Greg Barnes will discuss and read from his newest book, Living into the Faith: A Quaker Diary.
The Diary reveals the broad range of activities in modern unprogrammed Quakerism and the Quaker principles , or “testimonies,” that animate them. The setting is Philadelphia and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the heart of American Quakerism as brought here from England by William Penn. “This is a diary and not a history. It follows one man through his Quaker and Quaker-related activities for roughly 8 years. The reader should understand it as reflecting my attempt, made out of gratitude to give back to Quakerism and to my Quaker community…” Gregory A. Barnes has also written an award-winning collection of short stories based on his experiences in West Africa with the Peace Corps.
When: Sunday, February 2nd at 12:45 PM. Where: Lucretia Mott Room, Friends Center, 15th and Cherry Streets, Center City.
How
do we know CO2 increases are human-caused? What are climate scientists
highly confident about? What will my children’s generation experience?
Meet a panel of climate scientists and put
your questions to them yourself.
Climate Up Close is a group of climate scientists who believe Americans should reach their own judgments about climate science by seeing the evidence themselves and putting their questions directly to climate scientists. Presenters include scientists from Princeton University, Harvard University and UC Berkeley.
The
early Quakers did not recognize holidays, or “times and seasons” as they called
them. Over time, that stance has softened. Still, I like to keep in mind a
primary reason they had that position: Because every day is, or can be, a holy
day.
One thing I like about working at Friends
Center is every day truly has that potential. Such as when you… train
volunteers to advocate for a child in foster care… convene a meeting of
behavioral health practitioners… train teaching artists in trauma-informed
practice… match a mentor to a middle schooler… make sure children have a chance
to learn and play, and girls have a chance to become leaders… And when you organize
people against fracking, the death
penalty, or war, and organize them for
justice, peace, love, and life.
Whatever it is that you do here—whether organizing
or communications or development or admin—it means something. I’m grateful to
be a part of helping this work happen. May we recognize and live that, this day
and every day!
– Chris Mohr, Executive Director
AROUND FRIENDS CENTER
It has been our pleasure to watch our tenants grow stronger and closer to the communities they serve. We hope that you can also reflect back and smile at the progress you have made.
As we prepare to say good-bye to 2019
and welcome 2020, we began to consider some memorable events that you’ve all
held these past 12 months; and we could think of no better way to commemorate
those fabulous events than by writing you a song! Yup, that’s right, a new
twist on an old classic, Friends Center Style.
And it goes a little something like this! On the 12th day of the holiday season, Friends Center gave to me:
12 tiny bakers, 11 vegans shopping, 10 tenors singing, 99 meetings, 8 am orientation, 70 kids a camping, 6 ceremonies, 5 groups meditating! 4 keystone testings, 3 Quaker Colleges, 2 many trainings And a meeting with Mayor Kenney.
We hope that you have find this tidbit as entertaining as we do! Thanks for being the best tenants ever. Please have a safe and happy holiday and new year!
You are invited to help change the
narrative on youth and our collective power. We are not at risk; we are 3
billion strong.
The Campaign:
AFSC’s “We
Are Not At-Risk” campaign is a youth-led
narrative change movement that is transforming the stories media tell about
young people. Throughout December and January, we will be collecting stories of
youth and their allies, educating our audiences on the impacts of harmful
narratives about youth, and sharing positive youth stories through social
media. We will harness the power of art and collective action to enter into
conversation with media outlets about who we are and the stories that we want
to tell. We are #3BillionStrong, and will we make our truths heard.
The Ask:
We are calling on you, as young people and allies—as people who care about and love young people, and who see them in their full humanity—to join us in the Cherry Street room on Tuesday, December 17th, from 11am-1pm to create art, share stories, and learn more about the campaign. Refreshments will be served.
Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting has much to report on its news page: www.pym.org/news.
One story is even
about one of our tenants, the Tri-College Consortium Philly Program!
Bryn Mawr, Haverford and
Swarthmore Colleges team up for Tri-Co City classes
This fall, about
35 students from Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges took courses at
the Friends Center in Philadelphia as part of a new Tri-College Philly Program.
Students present their projects
to each other and Friends Center guests.
The courses focused on the themes of sustainability and environmental justice, from different disciplines: math, environmental studies, political science, education and anthropology. » Read the full article.
The annual Messiah sing-along hosted by Ingrid & George Lakey will be Friday, Dec. 20th at 7pm, here in the Cherry
Street Room. CPMM encourages all to bring a score, a friend who likes to sing
(this is not a performance, but a sing-along), and also goodies to share during
break.
Coming in January:
Climate
Up Close: Talk with a
climate scientist face-to-face
Saturday, January 4th, 2:30 pm
Hosted by CPMM at
Friends Center
Free and open to
the public.
How do we know CO2 increases are
human-caused? What are climate
scientists highly confident about? What will my children’s generation
experience?
Meet a panel of
climate scientists and put your questions to them yourself.
Climate Up Close
is a group of climate scientists who believe Americans should reach their own
judgments about climate science by seeing the evidence themselves and putting
their questions directly to climate scientists.
