Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Ministry & Care

Youth Religious Life & Program News

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In this story:

  • Giant Children’s Meeting is Back this Fall!
  • Young Friends Staffing Announcement
  • October issue of The Tote Bag focuses on collegial sharing and connection

Come to meet with young Friends from near and far!

If your meeting continues to use online spaces for religious education programs or is reluctant to gather with children in person, Giant Children’s Meeting on the 3rd Sunday of the month at 9:00 AM is for you!

Our monthly, online religious education programs connect with the Youth Programs theme for this year: “Building the Quaker Community We Want to Be.” In September, we celebrated seeing one another again and “welcoming all” — old and new friends. We read the book Nana Akua Goes to School and were led in singing by Abby Brace-Higgins (Mickleton Meeting), who wove together our personal attributes, as shared by participants, into a rousing version of the “Little Boxes” song — not houses, but our Zoom boxes! We look forward to seeing more friends in October!

Upcoming program themes:

  • October 17: Creating Peace Together
  • November 21: Extending the Table
  • December 19: Celebrating in the Light

Join Friends and Families from across the Yearly Meeting for this monthly religious education program! It’s “giant” because everyone is invited! It’s “children’s meeting” because we’re making a space to nurture the spiritual lives and Quaker identity of young people.

Young Friends Program Announcement

With love for her and excitement for new adventures, and also sadness for our community, we are sharing that Olivia Chalkley, Young Friends Program Facilitator, is moving to North Carolina and will step down from her staff role at the end of December. Aeryn Luminkith, current program Assistant, has moved to a co-facilitator role, and a search process has begun to hire zir new colleague. The search will include the participation of Young Friends on a hiring committee, and we hope to have a new Co-Facilitator working with Aeryn by the start of 2022!

Please read Olivia’s message to Young Friends below. 

Dear Young Friends Community,

It’s been a wild couple of years! When I accepted the Young Friends Program Facilitator position in the fall of 2019, we had no idea what was to come. I only had a couple in-person gatherings under my belt when the world shut down in March 2020, and we moved the majority of our programming online, which this community adapted to with grace and care. 

I’ve spent much of the past year living in limbo between Philly, Baltimore, and Western North Carolina, dwelling in the uncertainty brought on by COVID. After much discernment, my partner and I recently made the difficult decision to move to NC full-time. Because of this, I will be stepping down as Facilitator at the end of December.

This community has weathered a lot of change together, including the persistent disruption of a global pandemic. When we realized that so many in our Young Friends community would be graduating in 2021, Aeryn and I were a bit worried; we hadn’t been able to welcome as many new folks as usual with the limits of mostly online programming, which just isn’t the same as our longer gatherings together in person. 

But then, something great happened! We were able to do an overnight in late August at West Chester Friends Meeting.  A wonderful group of current and new Young Friends came together to reimagine what this community might look like as we enter a new era. We asked difficult questions about what this particular community needed, and Young Friends answered them bravely. They frankly addressed the gaps in institutional knowledge left by our graduating seniors, but also the opportunity we are presented with: by being forced to do things differently than they had been done before, we might find growth and positive change. This experience spoke to any worries I had about the future of Young Friends: this community knows what it needs and, with deep care and creativity, it will move into this next stage gracefully.

It’s been an honor to serve as your Facilitator for the past two years, and while I’m deeply saddened to be leaving, I know you’ll be in good hands: Aeryn Luminkith will be stepping into the role of co-facilitator, along with someone new! I’m excited to work with Aeryn and zir future co-facilitator over the next few months to set Young Friends up for success. I hope to see you at the Christmas Gathering, December 18-19! 

Love,  Olivia

October Issue of The Tote Bag Now Available!

Hot off the presses! This issue of the Tote Bag includes sharing from meetings about what they are up to this fall, sign-ups for Quaker Parent Mutual Support Groups, a spotlight on Historic Fair Hill burial ground as a wonderful place for a Sunday morning field trip, and much more. If you don’t already receive a copy of the (pretty much monthly) newsletter, you can subscribe here by choosing “Religious Education.”

Send resources and ideas to share to Melinda at mwennerbradley@pym.org — connecting Friends with one another and the good things you do is a joy!

