How to Propose an Interest Group for Annual Session

Coordination between committees and officers of the Yearly Meeting is needed so as to make the best use of the limited time available for Interest Groups during Annual Session. Preparation for Annual Session involves hundreds of tasks performed by dozens of people, making it very important to complete tasks as far in advance of Annual Session as possible.

This means that if your Pacific Yearly Meeting committee, Friends organization or Monthly Meeting is considering submitting a proposal to offer an Interest Group at Annual Session, that proposal must be submitted before the rise of the preceding sessions of Mid-Year Sessions (a.k.a. ‘Representative Committee’ or ‘RepCom’). For 2026, this falls on March 7th.

Interest Groups at Annual Session are sponsored by committees of the Yearly Meeting, Friends organizations or Monthly Meetings with a particular interest to share. The Interest Group time slots allocated to each Yearly Meeting committee for the 2026 Annual Session are as follows:

* The Discretionary slots are for Interest Groups sponsored by Friends organizations, Monthly Meetings or others, as needed, and will be filled at the discretion of the Assistant to the Clerk in consultation with the Presiding Clerk and Ministry Committee. The number of slots in this category is subject to change.

Yearly Meeting committees, Friends organizations and Monthly Meetings are expected to season their Interest Group proposals well in advance of Mid-Year Sessions (a.k.a. ‘RepCom’). It is essential to be aware of the theme of Annual Session and consider presenting topics associated with it. The theme for the 2026 Annual Session is: Experiment!

Interest Group topics should be related to the concern of the committee or organization. Committees and organizations are encouraged to collaborate when there is a potential overlap of concern or topic. Adjustments to the time slot allocation will be made to accommodate jointly sponsored Interest Groups.

Interest group-type sessions can be presented online during the year at a time other than Annual Session. See Workshops, Interest Groups & similar events during the year.

Interest Group proposals need to be submitted to the Assistant to the Clerk by the rise of Mid-Year Sessions (a.k.a. ‘RepCom’) via the ONLINE FORM.

When preparing your interest group proposal, please think about how your session can help us to improve communication, governance & structures, spiritual growth and guidance, our understanding of money, and purposeful inclusion. These are the areas we have identified in recent years as needing attention. Experiment! Observe, question, try new things. 

Please consider carefully how the interest group you are proposing will be offered. There will be only ONE room equipped for hybrid (onsite + online) at Annual Session 2026. Onsite only and/or online only interest groups are strongly encouraged.

Proposals should include the following information:

1. Title of the Interest Group
2. Names of the presenters and their roles or affiliations
3. Brief description that should not exceed 75 words. If the Interest Group is the same or similar as one offered in prior years, what can you do to make it fresh? Additional information about an Interest Group can be submitted for publication in the Quaker Parrot (daily newsletter during Annual Session).
4. Name of the sponsoring committee(s), organization(s) or Monthly Meeting(s)
5. Anticipated number of participants. If not included, the Assistant to the Clerk will use their best judgement in assigning spaces.
6. Whether there is preference for the Interest Group to be offered onsite, online or hybrid. Please note that only one onsite space will be equipped for hybrid (onsite + online) sessions and we will not be able to offer all Interest Groups both onsite and online.
7. Requests for equipment (projector, screen, whiteboard, etc.), specific room set-up, Zoom support (screen sharing, breakout rooms, etc.) or anything else related to logistics.
8. Time or day restrictions. For example, a presenter might only be at Annual Session on certain days, or scheduling needs to be coordinated with the Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) schedule.
9. Potential scheduling conflicts. For example, the Interest Group should not be scheduled in the same time slot as another Interest Group because the same presenters or committee members need to attend both or participants are likely to want to attend both of the Interest Groups.

If some of the information will not be available until after Mid-Year Sessions (a.k.a. ‘RepCom’), the Committee, organization or Monthly Meeting should submit a proposal that is as complete as possible and let the Assistant to the Clerk know when the remaining information will be provided. While things like the names of the presenters, Interest Group title and description can be modified up to 3 weeks before Annual Session, the other information from the list above must be provided in a timely fashion so that the Interest Group schedule can be drafted and seasoned.

If you have any difficulties accessing or using the ONLINE FORM, please contact Sarah Rose at assistanttotheclerk@pacificyearlymeeting.org

After Mid-Year Sessions (a.k.a. ‘RepCom’), the Assistant to the Clerk prepares a draft Interest Group schedule based on the proposals submitted and in consultation with the Presiding Clerk. The draft schedule will be shared with all Interest Group sponsors for their review and the schedule will be revised taking review comments into account. The revised Interest Group schedule will be posted on the Annual Session webspace once approved by the Presiding Clerk. Subsequent modifications need to be discussed with the Assistant to the Clerk.