Britain Yearly Meeting

Friends House, the offices of Britain Yearly Meeting, in London

The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as Britain Yearly Meeting, is the national organisation of the Religious Society of Friends in Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). Until 1995, it was known as London Yearly Meeting. It is among the many yearly meetings of Friends around the world. It assembles and publishes British Friends' Book of Discipline, which since 1995 has been known as Quaker Faith and Practice.

History

Britain Yearly Meeting, which until 1995 was known as London Yearly Meeting, grew out of various national and regional meetings of Friends in the 1650s and 1660s and has met annually in some form since 1668.

The first meeting of Friends from different parts of Britain to be organised was at Balby in Yorkshire in 1656. This consisted of representatives from each Church in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire "to consider of such things as might (in the Truth's behalf) be propounded unto them; and to enquire into the cause and matter of disorder, if any be"^[1]

In 1660 was a meeting which was attended by representatives from Friends from the whole of Britain. At this meeting it was decided that an annual General Assembly of the Brethren be held in London annually, the first being held in Fifth Month (May) 1661. For various reasons, this meeting was not held every year, although there has been a national annual meeting of some sort in Britain every year since 1668.^[1]

At the General Meeting of Friends for the Nation in 1672, it was decided that there would be a

Generall Meeting of friends held in London once a yeare in the week called Whisun week to consist of six friends for the Citty of London, three for the Citty of Bristoll, two for the Towne of Cochester and one or two from each and every of the Counties of England and Wales respectively (sic)

This meeting was held in 1673, but from 1674-1677 consisted only of recorded ministers. The Yearly Meeting with representatives from each area as described above was restored in 1678, and has met on an annual basis every year since then.^[1]

Participation in this Yearly Meeting was originally only men. In 1784, a Yearly Meeting for Women was set up, which corresponded with equivalent Yearly Meetings for Women in other countries, and corresponded with the Monthly Meetings for Women and Quarterly Meetings for Women in Britain. In 1898, London Yearly Meeting produced a minute stating that

in future, women Friends are to be recognized as forming a constituent part of all our Meetings for Church Affairs equally with their brethren

and since then women have had an equal right to attend London Yearly Meeting. The Yearly Meeting for Women was laid down in 1907.^[1]

In the twentieth century, Yearly Meetings started to be held outside of London, namely in Leeds in 1905; in Birmingham in 1908; in Manchester in 1912; in Llandrindrod Wells in 1924; in Scarborough in 1925; in Manchester in 1926; in Bristol in 1937; In York in 1941 and in 1942. in Edinburgh in 1948. In 1945, London Yearly Meeting produced a minute stating that the Yearly Meeting should be held in Eighth Month (August) outside of London every four years. ^[2] These four-yearly meetings, which have become known as Residential Yearly Meetings have been held in Exeter in 1986; in Aberdeen in 1989; in Coventry in 1993; in Aberystwyth in 1997; in Exeter in 2001; in York in 2005 and due to be held in York again in 2009.

London Yearly Meeting in 1994 decided on a change of name to The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain in 1994, with the short form being Britain Yearly Meeting. This name change came into effect at the start of 1995.^[3]

Fritchley General Meeting

Fritchley Meeting in Derbyshire split off from London Yearly Meeting in 1868 because they felt that London Yearly Meeting was becoming too evangelical in its outlook.^[4] They also objected to Friends in London Yearly Meeting stopping the practices of plain speech and plain dress.^[4] They therefore established Fritchley General Meeting as a Yearly Meeting for Conservative Friends in Britain, which existed as a separate Yearly Meeting entirely independent of London Yearly Meeting, until 1968.^[5] Friends from Bournbrook in Birmingham also joined with Fritchley Friends for a few years, before emigrating to Saskatchewan in Canada^[4]. The schism re-joined with London Yearly Meeting in 1968. Fritchley Quaker Meeting is now a full member of Britain Yearly Meeting again, with a variety of theological outlooks amongst its membership.^[6]

Britain Yearly Meeting as an organisation

Britain Yearly Meeting is the national organisation of Quakers in Britain. Its membership consists of the members of all Area Quaker Meetings in England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands. Any member of Britain Yearly Meeting is entitled to attend the Yearly Meeting. Between the annual sittings of Yearly Meeting as a whole, the national work of Quakers in Britain is carried out by Meeting for Sufferings and the various standing committees which are in existence at that time, each of which are made up of representatives and corresponds with each Area Quaker Meetings in Britain, and each Area Quaker Meeting likewise is made up of representatives and corresponds with Local Quaker Meetings (that cover a small area). This correspondence and representation means that Quakers in Britain can have unified response on major issues.

