HELP DESK  text or phone 0400 069 014

ZOOM HELP  email, text or phone David Tehr on 0417 182 834 

 

Emailed on 1 Jul 2023, at 9:33 am

Dear Friends

Yearly Meeting 2023 starts today!   Saturday 1st July

Find zoom links to all the sessions in the timetable here.  Look for the “What is this?” links:

https://www.keepandshare.com/calendar19/show.php?i=2974167&date=2023-07-01   

Having trouble seeing the “What is this?” links in the timetable?  Scroll down for help with the view options.

Meeting for Worship is at 11:30 am AEST, 11 am SA&NT, 9:30 am WA

Join the “Welcome to All” session at 1 pm AEST, 12:30 pm SA&NT, 11 am WA
for a friendly informal beginning where you will meet Bruce Henry, our Presiding Clerk, and others in the Clerking Team, Friends from each Regional Meeting, families with children and JYS, and First Timers.  Learn how to find sessions and links in the timetable and information on the website.  The zoom URL is:  
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/3186210584?pwd=WHRueFNpbUZnelErTzFreTc3YTJzdz09 

Join the First Formal Session at 2:30 pm AEST, 2 pm SA&NT, 12:30 pm WA
for the Welcome to Country, some formalities, and the State of the Society address by Mark Macleod, Tasmania Regional Meeting. The zoom URL is: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/6454462955?pwd=dnhyQlNWTzVSZkpHUFVsTTdOSlRSdz09

In the Home Groups Introduction at 5 pm AEST, 4:30 pm SA&NT, 3 pm WA
everyone will gather to find out from Kerstin Reimers how the Home Groups work, with suggestions for activities and topics.

In the evening is the first Social Mingle Time at 7 pm AEST, 6:30 pm SA&NT, 5 pm WA
By popular demand!  This will be an experiment to open many breakout rooms and allow you to catch up with friends.  It is also a place to gather a group together to organise something. 

The first JYFS Home Group meets at the same time:  7 pm AEST, 6:30 pm SA&NT, 5 pm WA 

Be sure to join Epilogue at 8:15 pm AEST, 7:45 pm SA&NT, 6:15 pm WA
This will be hosted by Queensland Regional Meeting offering a quiet ending to the day.

For the Owls among us, Convivial Hour at 9 pm AEST, 8:30 pm SA&NT, 7 pm WA
will provide a space for conversation hosted by Harold Wilkinson.

Find more information by going to the website here: 
https://www.quakersaustralia.info/yearly-meeting-2023/ym23-programs

To access the “YM23 Business” pages and the agendas for the Formal Sessions, you will need your password. 

Are you having trouble seeing the “What is this?” links in the timetable?  Scroll down below for help with view options.

Have you registered for a Friendly School on Sunday 2nd July?  That’s tomorrow!   Register TODAY!  Scroll down to find out more. 

Please encourage your friends to register for Yearly Meeting so they can get these daily emails.

Looking forward to seeing you on-screen today!

Vidya
Yearly Meeting Organising Committee

HELP DESK  text or phone 0400 069 014

ZOOM HELP  email, text or phone David Tehr on 0417 182 834 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Finding sessions and links in the Timetable

To join sessions at Yearly Meeting you need the zoom links in the timetable. Look for the “What is this?” links here:
https://www.keepandshare.com/calendar19/show.php?i=2974167&date=2023-07-01   

Are you having trouble seeing the “What is this?” links in the timetable?  

There are three view options that are particularly useful.  When you have the timetable open, the view options are at the top left of your screen.  Try some of these:

• "Week" and "1 week (column)" gives you a good visual overview of the pattern of 7 days, from early morning to evening. It is easy to see quickly which sessions are on at the same time.  Because it is so compact, it often hides text.  On some devices you can't click on "What is this?" to access more information and the Zoom links. 
• "Week" and "2 weeks" gives you all the information you need!  You can read the full title of the sessions.  You can always find and click on "What is this?" or "Who is this for?" to access more information and the Zoom links.  You can scroll down to see all nine days of Yearly Meeting.  Surprisingly this is a very useful display!  
• "Day" and "3 days" gives you all the information you need with a view restricted to only three days.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Registration for Friendly School is open! 

Over 110 Friends have registered for Friendly School which is on TOMORROW  on Sunday 2nd July. This will be one of the highlights of Yearly Meeting.

Let us know which Friendly School you would like to join by completing this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUOEL2qYTKKcWTTttSBb7Q1q7RlOCQUTh1kVP9WwIQUXdD9w/viewform   

You will be asked to choose one of these:

1.  Integrity: what canst thou say?  --  Sue Ennis and Wies Schuiringa
2.  Indigenous Voices: CORE and WIPCE  --  David Purnell and David Evans 
3.  Travelling with First Nations Peoples  --  Marion Hooper and Katherine Purnell
4.  The Life and Poetry of Judith Wright  --  Michael Griffith
5.  The Impact of Australian Quakers on Refugee Lives: where to from here?  
6.   --  Rowe Morrow, Dale Hess, Alan Clayton and Dorothy Scott
7.  Growing the Life of the Meeting  --  Sheila Keane
8.  True sustainability: how should we then live?  --  David King
9.  Cultivating a Creative Contemplative Community  --  Justin Simpson
10.  Writing workshop on Gender  —  Jess

Find out more about these Friendly Schools on the website:
https://www.quakersaustralia.info/yearly-meeting-2023/ym23-programs/friendly-school

We are letting the facilitators know who has registered for their workshop.  For several workshops, participants are being sent reading in advance or invited to contribute to the workshop. 

When you complete the form please make sure you give a valid email address at the start.  At the end click on “SUBMIT” and wait to see if you get an email with your personal responses recorded.  It should arrive within a minute.  If this does not happen, check “Junk”.  Still not there?  Please register again. 

Successful?  Please encourage your friends to register for Friendly School!

