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
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Policy on Advocacy Explained
Quaker practice invites Friends to listen deeply to the Inward Teacher and then to follow the leading that comes as a result. This is foundational to our faith, and individuals and meetings expect ourselves to be guided by Spirit in our daily decisions and with the direction of our lives. One way of responding to Spirit is through political action, including creating lasting and structural change through local, state, and federal legislation. Individuals may do this without limitation. When monthly, quarterly, and yearly meeting engagement is political, in addition to seeking unity in spiritual discernment we must also consider what is legally necessary for our non-profit organization. [Read more…] about Policy on Advocacy Explained
Arch Street Meeting House Installs Brand New Outdoor Exhibits
Arch Street Meeting House has just installed brand new outside exhibits. This exciting addition will elevate the meetinghouse to one of the must-see historic sites in Old City Philadelphia and will attract thousands of visitors to the historic property to learn about Quakerism for years to come. On Friday, May 27th, from 5-8, regional Quakers, history enthusiasts and supporters of the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust will celebrate this milestone with a celebration and exhibit unveiling.
Interview with Sean Connolly, the Executive Director of the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust, about their new outside exhibits.
Q: It’s been a year since the successful fundraising campaign for the new outside exhibits at Arch Street Meeting House, how is the project progressing?
Things have progressed really well. Last summer, we hired Exhibitology out of Newark, NJ and Paul Trapido to design the new outside exhibit designs. That was really successful, we followed up that design process with two days of exhibit prototyping, basically testing out the new exhibit content and making sure it spoke to both the regular visitor and to the Quaker community. Based off of what we learned there we made a few edits to the design and the Board of Trustees approved the final design this past Fall. After that the designs went off to the fabrication company and are now ready to be installed at Arch Street Meeting House in early May.
Q: What role do you see these new exhibits will have in Arch Street Meeting House’s ability to engage with the public and teach about Quakerism?
These exhibits have everything to do with fulfilling that role. These exhibits will give visitors just enough information to spark their interest and encourage them to come inside the Meetinghouse to learn more. Getting people in the door had been one of our biggest problems, most visitors were unsure of what this site is. The terms meetinghouse and monthly meeting, while integral to the Quaker faith offered little clarity to visitors on what they would learn about when they step inside out grounds. These new exhibits signs clear that up. They answer the broad questions like what is Quakerism, and then also tell really impactful relatable stories that resonate with visitors. In the end more visitors will learn about Quakerism and come away more interested in the Quaker faith than ever before.
Q: You mention impactful, and relatable stories, can you give an example?
I wish I could, but I’d prefer if visitors could stop down to Arch Street and see the new exhibits for themselves. Let me just say that you will now see a more well-rounded, and full story of Quakerism on display at ASMH.
Q: Have there been any challenges associated with this project?
Sure, Covid-19 presented a continuing challenge, as most of the designs had to be done virtually. But that also made us more efficient with our time. Shipping delays were an ever-present cause for concern and we were not immune from the global shipping delays. But luckily, we kept it pretty much on track and are very glad to be able to deliver on our goals to our supporters, Grantmakers and Quakers across the world. We’ll be so glad to have the exhibit in place before the summer tourist rush. Really even with some small delays its perfect timing.
Q: What is next on the agenda for the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust?
We recently conducted a Feasibility Study in preparation for a capital campaign for the meetinghouse. We have a lot of big projects on the horizon, HVAC, fire suppression systems and preservation and delivering on phase 2 of the exhibit overhaul – inside the meetinghouse. Honestly the next decade is going to be awesome and I’m looking forward to being able to see the meetinghouse address new problems. But before then make sure to stop by to see the new exhibits, they offer a glimmer into exciting things to come.
To see the new exhibits readers can visit Arch Street Meeting House, Thursday-Sunday, between 10am and 4pm or attend the official exhibit unveiling celebration on Friday, May 27th between 5pm and 8pm. Email Sean Connolly at SConnolly@HistoricASMH.org or go to www.HistoricASMH.org for more details.
The Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust, operates the Arch Street Meeting House on behalf of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
Barclay Friends Share a Cyber Security Event
On April 27th, Barclay Friends presented on Cyber Crime, Scams and Seniors. Sean Tomlinson informed Sheila Sorkin, PYM Aging Support Coordinator that Barclay Friends are happy to provide resources like this and make them available to the public.
Download the presentation (.pdf)
This information is being made available to provide support to those in our aging community in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting as part of the To Brighten Your Day series.
