The Youth and Children Committee is excitedly planning for a fun Youth Program at LEYM Annual Meeting. The program offers morning and afternoon activities for young Friends from infant through high school. We have an experienced team of eight adult volunteers, with two adults assigned for each age group. The program will offer age-appropriate activities and outings to promote cooperative play, peaceful living, mindful care of the Earth, and artistic creativity. Children under 3 eat free, with a 40% food discount for those under 13 years old.
We'll gather for our shared opening session Thursday night. On Friday evening, Joe Volk will provide our plenary keynote on the theme "Joyful Resistance as a Practice of Hope." On Saturday evening we'll celebrate with social time and a film showing.
We’ll have morning and evening silent worship opportunities, Bible study sessions with Douglas Gwyn, and worship-sharing small group sessions on the theme. Our Sunday Meeting for Worship will provide a spirit-filled closing for the gathering.
We invite you to join us in Ashland Ohio for this year’s annual meeting June 18-21, 2026, where we will explore the theme of “Finding Hope, Joy and Courage in Community” This gathering offers a space to reconnect and find our strength anew.
Lake Erie Yearly Meeting (LEYM) began in 1939 as an association of Friends (aka Quaker) meetings in Ohio, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. It is currently made up of 20 local congregations, called monthly meetings. There are also a number of informal worship groups within LEYM. It is affiliated with Friends General Conference (FGC), a Quaker service organization for unprogrammed Friends in the U.S. LEYM publishes a regular newsletter known as the LEYM Bulletin.
This year's annual sessions were planned by the Adult & Family Program Committee comprised of Clemence Mershon (clerk), Greg Mott, Bill Warters, Ellerie Brownfain, Wink Covintree, Valerie Groszmann, Shelley Kotz and Sally Weaver Sommer. Technical and website design support was provided by Bill Warters, LEYM's Digital Communications Facilitator.
LEYM's Arrangements and Site Committee (Sally Weaver Sommer, Jon Sommer, Mike Hinshaw, Carolyn LeJuste: Clerk, Janet Dando and Bill Warters) is coordinating with Ashland University's Director of Catering and Conferences Erika Chuburko. If you need to mail packages in advance, you can do so using this information: Lake Erie Yearly Meeting c/o Erika Chuburko Director of Catering and Conferences, Auxiliary Services 638 Jefferson Street Ashland, Ohio 44805 echuburk@ashland.edu 419-289-5186 This detailed map of the Ashland Campus shows parking lots and buildings of interest to LEYM.
Traditionally, LEYM has relied on checks being mailed to the registrar alongside a completed registration form, as well as checks written at the time of arrival and onsite check-in. Cash can also be used at check-in. This year, we've added the ability for Friends to pay online via credit card using our new online registration system.
The Youth and Children Committee is excitedly planning for a fun Youth Program at LEYM Annual Meeting. We had several new friends join us for the first time last year, and we are hoping for several more this June. The Youth and Children program offers morning and afternoon activities for young Friends from infant through high school. We have an experienced team of eight adult volunteers, with two adults assigned for each age group. The program will offer age-appropriate activities and outings to promote cooperative play, peaceful living, mindful care of the Earth, and artistic creativity. Children under 3 eat free, with a 40% discount on food for children under 13 years old. In addition to bringing their children, adult attenders of Annual Meeting have also brought grandchildren and nieces/nephews. For details about the Youth and Children program, please reach out to Diane Mott, Clerk, at mottfam45@gmail.com. We hope to see you in June!
We'll be meeting in-person at Ashland University in Ashland, OH. We will be offering limited online opportunities to join in specific events (Plenary, Business Sessions) via Zoom. You can request Zoom access here.
The agenda (when finalized) and various documents that will be discussed during the annual meeting Business Sessions can be found at the 2025 Annual Business Sessions page. We anticipate being able to offer Zoom access for remote participants. Check the Business Sessions page for access information when it comes available.
Questions can be directed to our registrar, Sally Weaver Sommer, via LEYMregistrar@gmail.com You can also reach out to the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting worker Bill Warters at leymworker@gmail.com. Information for contacting LEYM Committee clerks is available on the LEYM website here: https://leym.org/contact-information/
Harassment Discernment Committee - If a Friend feels she or he has been poorly or unfairly treated during our YM sessions because of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, or any other factor, he or she can reach out to this committee. Friends who witness harassment are also encouraged to reach out. Of course, if it is safe to do so, Friends are encouraged to seek direct, positive solutions first. The complete LEYM harassment discernment policy with contact information is available at leym.org.
Worship sharing sessions focus on a particular question and help us to explore our own experience and share with each other more deeply than we would in normal conversation. A topic or query is raised and then Friends "speak out of the silence" as moved. In most cases, a person won't speak twice until everyone has had a chance to speak once. Typically, a brief period of silence is held between individual sharings. A designated facilitator will introduce the topic and coordinate the sharing process. FRIDAY QUERY: What are some of the torn spots in the nets of your life that you find most painful? How would you name the wholeness that you wish for in these places? SATURDAY QUERY: Have you witnessed or been part of a group working on mending their net together? What did you learn or love or wish for?
