Yearly Meeting Gathering 2009

In May 2009, the Yearly Meeting Gathering Planning Committee minuted:

YMGPC/2009 05/1. The life of this committee

We have spent some time in a process to deepen our understanding of what we need, as a committee, to get through Yearly Meeting Gathering.  There is much wisdom, humour and compassion in this committee, and what have emerged are ways for us to live together in community.  We will take many of the practical ideas forward.

We have reminded ourselves of the words of Isaac Penington:

“Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; and bearing one with another, and forgiving one another, and not laying accusations one against another; but praying one for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand”.

Dealing tenderly with one another is to trust each other, to listen first, is to return to the centring place offered by silence, and to know at all times that it is through working together that way will open.

In the Yearly Meeting Gathering, and our work together as a committee, we are grounded in our worship as a community.  Making time for stillness amid the busyness lays the foundation on which all else may be built.

Collectively, we have been called to serve, and serve willingly.  Between us, we have all the gifts this task requires.  Humility is asked of us, so that we can do that which we are asked to do, and so that we do not do that which we are not asked to do.

The several needs and gifts of individuals can form part of our life together when we uphold one another, speaking and hearing these needs and gifts openly and honestly.

As a spiritual community, we know that learning is a path, not a possession.  For us, this event is a step along our pathway, living and learning together in, and from, this rich community.

This weekend we are weaving the threads of the Yearly Meeting Gathering together with humour, felicity and grace.  We look forward to times of laughter, lightness and relaxation as, together, we face the challenges of the event itself.

And now the challenge is upon us!

So what makes this one different? This event is more than simply sticking together the elements traditionally associated with either a residential Yearly Meeting or a Summer Gathering or JYM and other under 19s provision. Friends around Britain, whether or not they can make it to York, can play a role in YMG in three distinct areas: community, discernment and connecting. We ask you to explore and reflect on what this event might mean to you, your Meetings and your families. We hope to see many non-Quakers at the event and that Friends will feel encouraged to bring their non-Quaker children and partners. This will be an event that seeks to make clear what we have to say about God at work among Friends and at the same time build and strengthen our community to enable us to encounter further the divine in all aspects of life.

Our vision asks of our community how it supports the Yearly Meeting when it gathers together to address its core concerns and build itself as a joyful and celebratory community of God’s purpose. On discernment, when we gather we have the opportunity to seek God’s will together. This collective dimension to our decision-making is unique and precious. Our business process rests on the conviction that the gathered Meeting can be upheld by those not present and that decisions taken reflect the discernment of the Society as a whole. Discernment is a spirit-led process, both a personal and a collective experience, for which we must be prepared personally and collectively. YMG presents us with new opportunities to explore issues together and individually. As for connecting, we have a vision of YMG 2009 as another step along our path to becoming a truly gathered community – a unified simple, radical and contemporary event which goes to the heart of who we are and what the world needs of us; an inspiring event that takes us into and beyond ourselves, then carries us back, strengthened, grounded and connected, to our Local Meetings and daily lives.

This event will be taking us in new directions and encouraging us to be open in new ways to the promptings of love and truth in our hearts. In Britain Yearly Meeting we are a learning, seeking community. YMG is an opportunity to engage with one another and with the Spirit. We hope there will be opportunities for preparation in Meetings too, such as with the Woodbrooke YMG learning materials, which are another way of being involved even if you can’t attend.

We encourage you, in preparation for YMG, to reflect on the three themes outlined above, individually and in Meeting. We ask everyone to engage with the learning materials and talk about the event with others. Look out for the publicity and booking forms. We are really looking forward to seeing your faces. Yearly Meeting Gathering 2009 – it won’t happen without you.

Paul Parker & Lizz Roe – co-clerks

This article first appeared in the Friend; to discuss this visit the discussions section.