The Multicultural Audit Steering Committee has arranged to interview two organizations which have submitted proposals for conducting an audit in PYM. All PYM Friends are invited to observe the interviews and submit feedback to the committee.
Archives for February 2019
Help Our Community Stay Connected
We have a new and more capable database, but we need your help in making sure your information is correct and up to date. All you need to do is to enter your correct address, email and phone information and you will help us build an awesome sense of community through your Quaker spirit and your participation in the Friends network.
Update your information at pym.org/yourinfo
Please help us get the word out by sharing the link above with your F/friends and with your Meeting. Thank You!
#ShutDownBerks at Continuing Sessions
What’s going on in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania may not be at the southern border of the United States, but family detention is taking place here. The Berks County Detention Center, officially the Berks County Residential Center (BCRC), holds families in custody for extended periods. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services revoked the facility’s license to operate more than two years ago, in February 2016, due to their failure to comply with regulations. Nevertheless, the state has not yet closed BCRC definitively.
For more information on the situation, refer to the website of the Shut Down Berks Coalition/Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition.
How has PYM been involved?
In the summer of 2018, the Young Adult Friends community was led to take up the concern of family detention in our region. Their epistle laid out a call to action to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and the yearly meeting minuted its support. The f/Friends involved in organizing the resulting action, set for the morning program in spring 2019 Continuing Sessions, have sought support from many partners in the community.
These include:
What do I need to know?
The action at Berks will take the form of extended, multi-generational, semi-programmed worship
- Young adults, and others with need, can register for no-cost bus transport from Philadelphia to BCRC, plus lunch for the day of the action.
- Let us know you’re coming by filling out the Registration for Continuing Sessions and clicking “Going” to RSVP on Facebook.
- English/Spanish interpretation will be provided throughout the morning.
- If you own a folding chair, or several, bring them along! Friends who might need to take a seat for part of our time at Berks will appreciate this, as PYM will not be able to provide chairs at the action.
- There is an alternative multigenerational program located at Reading Meeting led by Melinda Wenner Bradley (Youth Engagement Coordinator) and Amy Connelly (Children and Families program Assistant). The program at Reading Meeting 10am-12pm will focus on “Love Thy Neighbor” and how we welcome one another in our homes, schools and work, meeting communities, and PYM. There will be stories, sharing, and worship for all ages together.
Roles of Presiding Clerk, Rising Clerk and Alternate Clerks under Review
PYM’s Administrative Council has initiated a Sprint to evaluate the current expectations for those positions and determine what, if any, modifications might be desirable. The current roles, responsibilities, and terms of the Presiding Clerk, Rising Clerk and Alternate Clerks are set out in the Governance Handbook.
The Sprint is considering issues relating to:
- How we best identify and prepare individuals for these roles
- How we support individuals serving in these roles
- The necessary level of involvement of the presiding clerk in the workings of the councils and their committees
- The roles of alternate and rising clerks
- The appropriate terms for individuals serving in these positions
Give us Your Feedback
In addition to interviewing former presiding clerks, Friends with leadership roles on the Councils and certain staff, the Sprint would like your input.
Please provide your thoughts to the Sprint, not later than March 15, 2019.
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Updating Our Threads
The Quaker Life Council has recently approved an updated set of Threads, which are ways of organizing the work and witness that all of the communities in PYM face on a regular basis. The new list is:
- Peace & Social Justice
- Ministry & Care
- Religious Education
- Outreach & Communications
- Governance & Stewardship
General Secretary Report to Councils
Mid-January Through Mid-February 2019
Business and Finances:
- The FY 2018 audited financial statements were posted on the website. See them at www.pym.org/finance/audits. We are finishing the annual report, an attractive, user-friendly summary of PYMs 2018 fiscal year which will be sent to donors next month.
- PYM’s insurance policies renew in January. The 2019 PYM Master Policy, under the Friends Insurance Group, insures 91 meetings, 8 Friends schools and 9 Quaker organizations.
- We have posted the Granting Committee approved handbook of granting policies and procedures [PDF], covering all the individual granting groups and PYM granting information. This is a living document on the PYM Grants website, to track and share the Group’s policies and procedures.
Program and Ministry:
- The Winter Gathering for Middle School age youth was held at Medford meeting in New Jersey. A highlight was an exploration of race with Friends from PYM’s Social Justice Resource Friends group. This workshop helped participants become more aware of their own cultural identity and views about people from different backgrounds, and expand their consciousness of stereotypes and varying cultural norms.
- The Winter Gathering for Young Friends (high school youth) at Greene Street meeting in Philadelphia. The young Friends explored the theme of activism, working with Just Act, a theatre-based catalyst for healing, change, and activism to build a just world.
