On Saturday, July 12, the three councils that support Philadelphia Yearly Meeting—the Quaker Life Council, Administrative Council, and Nominating Council—held their meeting in the joint format. In this structure, all three councils meet together as one Joint Council to worship, discern, and conduct business collaboratively. This allows the Joint Council to share the minutes in a news story with the PYM community following the meeting.
Minutes from the Joint Council meeting this past Saturday are forthcoming. However the council wanted to share the following key updates prior to sessions.
As Philadelphia Yearly Meeting prepares to gather for Annual Sessions, the yearly meeting councils want to particularly highlight two items of their work that will be advancing to the Sessions agenda: the Future of Sessions survey results and an update on evaluating the yearly meeting’s carbon footprint.
Sessions Survey Results
A sprint was formed to invite PYM Friends to vision together what is most important and exciting about living our faith in community at Sessions. What makes Friends want to be there? What supports do we need to live into a greater sense of purpose and intention? The councils listened to the results and came away with some important insights, such as:
- Friends are more likely to attend when Annual Sessions are located within a reasonable commuting distance.
- A majority of participants expect to be on-site full or part time and appreciate being able to join virtually by Zoom, making hybrid participation possible.
- Time for families to be together is a priority for many.
- There is a desire for business meeting to have fewer agenda items and more time for meaningful engagement, including group discussion and discernment.
This survey was undertaken as part of a deliberate plan to create a community-focused environment that helps us learn, act, and grow together in support of each other and our testimonies. The next step will be to create a long-range plan for Sessions gatherings with these results in mind.
Carbon Footprint Evaluation
Joint Council heard from the environmental consultants who are calculating the carbon footprint of our yearly meeting facilities and operations. The council received in-depth analysis of the amount of energy used, the carbon emissions expended in travel, and the impact of the yearly meeting’s use of goods and services on the region. This information will be used to create a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
The councils want to encourage everyone to join each other at Annual Sessions as the yearly meeting will discern the direction of our life together, gathering in love and support for the work ahead.
Join us at Sessions in person or online for these and other important business items.
https://www.pym.org/sessions/
