Thanks to training by Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), several hundred more Quakers are now well-prepared for lobbying congress. Yesterday and today, FCNL held its Public Policy Institute in advance of the annual FCNL meeting, providing visiting Friends all the tools they need to effectively meet with congressional representatives and senators. [Read more…] about Friday at FCNL – Tools for 400 Quaker Lobbyists
Archives for November 2018
Friends Convene in Washington to Lobby for Bipartisan Legislation with FCNL
As Quakers from across the United States descended on the capital today, the density of the Quaker population increased significantly in Washington, DC. Friends came to the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) to talk about faith and witness, sharing their Quaker beliefs and work in support of civic society. [Read more…] about Friends Convene in Washington to Lobby for Bipartisan Legislation with FCNL
General Secretary Report to Councils
General Secretary Report on Staff Activity to Councils
Mid-October Through Mid-November 2018
Business and Finance:
- As shared in the written GenSec report to Continuing Sessions, PYM operations ended FY18 in a solid, positive position. Lower covenant and annual fund contributions year-over-year were mitigated by higher investment income and by expense reductions. The balance sheet remained strong. There was little change in net assets apart from investment gains, which are posted once a year at the FYE.
- Completed audit preparations and welcomed the auditors who have been in the office all week.
- Completed and signed an access agreement between PYM and US Construction, developer of a townhome project next door to the Arch Street Meeting House. The agreement sets out terms for scaffolding and lift access on the Arch Street property so work on the townhouse facades can be completed. US Construction will rebuild at their expense a failing section of the non-historic brick wall closest to 3rd Street, which is currently braced.
- Completed the process for supporting teachers’ retirement funds in small schools and for providing tuition aid for PYM students in Quaker schools.
- Completed a compelling December appeal mailing and sent it to the printer. It will be mailed shortly after Thanksgiving. It includes a message that is personalized to the giving history of each of about 6,500 households. We designed and sent a “no-ask” alternate version to 400 households that have requested not to be solicited. This way they still access the information included in the mailing.
Program and Ministry:
- Continuing Sessions: 160+ Friends gathered for Continuing Sessions on Saturday November 3rd, filling the Arch Street Meeting House with children, families, and Friends coming together for business and Quaker conversations. All of the reports and meeting materials can be found on the continuing sessions webpage and the minutes are online.
- Launched Bridge Contacts! Bridge Contacts are those identified by their meeting or other constituency to serve as a communications and relationship bridge between the activity in their meeting (or other constituency) and the activity in the yearly meeting and monthly meetings. We launched at Continuing Sessions and met our two-month goal in one day and are nearly 50% of our way to our mid-fiscal year goal.
- Launched One Quilt One Yearly Meeting! This initiative invites every yearly meeting constituency – monthly meetings, collaboratives, any group that identifies as part of our community – to complete a fabric square which will be sewn together in a single quilt. The staff produced a video to share with meetings and others to encourage their participation.
- Initiated a conversation of coordinated outreach and communications efforts across Quaker organizations.
- Began the process of updating support for monthly meeting background checks with a more holistic view toward supporting child safety with meetings
- Began developing a first draft of a harassment policy for PYM Friends.
- At the invitation of the organizers, took part in a multi-faith news conference held at Friends Center following the shootings at the synagogue in Pittsburg and outside the church in Kentucky
- Collaborated with the staff of Arch Street Meeting House to support the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia in their ministry to provide safe space during an anti-Semitic rally in Philadelphia.
- Published a summary of the State of the Meeting reports on our news feed.
Communications and Technology:
- Began developing a communications and publicity plan for Annual and Continuing Sessions. This has been on the Wish List for so long and we now have the capacity to jump start it.
- Communicated to all PYM Friends about what happened at Continuing Sessions at lightning speed – by the next morning it was posted as a news story and sent out by email.
- Completed entering database backlog of updates and fiscal data so it is now functional.
- Made huge headway on reorganizing the data migrated from the old database so it accurately reflects the household configurations.
- Redesigned the website’s home page so it now loads in 2 seconds, includes a more robust calendar and a reconfigured and well-populated news section.
- Completed six months of technical background work on the website so that when WordPress updates our website will still function.
