Friends Center

Spring Family Overnight

April 29 @ 2:00 pm – April 30 @ 12:00 pm

Friends, food, and a campfire! Stories, games, and outdoor fun! It’s Spring Family Overnight at Camp Dark Waters!

This year, the overnight is open to all families with children in 8th grade and younger.

Join us for multigenerational activities for the whole family, dinner together, free time to play, bedtime stories, multigenerational worship on Sunday morning, and a chance for adults to spend time with other parents. And everyone will be home on Sunday in time to prepare for the rest of the week!

REGISTER→

Note: All children need to have a Health/Permission form filled out when registering for in-person and overnight events (Family Overnights, Annual Sessions). This will be on file all year and is good for all events from Annual Sessions in July through the following June, when there will be an updated form due.

Strengthening civil society in Africa: An interview with Kennedy Akolo, Africa regional director.

“At the end of day, the Salama Hub is about transforming lives in this part of world. If this program is a success, it could change how the Horn of Africa responds to and prevents conflict.”

Access the full article here.

Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology

Meeting Membership:

To find out what being a member of our meeting means, click this link: On Being a Member of Central Philadelphia Friends Meeting.

We seek to be a welcoming community to all people regardless of their race or ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or social situation, and we invite everyone to worship with us and to participate in our community life, whether they are members or not.

Why join Central Philadelphia Meeting?

How do I apply for membership?

Want to change your membership status?

For answers to the questions above and even more information about CPMM click here.

TENANT NEWS

Join CASA Philadelphia for their

2023 Liberty Bell Gala!

May 11, 2023 ~ The Downtown Club

Help us raise the funds needed to provide a CASA volunteer to 300 children this year.

You can purchase your TICKETS HERE.

Can’t make it? You can make a DONATION HERE.

Help us find Gala Sponsors ~ SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNTIES HERE.

You don’t want to miss this fun and festive event and celebration of our 2023 honorees:

Champion of Children: Vincent Hughes, PA Senator

Outstanding Health Advocate: The Homeless Health Initiative, CHOP

Excellence in Advocacy: The Education Law Center

Outstanding CASA and EDM Volunteers – To Be Announced!

FRIENDS CHILD CARE CENTER

Spring Social, May 5, 2023, 6-8 pm

The Pyramid Club

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Join PSR on May 4th at 6pm for a webinar with Kristina Marusic, which will be moderated by PSR PA Board Member, Julie Becker.

This year’s conference theme is “BodyDreaming: Self-Regulation, Jung, and Neuroscience in Trauma Recovery.”

This year, our plenary speaker is the accomplished Jungian analyst and author Marian Dunlea, from Ireland. In addition to being a delightful person, Marian is a passionate student of neuroscience with extensive training in a host of healing modalities.

Registration is now open for The Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology which will be held in person only at Pendle Hill, May 26 to May 29, 2023.

Full article here.

Registration here.

March Tenant Newsletter: Open House, Film Festival, Racial Healing and A Bookfair

April 4, 2023

Issue 86, March 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE:
Tell your colleagues about Friends Center’s
event and office space! 

April 18 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites. Locally, Global Philadelphia is encouraging Philadelphia’s 67 National Historic Landmarks—including our own Race Street Quaker Meetinghouse—to host public programs that day.

This year, we’re joining in! Friends Center will host a public open house from 11 am to 5 pm to showcase our meeting and conference spaces. Please join us if you are new to Friends Center or just need a refresher on the rooms, their capabilities, and how to reserve space. Either way, you’re welcome to join us for light refreshments!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

New to Share with Parents & Caregivers

Please share with families this 5-minute survey from Youth Programs staff to help with planning for both Annual Sessions in July and future youth programs. Looking forward to being back in the Annual Sessions Family Neighborhood!

The Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum

Saturday, 8 April 2023

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1978) and The Proud Valley (1940) – Celebrating Paul Robeson’s 125th Birthday

Honoring Quaker descendant Paul Robeson, the “beleaguered leader” and “artist as revolutionary,” groundbreaking recording, film, theatrical, and music star.
Featuring a discussion between Robeson scholars Dr. Gerald Horne, Dr. Charles Musser, and Dr. Harold D. Weaver.

ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir

Adult Religious Education/Racial Healing & Wholeness Program

“The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves”

When and Where: Two complimentary programs

April 16 for CPMM, 1-2:30, hybrid in-person and virtual.
April 23 for Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting at Germantown, time TBD.

These two programs are not the same; they complement each other.

More details about the programs and Andrew available here.

TENANT NEWS

Gender Justice Fund featured in Billy Penn, 3/25/2023:

140 years ago, a group of Philly women set out to advance gender equity

A descendant of the New Century Guild is still active in philanthropic grantmaking today.

“The organization’s role shifted throughout the years, and a descendant of the organization — the Gender Justice Fund — still operates today as a local philanthropic grant-making foundation.” (And as a tenant at Friends Center!)

Read the full article.

C.A.I.R

Sings Dolly & Holly

April 22, 2023, 7:30 pm

Friends Childcare Centeris hosting a book fair!

