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Strategic Direction 1 – Connecting<\/h2>\n

PYM IS THE INTERCONNECTION OF FRIENDS, MEETINGS AND THE MINISTRIES THEY CARRY<\/i>
Connect Friends and meetings to one another so that we may experience vibrant, Spirit-led faith community. Connect through effective communications and technology.<\/strong>
We will share among us the wisdom, creativity, and resources of our meetings and Friends, so they may resonate throughout the whole community and allow us to thrive in relationship with the Divine. Individuals and meetings will give time, gifts and experience in service, and in turn receive new insight, grounding and friendships, directly and indirectly enriching their meetings and their own spiritual lives. We will connect Friends across the geography of PYM and with Friends from the wider world, in order to carry our concerns together. We will do this in a manner that allows everyone to participate in the life of the community.

<\/div>
<\/span>CONNECTING DESTINATION 1-1: CONNECTIONS TOOLBOX<\/div>
Increase the tools for connecting friends and meetings.
This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n
    \n
  • There is an array of recurring, structured opportunities (structures) to connect
    Friends and meetings to one another.<\/li>\n
  • The structures function in a way that encourage Friends\u2019 support and reliance on
    one another in a way that is nourishing.<\/li>\n
  • The array of structures is well-developed, accessible, relevant to the many gifts
    Friends have and to the many needs of our community.<\/li>\n
  • Friends and meetings are trying out and using structures that are new to them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    We require an array of structures because Friends and meetings have unique needs and
    different preferred ways of interacting. Providing an array increases the likelihood that any
    single Friend or meeting will find and use one that speaks to their condition. Also, diverse
    types of connections between people are best made in different ways. The manner of
    connecting people to First Day School resources is quite different from the manner of
    connecting meetings\u2019 imaginations to one another so innovative approaches to pastoral
    care for families are sparked. Both of these, FDS resources and pastoral care for families,
    support children in meetings but they require diverse ways (structures) of connecting
    Friends and meetings.<\/p>\n

    Examples of structures include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The Quaker Gifts & Skills Collection,<\/li>\n
    • Bridge Contacts,<\/li>\n
    • Resources, News and Events posted to the PYM website,<\/li>\n
    • Communities of practice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
      <\/div>
      <\/span>CONNECTING DESTINATION 1-2: MEETING ENGAGEMENT<\/div>
      Increase the interactions that meetings have with one another.
      This Destination focuses on ensuring that PYM Friends<\/i>:<\/p>\n
        \n
      • Experience the culture and activities of meetings other than their own.<\/li>\n
      • Have a diverse experience of how Quaker life in meetings can look.<\/li>\n
      • Have an experience of being part of an extended network of Friends and meetings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Meetings have their own personalities, strengths, and needs. Because they are part of a
        network of meetings, Friends can come to know God, justice, and spiritual care (for
        example) in ways that soothe and\/or challenge them. They can learn from each other, find
        solutions to problems, celebrate joys, bear witness and bear grief, that they wouldn\u2019t have
        the opportunity to all by themselves. This creates a more resilient and grounded
        community for Friends at their home meetings.<\/p>\n

        Examples of ways that meetings interact include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Intervisitation, worship, programs, and events for the whole yearly meeting<\/li>\n
        • Addressing racism and climate change together<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

          \u00a0<\/p>\n

          \n

          Strategic Direction 2 \u2013 Belonging<\/h2>\n

          PYM IS AN EXTENDED FAMILY OF FRIENDS<\/i>
          Broaden engagement and deepen relationship in our yearly meeting while ensuring all aspects of our community are welcoming and safe for all people.<\/strong>
          Because we are all interconnected, we seek to increase a sense of belonging to an extended family of Friends. To be effective and whole, we need each other. Our personal experience of being a Friend is deepened by worshipping, discerning business, and sharing community beyond our home meetings. Friends of all ages, locations, and interests will have ways of entering the community and will feel glad they\u2019ve participated. We will look courageously into the roots of inequity in our culture, be willing to see and feel the pain it can cause and choose to do whatever is necessary to take risks and to change. We will dismantle imposed barriers in our yearly and monthly meeting structures and activities, which impede our experience of God within our communities and within ourselves. We seek to make the congregations inside of our meetinghouses reflect the beauty and diversity of the world outside of them.<\/p>\n

