Documents and prepared ministry from Yearly Meeting
Epistle
Epistle of Britain Yearly Meeting 2023 (PDF)
Minutes
Full minutes (PDF)
Substantive minutes (PDF)
Prepared ministry
Watch the recordings of prepared ministry in the Yearly Meeting 2023 playlist (YouTube).
Documents in advance
- Often referred to as the Documents in advance, these documents introduce the theme of the Yearly Meeting, and contain reports from across Britain Yearly Meeting (including BYM Trustees and Meeting for Sufferings). They are as follows:
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Annual review 2022–2023 (offsite link)
- • Agenda & notes (PDF) / Agenda & notes (higher accessibility PDF)
- • Patterns of membership and tabular statement (PDF)
- • Schedule of nominations (PDF)
- • Testimonies (PDF)
- More details about the documents can be found below. Additional preparation material can be found at the bottom of this page. This includes two useful videos for Session 5, along with letters of greeting and the clerk's calling letter.
Annual report and Annual review
- The Annual report (PDF 1.1mb) from trustees covers the work undertaken by Quakers in Britain, the charitable organisation, and includes financial statements for the previous year.
- The Annual review from the Recording Clerk is a review of the work undertaken by the charity throughout the past year. Annual review 2022-2023 (offsite link)
Agenda & notes
- Friends should read through the document in advance of Yearly Meeting as the content of Agenda & notes is referred to throughout Yearly Meeting sessions. It contains introductory material for Yearly Meeting, and the annual reports of Meeting for Sufferings, central committees, and other related bodies. It is an instructive, guiding document for the Yearly Meeting and may help with preparations both practical and spiritual. Agenda & notes (PDF) and Agenda & notes (higher accessibility PDF)
Patterns of membership
- The Patterns of membership and tabular statement (PDF) is the recorded count of Quakers in Britain. The tabular statement records members and attenders of all ages.
Schedule of nominations
- The Schedule of nominations (PDF) records all of the proposed nominations that are due to be made at Yearly Meeting. Please refer to the Agenda and Notes to see when specific nominations will be taken in Yearly Meeting Sessions.
Testimonies
- The Testimonies, or 'Testimonies to the Grace of God in lives' records the testimonies sent to Yearly Meeting by Area Meetings across the country of those Friends who have passed away in recent years. Testimonies radiate the Grace of God as shown in the lives of the Friends who have died. They differ from an obituary account of achievements, a few milestones in the life of the deceased serves to illuminate the spiritual gifts bestowed. Testimonies (PDF)
Letters of greeting
- Letters of greeting are received from other Yearly Meetings
- Letter of greeting from Ireland Yearly Meeting (PDF)
- Letter of greeting from FWCC -Europe and Middle East Section (PDF)
- Letter of greeting from FWCC - World Office (PDF)
- Letter of greeetong from Australia Yearly Meeting (PDF)
Additional preparation materials
- The calling letter (PDF) from Adwoa Burnley, Yearly Meeting Clerk nominate, welcomes Friends from around Britain and the world to Yearly Meeting, and introduces the theme and details about this year.
- Preparing for Yearly Meeting (PDF) is a brief document to introduce the theme, practicalities, and spiritual life of Yearly Meeting. It contains the Community Agreement, resources and information to assist with spiritual preparation, and practical details about the event. Please note that this document links to Kinder ground: creating space for truth, the 2021 Swarthmore Lecture from Thomas Penny. The content is available as a book (offsite link) or as a video (offsite link).
- Videos
- Some of the preparatory sessions for this year's Yearly Meeting will look at the current structures and bodies within Britain Yearly Meeting and how they connect with each other. This video gives a short overview of our structures.
- This video looks at Meeting for Sufferings and is part of the preparation for Session 5.
Documents for the July session
- The combined agenda and papers for the additional session of Yearly Meeting and the open session of Meeting for Sufferings on 1 July are below . The Yearly Meeting agenda covers – inclusive and sustainable structures, patterns of membership , the review of Meetings for Sufferings and an update on why we are unable to take the presentation of the annual report and accounts at this session.
- Yearly Meeting agenda supplement for 1 July (PDF
- Patterns of membership and tabular statement (PDF)
- Local Meeting Membership data (Excel, .xls), next update due 15 September 2023
- Annual report of Quaker Housing Trust is in section B of Agenda & notes (PDF) / Agenda & notes (higher accessibility PDF)