Image Source: Unsplash

Friends Prepare for World Quaker Day

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The picture above shows Friends at Newtown Meeting as they assembled in 2018 to honor World Quaker Day. While the meeting has been gathering virtually during the pandemic, they are still planning to celebrate this ‘special day’ of Friends’ activities around the world.

World Quaker Day is an annual event sponsored by Friends World Committee on Consultation (FWCC). This year they have designed an interactive way for Friends Meetings in the Americas and elsewhere to engage in shared celebration. [Read more…] about Friends Prepare for World Quaker Day

Pastoral Care Resources for Individuals and Emergency Grants for Monthly Meetings

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The Hurricane Ida Storm damaged meeting properties and placed many Friends in our PYM Community in precarious situations. While no injuries have been reported, many meetings sustained multiple tree losses, flooding, and significant building damage.  A member of Plymouth Friends experienced damage to her home.  Upper Dublin Meeting had many trees fall in their driveway and burial grounds, with estimated damages to the meetinghouse and property of $60,000.  As of this date, many are involved in cleaning up in the areas devastated by the storm’s tornados and floods. [Read more…] about Pastoral Care Resources for Individuals and Emergency Grants for Monthly Meetings

Building the Quaker Community We Want to Be

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The Youth Programs theme for the coming year, “Building the Quaker community we want to be,” is inspired by the hope that local meetings will consider the invitation from our Youth Programs to collaborate and use this theme in some way in your ministry with children and youth. Shared below are specific curriculum resources to support interest in thematic planning between our circles of spiritual community. [Read more…] about Building the Quaker Community We Want to Be

Youth Epistle “We Were Here”

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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. 

[Read more…] about Youth Epistle “We Were Here”

Annual Sessions 2021 Begins with Spiritual Formation Retreat

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The 341st Annual Sessions 2021 commenced with a virtual Spiritual Formation Retreat that was led by .O (she/him/?/they/them) and organized by the Spiritual Formation Collaborative. The retreat was offered to ‘prepare and till the soil of the soul,’ so that Friends are empowered to move forward with the work of addressing and removing injustices, and nurturing justice.

[Read more…] about Annual Sessions 2021 Begins with Spiritual Formation Retreat

State of the Meeting Reports 2020

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Each year at Annual Sessions there is a thick book with printouts of the prior year’s collected ‘State of the Meeting’ reports. Last year we were unable to share in the special joy of leafing through those printed reports. People missed learning about each meeting’s activities.

This year we have compensated for that loss by creating a virtual “book” of all of the reports. You can access them  in this news story and they will also be in the Annual Sessions Advance Documents. [Read more…] about State of the Meeting Reports 2020

Affinity Groups at PYM Annual Sessions 2021

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PYM Annual Sessions 2021‘s affinity groups continue to be an integral part of Annual Sessions every year. They are important because affinity groups offer a space to connect, and strengthen community by bringing people together to support each other in safe spaces.

[Read more…] about Affinity Groups at PYM Annual Sessions 2021

Support for Families in the Circle of Meeting Life

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One of the experiences of the pandemic has been the incredible strain placed on people parenting school-age children. This was acute during times of isolation and work/school from home, but the residual trauma may be felt by children and youth for some time. While no shared experience is the same for everyone, in many ways the circumstances of the pandemic uncovered or underscored an isolation and need for support being felt by families in our society today. This includes our Religious Society; 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. [Read more…] about Support for Families in the Circle of Meeting Life

Happiness Is a Meetinghouse Re-Opened – Here’s How Meetings Are Getting There

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June was a big month for the Friends community as it emerged from pandemic conditions. A number of meetings have been “open” in one way or another for a time, others have met only via Zoom. Those that have been meeting in person for some time (including Centre, Quakertown, Little Egg Harbor, Plumstead, Horsham, and Third Haven) found that as (mostly) smaller communities they could find ways to safely meet. Some set up outside worship, developing and sharing safety protocols that were appropriate to meeting under the wide open sky. Numbers of communities–large and small–accessed indoor in-person worship once local restrictions eased by keeping windows open, or functioned safely by having plenty of space between people and requiring masks.

[Read more…] about Happiness Is a Meetinghouse Re-Opened – Here’s How Meetings Are Getting There