IN THE WIDER QUAKER WORLD

Glam.com feature:
“Silent Weddings: The Simple, Unconventional Tradition that Could be Right for You”

Although some facts in this piece are off, it is an interesting take on “self-uniting” weddings: “If you’re an introvert who prefers a small and peaceful gathering over boisterous crowds, you might like the idea of having a silent wedding—commonly known as a Quaker wedding.”

Friends General Conference

February 2023 Newsletter: Tell a Friend, Meetinghouse Upgrades, Code Switching, Respectful Parenting and more

February 22, 2023March 22, 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE:
Tell your colleagues about Friends Center’s
event and office space! 

It has been nice to see more of you around Friends Center recently! We have also had an uptick in in-person and hybrid events.

Friends Center is beginning to market our office and meeting space more actively this year than we have for the last three years. Of course, the best advertising is word of mouth. So, we would be grateful if you would let your nonprofit colleagues know that limited space is again available to rent here in our LEED-certified green building. Smaller organizations with peace and justice missions are especially welcome.

In addition, our meeting and conference spaces are fully open. Space is booked more frequently as more organizations return to in-person as well as hybrid meetings, which we also support. Nonprofits receive an automatic 20% discount.

Here are two links you could share:

Office Space: https://friendscentercorp.org/office-rental/
Conference & Meeting Rooms: https://friendscentercorp.org/event-space/

Thank you, as always, for being part of the Friends Center community.

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

News from Friends Child Care Center

Friends Child Care Center has a 4-star rating in Pennsylvania’s Quality Rating & Improvement System, which carries the responsibility for recognizing and supporting continuous quality improvement in early care programs throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Each year, FCCC targets an area for improvement, and this year we focused our efforts and resources into removing lead paint from window frames, doors, and finishings in the First Day School Room, where infant care will resume by March 1, 2023. Lead abatement is very costly and so we sought to find outside funding sources.

FCCC is pleased to share that the City of Philadelphia: Child Care Facilities Fund awarded $25,000 to the project, which helped to significantly defray costs. The mission of the Facilities Fund is to provide support to high-quality early childhood education programs located in Philadelphia for the maintenance and improvement of their facilities in order to maintain a high-level STAR rating.

FCCC is incredibly grateful for this financial support as we are dedicated to providing a safe, clean and nurturing learning environment where children can play to learn, learn to love.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Electrical & Safety Upgrades in the Meetinghouse, Thanks to Yearly Meeting Support

Cropwell Friends Meeting’s infrastructure got a big upgrade this week. Thanks to a generous gift from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Quaker Buildings & Programs Granting Group, the building’s electrical system was rewired, and fire safety upgrades and security lighting were installed. The work was done by Front Line Electric of Glendora, N.J., who were prompt, professional, and courteous.

The Cropwell Friends Meetinghouse, built in 1809, was very much in need of work. The last known update to the electrical wiring took place in the 1920s. The type of wiring used at that time was “knob-and-tube,” which does not have a ground system for safety. This doesn’t necessarily make the wiring unsafe to use, but it does rule out important safety features and leaves appliances and sensitive electronics vulnerable to damage from power surges. Exterior lighting was also installed for safety and security purposes.

Stewardship & Community

The work on the meetinghouse spoke to the stewardship and community testimonies of Friends.

The current Cropwell Meetinghouse structure was built in 1809. It is on the historic registry, but like all old buildings, it has needs, and those needs have price tags. It is the Meeting’s responsibility to be good stewards to maintain the structure for current and future members.

Cropwell has a small number who attend regularly, but there is cohesion and commitment which has increased in intensity over the past year, and there is an openness to increasing and strengthening that community. The Meeting has received letters requesting membership from four individuals within the last year and have received loving support from members within Haddonfield Quarter.

Code Switch with Joshua Slack

In honor of Black History Month, the AFSC Pan Valley Institute (PVI) is pleased to announce the returning and touring production of “CODE SWITCH,” written and performed by ArteVism Alumnus Joshua Slack and directed by current Fellow Rodolfo Robles Cruz.

The ArteVism Fellowship program seeks to empower and foster civic engagement through artistic, creative expression, and collective leadership amongst the Central Valley’s youth of color.

“Code Switch” is a monologue that explores the navigation of code-switching. Code-switching involves adjusting one’s way of life in ways that optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality service, and employment opportunities. The performance encourages audience members to ask themselves: At what cost to our lives do we make these adjustments? Why are we afraid to be ourselves?”

Joshua Slack was born into a military family; his mother served in the Coast Guard, and his father was a college professor. His life goal is to own a production company emphasizing TV, film, photography, theatre, and other art forms that express the uniqueness of niche storytelling within the Black community. He plans to offer it as a platform to tell the stories that mainstream media won’t tell and to uplift the voices of his community.

We will be following COVID-19 safety protocols, ordinances, and regulations. Masks may be required according to local guidelines during the event.

