Interim Meeting - November 14, 2009
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Interim Meeting Minutes - Approved
November 14, 2009, 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Arch Street Meetinghouse
1. Opening Worship and Welcome
Friends gathered on the above date at the appointed hour of 9:30 a.m. and settled into worship.
Introduction of clerks: out of worship the Clerk welcomed those in attendance and introduced those on the clerks table: Clerk, Thomas Swain (Middletown MM, Concord Quarter) Alternate Clerk, Jada Jackson (Trenton MM) Alternate Clerk, John Ellsworth (Gwynedd MM) Recording Clerk, David Rose (Lehigh Valley MM). New Representatives appointed to Interim Meeting introduced themselves. Visitors within the Yearly Meeting introduced themselves. Staff of PYM introduced themselves.
Recent appointments as Elders rose and introduced themselves. The Clerk noted appreciation for the presence of Elders in the meeting and felt strengthened by their presence. He presented them with a pamphlet from Pendle Hill “Spirit Led Eldering”.
Revisions of the Agenda were discussed and APPROVED.
Eldering: Tom Armstrong (Plymouth MM) revisited the discussion held last month on Eldering. He said that there were more hopes than fears expressed, although the fears were expressed first. The discussion maintained the goal of “Holding the Meeting in the Light”. The query, “What cans’t thou say?” should remind us that as we need to listen to each other, we also need to feel heard, a need the Elders can help fill.
2. General Secretary’s Report
Arthur Larrabee started by making sure that all present had a copy of the booklet “The Work of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting”. The work has been arranged according to topics. This will make using the book as a reference much simpler. Contact information is provided for each area of “work”.
Staff Changes: Kathy Reilly will be retiring as of next July. Yesterday was the last day for Elizabeth Walmsley (Middle School Coordinator). Though no one can replace Elizabeth, her position will be filled by Stephen Dotson. The search for an Administrative Assistant for the General Secretary continues. We have filled the position of “Eco Justice Coordinator” with Michael Gagné who will be released as Sessions Coordinator at the end of this month. Arthur asked those present to spread the word that application for “Sessions Coordinator” are being accepted.
“PYM News” is being laid down and will be replaced by “PYM Today” which will be in a journal format. There will be more articles on issues of interest rather than just reporting on upcoming events. Electronic communication will be utilized to keep people informed of events.
Arthur attended the National Council of Churches General Assembly this past week and related the history of the involvement of PYM with this organization. Theme of the session “Rejoice Always, Pray Without Ceasing, In All Things, Give Thanks”. Many social concerns that the NCC has are the same as Religious Society of Friends. Arthur observed that Friends have a profound influence in this organization that is out of proportion to our actual number.
Arthur closed his report by providing time for members to share “Stories of Vitality and Growth”: (1) Exeter MM celebrated 250 years of the current meetinghouse, (2) Kennett MM will have its 53rd Quaker Fair on Saturday, the 21st, (3) Princeton Friends School has made a difference and is appreciated, (4) Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia has taken on Quaker Quest for April and May of 2010.
3. Schedule for Yearly Meeting Sessions
The Clerk stated that the 2006 Annual Session at DeSales University decided that PYM would meet in both March and July. How will we be continuing? Will we have a Residential Meeting or just meet at Arch Street? Now is the time to discuss the experience of Annual Sessions in preparation for a Threshing Session to be held in March. The Clerk proposed the following Process Minute for consideration:
The issue of scheduling Annual Sessions will be considered through a process of using this Interim Meeting today, then March Sessions 2010, then Summer Sessions 2010 to discuss, with the understanding that it would then be brought back to Interim Meeting in the fall of 2010 for a final decision.
A Friend noted that such a process would elevate Interim Sessions above Annual Sessions. Another noted that all meetings are part of continuing sessions. It was noted that a community of Friends attends all sessions, that breaking apart the discussion creates unnecessary divisions and that the issue could be taken up at Summer Sessions. Another noted that the experience of New England Yearly Meeting is that they are a smaller group than PYM but are able to get more people to Annual Sessions through encouraging families to attend regardless of cost. It was the sense of the meeting that this discussion should be continued in the small group breakouts planned to discuss Yearly Meeting Sessions.
Background documents for the group discussion were presented and described. They are (1) List of Queries, (2) Sessions Planning Group Response to Queries, (3) Input from attendees at Annual Sessions.
At this time the meeting settled into worship before breaking into their respective assigned group to discuss queries, (1) What is meaningful to you about YM Sessions? Or How do Yearly Meeting Sessions feed me spiritually? (2) What is the benefit (purpose, reason) for our Yearly Meeting gathering in YM Session? Or What feeds the spiritual life and practice of our Yearly Meeting?
