SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 26 | ||
10:20am | Greeter | Rebecca Hoenig |
10:30am | Child Care | Starts in kindergarten building across the driveway from Meetinghouse |
10:30am | Meeting for Worship | (Hybrid: In-person & on Zoom) |
10:50am | First Day School | Older children attend Meeting for Worship with their families until 10:50 am, when their teachers will lead them to the Committee Room. Questions? Please contact Carla Childs. Note: Children of any age are always welcome to join their families in Meeting for Worship. |
11:30am | Introductions & Announcements | John Hickey |
11:45am | Refreshments | Lisa Holgash and Dudley Burdge |
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:
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MEETING NEWS & EVENTS |
When? TONIGHT! Friday, January 24, 7:00pm
Where? Germantown Meetinghouse - 47 West Coulter Street
Come for an evening of fostering community & connection through the arts – all Germantown performers!
Eric Geoffrey & Francis Miller, Germantown Music Collective (Stephanie Cole, Miles Orion, XTA & Lars), Koof IBI, Poet Laureate - Kai Davis, Grant Bouvier. Click here to let us know you’re coming!
Co-sponsored by GMM Outreach Committee & Germantown Community Radio 92.0
Germantown Monthly Meeting members who have children in Friends Schools may apply for tuition assistance from the Meeting for the 2025-2026 school year. Applications should be completed and returned to Faye Steacy, clerk of the Scholarship Committee, by this coming Monday, January 27. Please send these to Faye through the U.S. Mail. Find her contact information in the Meeting Directory or through the Meeting Office at 215-951-2235 or gmm@germantownfriends.org.
The Nicholson Church Lane Community Garden, named in memory of our beloved members Chris and Helen Nicholson, is partnering with Neighborhood Gardens Trust for needed upgrades. See below, in the Germantown section of the Bee for more!
Germantown Monthly Meeting is reinvigorating its Environmental Concerns Committee, last active in the pre-pandemic era. Instigators Bill Cozzens and Jack Rhoads anticipate that the committee will focus on climate and energy issues and solutions but that does not preclude responding to other environmental concerns. The Prospectus describes some possible areas the Committee can work on. We are planning a kickoff meeting in the next several weeks - stay tuned!
Worship and Ministry, is offering two "Quakerism 101" classes in February and March 23.
There will be childcare on-site and a hybrid option for these sessions. All are welcome!
Choose a story with meaning to you and read it to a GFS lower school class on a Thursday morning (8:30-9:30) when they have "informal" Meeting for worship. It is a meaningful and fun way to interact with lower schoolers.
Thank you to those who have been providing refreshments in recent months. You provide the fuel for social hour! We need others to sign up for this rewarding job.
Please consider these available dates:
To sign up, please contact Becky Johnson. THANK YOU!!
Note: Refreshment expenses are reimbursable or can be credited as in-kind donations to GMM.
The Monthly Meeting Coordinator (formerly “Meeting Secretary”) assists and supports Friends, Trustees and the Meeting’s committees in various ways. Need member & attender lists? Visitee lists? Need forms produced? Need help pulling together a mailing? Here’s how to get the assistance you need:
Reminder: Deadline for submissions for the Friday Bee e-newsletter is 12:00 noon each Thursday - sent directly to the Meeting Office (gmm@germantownfirends.org) . Please include “Friday Bee” in the Subject line of your email..
The Office & Records Committee thanks you for your cooperation and looks forward to being of assistance.
QUAKER NEWS & EVENTS |
Karen Lightner compiled a list of LGBTQIA+ Resources for PYM, following the approval of the adapted version of our GMM Minute of Solidarity. Friends may choose to utilize, learn, and share these resources when connecting with the LGBTQIA+ community members and Friends. The hope is that this list will continue to grow. If you have additional resources to share, send them to PYM at communications@pym.org.
When? This Sunday, January 26, 2025
Where? Chestnut Hill Meeting – Hybrid event
Program: Quakerism Today & Tomorrow: A panel discussion featuring Philadelphia Friends about the contemporary state of Quakerism and how it can continue to thrive, evolve, and engage with the world in meaningful ways.
When? Online Gathering will run February 1-9, 2025
Join Friends this winter for an inclusive, joyful, enlivening Online Gathering! The theme is “A Spring Whose Waters Never Fail,” and the Online Gathering will be held on Zoom from February 1-9, 2025!