Staff and Administration:
- Finalized a draft of annual goals for staff, built upon strategic directions and staff plans for the coming year. All outcomes and objectives were reviewed and approved by responsible staff. PYM governance leadership reviewed them, and staff has had a first opportunity to review them as well.
- Our Controller, Cliessa Nagle resigned effective Friday, Nov. 16, the last day of the audit. We’ve made arrangements for short-term interim support for the controller responsibilities with Your Part Time Controller (YPTC) which provides nonprofits with highly skilled controller-level accountants on a temporary basis.
- Renewed our relationship with the consultant who provided HR support to PYM for six months earlier this year to ensure that the benefits management is well supported during this time of transition.
- Hired an Assistant in the Young Friends Program following an extensive search process and interviews with several finalist candidates, PYM Youth Programs are delighted to welcome Aeryn Luminkith. She will begin her work with Young Friends at their Christmas Gathering.
- The part time data entry position was posted.
- Selected and approved staff health plan benefits for 2019. There are minimal changes in the benefit coverage and no changes in the way in which employees contribute to the plan (2% of base salary for the employee plus 1% for each dependent to a max of 5%). The increase in cost to PYM is slightly below budget.
- Met twice to discuss the staff voice policy and what we want to have in place to meet our needs in terms of policy, procedure and culture.
- The Director of HR and Inclusion is wrapping up final staff interviews to understand individual roles and determine concerns and suggestions for HR.
Inclusion and Anti-Racism:
- The Director of HR and Inclusion is reviewing the impact of past antiracism work on staff as well as planning for next steps with staff.
- All staff were invited to register in the coming year for a multi-day anti-racism training if they haven’t yet done so.
- Provided support for stepped-up communications for the Multicultural Audit Steering Committee.
Visits:
- Staff were invited to attend holiday events at monthly meetings on staff time.
- Grace Sharples Cooke, Associate Secretary for Advancement & Relationship worshiped at Woodstown meeting and met with Friends there about their fundraising.
- Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, attended the FGC Central Committee meeting
- Christie and Lynne Calamia, Executive Director of Historic Arch Street Meeting House, worshiped at Chester meeting and attended an event about its history at which there were more than 50 people from many meetings and from the community.
- Christie worshiped at Darby Meeting
- Christie attended the Philadelphia Interfaith Leadership Council meeting
- Christie attended Friends Historical Association Annual Meeting and Lecture
A Year of Civil Conversations
Inspired by Krista Tippet’s On Being podcasts and the Civil Conversations Project, Interfaith Philadelphia has launched A Year of Civil Conversations throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. Engaging over 50 organizations and 1,000 people, Interfaith Philadelphia will offer multiple opportunities to learn how to “speak together differently in order to live together differently.” PYM is a member of Interfaith Philadelphia and PYM Friends have participated in many of their programs in the past.
These grassroots civil conversations will take place within communities throughout the region that build a thriving religiously diverse democracy. They began in September and will continue through May 2019. Their purpose is to increase understanding and challenge the divisive dualism of today’s public discourse by building civic muscles for speaking with passion and listening with openness. This will empower participants to be curious, venture out, welcome in, stand tall, and stand with.
At the heart of this project are local conversations — grassroots dialogues on a range of topics that encourage us to share and listen across difference. The model for these conversations is inspired by Krista’s interviews with poets, scientists, pastors, authors, psychologists, activists, and more. These conversations give us the opportunity to gather for meaningful dialogue designed to increase our understanding of each other, in the midst of times and voices that would have us turning away from one another. They give us the chance to practice, in the words of Krista Tippett, “speaking together differently in order to live together differently.”
To join a conversation, check out the Local Conversations page of the Interfaith Center’s website.
Would you like to host a conversation? There are four trainings for facilitators scheduled. These sessions offer community leaders and “bridge people” techniques for grassroots civil conversations that support a thriving religiously diverse democracy. Participants will also receive a Civil Conversations facilitator kit to use in their own work going forward.
- Sunday, December 9th | 2:00 – 5:00 pm
- Thursday, January 17th | 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
- Tuesday, February 5th | 5:30 – 8:30 pm
The trainings are all held at Interfaith Philadelphia’s office, 100 West Oxford Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122. The fee is $25 for individuals, $15 for groups and free for students.scholarships are available
Register for a training on Interfaith Philadelphia’s website. If you host a conversation, please post it on PYM’s calendar.
