Each year, BYM offers Women's Retreat under the care of the Women's Retreat Working Group, which is under the Ministry & Pastoral Care Committee. See below the upcoming retreat and save the date!
BYM Women's Retreat 2026
The next Women's Retreat, which is inclusive of trans and non-binary individuals, will be held from Friday, January 23, to Sunday, January 25, 2026 at Pearlstone Retreat Center in Reisterstown, MD. (https://adamah.org/retreat-centers/pearlstone-baltimore/)
"Are you part of the Queer community? You belong! Are you part of the Global Majority? You belong! Are you neuro-divergent or differently-abled? You belong! Are you a Young Friend? You belong! Registration is still open!"
The theme is Renewal Through All Seasons. The weekend will begin with dinner on Friday and include workshops, chanting, worship sharing with queries (in small groups organized by age/stage of life), a plenary speaker, the infamous "coffeehouse" talent show (although talent is not necessary), and fabulous meals served by the retreat center, and will conclude at noon on Sunday after meeting for worship. Linda Garrettson, a long-time Quaker, educator, former director of Catoctin Quaker camp, will be our plenary speaker. She will speak on her journey of renewal through all seasons. We are offering this retreat as an in-person experience and will not be providing a Zoom/hybrid option.
Prior retreats at Pearlstone have averaged about 160 women. We currently have space for a total of 116 women. Up to 76 women can each have their own queen bed in spacious motel-style rooms (2 queen beds per room, means 2 women per room), and another 40 will have a pull-out twin-size sleeper bed (which puts a third woman in each room).
The all-inclusive pricing (for two nights, all meals and snacks, and programming) is $450 per person (not per room). If you register and pay in full (minus any scholarship amounts) before September 15th, you get one of the queen beds (unless three besties want to sign up to room together, in which case you can draw straws!) The registration process includes a place to request specific roommates.
There are also ways to attend as a commuter, either for the full weekend ($220) or for Saturday only ($120).
Registration will be open until we have a waiting list. If we reach capacity, further registrations will migrate to a waiting list and we will attempt to rent more space with Pearlstone. Kindly register as early as possible so we can try to accommodate everyone who wants to attend! Please pay some amount as a good faith deposit when you register.
If you have the ability to donate to the scholarship fund to help other women attend this retreat, that is greatly appreciated. We are all in this life together and need to help each other out. There will be a place for donations in the registration process.
If you require financial assistance, we encourage you to check with your meeting to see if they have scholarship money available, and also to contact us at womensretreatplanningcommittee@bym-rsf.org. If you have life circumstances that prevent you from committing to the retreat in advance (for example, your schedule is unpredictable due to caregiving, health, or work scheduling), please also reach out to us. We want to include you, too. We will do our best to work with you.
Refund policy:
If you have registered, but find you are unable to attend, you can receive a refund (less a $25 administrative fee) if you let us know prior to December 15th. Cancellations after December 15th are non-refundable unless there is a person on the waiting list who can take your place. Thank you for understanding!
Questions? The planning committee of women from Herndon Friends Meeting can be reached at womensretreatplanningcommittee@bym-rsf.org.
Past Retreats and Epistles
The 2025 Baltimore Yearly Meeting Women’s Retreat was gathered in joyful reunion on Monday, April 21, 2025, at Heidelberg United Church of Christ 47 W Philadelphia St, York, PA 17401 on the theme of “Nurturing our Faith in Turbulent Times.” Read the Epistle here
The 2023 Women's Retreat was held on 21st October, 2023 on Zoom and on location at Friends Community School. It was planned by Adelphi Friends Meeting Women. Read the Epistle here.
