Calendar of Yearly and Representative Meetings

Future Yearly Meetings

Yearly Meeting 2019 will take place August 3-10 at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB.
Yearly Meeting 2020 will take place August 7-15 at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB.
Yearly Meeting 20121 will take place August 6-14 at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB.

Next Representative Meeting

Representative Meeting for November 30, 2019 – Online meeting to discuss finance only, 2 pm Eastern time.
Represenatative Meeting for February 21-22, 2020 – In-person meeting, at Toronto Monthly Meeting.

Minutes from 2018 Rep Meeting and CYM available

The Minutes from both Canadian Yearly Meeting and Representative Meeting 2018 are available. They can be accessed, along with other documents, on the documents pages for Canadian Yearly Meeting and Representative Meeting, or more directly here:

2018 Representative Meeting Minutes (Reports & Budget Attached) – PDF and DOC
2018 CYM Minutes – PDF and DOC

Western Half-Yearly Meeting (Oct. 5-8)

The 2018 Autumn gathering of Western Half-Yearly Meeting (WHYM) will take place on Thanksgiving weekend (October 5-8) at Camp Valaqua near Calgary, Alberta. We invite all Friends and friends of Friends to join us in this warm, intimate gathering.

Driving directions and much more information is available in the pdf information file:
Western Half-Yearly Meeting – Fall 2018 Infopack

Registration information and the on-line form can be found here:
whym-registration.ca

The schedule and agenda are also available:
Schedule WHYM – Fall 2018 (PDF)
Agenda WHYM – Fall 2018 (PDF)

The usual items will all be included in the Half-Yearly Meeting schedule – including worship-sharing groups, special interest groups, Meetings for Worship (including Business Meetings), and the phenomenal Family Night sharing of talents and fun.

This year’s gathering will include a special presentation by Rachel Yordy and Barbara Heather entitled “Truth and Healing: Honouring Indigenous Rights, Acknowledging Quaker legacies, and Seeking Right Relations.” This is following up from a workshop they attended at Pendle Hill as well as a SIG Rachel led at Spring WHYM (2018). Rachel will also incorporate her Masters’ work, which deals with what she calls a “Two Row Reconciliation Framework” and nonformal reconciliation/decolonization education programming.

The site opens at 3 p.m. on Friday, and Friends usually try to arrive on Friday afternoon or evening (and late into the night), with activities all day Saturday and Sunday. Departure is after a short closing Meeting for Worship on Thanksgiving Monday.

Accommodations are bunk-room style (with various numbers of occupants per room) in a lodge, or alternatively there are cabins available. Pillows, linens, sleeping bags/blankets, and towels are not provided; bring your own, or ask someone local to bring some for you.

Site/accommodation fees are $100/adult for the entire weekend; again, more details are in the infopack.

Fees are collected on-site, but please fill out the online registration form in advance as soon as you can, at , or contact Registrar Elizabeth Curry at (whymregistrar@gmail.com). This enables us to plan appropriately for food and other needs.

To see the schedule and agenda for WHYM, please visit the Fall WHYM 2018 page on the business side of our site. (Note that you will need to login into the business section, or create an account, to see that page).

Western Half-Yearly Meeting 2018

The 2018 Spring gathering of Western Half-Yearly Meeting (WHYM) will take place on the May long weekend (May 18-21) at the Sorrento Centre east of Kamloops. We invite all Friends and friends of Friends to join us in this vibrant gathering of Western Friends. 

Directions and information about transportation options are available: www.sorrento-centre.bc.ca/admin-location-maps.html
It may be possible to arrange rides or shared transportation.

Registration information and the on-line form can be found here:
whym-registration.ca
We strongly encourage Friends to register by the deadline of May 1, as we may have difficulty accepting late registrations.

The usual items will all be included in the Half-Yearly Meeting schedule – worship-sharing groups, special interest groups, Meetings for Worship including Business Meetings, and the phenomenal Family Night sharing of talents and fun. Friends are reminded to bring any books they may wish to pass along to other Friends; in light of the winding down of the Quaker Book Service, a book exchange table or tables will be set up.