February 25, 2023, 6:30-8:30 pm PT
Free event at the Fresno Art Museum, Bonner Auditorium 2233 N Fresno St. Fresno, CA

For more on this free event or the ArteVism fellowship program, please contact Rodolfo Robles Cruz at (559) 540-1028 or RRoblesCruz@AFSC.org.

Tickets Available Here!

Author Event:

CPMM member Pamela Haines will present

Tending Sacred Ground: Respectful Parenting.

Saturday, February 25, at 11 AM

Navigate through the sacred, the impossible, and the unexpected in these hard-won reflections on parenting. Tending Sacred Ground: Respectful Parenting is a series of essays, each of which alights on the experience of parenting and is inspired by a Quaker perspective. Pamela Haines shows how to cultivate respect, resilience, humility, connection, discernment, and joy while encouraging and inspiring a wider view toward inclusion.

Pamela has published widely on faith, money and economics, and on peace-building and right relationship. Please join us for a reading and discussion.

TENANT NEWS

Singing City

Winter Festival of Voices

This concert will feature contributions to the choral art from Black composers and poets. Featuring Singing City Choir, Teen Voices of the City Ensemble (T-VOCE), Hatboro Horsham Singers, Germantown Friends School Choir, and Northeast High School Choir. Celebrating youth from across the region!

Jeffrey Brillhart, conductor

Saturday, March 4, 2023, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 23 S. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA

Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation

Integrating Local Histories & Legacies in your Arts Classroom

Do you want to connect to our rich Philadelphia artistic lineage? Looking to integrate history and research in your arts classrooms?

Led by Love Notes Project Teaching Artists Rebecca Graham and Lindo Jones, participants will engage in a music and poetry workshop that highlights the work of three Black Philadelphia artists and cultural producers, past and present. The intention is for participants to leave the space feeling more connected to our city’s rich artistic lineage while gathering tools that may assist in your desire to integrate history and research in your arts classrooms.

Thu, February 23, 2023, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EST

Friends World Committee for Consultation

Section of the Americas Meeting

The Friends World Committee will hold its hybrid 2023 Section of the Americas Meeting on March 23 – 26 at Haw River State Park in Greensboro, NC. Registration for virtual attendance is available here. Scroll down to learn more and to register for the in-person event. All Friends are welcome! The last day for in-person registration is February 26, 2023, but register soon before options sell out!

Thu, March 23, 7 PM – Sun, March 26, noon

IN THE WIDER QUAKER WORLD

New Friends Historical Association Grants

The Friends Historical Association is pleased to offer funding to support contributions to the field of Quaker history. There are three grant opportunities: project support, publication subventions, and research funds. All opportunities run on the same cycle, and applications are due April 15, 2023.

Details about each opportunity and application instruction are provided at https://www.quakerhistory.org/grants.

January Newsletter: Farewells and Warm Welcomes, BQLM Film Festival & Funding Social Justice

January 27, 2023

Issue 84, January 2023

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Welcome, Ray Williams!

Friends Center is very pleased to introduce you to Ray Williams, our new Facilities Assistant! Ray has a wealth of experience, skills, and knowledge that he brings to maintaining our facility and supporting our events. In his first week on the job, he has already helped make some noticeable improvements. He works weekdays from 11 am to 7 pm. If you see him around, please introduce yourself!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Our contractors have been working hard on improvements to the First Day School Room, which is shared by the children of CPMM and FCCC. The project will be finished by the end of next week, and the children are expected to move back on March 1st. We’re thankful to contractors DVR and KB Painting for their efforts, especially preserving the historical charm within the First Day room.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Long Term Care & Hope

Planning for retirement includes many considerations. Quaker Aging Resources offers information and links to articles on a variety of topics, listed below. The website was designed 10 years ago to assist meetings, individuals, and families in responding to the needs of aging Friends including age related changes, chronic illness, or disability. The pamphlets and resources are intended to uphold a culture of care for the body, mind, spirit and community of the individual which is consistent with Quaker faith, and address the following needs:

Emotional /Behavioral Care
Death and Dying
Financial Matters
Housing/Aging in Place
Meaningful Retirement
Physical Health
Spiritual/Pastoral Support

Friends who are aging often have challenges in planning for their future. Involving family, adult children, and personal friends early in the process can make all the difference.

When thinking about long term care, it’s beneficial to consider all aspects. This article, What is Long Term Care, written by the National Institute on Aging provides an excellent outline of considerations.

Register here for the 5 screenings

We are proud to announce the 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum, a groundbreaking exploration of Black Friends who made a difference throughout both USA and world history. From 4 February to 8 April, we will hold screenings, dedicated to Quakers of Color, every other Saturday at 1:00 PM Eastern Time over Zoom Webinar.

