INTERMOUNTAIN YEARLY MEETING

Annual Gathering - Date Change - Mark Your Calendars:  Friends, the new dates for the 2026 Gathering are June 17-21.  More information will follow in the weeks ahead.  Now is the time to update your calendars.  

Annual Gathering Update:  The program is being discerned by the Program Group, clerked by Penny Thron-Weber.  Listening Sessions - open to all in the IMYM community - were held in early December by Zoom.  Many theme and program ideas were shared.  Discernment is in process.  If you have questions or suggestions, or a desire to contribute, even in a small way, please send an email to Penny Thron-Weber. 

Annual Assessments and Pay-as-Led Monthly Meetings - now is the time to respond to the annual assessment request.  The Assessment amount is unchanged from last year; pay as led contributions at this time are to assist IMYM with operations expenses. An email has been sent to all Monthly Meeting Clerks and Treasurers.  Please be sure your Meeting's checks is mailed to Treasurer - IMYM, Post Office Box 2114, Flagstaff, Arizona 86004 as soon as possible. 

Have skills and background working with children?  Available during Annual Gathering 6/17-21? - Paid Contractor Opportunity: Is there someone in your Meeting who works with children who might be interested in five days at the Annual Gathering in Durango, CO with the Yearly Meeting kids? Elizabeth Freyman has done this for three years and her term is over.  E-mail RepComClerk@imym.org for information or interest.

Possible new contractor position is in discernment by the Coordinating Committee: At the January 24 Representatives Committee meeting we will consider descriptions of an IMYM Next Generation program, its program coordinator, and fundraising being developed by the Coordinating Committee in consultation with the Next Gen Working Group and the Finance Committee.  We plan to send you a draft of this proposal next month so you have time to review and discuss it with your meeting in January.

Representative's Committee Dates: Sat Jan 24, 2026 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM (Mountain Time) by Zoom.  Links will be emailed closer to the date of the meeting. Mark your calendars now - lots will be discussed and discerned. 

Monthly Meeting Clerks Important Resource:  A Support Group for IMYM Monthly Meeting Clerks,  hosted by Ministry and Council.  The next Zoom Support Meeting will be January 27. People with questions could contact Vickie Aldrich.

Non-Violence Training: David Wells from Tempe Monthly Meeting will be giving nonviolence to Friends and others in those communities training in Salt Lake City and Moab, Utah soon . Non-violence training is one of the items recommended by the Way Forward Group to support our communities in the Intermountain West. 
The trainings will cover: 

If your meeting would like Dave to come to you to provide training, contact him at makedemocracywork@gmail.com.  So far, meetings have been collaborating and are paying for his transportation.

 

Thoughts on Building an IMYM Intervisitation Program (Exploration Phase)

Rob Pierson – 29.Nov.2025

Vision: We see an IMYM community where Friends recognize and share their spiritual call and gifts across the region. We see Meetings making known their spiritual needs and longings, welcoming visits from traveling Friends. We see intervisitation providing mutual encouragement and building up of both individual Friends and Meetings across the Intermountain west. 

Near Term Goals:

• Kick-start - Let’s get things going

• Discovery – What do Meetings need? What Friends are called to this work?

Principles:

• Keep It Simple

• Experiment – feel our way forward – try stuff, listen, learn

Roles:

• Rob Pierson will gather interested folk, instigate, see what arises, convene a huddle 

• Intervisitation Huddle (does not exist yet! not anything formal!) gathers Friends willing to explore what can be done; see “Potential Initial Tasks” list below. 

• Coordinating Committee helps with practical details, like announcements

• Program Committee includes “Intervisitation Exploration” session in annual gathering

This program is coming and still being formed.  If you are interested, contact Rob Pierson. 

501c3 update - IMYM filed for 501c3 status October 21, 2025 following approval .  501c3 is not necessary for tax exempt status for IMYM.ORG.  Donors, except for those restricted in their donations to 501c3 organizations, may claim tax exemptions for their donations to IMYM.ORG (please check with your own tax advisor); some donors requiring 501c3 status may approve donations based on the filing date.  As of December 12, 2025, the government taxing authorities have yet to issue IMYM an approval letter or any response beyond acknowledging the filing and requesting our patience with their backlog of work.

