November 11, 2009

Greetings Friend!

Here is your monthly bulletin of news from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. You may wish to refer to the Calendar of Events on the PYM web site at www.pym.org/pm/cal.php. Thank you for helping to connect the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting community.

Allen Reeder, Editor, PYM News
215-241-7215
news@pym.org

FRIENDS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

PYM Sessions Coordinator, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
The PYM Sessions Coordinator provides primary staff support and leadership for the development, coordination and implementation of plans for Sessions of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. The Sessions Coordinator works closely with the Sessions Planning Group, the Clerk of PYM, the Project Groups for each of the sessions (March, July and any called session) and with other staff to ensure the successful programmatic and logistical coordination of PYM sessions.
This position is part-time, 70%, with pro-rated benefits.

We seek candidates who have exceptional, proven organizational abilities, high energy, and good written and oral communication skills. Must enjoy and excel at working collaboratively with others, including volunteers, and be comfortable using databases, spreadsheets and Internet.

Please visit our web site (www.pym.org) to view the full job description and the application process or contact Ginny Connolly, Human Resources Coordinator, humanresources@pym.org or 215-241-7225.

Executive Assistant to the General Secretary, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
This position supports the General Secretary in contributing to the vitality and effectiveness of PYM; provides organizational and administrative support to the General Secretary and has responsibility for the well functioning of the General Secretary’s office. Provides general support for PYM office and staff, and provides staff support for Interim Meeting and the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting. May have responsibility for independent projects. This position will be filled on a full-time or 80% basis, yet to be determined.

We seek candidates with a positive and outgoing manner, good interpersonal skills, strong organizational skills, experience with Microsoft Word and Excel, and who are able to be flexible to shifting organizational needs. Must be knowledgeable about the Religious Society of Friends and be able to operate with discretion and confidentiality.

Please visit our web site (www.pym.org) to view the full job description and the application process or contact Ginny Connolly, Human Resources Coordinator, humanresources@pym.org or 215-241-7225.

PYM Searching for Middle School Coordinator
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is searching for a Middle School Friends Program Coordinator as Elizabeth Walmsley prepares to leave the position. The MSF Program Coordinator supports the spiritual vitality of PYM through developing programs and resources, and coordinating a series of quarterly community gatherings for Middle School Friends (grades 6-8). The Coordinator works collaboratively as part of the PYM staff team to nurture the faith, practice, and witness of Quakerism in our young people and the adults who work with them. We are seeking an active Friend, preferably with a college degree, who has substantial experience working with children and relates well with 11-14-year-olds, adults, and high school volunteers. Must have the ability to organize programs and be attentive to large and small group dynamics and behavior management.

Please visit our web site www.pym.org (on the “Get Involved” menu) to view the full job description and the application process, or contact Ginny Connolly, Human Resources Coordinator, humanresources@pym.org or 215-241-7225.

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER ITEMS

12/3-12/6 Ten Thousand Villages at Woodstown Friends Meeting
For the last fourteen years during the holiday season, Woodstown Friends Meeting has hosted Ten Thousand Villages, an international gift festival that provides vital, fair income to artisans and their families in more than 32 developing nations by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories. This year the sale is Thursday December 3 through Sunday December 6 at the Woodstown Friends Meetinghouse Annex, 104 N Main St, Woodstown NJ 08098. Examples of products include a large assortment of holiday ornaments, jewelry, musical instruments, toys, carved animals, handmade paper and cards, scarves, tablecloths, hand carved animals, wood boxes, kitchen utensils and bookends. For more information, visit www.tenthousandvillages.com and www.woodstownfriends.org.

From the Greater PA region of the Climate Action Network:
We can only wish for a white Christmas, but we can plan for a Green Christmas. In December, while world leaders meet in Copenhagen addressing climate change actions on the global level, we can all take important action in our own lives by committing to an eco-friendly Christmas. The holiday season is a time of maximum consumption and landfill additions in US society. Before shopping for gifts check out the 20-minute video “The Story of Stuff” at http://www.storyofstuff.com/.
There are multiple websites to help you find meaningful, yet sustainable gifts, decorations, and good ideas for all ages. Members of the Greater PA region of the Climate Action Network have compiled a list of sites, books, DVDs, and family activities. Email coordinator@calnqm.org if you’d like a copy.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE SENT A MONTH AGO FOR THE NOVEMBER NEWSLETTERS.

Yearly Meeting Posts Annual Report on Web
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends has published its first Annual Report in more than a decade. General Secretary Arthur Larrabee, in an email to members and attenders, announced that the report is now available for download on the PYM website www.pym.org.

Read about the services provided by our Yearly Meeting to support Friends Meetings and their members and attenders. Topics highlighted include pastoral care, outreach, education, youth programs, Quaker service, Arch Street Meeting House and Conference Center, and a look to the future. The report also has a handy directory of PYM staff with their job titles and a statement of the Yearly Meeting’s finances.

