Each time I’ve been to BYM, I’ve taken so much away from it. It’s hard to know where to start — so I’ll keep it to three things: the feeling of community, seeing Quaker practice at scale, and what it’s meant for me spiritually.
Community
Perhaps the easiest place to begin is with community. I’ve come to know many Friends at Westminster, and that meeting forms a massive part of my life. Over time I’ve slowly got to know other Friends across London too. But BYM offered something unique: it really connected the dots – between me, Quakers in Britain, and Quakers across the world.
A few examples. I was delighted to meet Friends from my home city of Wakefield. Living in London, I often feel very disconnected from my roots, and that connection has been such a welcome link back to Yorkshire. I stumbled into conversations with Quaker Rainbow, the Book of Discipline Revision Committee, and BYM staff working across all sorts of areas — conversations that have since opened up ways for me to get more involved. And I made some f(F)riends. People I’ve since visited in their home cities, who’ve come to stay with me in London, people I’m excited to see each year at BYM, and people I see regularly now, having first met them there.
If there’s one thing I’d want someone new to BYM to know, it’s this: go in with an open mind about who and what you might encounter. The Quakers you find there will be more varied, and more wonderful, than you expect.
Quaker Practice at Scale
Community is maybe one of the things I expected to find. What surprised me more was seeing how Quaker practice works at scale — and how much that illuminates the spiritual dimension of what we do.
It might be surprising to learn that the way a business meeting functions is essentially the same whether there are ten people or two thousand. But at that scale, the spiritual discipline of the meeting really matters. Not everyone will have time to speak, and there’s no way to track who stood up in which order, so the clerks have no choice but to apply real discernment in choosing who will minister. Elders take more direct interventions too — reading relevant passages from Quaker Faith and Practice, calling for periods of silence when the energy in the room gets busy.
Seeing all of that play out is remarkable, and I think it makes the discernment all the more powerful. It was a real honour to be part of the discernment about the BYM position in the West Bank, and the historic decision to lay down Meeting for Sufferings. It’s a reminder that our process can be powerful, efficient, and deeply considered all at once – and above all, spiritual.
Spiritual Growth
Across four days, you can be held in an extended period of worship – for people who get easily carried away like me, that could run from 9am to 9pm if you choose. On the tube home after my first Yearly Meeting, returning to a world of noise, debate, and busyness felt like a genuine shock. That was the moment I really understood that the way we conduct Quaker business is not just a practical matter — it is itself a spiritual one.
In 2024, the weekend of BYM overlapped with London’s Trans+ Pride. Going along meant missing one of the sessions, but talking to Friends, I found many felt the same — that it should take priority. Even one of the BYM clerks joined our group. That felt like a living example of what Advices and Queries calls us to: attend to what love requires of you, which may or may not be great busyness. Learning how to prioritise, with love, how I spend my time has been a massive unlock in what feels like a very, very busy life.
Something else that surprised me was how my relationship to Quaker witness has shifted. For the last two year, BYM has included an annual vigil for peace – suitable for all ages. My first year, I was sceptical and didn’t feel ready to join; I couldn’t yet articulate where I stood. My second year, I got a little swept along – I happened to be standing in the right spot and was handed a “PEACE” sign. Next thing I knew, I was part of the vigil. That silent, worshipful act of declaring my testimony of peace in front of God and the public genuinely changed how I understand the relationship between worship, witness, and faith.
I think that’s what BYM has given me, more than anything. A sense that worship isn’t only what happens in the meeting house on a Sunday morning. It’s in the business, the witness, the unexpected conversations, and the new friendships. It’s finding the spirit of God in places you didn’t think to look.
Everything I’ve described — the community, the witness, the scale, the packed schedule, and the quiet moments despite that — has been, in its own way, an act of worship. And I feel very grateful for it.