“Why do you want to be a doctor?” asked the medical school interviewer. I gave what must be the common answer: “I want to help people. I want to be of service, and I like the intellectual challenge of solving a problem.” [Read more…] about The Gathering Changed My Life Too!
Quakers & Quakerism
Spring Continuing Sessions REWIND
Continuing Sessions Rewind
Last weekend, Friends from across the four states of our PYM footprint came together for Spring Continuing Sessions. We learned, listened and felt the joyous presence of Spirit in community while we explored the 2024 Sessions theme, “Called to Healing.” Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business was held on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, and minutes from business sessions will be on the website in coming days. Because the Annual Sessions schedule is shorter this summer (July 6-7), our times for business at Continuing Sessions weekends are being extended. [Read more…] about Spring Continuing Sessions REWIND
Fostering Equality in Everyday Home Life
Lois Volta, Germantown Meeting, wants you to clean your house. Not just for the aesthetic reasons, but for the spiritual and feminist reasons. As she writes, “There will always be something waiting for you to clean up. It’s better to make peace with this concept than to fight it. Let contentment and peace be just as never-ending as the laundry.” [Read more…] about Fostering Equality in Everyday Home Life
The FGC Gathering Changed My Life Also
The Gathering Changed My Life.
When I attended my first Gathering in 2002, my life was in the midst of rapid change. All the activities I had based my identity on were shifting – I was facing the empty nest (the youngest of my three children would go to a distant college in the fall), my husband had retired, I no longer had a job outside the home (no daily professional work), even my 13 years as a Girl Scout leader were ending with all the girls graduating from high school. I was stressed and somewhat frightened, not knowing how my life would unfold. [Read more…] about The FGC Gathering Changed My Life Also
Friends Join Pilgrimage for Peace Walk
From the PYM statement in response to the crisis in Palestine in October:
These are not problems that can be addressed with one approach or with attention to one side or one truth or one thread of history. We are required by our faith to work for justice and peace. We must do this together with our neighbors. Resolution won’t be immediate, but participation in the resolution must start now. [Read more…] about Friends Join Pilgrimage for Peace Walk
Why I go to Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering
In 2000 I attended my first FGC Gathering in Rochester, NY. My daughter had been campaigning to go, and it was the last year she could be in the High School Program (which got rave reviews from her PYM friends), AND I had grown up in the Rochester Friends Meeting. I took a workshop on spiritual growth where we had prayer partners and shared deeply with each other. I felt so nurtured that I was able to take a big step in my personal life. We planned to go back the following year. [Read more…] about Why I go to Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering
Plastics—What’s the Big Deal?
Friends Take Steps to Address the Climate Crisis
We know that many Friends throughout the yearly meeting and around the world are following their leadings to work on climate change, environmental justice, and habitat and biodiversity protection. The Eco-Justice Collaborative’s monthly newsletter often includes stories of action, and this month we hear from Ray Elberson, an attender at Medford Monthly Meeting, about the work of the Plastics Committee of the South Jersey GreenFaith Circle to which he and his wife, Carla, belong. Visit the Eco-Justice Collaborative’s website here, and subscribe here to the EJC newsletter by choosing “Peace & Social Justice.”
Spiritual State of the Meeting Report Invitation
NOTE: The deadline to submit reports has been extended to April 29, 2024
Warm greetings from the Ministry and Care Committee of Quaker Life Council. We trust this communication finds you well, grounded in Spirit and in your community of faith. All meetings are invited to submit their Spiritual State of the Meeting Reports for 2023 no later than April 15, 2024. We look forward to learning about your meeting and having the opportunity to share that learning more widely. Reports will be carefully read by members of M&C to guide our work in the next year and inform the Spiritual State of the Meeting Report for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. To learn more about how these reports are used and how they are typically composed, see these advices. If you have further questions, please contact us at ministryandcare@pym.org. [Read more…] about Spiritual State of the Meeting Report Invitation
FGC’s ‘The Gathering’ Comes to Philadelphia
The Gathering is coming to Haverford College! This is the first time since Friends General Conference began in 1900 that it is being held in the immediate Philadelphia area! This is your first invitation to be part of “a great people to be gathered”, June 30-July 6, 2024! [Read more…] about FGC’s ‘The Gathering’ Comes to Philadelphia
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 2024-25 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