If you have items for IMYM's News Brief, send them to:  AdminClerk@imym.org

Invitation to Annual Gathering Planning Meetings

Dear Friends,

It is time to move ahead with the planning of our 2026 IMYM Annual Gathering which we plan for June 10 to 14. We want to include you in the planning. We are  looking forward to a gathering that is structured in much the same way it was last year.  In early December we will begin to explore what we want our theme to be and perhaps what speakers or presenters we want to have.

Our current plan is for members of the IMYM Coordinating Committee to facilitate these sessions because we do not have a Gathering Clerk. In the event that we do not have a clerk for the Gathering, we are confident that we can have a simple gathering which will nurture us, build community and perhaps provide insight, inspiration and ideas on how to respond to the challenges we are experiencing in the world today.

We have chosen the following dates and times to meet with everyone in the yearly meeting who would like to take part in choosing our theme

• Saturday, December 6 at 10 - 11:30 am MST
• Monday, Dec 8, 6:30 - 8:00 MST
• Thursday, Dec 11, 7:30 - 9:00 MST

We have set multiple times because different people will have different schedules and we want to hear from the greatest variety of people we can. Please attend any or all the sessions that you would like to and are able to. If some of the same people attend multiple times, we may be able to build on what was done at the previous meeting.

Links for these meetings will be sent out closer to the time. We look forward to seeing you.

In service,

Bruce Thron-Weber,
Presiding Clerk

If you have any questions or need support, please email support@imym.org, or clerk@imym.org.

Communication may open the seeds of imagining and growing the culture of a more active IMYM and a healthier world. – Larry Newton, Musings – 2025

Coordinating Committee was on retreat this past weekend (October 24-26, 2025), hosted by Albuquerque Meeting. It was a time of building shared clarity about the call (or the charge) of the Committee. In addition, much time was spent on these topics: Youth and Family Coordinator, Communications, Annual Gathering 2026, Connecting Friends, and Nominations and Structure. These topics were lifted up, with calls for action, by the Way Forward Working Group’s report recommendations, accepted at Annual Gathering Business Meeting 2024. Read the Report HERE. Watch for more news as the Committee follows through with its discernment and invites more IMYM community participation on these important topics. [Members: Bruce Thron-Weber, DeAnne Butterfield, Larry Newton, Elizabeth Freyman, Sara Keeney, and Jane Kroesen]

To read all of this News Brief Click HERE

Online conversation, hosted by Western Friend on 10/26

Announcing an online conversation:  

Among Western Friends: What a new attender needs to know 

October 26, 2025 at 3 pm Pacific/4 pm Mountain Daylight Time.  

If you’re new to a Quaker meeting, have you puzzled over Friends subculture, with questions such as:  
∙    How is this different from the church where I grew up, or the ones I’ve heard stories about?  
∙    What else does a meeting do besides sit in silence?  
∙    If I have an idea or a need, whom should I ask?  
∙    When do I speak up in worship or a conversation?
∙    What is the Quaker language:  Clearness, Unity, Threshing?  
∙    Is there some core belief or practice that’s essential?  

If you want to involve new attenders with your local meeting, what do they want and need to know?  When should you invite them to lunch, or to meeting for business?  What’s a good book or pamphlet to offer?  If a Friend has experience in some other region, what are the differences for these versions of Quakerism?  

Quakers will gather from across the West to hear reflections from a panel of new comers, including Lou Glowacki, Mary Ward, David Westmoreland and Jerilyn Winstead.  Lively interchange will continue in small groups and with the larger body.

Register here. 

Hello Friends, 

It's time for the IMYM Newsletter: End-of-Summer 2025. This edition offers highlights from Annual Gathering, messages from our clerks, and ways to stay connected with Friends in the months ahead.

Click HERE to read a PDF version OR for an online version, scroll down. 

Beloved community, may we continue on faithfully, gathered in courage and care. 

In the Light,

Intermountain Yearly Meeting

**If the visual newsletter looks "too big" on your screen, scroll to the bottom and click the two "expanding arrows" icon on the bottom right hand corner.**

IMYM - End-of-Summer Newsletter 2025 by erinbates1204

On May 31, Intermountain Yearly Meeting had an online business meeting to consider 5 statements of conscience, most of which were submitted by constituent monthly meetings. With a few changes, these statements were enthusiastically approved by 60 Friends and they are attached to this email.  Two Friends stood aside because they were concerned that their meetings had not had the opportunity to review the statements before our meeting on May 31. The statements cover: Religious Freedom and Immigrant Rights, Middle East Violence, Resistance to Oppressive Federal Actions, Faith Guiding our Witness, and Action on Climate Change. 

