THE FRIDAY BEE   November 8, 2024

PROTOCOL FOR MEETING FOR WORSHIP (Zoom, hybrid, in-person)

Please maintain silence as you enter the Zoom meeting or the meetinghouse so Friends can center and settle into worship.

Our current COVID-19 safety measures for the meetinghouse are as follows:

• Masks are optional. Feel free to wear one if you wish. We have a supply if you’ve forgotten yours.
• If you have a fever or are feeling unwell, please stay home and join our worship on Zoom.

Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

November 10, 2024, 9:00 - 10:15am

Hybrid: On Zoom & in-person. Please use the Meeting for Worship zoom link.

AGENDA:

• Query – Faye Steacy
• Opening worship
• Introduction of visitors – Karen Lightner
• Review of agenda – Karen Lightner
• Corrections to the Minutes from the October 2024 Business Meeting
• Standing Nominating Committee – David Mettler
• Retreat Committee – David Mettler
• Care & Visiting Committee – Peter Samuel
• Worship & Ministry Committee – Margie & Ted Spaeth
• Racial and Social Justice Committee – Ed Nakawatase
• Report from the School Committee for School Year 2023-24 – Dana Weeks & David Feldman
• Closing Worship

(Attenders are welcome to attend business meeting. Please notify the clerk in advance if you wish to attend.)

GAME NIGHT (& pizza) AT OUR MEETINGHOUSE! This Saturday, November 9, 6:00 - 8:00pm

Everyone is welcome – all ages!

This wonderful intergenerational event is always great fun at GMM! Bring favorite board games, and there will be plenty provided. Can you join in? Let us know (so we can estimate the pizza order)!

• Click here to RSVP
• Or leave a voice message at the Meeting Office (215-951-2235)

After this challenging week... let's pause for a moment with politics, and enjoy some laughter & pizza together! We all need it.

ZACHARIAH JULYE INCLUDED IN MEMORIAL DEDICATION - Friday, November 8th at 3:00pm

The Friends Ending Gun Violence Collaborative, in partnership with Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence, will host a Memorial to the Lost® installation at Arch Street Meeting House. GMM Member Zachariah Julye’s name and date of his murder (July 2, 2022) will be displayed on one of the t-shirts in front of the Arch Street Meetinghouse. Following this dedication, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting will hold a memorial meeting for worship inside the meetinghouse from 4:00 - 5:30pm. The memorial display will remain up throughout the weekend, during Continuing Sessions. Read more: Click here

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR BOB SEELEY – Next Saturday, November 16, 2:00pm

Join together to remember longtime Germantown Monthly Meeting member, Bob Seeley.

• Where? Germantown Friends Meetinghouse
• Can’t make it in-person? Join in on Zoom at 2:00 on November 16th.
• Reception will follow
• Here’s another lovely write-up about Bob Seeley in the Chestnut Hill Local

COOKIES & BROWNIES NEEDED FOR BOB SEELEY’S MEMORIAL! Saturday, November 16

Calling all GMM bakers! Contributions of cookies and brownies from Friends would be appreciated for the Memorial Service for longtime Meeting member Robert Seeley. Please bring them to the kitchen before the service, which begins at 2:00pm on Saturday, November 16. If you’re able to let us know you’ll bring a tasty treat, contact Katy Hineline

UPCOMING MEMORIAL SERVICE – DICK TAYLOR

Please save the dates for remembering our Germantown Monthly Meeting Members –

• Saturday, December 14, at 1:30pm: Memorial Service for Richard (Dick) Taylor

• At Germantown Friends Meeting. Reception will follow

ARTICLE IN FRIENDS JOURNAL BY GMM MEMBER - JOHN HICKEY!

Friends Journal, in the November issue (online this week), has published an article by our member John Hickey, entitled "Faith, Redemptive Grace, and Quaker Meeting for Worship," which explores the role of faith in Quaker religious practice.

• To read the article, click here

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE IN GFS 7TH GRADE QUAKERISM CLASS!

The 7th Grade Quakerism class at Germantown Friends School is looking for 6 volunteers to come visit at intervals throughout the rest of the school year. Are you interested in getting to know some students and sharing your experience? Fill out this form and teacher Gabby Goodman will get in touch with you soon to continue the conversation. Or click here for form 

PLEASE SIGN UP FOR DECEMBER, JANUARY & FEBRUARY REFRESHMENTS!   

Thank you to all who have provided refreshments after worship so far this Fall! You have added so much to the fellowship of our community. We hope everyone will volunteer for this a couple of times a year.

Available dates needing Refreshments providers:

• December 1  -  December 22  -  December 29
• January 5  -  January 12  -  January 19  -  January 26
• February 2  -  February 9  -  February 16  -  February, 23

To sign up, please contact Becky Johnson. THANK YOU!!

      Note: Refreshment expenses are reimbursable or can be credited as in-kind donations to GMM (tax deductible).

November Community Food Drive – Tuesday, November 19, Meetinghouse Porch (7:45-8:30am; 2:45-3:30pm)

Throughout the year, the GFS community supports the food distribution programs of three missions: St. Luke’s Food Pantry, the food pantry at Holsey Temple, and the Whosoever Gospel Mission for homeless men with monthly donations.

