Friends across our yearly meeting use several tools to share information, find meetings, and keep in contact. Keeping that information current is one small thing each meeting can do to help Friends, newcomers, and visitors know where to go and whom to contact.
The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting website includes information for meetings across the yearly meeting. Friends can find worship times, addresses, websites, and contact information. Much of that information depends on meetings reviewing their own listings and letting PYM know when something changes.
Friends are encouraged to check their monthly meeting’s information and confirm that worship times, contact information, and other details are current.
A recent Outreach Tip of the Week offered another place to check:
“Review your meeting’s voicemail greeting and general email response or automatic response. Make sure someone contacting the meeting for the first time knows when they can expect a reply and where to find current worship information. If your meeting doesn’t have these items in place consider making steps to set them up.”
These details matter because someone searching for a Quaker meeting in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, or Maryland may be finding that meeting for the first time. An old worship time, unanswered email address, or outdated website can make an already unfamiliar experience harder.
Meeting information appears beyond the PYM website, too. Friends can check listings maintained by organizations such as Friends General Conference and Friends World Committee for Consultation. Taking a few minutes to compare those listings can help make sure people are finding the same accurate information wherever they search.
Individual Friends have something to check, too.
PYM sends emails about programs, events, news, and opportunities throughout the year. Friends can update their email preferences to choose what they receive, subscribe to the PYM newsletter, or confirm that they are receiving information connected with the programs that interest them.
Friends are encouraged to remember that sometimes keeping a community connected starts with something as ordinary as checking an address, an inbox, or a worship time.
