YEARLY MEETING 2023  – online!

At Yearly Meeting we gather together to connect with friends new and old, share ideas, seek new Light and find ways to travel together over the coming year. We are inspired by the theme of this year’s Friendly School “Integrity, Voice and Right Relationship”.

YM23 will be accessible to Friends all around Australia as we gather on Zoom.  Starting on Saturday 1st July, there will be two consecutive long weekends (Sat-Mon and Fri-Sun) with one or two Formal Sessions each day, Friendly School, Meetings for Worship, Home Groups and more. In the middle three days there is more time to rest, gather locally together for outdoor activities, attend the Backhouse Lecture presented by Jon Watts, and select some online Share and Tells to explore.

Read more about the nine days of sessions online from 1st to 9th July:  HERE.

Check out the July YM23 timetable HERE.

What’s on in June?

There are three Information Sessions, Zoom training, and gatherings of elders and pastoral carers.

Sat 3 June Transitions Implementation Working Group (Info, repeat) 3 pm AEST

• Thur 8 June Quaker Service Australia (Info) 7:30 pm AEST
• Wed 13 June Quaker World Connections Committee (Info)  7:30 pm AEST

You can find the June timetable including Information Sessions   HERE

Information Session reports can be found HERE.

Who is giving the Backhouse Lecture this year?
Jon Watts lecture Fearlessly Faithful: How Stories of Spiritual Courage can Light Our Path Forward, is on Tuesday 4 July at 7 pm AEST. Jon is a Quaker film producer from the United States. His presentation will be given at The Friends’ School in Hobart and can be joined live on Zoom. Find out more HERE.

Who is giving the State of the Society address this year?

Mark McLeod from Tasmania Regional Meeting will give the State of the Society address” on Saturday 1st July in the first formal session after Welcome to Country at 2:30 pm AEST.  Mark will share his insights on how Quakers in Australia are faring.  This annual address draws on the latest reports from each Regional Meeting and other material, highlights trends and offers a personal perspective on the issues we face together.

What Friendly Schools are being offered?  Find out more HERE.

Friendly School is on Sunday 2nd July with all workshops starting at 11:30 am AEST. The theme for this year is “Integrity, Voice and Right Relationship”.

• Integrity: what canst thou say? – Sue Ennis and Wies Schuiringa
• Indigenous Voices: CORE and WIPCE – David Purnell and David Evans
• Travelling with First Nations Peoples – Marion Hooper and Katherine Purnell
• The Life and Poetry of Judith Wright – Michael Griffith
• The Impact of Australian Quakers on Refugee Lives: where to from here? – Rowe Morrow, Dale Hess, Alan Clayton and Dorothy Scott
• Growing the Life of the Meeting – Sheila Keane
• True sustainability: how should we then live? – David King
• Cultivating a Creative Contemplative Community – Justin Simpson

Share & Tells
A wide range of Share and Tells will be offered, most falling on the middle three days of Yearly Meeting: Tuesday 4th July to Thursday 6th July. Check the website and the timetable for more information as this become available, HERE and HERE

 Will there be a Children’s Program?

An online program is being developed with children’s activities and gatherings.

 How do I register for Yearly Meeting?

We encourage you to register early, so you can get involved, help us plan, and stay informed.  To register, CLICK HERE.

PLANNING FOR YEARLY MEETING 2024  – in Adelaide!

 Next year, Yearly Meeting 2024 will be hosted in Adelaide in July. It will be a hybrid meeting, with face-to-face and online meetings and gatherings. This will be the first face-to-face Yearly Meeting in Australia in five years.

Following the restrictions of Covid, many Friends have said that they are yearning for a face-to-face Yearly Meeting, a place where they feel truly gathered.

We aim to give Friends the opportunity to attend Yearly Meeting in the way which meets your particular circumstances, in person or online.  Online registration may not be able to cover all the activities which occur in a fully online meeting. We look forward to greeting all Friends whether you are with us in person or online. We invite you all to join us in this experiment for Yearly Meeting.

The YM24 planners will be present at the Share and Tell session on Thursday July 6th at 3pm AEST. We will show photographs of the planned venue, including meeting spaces, accommodation, dining areas and the surrounding landscape. We will be there to answer questions and, most important of all, we want to hear from Friends.

YM24 will be an experiment, just as the first digital Yearly Meeting was in 2020.  What are we hoping to have at our first hybrid Yearly Meeting?  What do we need to retain from online Yearly Meetings?  If we can’t manage to do everything, what can we let go?

Please come with your ideas and suggestions for YM24, join in the discussion with the YM24 planners and the current Yearly Meeting Organising Committee and make a note to attend the Share and Tell session on Thursday 6th July at 3pm.

Jo Jordan, Harald Ehmann and Topsy Evans
YM24 planners in SANTRM