Standing
Committee on Education Children's
Religious Education Programs
Address Corrections
Please help us keep accurate mailing labels and let us know if the address on the envelope is incorrect when you receive mailings. Thanks!
Dear Expediters
You will be receiving two Yearly Meeting lessons at the end of January;
there will not be a YM curriculum packet this year. Instead, you will receive suggestions for literature for each age level on the topic of "What Quakers Believe about God," as well as interactive activities for First-day students to learn what meeting members believe about God. Please distribute the YM lessons when they arrive. The purpose of the lessons is to inspire Quaker children and young people to go to Yearly Meeting, March 23-26 at Arch Street Meeting House. There they will try to answer the question "What do I believe about God?" under the skilled leadership of teachers from throughout PYM.
Marty Smith, editor
martys@pym.org
Bringing in the Millennium
Here is an idea West Grove Meeting is using this year for children between the ages of 7 and 18.
Children put objects in a time capsule which represents their life in the year 1999-2000 (like photos, hand tracings, banners, or predictions), with a scheduled opening for the year 2003. The capsule can be of heavy cardboard or wood and wrapped in aluminum foil. The reason for the 2003 opening is because it is the 100th anniversary of West Grove Meeting, and the children would become teens at that time. They could look back and think about what they thought was worthwhile in 2000.
To involve adults in the meeting, they were asked to either briefly describe themselves as Quakers and put their handprint on the back of the paper, or to project what the Meeting might be like in the year 2003. The oldest teen was asked to be in charge of burying the "capsule." Thanks to Chris Pederson for this great idea!
Night Watch (New Year's Eve)
A Night Watch can be offered as an event for all ages. People are invited to come to their Meetinghouse on New Year's Eve at 8:00 p.m. or thereabouts. The idea is to have about a half-hour of worship-sharing on the topic of passing of the old year and hopes for the new one. This needs to be kept short if families with children are included.
Following this event, refreshments are served (simple cider and cookies, etc.) The event can be ended at 10:00 p.m. (Quaker midnight). If there is a fireplace in the Meetinghouse, this is a perfect time for a fire.
This idea is from Celebrating the Seasons, written by PYM Curriculum Group, published in 1995 and available from the FGC Bookstore 1-800-966-4556.
Upcoming Events
Middle School Event:
February 4-6, 2000 — One World Peace Gathering at Wilmington Meetinghouse, Delaware. Hear young people's stories of peacemaking as we figure out what each of us can do.Registration is $40.00 and due by January 20. Flyer in the mail call Melanie Douty, 1-800-220-0796, #7171 for more information.
Young Friends Event:
February 25-27, 2000 — Young Friends Peace Gathering at Burlington Meetinghouse in New Jersey. Young Friends will try to answer these questions: How do we balance idealism with reality? How do we deal with violence in the world when peace is being kept by using "force"? How can we educate ourselves and others so they understand problems and can be part of the solutions? Call Cookie at 1-800-220-0796, #7221 for details.
World Peace Prayer Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to Truth.
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to Trust.
Lead me from hate to love, from war to Peace.
Let peace fill our heart, our world, our Universe.Anonymous
Published by Religious Education Concerns Group, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Office: 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 241-7008 (Marty Smith); Ext. 7222 (Cookie Caldwell); Ext. 7171 (Melanie Douty); Ext. 7221 (Mary Anne Crowley); Ext. 7182 (Steve Gulick) or: 1-800-220-0796, with the appropriate extension number.
Last modified: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 at 04:22 PM