Yearly Meeting
Before 2009, three out of four yearly meetings of BYM were held at Friends House over one of the May bank holiday weekends, and once every four years a week-long Residential Meeting was held in the summer. In a change to this practice, the first Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) was held in York in 2009, with the 2010 Yearly Meeting being held at Friends House in London on May. The second YMG was held in Canterbury in 2011. A new three-year rotation has been extablished with Yearly Meetings being held two years running at Friends House, and the third year as a residential YMG.
All types of issues are discussed in the standard fashion of Quaker decision making. Among several lectures over the gathering, one of the highlights is known as the Swarthmore Lecture, relating to issues concerning Quakers. There is also an under 19's programme, with activities tailored to each age group.
| Year | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 30 July - 6 August | A residential Yearly Meeting held at the University of York. |
| 2006 | 26–29 May | YM 2006 took place at Friends House in London over the second May Bank Holiday in the UK |
| 2007 | 4–7 May | YM 2007 took place at Friends House in London over the first May Bank Holiday in the UK |
| 2008 | 23–26 May | YM 2008 took place at Friends House in London over the second May Bank Holiday in the UK |
| Alternating biennial YMG/YM cycle implemented | ||
| 2009 | 25 July - 1 August | A residential Yearly Meeting Gathering was held at the University of York. For the first time this encompassed Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) and merged both Yearly Meeting and the scheduled Summer Gathering into Yearly Meeting Gathering, a new biennially event. |
| 2010 | 28–31 May | YM 2010 took place at Friends House in London over the second May Bank Holiday in the UK |
| 2011 | 30 July - 6 August | YMG 2011 took place in Canterbury. |
| 2012 | 25–28 May | YM 2012 will be at Friends House in London. |
| 2013 | 24–27 May | YM 2013 will be at Friends House in London over the second May Bank Holiday in the UK |
Read more about this topic: Britain Yearly Meeting
Famous quotes containing the words yearly and/or meeting:
“... the yearly expenses of the existing religious system ... exceed in these United States twenty millions of dollars. Twenty millions! For teaching what? Things unseen and causes unknown!... Twenty millions would more than suffice to make us wise; and alas! do they not more than suffice to make us foolish?”
—Frances Wright (1795–1852)
“Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? Is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? Stopping the career
Of laughter with a sigh?—a note infallible
Of breaking honesty.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)