Read the approved statements HERE. 

On Sept 13, 2025, 10 am to noon, MDT, Intermountain Yearly Meeting will have an online meeting for worship with a concern for business. Please put this on your calendar and plan to attend. I look forward to a great turnout for this meeting similar to what we have had for our first two online business meetings. The Zoom link and documents in advance will be sent later. 

At this business meeting, I have agreed with the Coordinating Committee to explore how Spirit is leading the Intermountain Yearly Meeting to serve us all and our local meetings. We have heard the desire on the part of meetings and individuals to have a more vibrant presence of youth and young adults in our local and regional meetings and annual gatherings. The possibility of hiring a Youth/Next Gen Coordinator could be part of this discussion. 

We hear that more personal connection between meetings and individuals, opportunities to build community and to learn more about Quaker spirituality and service in the current day are wanted. I want to hear what you see IMYM contributing to this.  

The assumption has always been that we will have an annual gathering.  When that assumption was first developed, the only way to meet was in-person. Now we can meet nearly anytime online. The pandemic decreased Friends' connection with the yearly meeting. How do these things change what we want to do? 

One tool in helping us to accomplish these things is our budget. On September 13, after discussing program possibilities, I expect that we will provide you with a budget with broad outlines which we will together make more specific in a future meeting(s). This is because the sharing that we begin on Sept 13 will be followed by discernment through Fall Queries in order to get a clearer picture of our program priorities. A business or representatives committee meeting in December or January will make additional decisions about how to use our resources. 

Also on the agenda for September 13 will be some nominations for approval and other more defined items.  

Please join us for this discernment.

Learn History of Colorado's Ute Tribes

IMYM Friends meet for our annual gathering in Durango, just a short ways from the Ute Mountain Ute reservation and the Southern Ute reservation. If you'd like to learn about the history of the Ute tribes in Colorado, watch this PBS Colorado Experience documentary film: 

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxcSB-2qBoEiVPyBT9f6emZ3mPwtx0ZghQ?si=U1zjpawCVVpybmef 

Dear Central Committee Members & Observers:

Injunction denied-- The hearing on our litigation was last Friday and I learned a few minutes ago that our request for an injunction was denied.   ICE will not be barred from conducting enforcement operations in places of worship while our lawsuit continues through the court system.  You can learn more about the reasons why below:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/federal-judge-refuses-block-immigration-enforcement-operations-houses-rcna200918

https://anabaptistworld.org/judge-refuses-to-block-immigration-enforcement-operations-in-places-of-worship/#:~:text=a%20preliminary%20injunction.-,Mennonite%20Church%20USA%20et%20al.%20v.%20United%20States%20Department%20of,raids%20in%20places%20of%20worship.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-will-not-curb-immigration-enforcement-places-worship-2025-04-11/

What you will see in the articles is that the judge largely found the potential harms to our communities were speculative, since there have been few actual ICE raids at houses of worship so far.  Fear, declines the number of people attending worship and receiving social services (reported as very significant at some locations), and the diversion of resources to deal with potential ICE enforcement actions are not sufficient at this time to demonstrate harm.  This is a different outcome than the first litigation brought by the Quakers of BYM, PhlYM, NEYM, Cooperative Baptists and Sikhs where at least a narrow injunction was granted.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-judge-immigration-arrests-places-of-worship-quakers-baptists-sikhs/

The injunction being denied does not mean the case is over.  This was just the injunction request.  However, it is still very troubling and leaves Meeting Houses outside of BYM, PhlYM and NEYM vulnerable along with the churches and synagogues of our faith partners.  At the moment, I have not been advised as to the implications of this for the larger case and I have been advised, in general, not to speculate.  I do want to emphasize that the legal team that represents us was extremely well prepared and presented what seemed like a strong case.  I am grateful to our legal team.  I'm also grateful to our faith partners in the litigation who showed up in numbers for the hearing.  The benches that were available were just about full.