Concord Quarter’s Intergenerational Radio Play Program
“Something Odd at Quarterly Meeting” . . .
Birmingham Meeting‘s children and youth have used their drama skills and interests to participate in intergenerational programs for Concord Quarterly Meeting over the last twelve years. The young people give a performance that is followed by adults and youth present being invited to respond to wondering questions on issues brought up by the story they share. Various topics have been used for their performances including scripture, Quaker history, and recently a science fiction story!
Practicing the plays, and creating sets and costumes, have been the focus of the late winter and spring religious education program for Birmingham Meeting children and youth. Over the years, meeting members have supported the dramas and preparations: Marty Boston has adapted the scripts for the programs and Gwynne Ormsby directs the plays. Faith & Play stories have also been adapted to be used in this format.
On April 24, 2022, Birmingham Meeting hosted a hybrid Concord Quarterly Meeting program. It was decided to do the story this time as a radio drama, a format that could work well for people attending the program on Zoom as well as those attending in person. After getting permission from the author, the radio drama was adapted from a science fiction story “Something Odd About the Dyers” which was featured in the November 2021 Friends Journal. This story was particularly thought provoking and one that resonated with the youth. The program was advertised as “Something Odd at Quarterly Meeting.”
The radio drama format was inspired by Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion radio show. With Keillor’s format as a model, the youth figured out imaginative ways to create the many sound effects incorporated into the story as they read the script.
Over the years it has been exciting to see how much the young people love to present the dramas and how working on the productions drew them to meeting to prepare for the big day when the show would be presented for the Quarter. Although the core “stars” of the drama were Birmingham young people, there are always ways for other children in Concord Quarter to participate.
The intergenerational discussion after the drama this April was especially rich. If Friends haven’t yet read Mel Stephen Sharpe’s story, “Something Odd About the Dyers” (linked above), please do so, and imagine how the young people animated this thought-provoking story.
– Martha Boston and Gwynne Ormsby, for Birmingham Meeting
Featured image: Pixabay.com
Inviting Young Adult Voices into PYM’s Granting Ministry
Photo Above: top left to bottom right: Lucas Richie (staff), Meg Rose (staff), Sarah Ennis, Yelena Forrester, Afroza Hossain, Naomi Madaras, Liana Irvine, Jeremy Graf Evans, Hanae Togami, Afiya Johnson-Thornton
From 2020-2021, PYM staff organized a program to learn how to better engage and include young adults in PYM’s granting witness. During the year-long experimental program, eight Quakers aged 18-35 (YAFs) served on one of PYM’s granting groups and then provided feedback on their experience to PYM’s Granting Committee.
[Read more…] about Inviting Young Adult Voices into PYM’s Granting Ministry
Quakers Satirized
Written by: Grace Sharples Cooke, Haverford Monthly Meeting
In her humorous cartoons about Quaker proclivities, cartoonist Signe Wilkinson (Chestnut Hill Meeting, PYM) highlights the sect’s inconsistencies. But she is not the first; Quakers have been the target of satirists since the mid-eighteenth century, after the first newspaper was published in the American colonies and satire had become common in England. In the colonies, it took the form of political cartoons or written jokes. There were four 18th and 19th century events in Pennsylvania that produced typical anti-Quaker satire.
Quakers In the News: March & April 2022
A collection of Quaker related links published occasionally.
Pendle Hill Releases Historic Lecture Series
From 1916 to 1966, the Young Friends Movement of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting hosted a lecture series, which they called The William Penn Lectures (later renamed the Seeking Faithfulness Lectures). The Young Friends Movement began the lecture series “for the purpose of closer fellowship; for the strengthening by such association and the interchange of experience, of loyalty to the ideals of the Society of Friends; and for the preparation by such common ideals for more effective work through the Society of Friends for the growth of the Kingdom of God on Earth.” These lectures were published by the Book Committee of PYM, and PYM has granted Pendle Hill Publications permission to digitize them for the public.
[Read more…] about Pendle Hill Releases Historic Lecture Series
Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting Reopens
On March 27, Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting opened its doors and welcomed Friends back to the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania meetinghouse after months of Zoom hybrid worship. Over 50 returned to benches from long-laid-down meetings in the 62-year-old mid-century meetinghouse. Twenty-five more Friends joined via Zoom, arriving from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mexico, and Ireland, all of whom have become a familiar, beloved presence. Older and younger Friends alike greeted children and young people in the restored First Day School. After worship, Friends gathered outdoors and continued fellowship amid late-March chill and flurries. [Read more…] about Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting Reopens