PYM Today Online – Early October Edition

Dear Friends,

As I make plans to retire next September, I’ve been giving thought to the concerns and goals which will inform my work and the work of staff over the coming eleven months.

As we have in prior years, the Staff Administrative Team held a one day retreat at Pendle Hill in September. We began our time together with two framing questions:

• How can we be more intentional about inviting the Spirit into our work as PYM staff?
• How can we use this year to prepare for and support a successful General Secretary transition?

We had a lively discussion. In our time together, each of us was able to crystallize our own goals and aspirations for our work together this year, having in mind that we will be welcoming a new General Secretary next fall. Out of our discussion, I was able to affirm the following goals:

• Leave my work with the Yearly Meeting and staff in good shape spiritually as well as temporally
• Strengthen and grow the Thread programs
• Continue regular visits with Quarterly Meetings and major donors
• Support the Long Range Planning process
• Strengthen leadership within PYM staff
• Enable a smooth transfer to the new General Secretary

As we think together about this coming year, I invite you to share with me concerns and goals to which you feel I should be giving attention. I welcome considering what’s of concern to you and I can be reached atalarrabee@pym.org.

Blessings and thanks to you,

The numbers are in! This past year, PYM members and friends contributed more than 33,500 hours of service on committees, providing leadership, helping with youth programs, assisting with office work, staffing the library, interpreting the historic Arch Street Meeting House for the public, making Annual Sessions successful, and much, much more.

With gratitude and in honor of this faithful service, we are sponsoring a beehive through the Honey Bee Conservancy – and since a hive contains some 30,000+ bees, that’s approximately one bee for every hour of service contributed to our yearly meeting!

PYM members and friends care for the environment of the Yearly Meeting. Like the honeybees that pollinate our gardens, the time and energy you give is vital to the health of our faith community, and helps makes our world a better place.

Thank you so much!

On Wednesday, October 9, Brent Schopfel, CEO of Masonry Preservation Group will lead a free tour focusing on the intricate brickwork of the historic Arch Street Meeting House. Discussion and lunch will be followed by participatory brick wall building.

This lecture is part of our ongoing, free series focusing on the history of the Arch Street Meeting House, Quakerism and Philadelphia. Future Lunch & Lecture programs will include “Quilts & Quaker Patterns,” “Chocolate and the Quakers,” and “Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793.” Arch Street Meeting House is open to the public and is a National Historic Landmark. Find out more.

Young Adult Friends age 18-35ish from across our yearly meeting and beyond will gather for our annual Fall Retreat on Friday, October 11 at Newtown Friends Meeting, Newtown, PA.

Expect worship sharing, workshops, games, and fellowship as our time is centered around reconnecting with our playful selves and experiencing joyful spirituality. Good food and fun are also assured! Learn more and register now!

One of the ways Quakers have stayed in touch with each other through the years has been to write letters telling the story of their gatherings, so to create a worldwide network of correspondence and connection. These letters have historically been called epistles.

This year at PYM Annual Sessions, five epistles were written telling the experiences and spiritual insights of Adults, Young Adult Friends, Young Friends, Middle School Friends and Children of our faith community

We have published this year’s Epistles in booklet form mailed to all member households and meetings. We hope you have received your copy by now. In addition, you may wish to read our digital replica edition on our website or download a PDF copy to read or print at home.

After a personal crisis of confidence, Ben Pink Dandelion considered the spiritual meaning of “confidence” (literally, to live and act “with faith”). His reflections led him to delve deeply into early Friends’ understandings about spiritual growth and religious development and how to apply those principles to our community of Friends today. His insights are especially meaningful as we look toward the future.

“If we are to take our Quakerism seriously, if for us, for now, the Quaker way is the vehicle for our spiritual authenticity, then it seems to me we need to know our tradition well and to let it feed our present day lives without imprisoning them.” (Now, there’s a statement to reflect upon!)

“We need our faith vehicle to be in good shape [more than ever], but it is what we do that matters most. So, what are we to do?” Find out more.

PYM Today Online is published monthly to help strengthen our Philadelphia Yearly Meeting faith community through communication, connections and relationships.

We hope you found this edition of PYM Today Online informative and engaging. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to friends and family. Everyone is welcome to their own personal subscription – and it’s free! Just click the Forward to a Friend button in the column to the right of this message.

The Tenth Query:
Stewardship of the Environment

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