FALL 2004Drew Smith
Head of School
hiladelphia Yearly Meeting has recently formed a new committee, the Committee on Friends Education, whose charge it is to bring together the energy and resources to support, with renewed vision and commitment, the relationship between Quakerism and the Friends’ schools in our community. Our mission is to encourage the Quaker spirit and character of Friends’ schools, to connect Yearly Meeting with our schools, and to raise funds to support tuition assistance for Friends’ children in Friends’ schools. Ultimately, it is our committee’s hope that the vision for Friends’ schools feels clear to members of the Yearly Meeting, and that assets devoted to those schools are clearly expended.
Our first meeting focused upon two primary points: one, evaluating the “Quakerliness” of a Friends’ school, and two, paying for a Quaker education. In my mind, these are very often the broad issues around which our decision-making revolves concerning any of our outreach efforts, whether it be the work of the American Friends Service Committee or a project sponsored by a monthly meeting or one of its members. It is the struggle between what is important to us as a committee, or a monthly meeting, or a yearly meeting, and how we manage to divide our resources so that they match these important priorities. In fact, at the June Interim Meeting (expertly clerked by our own Chris Mahon) the issue of becoming clear about our shared priorities for outreach and the revenue necessary to support those priorities was the primary item of business.
I cannot claim any special knowledge or wisdom around this tension. Despite having spent hours with other Friends in discussions or worship around these issues, the tension between them is ever-present. I struggle to let go of my own commitment to Friends’ education in these situations so that I may hear what others in my meeting are feeling and expressing. I also find that at Friends School, the struggle for clearness around the Quaker character of the school and the prioritization of resources is compounded by the fact that we invite the world to partake of our offerings. Non-Friends participate in every aspect of school life, and we Quakers must account for God amongst their number as well.
Salem Quarter is an important source of strength and support for this Friends School. Although the work to achieve an even greater sense of how our school might better serve as a vehicle for Quaker outreach is ongoing, the fact that our Board of Trustees, faculty, and student body are populated with members of the Quarter means that Friends School is bound to the Quarter in important ways. As the summer begins to draw to an end and another school year begins, I hope that the Quarter and Friends School communities will continue to take opportunities to work together to become even more clear about how we might better serve one another, and the Yearly Meeting at large.
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Saturday, August 28, 2004 at 09:52 PM