Saturday, 4 February 2023: Interview with Bill Sutherland (1999) – Liberation & Non-Violence in Africa & USA, featuring panel discussion with AFSC’s Joyce Ajlouny and Keith Harvey
Saturday, 18 February 2023: The Prep School Negro (2012) –Joan Countryman & African Americans in Quaker Schools
Saturday, 4 March 2023: Sisters in Freedom (2018) – Sarah Mapps Douglass & Women in the Abolition Struggle Against Slavery.
Saturday, 18 March 2023: Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved The Stars (1981) – Early African American Scholar-Activist
Saturday, 8 April 2023: Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1978) and The Proud Valley (1940) – Celebrating Paul Robeson’s 125th Birthday

Social Justice Grant Application

Funding for Social Justice

CPMM is pleased to announce the availability of grant funding to local nonprofits who meet our guidelines. The application form has details. Deadline: February 28, 2023

TENANT NEWS

Webinar: New Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness Overview

Join us for a webinar on February 1st from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on the new Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Since 2016, homelessness has been rising and for the new strategic plan to be as effective and intentional as possible, it required input from people who are part of the response to homelessness, people who have a vested interest in ending homelessness, and people with lived expertise.

When: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 2 PM – 3 PM See https://housingalliancepa.org/upcoming-events/

Farewell and thank you to The Presser Foundation!

Friends Center bids a fond farewell to The Presser Foundation as of February 1, as their needs have changed and they move on to new space. Teresa Araco Rodgers, executive director of The Presser Foundation, has made extraordinary contributions to the Friends Center community for more than a decade. She not only recruited numerous other organizations to move into Friends Center, she also coordinated The Exchange, the second floor coworking space, for many years. She organized information sharing among executive directors as well as a regular speaker series. Thank you, Teresa! We wish you and your colleagues all the best.

BEYOND FRIENDS CENTER

From Friends General Conference:
Building a Meaningful and Connected Life eRetreat

Wednesday, January 25^th 2023 – Wednesday, February 22^nd 2023 Time 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

The Building a Meaningful and Connected Life eRetreat invites you to explore and practice the spirituality of meaning-making, resiliency, renewal, and life transitions. Participants will ask themselves and each other, what choices can we make and what steps can we take now to nurture our inner life, creative life, and connected life?

eRetreat Details:

Offered January 25 – February 22, 2023
Four weeks, $45 pay-as-led** participation fee
Weekly readings, queries, resources, and activities available on FGC’s eRetreat website, Matrix
Community Building Calls: Wednesdays at 3pm Eastern / 2p Central / 1pm Mountain / Noon Pacific, starting January 25.

eRetreat Schedule and Weekly Themes

The Building a Meaningful and Connected Life eRetreat will be facilitated by Gay Edelman.

Old City Church Takes Innovative Steps to Reduce Homelessness: By Kimberly Hass Of Singing City

One of Philadelphia’s wealthiest zip codes will soon be home to new residents from the opposite end of the income spectrum. Next spring, ground will be broken in the churchyard of Old First Reformed United Church of Christ at 4th and Race Streets to begin construction of 36 permanent housing units for individuals experiencing homelessness. Read full article here

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter

November 23, 2022

Issue 83, November 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Last week I went to the Parkway Central Branch of the Free Library to hear George Lakey in conversation with Varshini Prakash, executive director and co-founder of Sunrise Movement, the youth-led movement to stop climate change.

George was in conversation about his new book, Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice.

Now a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, George has been a Quaker nonviolent activist and researcher for over 7 decades! Among many other things, he co-founded Movement for a New Society in the 1970s, Training for Change in the 1990s, and Earth Quaker Action Team in the 2010s.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, George often leads a community singalong of Handel’s Messiah in the Cherry Street Room in December. We’ll announce it if and when it returns.

Friends Center is full of inspiring stories like George’s. In the tenant newsletter, we try to lift up a few of them each month. Please let Jennifer Williams know if your organization has news to share!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Y.A. BOOK LAUNCH EVENT AT CPMM
Young Adult Adaptation of Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility
Dec 7, 2022 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street

Join Toni Graves Williamson and Ali Michael for the launch of their Young Adult adaptation of Robin DiAngelo’s bestselling book White Fragility. This event is sponsored by Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Friends Council on Education, and Friends Select School. Tickets are available for free or purchase (copy of the book included) on Eventbrite.

» Register here.

Event: Covenant House

Annual ‘Sleep Out’ raises over $600,000 for local youth homelessness

In the bitter cold on Thursday night into Friday morning, people traded their beds for a sleeping bag and a cardboard box. Participants raised funds for Covenant House’s services for homeless youth.

Get the full scoop here: Via Channel 6/ABC
(Early on in the segment, you get a glimpse of our facility manager, John Gibson, moving some supplies!)

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Decolonizing Thanksgiving Is An Oxymoron – Kids Books Dismantling The Myth of a ‘First Thanksgiving’

Teach your kids the truth of Thanksgiving—modeling generosity and gratitude all year long—but don’t whitewash the violent history of colonization.

Emerging Leaders for Liberation

This year, AFSC launched Emerging Leaders for Liberation (ELL) to help young people strengthen their social justice and leadership skills. Over eight months, youth get trained on anti-racism, organizing, advocacy, nonviolent direct action, and more. They also develop projects to address systemic issues in their own communities.

