Welcome to Baltimore Yearly Meeting!
Baltimore Yearly Meeting nurtures a vibrant Quaker community across the Mid-Atlantic. BYM unites Friends from 50 Quaker meetings and worship groups throughout Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Together at BYM Friends we
Strengthen Local Meetings
The monthly meeting is the beating heart of everything we do. At its core, the yearly meeting is an association of Quaker monthly meetings and other local worshipping communities coming together to support one another. We share a common Faith & Practice - and we share our skills, gifts, spiritual leadings, and resources across local worshipping communities.
Grow in Spirit & Community
Quakers believe that there is “that of God” in every person—an Inner Light that is loving and honest and can lead us to truth and justice. As BYM Friends we gather for Meetings for Worship four times each year to discern the Leadings of the Spirit and to conduct our community business and three more times throughout the year for spiritual formation retreats.
Nurture Youth
BYM has a special commitment to the spiritual, social, and emotional thriving of all young people. Our camps and youth retreats are vibrant, diverse, youth-centered communities. BYM scholarships and grants provide material support to children, families, and child-serving organizations, and the Religious Education Committee connects meetings to resources for nurturing youth.
Connect & Serve as Friends
Working together is an extension of our worship into the practical life of Quakerism. Working together benefits both the wider community and those Friends who participate. We serve together on Committtes, gather for service projects and social witness, and are part of the worldwide body of Quakers - connected to 14 organizations and hundreds of thousands of Friends around the world.
Spiritual Formation Fall Retreat
Lower-Cost Camping or Cabin Options Available
Living in the Presence
"Summoned or not, God is present." Carl Jung
How do we experience this presence?
Perhaps as important, how do we share that experience with others?
How do we take our deepest Quaker truth and practice the presence of the Holy in the public square?
Come join Friends and fellow seekers as we explore together our experiences of the Presence of Spirit. (We might each name the Spirit differently: the Holy One, God, Christ, Light, Higher Power, or Ground of All Being.) We'll offer stories about how we have come to recognize this Presence within ourselves and beyond ourselves. And we'll share practices that Friends have actively engaged as ways of opening ourselves to this Presence. There will be some teaching and some time for reflection around adding or deepening spiritual practice in our daily routines. Plus time for rest, fellowship and fun! Please consider joining us.
The retreat will begin with supper on Friday, September 19th, followed by our opening circle. There will be two sessions on Saturday (morning and afternoon) with an evening of festive fellowship and singing. Our Sunday morning session will be followed by Meeting for Worship and lunch. Departure is immediately after lunch.
Retreat participants will receive a detailed welcome email and pre-retreat exercise about one week before the retreat. If you have questions as the retreat nears, please contact the program registrar, Amy Schmaljohn at amy@schmaljohn.com.
Spiritual nurture funds are available through both local Meetings and through the Yearly Meeting. The retreat welcomes all of us who seek a deeper life in and with Spirit.
