Baltimore Yearly Meeting Annual Session 2006
"Living in Harmony: With One Another and With All Creation."
Monday, July 31 - Sunday, August 6
What is it? Baltimore Yearly Meeting's Annual Session is coming and the Program Committee is in the midst of planning a wonderful gathering. In addition to speakers, there are workshops, interest groups, business meetings, a Quaker book and crafts store, an organizational fair,
Young Friends programming, Meeting for Worship, Junior Yearly Meeting, Bible study, worship sharing, song, relaxation and renewal for all. The links below include more information about programs at Annual Session and registration materials.
For adults, our day begins with worship sharing or Bible study in small groups immediately following breakfast. Meetings for Worship for Business are central to our gathering. We come together in worshipful obedience to tend to the administration of Friends' affairs, while renewing and deepening our individual and corporate spiritual lives. A range of workshops offer opportunities for learning and sharing. Meal times and other occasions provide opportunities to make and renew friendships. Lectures and recreational activities fill out an active schedule. See the schedule for more information. Read on for more descriptions of events and workshops.
For infants and toddlers, childcare is available. For our young children, day classes full of exploration run from after worship sharing until lunch. Afternoon activities, from swimming to arts and crafts, ensure the children will be supervised and entertained. Evening programs range from the all-age celebration to movies to outdoor games. Parents are responsible for taking children to class, picking them up before lunch, and ensuring that their children are enrolled in a program or are with the parent. Children may not be on campus unsupervised.
Children in rising 6th through rising 8th grades are part of the Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM).
High school aged teenagers, Young Friends, gather from Tuesday to Sunday in their own dorm. Young Friends, Friendly Adult Presences, and the BYM Youth Secretary cooperate in a community based on caring, trust, and love. In addition to unique workshops, YF's lead the Produce Department and Coffee House, join the community at the All-Age Celebration, and participate in daily business meetings. Young Friends should look for "The Letter of Understanding". That form needs to be included with the registration for all Young Friends who will be on campus anytime during the week.
Attending Annual Session is a great way to connect with the fellowship and work of the wider Quaker community, participate in the business of BYM and broaden your own spiritual community. Sharing in the life of the spirit of Friends at Annual Session is for many, a highlight of their year. Please consider attending!
First Time Attender Vouchers (free!): Each Monthly Meeting can award three vouchers for attendance at Annual Session for two nights. If you have never attended Annual Session and would like to take advantage of this, please contact your Monthly Meeting Clerk or Ministry and Counsel committee. Do not contact the BYM office please.
Worship Sharing and Bible Study: One of the treasured opportunities at Annual Session each year is to begin our days with worship sharing or Bible Study. This year Marshall Massey, our invited Carey Memorial Lecturer, will lead our morning Bible Study.
Also in the morning, Friends have the opportunity to participate in small worship-sharing groups, including one or more that welcome babies and children. Groups will consider a daily query related to this year’s session theme, “Living in Harmony With One Another and All Creation”.
So that Friends would not have to choose between Bible Study and worship sharing, the Program Committee asked Betsy Meyer of Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting to lead an afternoon Bible Study as well.
More information about each of these opportunities will be available at Annual Session.
More Information
Advance Reports
Location, Location, Location
Forms and Downloads
Yearly Meeting Gathering Expectations
All Annual Session Attenders should read the
Gathering Expectations carefully. Please indicate
that you have read these expectations by signing
the bottom of the front of the Registration Form.
Please note that Young Friends need to read the
Gathering Expectations as well and sign the
Letter of Understanding.
At Baltimore Yearly Meeting, we are a community
of Friends living in the discipline of the
Spirit. Attenders of all ages are asked to observe
a level of conduct appropriate to Friends’ principles;
to take care that all of their personal behavior
is bound by a respect for the sensitivities
of all, including those of the host community; and
to remember that our individual actions reflect on
the Religious Society of Friends.
As a Religious Society, we profess a belief that
God endows each human being with a measure
of the Divine Spirit. [BYM Faith and Practice,
1988, page ii.] We cannot permit violent physical,
verbal or other behavior that we find, through corporate
discernment, violates that Divine Spirit.
Those in our midst whose behavior disrupts program
activities and/or threatens the physical and
emotional safety and integrity of another will be
asked to leave. (The full policy statement regarding
registered sex offenders is available from the
Yearly Meeting office.)
Parents and sponsors are expected to be actively
responsible for their children at all times.
Attenders are asked to help make a safe and supportive
community for all children. If unable to
function within the guidelines of the community,
any attender may be asked to leave. Alcohol and
illegal drugs are not permitted at Annual Session.
Recognizing the addictive nature of tobacco, we
strongly discourage its use.
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