Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Peace & Social Concerns”
What’s going on in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania may not be at the southern border of the United States, but family detention is taking place here. The Berks County Detention Center, officially the Berks County Residential Center (BCRC), holds families in custody for extended periods. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services revoked …
The Quaker Life Council has recently approved an updated set of Threads, which are ways of organizing the work and witness that all of the communities in PYM face on a regular basis. The new list is: Peace & Social Justice Ministry & Care Religious Education Outreach & Communications Governance …
Join the Call for Migrant Justice! Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) is partnering with American Friends Service Committee (ASFC) to stand in solidarity with the asylum seekers, the migrant caravan, and all who seek refuge in the US. Faith leaders and communities around the country will take part in AFSC “Love …
Friends from Chestnut Hill and Frankford Meetings, along with many others, joined Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (CPMM) on Wednesday 10/24 for an evening at Friends Center on Imagining Philadelphia without Cash Bail, co-sponsored by CPMM and POWER. About 50 people gathered to hear from Public Defender Keir Bradford-Grey, an organizer …
At a recent meeting, the Quaker Life Council considered and celebrated the expression of Quaker Faith & Practice that is our Ujima Friends Peace Center. In the year that it has existed, the center has forged profound connections with the community in which it is located in North Philadelphia. Friends …
Green Street Meeting’s EMIR Ministry Support Group says a heartfelt “Thank you!” to everyone at Green Street, the meetings in Philadelphia Quarter, and beyond who supported our school supplies drive in summer 2018. The drive benefited 103 children whose families had lost a loved one to homicide, and who received …
At the 2018 Annual Sessions this year, there will be a booth during free time and dinner time on Thursday and Friday where Resource Friends will be available to talk with you about their work and what they might be able to support for you and your meeting. They will …
Date for Memorial–Saturday, July 21 at 10:00 A memorial service for Penny will be held Saturday, July 21 at Germantown Monthly Meeting, 47 W. Coulter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144. The service will begin at 10 AM. Contributions in her name can be made to the Kelly School Library Fund; c/o Germantown Monthly …
If we are proud of our heritage of opposition to slavery, we have no choice but to take a stand on mass incarceration. Last spring Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting passed a minute in opposition to mass incarceration. As one step in bringing that minute to life, to test the role …
Green Street Meeting’s Quaker Social Change Ministry group in support of EMIR Healing Center is having a “Fill a Bookbag” drive to gather school supplies for 85 children participating in the center’s programs this year. EMIR stands for “Every Murder is Real.” The center, in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, …
Over the past several years, three monthly meetings in Philadelphia–Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia (Arch Street), Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, and now Germantown Monthly Meeting–have joined a broad-based interfaith coalition founded in 2011 under the name Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower, and Rebuild, or POWER. POWER, affiliated at the …
“This is the best week of my life.” 4th Grade Student For more than forty years, Abington Quarter has supported two summer youth programs for members and attenders of Friends Meetings within the Quarter: Junior Friends Conference (JFC) and Middle School Friends Conference (MSFC). The opportunity to …
Haddonfield Monthly Meeting welcomed some thirty people on Saturday, March 24, between 10-Noon, for a period of worship in solidarity with the 800+ March for Our Lives rallies across the globe Members of Haddonfield and Medford Meetings, as well as some nearby churches participated. Participants reported that some strong messages …
On Saturday, March 24, at Spring Continuing Sessions, Youth from across PYM participated in the March for Our Lives at the Capitol in Harrisburg, PA. The morning program was spent in preparation: wondering about how we let our lives speak as Friends, talking about what it is like to attend …
What’s in a cartoon and why does it move people? How personal is graphic novel writing? Where do inspired editorial cartoons come from? What makes humor stick? Ramona Sharples and Signe Wilkinson drew on personal and professional truths at Friends in Fellowship, on Thursday March 8th, as they explained the …
Quakers in our region have a long history of concern about gun violence. Individual monthly meetings and the yearly meeting have approved minutes and spoken with lawmakers about it. A campaign that grew out of PYM peace work successfully closed a Philadelphia gun shop with a tremendous reputation and record …
On Saturday, February 10th the Willistown Meeting hosted some fifty Friends and visitors for a panel discussion on the Pennsylvania Prison system. Willistown’s clerk, Will Scull, and event organizer Derek Stedman welcomed two West Chester University professors, Michael Antonio and Sami Abdel-Salaam, along with four other presenters—Chrissy Nye, an ex-offender; …
Not one, but six east coast Tribal Nations seeking Federal recognition for decades await President Trump’s signature. This legal status will allow direct relationship with the Federal government, “funding for scholarships, healthcare and other services. It will also allow for the respectful repatriation of ancestral remains.” Fellow “First Contact” initiatives, …
Last Thursday marked the launch of the new Friends in Fellowship speaker series run by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting at Arch Street Meetinghouse. After people assembled in the reception room for a light supper, the human rights lawyer, Robert Swift, briefed them on human rights restitution in the Philippines. Before heading …
Members of the Pottstown Worship Group, along with others from traditional Peace Churches, recently met with the executive director of the Peace Tax Fund, Malachy Kilbride at the Akron Mennonite Church. The members of the Pottstown Worship Group, under the care of Gwynedd Meeting, have been under the weight of …