Young Adult Friends

Young Adult Friends: Engagement, Program, and Work

Written on: July 15, 2021

The Young Adult Friends (YAF) program has flourished through years of service by Meg Rose, Young Adult Engagement Coordinator, and her predecessor, Elizabeth Piersol Schmidt. As we look ahead to when Meg is leaving Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to begin a career in social work in late July, it is worth looking back at all that ties this engaged set of young adults to one another, to their leadership commitment to peers, and to this Faith.

The YAF program supports the spiritual vitality and community of PYM by creating programming specifically for young adult Friends (age 18-35-ish), as well as strengthening commitment and involvement of young adult Friends in PYM’s multigenerational community.

Read Minutes of Appreciation for Meg.

Minutes of Appreciation for Meg Rose

Written on: June 17, 2021

After may years of service to the PYM community, Meg Rose, Young Adult Engagement Coordinator, will be leaving Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to begin a career in social work in July 2021. Below are two minutes of appreciation for her contributions to the wholeness, engagement, and connectedness of the Young Adult Community.

New Quaker Communities: Johanna Jackson

Written on: June 10, 2021

Johanna Jackson (she) is a member of State College Friends Meeting. She travels in the ministry with JT Dorr-Bremme, a Friend with a gift for eldering. They formed the Listening Project, a series of creative conversations rooted in love. Johanna writes about the spiritual community that sustains her, imagining how similar groups could help sustain others, too.

YAF Spring Retreat 2021

Written on: May 13, 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.

Quaker Conscientious Objectors: Few Options before AFSC and the Need for Training Now

Written on: May 6, 2021

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

Written on: April 29, 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@ujimafriends.org. Below is a story about their summer plans.

On Belonging: Quakers Can be More Inviting

Written on: April 15, 2021

Young Adult Friends wrote a 2019 Epistle on Membership asking the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to reconsider how membership is defined. They made the point that “a simple model of monthly meeting membership, in which one belongs to a singular community for life, is no longer useful.” This question has sparked reflection and has now risen to one of the three big initiatives of the Yearly Meeting in 2021.

Johanna Jackson, who is 31, came to March 2021 Continuing Sessions at the invitation of our Rising Clerk, Melissa Rycroft. During Spring Continuing Sessions Melissa led PYM through a PowerPoint on the question of belonging and membership in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and welcomed Johanna’s thoughts on what other kinds of Quaker community could be envisioned for our community.

Inspired by their powerful vocal ministry that day, here follows a deeper conversation about belonging with the two of them. [Read more…] about On Belonging: Quakers Can be More Inviting

Tuition Aid for Friends Children in PYM Friends Schools

Written on: December 29, 2020

PYM’s Committee on Friends Education reminds families that monthly meeting members’ children attending or applying to Friends Schools are eligible to apply for educational support for the 2021-22 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 Friends Children in PYM Friends Schools

Catch Up on the Quaker College Fair

Written on: October 21, 2020

A free event designed for students engaged in the college search process, the 2020 Quaker College Fair was held 11:00 am – 1:30 pm on Saturday, October 17th over Zoom. After the panel discussion, representatives from several college admissions spoke with attendees.

See below for the agenda, a list of panelists, and a list of the college admissions representatives. [Read more…] about Catch Up on the Quaker College Fair