“It’s vital that young people understand how much their voices matter and the power they have to create change. We need to continue investing in their leadership for a better future for everyone,” says Mariana Martinez,
ELL program director.

The inaugural cohort of ELL participants includes 30 young people from 15 states. Many have worked with local AFSC programs or are part of Quaker meetings or colleges.

Meet three of this year’s participants.

Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation

CPMM AUTHOR EVENT
The Library Committee warmly invites you to hear CPMM member Steve Davison talk about and read from 3 of his books of poetry on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 11 a.m. – 12 noon (via Zoom).

The Road to Continental Heart: Befriending and Defending the Spirit of North America — A coffee-table-style book featuring poems he wrote once a week for a friend who walked across the country with a group environmental activists;
Continental Heart — A meditation on our relationship with the land we live in and an appeal for a more spiritual culture of place;
Dancing Mockingbird — A collection of nature poems.

CLICK HERE to join in on the poetry and discussion!

Or cut and paste this URL into your internet browser:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87989229096?pwd=ZkhoTXJ3M2ExZ0c5V1BUMTE1WklXQT09

Meeting ID: 879 8922 9096
Passcode: 084669
To find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbs4ogRVI

TENANT NEWS

Fundamentals of Game Design for the Classroom

December 5, 2022, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Come join Global Writes to learn the fundamentals of game design with the integration of a variety of technology tools to plan and create board and video games that can be used to teach content-based themes in the classroom. Their Skin in the Game process utilizes game design and concepts in Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Math (STREAM) to engage participants in advanced, interdisciplinary learning. Please have on hand a computer that can support Chrome browser as well as some plain paper and pencil.

ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir

This fall, small groups of ANNA singers took to the streets to sing, hoping the current cultural climate would bend toward justice. We are pleased to present a full choir concert in person and broadcast online. In this concert, we sing to remind ourselves that when we connect and collaborate, our power is much more than when we move through the world alone. Together, People Have the Power.

Tickets available here.

(Community Sing starts at 7:00 pm before the concert.)

December 10^th & 11^th @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

BEYOND FRIENDS CENTER

Season One Episodes:

Episode 1: How Do We Stop Doing Things that Make No Sense? With Rev. Mariama White-Hammond
Episode 2: Where Do You Find Hope? With Corina Newsome
Episode 3: What Do We Tell the Children? With Craig Santos Perez
Episode 4: What is Wrong with Me? With Keyana Pardilla, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Sherri Mitchell
Episode 5: If I Can’t Make a Difference, then What Do I Do? With Veronice Miles
Episode 6: Daddy, Did We Hurt Them? With Ben Yosua-Davis

Friends Center 2023 Holiday Schedule

November 23, 2022

October Tenant Newsletter: Grand Opening, Fall Continuing Sessions, Singing a Dream and Helping with Reentry

October 13, 2022

Issue 82, October 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Congratulations to Friends Child Care Center on moving into their new space! The staff, board, and families of FCCC celebrated with a ribbon-cutting event on October 6. Thank you to the FCCC families, board, and staff, especially Executive Director Raechel O’Neal Coats, for partnering with Friends Center on this project, which will maintain Friends Center as a truly multigenerational community for decades to come.

With FCCC’s move, Friends Center’s event and conference rooms are back in service. See below for ways you can reserve them.

Finally, as shown on the right, we have expanded our weekday open hours to be from 7 am to 7 pm.

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Friends Center’s Shared Event and Meeting Spaces Are Available Once Again!

List of rooms: Click here

Check availability and make reservations with Shakirah Holloway, our Events and

Administrative Manager, sholloway@friendscentercorp.org or (215) 241-7098.
If you like, you can also use our online Room Reservation Form.
Read our Conference and Meeting Room Policy: Click here.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Fall Continuing Sessions

November 4th – 6th, 2022

Join Friends of all ages from across Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in our first fully hybrid (online & in-person) Sessions! Our Sessions theme “Living communally with our neighbors, seeking to build beloved community,” calls us to come together in the joyful work of reweaving our connections. This is Both an In-Person and an Online Event

Friends can actively participate on Saturday either by attending in person or by joining via Zoom. Friday and Sunday programs are online only. In celebration of our return to in-person gatherings, PYM is providing a special evening experience! We’ll provide a community dinner, music and most importantly, fellowship with Friends!

Proof of vaccination and a rapid test done with 24 hours before the event will be required to attend.

» Register Here.

Nominate the next Presiding Clerk of the AFSC Corporation and Board

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that promotes a world free of violence, inequality and oppression as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social relations and systems.

AFSC seeks nominees qualified to serve as the next presiding clerk of the AFSC Corporation and Board of Directors. Nominations of individuals who are people of color, women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and people with diverse class backgrounds, ages and life experience are most encouraged, as are candidates from the Global South. The term of the new clerk of the AFSC Board will begin with the annual meeting of the Corporation in April 2023 and run three years. The clerk may serve two consecutive three-year terms, for a total of six years. Please review the AFSC clerk position description or nominate a qualified individual here.

