2009 NEYM Annual Sessions Living Into Jubilee

The 2009 Annual Sessions are now over. You can reach the NEYM Office, Tuesday through Friday, 9am to 5pm at 508/754-6760 (voice), 508/754-9401 (fax), or by email at neym@neym.org

From Bonnie Norton, Sessions Committee Clerk

The New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) Annual Sessions 2009 is just around the corner and we invite all to the 349th gathering of NEYM. We will again meet on the campus of Bryant University, from Saturday, August 1 to Thursday, August 6, 2009. Our theme Living Into Jubilee, marks the beginning of a year-long time of Jubilee, culminating in Sessions 2010, NEYM’s 350th anniversary. Our usual agenda may be changing—come and experience it for yourselves! It is an adventure we have never undertaken before and we hope as many Friends as possible will be with us from the outset.

This year our keynote speaker will be Philip Raines, the new young pastor of Durham (ME) Friends Meeting. The Keynote address will again follow the open worship time on Sunday morning. On Tuesday evening Amanda Kemp and the Theater for Transformation will present their program, Show me the Franklins: Remembering the Ances­tors, Slavery & Benjamin Franklin. The group has performed the program at Moses Brown School as well as in many other Quaker venues. Eden Grace, of Beacon Hill (ME) Friends Meet­ing, will give the Bible Half-hour talks, speaking of Jubilee as rest, restoration redemption, and prophetic witness.

Come meet Friends from all over New England as we engage together in the process of building the beloved community. Monday night contra dance is a highlight and of course, we will have our ever-popular Coffee House talent show, “under the care” of the Young Friends on Wednesday night. If you play an instrument, be sure to bring it. Newcomers are invited to attend an orientation session either on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Transportation again will be supplied by means of electric golf cars, running at regular hours between the dorms and the main Unistructure building and staffed completely by volunteers. Don’t forget to stop at the Volunteer Desk, as you’ll find volunteering at YM is a great way to meet new people.

For families we have a rich program. A huge number of wonderful volunteers make Junior Yearly Meeting, Junior High Yearly Meeting and Young Friends programs special times for young people, to make new friends and to see old friends from the NEYM Retreats Program. In fact, it’s often the children who beg their parents to return every year. The Young Adults Friends (YAFs) program, ages 18-35, balances participation in the “Adult” business meetings with specific meetings and activities just for YAFs. For families with preschoolers, there is a fairly extensive childcare program during the daytime hours. And, of course, there’s the wonderful Bryant swimming pool.

Life at Bryant is a real plus and the main reason we find it hard to even contemplate changing our locale, even temporarily. (But we may, one of these years.) There are both air-conditioned and non air-conditioned dorm rooms. Be sure to make clear your special needs and other requests. Young Friends are housed together in their own dorm, supervised lovingly by Kimberly Allen and Kate Bonner-Jackson and their team. Young Adult Friends may also choose to room near one another in a section of one of the dorms. There’s a small camping area available for tenters near the townhouses. The townhouses traditionally house young families near one another so they can arrange cooperative childcare in the evenings.

Lastly, I won’t forget to make sure you know about Equalization Funds for anyone needing help with the fees. The NEYM Equalization Fund will pay up to 75% of all fees for attenders of YM. No one should stay home due to financial need! In fact, Sessions Committee offers one 100% “scholarship” to each monthly meeting that has not sent anyone to YM in the past 2 years. Ask your clerk or call the NEYM Office to see if your meeting is one of those.

Also, new this year, Earthcare Ministries is helping organize Friends to travel to Sessions more sustainably. See the article on getting to NEYM in a sustainable way.