Philadelphia Quarter Clerk’s Musings: A Report to January 27 Meeting for Business:

Birth of a new meeting:

West Philadelphia Worship Group has declared its intention to become a monthly meeting, and, God and weather willing, representatives will be present at our January Meeting. From their minutes:

We are exploring what Meeting to be in relation to as a Preparative Meeting. We have a strong preference to be connected to an individual Friends Meeting and we are at Quarterly Meeting to be in contact with as many as possible. We are inviting individuals from any Meeting that has an interest to come visit us for worship on Sunday afternoons at 1:30. We hope to get this figured out as soon as possible, with an understanding that G!d's timing may be different than what we desire.

Friends’ Racial/Social/Economic Justice Work:There is a spirit moving among Friends in Philadelphia Quarter…

  • Movement to End Mass Incarceration – The Unitarian Society of Germantown hosted a mass incarceration teach in on Nov 5, 2013, attended by several hundred, and a follow-up meeting in January. Out of these meetings has come an executive committee comprised of 3 Quakers and 3 Unitarians. They seek members from other faiths to join the exec com. Sub Committees are forming on fundraising/finance, communications/media, tutoring, and more. Contact Nancy Anderson
  • TCRC (The Center for Returning Citizens) – Germantown MM member Jondhi Harrell is an inspiration to many. After spending 25 years in prison, he returned to help transform not just his life, but the lives of all of Philadelphia’s “returning citizens.” Check out and subscribe to help create living wage jobs for Philadelphia’s 300,000 returning citizens.
  • Sustainable 19144 – Green Street MM member, Susan Christian, has a leading to create a just and sustainable Germantown. With a minute and support from her meeting, she is reaching out to fellow Germantown residents to help create the “beloved community” in our midst.
  • EMIR – Green Street MM member Victoria Greene founded EMIR (Every Murder is Real) to support those who have lost family members to violence. Their headquarters in St Stephens parish on Germantown Ave is an inviting oasis – filled with beautifully executed murals designed by adjudicated youth from St Gabriel’s near Norristown, and painted by local youth. EMIR’s practice is to host a meal for those suffering from loss and then move to small group discussion to aid the healing process. They are looking for a new home as the new pastor of St Stephens now has a different ministry to follow. Victoria is recovering from a long illness with a new vision for the future!
  • AVP in Germantown and Kensington – Chestnut Hill MM member. Carolyn Schodt has long been faithful to her calling to bring AVP (Alternatives to Violence) training to prison inmates and, more recently, to students in schools plagued by violence. This month, she has helped bring AVP to Germantown with a group that included Jondhi’s “returning citizens” andthe aforementioned Susan Christian. Friends in our quarter are beginning to connect in wonderful ways!
  • FGC offers a generous discount to Friends to attend the White Privilege Conference, March 26-29. For any who have grown up with white privilege, it is transformative.
  • I sense that there is more at work in PQM that has not yet been brought to my attention. Share your work with us!

Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) Philadelphia House:

I had the pleasure of attending the QVS open house at their beautiful home on West Tulpehocken Street earlier this month. The site placements seem to be providing the volunteers the opportunity to do meaningful work on the fronts of social and racial justice - from teaching music at DePaul Catholic to helping organize the Quaker contingent to the 2014 White Privilege Conference to organizing a mass incarceration conference at Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Organization. At every exciting gathering I attend, there seems to be at least one QVS volunteer there to listen and to share. They have truly become part of our community! And, PQM is serving as the fiscal agent for a generous grant of $30,000 per year for 3 years from the Snave foundation that is paying the salary of its Philadelphia Coordinator, Ross Hennessey.

Query - What if we, as a Quarter, could raise enough funds so that both Fairhill and TCRC could be a site placement for QVS volunteers starting September 2014?

Legal Recognition of Same Gender Marriages

Our quarter coordinator, Margaret Wood, has been doing wonderful work in gathering and compiling minutes and statements approved by meetings within PYM. This, as a result of a minute brought to PQM in October by Germantown MM, asking for legal recognition for same gender marriages. At the November 9 Interim Meeting , PQM was encouraged to do the work of gathering, as well as to convene an ad hoc committee to draft a summary minute calling for legal recognition of same gender marriages that might be sent to Governor Corbett and the PA Legislature, which is considering a bill to make same gender marriages legal, at last. If you feel called to serve on the drafting committee, please contact Margaret Wood at .

Cross Pollination for Quarter Program, February 23, 2014 at CPMM

We are excited to be planning our second (annual) “cross pollination” gathering of meeting and committee clerks and members to meet with their counterparts to share successes and challenges. This event was enthusiastically received last February and we hope that even more committee clerks and members will gather this year at Central Philadelphia. 11:00 am for worship, followed by lunch and small group conversations.

Plans underway for a Gathering of PYM’s 13 Quarters:

As PYM’s Long Range Planning Grouppresents its progress to Interim meeting and in various listening sessions, there are some who wonder if Philadelphia yearly Meeting might actually be – not a 501 c3 organization centered in Philadelphia to generate programs - but the sum of its 13 quarters or 104 monthly meetings. Let us know if you are interested in attending a gathering to share the successes and challenges of our quarters – coming sometime this spring!

Frankford and Unity meetings:

Friends from PQM continue to visit Unity Meeting for Friday evening Meeting for Worship, in support of this Meeting that has dwindled to one member. Yet, this single member continues to follow a strong ministry of programming for youth in the neighborhood. Connections between Unity and Frankford MM, its near neighbor continue, at least partly through the Frankford Friends School Committee.

How can the Quarter draw closer to these Friends on the east side of the city?

The gift of attending several meetings:

In the past three years, I have had the joy of attending Central Philadelphia MM, Green Street MM, and this year, Germantown MM. With my membership still rooted at Chestnut Hill until I find a new “home,” it has been a gift to find welcome and spiritual community at each of these meetings. Each has treasures and gifts to offer in the form of its members and its practices. Would that we offered membership in Philadelphia Quarter!

Annual Reports from Monthly Meetings:

By the time you read this, I hope to have conferred with Phil and Sita re the annual report form. So that we may better know your works and the state of your meetings, we ask Meetings to submit their reports to Margaret Wood by March 31st. The Quarter will send a report to PYM, to re-invigorate that tradition.

Blessings to all, Hollister

January 24, 2014