Yearly Meeting Gathering 2009

• Gerry Millar went on the Coast & Cliffs Walk
• Clare Scott Booth on the mid-point of the Gathering
• Les Hereward prepared for the committed relationships consideration session, as did stagbeetle63
• Gil Skidmore reflects on the management of and participation in large gatherings
• A few reactions to the Swarthmore Lecture
• Miranda Chadkirk interviews simon gray, Hank, and another Friend
• John Ironside took pictures of his home group
• William Heath has a confession to make…

• stagbeetle63 sends a postcard from York and has been experiencing generosity & grace
• Jez Smith compares the Gathering with both Big Brother and Centre Parcs!
• Swarthmore Lecture reviewed
• Colin Billett lets his hair down
• Gerry Millar likes the York wildlife
• Caddir went on a narrowboat trip, and didn’t make it to epilogue

Here’s our daily round-up of what we know about has been blogged elsewhere:

• Jez Smith looked forward to Tuesday
• Miranda Chadkirk explains the chatrooms
• Ekklesia report on the opening of our consideration of Committed Relationships and also on the Salter Lecture
• Gil Skidmore slows down
• Les Hereward rounds up his Tuesday
• Caddir is en-joy-ing herself!
• Jez Smith on Discerning the Quaker way
• Judy Kirby was in the Committed Relationships session
• …as was Miranda Chadkirk

Here’s our daily round-up of what we know has been blogged about elsewhere:

• Miranda Chadkirk on sessions with Steve Whiting & Jennifer Barraclough
• Gerry Millar rounds up his first full day at the Gathering
• Mat Penaluna on his Sunday at JYM
• Les Hereward’s Monday highlights

Here’s our daily round-up of what we know has been blogged about elsewhere:

• Jez Smith discusses the first session of YMG
• Roy Prockter talks about his tricycle and the Peace Tax Seven
• Bridget Dommen compares Quakerism with Calvinism
• Jez Smith writes about the Sunday morning introduction
• Harriet Hart compares the opening session of YMG with that of Friends General Conference
• Clare Scott-Booth gives her thoughts on the opening session, and is both disturbed and inspired
• Hilary and Janet talk about New Jordans
• Mat Penaluna rounds up Friday and Saturday of JYM
• Gerry Millar was at the Salter Lecture
• Gil Skidmore spent the day making connexions
• Michael Wright had a piece in the Guardian
• Les Hereward rounds up his Sunday
• Watford Quakers (all of them?) have a lumpy mattress!

Here’s our daily round-up of what we know has been blogged about elsewhere:

• Oliver Robertson looks forward to the first YMG session
• Miranda Chadkirk rounds up sessions one, two, and three of JYM
• Gil Skidmore forgot about the geese!

Alice Yaxley reflects upon our discernment process:

“We have to practice the discipline of love for each other, if we are going to seek God’s will together and trust that the Meeting is discerning. The Meeting as a whole is expected to hold back from deciding until we find ourselves together in the unity that the Holy Spirit creates amongst us. I know I find it easier to trust the Meeting if I have heard the explanation of how our understanding and experience of God, the God of the oppressed, compels us to act as we are describing in the minute”.

Read the full article

Alice Yaxley ponders the question, ‘who is God?’

God is who brings us together, illuminates the unity we have in common, invites us into a deeper understanding of the Holy Life that transforms the world. God is the God of the oppressed, the outcast, the poor and those who are hated. God is the sure guide to the peaceable kingdom, though the path may go through storms.

Read the whole article

From the outset it’s always been our hope that people will spend a year at Yearly Meeting Gathering – whether they will present at York for the full week, joining us for part of the week as day visitors, or prevented from attending on campus.

One way in which we hope Quakers across Britain and beyond will take part in Yearly Meeting Gathering is through our website – and we hope to cover the event like never before!

Using the latest social and collaborative media tools of blogging, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and others – as well as the usual session recordings and transcripts you’ve come to expect.

Keep an eye on this page – or subscribe to our RSS feed to learn more.