2020 Annual Sessions

On Wednesday evening, Stephen Angell will present “‘Upon the hills the lambs do skip and play’: Quaker courage, comforting, and creativity in times of crisis.” Steven is a member of Oxford Monthly Meeting and Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting. He currently teaches Quaker Studies at Earlham School of Religion. His writings include The Cambridge Companion of Quaker Studies and the forthcoming Indiana Trainwrecks.

Thursday evening will have a selection of workshops.

Friday evening will be a social distance dancing version of the usual dancing on the front lawn.

On Saturday evening, Benigno Sánchez-Eppler will speak out of waiting worship as directed by the Divine. Benigno is a member of Northampton Friends in New England Yearly Meeting. He teaches at Amherst College and at the Cuban Quaker Peace Institute of Cuba Yearly Meeting. He is a founding co-editor and translator for raicescuaqueras.org, an on-line library of Quaker classics in Spanish.

Adult Children All

Times listed are Central (the location of the ILYM campus)

Monday

Groups for worship sharing will meet Saturday, June 20, 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Participants will arrive in a general meeting room and will be moved to break out rooms for small group worship sharing.

Queries

In what ways have you felt an opening to Divine presence in these times of crisis?

How do you prepare yourself to be spiritual or centered in the world?

Worship Sharing Guidelines

1. The leader provides a seed for sharing usually in the form of queries.

2. Reach as deeply as you can into the sacred center of your life.

3. Speak out of the silence, and leave a period of silence between speakers.

4. Speak from your own experience, about your own experience. Concentrate on feelings and changes rather than on thoughts or theories.

5. Do not respond to what anyone else has said, either to praise or to refute.

6. Listen carefully and deeply to what is spoken.

7. Expect to speak only once, until everyone has had a chance to speak.

8. Respect the confidentiality of what is shared.

9. The leader lets the group know when the time is almost up, and ends with at least a brief period of silence.

Workshops will be Thursday, June 18, 7:00-8:15 p.m. "All-ages" workshops are designed for children, youth, and adults.

Participants will arrive in a general meeting room and will be moved to a breakout room for the workshop they want to attend.


Friendly Economics, Alex Lippitt (Oak Park Friends Meeting). A presentation/discussion format. Focuses on 21st century economics as if people and our environment mattered in an attempt to unseat GDP as the prime measure of societal health and success. Featured work is from: Kate Raworth of Oxford and Oxfam, and her work “Doughnut Economics” which is being used by the city of Amsterdam to guide its Coronavirus Recovery and George Lakey, Friend retired from Swarthmore, and his work Viking Economics, 21st century economics in action. Discussion will focus on how Friends and Friends institutions can unite on this new economics. (Middle School and Older)

Quakers in Congress Defending Palestinian Child Detainees, Jennifer Bing (AFSC) and Steve Tamari (St. Louis Friends Meeting, Quaker Palestine Israel Network). Quakers have supported Palestinian rights since the establishment of Israel. A new chapter in this legacy is No Way to Treat a Child, a campaign co-sponsored by the AFSC which advocates for H.R. 2407, a House bill challenging Israel's systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian children in military detention. The workshop will introduce the history of Quaker advocacy for justice in Israel/Palestine; describe the conditions Palestinian children in detention face; detail provisions of H.R. 2407; and specify actions Quakers can take to support the bill and Palestinian human rights more generally. (Not suitable for children)

Class Race Dialog Practice, Brad Laird (south Bend Monthly Meeting). Discussing Class and Race with others tends to be one of the more difficult and divisive conversations in the US today. The workshop will look at research done in this kind of conversation by Faith in Action, show a way forward with a positive message done cheerfully, and we will practice it. There is abundance and enough for all if we choose to make it so. (All Ages)

What can we individually do about climate change? Noel Pavlovic (Duneland Friends Meeting) and Shelley Tanenbaum (QEW). Shelley will talk about what Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is doing on the issue of climate change and what can be done individually or as a meeting concerning climate change without the burden of guilt. Through worship sharing and discussion the workshop will explore how to respond to climate change and what positive loving actions can be taken in these dynamic and uncertain times when all levels of humanity, society and the earth are being impacted.

God’s Gracious Purpose, Julia Pantoga (Milwaukee Friends Meeting). What if we regarded everything that happens to us, regardless of if we judge it as good, bad, or neutral, as a divine call? Closely examine biblical and mainstream call stories and recognize what is similar and different from your own story. Participants will then begin to discern God’s gracious purpose for their lives. This workshop is highly interactive, reflective, and personal. Respect for confidentiality and privacy is paramount. Participants might want to have access to a Bible. Download workshop handouts.

Bolivian Friends Walk with God in Crisis, Rebeca Ramos (Nueva Jerusalem Los Amigos—Bolivia). Slide show on Quakers in Bolivia and discussion of how Bolivian Quaker's Faith get through challenging times. Rebeca came as an intern at Oakwood School and her faith is helping cope with sheltering in place.