- Young Adult Friends have been working collaboratively to plan the action around closing the detention center for families in Berks County. A fully developed webpage is complete and a schedule for the action is emerging.
- Registration for Continuing Sessions is open. The location for the 2020 Spring Continuing Sessions is being scouted.
- The contract with The College of New Jersey was negotiated, completed, and was kept within budget.
- One Quilt, One Yearly Meeting is being promoted with weekly Facebook updates, stories, and pictures about each meeting’s quilt square.
- The Outreach Thread Gathering was a strong success with 55 people in attendance. Previous outreach events have had half that attendance.
Communications and Technology:
- We updated the PYM Grants web pages, making the structure much clearer, and easier to navigate.
- We sent the inaugural issue of our “Tote Bag” e-newsletter out to nearly 1200 email addresses. This provides resources for religious education and families.
- We are planning a shift to a new ‘theme’ or framework for the website. Our current website was developed in 2013 with a custom theme which doesn’t easily update when WordPress updates. This necessitates constant attention and repair which the move will address.
- We began an integration of communication and event registration within the new Salesforce database.
- Sent print invitations to Friends for two Thread Gatherings, the winter and spring Friends in Fellowship events, Continuing Sessions and the YAF–led action at Berks Detention Center for Families.
- Sent a Valentines mailing (with upcoming programs through Annual Sessions) to 450 young people who participated in our programs in last year. This communication also went to new contacts in our database.
- Developed and mailed a print communication to validate individual information in the database. This will be followed up by an email campaign for the same purpose. Most PYM information was successfully migrated to our new database, but some information is incorrect or out of date. This mailing will both alert Friends to the issue and help us get corrected information.
- We moved our Library database to the cloud. This was the final chunk information previously stored on servers. The accounting database, constituent relationship database, and staff files were all moved to the cloud within the past year. The move saves money and brings us into alignment with the practices of our IT management support (provided by AFSC).
Staff and Administration:
- Arranged to continue our contract with an HR consultant to support benefits administration and staff needs. This supports the Director of HR and Inclusion who is part-time and is in alignment with our vision of possibilities for this position.
- Staff Policies Handbook: Received a legal review of our revised handbook. There were few substantive comments. The Personnel Committee is reviewing the final draft. Next steps include a final review by the staff and then giving it to the Admin Council for its review.
- Drafted policy and procedures on staff professional development.
- Implemented a new sick time policy that changes how sick time is granted and accrued and presented it to staff. Effective 4/1/19 sick time will accrue for all employees working over 40 hours per year.
- Conducted research on staff training that for Mental Health First Aid, Mandated Reporting & Child Safety, and Food Safety. Goals are to find cost effective trainings for these priority areas and to and provide convenient scheduling options for staff.
- Identified training opportunities for supervision and management skills. We seek programs focused on culturally sensitive supervisory practices.
- Staff formed an ad-hoc committee (including one staff member from each department) to determine the duties of the staff liaison position. This committee forwarded a candidate who was confirmed during staff meeting and their duties were approved by staff. Margaret Rose is to serve as the staff liaison for a period of one year.
- Recruitment & Onboarding:
- Nick Gutowski, Grants Associate, was promoted to serve as Director of Grantmaking effective following the retirement of Carol Walz in March.
- We posted and interviewed for our Gift Processing and Data Entry position. Kimani Keaton, an internal candidate, was hired and now performs dual roles as a youth staff facilitator and data entry associate.
- Began recruitment for two part-time Event Support Staff at Arch Street Meeting House.
- We took on an intern to support the YAF action at Berks Detention Center and to help to plan Sessions publicity and the next YAF retreat.
- PYMs onboarding process has now includes a comprehensive and individualized onboarding plan for each new employee. The focus is on welcoming the employee and ensuring they have all the tools and support needed to get started and be successful in their job. Onboarding also serves to build an inclusive and cohesive work environment as staff members have a role in supporting the new employee.
Inclusion and Anti-Racism:
- A presentation was made to staff on communication & transparency, cohesion, onboarding, and lack of diversity.
- Used last month’s presentation to PYM staff (on themes and trends identified from staff interviews conducted by Director of HR and Inclusion) to plan for next steps. Plans include a meeting with PYM staff, articulation of supports needed to effectively to effectively engage in inclusion, and anti-racism work.
Visits:
- Melinda Wenner Bradley, the Youth Engagement Coordinator, traveled to Kenya to facilitate conference for East African Sunday School teachers at Friends Theological College.
