THE FRIDAY BEE July 3, 2026 🇺🇸
SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY, JULY 5
10:20am
Greeter
TBD
10:30am
Child Care
Starts in kindergarten building across the driveway
10:30am
Meeting for Worship
(Not Hybrid on 7/5; resumes to normal hybrid on 7/12))
This week (7/5) – No hybrid worship:
In-person in the meeting house, or remote (on Zoom).
10:50am
First Day School
During the summer months, our First Day School class takes a pause.
Children of all ages may join together for play in the kindergarten.
Children are always welcome to join their families in Meeting for Worship. Those wanting more activity may go to the kindergarten after a period of worship with their families, or go to the kindergarten from the start.
Our standard First Day School will resume in September!
Questions about First Day School at GMM?
Please contact Carla Childs.
11:30am
Introductions & Announcements
Wendy Wells
11:35am
Zoom Social Time
Zoom attendees, please stay online to join in a Zoom social time after Meeting for Worship!
11:40am
Refreshments
Sarah Kaufman
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. Masks are optional in the meetinghouse. 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.
MEETING NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
REMINDER: NO HYBRID MEETING FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY (7/5)
This Sunday, July 5, join for worship in-person at our meetinghouse, or on Zoom. We will not have a hybrid meeting for worship, but it will resume on Sunday, July 12.
GMM WORSHIPS WITH GREEN STREET MEETING IN JULY & AUGUST!
Starting next Sunday (7/5), we are happy to resume our summer tradition of worshiping together with Green Street Friends Meeting.
- During July, Green Street members & attenders will join us in our meetinghouse for Sunday worship.
- During August, we will worship at Green Street meetinghouse (just a block away).
Our meetinghouse will be closed during August, to allow for the Property Committee to complete annual maintenance & repairs.
GARDENING HELP NEEDED
Our member Lois Volta would like some help tending her garden at the Meeting Cottage. If you would like to help, and also get some of the produce, please contact Lois.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR REFRESHMENTS ON JULY 12!! ☕🍪
Our weekly coffee, tea & yummy snacks don’t happen by magic.
We still need to recruit volunteers from amongst members/attenders to make them happen!
- Please contact Mike Pechter or click here to sign up
QUAKER NEWS & EVENTS
JULY 4: NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
When? Saturday, July 4, 8:30am - 12:00pm
Where? Meet at Arch Street Meetinghouse (320 Arch St) – then join the People’s Parade from Washington Square Park to Independence Mall
Please join American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) for a National Day of Action to declare our collective commitment to resist the rise of authoritarianism. Together, we will explore ways to protect our communities and imagine the shared future we want to build. People of faith, Friends, and people of conscience are invited to join the American Friends Service Committee in anchoring a faith-based contingent within a larger citywide People’s Parade in Philadelphia - bringing a visible, collective witness grounded in justice, dignity, and community.
REGISTER NOW: PHILADELPHIA QUARTERLY MEETING - Summer Meeting
When? Sunday, July 19, 10:30am - 4:00pm
Where? Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting (20 Mermaid Lane)
Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting invites Friends to a day of worship, fellowship, and reflection on how we are called to accompany our neighbors.
REGISTER NOW: PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM) ANNUAL SESSIONS
When? July 22 - 26
Where? Cheyney University & on Zoom
Annual Sessions is when a PYM gathers as a community for our shared commitment to each other and our faith. Friends can expect keynote speakers, worship, opportunities for fellowship, and a return to the community-led workshops around outreach, property, sustainability, and more!
Theme: Members One of Another, reminds Friends that our faith is not only about the ways we join together, but also about the relationships we care for across the yearly meeting and our communities.
QUAKER WRITERS’ RETREAT
When? Friday, July 17 @ 4:30 pm - Sunday, July 19 @ 5:00 pm
Where? Pendle Hill (338 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford)
Join in Pendle Hill’s sanctuary to center down and write in community with other Friends. Enjoy Pendle Hill’s library, art studio, walking trails, and communal meals and refreshments, with time to come together to worship, share your work as led, and explore what it means to be a Quaker writer. Welcome to both professional and non-professional writers to this weekend of self-directed individual writing time within a scheduled framework.
