Friends and friends are remembering and acknowledging the life and work of Irene McHenry.
Irene served in many roles in Friends school education. She was the founding head of Delaware Valley Friends School and later served as executive director of Friends Council on Education. [Read more…] about Remembering Irene McHenry
Norman E. Donoghue, II, will discuss his book, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778, and Philadelphia Quaker, Henry Drinker, during the American Revolution on March 19, 2026, at ASMH.
5:30 PM – Refreshments
6:30 PM – Keynote Speaker: Norman E. Donoghue, II, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778
7:30 PM – Book Signing: Author Norman E. Donoghue, II will be available for questions and book signings.
In 1777, Congress labeled Quakers who would not take up arms in support of the War of Independence as “the most Dangerous Enemies America knows” and ordered Pennsylvania and Delaware to apprehend them. In response, Keystone State officials sent twenty men—seventeen of whom were Quakers—into exile, banishing them to Virginia, where they were held for a year.
Prisoners of Congress reconstructs this moment in American history through the experiences of four families: the Drinkers, the Fishers, the Pembertons, and the Gilpins. Identifying them as the new nation’s first political prisoners, Norman E. Donoghue II relates how the Quakers, once the preeminent power in Pennsylvania and an integral constituency of the colonies and early republic, came to be reviled by patriots who saw refusal to fight the English as borderline sedition.
Surprising, vital, and vividly told, this narrative of political and literal warfare waged by the United States against a pacifist religious group during the Revolutionary War era sheds new light on an essential aspect of American history. It will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the nation’s founding.
UPDATED 12.19.2025
Different Quaker meetings, organizations, and affiliates in our region are gathering food pantry items this season.
If your meeting is collecting food or donations for a local pantry, please let PYM staff know so we can share your meeting’s work with the wider community. Friends can post this information on PYM Connect or email communications@pym.org.
PYM Friends connected online and in-person this past fall for Fundraising Friends, Fall Continuing Sessions, and a Friends in Business event. Each of these opportunities brought Friends into clear work; they looked at financial stewardship in their meetings, reviewed the yearly meeting’s two witnesses, and considered how board service supports community as a whole.
[Read more…] about Friends Participated in Stewardship This Past November
This past weekend, November 7-9, our Fall Continuing Sessions at Arch Street Meeting House, and online, gathered us into a community for worship, fellowship, and discernment as we continued our theme of Members One of Another, which will continue through all of 2026’s sessions. In the spirit of Lucretia Mott, this Mott Memo captures a reflection of our time together. The minutes from these sessions will soon be available on the PYM website under Session Minutes, so Friends can read and reflect on the work and joy we shared. [Read more…] about Fall Continuing Sessions • Mott Memo • 2025
Each part of PYM Explained provides how the yearly meeting lives as one connected body and leads into what comes next. This virtual version is shared so Friends are able to interact with it for easy research and finding.
This article, written by Luis Andres Heao, originally appeared in the Associated Press.
At the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia’s Old City, more and more young people are seeking respite from a clamorous technological age in the silent worship of a centuries-old faith.
In West Philadelphia, on Baltimore and 48th, there’s a building where Friends gather to meet. It is not a meetinghouse, but inside those walls, a small community keeps a meeting thriving.
[Read more…] about West Philadelphia Friends: A Community Is Valued and Valuable
Whether it was John Cadbury and the Cadbury chocolate company, Paul Cuffe and his merchant enterprises, or Abraham Darby with his cast iron business, there is no shortage of notable Quakers throughout history who have had faithful service in commerce and industry.
While business leaders like these and countless other Friends practiced integrity, simplicity, peace, and other Quaker values in their professional lives due to their spiritual convictions, they soon found that faithfulness leads to trust and good order, helping them influence many of the business practices and movements we take for granted today. Notable contributions include being often associated with the early adoption of fixed prices and playing a key role in the Industrial Revolution due to their conviction to treat everyone they work with or employ with honesty, fairness, and quality. [Read more…] about Gatherings for Business-Minded Friends
Collaboratives are hives of activity in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting community. Friends work and meet together around shared interests or concerns. All Friends are welcome to join an existing collaborative or start a new one. If joining a collaborative isn’t the right fit at the moment, you can still engage with and support their work by attending events or sharing information. [Read more…] about Hives of Activity: Collaboratives in PYM
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