Baltimore Yearly Meeting Covid-19 Statement
Updated March 14, 2020
Updated March 14, 2020
Click here to go to the latest updates on what local worshiping communities are doing
Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Friends from across our region are continuing to follow the developments regarding Covid-19 (also called coronavirus or novel coronavirus). Since our message of the 10th, there have been more developments than can be reasonably listed here. However, there are some specific ones that need to be highlighted. Please check www.bym-rsf.org/who_we_are/covid19.html regularly for any new updates from the Yearly Meeting between these messages.
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Offices are closed from March 14 through March 31, 2020
All staff who are able will begin telecommuting or working in place. Anyone calling the Yearly Meeting’s main number will be answered by the automatic voice response system. Please select the number for the staff member you wish to reach. If possible, they may be able to answer your call from their location. If they cannot, please leave a message or send an email and they will respond as soon as is possible.
Third Month 2020 Interim Meeting is Cancelled
The Clerk of Interim Meeting announced this yesterday. You can see the full text of her announcement at www.bym-rsf.org/events/interim/third20.html. As soon as more details of the planning for how to continue the business of the Yearly Meeting are available, they will be announced.
Young Friends Conference for the weekend of April 3-5 is Cancelled
Reparations Workshops have been Cancelled (added on 03/16/2020)
Plans are being considered to reschedule the series of Reparations workshops for the fall of 2020. Details about these plans will be announced once arrangements have been made.
Local Worshiping Communities are Making Decisions about Worship
We have received information from several of the local worshiping communities about how they are discerning the best way to proceed. Of those for whom we have information, six have canceled in-person worship, and nine will continue to have worship. Although, one of those recommends that people stay home but wanted to make worship available for those who still come. Many have canceled all meals or Religious Education. Several are providing an opportunity for online worship. Links to the specific information issued by the communities are listed below.
Each of our local worshiping communities decides for itself how it will proceed; the Yearly Meeting does not have authority to dictate their response. We trust that each group of Friends will find the best possible solution for their specific needs. We do want to strongly urge everyone, at every one of our communities, to review all of the information that is available, especially the decisions made by others.
Still, after reviewing all the information available, we encourage all to consider cancelling in-person Meeting for Worship. First, over a week ago, the Centers for Disease Control urged all older adults and those with chronic conditions to avoid crowds and keep space between themselves and others. Please consider the demographic makeup of our communities. Moreover, if everyone practices social distancing, it not only protects the health of those in our communities but supports the public health of the wider community and helps slow the spread of the disease and take pressure off our health care systems.
For those that do host in-person worship and other events, please review and follow the recommendations for individuals and Meetings below.
Suggestions for individual Friends:
The best recommendations we have seen for healthy adult individuals include:
- Thorough and frequent hand washing (20 seconds with soap and water);
- Use of hand sanitizer solutions (minimum 70% alcohol) if hand washing isn’t an option;
- Avoid exposure to respiratory fluids of other people;
- Avoid touching part of mouth and eyes if hands haven’t been recently cleaned;
- Avoid sharing dishes and utensils with other people;
- Stay home if there is any feeling of illness;
- Older people and those who are potentially at greater risk if they become infected should limit exposure to others in general.
Suggestions for our local worshiping communities:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have suggestions specifically for faith-based organizations to consider. Based on these suggestions, the Yearly Meeting would suggest that Friends consider these options:
- Consider cancelling Meeting for Worship completely or using alternate methods of gathering that are compatible with social distancing.
- Work with the Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee to consider alternate methods of creating community for worship. Some Meetings have experimented with teleconferenced worship. As resource to support that become available, we will share them;
- Encourage Friends who are ill, or even possibly ill, to refrain from coming to Meeting;
- If possible, provide hand sanitizer for use before entering the worship space;
- Use a different method of ending worship than the traditional shaking of hands (e.g. bump elbows or jazz hands);
- Review food handling and serving processes with the Hospitality Committee to limit contamination;
- Hold everyone in the Meeting, especially the leadership who is working to discern the best possible options in difficult times, in the Light.