          <\/div>
          <\/span>BELONGING DESTINATION 2-1: INCREASE CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION CAPACITY<\/div>
          Increase conflict resolution skills in every meeting so that they can welcome the friction
          that comes from welcoming oppositional views and experiences.<\/p>\n

          This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

            \n
          • Friends are equipped to continue our legacy of peacekeeping in our home
            community.<\/li>\n
          • We are prepared to stay in healthy relationship while sharing our truths, even when
            they seem incompatible with one another.<\/li>\n
          • We can navigate different visions and diverse needs of Friends, especially when
            they rise from differences in race, age, gender, sexual orientation and abilities.<\/li>\n
          • We have tools to develop trust and a willingness to be vulnerable and to hold one
            another tenderly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Sometimes our centuries of history and our decades of knowing one another result in a
            deep familiarity that we prefer not to disrupt or that becomes the definition of Quakerism to
            us. Sometimes our experience of the Light within ourselves is so different from another\u2019s
            experience that it is hard to trust we are rooted in the same place of faith. Having
            confidence in a shared skillset for managing the conflict that comes from difference among
            us allows us to express and welcome the conflict \u2013 and the deeper relationship and
            revelation that can come with it.<\/p>\n

            Examples of ways that meetings can deepen their conflict resolution skills include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

              \n
            • The Trust Circle program developed by the Ministry & Care Committee,<\/li>\n
            • a coordinated effort to share stories of healthy conflict resolution in our own
              meetings and in other faith communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
              <\/div>
              <\/span>BELONGING DESTINATION 2-2: MAKE MEETING STRUCTURES ACCESSIBLE<\/div>
              Adjust the structures within meetings to increase their ability to actively include individuals
              who have a wide range of identities.<\/p>\n

              This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                \n
              • Meetings can become ever more inclusive.<\/li>\n
              • The way we do what we do (provide care and nurture for children, worship and
                make decisions in the manner of Friends, potlucks, manage our budgets) meets the
                gifts and needs of all the people who follow the Quaker path, including those of
                Friends of many races, ages, genders, sexual orientations and abilities.<\/li>\n
              • The voice, needs, gifts and love of all the people are welcomed, expressed and
                received.<\/li>\n
              • The activity, opportunity, resources, and decision-making are engaged in by all the
                people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Sometimes we have rhythms and practices that are comfortable and familiar to the people
                who have been part of the community for a long time. The fact that they work for the
                people who use them can mask the truth that there are people who are not engaged
                because their needs or rhythms are different, and it is not easy for them to join in. These
                things can be particularly invisible to those in leadership because they have created the
                practices that suit them. The good news is that they are in a position to make changes.<\/p>\n

                Examples of ways that meetings evolve to become more inclusive include<\/i>:<\/i><\/p>\n

                  \n
                • Resources and experiences for intergenerational worship<\/li>\n
                • Workshops on how different structures meet different needs.<\/li>\n
                • Examples of meetings that provide multiple ways of doing a thing to meet multiple
                  needs of people<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

                  \u00a0<\/p>\n

                  \n

                  Strategic Direction 3 \u2013 Witnessing<\/h2>\n

                  ADDRESS RACISM & ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE <\/i>
                  Facilitate PYM-wide corporate witness and social action.<\/strong>
                  As seekers of Truth, we expect to be called to action. Together, as a PYM community, we will witness to the Light, contributing to transformational work in the world. We will encourage and support one another in taking risks together, as we make an impact on our society. We will enhance our effectiveness by focusing our corporate action on fewer, clearer goals.<\/p>\n

