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.
Turning Toward Compassion: Conversations of Hope in Troubled Times
We long to live in compassion. Yet in times fraught with anger and division, we can all too easily lose touch with that deep heart connection that unites us with others and our truest self. In this one-day retreat, we'll share our experiences of compassion and open to ways of nurturing the flame within us. This retreat will include times of silence, small group conversation, and collective dialogue. We'll draw on the words of wisdom figures and our own heart knowledge as we collectively seek a greater understanding of the way of compassion and the hope it offers in these times. Retreat Leader: Leah Rampy is an experienced retreat leader and the former executive director of Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Washington, DC, where she continues to serve on the faculty for programs and pilgrimages. She recently founded Church of the Wild ~ Two Rivers to create space for contemplative spirituality in nature. Leah lives in Shepherdstown with her husband David. Please bring a bag lunch. We are asking folks to make a freewill donation of $10, if you are able, to cover Leah's expenses. All are welcome. Please feel free to invite friends. It is important that you RSVP patloubar@gmail.com as soon as possible so that Leah will know how many participants to expect.
