Weekly Announcements for April 10, 2026

The Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee is now offering an online Grief Support Group. The group meets at 7:00 on the third Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is April 15. Email admin@bym-rsf.org for the Zoom link. The group is open to anyone bereaved, of a parent, spouse/partner, child, friend, colleague, pet, etc. The experience consists of grief education based on the four tasks of grieving theory of William Worden, supportive group processing, and mutual encouragement to strong self-care during the challenging grieving process. Sessions are designed to be therapeutic but are not psychotherapy. Friends are welcome to come for one or two sessions or to stay for longer periods of time as may work best for them. A long-term commitment is not required. The group is led by Ann Riggs (Sandy Spring), a chaplain at Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center in Columbia, Maryland. 

The Yearly Meeting will gather again on Saturday, April 18th at 11:00am. We will begin with a Called Interim Meeting to have a second reading on the nominees to the new Board of BYM Quaker Camps, LLC. After the conclusion of that one business item, we will hear about Committee and Program budget requests for the 2027 budget and have an open discussion about apportionment, its formula, and how apportionment dollars are stewarded by BYM. This Meeting will take place entirely on Zoom. Monthly Meeting treasurers are strongly encouraged to attend. 

What About Prayer? What does it mean to pray? To hold in the Light? In these times we know, most of all, that we need to connect to the source of presence and love that guides and grounds us. There are many forms of prayer – join the Spiritual Formation Retreat to share and learn from other Friends as we seek to "sink down to the seed." The Retreat takes place May 1-3 at Shepherd's Spring Retreat Center & Global Village, with lower-cost cabin and camping options available. Registration will close on Monday. Spiritual nurture funds are often available from your Monthly Meeting to help defray costs. 

On Wednesday April 1st, 2026, the following Minute was passed by the BBIPOC Friends Wednesday Online Meditation Group:

Believing that friends should remove all occasion for war, BBIPOC (black, brown, indigenous, people of colors) Religious Society of Friends online oppose USA attacks & war on Iran as wrong & immoral. Let they who have ears hear & hearts ACT.

We ask Friends to read our collective Minute as an Epistle to/at all Monthly, Quarterly & Yearly Meetings, post on digital forums, and distribute it as widely as possible.

The Quaker Trans Day of Visibility gathering at Swarthmore College on March 29th share their Epistle on accompaniment in times of adversity with Friends everywhere. The Epistle includes advices and queries for reflection and actions. The gathering, which encompassed 75 Quakers from 14 Yearly Meetings in the USA, Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland, Kenya met in worship to one another's witness. The gathering was co-sponsored by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Swarthmore Friends Meeting, Swarthmore College Peace & Conflict Studies Department, Friends Journal, and Pendle Hill. 

Friends Community School, a K-8 Quaker progressive school located on 17 wooded acres in College Park, MD continues to accept applications for the 27-28 school year for select grades as space is available. Contact the Admissions Office directly or submit an Inquiry Form for a status update. The FCS Admissions Office is offering several campus tours this spring. Supplemental financial assistance and scholarships may be available for Quaker families, dependent on financial need. Please contact the FCS Admissions Office for more details.

Quaker Earthcare Witness is looking for a Media & Publications Coordinator to turn our vision into a catalyst for Spirit-led movement. We will begin reviewing applications on April 6th. Applications will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. The position will begin on May 4th. This remote position combines creative media strategy with practical publications management and campaign support.

Friends General Conference is exploring an opportunity to expand their "invitational outreach" to the Quaker-curious. FGC intends to pursue a grant from the Lilly Endowment through its Exploring Christian Practices Initiative. This opportunity supports projects that invite people to experience Christian spiritual practices that deepen faith and nurture Spirit-led community. For Friends, these practices may include waiting worship, communal discernment, nonviolent resistance, retreats, and faithful witness in the world. Focus Groups will take place April 19, 20, and 21st. 

Friends United Meeting’s North American Ministries seeks to better understand the cares and concerns of Friends. This year FUM began communicating a consistent message, “Encourage One Another in Love.”  That message is being threaded into the fabric of FUM’s work, ministry, and mission with intentionality. Encouragement takes relationship and understanding. To help us understand and know what is on your minds FUM asks Friends to take one of two surveys.  

• Unity with Nature Forest Bathing at Friends Wilderness Center, April 18
• Religious Ed Family Retreat, May 1
• BYM Spiritual Formation Retreat, May 1-3
• Conscientious Objectors Workshop for Teens & Young Adults, May 17
• BYM Camps Alumni Weekend, Memorial Day Weekend
• 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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