                  <\/div>
                  <\/span>WITNESSING DESTINATION 3-1: BENCHMARKS<\/div>
                  Provide a map of how we will know we have interrupted climate change and racism in the
                  yearly, quarterly, monthly meetings and in households.<\/p>\n

                  This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  • PYM Friends and meetings have a shared understanding of what steps we are
                    taking to respond to God\u2019s call to us to address racism and climate change.<\/li>\n
                  • We can objectively know that we are staying true to our commitments to these
                    ministries.<\/li>\n
                  • Friends and meetings can support one another and collaborate in meeting the
                    benchmarks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Because of the way we manage our yearly meeting wide witnesses in which the
                    responsibility is held by every meeting, household and Friend, there is not a single
                    committee whose report of their activity indicates what the Yearly Meeting has done.
                    Additionally, because the problems and violations are so deep, taking steps in these
                    ministries can feel hopeless. Both of these can be managed by having shared
                    expectations of ourselves.<\/p>\n

                    Examples of ways that meetings evolve to become more inclusive include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    • Engage the community in discerning and suggesting the benchmarks.<\/li>\n
                    • Research and report on similar steps taken by other faith communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
                      <\/div>
                      <\/span>WITNESSING DESTINATION 3-2: CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE<\/div>
                      Nurture PYM Friends\u2019 ability to have healthy conversations with one another about their
                      experience of racism without being afraid.<\/p>\n

                      This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                        \n
                      • Friends have vocabulary and experience in talking about their experience of racism.<\/li>\n
                      • Friends have skills for responding to one another to help us grow in the event we
                        say something wrong.<\/li>\n
                      • Friends\u2019 commitment to loving one another and growing in our capacity be in right
                        relationship counteracts the fear we have of talking about race together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                        When we are afraid that we will break relationships by saying the wrong thing or when
                        white Friends are afraid that their sense of self will be disrupted when they discuss racism,
                        we end up not talking with one another about race and other things. This results in lack of
                        relationship, so we end up exactly where we did not want to go. Having the language for
                        talking about racism and the shared understanding that we will manage it together
                        increases our capacity and willingness to have the conversation and then also deepens
                        our relationships with one another.<\/p>\n

                        Example strategies include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                          \n
                        • Meeting for worship with attention to healing<\/li>\n
                        • Affinity Groups<\/li>\n
                        • Toolbox for how to keep conversations about race real and safe.<\/li>\n
                        • Develop and implement the Playbook for antiracism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

                          \u00a0<\/p>\n

                          \n

                          Strategic Direction 4 \u2013 Communication<\/h2>\n

                          SAY WHO WE ARE<\/i>
                          Develop and widely communicate clear messages about Quakers and PYM<\/strong>
                          We will send boldly into the world the message of our distinctive Quaker faith and practice, so that we are known not only for our historic witness but also for our present action, encouraging others to join us, and so that all may be inspired.<\/p>\n

                          <\/div>
                          <\/span>COMMUNICATING DESTINATION 4-1: UNDERSTANDING PYM<\/div>
                          Ensure every meeting can explain to Friends in the meeting what the yearly meeting is and how meetings and individuals fit in the yearly meeting.<\/p>\n

                          This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                            \n
                          • We have a shared understanding of the purpose of our community so we can
                            gather all the benefits it offers.<\/li>\n
                          • We understand what each other means when we talk about the yearly meeting \u2013
                            we are not using the same words to mean different things.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                            To communicate clear messages to the world about Friends, we need to be able to
                            articulate those messages to ourselves. This Destination helps us understand the
                            structure of our community, how it is itself an expression of the Quaker faith, and how it
                            feeds us.<\/p>\n

