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 …
Historic Designation Ceremony for St. John United Methodist Church (Fordville)
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 …
Meg Rose’s Next Steps
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 …
Do Quaker Schools Offer Sanctuary for Undocumented Students?
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 …
Hannah Mayer’s Next Steps
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 …
Introducing Resource Friends!
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 …
Youth and Young Adult Programs Staff Changes Follow Up Information
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 ...
Thread Gatherings, New and Improved
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 …
Salem Quarterly Meeting Launches Podcast
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 …
Learning and Doing Anti-Racism at Annual Sessions
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 …
Farewell to Benjamin Camp
It is with sadness that I announce Benjamin Camp’s departure from service on Philadelphia Yearly Meeting staff as Children’s Religious Life Program Coordinator. Until recently, Ben also served as our Youth & Young Adult Programs Team Leader. He will be working through the 2016 Annual Sessions, and his last day will be …
Celebrating Matt Sanderson
It is with a joyful sort of sadness that I announce the coming departure of Matt Sanderson from PYM staff, effective April 6, 2016. He started as Middle School Friends Assistant in 2009, and since 2012 he has served as Middle School Friends Coordinator. Yet, actually, Matt has served our ...
Announcing the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative!
Quaker Religious Education Collaborative Forms August 17 and 18, 2014, thirty-three Friends gathered at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA to envision the future of religious education among Friends. We left feeling exhilarated, believing that way had opened for a collective effort in Quaker religious education that reaches across the current …
The Quaker RE Collaborative’s First Meeting: August 17-18, 2014
Four Friends with deep ties to Quaker Religious Education from four Yearly Meetings (including PYM) are feeling moved to invite others to join them in a Quaker religious education community of practice. We are calling it a Quaker RE Collaborative (QREC). We invite Friends who hold a sense of stewardship …
Host a Religious Education Listening Circle
We invite Friends who hold a sense of stewardship for the faith formation of Quaker children to join with us. We are Friends with deep ties to Quaker Religious Education from four Yearly Meetings (including PYM) who are feeling moved to invite others to join them in a Quaker religious …
First Day School Convergence!
This story is from Zac Dutton, the Coordinator for Western Quarterly Meeting I was curious. Some kind of mental bifurcation formed in the minds of those for whom I began to work about two years ago as Coordinator for Western Quarterly Meeting. Somehow our Monthly Meetings were so separate from …
The 2013-14 FDS Thread Gathering: Success!
The first Thread Gathering we ever held was in September of 2012 on the ministry of First Day School. There were 12 people in attendance at that first effort. This year’s First Day School Thread Gathering was held on Saturday, November 16th at Princeton Meeting in Burlington Quarter. It was …
The Family Neighborhood at Annual Sessions
If you look up the word “neighborhood” in the dictionary, among the definitions is “Distinctive area: a district with characteristics that distinguish it from the areas around it.” Each year at Summer Sessions, just such a neighborhood is born — a place where families whose children are in Children’s Sessions …
Supporting Parents—A Boon for Their Children and Their Meetings
Twenty years ago I set out on a journey to attempt to parent our children in a Quaker manner, based on the beliefs and values as I understood them. While in theory it seemed to be an achievable goal, in practice it was much less clear. My strong desire to …
Paths to Quaker Parenting
Paths to Quaker Parenting Using Quaker Beliefs, Testimonies and Practices Edited by Harriet Heath This book is the sharing of a group of parents who have struggled with concerns common to most parents. We asked ourselves questions such as: How should I respond to my three-year-old’s whining for a cookie …