FGC Friends is a feature of our monthly Vital Friends eNewsletter that highlights a Quaker meeting, organization, or individual Friends who work with FGC to nurture faith and Quaker practice. We’re pleased to feature FGC affiliated Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for the month of July.

FGC Friends is a feature of our monthly Vital Friends eNewsletter that highlights a Quaker meeting, organization, or individual Friends who work with FGC to nurture faith and Quaker practice. We’re pleased to feature FGC affiliated Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for the month of July.

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) is well underway in its transition to a new structure, one that focuses on bringing Friends together across four states and 104 monthly meetings to get to know one another and to engage collaboratively in work and witness.  To that end, PYM has hosted two Continuing Sessions, one in the Fall at the Westtown School and one in the Spring at the Arch Street Meetinghouse.  Each gathering focused on four goals: worship, fellowship, addressing racism in our midst and connecting Friends across the yearly meeting who hold a shared concern so they can work effectively to bring about a more just and peaceful world.  Well over 350 Friends of all ages attended each.

Friendly Facts about Philadelphia Yearly Meeting:

• In January, 2015, the yearly meeting took on the corporate leading of addressing racism within PYM, the Religious Society of Friends and beyond. Our query:  What does God tell PYM Friends to do next to end racism and white supremacy in the Religious Society of Friends and Beyond? has been at the center of our work as we educate ourselves about systemic racism, white supremacy and what it means to be a truly inclusive and welcoming spiritual community.
• Seven new Collaboratives have formed, each consisting of Friends from a variety of monthly meetings, to address such topics as Eco-Justice, Spiritual Formation, Individual Calls to Ministry, Legislative Policy, India Friends, Middle East and Public Education.  More are in the making.
• Monthly Meeting Clerks and Quarterly Meeting Clerks and Coordinators have begun meeting twice a year to share joys, learn new skills to support their meetings and provide mutual support. Building membership and engaging Friends more in the life of the meeting was our latest theme.
• Monthly Meetings throughout PYM have joined with local organizations and other houses of worship to create support systems for refugees the Middle East and Africa and Asia.
• Our beloved meetinghouse at 4^th and Arch Street is now under the loving care of the Arch Street Meetinghouse Preservation Trust and has undergone renovation and development of a new visitors program.
• And, we welcomed into PYM a new meeting in West Philadelphia composed primarily of Young Adult Friends who have been worshipping together for several years.

We hope Friends will visit our Calendar and Events Pages at our refreshed website PYM.org to learn more about what’s happening within Quaker meetings and organizations within our footprint and will join us at our Annual Sessions, July 27^th-31^st at Muhlenberg College. Registration is now open at PYM.ORG and we would love to welcome Friends from close by and far away!