Download Ticket Order Form

David Gray, Principal of Brummana High School in Lebanon, to Present

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 – 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Middle East Collaborative and CPMM’s Peace and Social Concerns are helping to organize a special opportunity for all of us.

David Gray, principal of Brummana High School, the Quaker school in the hills east of Beirut, Lebanon will be in the Delaware Valley in mid October.

We invite you to hear him present on the current challenges in Lebanon—social, political, economic—and what effect it has all had on the school. David Gray’s presentation will be online/virtual via Zoom.

Advance registration is required so that Philadelphia Yearly Meeting may send you the zoom url.

» REGISTER HERE.

TENANT NEWS

Singing City Presents:

We Dream a World
Nate Zullinger, conductor

Sunday, November 6, 2022, 3p.m.
Old First Reformed UCC, 4th & Race Streets, Phila, PA 19106
This concert will feature contributions to the choral art from women, all within the last 75 years. A highlight will be the premiere of The Canticle of Hannah, a new work by Philadelphia composer Melissa Dunphy, commissioned by Singing City.

Online Box Office

Prisoner Visitation and Support (PVS):

Power of Visiting: Helping the Incarcerated Prepare for Reentry

10/26/2022, 7 pm

BEYOND FRIENDS CENTER

Virtual Worship for White Friends Confronting Racism – Friday

Friday, October 14th 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

The Ministry on Racism is hosting a bi-weekly virtual Meeting for Worship for white Friends/Friends of European descent confronting racism and white supremacy. This worship seeks to nourish white Friends’ communal anti-racism commitment and provide a space for the work we have to do together. It will be held every Thursday at 8PM EST and Friday at 12 PM ET. It is in the care of a rotating team of volunteers.

To view past and recent queries from Virtual Worship for White Friends Confronting Racism click here.

If you are white/of European descent and would like to join our worship, please complete the form below:

Register Here.

Philadelphia Historical Commission:

Cultural Preservation Town Hall: Thurs. 10/13

Information gathering session and discussion

about Philadelphia history and culture

The city is full of stories and history. The Philadelphia Register of Historic Places only captures some of them. To understand what is missing, the Philadelphia Historical Commission will host a town hall event on Thursday, October 13. You’re invited!

Location: Center For Business & Industry

Community College of Philadelphia

1723 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130

The Cultural Resources Survey Plan and Pilot Project explores how to recognize Philadelphia’s vibrant histories. The goal is to design and test a more inclusive preservation process. The Philadelphia Historical Commission has partnered with The ROZ Group, Little Giant Creative, and Partners for Sacred Spaces to develop a plan and pilot project.

RSVP: https://culturalresourcessurveytownhall.splashthat.com/

Please share this event with your neighbors and community.

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter

September 16, 2022

Issue 81, September 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

On September 12^th, 2022 Friends Select School held the ribbon-cutting for their new STEAM Building at 1520 Race Street! (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.)

We closed on the sale just 13 months ago. With the interior almost completely rebuilt, the building opened last week, just in time for the new school year.

In his remarks, Head of School Michael Gary acknowledged the school’s partnerships with Friends Center and CPMM, which enabled the project to happen.

FSS plans a formal grand opening event later this fall.

Meanwhile, back here in 1501 Cherry Street, our general contractor has scheduled the final building inspection for Friends Child Care Center’s new space and expects to get the Certificate of Occupancy by the end of the week. Then the Health Department and DHS will do their own inspections over the next two weeks. The new facility should be in operation by 10/3. We will then clean the conference and meeting rooms and place back in service.

FCCC expects to have a grand opening this fall, too. Details will be shared once we have them. Thanks to the many Friends Center board and committee members who advised and assisted on one or both projects. And a huge thank you to our staff, who have done so much on the ground to smooth the way for both projects. Friends Center is blessed to have such a good team supporting these major changes. Thank you all!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Family Camping Weekend: Hosted by PYM Youth Programs

Youth Programs staff will host this weekend at a PA State Park Campground, and welcome family units of adult(s)+kid(s) and other camping-friendly Friends to join in intergenerational community.

Bonus: Sunday, Oct. 2 is World Quaker Day, which we will celebrate together!

Cost: $10/child or youth and $15/adult, or $50 for a family of 4 or more. Scholarships are available.
Registration Deadline: September 23

Anti-Racist Youth Mixtape

Freedom School

This event will be about AFSC’s efforts at educate scholars to think critically about the history of race and racism in the United States as well as give them tools to address issues. The workshop will be an effort to respond to questions around youth’s role in movements of social justice. The facilitators of our workshop will be Realign (Dr. Elizabeth Eikmann, Dr. Tan Taylor, and Dr. Cindy Reed).

Date/Times:
Saturday, September 24th 9am-5pm
Sunday, September 25th 11:30am-5pm.
Location: St. Louis Friends Meetinghouse, 1001 Park Avenue., St. Louis, MO, 63104
Stipend: $200 Visa Debit Cards are available for completing the training

Note: There’s limited seating so please register today! This is a first come basis event.

