Last Updated on 2 years by IMYM Tech Lead
Greetings to Friends and Meetings in our beloved Intermountain Yearly Meeting community! Here is some important information about the upcoming year in IMYM…and note that this year’s queries are set out in full on the final pages of this Newsletter.
SAVE THE DATES: Please hold the week of June 12-19, 2022 open for our annual gathering. The Clerks and Arrangements Committee are working on a dual-track planning model. It is our strong hope that we will be able to gather safely and confidently in person; we aim to have at least some of the sessions available virtually, to accommodate those who can’t or choose not to participate in person. When we gathered in normal years, we held Early Days from Sunday to Wednesday, and the main sessions from Wednesday evening through the final Sunday. God willing, Friends will be able to gather safely in Durango next June! If that seems too risky, we may gather via Zoom again.
IMYM Queries are on the final page of this Newsletter. We ask that Friends consider these queries in light of how our perceptions have changed over the last two years, seeking a future vision for our yearly meeting; we hope this process will serve as the basis for ongoing discussions. Please submit your responses by February 5, 2022, so there is time to summarize responses for further discussion and discernment. To spark your discussions, Friends might also consider this video from QuakerSpeak.com – a brief discussion about Envisioning a Strong Future for Quakerism.
New information continues to be posted on our website at IMYM.org. One of the more recent is an IMYM Census form, to ensure we have current information on your monthly meeting (please respond to that piece by January 30, 2022, or earlier if you need to update email addresses). Watch the website for other new information as we approach our winter meetings of the Arrangements and Representatives committees.
Your IMYM Representatives Committee members are asked to hold the dates of Presidents Day weekend, 2/21/22; if you don’t have anyone currently in that position, consider who might be willing to act as your Rep, to keep communications open. Arrangements Committee will meet the weekend of Martin Luther King Day, 1/17/22. Both meetings are likely to be held virtually…more info will follow. Remember to watch the IMYM website for updates.
We continue to hold each of you in the Light, with the hope that we will be able to gather in person, in joy and confidence, next year.
Gale Toko-Ross Valerie Ireland
she/ella/hän she/her/hers
IMYM co-clerk IMYM co-clerk
IMYMClerk@gmail.com IMYMClerk@gmail.com
(303) 859-1681 (720) 472-1386
IMYM – 2021-2022 Queries
How do we define our community?
Referring again to Faith & Practice, it says on p. 53: “Community is shelter, a safe place to grow, an arena for action, caring, and love—powered by and united in the Light.” A few paragraphs earlier, it says: “It is not possible to be a human being without being part of a community. We are born into a community, even if it is only ourselves and our mother. We grow up in a community, learning language, assimilating culture, and discovering the Spirit. As Friends, we know that the Spirit comes to us not only as individuals, not only as members of a community, but as the very foundation of community, moving a meeting at times as one person. The Spirit guides us when we worship in community and when we do business in community.”
Queries on Community
How do you describe your worship community? Who does it include?
Where does your community end? Who do you exclude? Are your boundaries porous enough for people wanting in or out?
How, if at all, has your sense of Monthly Meeting or worship group community enlivened or challenged you in the last 18 months?
What is the meaning of membership?
In the IMYM Faith & Practice, beginning on p. 77, membership is described as a two-way street. “As members have responsibility toward the meeting, so has the meeting responsibility toward its members. Members are the immediate family of the Society, and although all those associated with the meeting fall under its loving care, it is for the membership that the meeting carries primary responsibility. … Membership involves a willingness to attend meetings regularly, both those for worship and those for business; to give service through committees and otherwise as the way opens; and to share in financial responsibilities. Responsibility for the meeting and its decisions resides with and is ultimately retained by the members of the meeting.”
Queries on Membership
How does that description, published in 2009, compare with your experience in your meeting today?
What distinctions do you see being made today between members and attenders?
What purpose, if any, do you think membership serves in Monthly Meetings?
Your responses to Clerks are requested by February 5, 2022, to allow time for summarization. Thank you