In Friendship,

Vidya
on behalf of the Friendly School Organisers:
David Evans, Annie Brady and Vidya

How my 2009 Viral Video Transformed my Perspective on Quakers, the Internet, and What’s Next

The 58th annual James Backhouse Lecture will be presented by Jon Watts, Quaker film producer from the United States, via Zoom, on Tuesday 4 July at 7pm.

Jon will be hosted by Hobart Friends, and the presentation will be at The Friends' School.

Jon Watts is a Quaker songwriter and multimedia artist. As a songwriter, Jon has toured the world sharing stories of the Early Friends and his own spiritual journey growing up Quaker in Virginia and attending the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program at Guilford College.

Jon’s unique success promoting his music in the early days of Youtube led him to found the QuakerSpeak project, for which he spent six years traveling, interviewing Friends, and publishing a video every week. In 2021, Jon embarked on a new journey: envisioning a future for Friends and online media.

Jon Watts is a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, which holds his ministry under its care. He lives in Germantown, where he enjoys hiking in the Wissahickon with his fiance and recording music in his home studio.

Join the Backhouse Lecture presentation on Tuesday 4 July at 7 pm AEST by Zoom:
Zoom Meeting link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84611668562?pwd=R3JqeGcvcHRvbHUxQVgxOHVYOHE0QT09  
Meeting ID: 846 1166 8562
Passcode: 249421

 

 
Yearly Meeting includes online activities for children and has times for Junior Young Friends (JYFs) to gather:

• "Welcome to All" on Saturday 1st July, 1 pm followed by children's and JYFs gatherings
• All Ages Meeting for Worship with Liz Shield on Sunday 2nd July, 10 am 

• "Silver Wattle Easter Family Gathering" Share and Tell with Liz Shield on Wednesday 5th July, 6:30 pm

• Home Groups, for parents with young children, daily from Saturday 1st to Saturday 8th July, either at 9 am or at 5pm/6pm.

• JYFs Home Group with Lisa Wriley at 7 pm on Saturday 1st, Monday 3rd and Friday 7th July.

• Treasure Hunt with Julie Walpole on Saturday 8th July at 1 pm.

• Mandalas and Circles with Wilma Davidson on Saturday 8th July at 1:45 pm.

Check the YM23 timetable here.  

Read on below for details of each activity. Times shown are AEST, 30 mins earlier for SA and NT, 2 hours earlier for WA. 

Online activities and gatherings for children and JYFs --- more information:

• "Welcome to All" on Saturday 1st July, 1 pm:  Families with children and JYFs are warmly invited to join the "Welcome to All" session on the first day of Yearly Meeting.  We will meet Bruce Henry and others in the clerking team.  Then the families with children and JYFs are invited to wave to everyone.  You could click on "raise hand" or be spotlit.  After this, families with children are invited to go with Jo Temme into a breakout room together to share something you have made or drawn.  JYFs can go into a separate breakout room together. 
• All Ages Meeting for Worship on Sunday 2nd July, 10 am:  We encourage children to bring a quiet activity, eg colouring in, origami, a jigsaw puzzle, or drawing pens and paper. There will be some spoken ministry led by Liz Shield.
• "Silver Wattle Easter Family Gathering" Share and Tell on Wednesday 5th July, 6:30 pm:  Liz Shield will share stories, photos and videos of the families that gathered in late March. With young and older children, JYFs and Young Friends, Silver Wattle was stretched to capacity. 
• Home Groups, Saturday 1st July to Saturday 8th July, every day:  Home groups are small groups that meet each day as fellow travellers during Yearly Meeting. You can ask to be allocated to a group that meets in the morning at 9 am or in the afternoon at 5 pm / 6 pm.  Are you a parent with younger children? You could join a Family Friendly home group that includes other parents and younger children.
• JYFs Home Group, Saturday 1st, Monday 3rd and Friday 7th July at 7 pm, JYFs are invited to gather in their own Home Group with Lisa Wriley on three evenings.
• Treasure Hunt, Saturday 8th July, 1 pm:  Join Julie Walpole for a Treasure Hunt. Julie asks, "What is a Treasure?  Feel free to bring and share one of your treasures before we go hunting for new ones." 
• Mandalas and Circles, Saturday 8th July, 1:45 pm:  Join Wilma Davidson to colour in Mandalas and discover circles around us. 

 

Activity facilitators:

Jo Temme and Liz Shield, VRM;  Lisa Wriley, NSWRM;  Julie Walpole, TRM;  Wilma Davidson, CRQ.

 

Epilogue is at the end of our day.  It is a short worshipful gathering when we wrap up the busy day and settle.

Epilogue incorporates more than just silent worship. It is often programed with music, poetry, an invitation to share something from your day, or a creative activity.

Each epilogue is led by Friends from amongst us, usually a Regional Meeting or an online Meeting for Worship. 
 

Schedule of YM23 Epilogues 

Sat 1st July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA         QRM 

Sun 2nd July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA       FORM for NSWRM 

Mon 3rd July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA      CRQ 

Tues 4th July, 8:45 pm AEST / 6:45 pm WA      WARM

Wed 5th July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA      SANTRM

Thur 6th July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA      Rainbow Friends and Allies 

Fri 7th July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA          TRM

Sat 8th July, 8:15 pm AEST / 6:15 pm WA         VRM

 

   
Registration for Friendly School has now opened! 

Register here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUOEL2qYTKKcWTTttSBb7Q1q7RlOCQUTh1kVP9WwIQUXdD9w/viewform   

To find out more about the workshops, scroll down this page.

Friendly School theme
The theme for this year is “Integrity, Voice and Right Relationship”. Workshops will focus on the current concerns of integrity, listening to Indigenous voices and coming into right relationship personally, in community and with our planet. 

Friendly School topics
All workshops will be held on Sunday July 2nd and begin at 11:30 am AEST, at 11 am in SA & NT, and at 9:30 am in WA.