Financial Assistance available.
PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)
- PYM Weekly Update
- PYM Events Calendar: Check out upcoming and ongoing programs promoted by PYM
GERMANTOWN FRIENDS SCHOOL (GFS) NEWS & EVENTS
😎SUMMER AT FRIENDS FREE LIBRARY 📖
Pajama Story Time – RESCHEDULED FROM JULY 1
When? Wednesday, July 8, 6:30 - 7:30pm
Where? Friends Free Library on GFS Campus
For children 2-5 years old (and their grown-ups). Siblings welcome. Open to the whole community!
Summer hours: June 16 - July 16, Tuesdays - Thursdays, 9:30am - 3:30pm
Closed: July 17 - August 30 (reopens Aug. 31)
Summer Reading Challenge (for all ages): Click here for more info on challenges, plus suggested readings
ROOTING POETRY IN NATURE – IN CARY WOODS! 🌳
On Arbor Day, Friday, April 24, a group of Upper School students and several English teachers gathered to engage with renowned Pulitzer-prize winning eco-poet and translator Forrest Gander in the outdoor classroom known as Cary Woods. The two-acre, tree-canopied spot behind the Cary building offers a circle of benches surrounded by untamed plants.
TAKE ACTION!
JULY 4: NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
When? Saturday, July 4, 8:30am
Where? Meet at Arch Street Meetinghouse (320 Arch St) – then join the People’s Parade from Washington Square Park to Independence Mall
Please join American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) for a National Day of Action to declare our collective commitment to resist the rise of authoritarianism. Together, we will explore ways to protect our communities and imagine the shared future we want to build.
- See more details in the “Quaker News & Events” section above!
WRITE GET OUT THE VOTE POSTCARDS!
Sign up to write Get Out the Vote postcards to some key states for the November 3 midterm elections –
– Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio & Wisconsin.
These postcards are proven to boost Democratic turnout by up to 1.3%, which can be enough to tip the scales!
TRYING TO FIND SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS?
Mobilize is a central posting site with opportunities for local actions for protest and in support of social justice.
- See more here, and bookmark their site!
➤ LIST OF ONGOING/WEEKLY SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS
CLICK HERE for a list of ongoing, weekly/regularly scheduled vigils & protests supporting immigrants, Palestine, peace, Constitutional rights, etc.
- Includes standing events such as — Fridays @ Fettermans, Mondays @ McCormicks, We the People Wednesdays, etc.
(These used to be listed every week in the Friday Bee, but we are consolidating them into their own linked document.)
Have more ongoing protests and vigils to include?
Send them to the GMM Office (gmm@germantownfriends.org)
GERMANTOWN & NEARBY
WELCOME AMERICA – GUIDE TO 250th BIRTHDAY EVENTS 🇺🇸
When? July 4th Weekend
Where? All over Philadelphia
The largest Independence Day celebration in the nation (and one of the largest free festivals in the country), is even bigger in 2026 to mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence right here in Philly.
FYI – July 4th Fireworks in Philadelphia start late this year … close to midnight!
GERMANTOWN GEMS & CARILLON RECITALS AT WYCK
When? Monday, July 6, 7:30 - 8:30pm (Wyck grounds open at 6:30pm)
Where? Listen from the Wyck Garden (6026 Germantown Ave)
Bring a blanket or yard chair and come sit in Wyck’s yard to enjoy the multiple (free) concerts being played at the First United Methodist Church (FUMCOG) just across the street! Recitals are 7:30-8:30, rain or shine.* Programs and seating are available in the Wyck yard.
QUAKER RESOURCES
OTHER (VIRTUAL) WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
- Pendle Hill – Daily Zoom meeting for worship online from 8:30-9:10 am
- Friends Council on 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 Voluntary Service (QVS) Worship with Attention to Gaza/Palestine: Tuesdays, 12:00noon (ET)
FOR QUAKER NEWCOMERS: Friends General Conference New Quaker Hub
QUAKER ORGANIZATIONS
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)