• Please join in by donating these non-perishable food items for the November food drive.
• Interested in volunteering* your time? Please sign up on their “Parent Volunteer” sheet; click on Sign-Up Genius (Morning volunteers should arrive at the Meetinghouse porch by 7:45am, and in the afternoon by 2:45pm)

*  Note: All volunteers must have PA Child Abuse Clearances on file in the Meeting Office. If you have never done one of these, the process is a fairly simple online process! Click here to start. Need help with it? Call the Meeting Office, and we can walk through it together.

GFS’ Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive is Coming Up! November 18 - 22

Every November, the GFS community comes together to purchase Thanksgiving turkeys for our neighbors at Holsey Temple. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be used to purchase 75 turkeys and sides for Holsey Temple. Teachers, students, and staff create posters for the event and decorate heart pins to advertise this community effort, hosted by the Early Childhood Division in partnership with the Office of Community Engagement.

Before Friday, November 22, you can support this initiative!

• Drop off cash or check in the Germantown Meeting Office in a sealed envelope.
• Please make checks out to GFS with "Turkey Drive" in the memo line, and label envelopes, “Turkey Drive.”

Questions about these food drives? 

Please contact Dr. Zarah Adams, Director of Community Engagement (zadams@germantownfriends.org)

ATTEND GFS MEETING FOR WORSHIP DURING THE WEEK

GMM is welcome to attend Meeting for Worship during the school year.

        Schedule for upcoming week 

• Middle School (MS): Monday, 11/11, 10:20 - 11:00 am
• Upper School (US) Thursday, 11/14, 10:10 - 11:00 am

FALL CONTINUING SESSIONS: “CALLED TO HEALING” - November 8 & 9, Arch Street Meeting House

Join us for memorial worship, meeting for healing, and keynote speakers on November 8 and 9. Registration is open, and all are invited to be part of these healing moments. The theme “Called to Healing” acknowledges that this is a vulnerable time in our world and as Quakers, we are charged with joining in the work of healing and renewal.

• Schedule & to register, Click here

LIVING THE PEACE TESTIMONY - Reminder from Friends General Conference (FGC)

In this stretch following the Election, Friends General Conference shared a message that calls Friends “back to the roots of our faith.” To read more, click here.

SILENCE & LIGHT e-RETREAT - Saturdays, November 9 - December 14 (skipping 11/30), 2:00pm (Zoom)

Explore and practice the experience of Quaker worship and silent waiting, for an inward encounter with Inner Teacher who leads, guides, and transforms us every day. This session is offered for people who are curious about Quakers or new to Quakerism and will explore the basics of Quaker theology and practice. For more information & registration: click here

MORAL INJURY COMMUNITY HEALING CEREMONY - November 21, 4:00 - 6:00pm (in-person only)

From GMM Member Peter Yeomans (who has been involved with this for many years) –

The purpose of the ceremony is to provide Veterans involved an opportunity to both unburden some of the moral pain they carry from their military experiences, as well as an opportunity for their stories to help the public reflect more deeply on the moral complexity of military service and warfare. Thus, as Veterans share their stories, the public is asked to wrestle with the responsibility they may also have for these very same experiences. (More info & registration, click here)

Where:  VA Medical Center in West Philadelphia – 3900 Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia, 7th floor Community Hall

Advanced Registration Required: Register, click here or call - 215-823-4393

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

• PYM Events Calendar: Check out upcoming and ongoing programs promoted by PYM - Click here.

OTHER (VIRTUAL) WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

• Pendle Hill – Daily Zoom meeting for worship online from 8:30-9:10 am.
• Friends Council for National Legislation (FCNL) Witness Wednesdays: Weekly worship at 5:15pm (ET)
• Friends General Conference’s (FGC) has many options for worship & discussion, including Newcomers & Seekers, Friends of Color Monthly worship, BIPOC Womxn’s space, White Friends Confronting Racism, Gen X Friends (new), Neurodivergent Friends (new). The offerings keep growing! Click here for the calendar

QUAKER ORGANIZATIONS

Stay connected with news, work and resources of various Friends groups.

Click on the links below (only a partial list), and bookmark them for easy reference!

Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting (PQM)

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM)

Friends General Conference (FGC)

Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

Friends Council on Education (FCE)

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC

JOIN COMBATANTS FOR PEACE IN PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, 11/16, 7:00 - 9:00 pm

In these challenging times, the Philadelphia Chapter of Americans for Combatants for Peace (CFP) has good news to share.

Please join us for a special event with CFP activists and documentary film screening (Another Way: The Journey for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine) at Haverford College, co-hosted by Haverford's Center for Peace and Global Citizenship.

• Register: Click here

• Saturday, 11/16, 7-9 pm
• Stokes Hall, Haverford College, Haverford, PA

WISTER WOODS – LOVE YOUR PARK WEEKEND! Saturday, November 9, 11:00am - 2:00pm

You’re Invited! Experience the beauty and wonder of Wister Woods located on either side of Belfield Avenue between Lindley Street & Wister Street and also between Logan Street & Wister Street.

We will tour the 1/2-mile loop trail, reclaim the family reunion field from vines and fallen limbs, plant flower bulbs, and plant grass seed. Refreshments provided. Hand tools only. Part of Love Your Park Fall Weekend!

Registration page: Click here.

Mission: Friends Wister Woods’ mission is to preserve the Wister Woods greenspace as a public park for the citizens of the City of Philadelphia, through coordinating local stewardship efforts, increasing awareness and appreciation, consolidating information, and organizing resources available to the Wister Woods.