 March/April 2000 (XXXVIII 2) |
eing able to share the experience of different aspects of one's life as a Friend with Friends from other Monthly Meetings is one of the rich opportunities of coming together in our larger community of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Gatherings on Thursday morning and afternoon, March 23, are designed to bring Friends together around topics of common interest and concern. The groups scheduled at the time of this writing are listed below. Each of these gatherings is open to all interested Friends, not only to those currently active in the particular work listed. These open sessions offer opportunities for Friends to share our experience and learn from one another.
Room locations are at the Fourth and Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia unless otherwise noted.
10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
- Open session on the work of Monthly Meeting clerks (Monthly Meeting Room)
- Supporting the work of Monthly Meeting nominating committees (Room 4)
1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
- Pastoral Care: Live and printed resources for Monthly Meetings (Old First Reformed Church, first floor)
- Keeping teens in the fold of the Meeting community (Room 4)
- Building the Culture of Peace (West Room)
- The work of Monthly Meeting recorders of membership (Holiday Inn Parlor Room 235)
3:00 to 4:30 p.m.
- Pastoral Care (second session; Old First Reformed Church, first floor)
- Landmarks Along the Way — Sharing our spiritual journeys (Room 4)
- A pacifist dilemma — response to the Balkans tragedy (Holiday Inn Parlor Room 235)
- Demystifying the Yearly Meeting budgeting process (West Room)
More information on some of these sessions appears in separate notices on this page.
Supporting the work of Monthly Meeting nominating committees
Nominating committees are vital to the life and work of our Meetings. They can encourage Friends to view service to their Meeting as opportunities for spiritual growth as well as obligations. The sensitive organization of the people of a Monthly Meeting into a working structure of clerks and committees helps to keep the community alive and helps to assure that the day-to-day, week-to-week work of the Meeting is rightly accomplished.
Yet Meetings often struggle to get that work done, especially in a Friendly way. In your Meeting, do a very few members carry most of the work load? Do a few "weighty" Friends serve in the same positions for years, or decades, by default? Are people appointed to positions that don't suit them? Are new members, attenders and Young Friends struggling to become a real part of your Meeting? Monthly Meetings can suffer from these difficulties, not just because the work doesn't get done, but because relationships go awry and the life of the community fails to thrive.
The PYM Nominating Committee invites everyone to participate in an open session facilitated by members of Monthly Meeting nominating committees that have worked well over the years. Come to share with other Friends your best practices and biggest obstacles.
for the PYM Nominating Committee
Annette Benert, Lehigh Valley Meeting (PA)
Janet Braker, Newtown Meeting (PA)
Pastoral care resources for Monthly Meetings
PYM Family Relations Concerns Group encourages you to participate in one or both of the sessions on Thursday afternoon, March 23, especially if you are an Overseer, member of Ministry and Counsel, or concerned with pastoral care in your Meeting. There will be resources on paper as well as time to meet with members of Family Relations Concerns Group and other experienced and knowledgeable Friends.
Friends are encouraged to bring their concerns and questions because the sessions will be shaped by these. Many Meetings face similar issues, and this is an opportunity to share together, to gain support, and to learn some new information.
Topics might include: support for those who take on leadership in Meetings; nurture for new attenders and members; caring for seasoned members; getting to know the resources we have; maintaining confidentiality as well as openness in Meetings.
The second session will feature information on the new PYM project and resource, "Deepening and Strengthening Our Meetings as Spiritual Communities."
Landmarks Along the Way:
Sharing our spiritual journeysOn Thursday afternoon, March 23, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., Friends are offered an opportunity to share something of their spiritual journeys. This session invites exploration of what we've found thus far in our journeys as Quakers, using worship sharing and journaling. The facilitator is Phil Anthony of Chestnut Hill Meeting (PA), a member of the PYM Meeting on Worship and Ministry and coordinator for Salem Quarterly Meeting (NJ).
Keeping teens within the fold of the Yearly Meeting community
All those working with younger Friends, those concerned for including younger Friends in the life of our Meetings, and teen-age Friends themselves are invited to join in a lively session from 1:00 to 2:30 Thursday afternoon, March 23.
This will be a chance to learn about innovative approaches and ideas that really work and to share concerns with folks from other Monthly Meetings. Ideas generated from this session will help shape a new curriculum for middle and high school Friends.
Melanie Douty, PYM religious education staff, encourages you to send ideas, examples and concerns to her in advance. Phone her at 215-241-7171 or send e-mail to melanied@pym.org.
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM