Events Calendar

The Quaker Women’s A Capella Choir invites you to a Friendly Sing on Saturday, April 14th from 10am to 3pm in the Meeting House. F/friends from all over BYM are invited to join our singing leader, Ruth Fitz, for a day of singing. We will break at noon for a meal so please bring a bag lunch. Drinks and dessert will be provided. Please let us know if you need childcare by emailing the names and ages of your children to Diane Bowden at bowden.diane@gmail.com by Wednesday, April 5th. Contact Kathryn.beaton@gmail.com for overnight hospitality. Strong and shy singers are welcome to join this circle of F/friends singing rounds, sacred chants, spirituals, peace songs, hymns, and fun songs. We will sing together to energize our bodies and nurture our souls, with music that affirms our diversity, reflects our beauty, and celebrates our unity. No singing or music reading experience is necessary to participate, just a willing spirit and a desire to sing.

The annual apportionment meetings will take place this year on April 21 (hosted by Williamsburg Friends Meeting) and April 28 (hosted by Eastland Preparative Meeting of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.) These are brown-bag lunch events which begin at 9am and continue until 3pm. The morning will be devoted to the first review of the 2019 apportionment and operating budget. There will be a general interest program in the afternoon. Details will be available later.
Workshop – Equity, Diversity, and Wholeness: What Monthly Meetings Can Do
Brought to you by the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee
On the afternoon of the Apportionment Days, the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee will offer a workshop in three parts. First, we will spend time thoughtfully exploring the ways that Friends of color and Young Adult Friends have experienced bias in the world and in our Meetings. We will then broaden the discussion to include things we say about ourselves as local Meetings and a Yearly Meeting that unintentionally create barriers for others to overcome if they feel led to join us, or that keep people away. Finally, those who attend will receive materials they can take back to their Meetings and use in the work of Change Groups or in the other ways that local Meetings will be working to make our Meetings more equitable and whole. Those who attend will leave better prepared to bring this ministry of equity, diversity, and wholeness to their Meetings.

Are you a prospective clerk? A reluctant clerk? An experienced clerk with wisdom to share? Come to a Clerking Workshop sponsored by the BYM Nominating Committee from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Lunch will be provided and there is no charge. For more information, or to RSVP, contact Deborah Haines (deborah.haines@gmail.com) or Bette Hoover (bette@justpeacecircles.org).

Family Camp Weekends at Baltimore Yearly Meeting Camp Properties offer us a chance enjoy our beautiful camp properties during this delightful time of year. Individuals and families are invited to come to camp for a day or for the weekend. A program coordinator will plan camp-familiar activities for Saturday and Sunday mornings, as well as Saturday afternoon and evening. Perhaps you will explore a creek, create a crafts project, play a favorite camp game or take a hike in our precious woods. There will also be plenty of work projects to do! Work projects offer people with all kinds of skills the opportunity to enjoy some meaningful and satisfying service! We will savor meals together, have time to explore and even spend time around a camp fire in the evening. We invite you to join us for a BYM Quaker Camp experience, give the gift of your time, participate with children in activities and find yourself rejuvenated. Participants are asked to contribute according to their ability – $25-50 per person. For additional information or to register please contact David Hunter, Camp Property Manager. (301-774-7663 or davidhunter@bym-rsf.org) For more information, see the BYM Camps web-site at bymcamps.org/programs/family-camp-weekends/.

The annual apportionment meetings will take place this year on April 21 (hosted by Williamsburg Friends Meeting) and April 28 (hosted by Eastland Preparative Meeting of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.) These are brown-bag lunch events which begin at 9am and continue until 3pm. The morning will be devoted to the first review of the 2019 apportionment and operating budget. There will be a general interest program in the afternoon. Details will be available later.
Workshop – Equity, Diversity, and Wholeness: What Monthly Meetings Can Do
Brought to you by the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee
On the afternoon of the Apportionment Days, the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee will offer a workshop in three parts. First, we will spend time thoughtfully exploring the ways that Friends of color and Young Adult Friends have experienced bias in the world and in our Meetings. We will then broaden the discussion to include things we say about ourselves as local Meetings and a Yearly Meeting that unintentionally create barriers for others to overcome if they feel led to join us, or that keep people away. Finally, those who attend will receive materials they can take back to their Meetings and use in the work of Change Groups or in the other ways that local Meetings will be working to make our Meetings more equitable and whole. Those who attend will leave better prepared to bring this ministry of equity, diversity, and wholeness to their Meetings.