Welcoming Letter & Weekend Overview From the Clerk

Dear Friends,

This year’s gathering will have a theme of “Quaker Service: Letting our Lives Speak,” and will include information about Canadian Friends’ Service Committee work on Saturday evening, led by CFSC Communications Coordinator Matthew Legge. We encourage Friends to consider leading Special Interest Groups about service work that they do or have done as an expression of their faith, whether paid or volunteer.

 

It is our tradition to hold a “retreat day” on the Friday of the long weekend, to give those who are able to arrive on Thursday or very early on Friday some extra time to enjoy the beautiful site at Sorrento, and to settle into the weekend. We will be maintaining that tradition this year, but with some notable differences.

 

We have one special opportunity available for those who are able to arrive in Sorrento on Thursday. If enough people are interested, we will spend Friday morning and early afternoon at the Tk’emlups Museum and Heritage Park in Kamloops, which has taken over the Kamloops Indian Residential School building. Ruth Walmsley is coordinating our visit to this remarkable site, which will include a guided tour incorporating the oral history of the Secwepemc people. This outing is open to anyone (and has an associated cost). Teens and Young Adult Friends are particularly encouraged to consider attending, and some funding is available to cover their admission fees for this. More information is included with the registration material.

 

Unfortunately, we are not currently certain whether or not the traditional Balancing Retreat will be offered on Friday for those who do not go on the outing. Either way, balancing will undoubtedly take place throughout the weekend, and be incorporated into Family Night.

Balancing at 1994’s Western Half-Yearly Meeting

 

Friends who are able to arrive at Sorrento on Thursday evening or early Friday are also welcome to use the site informally for music, quiet contemplation, communing with nature, or other activities, singly or in small groups, but nothing is officially planned until the Friday evening intergenerational welcome activity.

 

Friends usually try to arrive by Friday evening. There are activities all day Saturday and Sunday, and Friends depart after a short closing Meeting for Worship on the Monday. The Sorrento Centre has a dining room available for those who wish to purchase meals, and some facilities for self-catering. Detailed costs of meals and accommodation are included in the registration form. Please feel free to contact registrar Nathaniel Knight (whymregistrar@gmail.com) with any questions. 

 

We hope that you will join us in Sorrento for our 2018 Spring gathering!

 

In Friendship,

Joy Morris (Clerk).

 

WHYM Registration link: whym-registration.ca

WHYM Field Trip

WHYM Retreat Day Field Trip to

Tk’emlups Museum & Heritage Park, Kamloops BC

Particularly for WHYM Teens and Young Adult Friends, but all welcome!

 

Friday May 18, 2018 9am – 4pm

Participants are asked to arrive at Sorrento Centre on Thursday afternoon or evening, and to be ready to depart at 9am on Friday morning for Kamloops. Carpooling will be arranged amongst those participating. We expect to arrive back at Sorrento Centre by 3:30-4pm on Friday. PLEASE INDICATE YOUR INTENTION TO PARTICIPATE BY √ THE APPROPRIATE BOX ON THE WHYM REGISTRATION FORM.

 

Please note: We need a minimum of 10 people to make a group reservation, so if we do not have at least 10 people registered by May 1, the tour will be cancelled, and you will be notified.

 

Itinerary:

Leave Sorrento Centre: 9am

Arrive Tk’emlups Heritage Centre: 10:15am

Residential School Tour: 10:15 – 11:45am

Picnic lunch: 12 – 12:30pm

Pre-contact Tour: 12:30 – 2pm

Leave Tk’emlups Heritage Centre: 2:15pm

Arrive Sorrento Centre: 3:30pm

 

Cost: Youth 7 – 17yrs: $12;  Students-University: $14;  Adults 18+: $20;  CASH ONLY

(Cost includes 2 tours, as noted above) 

 

PLEASE NOTE: Some funding is available for covering admission of Youth, students and YAFs. Please contact Ruth Walmsley at ruth@cranberrycommons.ca if you would like to take advantage of this offer.