1.  Integrity: what canst thou say?  --  Sue Ennis and Wies Schuiringa
2.  Indigenous Voices: CORE and WIPCE  --  David Purnell and David Evans 
3.  Travelling with First Nations Peoples  --  Marion Hooper and Katherine Purnell
4.  The Life and Poetry of Judith Wright  --  Michael Griffith
5.  The Impact of Australian Quakers on Refugee Lives: where to from here?  
     --  Rowe Morrow, Dale Hess, Alan Clayton and Dorothy Scott
6.  Growing the Life of the Meeting  --  Sheila Keane
7.  True sustainability: how should we then live?  --  David King 
8.  Cultivating a Creative Contemplative Community  --  Justin Simpson
9.  Writing workshop on Gender  --  Jess D

 

Friendly School descriptions

1.   Integrity: what canst thou say?  --  Sue Ennis and Wies Schuiringa

Sharing and communicating about integrity: Quaker specific, personal or general definitions, reflections, experiences and explorations. Friends will participate by sharing their ideas and experiences resulting in shorter and/or longer writing, in poetry or visual arts or in video recordings on their phone. Participants will explore many facets of integrity and work on communicating their explorations in writing, videos recorded on mobile phones or in other expressions. A collection of writings etc from the workshop may be collated for distribution as e.g. "Contemporary thoughts about integrity among Australian Quakers". The videos recorded on phones can be made into a Utube video for the AYM Utube channel.
 

2.  Indigenous Voices: CORE and WIPCE  --  David Purnell and David Evans

We will hear the voices of Indigenous people across the world, and trends in Australia, especially The Voice Referendum. There will be reports on the Boyer Lectures by Noel Pearson, the work of the Committee on Racial Equality (CORE), and the approach of the AYM First Nations Concerns Committee.

We will share our commitments and activities at local level to enable Indigenous voices to be amplified. We will note the work of Quakers both here and in other countries, as well as at the United Nations.  

SANTRM sponsored registrants to the recent 12th World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE) held in Adelaide 22-26 September 2022 will report on this little known amazing triennial event. We will hear about WIPCE 2025 which will be held at Te Ara Poutama, Faculty of Māori Development, Aotearoa.
 

3.  Travelling with First Nations Peoples  --  Marion Hooper (NT) and Katherine Purnell (TRM)

In 2023, Australians have opportunities for changing the flow of history with  VOICE, TREATY AND TRUTH in the spotlight. Many of us have travelled, lived, worked on Country, others have wished for such opportunities. This workshop gives a chance to share cultural experiences, learnings and faux pas! 

Marion and Katherine both attend the Friends Online Recognised Meeting (FORM).
 

4.  The Life and Poetry of Judith Wright  --  Michael Griffith 

The focus will be on a number of key poems from across Judith Wright’s life which focus on her search for a voice for Indigenous people (especially through her relationships with poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal),  her quest for integrity in her relationship to The Australian Environment and its People and her search for a spirituality that would bring reconciliation to our country. 

Judith Wright is arguably Australia’s greatest poet who lived in the last two decades of her life in and near Braidwood which has clear links with the landscape and history around Silver Wattle. She also has strong links with Quakerism and was a pioneer in saving The Australian Environment and in supporting true equality for our Indigenous neighbours.

The sessions will be run by reading and working through a number of Judith Wright’s core poems.
 

5.  The Impact of Australian Quakers on Refugee Lives: where to from here?  
      --  Rowe Morrow, Dale Hess, Alan Clayton and Dorothy Scott

Our purpose in offering this Friendly School is to explore three inspiring international responses to refugees in which Australian Friends are currently engaged, and which have all received funding from Quaker bodies, in order to discern future action for and with refugees.

The day will begin with a brief overview by Alan Clayton on the long legacy of Quaker involvement with refugees and the common elements of some exemplars. This will be followed by three presentations: Rowe Morrow on Permaculture for Refugees; Dale Hess on securing a safe place in Portugal for young peace workers from Afghanistan; and Dorothy Scott on a grassroots response to refugees subject to Australia’s offshore processing policies. The final session will be a panel discussion about future directions of Australian Quaker involvement in refugee support and activism.
 

6.  Growing the Life of the Meeting -- Sheila Keane

This Friendly School will help you explore what is alive in your Meetings and what might make it more alive. We will look at the quality of worship, ways to connect, spiritual nurture (of individuals and of the meeting), the interrelationship of individual and corporate life in the meeting, growing our gifts, discernment in a communal context, and holding ministry so that it comes from the whole meeting – not just individuals in it. You will come away from the workshop with a new enthusiasm and appreciation of the life of your meeting, new ideas about what is possible, and your own suggested action plan to take back home. 
 

7.  True sustainability: how should we then live?  --  David King

A Quaker ideal is to live as consistently and closely to our testimonies as possible. But is our current individualistic, suburban, career focused lifestyle consistent with true sustainability and the best way to prepare for the coming climate breakdown and chaos? The response to climate change will require both mitigation and adaptation. How can we, as Quakers, transition to actions and lifestyles consistent with a post-growth, circular economy.? This is likely to require more than reducing and recycling waste, and driving an EV.

This workshop will take a problem-solving approach to the issue of sustainable living. We will start with an examination of our society’s values and norms that we accept as ‘normal’, and the damage or limitations that this brings. Second, we will envisage a future that would be more sustainable and preferable to live in. Finally, how do we get there? We will probably need systems and skills to support the journey to living with less, while strengthening relationships and community. The format will be interactive, and the sharing from the ‘heart’ as well as from the ‘head’.
 

8.  Cultivating a Creative Contemplative Community  --  Justin Simpson

One of the things I love about Quakers is the beautiful array of people's creative talents.  Painting, music, stagecraft, woodworking, photography, creative writing, haberdashery, singing, embroidery, gardening, storytelling, poetry...

