Vital Friends: Yearly Meeting 2019 Highlights
As the season for Friends to gather across the U.S. and Canada for annual sessions comes to an end for this year, we encourage Friends to read the highlights and epistles of FGC’s affiliated Yearly Meetings.
As the season for Friends to gather across the U.S. and Canada for annual sessions comes to an end for this year, we encourage Friends to read the highlights and epistles of FGC’s affiliated and unaffiliated (but cordially connected!) Yearly Meetings.
Don’t see your Yearly Meeting’s epistle? Send it to us via email and we’ll publish it below.
Alaska Friends Conference
- August 1-4, 2019 at the Dickerson Friends Center in Wasilla Alaska
- Theme: Supporting and empowering youth and young adult Friends
- Annual Sessions Website
Baltimore Yearly Meeting
- July 29-August 4, 2019 at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland
- Theme: Quaker Tools for the Journey
- Annual Sessions Website
Canadian Yearly Meeting
- August 3-10, 2019 at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Theme was Committee of Joy.
- Read Stories and Reflections from CYM’s sessions on their blog
- View picture highlights on CFSC’s Facebook page
Illinois Yearly Meeting
- June 19-23, 2019 at ILYM’s meetinghouse in McNabb, Illinois
- Theme: Facing Faith with Fear
- 2019 ILYM Minutes
- 2019 ILYM Epistle
Update shared by Marcia Nelson, ILYM Presiding Clerk:
Illinois Yearly Meeting annual sessions took place on June 19-23, 2019, at our historic 1874 meetinghouse set amid the cornfields of McNabb, Illinois. Speakers and workshops plumbed the theme of “Facing Faith with Fear.” Plenary speaker Eileen Flanagan, author and activist, spoke about her own spiritually motivated activism on climate change and environmental justice. Our business sessions highlight was history-making: after 27 years of research, writing, and revising from feedback, Illinois Yearly Meeting’s own Faith and Practice book is finally complete.
Intermountain Yearly Meeting
- June 9-16, 2019 at Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico
- Theme: Faith, Fear and Our Future
- Though this year’s epistle is currently unavailable, Friends may be interested to read general information about IMYM’s sessions here.
Lake Erie Yearly Meeting
- July 25-28, 2019 at Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio
- Theme: Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly with God: Finding our calling in disturbing times
New England Yearly Meeting
- August 3-8, 2019 at Castleton University in Castleton, Vermont
- Theme: Provoke one another to Love
- Learn more and watch plenary recordings here.
New York Yearly Meeting
- July 21-27, 2019 at the Silver Bay YMCA in Silver Bay, New York
- Theme: Friends Come in All Ages, Sizes, and Colors: Our Path Toward Being Inclusive
- 2019 NYYM Epistle
Northern Yearly Meeting
- May 24-27, 2019 at the Wisconsin Lions Camp in Rosholt, Wisconsin
- Theme: Speaking with a Holy Voice – Using Human Words to Communicate Divine Truth
- 2019 NYM Epistle
Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting
- June 19-23, 2019 at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana
- Theme: Navigating the Depths through Our Sacred Connections
Update shared by Martha Viehmann, OVYM Presiding Clerk:
Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting annual sessions, held at Earlham College from June 19 to 23, focused on healing to restore our spirits after last year’s contentious discussion of sexual misconduct. Our plenary presenters were Arica Barton, a restorative justice expert from Chicago, and a panel of our own members in healing professions. During business meeting, we received a well-developed draft of a policy for responding to sexual misconduct, which we will refine over the year. For our Living Witness segment, a presentation about the workings of Quakerism in the lives of one or two of our members, Travis Cook shared his film “Walk In the Light: A History of the Waynesville Quaker Historic District,” which is available on YouTube.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
- July 24-28, 2019 at The College of New Jersey in Ewing Township, New Jersey
- Theme: How do we Center ourselves in Trust and Love
- Read PYM’s Epistle and view additional resources.
Piedmont Friends Fellowship & Yearly Meeting
- April 19-21, 2019 at Carolina Friends School in Durham, North Carolina
- 2019 PFYM Epistle
Update shared by Marian Beane, Clerk of the Communications Committee for PFYM:
Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting annual sessions on April 20th were held in conjunction with the Piedmont Friends Fellowship (PFF) spring retreat. We came to unity around the proposal to establish a Friends Committee on North Carolina Legislation (FCNCL) as a separate organization under the spiritual care of PFYM. We committed ourselves to ongoing support of its mission: “to strengthen our service and witness in the broader world by advocating for North Carolina state law and policies that are just, compassionate, and respectful of the inherent worth of every person and the Earth upon which we live.” We joined with PFF in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Quaker House, a peace witness near Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, NC. that has been supported by PFF since its inception. Videos depicting the history of Quaker House (Conscientious Peacemaking Since 1969) and stories of the many who have been helped by Quaker House over the years (Personal Stories of Gratitude) are available from Quaker House: www.quakerhouse.org We appreciated the opportunity to hear about the faithful Quaker witness of Ramallah Friends School in Palestine for 150 years from Arthur Meyer Boyd and Margaret (Meg) Boyd Meyer of Stony Run Friends Meeting in Baltimore Yearly Meeting who shared from their recent six-month sojourn at the School and their impressions of everyday life in Palestine which continues to be challenging under occupation.
South Central Yearly Meeting
- April 18-21, 2019 at Greene Family Camp near Bruceville, Texas
- Theme: Knowing, Being, Doing
- 2019 SCYM Epistle
- More information (including a video report from SCYM’s Youth Program Coordinators) can be viewed on the SCYM Facebook page
Southeastern Yearly Meeting
- April 17-21, 2019 at United Methodist Life Enrichment Center in Fruitland Park, Florida
- Theme: Taking off the Masks: Undoing Racism as Personal & Community Practice
- Annual Sessions Website
Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting & Association
- June 13-16, 2019 at Warrren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina
- Theme: Seek the Light, Act Boldly
- Though this year’s epistle is currently unavailable, Friends may be interested to read general information about SAYMA here.
Want more information about Yearly Meeting sessions? View FWCC’s calendar of Yearly Meeting dates.