Epistle for NYM Annual Session, May 23-26, 2025

Created by the Epistle Committee: Emily Scott, Adam Hirsch, Jeanne Landkamer, with special correspondents David Arnold, Lauri Perman, Wina Mortenson, and others

Greetings, friends and Friends, from Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) Annual Session in Rosholt, WI. Our beloved community from monthly meetings, worship groups, and preparative meetings located in North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula gathered on a gorgeous, sunny, and fair Memorial Day weekend at the cherished Lion’s Camp.

This year, 2025, marks NYM’s 50th birthday. Welcome to middle age, Northern Yearly Meeting! You’re 50 now. Have you really grown up that much? What have you learned? 

At this year’s gathering, we grounded ourselves in the theme, “How do we continue to become the Quakers the world needs?” This theme recognized that we were gathering in a time that challenges us to stand up and define who we want to be at this moment. One Friend expanded the query: Are we becoming the friends that God’s spirit is leading us to be? 

Emerson LaWall-Shane and Lauri Perman contextualized our theme in their intergenerational keynote speech. Emerson spoke about Quakers who made a big impact in the past, focusing on the formidable Sarah Mapps Douglass, and Lauri Perman spoke about Quakers today, particularly her experience with discernment. Lauri called us to action in seeking stillness to better discern when your yes is a Holy Yes and when your no is a Holy No, guided by spirit.

Friends and friends carried these threads into small group discussions, where attenders explored three arcs coming out of this year’s theme: how have Quakers met the world’s needs in the past, today, and into the future?

One small group noted that Faith in general, and Quakerism in particular, asks us to love God, love our neighbor, and expand our idea of who our neighbor is. 

This commandment of the spirit was on display as attenders shared calls to action throughout the weekend, asking us to show up for our neighbors. For example, attenders were invited to write letters in support of federal recognition of the Brothertown Indian Nation.  We left the Annual Session with more than 69 handwritten letters to send to Senators and Congresspeople.

As Annual Session commenced, Friday evening, May 23, was a raucous good time as attenders arrived at camp. Megan Perry-Spears hosted a “speed-dating” style meet-and-greet for Quakers young and old in Memorial Hall. 

On Saturday, attenders were able to strike a balance between opportunities for joy, for rest, and for service. Meetings for worship with attention to Business were joyful, and supported Friends’ discussions in small groups, adding a grounding and a foundation to our leaders and decision-making. Afternoons featured interest groups on topics ranging from pastoral care to memories of yearly meeting history. Recreation included paddle boats, pontoon boats, and some intrepid souls were even spotted swimming.

The Quaker Organization Fair tradition continued in 2025, with representation from more than a dozen Quaker organizations, from local to national to international. This year, for the first time, NYM featured “Fox Talks,” anecdotes from Quaker Org Fair representatives, featuring stories that moved them from their organizations.

By the lakeshore, attenders used stencils to paint shirts, kerchiefs, and other items  with special 50th birthday stencils. We saw a lot of paint on fingers! In the evening, attenders gathered at the shore for another milestone NYM photo. As we are in Wisconsin, we appropriately shouted “cheese” and some folks even cried “beer!” Then, attenders manifested their inner light igniting sparklers around a fire and cooking s’mores. We engaged in fellowship and sang songs including brand-new songs celebrating NYM’s 50th anniversary. Late in the evening many attenders looked through a telescope at Jupiter’s moons and the International Space Station.

On Sunday, Friends and friends continued with worship, small group discussions, interest groups, and found opportunities for joy, rest, and service on the water and in nature. The fabulous NYM talent show showcased our beloved community in their myriad talents. 

The children and youth attending NYM made connections with each other inside and outside formal programming. They found friends even outside their age group, playing together, doing puzzles. Young adults talked, played games, went canoeing, kayaking, and paddleboarding.

It was another year of vibrant attendance. This weekend, we numbered about 238 attenders present at camp, with another 40 Zoom attenders. Fifty-six of those were newcomers. We had 59 children in attendance from youth to high school years. NYM is getting back to pre-pandemic attendance levels.

During the 50th anniversary birthday party by the lakeshore, a group of adult attenders stood together appreciating the clear air and amber glow of the sunset. They commented to each other that even though they’d seen a sunset many times, this particular sunset still invoked majesty and wonder. What does a sunset look like to a 50-year-old, or to a child less than one year old? 

We asked ourselves this annual session how to continue to become the Quakers the world needs. After this weekend, we will all go home changed. What, we ask, will we embody, speak, and make happen in the world that we would not have but for this gathering? We encourage you to do a little discernment in yourself: How have you changed?

A special greeting on the occasion of Northern Yearly Meeting’s 50th birthday to our f(F)riends at Illinois Yearly Meeting. The Illinois Yearly Meeting was marking their 100th anniversary when NYM spun off 50 years ago. Happy 150 years, Illinois Yearly Meeting!

Read older epistles here: https://northernyearlymeeting.org/publications/epistles/