Justin is part of Friends Online Recognised Meeting (FORM), part of NSWRM.  Weaved with his own contemplative journey with Quakers has been the deepening expression of his poetry writing.  In collaboration with Friends, he's recently published a book of contemplative poetry, titled 'Journey Companions'.  As a host in FORM, Justin seeks to open spaces where Friends can share their creativity.  

In this Friendly School session, we'll reflect on how creativity can enrich and deepen our spiritual journey, our Meeting for Worship and community life.  We'll explore ways we can help Friends discover and bring their creative talents into our contemplation and community.  This session will be interactive, fun and hopefully a little bit creative!  So bring your own creative talents and maybe your coloured pencils, paints, musical instrument or camera too!

 

9.  Writing workshop on Gender  --  Jess D

Everyone Welcome!  Under 18s please bring a parent. 

Earlier in the year Rainbow Friends collated an article "Exploring Gender" for the Australian Friend with people writing about their experiences of their own gender. We hope to expand the project and create a booklet in the style of This We Can Say. 

Come along and find out a little about the project, discuss the concept of gender in broader terms, and have a go at writing about your experiences of your own gender. People of every gender are welcome. 

If you have never written anything before, don’t worry, there will be warm up writing exercises to help you get started. Sharing any of your writing or experiences within the group is optional. For those who want to continue the writing journey after the workshop ends there is a possibility of organising writing pairs or a writing group.

 

Information for facilitators
The Friendly School workshops will all begin at 11:30 am (AEST) / 9:30 am in WA and facilitators can choose to go up to 4:30 pm AEST / 2:30 pm in WA.  Workshops that go for this whole time will have three sessions with two breaks for meals.

Friends who are willing to facilitate a Friendly School group on Sunday July 2nd on Zoom are invited to send an email to David Evans (ddeevans1@gmail.com) and to YM23FriendlySchool@gmail.com and include a short description of your proposed topic. 

For information about how to run a Friendly School, feel free to contact David Evans (ddeevans1@gmail.com). 

We encourage you to explore Quaker ways of gathering together online. You may like to work with one or two other people to develop your plans and facilitate your session. 

Good wishes,
David Evans, Vidya and Annie Brady
Friendly School Team

 

Connecting with others is a joy of Yearly Meetings. We love getting together, meeting people from other places, sharing our lives and how our communities are going, and talking about matters that deeply concern us. Building bonds in a smallish group that remains consistent during Yearly Meeting can be a lovely way of doing this. We can make new friendships and strengthen old ones.

Home groups are a tried and true way of enhancing our fellowship and sense of community. Home groups have long been integral to Quaker gatherings worldwide, though we have only recently started including them in our Yearly Meeting again. Home groups were enjoyed by many Friends last year and are being offered again as part of YM23.

Everyone who wishes to join a home group will be allocated to one which will meet each day for up to 45 minutes. We hope all who attend will bring a willingness to listen to others and share from their own experience.

Pods of people in one location might like to form a home group that can meet in-person. Online participants can be in a geographically diverse group. To deal with the two-hour time difference in Australia, home groups are scheduled twice each day.

When you register you can specify whether you prefer to be in a morning group or an afternoon group. There will be a set of morning groups and a set of afternoon groups, each meeting just once per day; you will be in one group.

Suggestions will be offered about how to run your group, topics to explore, some ideas for fun and so on.

   
In Share & Tell sessions, a Friend has an opportunity to share an interest, a passion, an idea of theirs, with others attending Yearly Meeting. 

The sessions are listed at first in calendar order. 

Zoom links for sessions are in the YM23 timetable here on Tuesday 4th - Thursday 6th July.

Scroll down, to find more information on each session, organised alphabetically. 

Schedule of Share and Tell sessions

Tuesday 4th July, 11:15 am AEST,  10:45 am SA & NT,  9:15 am WA:
*  Peace Session  ---  hosted by QPLC  (Information Session)
*  Friends' Girls School in Sohagpur, India  ---  David Evans and Sanjeev Shukla

Tuesday 4th July, 1 pm AEST,  12:30 pm SA & NT,  11 am WA:
*  Sacred Listening  ---  Catherine Heywood
*  The Voice Referendum and beyond: Makarrata and Treaties.  Are Quakers prepared? 
    Harald Ehmann and others

Tuesday 4th July, 3 pm AEST,  2:30 pm SA & NT,  1 pm WA:
*  Ecumenical and Interfaith  ---  Ann Zubrick  (Information Session)
*  Singing Quaker Stories  ---  Helen Gould
*  Counselling Men Project:  ending homelessness, violence and suicide -- Felipe Oliveira

Wednesday 5th July, all beginning at different times:
*  Friends in Stitches  ---  Sally O'Wheel, Tessa Spratt, Margaret Bywater  (11:15 am AEST,  10:45 am SA & NT,  9:15 am WA)
*  Exploring AUKUS  ---  Quaker Peace and Legislation Committee (11:45am AEST, 11:15 am SA & NT,  9:45 am WA, finishing at 1:00 pm)
*  Rainbow Friends & Allies social lunch  (12:30pm AEST,  12pm SA&NT,  10:30am WA)
*  Teaching and Learning amongst Friends  ---  Sheila Keane  (1pm AEST,  12:30pm SA&NT,  11am WA

Wednesday 5th July, 3 pm AEST,  2:30 pm SA & NT,  1 pm WA:
*  Meet the new Quakers Australia office staff and volunteers  ---    
    Transitions Implementation Working Group

Wednesday 5th July, 6:30 pm AEST,  6 pm SA & NT,  4:30 pm WA:
*  Easter Family Gathering at Silver Wattle  ---  Liz Shield
*  Contemplation, Creativity and Community  --- Justin Simpson
*  Quakers and Animals  ---  Jenny Turton

Thursday 6th July, 11:15 am AEST,  10:45 am SA & NT,  9:15 am WA:
*  Just what is it that Elders do?  --  Silver Wattle Elders 
*  Friends Peace Teams Global Peace Initiatives  --  Valerie Joy, Pia Reierson, Rosie Remmerswaal
*  Salter Lecture 2023: How the love we are will guide us through ecological collapse  ---  David Shorthouse

Thursday 6th July, 1 pm AEST,  12:30 pm SA & NT,  11 am WA:
*  Annual elections for peace and stability  ---  David Tehr
*  Experiment with Light  -- Helen Gould 
*  IT Committee Status Update

Thursday 6th July, 3 pm AEST,  2:30 pm SA & NT,  1 pm WA:
*  Yearly Meeting 2024 in Adelaide, a hybrid Yearly Meeting  ---  Jo Jordan, Harald Ehmann, Topsy Evans  (Information Session)

For more information scroll down.  The sessions appear in alphabetical order.
  