Presenters include scientists from Princeton University, Harvard
University and UC Berkeley.
announced in its
November newsletter that it has hired Taylor Pacheco and Sarah Coyle
as staff attorneys:
According to the organization’s
website, Pacheco “is a 2016 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law
School where she was senior editor of the Journal of Law and Social Change, an Edward V. Sparer Public
Interest Summer Fellow, and a volunteer with the UPenn Criminal Records
Expungement Clinic run in partnership with PLSE. She also interned with Community Legal Services in the
Housing Unit and the Montgomery County
Public Defender’s Office. Her career after law school included positions
with the New Jersey Office of the
Public Defender and the Support
Center for Child Advocates.”
Coyle “joined PLSE in September 2019 from Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania (LASP), where she had been a staff attorney for over two years and ran the Media office. After receiving her JD in 2016 from Savannah Law School, she worked in a private firm concentrating in criminal defense before joining LASP, where she developed a program assisting victims of domestic/sexual violence under a program funded by the Victims Of Crime Act (VOCA).”
INTEREST OUTSIDE
FRIENDS CENTER
QuakerBooks Pop-Up Store @ Friends General Conference
1216 Arch St # 2B, Philadelphia
Dec 18 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Pop-up bookstore with a selection of books and pamphlets of
interest to Friends. Many newer publications, some hot off the press! Subjects
include Quaker practice, spiritual deepening, anti-racism, environmentalism,
and many children’s books. If you are looking for a particular book, it is
recommended you call FGC (215) 561-1700 in advance.
The annual Messiah sing-along hosted by Ingrid & George Lakey will be Friday Dec. 20th at 7pm, here in the Cherry Street room. We encourage all to bring a score, a friend who likes to sing (this is not a performance, but a sing-along) and also goodies to share during break.
Recently we had a
tenant reception specifically scheduled at a time when students and faculty
from the Tri-College Philly Program could attend. It was a rich and rewarding
opportunity for all present to learn about all the organizations here at
Friends Center and the good work they do. And not only did some of the students
connect with some of the equity partners and tenant groups about their work, some of the partners and tenants
got to know each other, too!
To that end, I encourage you to
browse the directory
of organizations here.
We strive to keep the page updated with everyone’s current website, so if your
information is out of date, please let me know.
And if you don’t know what a
group does, please click through page to learn more, and maybe even contact
them directly. We always love to hear when you all find ways to collaborate
with each other!
– Chris Mohr, Executive Director
AROUND FRIENDS CENTER
Spread the word! Beginning January 1,
2020 Friends Center will be increasing its rental rates for event and
conference room use.
Encourage your comrades to book their 2020 event, in 2019 to maximize savings!
Border
Patrol denies delivery of flu vaccines to detained migrants
Three children have died in recent months at Border Patrol’s detention facilities because of influenza. Border Patrol officials have complained that they lack resources to provide adequate medical care, even to children. Meanwhile, this week Customs and Border Protection (CBP) purchased 33 million rounds of ammunition for its new handguns, and it has $300 million available for more bullets to purchase by 2025. Read more here
Continuing Sessions reporting is broken into two reports. This web story on the activities of the morning, and the full minutes of Meeting for Business, taken by Recording Clerk, Kri Burkander, with accompanying reports, all in PDF format.
Quaker
Meeting Portrait Project
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is encouraging its 100+ individual local Quaker meetings & other groups to take part in activities showing who they are: Take a selfie, write a poem, tell a story… whatever way they want to express themselves! Early group selfies include Green Street Meeting in Philadelphia, Appoquinimink Worship Group, and Southampton Meeting in Bucks County. See more Quaker Self Portraits here.
How do people concerned with peace and justice operate in times of intense polarization? According to Quaker author and activist George Lakey in this recent QuakerSpeak video, now is a moment of tremendous opportunity—click to watch and learn How We Win!
TENANT NEWS
Holiday Concert–Philadelphia, An
Immigrant City
With Singing City Choir,
The Philadelphia Brass, and Teen Voices of the City Ensemble (T-VOCE)
Sunday, December 15, 3 p.m.
Old First Reformed Church of Christ, 151 N. 4th Street,
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia is made up of people from around the world. This concert will feature seasonal works that are a reflection of the City’s diverse population and includes pieces by Zachary Moore, Paul Halley, Glen Burleigh, Mark Sirett, and more. Repertoire from Ireland, Poland, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Latin America, along with music for Chanukah and African American traditions.
Phoenicia Wallace
becomes only second executive director of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social
Equity
Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE) announced that Phoenicia D.W. Wallace
is its new executive director. She is the second to hold the post, following Mike Lee, one of PLSE’s founders, who left to become interim
director of legislation and public affairs for District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Wallace was most recently a
deputy attorney general for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving in the
Bureau of Consumer Protection. A lifelong Philadelphian, currently a resident
of Germantown, she took part in the entrepreneurship program at Temple University’s Fox School of
Business, the Peace Corps
in Kenya, the district office of State Senator
Anthony H. Williams and the legislative office of City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. She also served
four years as a staff attorney and law clerk within the Philadelphia Court
System. For two years, Wallace hosted “Universally Speaking” on WURD, and she speaks Swahili and
Spanish. Welcome, Phoenicia!