                            Examples of ways that help Friends know and express the purpose of PYM<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                              \n
                            • Provide a tool for developing a personal elevator pitch.<\/li>\n
                            • publish a \u201cview book\u201d which explains PYM and the way in which meetings and
                              individuals can see where their role is.<\/li>\n
                            • produce a video of Friends sharing their articulation of the yearly meeting.<\/li>\n
                            • develop an engaging segment of the website that explains the yearly meeting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
                              <\/div>
                              <\/span>COMMUNICATING DESTINATION 4-2: UNDERSTANDING THE PRACTICES OF WORSHIP AND DISCERNMENT<\/div>
                              Increase meetings\u2019 capacity to deepen Friends\u2019 intimate understanding of the basics of Faith & Practice, beginning with worship and business practices.<\/p>\n

                              This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                                \n
                              • the richness of our heritage continues and is not co-opted by popular culture or
                                individualism.<\/li>\n
                              • We do not simply assume that everyone understands how these practices work and
                                what roles Friends play in using them well.<\/li>\n
                              • We can recognize mistakes and correct our path when we misuse the practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                These practices are the foundation of our faith. Our ability to practice them well and to
                                invite others to understand them requires that we continually deepen our understanding of
                                them and communicate them.<\/p>\n

                                Examples of ways that meetings can deepen Friends understanding of these practices
                                include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                                  \n
                                • Collect and share meetings\u2019 resources on worship and decision-making process.<\/li>\n
                                • Tell meetings\u2019 stories of worship and decision-making.<\/li>\n
                                • provide micro learning opportunities before worship and business meetings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

                                  \u00a0<\/p>\n

                                  \n

                                  Strategic Direction 5 \u2013 Functioning<\/h2>\n

                                  HEALTHY STRUCTURE & PROCESS<\/i>
                                  Simplify Governance & Administration<\/strong>
                                  We will use our finite resources of volunteer time and energy to focus primarily on God\u2019s work and to sustain our extended community. This process will simplify our structure and processes, clarify roles, responsibilities, authority, and accountability, and reduce the number of things we do. Thus, we will create new opportunities for access and participation, open to anyone with the skills, experience, and will serve, regardless of time and travel limitations.<\/p>\n

                                  <\/div>
                                  <\/span>FUNCTIONING DESTINATION 5-1: CLARIFYING ROLES<\/div>
                                  Provide clear communication about where we are all going together with particular lens of
                                  meetings\u2019 role and councils\u2019 role.<\/p>\n

                                  This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                                    \n
                                  • Councils are living up to their charge and not going beyond their authority. Council
                                    members can accurately evaluate the work of the councils.<\/li>\n
                                  • Meetings participate in the business of the yearly meeting and provide the required
                                    discernment for how we move forward as a community.<\/li>\n
                                  • All Friends can trust one another to practice their role well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                    We are using an approach to governance that is still being formed. As we proceed, we are
                                    finding places where Friends have different beliefs about the way we expect the councils
                                    to support the yearly meeting and about the role of our meetings. Our expectations can be
                                    clarified by giving deliberate attention to identifying the questions and finding a way
                                    forward together.<\/p>\n

                                    Example strategies include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                                      \n
                                    • Develop a tool\/set of tools for consistently listening to what is important to meetings.<\/li>\n
                                    • Provide regular communications from councils to Friends which both informs and engages them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>
                                      <\/div>
                                      <\/span>FUNCTIONING DESTINATION 5-2: GOVERNANCE ORIENTATION<\/div>
                                      Orient everyone who serves in PYM Governance to their responsibilities, authority, and
                                      resources.<\/p>\n

                                      This Destination focuses on ensuring that<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                                        \n
                                      • All the people who are asked to serve our community are clear on what is expected of them \u2013 and what is not.<\/li>\n
                                      • All the people who are NOT active in our governance structure know what to expect of the governance and can support the governance in being effective.<\/li>\n
                                      • The various groups within our governance work well with each other so they can successfully play their roles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                        As a people, we are not always comfortable with asking a small group of people to act on
                                        behalf of all of us. However, we have organized support for our entire community in a
                                        manner that asks us to do exactly that \u2013 appoint individuals to take responsibility for a
                                        specific part of managing our community so we can be healthy and spiritually grounded.
                                        We\u2019re more able to do our part in supporting the community when it is clear to everyone
                                        what our part is.<\/p>\n

