Additional information about sessions, activities and other things related to Annual Session 2023 can be found on this page.
Table of Contents
Affinity Groups
Affinity Groups gather Friends around a common concern or a common identity. These groups create safe spaces for sharing and meet at different times during Annual Session (often in the evenings).
Affinity groups at Annual Session have included 12-Step programs, Friends of Color, LGBTQIA+, White Anti-Racist Allies, and others.
We are not able to offer hybrid spaces for Affinity Groups at Annual Session this year. Groups may meet onsite or online, and are welcome to use their own laptop or mobile device to to create a blended (onsite/online) environment.
For groups meeting onsite at Mount Madonna, find the Master Schedule chart (near the Information Desk), select a time and place and write the name of the Affinity Group on the chart. We encourage you to make a welcoming sign to help Friends find the group.
For groups meeting online, ask the Zoom host to assign your group a breakout room.
In either case, write up a welcoming announcement for the Daily Miracle to add to the basic information on the name, time and place.
Friends wishing to host a one-time conversation about a specific topic should also select a space or request a breakout room, announce it at a plenary and in the Daily Miracle and if onsite, make a sign for the location.
EarthLight Bookstore
EarthLight has offered a bookstore at Annual Session since 2012. This year, the bookstore will be in Maple Room in the Conference Center. Check the Daily Miracle for open hours. EarthLight will also be offering activities online like talks by authors about their recent books. (The schedule of activities will be posted here when available.)
Organization Displays
Tables will be set up in the foyer outside the Dining Hall in the Community Building at Mount Madonna. Friends organizations are welcome to bring a display (3′ x 3′) or materials to share. Please contact Arrangements (arrangementsclerk@pacificyearlymeeting.org) to reserve table space for your organization.
Please note, we are unable to support displays that have an electronic component (i.e. need to plug in).
Payments
To make a contribution towards your cost of attending Annual Session 2023 by check, please make it out to “Pacific Yearly Meeting” and mail the check to:
Pacific Yearly Meeting Registrar
c/o Lawrence Alderson
10 Leeds Lane
Aliso Viejo, CA, 92656-5295
To make your contribution by credit card online: PacYM Annual Session 2023 Contributions
or if you prefer to use PayPal, click HERE
Worship Sharing
Information about Worship Sharing at Annual Session 2023 will be posted here when available.
Worship Sharing -Background and guidelines for participating in Worship Sharing groups.
Children’s Program
Children love Annual Session. The Children’s Program works to engage our youngest with fun, explorative, and learning experiences. Kids get to connect with other Quaker kids over activities like art and crafts, nature walks, gardening, story telling, and much more.
Somewhere between an outdoor education classroom and First Day school, Annual Session provides a wonderful space for kids to explore Quakerism in ways that are age appropriate. It’s also a great place to connect over Quaker programming as the Children’s Program Committee has many previous First Day school teachers.
The children’s program at Annual Session has a morning drop off after breakfast and a lunch pick up. After lunch, kids are signed back in to be picked up by 4:30 pm. Outside of the program times, the expectation is that the children are under the supervision of their guardians. This year, there will be Community Sharing sessions (4:30-5:30 pm) offering fun activities for all ages.
Junior Yearly Meeting (Teens)
Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) is composed of Friends of junior high and high school age 13-18. It’s a fun, youth led group that focuses on welcoming each other and connecting deeply through fun and shared reflections. JYM operates as a simultaneous yearly meeting within PacYM. Adults are present in the JYM community as Friendly Responsible Adult Presences (FRAPs) to ensure a safe and fun gathering, and provide technical or spiritual support when welcomed. In some ways it’s similar to a summer camp with a focus on community building, service work, but with a component of self reflection and discovering Quakerism’s role in our lives. In keeping with Friends’ practices, JYM selects officers and committees as needed, holds business meeting, and approves minutes as needed.
This year JYM will be having a teen camp out for the week. Right next to our main gathering building in the center of campus we’ll pitch a ring of tents where we’ll sleep out under the stars. Night FRAPs will be present for any issues or nerves that come up in the middle of the night, and we’ll have a dimly lit path back to the building should anything come up.
The schedule will be packed with games, art, hikes, worship sharing, Respectful Relationships, support groups, and more. Respectful Relationships is an inclusive and consent based approach to topics of sexuality and relationships with self and others. Support groups are smaller cohorts of teens within JYM that are led by a recent JYM graduate or clerk for the purpose of making everyone feel welcomed, at ease, and connected to the community. For any and all questions email youth@pacificyearlymeeting.org and we’ll direct you to your answers.
Dance
The theme of the dance is “The Peaceable Kingdom” pack your best animal or landscape costume! (no human costumes please)