Annual elections for peace and stability -- David Tehr
Since 1986 David Tehr has been strongly convinced that annual elections for all elected legislatures (in Australia that would be the three tiers of government) would foster better accountability, transparency, stability, legitimacy and long-term planning. And yet, he continues to find himself swimming against the tide. David asks "What am I not seeing?" and asks Friends to join him and tell him why they think annual elections would not (could not?) work. David enters this 90 minute online space with the knowledge that he "may be mistaken", and simply asks Friends to enter this space likewise. We pray for an interesting and enlightening exploration of this concept of annual elections.

Counselling Men Project:  ending homelessness, violence and suicide -- Felipe Oliveira
Learn about the Counselling Men Project. This will include discussions and reflections on charity, homelessness, suicidality, and the value of life.

Contemplation, Creativity and Community -- Justin Simpson
Through his contemplative journey and participation in Friends Online Recognised Meeting (NSWRM), Justin wrote a collection of poetry, now published as Journey Companions.  Through this, he and a number of Friends facilitated a 'contemplative poetry group'. In the session, explore how to foster creativity to aid community and contemplative spirituality, creative expression, and explorations of Friends' creativity and spiritual journey. 

Easter Family Gathering at Silver Wattle -- Liz Shield
The Easter Family Gathering was run at Siver Wattle over the Easter long weekend 2023. Come discover what went on!

Ecumenical and Interfaith  ---  Ann Zubrick
This session offers an opportunity for Ffriends to share reflections on ecumenical and interfaith activities, services and experiences in the past year. Quakers’ involvement in interfaith and ecumenical groups and activities takes many forms—online and in person worship, vigils, protests, committees, advocacy, refugee support, education, community service, pastoral care… Sometimes our presence is welcome--even transformative. Sometimes it is questioned and unwelcome. Come to listen, learn and share stories.

Experiment with Light -- Helen Gould
A practical session exploring George Fox's practice of worship in clear steps, based on Rex Ambler's research.

Friends' Girls School in Sohagpur, India  ---  David Evans and Sanjeev Shukla
The historic journey of more than 140 years of Friends (Quaker) Girls School and Hostel Sohagpur has been remarkable and continues to feature Quaker testimonies (SPICES). Restricted education opportunities for women in the wider world will be discussed including what opportunities the internet brings for personal involvement in friendship and offering tutoring skills.    

Friends in Stitches -- Sally O'Wheel, Tessa Spratt, Margaret Bywater
Be introduced (or reintroduced!) to the Australian Quaker Narrative Embroidery Project and get an update on its progress.

Friends Peace Teams Global Peace Initiatives -- Valerie Joy, Pia Reierson, Rosie Remmerswaal
Pia, the Clerk of Friends Peace Teams - Asia West Pacific and Rosie a Young Friend from Aotearoa will show the highlights of the global face-to-ace Meeting held in the USA during May, 2023.

IT Committee Status Update
The IT Committee will report on progress and challenges with two major current projects: updating the members' website Australia Yearly Meeting | (quakersaustralia.info) (or www.quakersaustralia.info) and improving the membership database. They will also look at opportunities and future work.

Just what is it that Elders do? -- Silver Wattle Quaker Centre Elders' Committee
Meetings have them, you may be one, and many Friends wonder: just what is it that Elders do?  The Silver Wattle Elders are offering an opportunity to share experiences and facilitate discussion, drawing from both old and new Quaker writing and experiences to demystify the roles of the elder in supporting the Spiritual life of Friends.

Meet the new Quakers Australia office staff and volunteers  --- 
hosted by the Transitions Implementation Working Group
The incoming paid staff and key volunteers are: 

• Davd Tehr, QA Coordinator
• Holly Dhynes, QA Communications & Publicity Manager
• the Transition Implementation Working Group:
  Jennifer Burrell, Kerstin Reimers, Jonathan Benyei

Gain an insight into the new Quakers Australia Office structure. 

Peace Session  --  hosted by QPLC
There will be reports from:

• Quaker Peace and Legislation Committee (QPLC) 
• Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP)
• Friends' Peace Teams (FPT) Asia West Pacific Section (AWPS)
• Regional Meeting reports on peace activities
• update on the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN)

• update on the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network (APAN)

   
Quakers and Animals  ---  Jenny Turton
Quakers have a history of concern for the welfare of animals. Jenny is a veterinarian who has worked with livestock in Australia, Africa and Asia, as well as in small animal and shelter medicine. In this Share and Tell session she will share her evolving thoughts on the relationship between humans and animals. We will explore how we might see the light of God within animals and how that may impact on our relationship with them.

QPLC on AUKUS  --  hosted by the Quaker Peace and Legislation Committee
Alan Behm, Director of the International & Security Affairs Program at The Australia Institute will be speaking, followed by Q&A and discussion about what Australian Friends may wish to do.  The AUKUS trilateral security pact is highlighting geopolitical tensions in our region.  QPLC has written several relevant "Watching Briefs" and "Flutters" which you can find on their website. In particular, the recent Watching Brief on The Militarisation of Foreign Policy:
https://www.quakersaustralia.info/organisation/aym/quaker-peace-and-legislation-committee  

Rainbow Friends and Allies social lunch 
Every year Rainbow Friends and our allies gather to meet new friends, catch up with long time friends, and find out how we have been travelling over the last year. Sometimes we talk about issues of concern.  As our time together progresses, there may be groups of friends who would like to gather in a breakout room together.

