Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of The Religious Society Of Friends |

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Interim Meeting Minutes-Approved
June 12, 2010, 9:30 a.m. to 1:50 p.m
Arch Street Meetinghouse

1. Opening Worship

Friends gathered at 9:00, the appointed hour for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Interim Meeting Session June 12, 2010 and settled into worship. Near the end of this worship, the Clerk read an e-mail message he received from Rita Varley (Central Philadelphia MM) with her observation of the good changes she notices in Yearly Meeting and Interim Meeting sessions. (E-mail message attached).

2. Welcome

The clerk welcomed those present and those at the clerk's table introduced themselves: Clerk, Thomas Swain (Middletown MM, Concord Quarter); Alternate Clerks: Dana Kester McCabe (Wicomico River MM), and Jada Jackson (Trenton MM); and Recording Clerk, Jane C. Keller (Pennsdale MM). The clerk welcomed our visitor Noah Baker Merrill (Putney MM, New England Yearly Meeting), and visiting representatives. New representatives introduced themselves: Connie Lewis (Third Haven MM), and Bob Holt (Solebury MM).

3. Report of the General Secretary

The General Secretary introduced the new Associate Secretary for Business and Finance, Lola Georg (Media MM).

The General Secretary reported on ongoing good work: the Peace and Concerns Standing Committee had its annual workshop with a focus on Eco-Justice; 70 were in attendance. Also, Young Adult Friends are on their way to Israel and Palestine under the care of our Middle East Working Group. The School of the Spirit, under the care of the Worship and Care Standing Committee, met with Arthur Larrabee and Wright Horne for an annual review and continues to nourish our Meetings. Friends in Business, who meet twice annually and gather to hear an inspirational speaker, considered the work of business through a spiritual and Quaker lens. Finally, a Peace Museum is being planned in Philadelphia called “Envision Peace;” a number of Quakers are involved.

Friends shared experiences of Vitality and Growth: Support and Outreach Standing Committee met with Friends of Central Philadelphia and noted its gratitude for the work and witness of that Meeting. Members also visited State College MM and all were blessed by being able to experience the life of that Meeting. At Central Philadelphia MM, a Friends Ministry gathering will be held June 19, 2010, to examine spiritual accountability.

4. Gift for School of the Spirit

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting has received a gift of stock for the School of the Spirit from Katherine Jacobsen in the amount of $10,138.88. Friends enthusiastically accepted that gift.

5. Friends Center Equity Partners Agreement

The Friends Center Board is recommending of its equity partners a change in its by-laws to reduce the size of the Board from twelve members to nine, which will reserve membership on the Board to representatives from the three Equity Partners only. After some questions, members of Interim Meeting, on behalf of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, approved this Third Amendment to the 1972 Friends Center agreement and authorized the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting, Thomas Swain, to execute the said Third Amendment on its behalf. . In the event that a second signature is required, the General Secretary, Arthur Larrabee, shall also be authorized to join on behalf of the Yearly Meeting. Further, on behalf of PYM, Interim Meeting approved amending the Articles of Incorporation of Friends Center by changing the Friends Center address and otherwise conforming the Articles to the provisions of the Third Amendment.

6. Annual Fund Report

Wright Horne, Associate Secretary for Advancement and Communications (Hockessin MM), gave an updated report on our Annual Fund. We have raised $330,000 toward our goal of $500,000; the fiscal year ends on June 30. Wright spent the remainder of his presentation sharing some fund-raising basics and explained each.

7. The Frequency of Yearly Meeting Sessions

The Clerk reported the Advisory Committee's recommendation on the frequency of Yearly Meeting sessions was that we might need to continue the present Yearly Meeting annual sessions schedule and take more time to reach a decision. A lengthy threshing session ensued. These were some of the concerns raised: costs and attendance were considered. In 2009 residential Yearly Meeting expenses were $89,000; income was $65,000, leaving a balance of $24,000 as actual cost to PYM; March Sessions expenses were $14,000 and income was $3,000. Attendance at both sessions is similar in terms of the number of adults attending sessions. Our Treasurer noted that sessions’ costs are not important; potential donor involvement also needs consideration. Others asked: How well do sessions increase community? How do sessions serve the life of the Spirit? Summer sessions involve more families and young people. Clerk asked for other possibilities and ideas for getting together. Some suggestions included moving it farther away in time from FGC gathering or moving it to begin on the weekend when energy is high. Another suggested having 2 sessions: a decision-making session in March and fellowship in July. Others noted our need for communion and for coming together in one event. Clerk encouraged us to talk about a potential transformation in the way we come together.

In our discussion today, there was a sense that maybe we can unite on one annual session with other Yearly Meeting-wide activities which could strengthen our community in worship, business, and fellowship. It is our hope that our discernment for what our Yearly Meeting needs for annual sessions will be continued at our July sessions at DeSales for a possible decision.

8. 2010 Summer Sessions

The Summer Sessions Planning group representatives, Bill Heinemann (Newtown MM) and Lou Ann Merkle, Annual Sessions Coordinator, reported the following: Noah Baker Merrill will be speaking on Saturday night on “Where the Resurrection Meets the Road.” Shane Claiborne, on Wednesday night, will speak on economics and rebirth. Thirty workshops and interest groups are scheduled. There will be a YAF report on their trip to Israel and Palestine, an eco-justice report, and news of the Prophetic Witness School, among others. Interim Meeting representatives were asked to encourage two persons from each Meeting to attend. Information packets were made available for Interim Meeting representatives to share in their Monthly Meetings.

9. Historic Meetinghouses

Peggy Morscheck (Central Philadelphia MM) reported that the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), part of the National Parks Service, studied the architecture of 27 meetinghouses. Panels were prepared of each and donated to those meetings. A website will be prepared of these images, which are now in the public domain and the Library of Congress. New information about meetinghouse and burial ground care will be included on the website.

