Canadian Yearly Meeting August 14-21, 2004 at Windsor, Nova Scotia

Submitted by Mona Callin

In my opinion this was the best Yearly Meeting I have attended in the last thirteen years. Two factors contributed to this conclusion:

• the impact and influence of the Pre CYM Silent Treat, ie the friendly , caring and calm atmosphere of the gathering
• the thoughtful planning and clerking by Rick McCutcheon and Gale Wills, Presiding Clerk and Mentoring Clerk, respectively, and the skilled and sensitive recording by Recording Clerks, Marilyn Manzer and Beverly Shepard.

The Silent Retreat

I estimate there were 25-30 Friends attending the Retreat, which was lead by Barbarajene Williams, Spiritual Director at Pendle Hill. The theme of the Retreat was "Room for the Infinite- Room for the Intimate" and was based on an essay by Thomas Kelly, "Room for the Infinite". For me the Retreat was a peak experience in my spiritual journey, an experience I continued to work on throughout the week. Margaret Ford felt much the same way and thought we should have similar retreats as preparation for future Yearly Meetings.

The Clerking

In the past few years we have tried different models for clerking at Yearly Meeting and this year we tried yet another model and this one worked very well. Rick and Gale worked well together and shared the duties of Presiding Clerk. The four clerks formed the Agenda Committee. The business sessions were carried out in an organized manner and were completed on time. We did not feel rushed, we did not run over time nor did we have to schedule additional sessions!!

Some of the Agenda Items we dealt with were:

• CYM membership in KAIROS. I was on the evaluation team and was very pleased that our report and recommendations were accepted, ie CYM will continue its membership in KAIROS.
• Finance Committee: the 2005 budget was approved.
• Clearness Committee for Ian Graham regarding his desire to be recorded as Prison Chaplain. A minute of record was approved.
• The Earth Charter: at the request of Wolfville MM we agreed to endorse this Charter.
• A concern about the unmet needs of worship groups and their members was presented by Gale Wills. A revitalization minute focused on listening, consultation and renewal for worship groups was approved.
• Yonge St MM presented an eloquent minute on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war. We agreed that the minute would be sent to all Canadian churches, the federal government and the media.
• Relationship with Wider Quaker Bodies and Ecumenical Groups: we decide to continue evaluation our relation ship with these groups.
• A package of material from Continuing Ministry of Ministry and Counsel "With Truth and Love" which had been sent to Monthly Meetings and worship groups created a great deal of hurt and distress to many Friends, particularly those who had been sexually abused and those who had worked on this issue of the past ten years. By the end of the week the problem had been sensitively and tenderly resolved and the very distressed woman in my Worship Fellowship Group was able to say she was full of love and happiness.
• At the beginning of the week we were sad to hear that Suzette Wollenger, CYM's bookkeeper, was seriously ill in hospital. On Friday morning we heard that Edith Adamson, founder of Conscience Canada, had died the precious evening, and we held a brief memorial meeting for Edith later that day.

There were many Special Interest Groups this year including:

• Responding to US Militarism
• Non-violence in Palestine
• Anti-terrorism Legislation and Human Rights
• Conscientious Objection

Bible Study

We were especially blessed this year to have Janet Ross Melnyk lead our Daily Bible Study. Our focus was the creation story as told in the first three chapters of Genesis. Janet is a fabulous teacher and her PHD included study of the Hebrew Scriptures in Hebrew. Janet was able to elaborate on the meaning of the words and to explain how the story changed over the many years it took to write Genesis. It was fascinating, and so enriching.

Please ask me if you would like further information or have questions.