The organisation has been recently re-structured, under proposals called RECAST (Representation, Communication and Accountability in our Structures)^[7], which were brought to Yearly Meeting in 2005.

There are committees set up to deal with particular issues, long running committees consisting of representatives from all over Britain include Meeting for Sufferings, Quaker Life and Quaker Peace and Social Witness. There is also a permanent paid secretariat who work at Friends House in London, carrying out the work decided upon by the Yearly Meeting and its standing committees.

Meeting for Sufferings is a national representative committee which deals with decisions which need to be made on a national basis for the Yearly Meeting during the year whilst Yearly Meeting is not in session. It has two representatives from each Area Quaker Meeting in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Britain Yearly Meeting currently has four national committees who carry out work at a national level on behalf of Friends in Britain. Each have both representative committees of Friends appointed by Yearly Meeting to oversee the work, and a paid secretariat who carry out the day-to-day work of each department:

• Quaker Life deals with the running of Quaker meetings within Britain, including outreach work within Britain, education and development for Quakers in Britain, activities for children and young people
• Quaker Peace and Social Witness deals with Quakers' peace and development work, both in Britain and overseas
• Quaker Communications deals with the production of leaflets, posters, pamphlets, books and a website
• Quaker Committee on Christian and Interfaith Relations deals with relationships between Quakers and other Christian and faith groups

Britain Yearly Meeting as an event

A business meeting being held at Britain Yearly Meeting 2005 in The University of York

Currently, three out of four yearly meetings of BYM are held at Friends House in London, over a May Bank Holiday weekend. Once every four years, there is a week-long residential meeting in summer, usually on a university campus. All types of issues are discussed in the standard fashion of Quaker decision making. Among several lectures over the gathering, one of the highlights is known as the Swarthmore Lecture, relating to issues concerning Quakers. There is also an under 19's programme, with activities tailored to each age group.

• In 2005, a residential Yearly Meeting was held at the University of York, from 30 July to 6 August.
• In 2006, Yearly Meeting took place at Friends House in London over the second May Bank Holiday, 26-29 May, in the UK
• In 2007, Yearly Meeting took place at Friends House in London over the first May Bank Holiday, 4-7 May, in the UK
• In 2008, Yearly Meeting was held at Friends House in London over the second May Bank Holiday, 23-26 May, in the UK
• In 2009, a residential Yearly Meeting will be held at the University of York, from 25 July - 1 August. For the first time this will also encompass Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM), and will be a week-long joint event.

National Quaker Week

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (June 2009)

In 2007 BYM had its first National Quaker Week ([1]). With the aim to encourage Quakers to drop their traditional modesty and "to let their souls sing".^[8] Across the country, local and monthly meetings put special effort into their outreach. One notable act was that of the London Quakers who placed prominent advertisements on London Underground trains sharing Quaker wisdom from the book ‘Advices and Queries’.

Junior Yearly Meeting

Junior Yearly Meeting (or "JYM") is an event for 15-18yr olds that takes place every Easter, currently at the Pioneer Centre, Kidderminster. It is followed by BYM Under 19's program, which takes place during Britain Yearly Meeting, and is an essential part of the Young Quaker calendar.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} London Yearly Meeting (1931). "1" (in English). Church Government. London: Friends Book Centre. pp. 1. 
2. ^ London Yearly Meeting (1945). "Minute 17" (in English). Minutes of London Yearly Meeting. 
3. ^ Britain Yearly Meeting (1995). "6.02" (in English). Quaker Faith and Practice. London: Britain Yearly Meeting. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Pink Dandelion, Ben (2007) (in English). An Introduction to Quakerism. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521841119. 
5. ^ Paz, Denis (1995) (in English). Nineteenth century English religious traditions: retrospect and prospect. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313294763. 
6. ^ Nottingham and Derbyshire Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. "Fritchley Quaker Meeting" (in English). http://www.nottsandderbyquakers.org/fritchley.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-14. 
7. ^ Report to Britain Yearly Meeting 2006 on Constitutional issues
8. ^ "Quakers break with tradition to celebrate first National Quaker Week" (Doc). Britain Yearly Meeting. 2007-10-14. http://www.quaker.org.uk/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=107594. Retrieved on 2008-02-26. 

External links

• Britain Yearly Meeting