With our Yearly Meeting’s heightened concern for EarthCare, and with sensitivity to our finances, PYM is distributing this Annual Report almost exclusively electronically. Printed copies are available on request to Friends without Internet access, or who prefer a printed version for other reasons. To receive a printed copy, please contact Kaye Henley in our Development Office: (215) 241-7271, or kayeh@pym.org.

NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FORUM WITH LENNY FOSTER, NAVAJO ELDER

Date: Sunday, November 1
Time: 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Location: Arch Street Meeting House
320 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19106

“Native American Rights and Spirituality – And the Case of Leonard Peltier” is a presentation sponsored by the Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Free and open to the public. Invite your (F)friends!

Lenny Foster, Dine (Navajo), will share his knowledge on Native American religious rights, the International Indian Treaty Council, and Leonard Peltier. Leonard Peltier was sentenced to life imprisonment in the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There has been debate over Peltier’s guilt and the fairness of his trial.

Recognizing the importance of traditional Native American religious practice as a source of strength and a necessary means of cultural survival, Lenny Foster has spent the last 28 years fighting to ensure that incarcerated Native Americans have the right to worship with access to their traditional ceremonies.

Contact the Indian Committee co-clerks at katederiel@verizon.net or jasperbeach@verizon.net.

GATHERING OF PYM MEETING ON WORSHIP & MINISTRY

Date: Saturday, November 7
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Location: Burlington Meeting House and Conference Center, 340 High Street, Burlington, NJ 09016; phone: 609-387-3875
For detailed directions visit: www.pym.org/burlingtonconference.

This meeting is for clerks of the Worship and Ministry committees of Monthly and Quarterly Meetings, and all Friends feeling called to care for the health of worship and ministry in the yearly meeting. At these gatherings, Friends have worshipped and shared concerns, advice and encouragement, drawing inspiration and strength from their communion with the Spirit and their fellowship. Please join us. Bring your own lunch. If child care is needed, let us know by October 24. Contact Jorge Arauz at 215-421-5811; email: wm@pym.org.

ANTI-BULLYING WORKSHOP FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EDUCATORS

DATE: Saturday, November 7, 2009
TIME: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Arch Street Meeting House, 4th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Free Parking Onsite
Fee: $5:00 will be collected at the door

This workshop is sponsored by the PYM Non-Violence and Children Working Group.

This experiential workshop will focus on:
* current research
* cyber bullying
* a process for reporting bullying
* how to gather information to help and protect the target
* strategies to help all students deal with and decrease bullying, and more

Act 48 Credit* is available for Pennsylvania teachers.
*There is a $15 fee for Act 48 credits

Contact: Elke Muller at elkem@PYM.org or call her at 215-241-7223 for more information and to register.

QUAKER COLLEGE FAIR

DATE: Saturday, November 14, 2009
TIME: 11a.m. – 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Friends Center
Contact person: Kori Heavner 215-241-7116; fahe@quaker.org

Sponsored by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and Friends Association for Higher Educations (FAHE). High school students and recent graduates (and parents) are invited to come learn about Quaker colleges and adult study centers including Bryn Mawr, Earlham, George Fox, Guilford, Haverford, Pendle Hill, Swarthmore, Whittier, William Penn, Wilmington and Woodbrooke. For more information, visit www.fahe.org. To register please contact Elke Muller at 215-241-7223; elkem@pym.org.

MAX CARTER LECTURE: BIBLICAL ROOTS OF FRIENDS TESTIMONIES

DATE: Saturday, November 15, 2009
TIME: 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Moorestown Friends Meeting
118 E Main Street, Moorestown NJ

The Bible Association of Friends in America and the Adult Religious Education Working Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting present Max Carter, Director of Friends Center and campus ministry coordinator at Guilford College. Light refreshments will follow the lecture. For child care or further information, please contact Charlotte Lippincott at 609-267-1736; clmood@aol.com.

SILENT RETREATS FOR FRIENDS - 2010
 
Friends and attenders who are drawn to the mystery we call God may find a retreat helpful. Two retreats are again offered in 2010 at St. Raphaela Center in Haverford PA. The retreats are one eight-day retreat,  Tuesday, January 5 to Wednesday, January 13; and one midweek retreat Tuesday, February 9 to Thursday, February 11.
Retreatants have private rooms and the run of the house, chapel, and spacious grounds for a prayer-filled time away. Renee Crauder from State College  Meeting is the spiritual director for these retreats, which are co-sponsored by PYM’s Adult Religious Education Concerns Group. The cost for the eight-day retreat is $450; the midweek retreat is $175. These fees include room, board, the facilities of the Center, and Renee's availability. A non-refundable deposit of $50 is due at the time of registration. Each retreat is limited to five retreatants. To register, call St. Raphaela Center at 610-642-5715; for more information, call Renee Crauder at 814-867-0644 or email rcrauder@comcast.net.

