Welcome to the NEYM 2011 Annual Sessions

The Advance Documents are now posted. Click here or on link above left.

New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) Annual Sessions 2011 meets on the campus of Bryant University, located on Rhode Island Route 7, one mile north of exit 8B off of I-295 (1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI 02917), Saturday, August 6 to Thursday, August 11, 2011. For directions to the campus click here.

The NEYM Office moves to Bryant University on Tuesday August 2. Contact us at  (401) 319-8860 (voice), (877) 257-2834 (FAX) or neym@neym.org. Saturday (August 6) check-in is at the Hall 16 Lobby, 10am to 5pm and 9pm to 10pm (click the link to see a map of the campus).

Online Registration is now available, click here or on menu above left.

From Jean McCandless, Sessions Committee Clerk

You are invited to join us for a joyful celebration of 350 consecutive years of New England Yearly Meeting, while at the same time exploring what Friends are called to do to address global climate change.

350 Years of New England Friends: On Friday, August 5, before Sessions begins, we will have the opportunity to participate in celebratory events at the Great Meetinghouse in Newport, RI where Friends gathered for Yearly Meeting for more than 200 years. There will be afternoon and evening activities (1 to 7pm), including a work project at the neighboring Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, a peace vigil, music, and supper. At Bryant University on Sunday afternoon, we will have birthday cake (and local fruit!). On Tuesday evening, there will be a choral presentation by NEYM Friends, The Fire and the Hammer, based on the life and writings of George Fox. Throughout the week, Friends can help create giant birthday cards, and be in large group photographs.

Called to heal a broken earth. To help us consider our theme, we will have two community plenary sessions, as we did last year. Sunday’s presentation will be by Steve Chase (Putney MM) who facilitated the NEYM April 22nd Awakening the Dreamer Program. The Peace and Social Concerns and Racial, Social and Economic Justice Committees will share the Monday plenary. We will move directly from these presentations into Anchor Groups, which were so successful last year. These groups will again meet every day, to provide a “home base” for shared community, discussion and worship.

Our work together will be supported and strengthened by many parts of the Sessions program. Strong feedback on last year’s evaluations resulted in the restoration of the 8:30 am Bible Half Hour. Maggie Edmondson, Pastor of Winthrop Center (ME) Friends Church, will be our speaker. Committee Fairs will occur over two days to ensure more space and time for committees to share their work with all of us. There will be a posted schedule for our new Media Room where Friends can view a variety of theme-related and other issue-oriented materials.

Our Youth Programs will as always provide a rich schedule of activities and learning. This year’s Children’s Sessions Peacemaker is Nancy Shippen, Fresh Pond (MA) MM, the NEYM representative to Friends Peace Team Projects, and deeply involved in Alternatives to Violence Project. Evening vespers, rocking chairs, intergenerational games in the Rotunda, and the Bookstore’s rich selection of books, crafts and curriculum, will round out the offerings of a full, Spirit-led week.