 

What to bring:  
• Bag lunch
• Cash to pay for admission

 

The Secwepemc Museum displays incorporate the oral history and legends of the Secwepemc people, along with historical photographs, illustrations and artifacts.

 

Cultural displays extend into a 5-hectare Heritage Park located on the banks of the South Thompson River. More than a kilometre of trails lead visitors through the archaeological remains of a 2,000 year old Secwepemc winter village site, which features 4 reconstructed winter pit-houses, and summer tule mat lodges, with various unique food preparation structures. Also located within the Heritage Park, is our unique Ethnobotanical Gardens, which feature informative markers about the traditional use of plants and their value.

 

The Kamloops Indian Residential School building was where the Secwepemc Museum first opened its doors in1982. The Museum represents the collective efforts of the Secwepemc nation in preserving the history, language and culture of the Secwepemc. The Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique experience of permanent exhibits portraying Secwepemc culture and their history as well as temporary and travelling exhibits of Aboriginal themes traditional games, song, dance, oral histories and legends.

 

More info about the Tk’emlups Museum & Heritage Park is available here: https://tkemlups.ca/museum-heritage-park/.

 

This field trip is being organized by Ruth Walmsley and Barb Everdene. If you have any questions, please contact Ruth: ruth@cranberrycommons.ca / 604-298-9220 cell.

Schedule

WHYM Schedule Spring 2018 (PDF)

DRAFT Schedule for Western Half-Yearly Meeting May 2018

Friday May 18th (Retreat and arrival)
9:00-3:30 Field trip to Tk’emlups Museum & Heritage Park, Kamloops
9:00-5:30 Informal retreat day activities. May include balancing, quiet contemplation, etc.
3:00-7:30 Arrivals and Registration (for those who do not attend the retreat day)
5:30-7:00 Supper
6:30-7:30 Teen gathering with teen adult resource person
7:30-8:30 Intergenerational Gathering for all
8:30- 9:00 Meeting for Worship
9:00-10:30 Refreshments, Singing, Fellowship

Saturday May 19th
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-10:00 Worship Fellowship Groups (lists in Caritas) As posted
*Children’s Program: 8:55-10:05
10:00-10:25 Tea, coffee, juice break
10:30-10:50 Welcoming Meeting with children present
10:50-12:15 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
*Children’s Program: 10:50-12:20
12:30-2:00 Lunch & Free time
1:10-1:50 Memorial Meeting
2:00-3:30 Special Interest Groups As posted
*Children’s Program: 1:55-3:35
3:30-4:00 Tea, coffee, juice break
4:00-5:00 Meeting of Ministry & Counsel (including MM M&C members)
4:00-5:00 Balancing / free time
5:30-7:30 Supper
7:30-9:00 Evening Gathering: the work of CFSC (with Matthew Legge, CFSC Communications Coordinator)
9:00-11:00 Refreshments, Singing, Fellowship

Sunday May 20th
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-10:00 Worship Fellowship Groups As posted
*Children’s Program: 8:55-10:05
10:00-10:20 Tea, coffee, juice break
10:00-10:30 Quiet Worship (Child care available through M&C)
10:30-11:30 Meeting for Worship (with children present)
11:30-12:30 Balancing / free time
12:30-1:45 Lunch & Free time
1:45-3:15 Special Interest Groups As posted
*Children’s Program: 1:40-3:20
3:15-3:40 Tea, coffee, juice break
3:45-5:15 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
*Children’s Program: 3:40-5:20
5:30-7:00 Supper
7:00-9:30 Family Night (may or may not begin with Balancing Presentation)
9:30-11:00 Refreshments, Singing, Fellowship

Monday May 22nd
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-9:15 Farewell Meeting for Worship

Business Agenda

Agenda WHYM Spring 2018 (PDF)

