BYM’s Annual Sessions went online this year, with around 350 Friends participating, which included 80 first-time attenders! We gathered over two weeks in late July for an initial retreat, business sessions, worship sharing, Junior Yearly Meeting, listening sessions on being an anti-racism community, drop-in luncheons, intervisitation with Friends from all around the USA, topped off with two inspiring plenary sessions.
Twenty-five brave Friends presented their workshops on line with topics varying from Quaker history to yoga to Reparations.Annapolis Friends stepped up en mass to present workshops and to help train presenters in being hosts for zoom accounts.In fact, seven AFM Friends will continue with formal roles with BYM for the coming year and two more will serve on Friends United Meeting and Friends General Conference boards.
The on-line Yearly Meeting was so successful that it looks like we may have to have parts of Annual Sessions on zoom next year even if we are back on the campus of Hood College in Frederick, MD for the week.It provided the opportunity for Friends far and wide, busy and homebound to be part of our broader spiritual community.