PYM Quakers seek to experience God within ourselves and in our relationships with others.
We believe that the Divine spirit continues to reveal new truths to us.
We are a community of meetings, members and seekers who support each other in faith, practice and witness.
PYM Quakers are committed to living lives that outwardly attest to our inward spiritual experience.
We express our faith in action and work for a better world through pioneering, inspiring programs and services.
Everything we do is founded in our testimonies of peace, integrity, equality, simplicity and community.
A comprehensive listing of all the collaboratives and sprints who are doing the work of our yearly meeting community.
PYM Quakers seek to create and steward resources to help individuals, communities and the world.
We provide spiritual and tangible assistance to those in need.
All our resources stem from our desire to bring light to the world and implement our testimony to the power of the Divine spirit.
PYM is undergoing a structural change.
Read about how this affects the PYM website.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is both a Faith Community and an Organization.
PYM is one of the oldest yearly meetings of the Religious Society of Friends in the United States.
Meetings, members, seekers and staff work together to nurture Quaker faith and practice in today’s world.
PYM Quakers share experience, leadings and witness with one another and the world.
We have a long tradition of expressing our shared divinity by working to be in community with one another.
We invite you to bookmark this page and come back often to stay up to date with conversations and activities in our faith community.
"We contribute to the Annual Fund because we value the way PYM connects us to a wider Quaker fellowship and supports our beliefs and actions."
Cathy Gumlock, Lehigh Valley Meeting
Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Religious Education”
“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 join the Junior Friends Conference is open to all young …
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 a march/rally, and processing different perspectives on the issue of …
Recently, the Administrative and Quaker Life Councils approved a process for addressing minutes of concern that rise up through our monthly and quarterly meetings. Friends can view the process on the PYM website here.
Dear Friends, The Youth Programs Sprint group has nearly completed its work to propose a vision, mission and governance structure for our yearly meeting’s youth programs. The Sprint group, through several iterations, looked at the history of our youth programs and considered their future. The Sprint group intentionally sought out voices that we don’t always hear from, including those of LGBTQ families, Friends of …
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 for straw purchases. At this time when the youth of …
“If we want to rediscover human joy and wholeness and creativity, and to learn to care for our planetary household as one earth family, we cannot continue to insulate adults and children from each other. Children need to be present to us, and we to them.” – Elise Boulding My first visit to a local meeting as Youth Engagement Coordinator …
Download a PDF version of this letter. Dear Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, It is with joy that we write to you about our revival of state of the meeting reports! We, the Quaker Life Council, invite all monthly and quarterly meetings to restart or continue the annual custom of conducting a spiritual self-assessment. As our new Faith & Practice …
by marian dalke A Sunday morning of soft light is cast through deep wooden windows. The light swifts over and picks up the soft cotton of milkweed seeds, sailing over the heads of those gathered for Quaker Meeting for Worship at Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Meanwhile, Grace Gonglewski shares a message about “praying on seeds,” as she casts more milkweed …
Our New Youth Engagement Coordinator! Scroll down for a personal message from Melinda. We announce with great joy that Melinda Wenner Bradley of West Chester Monthly Meeting will soon join the staff of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) as our first Youth Engagement Coordinator. Melinda will work with other community members to steward the ministry and religious life of our children, …
Dear Friends! I want to make sure you are aware that we are nearing completion of the process to hire our first Youth Engagement Coordinator. We aim to complete the process by the middle of November, 2017. Another announcement will follow at that time. When the new Youth Engagement Coordinator is hired, they will need immediately to commence another process …
About 35 members and attenders, from age 12 on up, gathered at Newtown Meeting to take up the Scavenger Hunt challenge. We used the First Day School time to form up into teams of 2-4, with the instruction to have a young Friend and someone you did not know well on your team. Each team reviewed the list of Scavenger …
The St. John United Methodist Church (Fordville) in Cumberland County, NJ, invites PYM Friends to attend a ceremony marking the church’s official designation as an Historic Native American Methodist Church. It is the only church to receive such designation in the State of New Jersey and is the fifth oldest Native American Methodist Church in the Nation. St. John UMC …
Dear PYM Friends, I am excited to announce that Meg Rose will begin serving as our Young Adult Engagement Coordinator on September 1, 2017. She has served as Interim YAF Co-Coordinator for the past few months and as Interim Children’s Religious Life Coordinator for the past year. Meg’s unique experience in supporting children, families, and young adults will help us as …
In the U.S., there are 71 Friends schools affiliated with the Friends Council on Education, serving PreK through high school students. What if all of those schools were sanctuary campuses, offering protection for their undocumented students and their families? Recently, AFSC and PYM decided to find out if any Quaker schools were having these same dreams of Quaker witness in …
Dearest Friends: I write to make sure that you are aware that Hannah Mayer, our Young Friends Coordinator and Youth & Young Adult Programs (Y&YAP) Team Leader, has accepted a position at Lansdowne Friends School as a Physical Education and Quakerism Teacher. She begins in early September and so will remain with PYM through Annual Sessions. Her last day as our …
We are excited to report that the Quaker Life Council approved investing nearly forty thousand dollars over two fiscal years to raise up a momentous new program called Resource Friends. Resource Friends help our community be healthy and thrive, by providing expert support in areas of need in our monthly meetings and on the yearly meeting level. They are the …
The following updates have been published to share further information about staffing changes: MAY 2, 2017 Staffing Update: Administrative Support in the Office APRIL 22, 2017 Communication from Leadership to PYM APRIL 14, 2017 Financial Impact: Staff Changes Follow Up Information MARCH 23, 2017 Advancement: Staff Changes Follow Up Information MARCH 23, 2017 Salaries: Staff Changes Follow Up Information MARCH ...
Thread Gatherings began in January of 2013 to draw meetings into closer fellowship, to nurture our collective wisdom and corporate ministry, and to share resources so work can be joined and strengthened. The image of the “thread” was and remains a useful metaphor, representing aspects of Quaker Faith and Practice that weave us together, as it were. From 2013 to …
Salem Quarterly Meeting, an association of seven South Jersey Quaker meetings, has launched a new podcast called Clearly Quaker. This occasionally released podcast will feature audio recordings from various lectures on topics of interest to both Quakers and non-Quakers alike. Clearly Quaker expands Salem Quarterly Meeting’s recent efforts to explore new digital mediums and broaden its communications and outreach. The …
Towards Transformation We strive as Quakers to live our daily lives grounded in the center of our beings. In this striving, we gather as a community away from everyday challenges to strengthen our spiritual practice. As we strengthen our practice, ever deeper insights emerge, and we ready ourselves to embrace their transformative power. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Friends have continued to …
