Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly Meeting
This section currently contains the complete text of the current Faith and Practice of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, as adopted in 1988, revised in 2001, reprinted in 2019, and revised in 2020.
During Annual Session 2013, a proposed revision to the complete text of Faith and Practice was considered by the Yearly Meeting. At the conclusion of the week, Friends were not in unity with approving the text. In 2019, the revision to Faith and Practice proposed in 2013 was reprinted with the title 2013 Resource for Faith and Practice.
PDF version of both Faith and Practice and the 2013 Resource for Faith and Practice may be downloaded from the links below. At Annual Session 2020 of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, the 1988 Faith and Practice was revised to include the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Vision Statement. The electronic versions of Faith and Practice on this website now includes the Vision Statement, but the latest printed version (2019) does not.
At Annual Session 2020 of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, changes in marriage provisions proposed by the Faith and Practice Committee received First Reading and have been sent to worshiping communities and other Yearly Meeting organizations for consideration. The current draft of the proposed marriage provisions can be downloaded the Faith and Practice Committee's page at the link below.
Click here to go to the Faith and Practice Committee's page on the website, which includes information about their work, reports from the committee as printed in the Interchange, and their Annual Reports. As the committee moves forward with considering new possible changes to the text, news of their work will be included on the committee's page.
- Part I. Faith
- Historical Sketch
- The Life of the Spirit
- Cultivation of the Life of the Spirit
- Meeting for Worship
- Vocal Ministry
- Use and Nurture of Gifts
- Prayer and Meditation
- The Scriptures
- The Practice of the Life of the Spirit
- The Meeting as Caring Community
- Personal Life
- Home Life
- Fellowship and Community
- Education
- Science and Religion
- The Arts and Religion
- Social Responsibility
- Peace and Non-violence
- Civic Responsibility
- Vocational and Financial Decisions
- Prejudice and Discrimination
- Those Requiring Special Care
- Humankind and the Environment
- Part II The Queries
- Part III Practices and Procedures
- Organization and Business Procedure
- The Monthly Meeting
- Quarterly Meetings
- The Yearly Meeting
- Part IV Appendices
- Advices for Clerks
- Suggested Formats for Transfers
- Suggested Formats for Letters and Endorsements
- Advices on Counseling
- Guidelines for Applications for Membership
- Marriage under the Care of the Monthly Meeting
- A Establishing a Preparative Meeting
- Queries for Preparative Meetings
- Advices on Estates and Bequests
- Planning a Memorial Meeting