This year’s lecture presented by Rashaun Williams, “The Collective Reparations Responsibility,” is a conversation and workshop on how different communities can play their part in reparative justice to Black Americans whose ancestors endured chattel slavery in the United States.
When? Sunday, February 2, 11:15am
Where? Abington Friends Meeting (520 Meetinghouse Rd, Jenkintown, PA)
OR – on Zoom.
When? Sunday afternoons starting February 2, 4:00-6:00pm
All are invited to an online course on "The Quaker Way." No charge. Attend only the sessions that interest you.
GERMANTOWN FRIENDS SCHOOL (GFS) NEWS & EVENTS |
GFS welcomes GMM to attend Meeting for Worship during the school year. Schedule for upcoming week:
Celebrating 30 years of GFS A Cappella, this exciting annual event, highlights GFS A Cappella as well as groups from multiple other schools & colleges! Fun evening for all ages.
When? February 7 & 8, 7:00pm
Where? Loeb Performing Arts Center on the GFS Campus
TAKE ACTION! |
This week school districts across the country have been sharing information about how to deal with ICE interrogations.
Here in Philadelphia an email went out; in Denver, students were sent home with red cards and resource packets. A red card is a pocket-sized slip of paper explaining what to do (available in various languages) on one side, and the other side (you can show to police or an immigration officer) citing the 4th and 5th amendment rights.
Red card, Side 1:
1) Do not open the door for immigration agents
2) Do not answer any questions
3) Do not sign anything
4) Give this card to the agent
The other side cites (in English) our 4th & 5th amendment rights to the immigration officer (the right to deny entry to the home and the right to remain silent).
Here is the link to the website - for free printable PDFs of the Red Card in many languages, and you can also order cards in bulk.
Some other important information to share is that an “immigration warrant” signed by an “immigration judge” is NOT a warrant that allows them to enter the house, you do NOT have to let them in.
More resources from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC):
When? TOMORROW, Saturday, January 25, 2:00pm
Where? Meet at Arch Street United Methodist Church, 55 N Broad St, Philadelphia; March to LOVE Park
Come together in our grief, fear, and anger to demonstrate love in public and call on our elected leaders to defend the City’s Sanctuary City policy, even in the face of pressure and threats. More information here.
Join POWER Philadelphia members and congregations representing over 50 congregations in almost every neighborhood in the city and hear about our vision for a truly affordable city. REGISTER HERE
This is your chance to discuss Philly’s housing crisis with one of the city’s leaders and work towards real solutions for our communities.
When? This Sunday, January 26, from 3 - 6:00pm
Where? Spirit and Truth Fellowship at 4400 N 6th Street
An exceptional panel of experts will present and discuss the distinct features of three prominent and timely examples of religious nationalism today – White Christian Nationalism, Zionism (Jewish Nationalism), and Hindu Nationalism – and help us to understand the compelling intersections among them. PANEL: Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Rabbi Alissa Wise, Pranay Somayajula
When? Thursday, January 30, 1:00 PM
Where? Zoom – Click here to register for Zoom link
Advocating for the rights and needs of Philly public school kids--especially immigrant, LGBTQIA+, and Black & Brown children--is more important now than ever. FREE EVENT!
When? Wednesday, February 19, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Where? First United Methodist Church of Germantown (6001 Germantown Avenue) & livestreamed
When? Every Friday from 11:15 – 12:15pm **
** Note new time; an hour earlier in 2025 to make it possible for Muslim allies to attend and still be able to attend Friday worship and prayer services in the early afternoon
Where? In front of Senator Fetterman’s office (230 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia)
What? Join together with people committed to a Middle East peace solution to urge Senator Fetterman to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Fridays @ Fetterman’s is supported by the AFSC, Brandywine Peace Community, Granny Peace Brigade, IfNotNowPhilly, Prayers for Peace Alliance, the Simple Way and The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Phila. Branch.
GERMANTOWN & NEARBY |
The Nicholson Church Lane Community Garden, named for our members Chris and Helen Nicholson, has been selected by the Neighborhood Gardens Trust for an extensive upgrade in terracing and accessibility! The garden is hoping to help raise the necessary funds by February 1st, if possible.
Where is it? This garden is located just three blocks from our Meeting, at the corner of Church Lane and Baynton Streets.
QUAKER RESOURCES |
Stay connected with news, work and resources of various Friends groups. Bookmark them for easy reference
Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting (PQM)
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM)
Friends General Conference (FGC)
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)