Agenda: Meeting for Worship for Business – WHYM Spring 2018

Saturday, May 18, 2018
10:30
1. Worship
2. Agenda and Schedule Review
3. Introductions
o Meetings: Argenta, Calgary, Cowichan Valley, Edmonton, Interior BC, Prairie, Saanich Peninsula, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Winnipeg
o First-timers:
o Visitors:
o Representatives:
o Regrets:
4. Children’s Program (children leave after this)
5. Committees & Volunteers for the weekend:
o Kitchen Liaison
o Snack set-up / clean-up
o First aid
o Epistle
o Gleanings
o Reporter for Canadian Friend
o Music Coordinators
o Family Night
o SIG Coordinator
o Clean-up
o Cards to Absent Friends
o Registration helpers
6. Births, Deaths, New Members, Marriages

11:00
7. Welcome from Sorrento Centre Director
8. Announcements:
o Book exchange
o Ride sharing: use the notice board under the bell tower for requests and offers
o Registrar
9. Teen program locations and plans
10. Brief reports:
o WHYM Continuing Meeting of Ministry & Counsel
o WHYM Rep to Representative Meeting (Heidi Dick)
o Nominating Committee
• approval of interim names: Rachel Yordy, Alina Freedman
11. Brief introductions to Special Interest Groups:
o Membership (as minuted in Fall 2017)
o Others
12. Closing Worship
12:15

Sunday, May 19, 2018
3:45
13. Worship
14. Acceptance of Minutes from Spring WHYM 2017
15. Report from Young Friends
o Name of teen resource person for Spring 2019
16. Report from Ministry & Counsel
17. Reports
o Registrar’s Report (Nat Knight)
o Treasurer’s Report (Graham Entwhistle)
o Finance Report
o Nominating Committee Report
o No-Interest Loans Ad Hoc Discernment Committee
o Other reports
18. Matters arising from Special Interest Groups
19. New business / Business arising from CYM committees during the fallow year
20. Future Gatherings
o Fall WHYM Thanksgiving Weekend October 5-8, 2018, Water Valley, AB, Registrar: Beth
Curry
o CYM August 2018 Barrie, ON
o Spring WHYM May 17-20, 2019, Sorrento, BC, Registrar: Rachel Yordy
20. Special thanks
21. Epistle (Gleanings to be read at Family Night)
22. Young Friends’ Epistle
23. Closing Worship

Register for Canadian Yearly Meeting 2018

UPDATE: There is more detailed info on Canadian Yearly Meeting In Session, in particular for those attending it, on the following page:
CYM in Session Business.

You can now register for Canadian Yearly Meeting 2018, which will be held August 3-11, at Georgian College, in Barrie, ON.

Canadian Yearly Meeting is a gathering once a year for all Canadian Quakers. Its Business Meetings are the main decision-making body of Quakers in Canada.

There’s also lots of time for fun and games, and sessions focusing on spiritual development, social justice, and Quaker history.

Needed: Child & Youth Program Coordinator and Youth Program Leaders

Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) in-session will take place in August in Barrie, ON and after a fallow year, we are excited to gather in community again!  We value the time we spend together and as we know there are many facets to organizing a successful Gathering.

One integral part of our Gathering and spiritual growth is providing an enriching Youth Program.  We’ve been able to offer wonderful Youth Programs in the past and wish to continue this valued gift… but this is where we need your help!  Would you consider volunteering your service toward the Youth Program this summer?

We are actively searching for the following:  Child & Youth Program Coordinator and Youth Program Leaders.

We are looking for people to help lead our Youth Program this summer at CYM. The Youth Program is an incredibly fun place to be at CYM – there is enthusiasm, laughter and joy; but we need great leaders to bring a wonderful program together. If you can serve CYM by being the Youth Program Coordinator or a leader in the Program we want to hear from you! Your responsibilities would include working in collaboration to put together a program at CYM (there will be volunteers to help). The program needs to include worship time, Quaker study time and outings. There are many resources available to help you. We cannot run a program for children and youth without leaders!

Travel, meals and lodging are covered by CYM as these are Required Services positions.

Anyone involved in the Youth Program will need a current Police Check.

There are usually 3 age groups in the Youth Program. The  Coordinator  manages the program and leads an age group, while Leaders are responsible for the other age groups.

For more details, read the Coordinator job description:
Child and Youth Coordinator Job Description 2018 (PDF)

Questions? Want to apply? Contact the Yearly Meeting Office.