Events

Held at Dubois Center in Dubois, IL. Registration and information is at https://www.blueriverquarterly.org/brq/event/2026-fall-gathering/

Fall Work Day will be held on Saturday, October 3, at around 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Central). Tasks will include moving things from the old to the new bunkhouse, picking up sticks, trimming trees and shrubs, stowing the window A/C units, fixing cabin steps and screen doors, maybe some painting and light carpentry. If you have some tools that would help with these tasks please bring them along. Veggie and Turkey Chili will be provided for lunch but bring a little food or drink to share.After lunch there will be a short program, Contemplating Earthcare at ILYM. Program description: As we gather to work together on the land we steward as the ILYM campus, join us in celebrating the gifts of the Earth and in contemplating how we comport ourselves as we care for the Earth. During our lunch break, our Quaker Earthcare Witness representatives and our Environmental Concerns Committee clerk will introduce QEW’s “Day of Action” and invite Friends to enter into worship sharing to entertain opportunities for ways forward.

Advance Documents are available for download and review: ilym.org/continuing-committee-minutes/. Please try to read the reports ahead of time and bring your own print or electronic copies if you will need them. A few print copies of these documents will be available at Continuing Committee. If you know folks in your meeting who are expecting to attend and are without e-mail or web access, please share these documents with them. The Fall Continuing Committee will be held on Saturday, October 17 at the ILYM meetinghouse in McNabb, Illinois, hosted by Clear Creek Monthly Meeting. Fellowship with coffee and snacks will be ready at 9:30 a.m. Settling into Worship to seek Divine Guidance for business at hand will begin at 10:00 a.m. (Central). Clear Creek Friends will provide lunch. There will be a basket for contributions to cover the modest costs of the meal. The meeting usually concludes between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. If you will be needing childcare, have questions about childcare, to request lodging accommodations, or additional question please contact Beth Carpenter via the Contact form. Virtual attendance information: Zoom link; Meeting ID: 824 4913 0798; Passcode: 118115 Continuing Committee is open to all who have concern about the work of ILYM. Each person’s presence (whether delegated or not) will enrich the meeting’s deliberations. Note from the Presiding Clerk regarding Continuing Committee The agenda for Continuing Committee is often “light,” as most decisions of ILYM are made during Annual Sessions in the summer. For the 2026 Fall Continuing Committee, since we are meeting on the ILYM grounds in McNabb, we have included in the agenda a tour of the new bunkhouse and time to share monthly meeting experiences. We will be meeting in St. Louis for our 2027 Spring Continuing Committee. We have not yet set a date, as we are considering several other Quaker activities before we make a decision. If you are a representative to an organization, please check when their Spring 2027 meeting will be. If you are aware of any dates we should be considering, please let me know. We want to do this as soon as possible, so friends can make travel arrangements and St. Louis Monthly Meeting can begin preparing for us. A representative from St. Louis will be attending Continuing Committee in McNabb this weekend and will be available to address any concerns you have about accommodations (lodging, child care, etc.) over lunch. If you are not going to be at Fall 2026 Continuing Committee in McNabb to bring up 2027 Spring Continuing Committee concerns, you can send me an e-mail at juliakayabbe@gmail.com. I've conferred with my clerk's committee and including the following statement and information about Fall Continuing Committee: Continuing Committee is an opportunity to hear reports from Illinois Yearly Meeting (ILYM) committees, coordinate, and carry out the business of ILYM between annual business sessions. The Presiding Clerk works with monthly meetings to select locations that meet the needs of our members, including making better use of the ILYM campus, convenience, accessibility, and bringing ILYM energy to meetings that need our love. These goals can sometimes conflict, and Continuing Committee may be held at the site of a monthly meeting with limited online capability and/or limited accommodations for those with physical impairments. Please contact the presiding clerk with your concerns about these matters. ILYM is committed to including all who wish to join us. For Fall 2026 Continuing CommitteeLocation: Clear Creek Monthly MeetingPresiding clerk: Julia Pantoga, juliakayabbe@gmail.com On-line information: Clear Creek Monthly Meeting does not have online capability. The clerk’s team has arranged for Zoom access to the clerk’s bench and podium. Zoom attenders will not be able to see or hear activity from the floor, but you will be able to hear comments from the clerk’s bench and the podium. We will ask podium speakers to summarize questions and comments from the floor for Zoom participants. To enter the Zoom room for this, use this link: {when made available, link will appear on the ILYM website under “Upcoming Events” at the Fall Continuing Committee link. Accommodation Information: Many attenders to the 2026 Fall Continuing Committee will be familiar with the physical accommodations of the room where we will be meeting, as it is used for ILYM Annual Sessions. There is a ramped entrance, and railings for all interior staircases. Since amplification equipment will not be set up in the room, specialized hearing equipment will not be available. If you are attending in person and you have hearing difficulties, we recommend that you sit close to the front of the room. Another option is to use your phone to log into the zoom account, turn off the volume on your phone (or use ear buds) and turn on the closed captioning. Lunch will be served in the Clear Creek Meetinghouse, which is accessible on the first floor. Following are the youth-related queries we will be using in the afternoon. Youth Related Queries

De-Escalation Training Knowing how to respond to tense situations is a way of being public witnesses to peace. The Peace Resource Committee and Racial Equity and Education Committee are sponsoring an online Kingian non-violence training for Friends on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (Central) at the DGFM Virtual Meetinghouse. Kingian Nonviolence is a comprehensive philosophy and methodology for conflict reconciliation based on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the strategies of the Civil Rights Movement. Presenters will be Rev. Dr. Joshua Brockway; Church of the Brethren faith leader, trained trainer in Kingian Nonviolence, instructor at Elgin Police Department and trainer for Elgin Area Immigrant Alliance.