
A Casual Connection Leads Atlantic City Area Friends Meeting to Join MLK March
Kimberly Spence, Clerk of Atlantic City Area Friends Meeting never thought a casual visit to her gym would lead her and other local Friends from ACAFM and Barnegat Monthly Meeting to join a Martin Luther King March, but it did. [Read more…] about A Casual Connection Leads Atlantic City Area Friends Meeting to Join MLK March
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
A Friend’s Love for Extreme Couponing Turns Into an Old City Food Pantry
In 2010, Hazele Goodridge, member of Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia (MMFP) at Arch Street Meeting House and longtime Philadelphia resident, felt the call to serve her community and joined Philabundance’s Community Food Center Choice Food Pantry as a volunteer. During those days, Philabundance’s food pantry drew an estimated 300 people daily seeking assistance and support. Hazele differentiates the benefits of a choice food pantry versus a traditional food bank as one allows people in need and struggling with food insecurity to shop for what they needed instead of simply accepting what was given that may or may not serve either their dietary restrictions or an immediate need. [Read more…] about A Friend’s Love for Extreme Couponing Turns Into an Old City Food Pantry
PYM Friends Learn to Lobby with FCNL
On October 30, PYM Friends gathered for a workshop about lobbying and its place within the world of political advocacy. The workshop was facilitated by the Senior Director for Quaker Leadership, Alicia McBride, from Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). For twenty years, Alicia has worked in multiple roles with FCNL . She’s a member of Sandy Spring Meeting, part of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting footprint. She was joined by Deb Hejl, member and Friend of Gwynedd Meeting, who has been actively involved with FCNL for a quarter century and serves as a PYM representative to FCNL. [Read more…] about PYM Friends Learn to Lobby with FCNL
