PYM News & Events Update October 2015

Transcription

1 Quaker Parent Meet-Up 2015 Saturday, September 19 PYM News & Events Update October 2015 Parents from across the Yearly Meeting are invited to meet up for a potluck meal and Quaker fellowship - followed by a Special Event just for them! The Youth Program Team is hosting this dinner - they have fun with the kids and teens all year long and this is a chance for the adults to join in the same community, to find out more about youth programs and to have a good time together. Special Event Revealed: After the potluck dinner, we'll be screening some of the Oscar Nominated Short Films for 2015! Come see some of the nominees in the animation category (all rated G and PG). There will still be childcare available, so kids can decide whether to check out the films or hang out with their friends. Popcorn provided! Middle School Friends (grades 6-8) are also invited to the potluck and a concurrent sleepover (find out more about this free one-night sleepover, Register Now: You Are Invited: Friendly 800's Potluck Dinner October 18, 2015, 5:30-7:30 pm What is Friendly 800s? Friendly 800's is when we do that on a yearly meeting level! It is 100+ potluck dinners for 8 Friends in 100+ PYM homes - all at the same time! Everyone is invited to participate by hosting or visiting. Each location will engage in similar activities like responding to a query and skyping with another group - and of course, eating! Registration is opening soon:

2 Continuing Sessions November 7, 2015, Westtown School A deeply powerful day where we all do our most important work: Continuing Sessions. Continuing Sessions is an extension of the best parts of our residential Annual Sessions packed into a day-long event. We'll begin and end in worship, we'll engage the mission and priorities of our yearly meeting, and we'll have fun as we seek spiritual deepening. Programs for Children and Youth. Weekend-long gathering for middle-school-age and high-school-age youth will run concurrently. Free! (small lunch fee, or brown bag it) 9-9:30 a.m. Check-In 5-6 p.m. Closing Worship Registration begins soon: September 2015 Quaker Parent Meet-Up 2015, Saturday, September 19, 4:30-8:30 pm Parents from across the Yearly Meeting are invited to meet up for a potluck meal and Quaker fellowship - followed by a Special Event: screening some of the Oscar Nominated Short Films for 2015! The Youth Program Team is hosting this dinner - they have fun with the kids and teens all year long and this is a chance for the adults to join in the same community, to find out more about youth programs and to have a good time together. Middle School Friends (grades 6-8) are also invited to the potluck and a concurrent sleepover (find out more about this free one-night sleepover, Register Now! Middle School Sleepover & Parent Meet-Up, September 19-20, Wilmington Monthly Meeting. This event runs concurrently with the Parent Meet-Up. This is the first Middle School Friends event of the year. This is a great opportunity for a middle schooler who has never participated in a PYM MSF event to come try it out. It's one night, it's free, and parents are there for the first couple of hours. Register Now for the Middle School Sleepover: Pilgrimage to England, Registration now open. July 11-17, Join trip leaders, Irene McHenry (Chestnut Hill Meeting) and Deborra Sines Pancoe (Abington Meeting), of the Friends Council on Education, to experience the roots of the Religious Society of Friends in England's "1652 Country" with a guide from Britain Yearly Meeting. Registration now open: October 2015 Young Adult Friends Fall Retreat, October 2-4, Newtown Friends Meeting. Join Young Adult Friends (YAF) age 18-35ish from across the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting region and beyond for our Fall Retreat. Expect worship sharing, workshops, games, and fellowship as our time is centered on the theme". Dream Big - Make it Happen". Register Now:

3 You Are Invited: Friendly 800's Potluck Dinner, 5:30-7:30 pm October 18, 2015 Location: Friends from the meeting gather in groups of about 8 people for a potluck dinner in one another's homes. What is Friendly 800s? Friendly 800's is when we do that on a yearly meeting level! It is 100+ potluck dinners for 8 Friends in 100+ PYM homes - all at the same time! Everyone is invited to participate by hosting or visiting. Each location will engage in similar activities like responding to a query and skyping with another group -and of course, eating! Registration is opening soon: Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust's 2015 William Penn Fundraiser, Friday, October 23. Join us for a fundraiser to benefit the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust, a group tasked with supporting the continued preservation and interpretation of this National Historic Landmark. Reception will followed by a presentation by Sam Katz, creator of the Emmy Award winning documentary series."philadelphia: the Great Experiment." RSVP before October 11. Tickets ($75 pp) can be purchased online. Details: November 2015 Continuing Sessions, November 7, Westtown School A deeply powerful day where we all do our most important work: Continuing Sessions. Continuing Sessions is an extension of the best parts of our residential Annual Sessions packed into a day-long event. We'll begin and end in worship, we'll engage the mission and priorities of our yearly meeting, and we'll have fun as we seek spiritual deepening. Programs for Children and Youth. Weekend-long gathering for middle-school-age and high-school-age youth will run concurrently. Free! (small lunch fee, or brown bag it) 9-9:30 a.m. Check-In 5-6 p.m. Closing Worship Registration begins soon: Young Friends Fall Gathering at Continuing Sessions, November 6-8 Come join Young Friends for our fall gathering weekend of fun and community! We'll have workshops and worship sharing exploring our gathering the theme and join the whole yearly meeting for Continuing Sessions at Westtown School! Details: Middle School Friends at Continuing Sessions, November 6-8 We will host our first weekend event around the Fall 2015 Continuing Sessions event! We will explore Westtown school, and go on many grand adventures! Details: PYM News Nurture Quaker Faith, Practice, Witness & Community "Use your capabilities and your possessions not as ends in themselves but as God's gifts entrusted to you. Share them with others; use them with humility, courtesy and affection" - from PYM Faith & Practice. The generosity of members and attenders is a spirit which nourishes our community of Friends. We hope that Friends are faithfully supporting the financial needs of their Monthly Meeting. As we near the end of the 2015 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Annual Fund campaign, we also ask each Friend to consider making a meaningful