                                        Example strategies include<\/i>:<\/p>\n

                                          \n
                                        • Develop standard orientation practices for every council and committee.<\/li>\n
                                        • Publicly publish a library of documents and resources that councils and committees use to guide their service<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                          Strategic Direction 1…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":433,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

                                          Strategic Direction 1 - Connecting<\/h2>

                                          PYM IS THE INTERCONNECTION OF FRIENDS, MEETINGS AND THE MINISTRIES THEY CARRY<\/i><\/p>

                                          Connect Friends and meetings to one another so that we may experience vibrant, Spirit-led faith community. Connect through effective communications and technology.<\/strong><\/p>

                                          We will share among us the wisdom, creativity, and resources of our meetings and Friends, so they may resonate throughout the whole community and allow us to thrive in relationship with the Divine. Individuals and meetings will give time, gifts and experience in service, and in turn receive new insight, grounding and friendships, directly and indirectly enriching their meetings and their own spiritual lives.<\/p>

                                          We will connect Friends across the geography of PYM and with Friends from the wider world, in order to carry our concerns together. We will do this in a manner that allows everyone to participate in the life of the community.<\/p>

                                          Strategic Direction 2 \u2013 Belonging<\/h2>

                                          PYM IS AN EXTENDED FAMILY OF FRIENDS<\/i><\/p>

                                          Broaden engagement and deepen relationship in our yearly meeting while ensuring all aspects of our community are welcoming and safe for all people.<\/strong><\/p>

                                          Because we are all interconnected, we seek to increase a sense of belonging to an extended family of Friends. To be effective and whole, we need each other. Our personal experience of being a Friend is deepened by worshipping, discerning business, and sharing community beyond our home meetings. Friends of all ages, locations, and interests will have ways of entering the community and will feel glad they\u2019ve participated.<\/p>

                                          We will look courageously into the roots of inequity in our culture, be willing to see and feel the pain it can cause and choose to do whatever is necessary to take risks and to change. We will dismantle imposed barriers in our yearly and monthly meeting structures and activities, which impede our experience of God within our communities and within ourselves. We seek to make the congregations inside of
                                          our meetinghouses reflect the beauty and diversity of the world outside of them.<\/p>

                                          Strategic Direction 3 \u2013 Witnessing<\/h2>

                                          ADDRESS RACISM & ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE <\/i><\/p>

                                          Facilitate PYM-wide corporate witness and social action.<\/strong>
                                          As seekers of Truth, we expect to be called to action. Together, as a PYM community, we will witness to the Light, contributing to transformational work in the world. We will encourage and support one another in taking risks together, as we make an impact on our society. We will enhance our effectiveness by focusing our corporate action on fewer, clearer goals.<\/p>

                                          Strategic Direction 4 \u2013 Communication<\/h2>

                                          SAY WHO WE ARE<\/i><\/p>

                                          Develop and widely communicate clear messages about Quakers and PYM<\/strong>
                                          We will send boldly into the world the message of our distinctive Quaker faith and practice, so that we are known not only for our historic witness but also for our present action, encouraging others to join us, and so that all may be inspired.<\/p>

                                          Strategic Direction 5 \u2013 Functioning<\/h2>

                                          HEALTHY STRUCTURE & PROCESS<\/i><\/p>

                                          Simplify Governance & Administration<\/strong>
                                          We will use our finite resources of volunteer time and energy to focus primarily on God\u2019s work and to sustain our extended community. This process will simplify our structure and processes, clarify roles, responsibilities, authority, and accountability, and reduce the number of things we do. Thus, we will create new opportunities for access and participation, open to anyone with the skills, experience, and will serve, regardless of time and travel limitations.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"iawp_total_views":227,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-183","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/433"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/our-organization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}