Salter Lecture 2023: How the love we are will guide us through ecological collapse -- David Shorthouse
The British Quaker Socialist Society’s annual lecture in 2023 was presented by Rupert Read, a prominent climate emergency and extinction rebellion activist. Come and watch the recorded lecture, with time for discussion afterwards.

Sacred Listening  ---  Catherine Heywood
An opportunity to experience an hour of faithful listening and sharing, in a format developed for Zoom by American Friends. Would Australian Friends like to take this up?

Singing Quaker Stories -- Helen Gould
We will sing some wonderful Quaker songs, explore some stories behind them, and learn how to set to music our own words or an Advice or Query.

Teaching and Learning amongst Friends -- Sheila Keane
If you have ever led a workshop or course for Friends, or if you think you might like to try, this Share & Tell is for you. We will have a chance to share what we have been doing, how we’ve been doing it, and how we support one another in it. You might get some good ideas and make some good connections.

The Voice Referendum and beyond: Makarrata and Treaties.  Are Quakers prepared?  --  Harald Ehmann and others
This will be an opportunity for Friends to obtain background information about the upcoming national Voice Referendum and how we as Quakers might respond and move forward beyond the Referendum outcome. Concepts covered will include the key elements of the Statement from the Heart namely Makaratta and Treaties.

Yearly Meeting 2024 in Adelaide, a hybrid Yearly Meeting  --  Jo Jordan, Harald Ehmann, Topsy Evans  (Infomation Session)
A place to explore how a hybrid Yearly Meeting might work in Adelaide in 2024. 

Who can I contact about YM elders?
Vidya at cymorganising@quakersaustralia.info
When the YM23 Elders meet together they will choose a convenor from among them.

The role of the YM elders
YM elders establish and maintain the spiritual quality of meetings, holding the gathered stillness in Meetings for Worship, and in the formal sessions and preparatory sessions considering business.  

The elder who is allocated for a particular Meeting for Worship, preparatory session or formal session joins in early to centre down before others arrive.

Elders have the responsibility to maintain the worshipfulness, or spiritual quality, of the meeting. On occasion this might mean steering the meeting back on track or making a judgement about whether to intervene in worship or ministry. This is only done as a last resort but is a necessary responsibility and must be done with tenderness for any individual and the gathered meeting.

Meetings of YM23 Elders
There are challenges in being an elder online.  A meeting was held on Monday 8th May to share prior experiences and challenges, ahead of the Preparatory Sessions.  Another similar session will be held on Wednesday 28th June at 7:30 pm AEST, 5:30pm in WA. This is a few days before Yearly Meeting begins. Those who are new to being an online elder and those with more experience are all encouraged to join this session.

A meeting of the whole group of YM23 Elders will take place before Yearly Meeting begins to organise a roster. There may be another meeting on Saturday 1st July  at 9am AEST, 7 am in WA. At that time, the role will be discussed, questions shared and decisions made about the sessions when elders can be available. A more experienced elder may be paired with someone less experienced.

YM23 Elders
To see the list of YM23 Elders click on "YM23 Elders names" in blue text below or in the left side bar. 

Who can I contact about pastoral care in June and at YM23 in July?

Clint de Young on 0451 733 231 and  clinton.deyoung@hotmail.com 

Lesli Grant on 0403 266 374  and  lesli@iinet.net.au 

From 1st July,  Jo Jordan on 0403 913 719  and  jojordan@ozemail.com.au
 

The role of YM Pastoral Carers
Pastoral carers offer patient listening, gentle questioning and encouragement. They do not offer advice. The pastoral carer meets with a person for informal discussion or deep listening about some uncertainty or difficulty. Practical assistance may be offered or suggested. The matters dealt with by pastoral carers are usually personal and confidential in nature, e.g. an unexpected injury or loss, a sense of loneliness or isolation.

Pastoral carers are not expected to handle questions about technical issues or zoom connections and, in these cases, refer the person to the Help Desk which is equipped to deal with them.

Some pastoral carers may be willing to make their phone number available for people to contact them. Others may prefer to be given a person’s phone number and make the call.  Some pastoral carers might be approached directly online.

When are YM23 Pastoral Carers needed?
At YM23, there are several settings when pastoral care may be needed:

• during the Preparatory Sessions in May
• throughout Yearly Meeting from Saturday 1st July to Sunday 9th July, including keeping a caring eye out for First Timers
• around the time of the Meeting for Remembrance
• online at some of the “Are you Confused?” sessions which appear regularly on the YM23 July timetable.

Meetings of YM23 Pastoral Carers
There are challenges in being a pastoral carer online. A meeting for all YM23 Pastoral Carers will be held on Thursday 1st June at 6:30 pm AEST, 6 pm in SA and 4:30 pm in WA, to share experiences in online caring. Those new to online pastoral care are encouraged to join this session.

Another meeting of YM23 Pastoral Carers may take place at the beginning of Yearly Meeting on Saturday 1st July at 10 am AEST, 9:30 am in SA and 8 am in WA. At that time, the role will be discussed, questions shared and decisions made about the days and times when pastoral carers can be available. A more experienced pastoral carer may be paired with someone less experienced.  

The YM pastoral care group may meet each day during Yearly Meeting to support each other.

YM23 Pastoral Carers
To see the list of YM23 Pastoral Carers click on "YM23 Pastoral Carers names" in blue text below or in the left side bar. 

Planning for Yearly Meeting in Adelaide in 2024

Next year, Yearly Meeting 2024 will be hosted in Adelaide in July. It will be a hybrid meeting, with face-to-face and online meetings and gatherings. This will be the first face-to-face gathering at a Yearly Meeting in Australia in five years.

