Call to the 2026 Annual Session of Pacific Yearly Meeting

Experiment!

Dear Friends,

The past year has thrown a lot at us—social and political violence, moral and value-based challenges, use and abuse of natural, financial and personal resources—to name a very few. When our outward social and political structures fail, we need to turn to our spiritual communities and inward light, seed, oneness–the source of our solace and strength.

Many of our Monthly Meetings are experiencing shrinking pains or growing pains. Many of our committees—including nominating committees—are limping along with not enough members to do their work. Our financial resources don’t match the financial costs we have in conducting our business (which is a form of worship). And finally, how do we share news, important information, requests for help, or successful ideas with each other?

So, I suggest experimenting. We’ve been talking at annual sessions for at least six years about the challenges we face. Let’s try some new things, move off center, take some risks. But not without acknowledging that experimentation has a process.

My first experiment is an idea map as the call to Annual Session: I invite you to interact with these ideas and bring your own.

Lisa Graustein, a member of New England Yearly Meeting, who has traveled widely among Friends in the US and globally, carries a ministry focused on addressing the underlying dynamics of white supremacy, colonization, and climate change. She will be speaking to us about how our faith and practice inform each other.

I look forward to seeing you July 17-22, 2026, at CSU Monterey Bay in Seaside, California, or online via Zoom.

Love and Blessings, Robin DuRant

Clerk, Pacific Yearly Meeting