Volunteers, Non-Profits, Crafts Vendors Needed! The 21st Annual Peace Fair of Bucks Quarterly Meeting will take place on Saturday, September 18, 2021, at Buckingham Friends Meetinghouse in Lahaska, just south of Peddlers Village. Up to 100 booths of local crafts, artwork, food, games, animals and Bucks area non-profits whose focus is peace, community service, healthy living and the environment. Browse the book sale and listen to entertainers like the Tookany Creek bluegrass band, River Drivers and kids’ songster Ecoman. Hear Bucks and Montgomery County poet laureates at the Poetry Reading or tour the Buckingham Quaker Meetinghouse, a National Landmark. The fair runs from 10:30am until 4:00pm and is handicap accessible. The suggested donation is $2 and parking is free. Local residents from toddlers to seniors will enjoy a delightful, engaging and uplifting day among the giant oaks and maples at the Peace Fair.
Social Justice
Let’s Talk with Matthew van Meter
Following on our April 22 ‘Let’s Talk About Deep Delta Justice’ session, Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee welcomes our member Matthew van Meter to continue the conversation of his compelling book, the historic Supreme Court case Duncan v. Louisiana, and its implications for anti-racism efforts today. The book is available through Pendle Hill and numerous other outlets. Click here to join the discussion, or phone 646-558-8656 and use meeting ID 815 8781 6369.
Change is in the Air! Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting
The Quarter gathers April 25, 2021 by Zoom. This spring session, hosted by West Philadelphia Friends Meeting, marks both a full cycle and a new beginning.
Full details, schedule, advanced documents and agenda are on the Event page on the PQM website.
Registration is easy. CLICK here. Two (2) Zoom links, one for morning and afternoon, will be emailed immediately to your inbox.
Join us for morning worship and fellowship with West Philly Friends; and then gather from 1- 4 PM for our host’s program AND spirit-led business.
Discover what emerges after we settle into deep winter reflection and renewal – asking ‘What work is ours as a Quarterly Meeting? What piece of God’s work is PQM called to take on?
Some Highlights:
Program: Discover West Philadelphia Friends Meeting and their Work and Nurture. We will hear about West Philadelphia Friends Meeting’s unique preparative meeting under the care of Green Street Friends Meeting and discuss how the meeting supports individual and group engagement with the world. Topics will include WPFM’s community-based work including its Demolishing White Supremacy group, Spiritual Nurture program, clearness committees, and support for individual leadings.
The PQM Spiritual State of the Quarter will be shared.
The Clerk will present The Way Forward – plan for PQM in next year, based on the prayerful work we have done together these past months.
Meet with friends across the quarter to consider what work we feel Spirit calls us to do together.
Change is in the air! Join us for some or all of the day.
A Brief Introduction to Black History
Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting will include a presentation on Black History, featuring Dr. Teresa Nance. Friends are invited to participate, with worship starting at 10 AM, followed by the program at 11 AM.
Nance is currently serving as the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Chief Diversity Officer at Villanova University. Her office has launched a new campaign called Living Race—Transforming Community that focuses on organizational systemic change and high-impact community engagement to facilitate opportunities for Black and minoritized students, staff and faculty to succeed and thrive within the University. She has ties with both Swarthmore and Central Philadelphia Monthly Meetings. Please see the PYM Stories about Dr. Nance for additional information.
Pre-registration is required; zoom information will be sent on Saturday, 4/24 to those who have pre-registered. Link: https://www.southjerseyquakers.org/quarterly-mtg-4-25/
Let’s Talk About Deep Delta Justice
Join Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee as we read and discuss our member Matthew van Meter’s book about life, politics and civil rights in the 1960s – and the landmark civil rights decision of Duncan v. Louisiana. Matthew, a journalist and activist (Shakespeare in Prison), did extensive research to create an account of “how grassroots heroism can topple even one of segregation’s most fearsome tyrants.” The book is available through Pendle Hill and numerous other outlets. Click here to join the discussion, or phone 646-558-8656 and use meeting ID 873 3565 8140. And save the date: Matthew joins us Thursday, May 13, at 7:30pm, to discuss his work.
Let’s Talk About Equity in Education
Join Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee for a conversation with Quinton Law and Harry Lewis, leaders of Moorestown Alumni for Racial Equity & Inclusion (MAREI). MAREI formed in the aftermath of a teach-in on racism in Moorestown schools held last spring. (That teach-in was organized by a group that included two young Quakers.) MAREI developed a detailed Call to Action recommending specific steps schools can take to promote equity and inclusion, and are working with the board of education, New Jersey Legislature and others to implement meaningful action. Click here to join the discussion, or phone 646-558-8656 and use meeting ID 815 8781 6369.
Let’s Talk About Incarceration, Justice and Crime
Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee invites you to read and discuss this essay by Reginald Dwayne Betts, a poet, lawyer and ex-convict whose mother survived a violent crime, and worked to put her attacker in prison. Betts brings an important, multi-layered and eloquent perspective to questions of crime, punishment and race in America today. Click here to join the conversation on Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 pm, or phone 646-558-8656 and use meeting #873 3565 8140.
If the link above doesn’t work, copy this URL and paste into your internet browser to read the essay: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/magazine/kamala-harris-crime-prison.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article.
If the link for the meeting doesn’t work, copy and paste this URL to join the conversation: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87335658140.
Let’s Talk About Incarceration, Justice and Crime
Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee welcomes you to read and discuss this essay by Reginald Dwayne Betts, a poet, lawyer and ex-convict whose mother survived a violent crime, and worked to put her attacker in prison. Betts brings an important, multi-layered and eloquent perspective to questions of crime, punishment and race in America today. Click here to join the conversation, or phone 646-558-8656 and use meeting #873 3565 8140.
Let’s Talk with a Local Quaker Activist
Boaz Matlack, a criminal justice activist and former Camp Dark Waters counselor, joins Moorestown Friends Meeting’s Anti-Racism Committee for a conversation about working with law enforcement, school districts, F/friends and neighbors to address racial justice issues in our communities. Click here to join the conversation on Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 pm, or phone 646-558-8656 and use meeting #815 8781 6369.
Stories of Service: QVS Alumni Panel
Quaker Voluntary Service invites you to a special QVS Alumni Panel on March 7th from 4-5:30pm. The panel will feature four young adults who served in QVS and currently live and work in the Philadelphia area. Panelists will share about the transformational experience of QVS, and how they are engaged in spiritually-grounded service and community today. Alumni panelists include:
- Olivia Chalkley, 2017-2018 Atlanta
- Paloma Collazo-Vargas, 2019-2020 Philadelphia
- Andrew Huff, 2015-2016 Boston
- Maire Moriarty, 2013-2014 Philadelphia
QVS has five program cities including Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia, and Portland, OR. Each year, over 30 young adult Fellows spend a year serving with various social justice organizations, experiencing the Quaker Way, and living in community. Today, many Alumni play key leadership roles in Quaker meetings and organizations and work in settings which contribute to the healing of the world. These young adults infuse our Religious Society and the wider world with life and vision.
This event is free and open to the public. RSVP at quakervoluntaryservice.org/events.