On a regular schedule PYM’s General Secretary, Christie Duncan-Tessmer, publishes a report to PYM Councils detailing work that PYM Staff has completed. You can read a full archive of reports to councils or read her report for May 2021 below. [Read more…] about General Secretary Report, May 2021
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
YAF Spring Retreat 2021
The Runway to Annual Sessions 2021 began on Tuesday, May 4, and runs through July 24. These weeks leading up to Annual Sessions week (July 27 – August 1) hold important workshops, gatherings, youth programs, a multigenerational documentary viewing and discussion, a Young Adult Friend retreat, a Collaborative Fair, Q&As, and reports from PYM representatives to other Quaker organizations.
The Young Adult Friends Spring Retreat is being held this weekend on May 14 and May 15. Young Adult retreats are open to Quakers and Seekers ages 18-35-ish and provide opportunities to connect with peers and explore shared interests.
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
Quaker Educator: Interview with Jay Marshall, Dean Emeritus of Earlham School of Religion
This interview with educator, Jay Marshall follows our earlier conversations with educators Terry Nance, Sa’ed Atshan, Maurice Eldridge, and Sarah Willie-LeBreton.
A recorded Friends minister of North Carolina Yearly Meeting, Jay Marshall graduated from Guilford College in 1985. He earned his M.Div. in 1988 and a Ph.D. in 1992 from Duke University. He served as a Dean of the Earlham School of Religion, retiring in 2018 after 20 years of tenure. He continues to serve the Earlham religious community as Dean Emeritus. [Read more…] about Quaker Educator: Interview with Jay Marshall, Dean Emeritus of Earlham School of Religion
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
Quaker Conscientious Objectors: Few Options before AFSC and the Need for Training Now
This April, Haverford Quarterly Meeting convened to discuss the offering of conscientious objector (CO) training by Winifred Shaw Hope. The training (open to all) will be hosted on June 12 and 19. Participant costs will be defrayed by grants from some of the Quarter’s meetings. Below we unpack some of the history around how very precious the CO service option is. Training is necessary if meetings and schools are to be prepared to help 18-26 year-olds understand and access their options around registering as COs or becoming subject to compulsory military service in the event of a draft.
Ujima Friends Peace Center – Freedom Summer 2021
Ujima Friends Peace Center is a worshipping Quaker community of people of African Descent who have committed themselves to the village with residents of North Philadelphia to decrease various forms of violence that arise from systems of oppression. The Center can be contacted at admin@ujima.org. Below is a story about their summer plans.
[Read more…] about Ujima Friends Peace Center – Freedom Summer 2021
Help Us Address Racism
A sprint (a goal-oriented short-term team that tackles a project and does the work quickly) has formed under the care of PYM’s Administrative Council to propose ways for our yearly meeting community to intentionally hold the work of anti-racism and anti-oppression.
[Read more…] about Help Us Address Racism
Runway to Annual Sessions 2021: Gathering on Reopening Our Meetings
The Runway to Annual Sessions 2021 begins on 4th May with the Gathering on Reopening Our Meetings. All Friends are warmly welcomed to be present.
We invite you to share concerns, learnings, and hopes regarding how our religious society may begin a process of re-opening to in-person gatherings by the end of 2021. During the gathering, we will revisit the notes of our January 26th meeting about hybrid gatherings and explore the possibility of developing guidance to meetings and other local Quaker communities on re-opening.
[Read more…] about Runway to Annual Sessions 2021: Gathering on Reopening Our Meetings
Introducing Runway to Sessions with Olivia Brangan
The Runway to Annual Sessions 2021 begins on Tuesday, May 4, and runs through July 24. The Runway to Annual Sessions are the weeks that lead up to Annual Sessions week (July 27 – August 1) and is filled with workshops, gatherings, youth programs, a multigenerational documentary viewing and discussion, a Young Adult Friend retreat, a Collaborative Fair, Q&As, and reports from PYM representatives to other Quaker organizations.
[Read more…] about Introducing Runway to Sessions with Olivia Brangan