Friends are answering the call from sovereign Indigenous communities, researching and acknowledging Friends’ roles in Indian Boarding Schools, toward acts of righting relations with Native Nations’ Peoples – those on whose land we benefit. A network of Friends, east coast to Alaska, have found unity in forming the Quaker Indian Boarding School (QIBS) Research Group and have written a 2025 QIBS Epistle. Initiator and facilitator of both Salem Quarter IAC and PYM First Contact Reconciliation Collaborative participates in the QIBS research and is an epistle signatory. Thoughtful responses may be submitted to FCRC via emailing SacredWovenWord@yahoo.com. [Read more…] about Epistle from the Quaker Indian Boarding School (QIBS) Research Group
Epistles
December 2024 | Joint Council Update
The three councils that guide Philadelphia Yearly Meeting—Quaker Life Council, Administrative Council, and Nominating Council—recently gathered for their second meeting in a newly adopted joint format. In this structure, the councils come together as one Joint Council to worship, discern, and conduct business collaboratively. in an article written about this experiment this summer, this practice ensures that the Joint Council can promptly share its minutes with the PYM community after the meeting.
344th Annual Sessions Epistle
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting held its 344th annual sessions last weekend, July 6-7. Friends gathered both on Zoom and at Haverford College for worship, business, and fellowship. Please read this story for more information about this year’s sessions, and the minutes are now posted and available. [Read more…] about 344th Annual Sessions Epistle
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Epistles for Annual Sessions 2023
Annual Sessions 2023 gathered Friends from across the PYM four-state region and beyond. While we have gathered for two hybrid Continuing Sessions, this was our first hybrid Annual Sessions, which included residential participation; Friends online were joined by those at The College of New Jersey during the weekend days. Following yearly meetings’ annual gatherings, outgoing epistles “to all Friends everywhere” are shared widely in our global Quaker community. (You can read others from 2023 posted on the Friend World Committee for Consultation website.) Shared below are links to this year’s epistles from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Please read and share widely, especially with Friends who might not have attended Annual Sessions. The epistle committee seeks to capture what occurred during our time together and how Spirit moved among us. [Read more…] about Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Epistles for Annual Sessions 2023
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Epistle for Annual Sessions 2022
Annual Sessions 2022 gathered Friends from across the PYM four-state region and beyond. Visitors from other yearly meetings and Quaker organizations were warmly welcomed. Following yearly meetings’ annual gatherings, outgoing epistles “to all Friends everywhere” are shared widely in our global Quaker community. (You can read others from 2022, some of which were read during our Sessions, posted here on the FWCC website.) Shared below are links to this year’s epistles from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Please read and share widely, especially with Friends who might not have attended Annual Sessions. The epistle committee seeks to capture what occurred during our time together and how Spirit moved among us. [Read more…] about Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Epistle for Annual Sessions 2022
Young Adult Friends Epistle at Annual Sessions 2021
Each year the Young Adult Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting share an Epistle at the close of Annual Sessions. Below please find their 341st Annual Sessions Epistle.
[Read more…] about Young Adult Friends Epistle at Annual Sessions 2021
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Epistle for Annual Sessions 2021
Each year Philadelphia Yearly Meeting shares an Epistle at the close of Annual Sessions. Below please find the yearly meeting’s 341st Annual Sessions Epistle.
[Read more…] about Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Epistle for Annual Sessions 2021
Youth Epistle “We Were Here”
Each year the three Children and Youth programs of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting share Epistles at the close of Annual Sessions. This year, one united Epistle was shared by Youth Programs staff. Below please find their 341st Annual Sessions Epistle.
Meeting For Business – Minutes of Thursday July 29
With 82 Friends in attendance, Meeting for Business in Worship was held virtually from just before 1:00 to just past 4:00 PM during the afternoon of July 29th. The agenda offered the following items of business: Introductions, Epistle Writing Committee, Administrative Council and Treasurer’s reports, the 2022 PYM Budget presentation, and the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Sprint Report and work. Minutes follow with thanks to the PYM recording clerks, Jim Herr and Kri Burkander. [Read more…] about Meeting For Business – Minutes of Thursday July 29
Young Adult Friends: Engagement, Program, and Work
The Young Adult Friends (YAF) program has flourished through years of service by Meg Rose, Young Adult Engagement Coordinator, and her predecessor, Elizabeth Piersol Schmidt. As we look ahead to when Meg is leaving Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to begin a career in social work in late July, it is worth looking back at all that ties this engaged set of young adults to one another, to their leadership commitment to peers, and to this Faith.
The YAF program supports the spiritual vitality and community of PYM by creating programming specifically for young adult Friends (age 18-35-ish), as well as strengthening commitment and involvement of young adult Friends in PYM’s multigenerational community.
Read Minutes of Appreciation for Meg.
[Read more…] about Young Adult Friends: Engagement, Program, and Work
