• About ILYM

    ILYM is a spiritual community of Quakers, also known as the Religious Society of Friends. Though the individuals in this community attend some 21 affiliated local Meetings across four states, each summer the Meeting gathers in a retreat near McNabb, Illinois to worship together and to conduct the business of the community. This business includes issues related to lay ministry, religious education, the practice of faith, volunteer service, public witness, publications, Meetinghouse site improvement, and finances. The ILYM Meetinghouse is also the worship site for Clear Creek Friends, as well as for workshops, retreats and committee meetings.

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  • Site Prep June 13-17

    Come early and find out what fun it can be to work towards a common cause with a great bunch of people. Be a part of transforming 12 acres of land into a most useful site for hundreds of people.

    Site Prep takes place on the days before the beginning of Annual Sessions. All ILYM Friends are cordially invited to help get the campus ready before the main event begins. Meals and housing during Site Prep are free, so come and enjoy good comradeship while building up your sweat equity. Site Prep begins Saturday June 13 and concludes after lunch on Wednesday, June 17 (you can arrive in the evening of Friday, June 12 but food service begins with lunch on Saturday). If you plan to attend, please fill out the online form or contact Erin Taylor or Barb Lawhorn at ErinandBarb@gmail.com. Information requested would be your expected days of attendance, your housing plans (tent, cabin, hotel, or Clear Creek House), and any dietary restrictions.

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    Site Prep begins Saturday, June 17, and concludes after lunch on Wednesday, June 21 (you can arrive in the evening of Friday, June 16).

    If you plan to attend, please out following Site Prep Attendance form.

    Site Clean-up: On Sunday, June 22, after you finish lunch, please plan to stay an hour or two after lunch and help with clean up.

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  • 2026 Annual Sessions

    Living Our Faith

    The theme, Living Our Faith, focuses on the ways in which Friends are actively living out Quaker testimonies.

    Annual Sessions will be held Wednesday, June 17 to Sunday, June 21 on the ILYM Campus outside McNabb, Illinois. Some programs will be hybrid. Detailed program information will be available and registration will open in late April.

    Link for additional information on sessions: ilym.org/2026AnnualSessions.

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  • 2025 Sessions Videos

    Following are videos from the Thursday and Saturday night presentations, the Plummer Lecture and a post-sessions virtual workshop.


    Panel of Friends who grew up in ILYM held at Illinois Yearly Meeting Annual Session, Thursday, June 19, 2025.


    Presented during 2025 ILYM Annual Sessions by Thomas Hamm, Retired Professor of History and Director of Special Collection, Earlham College on Saturday, June 22, 2025.


    Beth Schobernd Carpenter of Clear Creek Meeting (McNabb, IL) presenting the 2025 Plummer Lecture, “Living in a Blessed Community” at the 2025 ILYM Annual Sessions on June 22, 2025.


    Peter Lasersohn, Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting presenting a virtual workshop on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

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  • Anti-Racism Café

    Note: the June Cafe will be held on June 9 instead of June 15.

    The June 9 Cafe’ will feature a video of Alaskan Natives Jim & Susan LaBelle sharing their “Boarding School” experiences. June 9 Anti-Racism Cafe Zoom link.

    Link for additional information on this video, Right Relation with Indigenous Peoples and supporting the Indian Boarding School Commission Bill.

    What’s on your mind and in your hearts? Join us for an open-ended discussion of anti-racist work. There’s no speaker or agenda, so bring your beverage of choice and be ready to listen and share.

    ILYM Racism, Equality and Equity Committee hosts a virtual Anti-Racism Cafe on the 15th of each month, 7:00 p.m. (Central). Link to join.  

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  • Meeting for Healing

    Illinois Yearly Meeting’s Peace Resources & Racial Equity and Education Committees hosts a virtual Meeting for Healing for the Future of America East via the Downers Grove Zoom Meeting on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. (Central). Zoom Link; Meeting ID: 973 0257 9831; Passcode: 000000.

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  • Faith and Practice

    Illinois Yearly Meeting, founded in 1875, is a spiritual community of Quakers, also known as the Religious Society of Friends. Individuals in this community attend some 22 affiliated local meetings across five states. Each summer the yearly meeting gathers in a retreat on its campus near McNabb, Illinois to worship together and to conduct the business of the community.

    PDF format || Ebook format

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  • Concerning this Book of Faith and Practice

    Early Quakers had a vivid sense of the Holy Spirit as an active presence, transforming themselves, their dealings with each other, and the entire world. They honored each person’s direct access to the Light, yet were aware of the frailty of human judgment. Their response was to develop practices of communal listening, seeking, and discerning. Meeting for worship, meeting for business, and some more specialized practices were all developed to allow the group to clarify and support individual guidance and revelation. Today, Quakers continue to revise, refine, and hand on their characteristic practices of corporate listening and waiting, because these practices work.

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  • A Brief Guide to Using this Book of Faith and Practice

    As the name “Faith and Practice” suggests, this book is both a spiritual and a practical document. It articulates the historical and continuing faith of Friends; it also outlines recommended procedures regarding a wide variety of matters that local Quaker meetings are likely, and in many cases certain, to face.

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