Fall Sessions 2020
Announcing the Virtual NYYM Fall Sessions 2020: November 6th - 8th
REGISTRATION is OPEN. Click here to register online!
Quicklinks:
Dear NYYM Friends:
Given the ongoing concerns of holding large in-person gatherings in the Time of COVID-19, and given the success of our virtual Summer Sessions, the NYYM Sessions Committee, working with the NYYM Clerk, Elaine Learnard, has approved holding our Fall Sessions virtually. We will meet over the weekend of Friday-Sunday, November 6-8, 2020. We will have time for worship, discernment, business, and social gathering. However, we will not provide time for committees to meet, opting instead to have breathing space between worship and business over the course of Fall Sessions.
Advance documents and a final schedule will be listed below as they become available.
We encourage all committees to work with the YM Staff to host their own committee zoom meetings well before Fall Sessions, so that any business they approve can be brought to the appropriate coordinating committee for seasoning and approval, also well before Fall Sessions.
You have probably noticed that our Fall Sessions will be just days after the General Election. Fall Sessions will be a time to gather together in waiting worship and for our hearts and minds to find peace among Friends.
We strongly encourage you to pre-register by Monday, November 2nd, in order to receive the Fall Sessions zoom information. After the 2nd, it becomes more difficult to add you to the registration process and fill you in on the sessions information.
If you have not already filled out the Summer Sessions Evaluation Form, please do so! We trust your responses will help us refine and perfect our Fall Sessions.
Thank you,
Elaine Learnard, NYYM Clerk
Dawn Pozzi, NYYM Sessions Committee clerk
Meeting for Gathering to Deeply Listen for How we are Called
Throughout Fall Sessions we will be listening to how we are called individually and as a body. Beginning Friday night, we will gather in worship to ground ourselves, acknowledge our feelings in this moment, and listen together for what we are being called into. We will explore practices that help us to connect with hope and act out of love.
A Message from Our Clerk:
We are holding Fall Sessions soon after a difficult national election. This is both a challenge, for there may be uncertainty about the outcome and the responses, and a blessing, for we will be together to hear and heal and hold one another. Friday evening worship will ground us and strengthen connections. In social meals we can visit and relax together. On Saturday and on Sunday afternoon, meetings for worship with attention to business will proceed as we are led, with time for ministry, silent worship, and other support for one another as we need it. Saturday afternoon business includes a specific time for speaking, with a prompt about how we each are led right now. Come to Fall Sessions, be present with whatever you must bring, and be among Friends.
—Elaine Learnard, Clerk of New York Yearly Meeting
REGISTRATION is OPEN. Click here to register online!
Opportunities to Gather with Friends
Friday evening, Nov. 6, 7:00-9:00 p.m. - Meeting for Gathering to Deeply Listen for How we are Called
Throughout Fall Sessions we will be listening to how we are called individually and as a body. Beginning Friday night, we will gather in worship to ground ourselves, acknowledge our feelings in this moment, and listen together for what we are being called into. We will explore practices that help us to connect with hope and act out of love.
Social Meals are informal gatherings where Friends from all over our yearly meeting can meet for fellowship over Zoom.
Lunch on Saturday, Nov. 7, 12:00-1:00 p.m. - Hybrid Meetings
Friends sitting in their cars in the parking lot — Friends on the porch outside the meetinghouse — Friends inside the meetinghouse — Friends at home — some using laptops — some are using social media — some are on their phones — all are in worship. How do we create a blended/hybrid Meeting for Worship under COVID? Do we? Can we? Please bring your thoughts, feelings and experiences to the Fall Sessions Saturday social lunch. Callie Janoff and Helen Garay Toppins will be your hosts.
Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 7, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. - Reflections on the Elections
Friends are invited to reflect on America’s elections. Bring your feelings, thoughts and dinner to this Fall Sessions social meal.
Lunch on Sunday, Nov. 8, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Getting to Know Us: A Time for Community
Friends are invited to share their hobbies, what they are reading, what podcasts they are listening to, what music they are dancing to, and their lunch to this Fall Sessions social meal.
Advance Documents
Resources for this Session
| Minutes, Fall Sessions 2020 | 01/07/2021 |