How Deep the Water Is: Travels with Josh
Hello my name is Joshua Ponter. I am a member of Haddonfield Monthly Meeting in South Jersey’s Philadelphia area. I have embarked on a year-long mission to travel around the country collecting stories about the founding of different meetings and looking at the way we practice Quakerism today. I will be blogging about my travels on the PYM website. The first entry is below. Please email me at JPonter1@gmail.com if there is anyone from your meeting who would like to sit down with me and speak to some of your history — or if you would like more information on me or my project . Thank you! [Read more…] about How Deep the Water Is: Travels with Josh
Gratitude Everyday
A reflection on Beyond Complicity: Awakening Anti-Racist Intentions, a series Toward Racial Justice and Fearless Faithfulness. A called gathering took place on Nov. 18, when Mickleton Friends Meeting intentionally listened to Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, chapter 3, The Truth About the First Thanksgiving. The books author, sociologist James W. Loewen, presents examination of Eurocentric and mythologized views of American history.
From Loewen’s perspective, we examined our strong-hold on the belief that the American holiday, Thanksgiving, holds a place of welcome for all individuals and faiths, some of us able to accept that the holiday holds myths that continue to minimize Native Nations peoples. We compared various maps, exposing how “discovery” of empty lands might be shifted when simply compared to maps void of political boundaries and marked with cultural features of the peoples living in specific regions.
The self-examination of perspective called us to remain as open as possible toward being transformed as we walk out into the world as myth-busters, dis-clothed of defensive cloaks, speaking Truths. We walked away with unity that giving thanks is not bound to one day. Surrounded by light, blessings abound, and gratitude is rightly ordered, freely available to everyone, if and when one might choose to see and acknowledge.
Seekers are invited to visit Mickleton Friends; First Day (Sunday) meeting for worship begins at 10am; also open to the public, the next examination of Beyond Complicity: Awakening Anti-Racist Intentions will take place December 16, 2018, ~11:30, after rise of meeting and fellowship. We will listen to Bryan Stevenson’s TED Talk, We Need to Talk About An Injustice paired with Martin Luther King, Jr’s Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change.
Appreciation of Public Service
Friends have been in relationship with the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation; we celebrate with them upon hearing Chief Gould’s message of gratitude (PYM News “Public Statement of Gratitude” posted 11.15.2018.) In addition to the multitude of media releases, direct word is shared by NJ State Attorney General Grewal, who “Announces Settlement of Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Lawsuits”
This author’s elders’ instructions are to be humble and grateful; Friend Parker Palmer urges us to find the growing edges and acknowledge commonalities; during civil discourse, FCNL demonstrates expressing sincere thanks. Might Friends join First Contact Reconciliation Collaborative members in finding the following resources helpful toward expressing (rightly ordered) appreciation of public service to NJ Phil Murphy, and NJ Attorney General, Gurbir S. Grewal.
Appreciating FCNL
The Quaker Life Council on behalf of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting approved on 11.17.18 the following minute of appreciation for Friends Committee on National Legislation.
Minute of Appreciation to Recognize the 75th Anniversary of The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
Gwynedd Monthly Meeting would like to express its heartfelt appreciation for the 75 years of prayerful attention the Friends Committee on National Legislation has given to furthering Friends testimonies in national policy concerns. Since the beginning, staff and supporters around the country have lobbied Congress to advance the causes of peace and justice. [Read more…] about Appreciating FCNL
One Quilt One Yearly Meeting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtXDQVy350Q
Things are getting quilty…
One Quilt, One Yearly Meeting brings us together across local meetings, collaboratives, youth programs, Young Adult Friends, councils, Friends schools, and other groups in PYM. Each entity will design and contribute a ten-inch quilt square, which will be gathered into a “quilt skirt” to wrap around the clerk’s table when we gather, holding them in the care of the body and witnessing to our gathered community.
One Quilt, One Yearly Meeting is an opportunity to gather with your local community — your local meeting and other groups in PYM — to create a representation that will become part of the larger whole. Out of many, one.
