Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Communications & Outreach

Runway to Annual Sessions 2021: Gathering on Reopening Our Meetings

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The Runway to Annual Sessions 2021 begins on 4th May with the Gathering on Reopening Our Meetings. All Friends are warmly welcomed to be present.

We invite you to share concerns, learnings, and hopes regarding how our religious society may begin a process of re-opening to in-person gatherings by the end of 2021. During the gathering, we will revisit the notes of our January 26th meeting about hybrid gatherings and explore the possibility of developing guidance to meetings and other local Quaker communities on re-opening.

[Read more…] about Runway to Annual Sessions 2021: Gathering on Reopening Our Meetings

Reminder – Spiritual Life of the Meeting Reports

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Warm greetings from the Ministry and Care Committee of Quaker Life Council!

We trust this communication finds you well, grounded in Spirit and in your community of faith. This a reminder that if you haven’t already sent yours, we would like to receive the Spiritual Life of the Meeting report from your meeting by May 1, 2021. This will give the Ministry and Care Committee ample time to receive and read what you share, and to craft a document describing the Spiritual State of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and send it to the Quaker Life Council in advance of PYM’s summer sessions, July 27-August 1. [Read more…] about Reminder – Spiritual Life of the Meeting Reports

Minutes from March 23 Eco Justice Collaborative Q/A

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With thanks to Kri Burkander, recording clerk, minutes of the evening’s Eco Justice  Q&A follow:

Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch opened the session, reminding Friends that this is the beginning of our Continuing Sessions. Our Zoom interface allows us to connect across time and space in a different way. Our gathering tonight will allow us to season this work, which will also be on Saturday’s agenda. We settled into worship, with some 50 Friends in attendance. [Read more…] about Minutes from March 23 Eco Justice Collaborative Q/A

About Hybrid Meetings: How They Work

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Background

Back in the fall of 2020, two gatherings took place – one for monthly meeting leaders and another for quarterly meeting leaders. Worship during the pandemic was a big topic of discussion, so we had a follow up meeting on January 26, 2121 wherein we asked monthly and quarterly meetings to let us know who in their communities had experience with virtual and hybrid meetings. These are the notes from that meeting. [Read more…] about About Hybrid Meetings: How They Work

Share Your Meeting’s Spiritual Self-Assessment

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Dearest Friends in PYM Monthly and Quarterly Meetings and other PYM Quaker Groups,

We trust this finds you seeking to be grounded in Spirit and in your community of faith. 2020 has certainly been a year filled with both opportunities and challenges! The Ministry and Care Committee of Quaker Life Council is once again asking for your help as we look to better understand the spiritual state of our yearly meeting through this past year.

To accomplish this, we are asking meetings to consider responding to the following queries: [Read more…] about Share Your Meeting’s Spiritual Self-Assessment

Join Virtual Worship “Near” You

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For Meetings Who Want to be “Found “ by Seekers Everywhere

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is compiling monthly meeting virtual worship offerings to post online. If you are part of your meeting’s leadership team and your meeting has not yet filled out the worship and events survey there is still time to do so. Once you fill this out, we will get the information on your meeting’s page on the PYM website. This will help people find you.

Tax-Smart Giving

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We are a community of Friends connected by faith, and worship is a big part of what we do together.  But Friends meetings and PYM are also responsible ​​​​for properties, utility bills, staff, and programming that our Quaker community values and relies on. All of this requires financial support.

​​Here are some tax-wise suggestions on how to provide that support without breaking the bank.

[Read more…] about Tax-Smart Giving

Clerks’ Report at Meeting For Business

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PYM Presiding Co-Clerks Frank and Jean-Marie Barch presented the following report in the called December 8th Meeting for Business in Continuing Sessions. They shared information gathered from Monthly and Quarterly  Meetings in response to the three PYM Initiatives launched at Annual Sessions in July 2020.

Clerks of Meetings who have not already submitted feedback to Jean-Marie and Frank Barch may use this form to do so.

[Read more…] about Clerks’ Report at Meeting For Business

Minutes of PYM’s Meeting for Business in Sessions – December 8, 2020

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Meeting for Worship with Attention Business at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is held at Fall and Spring Continuing Sessions and during the summer at Annual Sessions in late July. Nominations are approved and yearly meeting wide initiatives are reviewed or established.

The following minutes were taken by recording clerk, Kri Burkander and approved in Sessions on December 8th. There were 104 participants in the meeting, which began at 6:30 and closed at 8:45. [Read more…] about Minutes of PYM’s Meeting for Business in Sessions – December 8, 2020