JOYFUL NEWS FROM THE INDIAN COMMITTEE

The Indian Committee is pleased to alert Friends to the following newly acquired Indian related materials which are now available through the PYM Library.

BOOKS

Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide by George “Tink” Tinker.

Strong Hearts: Native American Visions and Voices, a collection of contemporary American Indian art, photography, poetry, and non-fictional reflections.

The Never Broken Treaty? Quaker Witness and Testimony on Aboriginal Title and Rights: What Can’st Thou Say? by Sarah Chandler (Canadian Quaker), published by Canada Friends Service Committee.

DVD’s

In the Light of Reverence: Protecting America’s Sacred Lands, Environmental documentary about three Indigenous communities and the lands they seek to protect. The film raises issues of new cross cultural understandings and possible Quaker witness for the care of Mother Earth.

Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action , Profiles Native American activists who are fighting to protect Indian lands. This film speaks profoundly to the leadings of Friends who join in Quaker Earthcare Witness.

Members of the PYM Indian Committee are available to bring the films to Friends gatherings and welcome requests from Friends for assistance in discerning new knowledge and new ways for Quaker witness to and with Indigenous peoples.

Contact: Kate deRiel (Co-clerk; Haverford Monthly Meeting), 610-446-8383, katederiel@verizon.net; Elizabeth Koopman, (Co-clerk, Gwynedd Monthly Meeting), 410-771-1243, jasperbeach@verizon.net.

Deadline Extended for Quaker Youth Pilgrimage
Young Friends now have until November 30, 2009 to consider applying for next summer’s Quaker Youth Pilgrimage in the Northwestern United States. Please share this opportunity with young Friends in your meeting! The price has now been set at $1,300 for the month-long pilgrimage; some scholarship funds are available.  Travel to and from Seattle, the starting point for the pilgrimage, is additional. Visit http://www.fwccamericas.org for details on this event sponsored by Friends World Committee for Consultation.

The Quaker Youth Pilgrimage connects European young Friends with other 16-18-year-olds from the Section of the Americas. The extended deadline also applies to adults seeking to be leaders on this pilgrimage.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE SENT PREVIOUSLY AND ARE REPEATED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE

Buckingham Friends Meeting Film Series
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - Capitalism Hits the Fan. Addresses the root causes of today's economic crisis within the structures of American-style capitalism. (57 min.)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - Brother’s Keeper. Story of the "Ward Boys," four eccentric brothers who lived in isolation, without heat or running water. These elderly bachelors had virtually no contact with the outside world -- until one was found dead in the bed he shared with his brother. (105 min).

Free Admission. Starting Time: 7:30 p.m. Refreshments and Discussion after each film.
Buckingham Friends Meeting House, 5864 York Road, Lahaska (just south of Peddler’s Village)
For more information, go to www.buckinghamfriendsmeeting.org or call 215-794-5816

Arts On Arch
Thursday through Saturday - November 5-7, 2009
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) and Fellowship of Quakers in the Arts (FQA) are presenting an Art Show and Sale which opens with a Preview Party (open to all) on Thursday evening, Nov. 5, and runs through Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7. The show, at the Fourth and Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia, will feature up to 40 artists.

On Friday evening November 6 there will be a concert with Livingston Taylor and Liz Longley at the Arch Street Meeting House. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online. Information about Arts on Arch events is at http://www.pym.org/pm/arts-on-arch.php. Questions may be directed to Jan Hatchard in the PYM Development Office at 215-241-7115 or -7271 or janh@pym.org.

Greenleaf Fund to Assist Older Friends in Need
First Application Deadline November 15
PYM’s new Greenleaf Fund will provide grants and loans to elderly PYM Quakers, and those in sympathy with Friends, who are in need of assistance to meet their housing, medical, maintenance and living costs.
First application deadline is November 15, 2009. Application forms and guidelines will be available soon at www.pym.org and from the Clerk of your Meeting’s Care Committee. Questions? Contact PYM Care and Aging Coordinator George Schaefer at 215-241-7068 or georges@pym.org.

From the Greater Pennsylvania Climate Action Network
Your diet choices are a vote three times per day for a healthy environment. We rarely think about how our diet choices affect climate change. For meat eaters, here are some numbers and healthy choices to consider for our diets and climate:

• The livestock sector accounts for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and cattle are the largest contributor. The production of meat and dairy products emits more greenhouse gasses than cars, trucks, ships and planes combined.
• Producing a kilogram of beef creates 16 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents. That's four times higher than pork, and 10 times higher than poultry.
• By swapping chicken for beef, greenhouse gases generated by the meat's production drop 70 percent.
  A diet consisting largely or entirely of fruits, vegetables, and grains results in even greater greenhouse gas reductions.

At each meal we can make choices for the health of both body and climate. Bon Appétit!
-- John Hayden and Taylor Lamborn, Greater Pennsylvania Climate Action Network