Following the restrictions of Covid, many Friends have said that they are yearning for a face-to-face Yearly Meeting, a place where they feel truly gathered.  We aim to give Friends the opportunity to attend Yearly Meeting in the way which meets your particular circumstances, in person or online. Online registration may not be able to cover all the activities which occur in a fully online meeting. 

We look forward to greeting all Friends, whether you are with us in person or online. We invite you all to join us in this experiment for Yearly Meeting.

The YM24 planners will present a Share and Tell session on Thursday July 6th at 3pm.  We will show photographs of the planned venue, including meeting spaces, accommodation, dining areas and the surrounding landscape. We will be there to answer questions and, most important of all, we want to hear from Friends. 

YM24 will be an experiment, just as the first digital Yearly Meeting was in 2020.  What are we hoping to have at our first hybrid Yearly Meeting? What do we need to retain from online Yearly Meetings?  If we can’t manage to do everything, what can we let go?  Please come with your ideas and suggestions for YM24, join in the discussion with the YM24 planners and the current Yearly Meeting Organising Committee and make a note to attend the Share and Tell session on Thursday 6th July at 3pm.

Jo Jordan, Harald Ehmann and Topsy Evans
YM24 planners in SANTRM

Preparing to Participate in Australia Yearly Meeting 2023 online Business Sessions

A Message from our Presiding Clerk

In our meetings for worship we seek through the stillness to know God’s will for ourselves and for the gathered group. Our meetings for church affairs, in which we conduct our business, are also meetings for worship based on silence, and they carry the same expectation that God’s guidance can be discerned if we are truly listening together and to each other, and are not blinkered by preconceived opinions. It is this belief that God’s will can be recognised through the discipline of silent waiting which distinguishes our decision-making process from the secular idea of consensus. We have a common purpose in seeking God’s will through waiting and listening, believing that every activity of life should be subject to divine guidance. 

Quaker faith and practice 3.02

Business Sessions for YM23

Quakers’ experience internationally is that worshipping together online can be deep and spirit-filled, with ministry springing from a gathered stillness.

However, Zoom Meetings for Worship for Business take longer than when we meet in person. Experience over the last three years suggests that a virtual Meeting for Worship for Business will take longer than one held face-to-face. There may not be time at YM23 to address all Friends’ concerns.

Preparatory work for the Meeting for Worship for Business

If you plan to attend and participate in YM23 Business sessions,  please come prepared. Please access information on the YM23 website and read the relevant reports.

Preparatory work for the Meeting for Worship for Business includes both information gathering (which includes Documents in Advance 2023, reports from Preparatory Sessions, Regional Meeting responses and reports or recommendations from committees and other meetings) and preparing the mind and heart.

As part of your preparation, Friends are asked to reflect upon matters to come before the meeting, so that all relevant insights, leadings, information and other considerations can be weighed in the meeting’s discernment process.

Spiritual preparation and support for the clerking team helps to ensure that the meeting is conducted in a worshipful manner. Elders and Pastoral Care play an important part before, during and after each session.

It is important that each participant begins the meeting with the expectation that it will be a spiritual experience.

Queries

• What activities, rituals, practices can you engage in to prepare yourself for YM23 Meetings for Worship for Business?
• Have you read the relevant material for each meeting and taken time to sit with this material? Is there anything you are unsure about that you could ask a friend for clarity about?
• How might you create your own opportunities for informal conversations and connections during YM23, perhaps on the phone, meeting up with nearby Friends, or through daily walks in nature?

Speaking in Formal Session 

In the Formal Session, if you wish to speak:

• Use the "Raise Hand" function in order to be recognised by the Clerk.
• The Clerk will call you by your name on the Zoom screen. All others wishing to speak should remain muted, until called upon. 
• Speak briefly and clearly, to avoid repeating points that have already been put before the meeting.  
• It is not expected that any Friend will speak more than once on an issue, unless specifically requested by the Clerk (e.g., to provide a committee report or information from a Friend’s area of expertise).
• The Clerk will allow time to process and consider before calling the next person. We need this space to create a gathered stillness for ministry within the worshipping community.
• If you indicate that you wish to speak, but are not called upon to speak, be patient, remain in worship and trust that if the contribution needs to come to the meeting, a way forward will present itself. 

Preparing the space where you are meeting

Friends wishing to participate will need to have a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone with a Zoom connection, a camera/webcam, a microphone setting and enough bandwidth to allow them to be heard distinctly without the signal breaking up.

Friends using a phone line or experiencing unreliable Internet should consider simply listening to a Business session or joining another Friend with a better connection. If either situation applies to you, please consider talking with your Regional Meeting Clerk about how you can best participate in Yearly Meeting. If you know someone in this position, consider reaching out to them and inviting them to join you for Business meetings, or offer to help them get set up on Zoom.

Preparing to participate if this is new for you

• Try out Zoom in advance, ideally with a friend who can help you – it takes away the stress, and lets you learn peacefully first.

And on the day

• Make sure the name you wish the Clerk to use is on your screen. If more than one person is present, please include names of all Friends.
• Connect 10 minutes or so ahead of the scheduled time of Meeting so if you need help, you can contact someone who can help (there will be a Help Desk number for YM23).
• Check that your microphone is turned on, but muted unless you are speaking.
• Try to have a few minutes of quiet preparation ahead of the start of the session.
• Stay in that worshipful space throughout the whole meeting, especially if the Clerking Team leave the main meeting to write a minute in a break out room.

Queries for preparing the space you are in (either on your own or with other Friends)

• Is this a quiet space? Is this a space where I can be quiet and still? If I unmute, will there be background noise?
• What will Friends see on the screen? Does it look like and feel like a worshipful space? Might a few flowers or a copy of this we can say help set the scene?
• Do others in the location understand that you are Meeting for Worship for Business?