4 gift to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting before September 30th. Your gift supports the ministries of our community. Thank you! Ways to Give: online at by mail to PYM, 1515 Cherry St., Phila., PA or by phone at Submit Events for the PYM Quaker Community Calendar The PYM Quaker Community Calendar is a service designed to help publicize programs and events under the care of PYM monthly and quarterly meetings. It is available 24/7 online, worldwide on the PYM Website. The PYM Quaker Community Calendar will help everyone learn of the many activities, ministries and programs that are under the care of our meetings and over time will help increase the visibility of Quaker events to the general public. Visit the calendar at We also encourage all PYM monthly and quarterly meetings to submit events that are under the care of the meeting, to be posted on the PYM Quaker Community Calendar. Just fill in a simple form on our website at PYM Library The PYM Library is open every Tuesday & Thursday afternoon from 12:30 to 5:00 pm; and on first Thursdays from 12:00-8:00 pm. Every member of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting may be a member of the library - all you need to do is register! You may register by calling the library at or filling out an online form. Once you are registered, you may start borrowing books! The PYM Library Catalog is available on the web at and books may be delivered and returned by mail or by Interim Meeting courier from your meeting. PYM Volunteering: Living our Quaker Faith and Practice PYM volunteers contributed over 40,000 hours of service last year - as friendly adult presences in youth programs, in the library, at historic Arch Street Meeting House, in Peace and Concerns groups, and moving the work and witness of the yearly meeting forward. Volunteering is a great way to share your Quaker faith, to learn a new skill, and to get out and connect with other Friends during the cold winter months. Please visit the volunteer webpages or contact Tricia Coscia, Volunteer & Sessions Coordinator, volunteers@pym.org, First Day School Consultants First Day School Consultants are volunteers that contribute to the depth and breadth of the capacity for monthly meetings to nurture the spiritual lives of children. This is a new program under the care of the Children's Spiritual Life Committee. If you would like to explore the idea further, please contact Marty Smith at mgsmithnj1@gmail.com or Employment Opportunities

5 On-Call Child Care Assistants Philadelphia Yearly Meeting seeks individuals to provide childcare during meetings and events for our youngest friends. Details: News... Pendle Hill Programs Answering the Call to Radical Faithfulness runs from mid-september through the end of February. It is designed to help people answer the prophetic call to heal and repair the world and become ever more bold, effective, and spiritually grounded in their activist work for peace, social justice, and sustainability. Towards this end, the program includes four short residencies at Pendle Hill. For more information, visit or Steve Chase, or x 123. September 18-20, 2015 Lives of Service with Lloyd Guindon and Bob Denison. Enjoy a low-cost weekend of fun, service, and fellowship at Pendle Hill helping spruce up the grounds and buildings. Opportunities for worship-sharing, and plenty of guided work for all levels- mostly medium to heavy. October 30-November 1, 2015 Inquirers' Weekend. Ground yourself in the basics of Quaker faith and practice with Quaker historian Emma Lapsansky-Werner and Quaker publisher Chris Mohr. Experience worship, discussion, sharing, and questions with fellow seekers and experienced Quaker leaders. November 1-5, 2015 Beyond Diversity 101. Become more effective in your work to overcome racism through this five-day intensive with skilled Quaker educators Niyonu Spann and Lisa Graustein. Use heart, mind, body and spirit together in a learning community that moves beyond blame and guilt to take responsibility, shift mindsets, and build useful skills. November 20-22, 2015 Clerking. Join master teacher Arthur Larrabee and clerks of Quaker meetings and committees for this annual must-attend for incoming clerks. New and experienced clerks come together to consider the role of presiding clerk. You will come away with new energy, enthusiasm, and skills for serving your community as clerk. November 27-29, 2015 Waiting on the Spirit. The Advent season invites us to slow down and enter a period of expectant waiting. Join Deborah Shaw and John Meyer for a retreat with worship, devotional reading, music, deep listening, and shared fellowship. Information: New Member 20% Discount at quakerbooks.org To welcome new members into the Society of Friends, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is offering a 20% discount on books at the Friends General Conference bookstore ( or by phone at ). New members may request a discount code by contacting Mark Parker Miller at markpm.mail@gmail.com. We ask all meeting clerks to help get the word out to new members as they begin their journey as Quakers. For more information, please see our website at Resource for PYM First Day School Teachers A personal, easily accessible resource is now available for First Day School teachers who need ideas for lessons, curricula to use, tips for teaching diverse ages, and how to keep students' attention.

6 Marty Smith, former Director of Religious Education for PYM, retired teacher, is eager to answer questions and give guidance to teachers of Religious Education. Contact: Marty Smith, Volunteer FDS Consultant, or T. Wistar Brown Teachers' Fund The Fund provides financial grants supporting members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting who are over the age of 21 and who request assistance for professional development in preparing themselves to teach at the primary or secondary school level. Deadlines are: March 10 for summer. June 10 for fall/winter. November 1 for spring. Visit: for information. Each issue of PYM News & Events Update is made possible by contributions from people like you. Please consider making a contribution to the Annual Fund to help nurture Quaker faith and practice. Make a gift online now at or call