Many Quaker meetings are changing. A lot of our numbers are smaller. What are some of the ways we might adjust? What does it look like to have faith and cherish our communities while also recognizing that our energy levels are getting low? An upcoming series of conversations explores the life cycles of meetings and offers support and resources for questions rising in meetings. [Read more…] about Life Cycle of Meetings Series
Monthly Meeting Management
Electrical & Safety Upgrades in the Meetinghouse, Thanks to Yearly Meeting Support
Cropwell’s infrastructure got a big upgrade this week. Thanks to a generous gift from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Buildings & Programs Granting Group, the building’s electric was rewired, and fire safety upgrades and security lighting were installed. The work was done by Front Line Electric of Glendora, N.J., who were prompt, professional, and courteous. [Read more…] about Electrical & Safety Upgrades in the Meetinghouse, Thanks to Yearly Meeting Support
Gratitude & Next Steps for Outreach & Communications Resource Friends
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Resource Friend program pivoted to accommodate the urgent needs in the yearly meeting about connectedness, technology, and spiritual guidance. John Marquette, a member of Lehigh Valley Meeting, served Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) as an Outreach and Communications Resource Friend in 2021 through December 2022. PYM received a generous grant from the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund which supported both the Resource Friend program in this area and grants for local and quarterly meetings in the yearly meeting interested in outreach and the caring work of connecting Friends in online and hybrid spaces.
[Read more…] about Gratitude & Next Steps for Outreach & Communications Resource Friends
Tuition Aid for Quaker Children in PYM Friends Schools
The Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Education Granting Group reminds meetings and families that local meeting members’ children who are applying to or attending Friends schools are eligible to apply for educational support for the 2023-24 school year. Funding for all grants comes from the National Friends Education Fund and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting endowment income from the Jonathan Rhoads Fund and other PYM education endowments. [Read more…] about Tuition Aid for Quaker Children in PYM Friends Schools
State of the Meeting Reports, 2021-2022
Spiritual State of the Meeting reports give all of us a glimpse into the communities of meetings in our Yearly Meeting. Together, they create a tapestry that tells the story of our yearly meeting in the last year; a vibrant community engaged in spiritual formation and witness across four states and many experiences of the Spirit. When we are together in residence at an Annual Sessions gathering, there is a thick book with the collected ‘State of the Meeting’ reports. During the years we have gathered online, the special joy of leafing through those printed reports has needed a new model. This year, we again created a virtual “book” of all of the reports. You can access them in this news story and they will also be published in a booklet following Annual Sessions.
Summer of Freedom: Ujima Friends Peace Center
Last summer, Ujima Friends Peace Center launched a 100% outdoor freedom school that was designed to allow the neighborhood children to explore “friendly spaces” while engaging in activities that would be good for the mind, body, and spirit. Our children participated in environmental projects, literacy activities, and self-care/conflict resolution sessions. The summer was a resounding success!
Freedom Summer 2021 we were hosted by Abington Friends Meeting and the Historic Fairhill Burial Grounds. Our young people enjoyed trips to Snipes Farms, Taylor Wildlife Preserves, the Goat Project, One Art Community Center, Up from Salem and Salem Monthly Meeting.
We are planning for Freedom Summer 2022 and would love for our children to once again experience some of the green spaces in Quaker meeting houses and schools that so many of us take for granted but serve as a balm for the souls of many of our children.
We hope to serve 30 children and engage a team of college students. We will bring all our own equipment and materials. We simply would like to have our children in spaces that are safe, green, and provide opportunities for bonding with the environment and with one another.
If you are interested in helping us this summer here are things you can do:
- Sign up to host our children in your meeting house or school grounds.
- Assist us in locating a place for our children to swim.
- Donate to assist us in paying for transportation and trips.
Please send donations to:
Ujima Friends Peace Center,
PO Box 50647,
Philadelphia, PA
Workshop on Gathering Virtually
A workshop was held on Saturday May 7, and we returned to the questions we’ve held since 2020 about navigating the new normal of life through the ongoing pandemic. We highly recommend to readers the guidance on virtual gathering authored by Emily Provance, a Traveling Minister of New York Yearly Meeting. [Read more…] about Workshop on Gathering Virtually
Shoemaker Fund Enables Monthly Meeting Tech Support Grants
Update: 2/2/2022: There has been a rapid response to the granting program for Monthly Meetings and all seven of the monthly meeting grants are now allocated. However the Membership Development Granting Group is currently accepting outreach project grant requests for up to $1000. To pursue this please complete the Membership Development Grant Application Form (.pdf).
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is inviting monthly meetings to apply for $1,000 grants for needed technology purchases and implementations to support outreach/in-reach goals, and virtual or hybrid meeting capacity-building.
There is no grant deadline. Eligible projects will be funded on a first-come-first-served basis according to when they are received. The application process for the grants is simple; meeting representatives should fill out the form at the end of this news story. Only one project per meeting will be funded. [Read more…] about Shoemaker Fund Enables Monthly Meeting Tech Support Grants
State of the Meeting Reports 2020
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
Happiness Is a Meetinghouse Re-Opened – Here’s How Meetings Are Getting There
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