Yearly Meeting 2026

Yearly Meeting 2026 - information sheet 

Dear Friends,

Friends of Dunedin Monthly Meeting warmly welcome you to Yearly Meeting 2026.  You can participate in Yearly Meeting either in person in Dunedin or online.  The online option will enable participation in business sessions, with some opportunities for social catchup with others. If you are not able to attend the whole of Yearly Meeting, you are welcome to attend for part of the time, either in person or online. 

The optional in-person Preparation Day (details below) gives us an opportunity to prepare ourselves for Yearly Meeting, separate ourselves from the demands of ordinary life, and find some centring for ourselves. Some sharing with others for some of the time can enhance this.

The venue is Columba College, a Presbyterian girls' high school at 399 Highgate, Roslyn, Dunedin.  We have booked a modern boarding block for accommodation.  See https://www.columbacollege.school.nz/boarding/ . There is step-free access to some sleeping accommodation, as well as to meals, and meeting rooms.  Friends are welcome to live onsite, or to attend by day, finding your overnight accommodation elsewhere.

Please read this sheet in advance, and use it to help you complete the registration form.

Dates and approximate times

Yearly Meeting (YM) is set for Friday 10 - Monday 13 April, 2026, from Friday dinner (5.45 p.m.) until Monday lunch (12.30 p.m.), with an optional preparation day, facilitated by Murray Short (Wellington MM), from Thursday 9 until lunch on Friday. 

On Thursday 9 April the registration desk will be open from 12.00 noon for preparation day.  A light lunch will be available for Friends who request it on the form. Sessions begin at 2.00 p.m., and end with lunch (12.30 p.m.) on Friday 10 April.  These sessions are in-person only, though we hope there will be a related study pack available for Friends who participate in YM online. 

On the afternoon of Friday 10 there will be parallel events at Columba College for some Friends - a meeting of the Trust Board of the Religious Society of Friends in Aotearoa New Zealand, and a gathering of Friends who have responsibilities for Spiritual and Pastoral Care in Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups, facilitated by Cathy Macfie and Elizabeth Thompson (Dunedin MM).  Friends attending these meetings, and other Friends whose travel arrangements necessitate an early arrival, can have lunch (12.30 p.m.) by booking it on the form.  Registration begins at 11.30 a.m.  The afternoon is the main registration time for you if you are not taking part in the preparation day or the afternoon meetings. 

Yearly Meeting begins with the first session of Meeting for Worship for Business on Friday evening at 7.00 p.m.  Further sessions are set down for Saturday morning and afternoon, Sunday morning, afternoon and evening, and Monday morning.  Following the Friday evening session there will be an orientation time for those attending our Yearly Meeting for the first time.

The 2026 Quaker Lecture is scheduled for the evening of Saturday 11 April, at Castle 1 lecture theatre of the University of Otago.  This is to be a public lecture, taking the form of a conversation between Anne Salmond and Maddy Ash (Wellington MM) on the theme 'Gumboot Anthropology - a kōrero on some of the big issues of the time: Te Tiriti and recent political contentions, Te Taiao and the climate crisis, language, meaning and the negotiation of different tikanga and world views'.    The event is to be live-streamed and recorded. We are arranging transport between Columba College and the lecture venue.

The concluding event is lunch at 12.30 p.m. on Monday 13, followed by departures.

Funding support

Yearly Meeting offers 50% reduction in costs for in person participants aged 26 or under.  Please note in the form if you choose to claim this reduction.

Yearly Meeting also provides an amount, depending mainly on distance from the venue, to each Monthly Meeting to help with travel costs. Further assistance with the cost of attending may be available from your Monthly Meeting.  Your local Spiritual and Pastoral Care group are there to help with both of these.

Venue and facilities, food

Columba College is a high school for girls, with an associated junior school for girls and boys, founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1915.  The campus, on a tree-planted gently sloping site, includes historic and more modern buildings.  Our accommodation is in a modern block, with lounges and bedrooms on both the ground and the first floors.  It is a short walk to two older buildings for YM sessions and for meals.  There are steps, but also step-free access to each of these.

