Weekly Announcements for March 29, 2024
The BYM Office is closed today in observation of Good Friday.
Staff will return to the office on Monday.
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Interim Meeting Follow-Up |
Interim Meeting was held last weekend, Saturday, March 23rd. BYM extends gratitude to the gracious hospitality by Bethesda Friends Meeting and the more than 110 Friends who attended in-person or from their homes.
- Draft Minutes from the meeting will be available next week.
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The Meeting united behind nominations for Search Committee and a change in procedure regarding nominations to the Sandy Spring Friends School Board of Trustees
- The following agenda items require follow-up:
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A Minute calling for peace and a ceasefire in the war in Palestine will be taken back up at a special Called Meeting for Business on April 20th. If you have additional concerns about the content of the Minute, please contact Barbara Bezdek at blbinbmore@gmail.com.
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The Minute on Reproductive Justice will be taken back up at the June Interim Meeting. If you have any additional concerns about the language of the Minute, please contact Sharon Stout at skstout@gmail.com.
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Budget & Apportionment Meeting, Online, April 13th
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Come learn more about the financial support that your Meeting contributes to BYM! The Stewardship and Finance Committee hosts this annual meeting to consider issues related to apportionment and financial support and stewardship of BYM. We will worshipfully consider how our budget supports our values and our commitment to be an anti-racist faith community. We will hear from BYM Committee representatives who will discuss the work their committees plan for 2025. The session will be held online on Saturday, April 13 from 10 am to noon.
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| Send Your Community News for the Spring Interchange
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BYM seeks news and updates from your local worshipping community for the Spring Interchange, our Yearly Meeting's quarterly newsletter. Are there births or deaths or upcoming graduations you'd like to share with the wider body of Friends? Do you have any early summer dates (after mid-May) you'd like to share with others - your famous berry festival or annual rummage sale? Is your Meeting House surrounded by spring's floral bounty? Please send your community news and/or photographs to admin@bym-rsf.org by Friday, April 12th. The Spring Interchange will reach Friends in the first half of May. Please note, the Spring issue is devoted to a preview of Annual Session, so BYM Committee articles cannot be accepted - but we DO want to hear from your Meeting!
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Funds Available for BYM Global Majority Friends to Attend FGC Gathering
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The Working Group on Racism and BYM Global Majority Friends have partnered to make scholarship funds available for BYM BIPOC Friends to attend the FGC Gathering this summer. Equitable Access Registration opens for Friends of Color and Friends under age 35 on April 2nd. Early Registration begins for all Friends on April 9th and ends April 23rd. If you would like to request these scholarship funds from BYM, be sure to do the following when registering with FGC:
- Check the option identifying as part of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.
- Check the option identifying as a person of color.
- Check the option saying you will need assistance to complete payment.
Questions? Contact admin@bym-rsf.org.
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| Save the Date: Special Called Meeting for Business, April 20th at 1:30pm
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There will be a called Interim Meeting on the 20th of April at 1:30 pm (via Zoom) to discuss and hopefully approve Peace and Social Concerns Committee's recent minute on Ceasefire between Israel and Palestine. The minute received a first reading at Winter Interim Meeting on March 23rd, and Friends present agreed that the matter was too urgent to lay over until June Interim Meeting for a second reading. Please consult the current minute and contact Barbara Bezdek at blbinbmore@gmail.com of Peace and Social Concerns Committee if you have questions or comments.
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School for Friends Seeks Next Head of School in DC
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The Board of Trustees at School for Friends seeks a person with a passion for early childhood education to lead our extraordinary independent school. School for Friends is a nonprofit, Washington, DC preschool offering full-day educational programs. For over 40 years, the school's curriculum has reflected the Quaker values of cooperation, equality, and nonviolence. Our developmental program focuses on helping children solve problems together, resolve conflicts, think independently, and make choices. The school has been accredited by NAEYC since 1989 and is a member of the Friends Council on Education.
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Spiritual Formation Retreat Registration Ends in Two Weeks!
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Registration for the Spring Spiritual Formation Retreat ends Friday, April 12th. Don't miss out on this time of spiritual enrichment, fellowship among Friends, and abundant rest. We will explore our experiences of being shaken off course by suffering, doubt, disorientation, or disruption. How might we receive these invitations to see differently, to remain open to the sacred center of life, to acknowledge our fears but not be overtaken by them? Through sacred story, imagery, and metaphor–and exploration of our own lives–we’ll journey together toward a deeper knowing of these tender human experiences.
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Election Violence Prevention Training
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Join Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and Emily Provance, Quaker Public Minister, a series designed to combine a Quaker spiritual grounding with best practices and skill-building for election violence prevention. The United States is already experiencing some incidents of election violence attached to the 2024 election cycle, and there are a number of risk factors that make additional violence a real possibility - but the situation isn't hopeless.
An overwhelming majority of people in our country do not want violence, regardless of their political positions, and Friends have been practicing election violence prevention in other countries for many years. We can learn from them and from other experts to build communities that are less likely to experience election violence – and more likely to respond resiliently if they do.
In this 4-part series, we’ll begin by learning how existing Quaker spiritual disciplines can directly support election violence prevention work. We’ll study practical strategies, support teach other in discerning how we are led to act, and finally, explore how to build relationships across differences, which are vital to election violence prevention.
The series will take place April 2, 9, 16, and 23 at 7:00pm.
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To submit your items for the BYM Weekly Announcements,
please email Admin@bym-rsf.org.
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| Baltimore Yearly Meeting
17100 Quaker Lane | Sandy Spring, MD | 20860 USA
www.bym-rsf.org
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