Positive
change in a community is dependent upon individuals speaking up, coming
together around a shared goal, and making a plan for action. Quakers have a
long history of organizing for change in response to various social, economic,
racial, and environmental injustices; most often this change begins with
community members working together at the local level. See examples below of
Quakers who have helped create change, including a curated list of QuakerSpeak
videos about activism. Read
more here
Drawing on her experiences as a leader in the field of environmental justice, Yeampierre provides a unique perspective on how to promote meaningful engagement toward concrete, inclusive, community-based solutions to deal with the climate emergency we are facing as a community, a city, a nation, and world. In these times of political and environmental uncertainty, Yeampierre’s thoughts will leave an impression on audience members’ thoughts and actions regarding climate change and climate justice.
COMING SOON:
ALL-GENDER, ACCESSIBLE RESTROOM FOR 1501 CHERRY ST. BUILDING
At the request of one of our equity
partners, the American Friends Service Committee, we will be converting the
first floor shower room in the 1501 Cherry Street building into a fully accessible, all-gender restroom.
The Friends Center board of directors enthusiastically
endorsed the idea, as it will increase both our restroom capacity and provide
more equitable access for all people.
Construction starts in mid-October, and
will take a few weeks. The contractor plans to cordon off the work area so
people can still pass by to use the existing women’s room and access the first
floor office suite. Inevitably, there will be noise and disruption. We hope you
can live with it for a short while, knowing that a larger benefit is on the
way.
By the way, the existing shower room on
the second floor of 1501 will remain. It’s part of our green building practice,
for those who walk or bike to work.
Thank you in advance for your patience
with the construction phase of this project. Please let me know if you have any
questions.
– Chris Mohr, Executive Director
AROUND FRIENDS CENTER
World Quaker Day is Sunday, October 6!
Please see the last piece in this
newsletter for more information.
Mighty Writers hosts Anti-Violence Town
Hall here
On Friday, 9/27, in the Rufus Jones Room, Mighty Writers held an Anti-Violence Town Hall for Philadelphia youth impacted by violence, as part of their MightFest. Click here for coverage by NBC10 and WHYY
If you witness public instances of racist, anti-Black, anti-Muslim,
anti-Trans, or any other form of oppressive interpersonal violence and
harassment, use these tips on how to intervene while considering the safety of
everyone involved.
We’re excited to
invite PYM Families to our next Community Playdate for Apple and pumpkin
picking, autumnal FUN at Solebury Orchards in Bucks County.
The Community
Playdate is an opportunity for fellowship and learning with our PYM Family
community.
We’ll meet on Saturday,
October 12 at 9:00am at Solebury
Orchards in New Hope, PA.
Kimani Keaton, Children and Families Program Facilitator, will be there to
greet and gather our group, and then lead families on wagon rides to pick
apples and find the perfect pumpkin in the patch.
In case of inclement weather and cancellation, we’ll email those who have
registered (see below) and post on the PYM Families Facebook page. No
parking, entry or wagon ride fees; apples are $1.50/lb.
Join
us for worship at 11 AM every Sunday at Friends Center
Central
Philadelphia Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends is a large, urban
Quaker meeting, diverse in many ways. We welcome visitors throughout the year.
We worship by
gathering and silently waiting for the Spirit to guide us.
We celebrate
diversity and welcome people from all walks of life. We are a welcoming
and affirming congregation for LGBTQ people.
We are also
involved in various activities to further peace and social justice.
TENANT NEWS
Singing City Fall Concert–The Road Less Traveled Singing City and Lyric Fest together in concert.
Saturday, October 5, 2019, 4 pm: Haddonfield United Methodist Church, 29 Warwick Rd., Haddonfield, NJ 08033
Sunday, October 6, 3 pm: Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 23 S. 38th St., Phila., PA 19104
Songs of journey and diaspora, welcome and belonging, leaving home and finding home. A timely program exploring world-wide migration and America’s roots as an immigrant nation.
Bartol Foundation (@BartolFdn) Workshop: Introduction to Trauma-Informed Practice for Teaching
Tuesday, October 15, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM at Friends Center
Recap of Living
Building Challenge
with Community Ventures
Green Building
United recently completed a “Living Building Challenge” for infill affordable
housing with our tenant, Community Ventures. Read about it here.
Across our churches, meetings,
countries and sections, we feel the power of God connecting us in to a faithful
family. We celebrate all expressions of Quaker worship!
This year’s theme is Sustainability: Planting Seeds of Renewal for the World We Love
FWCC invites you to join Quakers around the world for the 6th annual World Quaker Day.
Across our churches, meetings, countries and sections, we feel the power of God connecting us in to a faithful family. We celebrate all expressions of Quaker worship!
Visit the resources page for ideas on how to get involved.
