Annual Session of Baltimore Yearly Meeting
general information about the gathering

Each year the Ministry & Pastoral Care Committee provides a retreat before the start of the full session. This is a time to refresh and renew inner resources and to center ourselves spiritually so that we come to our week of meetings for worship with a concern for business "prepared in heart and mind" to do God’s work. This year Rosalind Zuses will lead this retreat, focusing on preparation through spiritual healing.

Rosalind’s perspective on spiritual healing is that it is, in essence, becoming centered in God, bringing oneself in closer alignment with the Spirit, being "held in the Light". This may be achieved with meditation through the focus on something outside our normal thought processes and our attention to the tasks of daily life. It may be achieved by being held in the Light with the physical contact of hands-on-healing, or in a meeting for worship with a concern for healing. We can encourage and facilitate deeper connection to Spirit and each other through the small group sharing of our spiritual questions, and the exploration of spiritual queries. We can also prepare for the business ahead by considering queries about what is our true purpose there. There will also, of course, be time for silent worship.

In our time together in the pre-business sessions retreat, we can choose to use any or all of these forms, depending on the time available and the wishes of those gathered. No one will be asked to participate in anything they are uncomfortable with, although everyone will be encouraged to stretch their comfort zone to incorporate new ways of experiencing God’s and each other’s compassion.

Participation in the retreat will be a gentle but powerful way to leave behind the world’s current ways of thinking and become immersed in the Spirit so that we will be fully prepared for our work of the week ahead, and refreshed in body and spirit as well. Please come and give yourself the gift of this time.

The retreat begins after lunch on Monday and ends at lunch on Tuesday. We will be establishing our retreat community at the beginning, so please plan to be with us when we start.

Vanessa, a former clerk of the Fellowship of Friends of African Descent, co-clerk of Philadelphia Yearly Meetings Ad hoc Group on Racial Justice and Equality and a member of the FGC Committee for Ministry on Racism, has a traveling minute from her Meeting (Central Philadelphia) supporting the overall vision of her ministry to help humanity remember its wholeness. (For more information, see vanessajulye.quaker.org.)

Donna, a freelance writer and member of Framingham Meeting, has a long history of community involvement and public service rooted in a deep commitment to equality and racial justice. She is a member of New England Yearly Meeting’s Working Party on Racism and clerks her own Meeting’s committee working against racism.

They will share their exploration of the complex, often "arm’s-length," relationship between Friends of European descent and African Americans Friends and non-Friends in the pre-colonial period, their often-dangerous work of freeing and educating the enslaved, the ambivalence surrounding Quaker abolitionist activities, and finally Friends’ participation and their lack of participation in the racial ferment of the 20th century. Vanessa and Donna offer lessons from our past to illuminate our future.

They will be available on Wednesday afternoon, to converse with Friends about the lecture, their book, and related concerns.

Tony has spoken at YouthQuake and Friends United Meeting Triennial (1996).

She will lead the Bible study each morning, examining the Book of James: "Straw or Scandalous Message." During her Carey Lecture, Trayce will explore ideas of living in authenticity, living in tension and love.

Ground transportation:  A bus provided by Sandy Spring Friends School will be available to transport Friends to the gathering on Tuesday and back again on Sunday. The cost for a round trip between Sandy Spring and JMU will be $20 per person. (Other stops in the metro area may be available; it will depend on the needs of those who register.) Please call or e-mail Howard Zuses at 301/774-7455 ext. 101.

Air Transportation:  It is so easy to fly into the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport.  This airport is MUCH closer than any of the DC area airports (Washington Dulles is the next closest) and the rates are very reasonable.  In addition, a shuttle is available from the airport to the JMU College Center (note: if you take the shuttle, make sure you get off at the JMU College Center, NOT the EMU College Center). 

Young Friends host this annual event each Saturday night at BYM from 9:15 (after the Carey Lecture) to midnight. All Friends are welcome to share their amazing talents (musical, poetic, dramatic, or weird). After a hard week of meetings, sleep loss, and too much ice cream, this is an opportunity for Friends to laugh, cry, and sing together. Donuts, fruit, hot and cold drinks, and other snacks are served. 

Sign up sheets will be posted around the campus. This year we will design the talent show so that younger children, parents, and those wishing to sleep before midnight can have earlier slots.

Emergency Phone Number:   540/568-3606 the 24 hour conference line.

Our office at JMU on the first floor of the dorm (Potomac):  540/612-8800.