Regardless of this particular outcome, it is important that we stood up and that we continue to stand up every chance we get.  Standing up potentially slows the erosion of the rule of law.  Every action matters.

Next Steps—  Our legal team is examining where to take this next.  I imagine we will have new guidance from them in the next week or so.

Concerning Lobbying-- While our primary concern is the litigation, we are also part of an effort to encourage the adoption of the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, H.R. 1061.  If passed, this would essentially make the old sensitive locations rules into a law, which would be much stronger protection for our houses of worship than simply restoring the old administrative rules.  Like the rescinded rules, this act would also protect hospitals and schools.

From the plaintiff participants, several of us volunteered to lobby congressional and senatorial offices about H.R. 1061.  I spent last Thursday with Mennonite, Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran and several other denominational and interfaith leaders going from office to office on the Hill.  This was arranged for us by Jim Simpson from the Center on Faith & Justice at Georgetown.  They are partners of ICAP who are fighting the litigation for us.  FCNL provided space for our initial briefings before we started lobbying.  Gratitude to FCNL.

We visited both Democratic and Republican offices.  We were received openly by all offices.  We were advised by multiple offices that the passage of this bill is unlikely in the current climate-- even though some Republicans support some aspects of the bill.  I will also share that some congressional staffers asked us as people of faith to hold all congressional staffers with compassion, regardless of party, during this stressful and difficult time.  There was also a strong request from one congressional office that, as faith leaders, we need to help mobilize our churches and synagogues to oppose not only ICE enforcement efforts but the overall erosion of civil rights.  There was enormous concern openly named that things are getting worse quickly.

After the hearing on Friday, the assembled faith leaders talked about continued interfaith cooperation.  I would say there were 40-50 of us in the room from the 27 plaintiff organizations.  There were enormous concerns about immigration, the erosion of the rule of law, and specific negative actions like reductions in SNAP benefits and food aid to food banks.  While we did not have time to forge a framework for continued cooperation, there was general agreement that we need to cooperate going forward.  As Friends, in conjunction with FCNL and AFSC, we need to talk about what this could look like.

Concerning the Vigil-- The prayer vigil that was held the night before the hearing at National City Christian Church in Washington, DC was very special.  I'm not sure how many people were in person.  I would imagine at least 200.  Online I was told there were more than 1600 attenders.  Part of what the vigil demonstrated was not simply support for the litigation, but the need so many of us felt to ground ourselves, during a really challenging time, in the core of our faith traditions.  The theme for the night was "We Need Each Other."  It was hopeful to experience the solidarity of so many faith communities joined together around our shared understanding that our faiths require us to stand up for human rights and human dignity.

Thank you all for your support and solidarity as we continue to try respond faithfully in these unprecedented times.

Prayerfully,

Barry Crossno (He/Him)

General Secretary

Friends General Conference

1216 Arch St. #2B

Philadelphia, PA 19107

Office Hours: Eastern Time Zone: M-F 9-5pm

(215) 561-1700 x3003

www.FGCquaker.org

Quaker Voluntary Service is looking for our next Executive Director and we would love your help. I'd be very appreciative if you could spend time considering who in your circles is a potential applicant.

One of the wonders of Quakerism is the emphasis on seeing one anothers' gifts and naming those gifts. Most people I know in leadership were nudged into applying by someone who saw their gifts. I'm sure you have experienced this over the years.

So, please, if you can, consider if there are Friends for whom the Quaker Voluntary Service Executive Director position might be the right next step, and let them know you see their gifts!

Additionally, if you have access to listservs or bodies of Friends who might have interest, please pass this along.

I'm including here a blurb about the position:

Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) is now accepting applications for a new Executive Director. You would be a great fit for this position if you believe Quaker spirituality has something to offer social justice movements and young adults; you have interest and skills at administration and financial management; and you have experience working with nonprofit structures, including board collaboration and staff supervision and management. See the full job description at https://quakervoluntaryservice.org/employment/.

How to apply: Email a cover letter and resume to the QVS Board Executive Director Search Committee, at ExecSearch@quakervoluntaryservice.org. Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis as applications arrive, with priority given to applications received by April 15, 2025. Desired start date is July 1, 2025, but can be flexible for the right candidate.