What you need
- 10” cotton square (provided by PYM)
- Conversation and discernment! How can this be an opportunity to explore the queries: What connects us? What differences enrich us? What images or words illustrate who we are collectively?
- Materials used to create an image on your square
Your Square
Where to start? Begin with creating a space to explore the queries and thresh ideas for your design. What are your stories, and where do they intersect? The design may be of your meetinghouse, a Friend out of history, an image related to witness and work today, a poem or quotation, or an abstract design. Since the quilt itself is a symbol of our commonality, the design of your square does not need to be specific to a theme or idea.
Community
Please be intentional about including all voices! Where appropriate, consider how to make this a multigenerational project, but not one that’s handed over to the Children’s religious education committee. While one quilt square is the product, how can your process be one that is inclusive and brings together Friends in unity?
Timeline
- One Quilt, One Yearly Meeting launches at Fall Continuing Sessions, November 3
- Bring the finished square to Spring Continuing Sessions on March 23, 2019, or, deliver/mail to the PYM office: 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 before March 23.
- Squares will be assembled by quilters in the community, and our PYM Quilt will be revealed at Annual Sessions, July 24-28, 2019!
Questions? Contact a member of the Community Engagement Team, including Olivia Brangan, Community Engagement Coordinator, Melinda Wenner Bradley, Youth Engagement Coordinator, and Meg Rose, Sessions Coordinator.
The Election: Friends Served at the Polls, Ran for Election, and Volunteered
During last week’s election, many Friends were doing what they always do, engaging deeply in the political process to further beliefs they hold dear.
This took many forms. Grady Lights, an attender at Haverford Meeting, and long-time proponent of equality, stood at 30th Street Station with a poster that read “Keep Calm VOTE,” attracting the attention of documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. Moore, who loved Grady’s presentation, strode up to pose side-by-side for a photo. Enthused by the encounter, Grady shared his story of outreach with several Haverford Members over a cup of coffee, after worship.
Numerous Friends and Attenders served as bi-partisan democracy advocates covering neighborhoods, community events, and county-wide outreach initiatives to encourage voter turnout. Many also served their wards as election officials and volunteers, working from 6:00 AM until 10:00 PM, to log in voters, walk them to voting machines, answer clarifying questions, and provide cheerful, diligent, support to the election process.
Bill Heinemann, a Member at Newtown Meeting, is Majority Inspector for his local ward. He worked the polls at the Newtown fire station, and was captured in Mat Rourke’s photograph (see photo left) for the AP news feed, with three other members of the Newtown community also in the photo. That’s Bill (in the plaid shirt) on the far right going about his work among voting booths and fire trucks.
Bill says he does this work because “democracy depends on involved citizens, whether (that means) running for office, supporting those who do, or ensuring that the election process works effectively. At a time when we’re all very concerned about the state and future of our democracy, every person has the opportunity to be involved in some way.” Bill goes on to say there are many ways to serve, and many ways to have impact. “Jonathan Snipes, (Fallsington) he’s got a good story to tell about his chairing the Fallsington Township Board of Supervisors! And, Norval Reece (Newtown), also served (as PA’s Secretary of Commerce).”
There were Friends who ran for office in the current election, too. Joe Hohenstein, of Frankford Friends Meeting, was just elected State Representative in Philadelphia. Scott Wallace who ran for US Congress, and lost to Brian Fizpatrick, put his Quaker beliefs up on his election web page, stating “As I learned in Quaker meeting-Let your life speak!”
Monthly Meetings have lent their buildings to the election. Haverford Monthly Meeting serves as a community polling place. This year the Meeting supported the non-partisan efforts of Haverford College students to secure the right to vote there instead of two miles off campus. Students now walk just a few steps off campus instead of being bused to the old polling place.
Hard won, and critical to democracy, the right to vote is a muscle that needs to be exercised in support of our civic society. In engaging with our political process, Friends hope the light within people’s hearts—and throughout our community—shines past shadows.
As an attender, Grady Lights is new to the Quaker Faith. Yet his message, in worship during the weekend prior to the election, resonated with Quakerism’s sense of community. Pay attention to your impact on the hearts of others: “…Regard your attention as light–shining on my statements & propositions; also consider the possibility that some of your thoughts responding to mine are “shadows” cast by the light of your attention on the objects of my thoughts.”