Our Wider Quaker Community
Organizational Structure of Quakers
-
Monthly Meetings- local faith community who gather for worship once a week (or more) and Meetings for business once per month
-
Quarterly Meeting--gathering of multiple Monthly Meetings from a geographical region for a Meeting for business and fellowship once per quarter
-
Yearly Meeting- Gathering of regional Quarterly Meetings for business and fellowship once (or more) per year
-
Quaker affiliation organizations - affiliations of Yearly Meetings by similarities of practice and discipline for fellowship, support and sharing of resources
-
Worldwide Quaker Organizations - create opportunities for dialogue and understanding between the many branches of Friends Meetings and Churches
Abington Quarter
Abington Quarter consists of the 9 Monthly (Quaker) Meetings, that are primarily located in Montgomery County, with the exception of Richland (Bucks Co.) and Byberry (Northeast Philadelphia). Surrounding Quarterly Meetings are
Philadelphia Quarter, a
Bucks Quarter, a
Salem Quarter, a
Caln Quarter and others.
Purpose of Quarterly Meeting:
"The Quarterly Meeting is designed to bring together a larger group of Friends for inspiration and counsel and to consider more varied interests than a Monthly or Preparative Meeting can undertake. It is composed of constituent Monthly Meetings, each of which shall appoint representatives to attend it."
"... Its more helpful function should be to aid and encourage its constituent Monthly Meetings to greater interest and service and to give its members an increasing vision of Truth." (Source: Faith and Practice of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting)
Links to Meetings of Abington Quarter and their Locations
Each of these Monthly Meetings has their own distinctive flavor: small or large membership, varying diversity of age groups and ethnic, social, economic backgrounds, and theology. Monthly Meetings are the composite of all its members as they jointly express their faith.
|
 |
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Abington Quarter is one of 14 Quarters that make up Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting consists of over 100 Quaker meetings located in:
-
Central and Eastern PA
-
Western and Southern NJ
-
Delaware and Eastern Shore Maryland
For Information about the Yearly Meeting: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM)
Wider Quaker Community
FWCC poster 2017
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) have established Meetings around the world. There are about 400,000 Quakers worldwide. The most numerous Meetings and Friends Churches are in the Americas and Africa. There are 55 regional Yearly Meetings in the Americas (north, central and south). These organizations have affiliated themselves with one another by similarities of practice and discipline. In the United States there are three organizations from which most Yearly Meeting have associated with one for fellowship and sharing of resources. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is a member of Friends General Conference which has 15 affiliated Yearly Meetings from around the Americas.
The Americas' Quaker affiliation organizations are:
-
Friends General Conference (FGC)
-
Friends United Meeting (FUM)
-
Evangelical Friends Church (Eastern EFCER, Mid America EFCMA and International EFCI )
Additionally some Yearly Meetings have chosen to not be associated. For example, Conservative Friends have no single unifying association, and those Yearly Meetings include:
Ohio Yearly Meeting Conservative,
Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative,
North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative.
The Friends World Committee for Consultation (
FWCC) fosters fellowship among all the branches of the Religious Society of Friends around the world. Their website is a good resource about the many branches of Quakerism and to find Friends Meetings in the Americas and around the world.