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
Monthly Meeting Management
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
PYM Guidance on Re-Opening
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting shares this resource to guide others in their process of re-opening. As is our Quaker practice, we have produced a series of queries to consider. After each set of queries, a few resources are included for further exploration. No matter what, follow CDC, state, and local guidelines. [Read more…] about PYM Guidance on Re-Opening
Quaker Buildings & Programs Grant Report: Takeaways from Installing a New Roof
Picture of the new roof on Greenwich Friends Meeting’s upper meetinghouse
On March 27th, 2021, Greenwich Friends Meeting successfully completed a four-month project to remove and replace the cedar shingle roof on their upper meetinghouse. PYM’s Quaker Buildings & Programs granting group and Friends Fiduciary’s Tyson Memorial Fund provided grants to support Greenwich Friends Meeting’s undertaking. [Read more…] about Quaker Buildings & Programs Grant Report: Takeaways from Installing a New Roof
Report on Quarterly Meeting Leaders Gathering
On Tuesday, May 11, 2021, approximately 30 leaders from our quarterly meetings met for the second of three annual gatherings. At this gathering, our Co-Presiding Clerks, Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch and Frank Barch, shared some thoughts on the relevance and importance of quarterly meetings. They noted that quarterly meetings have, “more intimate connection with their members and simultaneously can have greater perspective on the gifts and talents of members as those attributes fit into the large whole of the yearly meeting and beyond.” [Read more…] about Report on Quarterly Meeting Leaders Gathering
PYM Community Gathering: Reopening Our Meetings
The Runway to Annual Sessions launched on May 4th. Our first gathering engaged 80 participants who convened virtually to share concerns and hopes regarding the process of re-opening to in-person gatherings by the end of 2021. The evening was facilitated by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s (PYM) Associate Secretary for Program and Religious Life, Zachary Dutton, and supported by General Secretary Christie Duncan-Tessmer.
[Read more…] about PYM Community Gathering: Reopening Our Meetings
PYM Leadership Gathering: Building Connections
On the evening of Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 98 leaders from monthly meetings met virtually for community and mutual support. The gathering was centered in searching for joy as we transition from a pandemic year. [Read more…] about PYM Leadership Gathering: Building Connections
Join Virtual Worship “Near” You
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.