The premises are smoke-free, drug-free and alcohol-free. 

Most bedrooms on both floors are singles, with a bathroom shared between two rooms, i.e. 2 people.  Twin rooms are upstairs, with no lift.  They have two single beds, separated by a semi-partition. A bathroom is shared between two rooms, i.e. up to 4 people.  On the ground floor is a single room with wet floor ensuite.  If you have special mobility or other needs, please make sure you complete the related section of the registration form. Beds are supplied with mattress protector, sheet, pillow and pillowcase.  If you are not bringing your own bedding, a bath towel and bedding are available at $30 per person.  If you would like this, please indicate on the form.

If you prefer to live offsite, taking lunch and dinner at Columba College, please make your own arrangements for accommodation.

The main lounge area on the ground floor will be used for the preparation day, and generally as a social and relaxation space, including for morning and afternoon teas. We hope to have Quaker Books and other displays in this space - please let us know if you need display space. Other lounges on each floor are available for small group gatherings.

Yearly Meeting, recognising the impact of our in-person events on the environment, and seeking to make some compensation, has agreed that food at our events will be basically vegetarian + vegan.  If you have special dietary needs or requests, please let us know on the form.

Health

Friends' gatherings are precious, but they bring us physically close, and infections may spread. If you are attending in person, please make sure that your vaccinations for flu and Covid are up to date by 13 March. Please take a RAT test for Covid on the day you arrive, before coming onsite, and bring your own supply of masks and tests. 

Travel, arrival, departure

               Public transport  Dunedin can be reached by Intercity bus, Air New Zealand and Jetstar flights.  From Dunedin airport it is cheapest to book a shuttle in advance.  We recommend Airport Shuttles Dunedin. Book online at https://www.airportshuttlesdunedin.co.nz/, or phone 0800 477 800.  Your destination is Columba College Boarding Village, Sargood Street entrance.  If you are arriving by Intercity bus, please contact us, including your ETA, at ymlac@ym.quakers.nz as local public transport is complicated.

               Personal transport There is parking space at Columba College.

After you have registered, we will send further details. 

For the preparation day, please plan to arrive in time to be settled for the first session at 2.00 p.m. on Thursday.  If you plan to arrive earlier and want lunch, please let us know on the form.

Registration and payment

The link for registration is: https://form.jotform.com/232491554328863 The final date for registration is Friday 6 March.  

Please register as soon as you can, to assist our work.  For staffing and catering reasons, Columba College needs firm advance notice of numbers.

Costs for Yearly Meeting are as follows:

• Participating online only   $25 (as a contribution to holding a hybrid YM)
• Participating in person in Dunedin - If staying in Columba College:

Preparation Day + all of Yearly Meeting   $592  (+ optional Thursday lunch $24 + optional linen hire  $30)

All of Yearly Meeting (but not Preparation Day)   $456  (+ optional Friday lunch $24 + optional linen hire  $30)

Part-time  $148 per 24 hours (+ optional linen hire  $30)

• Participating in person in Dunedin -  If staying in other accommodation (the figures include lunch, dinner, morning & afternoon teas):

Preparation Day + all of Yearly Meeting  $212 (+ optional Thursday lunch $24)

All of Yearly Meeting (but not Preparation Day) $159  (+ optional Friday lunch $24)

Part-time  $53 per 24 hours

When you have completed the registration form, it will show your total to pay. Please pay promptly, so that we can complete your booking. We are not able to receive cash payments.  Please pay online to the account Dunedin Monthly Meeting Of The Religious Society Of Friends (Quakers), 38-9018-0626096-05.  If you have difficulties making an online payment, please arrange help from your Meeting or someone else.

Your host Monthly Meeting

Dunedin Monthly Meeting brings together Friends from Otago and Southland.  We have Worship Groups in Dunedin and Invercargill, meeting weekly, as well as a monthly online worship group, which includes Friends living elsewhere in our region.   We welcome you to our region and our Friends' community.

Image credit: By Benchill - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7540689