2022 Menu

Canadian Yearly Meeting 2022 was online from August 7-13

Key Events

Pre-CYM Retreat

Supporting One Another in Faithfulness
with Marcelle Martin

Friday August 5 and Saturday August 6

In this online retreat we’ll explore practices to pay closer attention to the truth in our hearts and the subtle movements of the Spirit. We will reflect on how the divine Light is seeking to become more manifest in ourselves and our communities. Sessions will include some presentation/discussion, time for worship sharing, and a little bit of journal writing. During each session there will also be experiential opportunities to learn and practice skills in helping each other gain greater awareness and insight about the movements of the Spirit. We will share with partners and in small groups, learning how to lovingly listen each other into deeper insight and openness to the work of God in and through us. We’ll discuss the practice of Faithfulness Groups and how to start one.

Sunderland P. Gardner Lecture

Guided by Ancestors: Integrating Ojibwe Teachings with Quaker Testimony for Social Action
by JoLee Sasakamoose

Sunday August 7 (2:30 pm Eastern duration 90 minutes) – Click here to join this public session

Numerous teachings, ceremonies, and experiences within Ojibwe spirituality and Quaker testimonies instruct us on how to behave and interact in the world to foster balance and peace and manage our ultimate responsibility to care for Mother Earth (Aski). Quaker testimonies encourage spiritually-led activities that challenge us to assess ourselves and our communities carefully. Our commitment to nonviolence in mind, word, and deed is based on the concept that every human being possesses a spark of divinity.

Meanwhile, the Ojibwe medicine wheel is a multidimensional wheel that contains life lessons and instructions about behaving, interacting, and communicating. The medicine wheel is a tool for self-awareness and healing and fosters a supportive environment conducive to exploring sensitive and profound concepts. As a tool for knowledge acquisition, it enables us to comprehend our activities, adapt to situations, and grow in new areas.

I was born at the intersection of both of these traditions. I will talk about how harmonizing these principles provided a supportive atmosphere and a solid foundation in ethics that have protected, guided and safeguarded a life of social activism. In keeping with matriarchal responsibilities, our choices today should result in a planet that can be sustained for the next seven generations. I will discuss numerous experiences from birth to the present that demonstrates how the values of each helped shape and support me on my activism journey.

Bible Study

The Transforming Power of Mercy
with Colin Saxton

Monday-Friday August 8-12 at 2 pm Eastern

Within Hebrew spirituality, the faithful community is invited to tikkun olam—to join in repairing and mending a broken world. Especially in its modern use, this invitation is most often understood as a strong call to work for justice.

In our urgent, divisive, and polarized times, as humanity cries out for justice and creation groans in anticipation of being healed, it is not always clear to know how best to go about this work. As Friends, we join in prayer, protest, and often push to dismantle and transform systems of oppression and violence—all of which we find within the biblical story.

What we also find in the scripture—is the unsettling presence of mercy—not as an alternative to these other actions, but as an integral part of them. This week, we will look at examples of mercy found in the bible, as a reminder of its potential place in repairing and mending God’s good world and our own lives.

Children and Youth Program

Simon Daley, Coordinator

Wednesday-Friday, August 10-12

Due to low registration numbers, we will unfortunately not be running the teen retreat or children’s program this year. Children and their parents/caregivers are still encouraged to attend the Tiny Friends and Caregivers program:

Chaotic Worship – Wednesday 10:30-11:00 ET and Friday 12:30-13:30
“Worship and ministry with and by our youngest Friends and their caregivers. Come with joy and an open heart for ministry that may include baby conversation, a picture shared, the showing of a wonderful feather or shell or the introduction of a beloved pet or teddy.”

Parent’s Corner – Thursday 11:00-11:30 ET
“Fellowship and sharing on the experience of being a caregiver in your meeting, especially for parents of young children.”

Young Friends are welcome and encouraged to attend general CYM sessions, including in particular Canadian Young Friends YM events.

Ask a Young Friend Panel Discussion

Seconday, the 8th of Eighth Month (Monday, August 8)

Have you been wondering what Young Friends have been up to since our report in 2019? Are you curious what’s on the hearts and minds of the teens/young adults? Here’s your chance to find out!

Canadian Young Friends Yearly Meeting and CYM are collaborating to bring you a national panel of Young Friends, who will be responding to questions from you, the broader membership of CYM!

Please submit a question you would like to ask a Young Friend, we’d love to hear from you! You are welcome to submit more than one question. Please keep questions related to Quaker faith and practice.
*Questions will be screened and pre-selected.*