- Melinda met with a youth event organizer from Upper Susquehanna Quarter and with Ed Doty from YSOP to discuss new possibilities to create bridges within PYM and program possibilities.
- Melinda facilitated the Children’s Program for Concord Quarterly Meeting.
- George Schaefer, Care and Aging Coordinator, lead a meeting retreat for Trenton Friends on addressing conflict in meeting.
- George presented a program on the beginnings of Quakerism at Princeton Friends.
- Wendy Kane, Transition Meeting Engagement and Data Coordinator, visited Lancaster Meeting.
- Grace Sharples Cooke, Associate Secretary for Advancement and Relationship, visited Birmingham Meeting.
- Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, met with the archivist at Haverford College to gain clarity on what the library wants from PYM, what is available (for example, all YM and MM minutes and records of births, deaths and marriages are available on ancestry.com) and to think about how to engage meetings with the historic records when the library reopens after renovations in the fall.
- Christie met with the newish Executive Director of Jewish Community Relations Council, Rabbi Batya Glazer.
- Christie met with the Haverford College Douglas and Dorothy Steere Professor of Quaker Studies, David Harrington Watt.
Crossing the Threshold: Preparing to Welcome Families
How do meeting communities prepare and engage in active invitation to families and children?
Three sets of needs. When a family walks through the door of a meeting, there are three sets of needs we should be prepared to support: the spiritual formation of their children, the spiritual journey of the adults as individual seekers drawn to Quakerism, and the family unit as they search for a spiritual community for their family to grow and contribute in. Welcoming a new family is the work of the whole meeting — youth religious education, worship and ministry, care of community, etc. Pastoral care for children begins with pastoral care for their parents or primary caregivers, and this care is best served at an intersection of multiple committees and ministries. Along with welcome and inclusion, child safety (which is really community safety) is another place for the meeting community to work together to address resources and practices. When my meeting wrote our child safety policy, the ad hoc committee included members of children’s religious education, worship and ministry, and the meeting clerk, who worked together to bring forward a policy for the whole meeting to approve as a body. There is a powerful message in the shared nature of that work.
Listen. When we welcome a family at the meetinghouse threshold, we need to be prepared to reach out and communicate about what they will find there. We also need to be ready to listen. What is a family looking for in a faith community? What do they want you to know about their children, their hopes and needs? After we listen, are we willing to create flexible structure and routines in programs for families to participate? How can we make space for Friends with a variety of gifts to participate in our spiritual community?
I had a humbling experience that lifted up the need to listen, as well as to share about Quakerism and our meeting: In a year when we had many new attenders, we decided to have a shared lunch to invite them more fully into the life and work of the meeting. We prepared a handout about committees, there was an agenda and program (and childcare and pizza for children!). The program opened with the simple request to go around the room and share what had brought each of us to our meeting? Where were we on our spiritual journey? I thought we would do introductions and then get to the “real work” of sharing about our committees and how newcomers could participate. Ninety minutes or so later, we had gotten around the circle of people present. We didn’t get to anything else we had planned. The real work of that time together was sharing, listening, and gathering as a spiritual community. The time for finding a place for people to serve would happen, but we needed to know each other better, first. Integrating families and other newcomers into the spiritual life of the meeting doesn’t need a committee. It’s just about placing primacy on the spiritual experience of worship, listening deeply to one another, and walking with one another in the travails and celebrations of life. People want to share their stories as they come to walk with us. Are we listening?
The unspoken messages of spaces. When my children were very young, I spent most of hospitality hovering over them on antique horsehair furniture where they balanced with glasses of juice and china plates of cookies. I rarely had an adult conversation of any depth, during a time when wonderful connection can happen — and when I needed it. It finally occurred to me to ask if we could add to the social room a small table and chairs for children. The result was transformative! People who are parents can get their children set up there, and then spend coffee hour talking to other adults. The other happy outcome? Children in fellowship with their peers, knowing one another in community outside of a program or worship. Spaces give unspoken, immediate clues to a new family about how prepared the meeting is to welcome them: is there a place to change a diaper? a booster seat or highchair? a small table and chairs in a fellowship space? Does the worship space have a basket of books, coloring, and other quiet things to support children be settled — and included — in worship? Does the greeter have information about child care and youth religious education programs, to hand to visitors along with announcements or information about the meeting? None of these things need to be fancy, but they send a powerful message of inclusion.
Friends may be interested in receiving:
- “The Tote Bag” PYM e-newsletter for Religious Education and Family resources.
- “Quaker Meeting and Me” from the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative. This little book in English and Spanish is wonderful to hand to a visitor or newcomer, or as a gift to young children in the meeting.