Links to official channels for the most current information
Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus Disease 2019
CDC suggestions for faith-based organizations
Links to copies of statements from Friends groups
Alexandria Friends Meeting (added 03/12/2020)
Annapolis Friends Meeting (added 03/12/2020)
Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run (added 03/12/2020)
Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run (added 03/13/2020)
Charlottesville Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
Friends Meeting of Washington (03/08/2020 message)
Friends Meeting of Washington (new message added 03/13/2020)
Goose Creek Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
Homewood Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
Little Falls Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
Patapsco Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
Richmond Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
Sandy Spring Friends Meeting (added 03/12/2020)
Takoma Park Preparative Meeting (added 03/14/2020)
Valley Friends Meeting (added 03/13/2020)
North Seattle Friends Meeting message to Friends Meeting of Washington
New York Yearly Meeting (added 3/12/2020)
Friends Journal Article Quaker Meetings Respond to Coronavirus (added 03/13/2020)
Friends United Meeting statement regarding 2020 Triennial sessions
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Covid-19 Statement
March 11, 2020
March 11, 2020
March 12, 2020 Updates
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Offices are Closed from March 14 through April 1
Yearly Meeting staff will be working from home as they are able
Third Month 2020 Interim Meeting has been cancelled
Young Friends Service Conference has been cancelled
Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Friends from across our region are following the developments regarding Covid-19 (also called coronavirus or novel coronavirus). We want to share some of the suggestions and advices we have received for how individuals, local worshipping communities, and the Yearly Meeting should proceed. All of this information, like the situation itself, will continue to evolve.
Suggestions for individual Friends:
The best recommendations we have seen for healthy adult individuals include:
- Thorough and frequent hand washing (20 seconds with soap and water);
- Use of hand sanitizer solutions (minimum 70% alcohol) if hand washing isn’t an option;
- Avoid exposure to respiratory fluids of other people;
- Avoid touching part of mouth and eyes if hands haven’t been recently cleaned;
- Avoid sharing dishes and utensils with other people;
- Stay home if there is any feeling of illness;
- Older people and those who are potentially at greater risk if they become infected should limit exposure to others in general.
Suggestions for our local worshipping communities:
Some Meetings have approved statements and practices for how they are proceeding with Meeting for Worship, First Day School, and/or Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business. Links to the individual statements that we have received are at the bottom of this note. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have suggestions specifically for faith-based organizations to consider. Based on these suggestions, the Yearly Meeting would suggest that Friends consider these options:
- Use a different method of ending worship than the traditional shaking of hands (e.g. bump elbows or jazz hands);
- Review food handling and serving processes with the Hospitality Committee to limit contamination;
- Encourage Friends who are ill, or even possibly ill, to refrain from coming to Meeting;
- Work with Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee to consider alternate methods of creating community for worship. Some Meetings have experimented with teleconferenced worship;
- If possible, provide hand sanitizer for use before entering the worship space;
- Hold everyone in the Meeting, especially the leadership who is working to discern the best possible options in difficult times, in the Light.
Baltimore Yearly Meeting planning for coming events:
The Yearly Meeting has several events planned in the next months. As we move forward, the staff and leadership of the Yearly Meeting will continually review the news and developments and make adjustments as needed.
The next event is Third Month 2020 Interim Meeting for Saturday, March 21 at Hopewell Centre Monthly Meeting. On the part of BYM, the Clerk of Interim Meeting has the final determination (in consultation with our hosts at Hopewell Centre) on whether we proceed with the day as planned. Currently, she has announced her intent to hold Interim Meeting. We will follow as many of the suggestions listed above as are possible, and our hosts at Hopewell Centre Monthly Meeting have been making appropriate arrangements as well. If there hasn’t already been a change, we intend to send a message on the morning of Friday, March 20 with a final update on the plans and as many details of any special arrangements as we have available.
Further ahead are events planned by Youth Programs, the Stewardship and Finance Committee, the Reparations Interest Group, the Peace and Social Concerns Committee, the Camp Property Management Committee, and the Spiritual Formation Program. The organizers of these events will coordinate with the staff and leadership of the Yearly Meeting and information about adjustments or cancellations will be shared as needed.
More distant in the future are the summer season for BYM Camps and Annual Session 2020. While the leaders of these programs are already considering contingencies, these events are so far in the future that definitive statements or decisions can’t yet be made. Announcements about these programs will be made as clarity is available.
We encourage everyone to pay attention to the situation, and make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Give thought to how your actions can help or hurt those around you and exercise charity and patience for everyone. Please continue to hold everyone in the Yearly Meeting who is working to deal with these issues, and everyone in the world who has been affected by Covid-19, in the Light.
