In March 2021, Millville Monthly Meeting received a grant from the Quaker Buildings & Programs granting group to address pressing issues with their historic meetinghouse. While not a requirement, grant recipients from time to time reach out to express their appreciation for support they have received. There are many difficult aspects of grantmaking, nothing more so than having to make hard decisions with limited funds available. Getting to celebrate successful projects like this one is a joy. PYM’s grantmaking is a community process; it’s PYM members that choose to serve on granting groups that enables PYM to continue to make grants on behalf of everyone in the yearly meeting. [Read more…] about Minute of Thanks from Millville Monthly Meeting
News
PYM Grants for Family Planning
PYM’s Natalie Clifford Barney Fund provides grants to organizations providing family planning, specifically planned parenthood and birth control. Over the course of winter 2021, members of the Quaker Buildings & Programs granting group met several times to discern an impactful use of the funds today.
Building the Quaker Community We Want to Be
The Youth Programs theme for the coming year, “Building the Quaker community we want to be,” is inspired by the hope that local meetings will consider the invitation from our Youth Programs to collaborate and use this theme in some way in your ministry with children and youth. Shared below are specific curriculum resources to support interest in thematic planning between our circles of spiritual community. [Read more…] about Building the Quaker Community We Want to Be
News from Glenthorne: A Quaker Guest House in England
Terry Winterton is Friend in Residence at Glenthorne Guest House in the Lake District, England. He sent this update on Glenthorne’s reopening.
Every other year Friends Council on Education convenes a pilgrimage to “George Fox and Margaret Fell country” where Quakerism began. Friends stay at Glenthorne and enjoy the charm of Grasmere while they learn about Quaker history. An English guest house and Quaker center (a little like Pendle Hill) Glenthorne is a pleasure to stay at. It sits in the midst of mountains, in a Harry Potter like village, surrounded by walking trails, mountains and tarns (mountain lakes). [Read more…] about News from Glenthorne: A Quaker Guest House in England
Norval Reece: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and Other Mountains (Like the Pandemic)
With many thanks to Norval Reece of Newtown Monthly Meeting who wrote the following piece about his experience climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro following a Quaker assignment in India. Norval was at the Friends Centre in Delhi, sponsored by the AFSC and British Friends Service Council. He is a member of Newtown Meeting and previously published a version of this story in the Courier Times of Bucks County (PA).
[Read more…] about Norval Reece: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and Other Mountains (Like the Pandemic)
Merion Member Charles E. Hires: a Manufacturer of Root Beer
The story below was previously published in the Merion Friends Meeting June 2021 Newsletter. The article was written by Janet Frazer. We publish it here with thanks to Janet and Merion meeting.
Charles E. Hires was a pharmacist, an active member of Merion Meeting in the early twentieth century and an amateur historian.
Hires started his root beer business in the 1870s, at a time when beer or hard cider was the typical drink at mealtime and alcohol consumption was increasing rapidly (it expanded more than five times over the last 35 years of the nineteenth century). Taverns/saloons were important venues for social and political gatherings and there were more of these institutions than churches, schools, libraries, hospitals, parks and theaters combined. At about the same time that drinking was increasing, the temperance movement took off for the second time, often calling for equal rights for women as well as reduced alcohol consumption. Under its well-known president, Frances Willard, the WCTU sponsored parades, speeches and demonstrations. The end of the 19th century witnessed both more drinking and more protests against it. [Read more…] about Merion Member Charles E. Hires: a Manufacturer of Root Beer
Cherice Bock on Building Hubs of Climate Resilience
In her July 31st Annual Sessions keynote, Cherice Bock explored the question “Will friends act in radical faithfulness?” with 78 Friends. She lifted up a range of ideas and possibilities for advocacy, emphasizing community-focused work that builds hubs of climate resilience.
[Read more…] about Cherice Bock on Building Hubs of Climate Resilience
Quakerism and Constructive Conflict Addressed by Dr. Sa’ed Atshan
Dr. Sa’ed Atshan offered the closing keynote to 106 Friends at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s 341st Annual Sessions with a talk on managing conflict within the Religious Society of Friends. He spoke of the powerful healing force of a humble, empathetic approach to difficult conversations. In his personal work across the Palestinian-Israeli divide, he has forwarded a shared understanding of the facts, avoidance of social media, and an approach that recognizes the humanity of each person even when disagreeing. Dr. Atshan began the talk by sketching his Quaker schooling at Ramallah Friends School and credited Quakerism with shaping his thinking on constructive conflict.
[Read more…] about Quakerism and Constructive Conflict Addressed by Dr. Sa’ed Atshan
Welcoming Afroza Hossain
We are elated to welcome Afroza Hossain to PYM Staff as Interim Young Adult Friends Facilitator! Afroza will work closely with other members of our staff Community Engagement Team to support young adult programming through the fall while we search for someone to fill a permanent position.
Mai Spann-Wilson: A Powerful Question Is More Important Than The Answers
Sankofa
Drawing more than 100 friends, Mai Spann-Wilson’s keynote presentation and poetry reading began with Sankofa, a piece he wrote as a teenager. It closed with an impromptu recollection by his aunt, Diane Spann, of Mai at 18 as he shared Sankofa in a spontaneous performance on the side of the road. [Read more…] about Mai Spann-Wilson: A Powerful Question Is More Important Than The Answers