PYM News & Events Update September 2015

Transcription

1 Quaker Parent Meet-Up 2015 Save the Date! Saturday, September 19 PYM News & Events Update September 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. 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, Watch for updates: You Are Invited: Friendly 800's Potluck Dinner October 18, 2015 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! Save the date now and watch for registration in September:

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 September 30: PYM Connect PYM Connect Online Conversations is a new and exciting way for people to connect with one another anytime, anywhere, 24 7, worldwide.our new Online Conversations features special places to connect, collaborate and grow together. Conversations are virtual discussion groups that anyone may participate in to ask questions, share knowledge, explore spirituality and more. Join in the conversation! Sign up to connect! Share your Meeting's Stories! Quaker Stories Video Project The Quaker Stories Video Project provides a means for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Friends to talk about, listen to and record one another's stories of our spiritual journeys, and to collect and share these stories online and in a video library. A Story Kit, equipment and Video-Making Manual provide a template and means to share and record stories from Friends in your Monthly Meetings and other Friendly groups. It is beginner-friendly and includes the tools needed to video record individual Friends' telling their stories so they can be shared throughout the Philadelphia community and beyond. To reserve the kit via the online form, or learn more, visit: September Extended Meeting for Worship, Saturday, September 5, 9:15 am-3:15 pm, Chestnut Hill Meeting. The Worship and Care Standing Committee and the Meeting on Worship and Ministry invite you to experience Extended Worship. Attend just a portion of the day or the full day. And remember to bring your lunch. All are welcome. Childcare available.

3 Information: Lola Georg, or Investing with Integrity Webinar 2015, Wednesday, September 9 Building Your Own Carbon Free Portfolio. Sponsored by the Eco-Justice Working Group, To learn of the specific time and to participate in the webinar, contact Paula Kline, kline.paula@gmail.com Intervisitation with Haverford Friends Meeting & Haverford College, Sunday September 13, Haverford Friends Meeting. Young Adult Friends from around the yearly meeting will be joining Haverford College students at Haverford Friends Meeting for worship at 10:30! Following worship, we'll have brunch with the Quaker students at Quaker House.YAF carpooling available contact: Clerk Damian Morden-Snipper, yafwgclerks@gmail.com. Details: Quaker Parent Meet-Up 2015 Save the date! Saturday, September 19 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. 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, Watch for updates: 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". Registration opens in August: You Are Invited: Friendly 800's Potluck Dinner, 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! Updates:

4 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 2014 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Annual Fund campaign, we also ask each Friend to consider making a meaningful gift to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting before June 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,

5 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 On-Call Child Care Assistants Philadelphia Yearly Meeting seeks individuals to provide childcare during meetings and events for our youngest friends. Details: News... 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. 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 mgsmithnj1@gmail.com. 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.

6 Make a gift online now at or call Learn more about how your gifts help nurture Quaker faith and practice at