10. Correction and Approval of May and January Minutes

Minutes of Saturday, May 8, 2010, were considered for approval. Minutes will be reformatted according to our Yearly Meeting style to help with ease of reading and clarity. The first change was to Minute 3. The entire final paragraph was replaced with: After a long time of discussion where strong views were expressed either way, the clerk tested the body asking if Friends approve appointing staff persons as Yearly Meeting elders. There were voices of approval and unapproval from the body indicating the Meeting was not in unity and the decision, at this time, was removed from consideration. Since we lack unity to approve staff, the clerk suggested that Nominating Committee should bring forward a new name for the open Elder appointment using the same process used in bringing forward previous appointments (i.e., the Clerk and Nominating Committee bring a name forward to Interim Meeting for its consideration). This was approved.

A change was made to Minute #2. The final paragraph should state the Monthly Meetings participating are Old Haverford, Central Philadelphia, and Haddonfield.” (Remove “Abington” and “Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia.)” This was approved.

Changes were made to Minute #9, concerning the General Secretary Evaluation. The minute should read: “Jada Jackson, clerk of the Oversight and Evaluation Committee for the General Secretary presented the report on the service of Arthur Larrabee. The other members of the committee are: Thomas Swain, PYM Clerk; Jackie Bowers, clerk of Personnel Oversight Committee; and Chris Nicholson, member-at-large. Annually the committee seeks comments regarding the General Secretary’s performance and conducts an evaluation. On even-years the committee conducts a more intensive feedback process that includes 360-degree evaluations from staff. For the first time the 360-degree evaluation process was extended to include the nine major PYM committee clerks; the seven Standing Committees, Nominating Committee and Financial Stewardship clerks. The report was read with comments appreciating the degree of excellence our General Secretary has performed in service to our Yearly Meeting. It included the committee’s recommendation that Arthur’s employment be continued. After the draft report was read, the committee listened to IM’s reflections. The committee, in the evaluation process, had previously considered all of the comments made. The Clerk asked if Friends were able to approve it as read. Meeting received the report and approved the recommendation of the Oversight and Evaluation Committee to continue the employment of Arthur Larrabee as our General Secretary”

Changes were made to Minute #11, Traveling Minute for Thomas Swain. The endorsement should read: “We the Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Interim Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends endorse this travel minute with gratitude. We send our dear Friend and faithful Clerk, Thomas Swain, with love and blessings. May you hold him in this ministry as we do.” This was approved. The minutes of May 8, 2010 Interim Meeting were approved with the above corrections to be made.

The clerk noted that we have no record of approving our January 9, 2010 minutes. The minutes are before the Meeting for consideration and approval. Patricia Finley, clerk of Peace & Concerns offered this correction for Minute #4, fifth paragraph: “Peace and Concerns Standing Committee holds open the concern for the work of Conscience, Militarism, and War Tax Concerns. By holding open the concern it is meant that P&C SC listens for leadings in this particular area. Many Friends in PYM have expressed the possibility of leadings about war taxes and military recruitment and they often act on those concerns with diverse Quaker and non-Quaker organizations. These concerns have not yet coalesced into a PYM Working Group. However, some of the war tax concerns work continues in the ad hoc group charged by Interim Meeting to re-evaluate the PYM policy concerning employees who are war tax resisters. This was approved.

With this change, the minutes of January 9, 2010 were approved.

11. Report from the Peace and Concerns Standing Committee

Patricia Finley (Old Haverford MM), clerk of the Peace and Concerns Standing Committee, reported that they have approved the epistle from the Quaker Witness on Economy and Ecology and the disavowal of the Document of Discovery and are considering the United Nations 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which was offered for the body to season. Another minute approved by Central Philadelphia MM in opposition to the war in Afghanistan will be presented later for our consideration.

Elizabeth Koopman (Gwynedd MM), and Lois Kuter (Plymouth MM), members of our Indian Committee presented the executive summary of the report of the Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Friends were asked to consider the Doctrine of Discovery, which was the justification to kill and subjugate indigenous people and was the basis for Charles II giving William Penn his land grant of Pennsylvania. We were asked to disavow this Doctrine of Discovery.

In addition to our considering disavowing the Doctrine of Discovery, we were asked to consider the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and whether we could affirm it. This concern was to be taken back to Monthly Meetings and the Indian Committee is asked to review input from Meetings. The third request laid before us by the Indian Committee was to communicate to our President encouraging the United States to sign this Declaration of Rights. We are one of only four nations not signatories to this UN declaration.

After a lengthy discussion, Friends gratefully received the document of the UN Declaration for further consideration and to share it with our Monthly Meetings; we were unable to endorse the UN Declaration at this time or declare our position to the President until further discernment is done. Friends united in approving our disavowal of the Doctrine of Discovery.

Friends minuted their support and appreciation of the work of the Indian Committee and the work of the Peace and Concerns Committee in further discernment.

12. Wellsboro concern

Bryn Hammerstrom (Wellsboro MM) invited Friends to watch the movies "Gas Land" and “Split Estate” in light of its proposed minute endorsed by Upper Susquehanna Quarterly Meeting about a moratorium on gas drilling, especially hydrofracking which is happening throughout Pennsylvania. Clerk noted the Eco-Justice Committee is planning to bring this issue to Summer Sessions. Wellsboro MM was encouraged to make arrangements to show the movies at Summer Sessions.

Friends adjourned to meet again September 11, 2010, as Interim Meeting and July 28, 2010 as Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.

Thomas Swain, clerk

Jane C. Keller, recording clerk

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