Families from around Philadelphia Yearly Meeting gathered on February 22–23 at Camp Onas in Ottsville, PA, for PYM’s annual Winter Family Overnight! The weekend provided a chance for Quaker families to connect, build community, and step away from the busyness of everyday life. [Read more…] about Quaker Families Continue To Build Community
Youth Programs
Young Friends Met to Prepare Workshop for Spring Sessions
On Saturday, January 25th, nine Young Friends (YFs) from around the Yearly Meeting met at Old Haverford Meeting for their monthly in-person gathering. They spent the day having fun and building relationships, as well as preparing a workshop on the topic of polarity that they will facilitate at Spring Sessions. The day also included an icebreaker game, fun in the snow, a creative group activity, cooking a fabulous burrito bar lunch, and sharing quiet worship.
[Read more…] about Young Friends Met to Prepare Workshop for Spring Sessions
PYM Welcomes New Director of Development and Middle School Co-Facilitator
We are thrilled to welcome Joe Kirkenir as Director of Development (pictured left) and Daniel Doan as Middle School Co-Facilitator (pictured right). We are excited for the experience and dedication they will bring to their roles within PYM.
[Read more…] about PYM Welcomes New Director of Development and Middle School Co-Facilitator
Program & Religious Life | A Year in Review
Hello Friends,
How has spirit moved among us in 2024? As we, the staff of PYM’s Program and Religious Life Department, reflect on this question, we have many joyful tidings to share.
The Big Picture
This year we saw many examples on how being a part of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting community gives Friends a place to share their gifts and ask for support in times of need. This flow of sharing and receiving is a core part of what it means to be “part of the body.” Our PYM programs create spaces of joy, learning, spiritual nurture, and concrete resources. And none of it would be possible without Friends like you sharing their gifts, showing up, participating, and building community together. Thank you!
Read on to hear more about the programs and events we’re proud of this year.
[Read more…] about Program & Religious Life | A Year in Review
Cropwell Hosts Halloween Family Outreach Event Again
This Sunday, Cropwell Friends Meeting, a Quaker community in Marlton and Cherry Hill, N.J., hosted a Halloween party from 1:30-3:00 p.m. Around 45 neighbors visited and enjoyed pumpkin decorating, games, snacks, a truck-or-treat, and tours of the meetinghouse.
[Read more…] about Cropwell Hosts Halloween Family Outreach Event Again
Upcoming Grant Deadlines: December 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
Funds are available for outreach, traveling for interfaith dialog, service, or ministry, Indigenous people and communities, and more. Apply today!
[Read more…] about Upcoming Grant Deadlines: December 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
Ways to Connect Before Sessions
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting has multiple October events that will provide ways to engage within our community before Fall Continuing Sessions. Three opportunities include fellowship of the thread gathering, a family-centered peace-building event, or the collective discernment over climate during a virtual threshing session. Each of these events offers a unique opportunity to engage with the PYM community and prepare ourselves spiritually for the work ahead. Whether you are seeking fellowship, family engagement, or discernment on critical issues, these events will help ground us as we come together as a faith community:
Talking about the Election with Children and Youth
Authorship is credited to Melinda Wenner Bradley (West Chester Meeting), Quaker Religious Education Collaborative
The intensity of the election cycle is an experience both for adults and for the children and youth in our families and communities. Depending on their age, preschoolers to teens may be aware of the anxiety in the adults around them — and experiencing their own anxiety about the outcome of the election in November.
[Read more…] about Talking about the Election with Children and Youth
Religious Education Resources & Events Fall 2024
Summer is waning, the crickets are singing, and it’s time to get ready for the next year in religious education programs! The Fall issue of The Tote Bag: Religious Education and Family Resources is here to support getting ready for children, youth, and intergenerational programs in meetings. This includes new resources to support middle school engagement, explore Bible stories with children, and how to talk together with young people about election issues. With the upcoming election in November, staff have been thinking about how to support families and young people to feel grounded in our testimonies of integrity and peace. Two specific events for adults and children/youth are happening this fall. Read on!
[Read more…] about Religious Education Resources & Events Fall 2024
Spring Family Overnight Recap
On the cool, spring Saturday afternoon of Mother’s Day weekend, seventeen families met at Camp Dark Waters in Medford, NJ for PYM’s Spring Family Overnight. Nearly sixty Friends stepped joyfully onto the sandy forest floor. PYM Youth Staff Crystal Hershey, Abigaile Brace-Higgins, and Elizabeth Croce were there to welcome and direct them to their cabins. Children from ages 4-13 years old got busy playing with the tether ball, building sandcastles, and playing ping pong. Families paddled canoes around the lake. After settling in and playing, everyone got into a large circle for a game of The Big Wind Blows. Then CDW guides led multigenerational team building games. Families had to work together and think creatively through challenges that involved balance, stealth, speed, and trust. The Big Swing (a very long rope hanging from a very large tree) was a favorite activity. Friends wearing harnesses and helmets held the rope tightly, and bravely swung out over the lake!
Everyone worked up an appetite, so a team of Friends prepared dinner together in the kitchen. A fantastic feast of tacos, burritos, nachos, wraps, beans, and rice provided something for every taste! With full bellies, Friends snuggled around a campfire. There’s always room for s’mores! Children told scary stories, giggled, and played with flashlights until it was finally time for bed. No one wanted the beautiful day to end.
Campers awoke to the gentle sound of raindrops falling on the forest leaves. Warming up with coffee, hot chocolate, a big breakfast banquet of bagels, eggs, sausages, fruit, and yogurt was wonderful. Then it was time for Worship. Friends gathered outside under the shelter of the raised dining hall, sitting in a large circle on the sand. Many warm thoughts and loving stories about mothers and caregivers were shared out of the silence. At the rise of Worship, there was a birthday celebration for a 7-year-old. Cupcakes and song made a marvelous finish to a fantastic weekend together.
Many more opportunities for families to connect will be available in the future! Save the date for our next gathering – a PYM Family Day at Pendle Hill on Saturday, September 21. More detailed information will be available soon on the Youth Programs page of the PYM website.