More Info: Jonathan Pulphus Program Associate)

E: jpulphus@afsc.org T: 314-556-4633

REGISTER AT: tinyurl.com/youthmixtape.

FAREWELL AND THANK YOU TO DAN

In August, we bade farewell to our Meeting Secretary, Dan Zemaitis. Dan started with us in December, 2018, and did an excellent job keeping our Meeting organized, especially during the challenge of COVID19. We wish Dan well on his new journey.

HELLO AND WELCOME TO RACHEL

Our new Office Administrator, Rachel Ellis Adams, has come on board! Rachel has been active in the Religious Society of Friends for more than 25 years, including service in Cambridge, MA, as Clerk of Young Adult Friends and as a member of Ministry & Counsel, and in Minneapolis, MN, as a member of the Peace & Social Concerns and the Adult Education committee. Currently, she is attending Green Street Meeting. We are looking forward to celebrating Dan and welcoming Rachel in person, at our coffee hour on September 18, following Meeting for Worship.

TENANT NEWS

Jacob Bender of C.A.I.R Philadelphia Honored at ISNA Interfaith Banquet

C.A.I.R. Philadelphia is honored to announce that their former executive director and current creative director Jacob Bender received an award at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Annual Convention in Chicago to recognize his years of service to the American Muslim community and to CAIR. Jacob’s remarks can be read here.

Thank you, Jacob, for your ongoing service to our communities!

Getting Ready for New Home Repair and Housing Development Funding and Resources

Description: New money will soon be available in Pennsylvania for home repair, housing development, and preservation. Senators Vincent Hughes and Nikil Saval were our champions in making this new $375 million in funding a reality.

Join us on Friday, September 23^rd at 10:00 am to talk about what we know so far about the new programs with a deeper dive into Whole Home Repairs.

This webinar will feature Senators Hughes and Saval, and we will profile Philadelphia’s Built to Last Program—administered by the Philadelphia Energy Authority—that served as one of the models for Whole Home Repairs. We will specifically address how Built to Last could be adapted for a community of any size and provide you with ideas for how to get your own local program started and ready for new funding.

When: Friday, September 23, 2022
10 AM – 11 AM. This is an online event. More information available here.

IN THE WIDER QUAKER WORLD

22nd Annual Bucks Quarter Peace Fair

The Peace Fair, dedicated to promoting harmony in the home, the community, the environment and the world, will be held on the grounds of Buckingham Friends Meeting and Buckingham Friends School on Saturday, September 17, from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm.

Highlights of the day will include information tables from organizations with peace-related messages and missions, non-competitive children’s games, family-friendly entertainment, crafts by local artisans and food for purchase.

World Quaker Day will take place on Sunday October 2^nd, 2022 with the theme Becoming the Quakers the World Needs.

World Quaker Day is an annual event where we celebrate the diversity of Quakerism around the world and build connections to make our community stronger.

This year, every Friends Church and Quaker Meeting is encouraged to send or receive visitors to or from another Quaker group, to bring greetings, build relationships and share ideas.

You can see which Quaker groups in each Section are welcoming Friends here. (Please note the deadline to apply to be a host meeting for World Quaker Day 2022 has now passed.)

Also, you can download the World Quaker Day poster to display in your church or meeting house here. The posters are available to download in a number of different languages.

We welcome your participation in World Quaker Day. We are grateful for all you bring to the Quaker world.

Friends Center July Tenant Newsletter: Drill! Build! Paint!, A New Newsletter & CASA’s 7 figure piece of the pie

July 28, 2022July 28, 2022

Issue 80, July 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

The big news is about construction!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director 

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Construction Update 1:
Friends Child Care Center

General contractor MJ Settelen projects work will be completed for the new Friends Child Care Center facility in the Lower Level of the main office building in mid-September. FCCC will need time to move in and to complete the inspection process. Once they move, we will freshen up the main meeting rooms, and those will once again be available for tenant events and meetings. We hope all spaces will be available by October 1, if not sooner. However, as with any construction project, especially in today’s economy, there may be unanticipated delays.

Refresher: Friends Center’s Shared
Event and Meeting Spaces

List of rooms: Click here
Check availability and make reservations with Shakirah Holloway, our Events and Administrative Manager, sholloway@friendscentercorp.org or (215) 241-7098.
If you like, you can also use our online Room Reservation Form.
Read our Conference and Meeting Room Policy: Click here.

Construction Update 2:
1520 Race Street

Friends Select School expects to occupy 1520 Race Street as their new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) building by the end of August. They will be doing exterior brick work in the next week or so, so there will be more activity in the courtyard. Please use caution when visiting the courtyard.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

In the Light:
The Yearly Meeting’s Print Newsletter

Earlier this month, we sent out a print newsletter to Friends in the yearly meeting. We plan to send out a print issue of the newsletter quarterly. This issue of the newsletter illustrates a new way in which our yearly meeting has been called—and our faithful response to it—the call to witness against racism. You can read it online.

