Weekly Announcements for March 20, 2026

Baltimore Yearly Meeting will gather tomorrow, Sat, March 21 at 12:30pm for Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business at Patapsco Friends Meeting in Ellicott City, MD. Agenda items include:

• Report on 2025 Finances
• Three timely Minutes from the Peace & Social Concerns Committee
• Embracing the Ministry of a Patapsco Friend
• First Reading of the new Board of BYM Quaker Camps, LLC

Hospitality will begin at 11:00am for those attending in-person. The Zoom will open at 12:00pm, and Meeting for Business will begin at 12:30pm. Questions? Email admin@bym-rsf.org. 

BYM’s Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee invites all interested Monthly Meeting Friends to join us for a coffee hour on Tuesday, March 31 from 7-8:30pm. Friends will have an opportunity to share about efforts that may be useful for other Meetings to learn about as well as ask questions and share concerns. Queries for the meeting are: What joys and concerns are you experiencing as your Meeting shares on the Spiritual State of the Meeting queries? How does my meeting act in accord with its professed shared beliefs? How do we recognize and help each other follow leadings?

This summer, Friends from BYM and our visitors from around the world will gather for the 353rd BYM Annual Sessions. Our theme for our 2026 Sessions is Living in Harmony with the Earth and Each Other. The Annual Session Program Committee is accepting workshop proposals - now through April 15th! Do you have a ministry, gift, or talent to share among Friends? A concern under which you'd like to gather other Friends for discussion? 

The Eco-Justice Collaborative of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and The Center for Spiritual Ecology in Huatusco, Mexico invites BYM Friends to a Quaker Sustainability Sojourn this May! The leaders of the trip are hosting two information webinars, on March 23 and April 12, about the Center for Spirituality Ecology and the sojourn. Friends of all ages are invited! 

Doctors in Japan prescribe “forest bathing,” or immersion in nature, to support mental, physical and spiritual health.  The Unity with Nature Committee will be sponsoring a “forest bathing” workshop at Friends Wilderness Center on Saturday, April 18.  Come experience the healing power of the woods in springtime.

Each year, the BYM Youth Safety Policy Working Group, under the care of the BYM Trustees, gathers to review any youth safety incidents, discuss emerging best practices in youth safety, and make recommendations for updating the BYM Youth Safety Policy. In 2025, the Working Group undertook a larger update to BYM's Youth Safety Policy, and Trustees have recently adopted an updated policy. What's new in the updated policy:

• Reorganized to be easier to read and reference.

• A Code of Conduct that lists the expected and prohibited behaviors between staff/volunteers and children and youth. 

• An updated Training Policy that requires annual background checks (a new insurance requirement) and online Child Abuse Awareness training.

• Clearer Protocols for Reporting including the addition of tandem reporting procedures.

• A new Transportation policy that covers steps required before transporting any child program participants. 

• Simplified What to Report guidance that also now includes peer-on-peer sexual abuse. 40% of child sexual abuse is peer-on-peer. 

• Clarity on the relationship between BYM and Monthly Meeting as it relates to Quaker polity and responsibility for youth safety. 

Over the next few months, the General Secretary will develop training on the updated policy and work with youth-serving staff, programs, and Committees on implementation. At Annual Sessions this summer, the Trustees will host a workshop for Monthly Meeting to share best practices, discuss concerns, and help Monthly Meetings update their policies. As a reminder, Because Baltimore Yearly Meeting is a voluntary association of Quaker Meetings with no central oversight or governance of Monthly Meetings, the BYM Youth Safety Policy does not include the programs, activities or services of Monthly Meetings. Monthly Meetings are encouraged to adopt youth safety policies appropriate to their local environment in consultation with counsel. The Yearly Meeting can provide resources and referrals to Monthly Meetings in the development of their independent youth safety policies. 

• Hopewell-Centre Spring Retreat, March 21
• Gathering of the Quakers Healing Circle, April 17-19
• BYM Spiritual Formation Retreat, May 1-3
• Faith & Practice from the Office
• Camp Property Wish List

To submit your items for the BYM Weekly Announcements,
please email Admin@bym-rsf.org. 

Baltimore Yearly Meeting
17100 Quaker Lane | Sandy Spring, MD | 20860 USA
www.bym-rsf.org

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