Defining “Deep Advocacy”: building grassroots power for policy change, Sarah Freeman-Woolpert (FCNL). This workshop will include a skills training and breakout discussions on how to transform advocacy and build grassroots power. The workshop will have a presentation about how to make grassroots advocacy have a greater impact, from developing a more strategic “ask” and researching what influences your member of Congress’s decisions to organizing more people to advocate with you. The workshop will focus on the issue of food security during the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how to apply these skills to take action.

Fragments from Barclay’s Apology, Benigno Sánchez-Eppler (Amherst College). How could the Early Friends possibly speak to us? Why would the Spirit use them to speak to our condition? Do Friends rise in your Meeting to deliver vocal ministry with an "accent"? Do they rise and speak in a foreign language? Has the language of Early Friends become foreign to us? How did Early Friends reuse Early Christian language? The workshop will not answer any of these questions; but will leave them floating in the air participants take on the challenge of reading together fragments from a minimally modernized version of Barclay's Apology.

Children's Sessions

Annual Sessions is a gathering of Friends that is supportive of families with children. Children’s Sessions provide the opportunity for children to experience various aspects of Quaker faith and life.

Pre-school through Middle School

There will be small age-appropriate groups designed to be meaningful while giving children a chance to connect with other Friends of their age. Age groups will meet at different times on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday when no other programming is scheduled.

Developing out of the Annual Sessions theme, the groups will focus on the following:

Preschool - Story Telling and Stories

Primary - Music in Nature

Intermediate - Quaker History, Past and Future

Middle School- Art & Nature.

High School Program

The Youth Oversight Committee and High School Friends (entering grade 9 through recent high school graduates) plan the program. Consult the Youth Coordinator for program specifics.

Adult Young Friends

The Adult Young Friends of ILYM are a group of 18 to 35-year-old Friends led to maintain a sense of community. While a subgroup of adult Friends, AYFs participate as active adult members of ILYM. No special programming is being scheduled for 2020.

Due to large gathering cautions and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILYM 2020 Annual Sessions will be held on-line, instead of on-campus, via a series of video conference events. While this will be a different experience than gathering on the ILYM campus in McNabb, Illinois, it can be taken up as an opportunity to connect with Friends who do not usual come to on-campus gatherings.

Many of the regular components of on-campus Annual Sessions will be offered during these on-line Annual Sessions: worship, business sessions, presentations, worship sharing, workshops, dancing, children's religious education and high school programs. There will be a pre-sessions meeting on Monday for people who want to check out their setup and get familiar with Zoom. The Plummer Lecture will be given at in-person gathering at a later time.

REGISTRATION:

Registration is required if you want to attend any of the online programs. Registration will put you on the list to receive links to programs. Registration helps in planning for these programs, helps to prevent unauthorized people crashing programs, and helps to keep contact data current. Please register before June 3, especially for Children's Sessions. You will not be able to register after June 14. If you are mailing in registration, it should arrive before June 14.

FEES/DONATIONS:

The per day fee for on-campus Annual Sessions is set to cover the costs of on-campus Annual Sessions. Due to on-line nature of this year's Annual Sessions there is not a per day fee structure. However there are still costs associated with holding on-line annual sessions. These costs include fulfilling contractual agreements related to canceling the on-campus sessions. Friends are asked to provide a donation to help off-set these costs.

TECHNOLOGY CONCERNS:

Some Friends might be unfamiliar with video conferencing. There will be a preliminary program Monday evening for those who might what to verify that their setup works and to get familiar with the video conferencing platform. Monthly meetings are encouraged to assist members who may have technological concerns.

Stay informed about what is happening in ILYM.

Registration closed June 14. You will not be able to register after June 14. If you mailed in registration, it should have arrived before June 14.

REGISTRATION: Registration is required if you want to attend any of the online programs. Registration will put you on the list to receive links to programs. Registration helps in planning for these programs, helps to prevent unauthorized people crashing programs, and helps to keep contact data current.

FEES/DONATIONS: The per day fee for on-campus Annual Sessions is set to cover the costs of on-campus Annual Sessions. Due to the on-line nature of this year's Annual Sessions there is not a per day fee structure. However there are still costs associated with holding on-line annual sessions. These costs include fulfilling contractual agreements related to canceling the on-campus sessions. Friends are asked to provide a donation to help off-set these costs.

During on-campus Annual Sessions a series of folders is on the entry table. These folders contain additional documents for use during Annual Sessions. Links to the content of these folders follow below. Links will be active when content is available.

• Minutes of business sessions (updated June 20)

• Supplementary and late arriving documents (updated June 19)

• Schedule updates and additions (updated June 18, 1:30 pm)

• State of Society Reports from monthly meetings

• Memorial Minutes

• Minutes from Fall Continuing Committee, Spring Continuing Committee, and April 4 Called Meeting

• Epistles from other yearly meetings