Bruce Henry, Presiding Clerk

Yearly Meeting 23 Business Processes Explained

• Part A reports on the work of the committee or working group during the preceding year.
• Part B (only included if needed) presents Items for Consideration.

2) CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS AT REGIONAL MEETINGS:
Regional Meetings receive all the reports in Documents in Advance and are asked to discuss the Part B matters at their Meetings for Worship for Business, so that consideration at Yearly Meeting is well informed. Regional Meeting responses are minuted, sent to the AYM Secretary, and will be available on this website.

3) INFORMATION SESSIONS & PREPARATORY SESSIONS:
Prior to Yearly Meeting, each committee or working group which has submitted a DIA report, may hold an Information Session (in May-June) or a Preparatory Session (in May) prior to Yearly Meeting.

Documents in Advance 2023

Each national committee, working group and associated body writes a report for Documents in Advance (DIA), which consists of a:

• Part A, which reports on the work of the committee or working group during the preceding year. Find these reports HERE.
• Part B (included only if needed), which presents questions or proposals for consideration at Yearly Meeting. Find these reports HERE.

Download the complete Documents in Advance 2023 HERE. 

 

 

Each Yearly Meeting produces epistles to the rest of the Quaker world. Sometimes there are several Epistles written during a Yearly Meeting, with some contributed by particular groups within the YM (such as a Children's Epistle, etc.).

Please find below the YM23 Epistle drafts, prepared by the YM23 Epistle writers:

• YM Epistle Final (version 6)

You can email your suggested changes to this draft to: Susan Rockliff at susanl.rockliff@internode.on.net

When the YM23 Epistle is finalised, you will be able to read it here.

This page will contain:

• Formal Session Agendas, as they become available. Agendas might be decided only a short time before its session. Agendas may change throughout the week. Revised agendas will be posted here prior to Formal Sessions.
• Formal Session Minutes from each Formal Session, once checked by the Minute Checkers and the AYM Secretary.
• Formal Session items for consideration 

 

Formal Session 1

• Agenda
• Appointments for the duration of YM23 (as of 2.7.23)
• Non-Members approved to attend Yearly Meeting 2023 (as of 8.7.23)
• State of the Society Address
• Minutes

Formal Session 2

• Agenda
• Summary of Epistles
• Documents in Advance Reports which had no items for consideration at YM23 
• Minutes

Formal Session 3

• Agenda
• AYM Nominations Committee Report for YM23 (as of 29.6.23)
• AYM Treasurer's Report - Update
• Proposed new structure for QA Finances
• Minutes

Formal Session 4

• Agenda
• Minutes

Formal Session 5

• Agenda
• Second reading of the YM Epistle
• Draft Statement on AUKUS (final)
• Presiding Clerk's report
• Minutes

Formal Session 6

• Agenda
• Draft response to the Uluru Statement from the Heart
• Minutes

Formal Session 7

• Agenda
• Non-Members approved to attend YM23 updated
• Testimonies at YM23
• Draft letter to Labor and Greens re Palestine
• Statements of behalf of Australia Yearly Meeting
• Reports from YM23 activities and Share & Tell Overview report
• Report from Australia Yearly Meeting 2019 Representative to Yearly Meeting
  of Aotearoa / New Zealand 2023

• Minutes

Formal Session 8

• Agenda: draft QA response to the Statement from the Heart
• Draft QA response to the Statement from the Heart
• Epistle Final (version 6)
• Minutes

When a Friend dies, it is common to remember them at the Yearly Meeting following their death, by reading a Testimony written by the Friend's Regional Meeting. This usually happens at the start of a YM Formal Session. In this year's online Yearly Meeting, we are conscious of keeping screen time at sensible levels. We have decided not to read Testimonies. They will all be published here, so they are available for individuals to read. 

Testimonies, Minutes of Record and Notices of Friends who have died since last Yearly Meeting are listed (alphabetically) by Regional Meeting.

(Note:  A Testimony may be listed here of a Friend who died just prior to YM22, and whose named may have been mentioned at YM22 but whose full entry was written after YM22. Also a Testimony may be listed if it was newly written, for a Friend who died in the recent past.)

Please note that there will be a Meeting for Worship for Remembrance on Wednesday 5 July at 10am AEST. This meeting will be focused on remembering our Friends who have died, especially in the most recent year.

Canberra & Region Quakers 

Testimonies

Minutes of Record / Notices
Jeanie Gough - 2023
Gabrielle Watt - 2023

 

New South Wales Regional Meeting

Testimonies

Minutes of Record / Notices
Meryl Bradford - 2023
Jean Hart - 2023
Isabel Jean Higgins  - 2022
Joy Storey - 2023
Jean Talbot  - 2022

 

Queensland Regional Meeting

Testimonies
Kathleen Merryweather 1922-2022 

Minutes of Record / Notices
Margaret Bruce  - 2023
Carl Florer - 2023
Jenny Woodrow 1977-2022

 

South Australia Northern Territory Regional Meeting

Testimonies
Helen Inglis 1936-2022
Colin Jordan 1931-2022
Roger Keyes 1938-2022
Humphrey Tranter 1934-2022

Minutes of Record / Notices
Sonia Raupach - 2023
 

 

Tasmania Regional Meeting

Testimonies
Harro Drexler 1945-2021
Ian Lewis 1922-2022

Minutes of Record / Notices
Bowden, Jocelyn - 2023
Anne Galer - 2023
Roderic Grosvenor 1928-2022
Christine Mister - 2023
Ruth Raward - 2023
Jane Walker - 2023
Wilhelmina Walker - 2023
Peter Wilde - 2023 

 

Victoria Regional Meeting

Testimonies

Minutes of Record / Notices
Brendan Caulfield-James - 2023
Paul Howard 1939 - 2023
Coralie Jenkin 1949-2022

 

West Australia Regional Meeting

Testimonies
Margaret Rose Woodward Hodgkin 1937 - 2020

Minutes of Record / Notices
Joan Hills - 2023
Doug Mathews - 2023