Engaging in PYM-wide corporate (meaning of the body) witness is one of the strategic directions we approved in 2014. Six months after accepting those directions, we committed to a witness to address racism. The minute we approved expressly declares that the ministry is not one to be given to a group of people to carry on behalf of PYM but that we are all to find our way in it. All Friends, all households, and all meetings are asked to consider what their own response to the call is.

Many of the stories in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting reflect our journey to eradicate racism, create spaces of belonging, and transform our inner lives. This newsletter is filled with a selection of those stories from local monthly and quarterly meetings and PYM groups. Read, be inspired, and share your meeting’s stories on the PYM website so we may continue to know one another.

The next newsletter will be sent out in the Fall and will include a gathering of stories about all topics from across the yearly meeting. If your meeting has a story to submit, please do so at pym.org/news/share-a-story/.

Also, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is conducting its 342^nd annual sessions this week!

https://www.pym.org/sessions/

Read about AFSC New Mexico’s Farm to School project, an effort to create a replicable model for school food procurement that supports local producers for sourcing fresh, healthy produce for school children.

Full Article Available Here…

“What is First Day School?”

“What if I have babies or toddlers?”

“What if I have school-aged children?”

“What does Quaker Spiritual Education for Kids Look Like?”

“What is your child safety policy?”

The answers to all of these questions and others resources concerning religious education for children can be found here.

TENANT NEWS

CASA Scheduled to Receive $1.8 Million
Pennsylvania CASA is excited to share that Governor Wolf signed the budget adopted by the General Assembly into law and CASA is scheduled to receive $1.8 million.

“This is an exciting time for CASA in Pennsylvania. It is the result of years of work by the state office including staff, board, and volunteers. We were lucky to be supported by local programs at different points in the process. There is still a lot of work ahead for all of us, but the opportunities this funding provides for CASA are great and worth all the effort.”

Women in Housing & Finance PA Event 2 :
Philadelphia

Address: Triple Bottom Brewing 915 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA 19123

When: Friday, July 29, 2022 6 PM – 8 PM

We’re back! Women in Housing & Finance PA (WHF-PA) is returning to in-person with events in three locations across Pennsylvania in late July and early August. Join us for some or all of the summer events!

Join us as WHF-PA returns to in-person events for an outdoor happy hour at Triple Bottom Brewing in Philadelphia! The beautiful patio on Spring Garden Street will be reserved for our members and guests. Registration includes one alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage and snacks. Register here, we’ll see you there!

QuakerSpeak Video:

“On Quaker Deathways: Practices Around Death and Dying”

QuakerSpeak is a production of new tenant Friends Publishing Corporation. FPC also publishes Friends Journal magazine.

“Working as a healthcare chaplain—you know, almost all modern healthcare chaplains are interfaith chaplains. It’s actually against the chaplain’s code of ethics to proselytize any particular faith, and so my Quaker faith set me up very well for that—just to understand that there’s that of God in every person and to be genuinely curious to meet them where they are.”

—Carl Magruder (The Accidental Chaplain) Video: https://youtu.be/jc6ajthaedE

Friends Center Tenant Newsletter, June 2022

June 29, 2022June 30, 2022

Issue 79, June 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Although the office and event spaces are still low-key at Friends Center, we have two active construction projects on site. Friends Select School is on track to complete renovation of the 1520 Race Street building by the start of the school year.

Friends Center is moving full steam ahead to build out a new facility for Friends Child Care Center in the lower level of the 1501 Cherry Street building. Our general contractor, MJ Settelen, is working hard to deliver the space by the end of August, depending on various supply chain issues. The Child Care Center and their consultant, Becker & Frondorf, have been terrific partners in getting the project done.

Once the new child care center is open, we will prep the rooms used as interim child care space (Jones Room, Mott Room, Cherry Street Room, and Room 21) and return them to service for tenant and outside events, we hope in September. Thanks to everyone for your patience during this milestone time at 15^th and Cherry Streets!

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director 

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Welcome (Back), Friends Publishing Corporation!

Friends Publishing Corporation became Friends Center’s newest (old) tenant in May. FPC is the publisher of Friends Journal, the leading North American Quaker magazine, and the producer of the QuakerSpeak video series. Often known simply as Friends Journal for their flagship publication, FPC was a tenant at Friends Center for decades before moving elsewhere for a spell. Welcome back, Friends!

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

Rise Up for Reparations

June 20, 2022, 2-4 pm

Co-Sponsored by Mayor’s Office of Interfaith and Faith-Based Affairs, POWER, The Truth Telling Project, and PYM

Save the Dates:

Looking Ahead to PYM Annual Sessions

Saturday June 25 for Workshops
Saturday July 23 for Affinity Groups
Tuesday July 26 to Sunday July 31 for spiritual formation, worship, business, and keynotes.

Community Safety Beyond Policing:
Gun Violence and Policing

Many communities across the country have experienced an uptick in gun violence over the last 2 years at the same time that we are having a robust debate around the role of policing in our society. How has or should the movement to divest from policing and invest in community been responding?