Homewood Friends Meeting
3107 N Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-3803

Be there.

PRE-REGISTER! Registration ends on Friday the 27th.
Turn in medical forms if you haven’t this year.
You should mail in $50 with your registration, or send it online.

Sandy Spring Friends Meeting
17715 Meeting House Road
Sandy Spring, MD 20860-1024

REMEMBER TO PRE-REGISTER! Registration ends on friday the 11th. Sorry, I know its only a week from today! So get on it!
Also, turn in medical forms if you didn’t already turn them in.
You should mail in $50 with your registration, or send it online.

Don’t freak out… okay, now you can freak out!
We are having a super great awesome fun time explosion con, which means that we will be active LITERALLY the whole time – even when we are sleeping, we will be doing sleeping activities.
ALSO, the great thing about November Con is that YAFS (Young Adult Friends) are home for the holidays, so they are invited too!!!!!!!!!!!!

What to expect:
-awesome music
-quakers
-older quakers
-dancing (feel free to speculate about what kind)
-yoga
-meditation
-good food (maybe)
-story time

What to bring:
-toothbrush
-sleeping bag/blanket/both
-clothing
-pillow optional
-your dancing shoes
-your body
-your brain
-other vital organs/muscles
-awesome music
-speakers
-musical instruments
-basic toiletries

Adelphi Friends Meeting
2303 Metzerott Rd
Adelphi, MD

This is going to be the craziest, most beautiful community building/empowering/love-fest the world has ever seen! And all for us!

Also, remember to pre-register two weeks in advance, and since this is the first con of the year, everyone needs to send in medical forms.

During the week of Annual Session, Young Friends (YFs) gather from Tuesday to Sunday in dorm style housing on the campus of Frostburg State University. The daily routine is much fuller than at a regular conference, and YFs are welcomed into the larger Yearly Meeting community for several all-age events. This year the schedule will make time to build the YF community through workshops, business meeting, committee meetings, worship sharing and games. YFs will integrate with the larger BYM community at meals, evening lectures, produce department, and coffee house. There is a Schedule of Events. If you have never attended Annual Session before, some of the information in the Interchange may seem confusing. If you have questions, contact the Alison Duncan at the Yearly Meeting Office or Young Friends BYM Co-planners, Brenna Walsh and Celeste Robinson. Read through all of the information in this Interchange to learn more.

The Young Friends program begins Tuesday afternoon. Anyone of high school age who arrives prior to this time should plan to participate in the Yearly Meeting Retreat. While Young Friends have the opportunity to room on their own floor during the program, housing on Monday night must be with a parent or sponsor.

EVERYONE must pre-register. (Complete forms and mail to the Yearly Meeting office.) If you realize that you can make it after the June 27 deadline, PLEASE CALL the Yearly Meeting Office. YFs are welcome to register for just a day, or for a few days. Keep in mind that, unlike Young Friends Conferences during the year, you must have an adult sponsor present at Annual Session.

PLEASE NOTE THAT to be on campus at all, you must GET YOUR NAME TAG from the registration desk. Please check the registration hours listed earlier in this Interchange. Please look for Alison Duncan if you show up on campus and have not checked-in yet at the registration desk.

Financial Assistance: First apply to your local Meeting for assistance. The Yearly Meeting Youth Programs will match your Meeting’s contribution. You could also consider a work grant from Junior Yearly Meeting as a way to defer costs. If you are able, please consider making a contribution to this Scholarship Fund. Also, if it is your first time attending Annual Session, you may request a 2-day ‘first time attender’ voucher from your local Meeting.

Workshops: YFs will participate in three workshops from three different workshop leaders along the theme for Annual Session this year.

Produce Department: There will be a planning session for this event on Tuesday at 11:30 pm.

Friday August 6, 2010

In light of the recently read and proposed “Minute on FUM Financing,” Young Friends decided to hold a threshing session as a method to explore and gauge the opinions held by our community. The threshing session was held on August 6, 2010 on the topic of the relationship between Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Friends United Meeting.

Young Friends found that, like the greater BYM community, a range of conflicting opinions arose. Some Young Friends felt less acquainted with the history of BYM and FUM, and others were simply undecided. Nevertheless, we feel strongly about taking part in this conversation. We feel that engaging in dialogue with FUM about their discriminatory policies is paramount to maintaining a healthy relationship with FUM without compromising our commitment to equality. We recognize that this is a sensitive topic and therefore feel led to emphasize that Quaker process is the only way to find unity on this difficult issue.

Members of our community are unsettled by the implication of the minute that funds are required for BYM to have a working relationship with FUM. Young Friends also raised the concern that the financial support of FUM is viewed as equal to the spiritual support of FUM and all of its decisions. We questioned whether money as a form of support only seems so important because perhaps we are not being as supportive in other ways. Friends considered that financial support alone cannot communicate BYM’s reservations about FUM’s policies.

Some would say that FUM’s policy of discrimination renders them unworthy of our spiritual fellowship, but does that mean we shouldn’t love them? Young Friends posed this question to ourselves. We found that accepting those who don’t accept everyone is difficult, but we concluded that loving and accepting others is at the core of our values. In light of this, Young Friends found that above all, we implore the community to approach each other, FUM, and this issue in a spirit of compassion.