After group discussion and a break, Friends reassembled at 12:10 p.m. and settled into worship in preparation for the various groups sharing their discussion. The Clerk called on the various groups to summarize their responses to the queries. The following responses were offered: Why two sessions? Importance of building community; richness of having so many different people worship and work together; needing to chose between sessions. You can’t just come once so how do we get people to come for the first time; sense of belonging to a larger body; excitement from Sessions want to share; how spirit is working among us; need for better scheduling for weekend; suggestion to have more Yearly Meeting Sessions to make up for lack of Quarterly Meeting activities in some Quarters; YM in session permits us to finish important business. Horizontal communication possible; strong sense of support and the experience of community; joy of being in a larger group together. Two different locations broadens experience. Opportunity to see ourselves as part of a mystical body of Christ, the experience of breaking down the ego. A late thought offered is that the Yearly Meeting Business Sessions can serve as a mode for Monthly Meetings. The Clerk noted that this exercise is an example of our vitality and growth. Ginny Connolly (Uwchlan MM, Downingtown) will be collating the various inputs from the notes and will append them to these minutes. (On website see Document titled "Notes of 11-14-09 Breakout Groups on YM Sessions.") A minute of appreciation for the work of Ginny Connolly during the absence of an Administrative Assistant was approved.
Discussion returned to the creation of a process to arrive at a decision. The clerk asked if the meeting was in agreement to bring the issue up for decision at Summer Yearly Meeting Sessions. The dates for sessions were 3/26/10 to 3/28/10 for the March Session and 7/28/10 to 8/1/10 for the Summer Session. The issue of coordination of the fiscal year with sessions was raised. The following minute was presented for consideration:
The issue of scheduling Yearly Meeting Sessions will be considered at a Threshing Session at both March Session and Summer Session and considered for approval at Summer Session. A process minute will be forwarded from March Session to July Session to keep continuity with our discussion. It is understood that the issue will be returned to Fall Interim Meeting if not resolved at Summer Session. APPROVED
The theme for 2010 Yearly Meeting Sessions is “We Make the Road by Walking.”
4. Development Report
Jan Hatchard (West Chester MM), Director of Development, reported that “Arts on Arch” was a success. It raised money for the Annual Fund and also proved that Quakers can have fun. Progress on Annual Fund goal of $500,000 is $86,214. The Development staff needs earlier commitments from Friends for effective fund raising and will ask Friends to make commitments before end of year. Fall phon-a-thon will be used in conjunction with appeal letters. Friends present were asked to share this information with their Monthly Meetings.
5. Haverford Quarter Concern
Steve Loughin (Old Haverford MM) reported that there is no active clerk for the Haverford Quarter and that there is no person in the Quarter willing to serve as Clerk. The Quarter met without a Clerk with 28 friends present. The Quarter is asking the Yearly Meeting to help with its governance by appointing a Clearness Committee. Interim Meeting was asked for its guidance.
Interim Meeting APPROVED establishing a Clearness Committee. The Clerk recorded the names suggested to be on this committee of no more than four to provide the requested guidance. The Clerk will consult with the Elders in appointing from the names suggested.
6. Minutes from Meeting of October 10, 2009
The minutes were presented for approval and APPROVED.
7. PYM Nomination Committee Report
The slate of appointments for approval was presented by Mark Harrison (Media MM), Co-Clerk, Nominating Committee.
Education Standing Committee
Name Monthly Meeting Quarterly Meeting Term Expires
Kori Heavner CPMM Philadelphia
Peace and Concerns Standing Committee
Name Monthly Meeting Quarterly Meeting Term Expires
George Willoughby CPMM Philadelphia
Worship and Care Standing Committee
Name Monthly Meeting Quarterly Meeting Term Expires
Maia Simon Trenton MM
Financial Stewardship Committee
Name Monthly Meeting Quarterly Meeting Term Expires
Walter Singer Abington MM
Quaker Information Center Board
Name Monthly Meeting Quarterly Meeting Term Expires
Greg Barnes
Ruth Seeley Germantown MM
All nominations were APPROVED.
8. Advisory Committee Report
Notes were available. They suggested that our discussion of articulating a statement of our core experience should be seasoned before being brought up for further discussion.
9. Standing Committee Report: Support & Outreach
Clerk Susan White (Princeton MM) reported on the work and the successes of the Quaker Quest Working Group. A number of Monthly Meetings are preparing to start Quaker Quest programs.
She also asked Friends to make suggestions about PYM Publications, as the Publications Services Group is under the care of the Standing Committee. These suggestions can be for new publication where there might be a perceived need, or revisions to existing publications.
10. Brief Announcements from Standing Committees
Pat Finley (Old Haverford MM), Clerk of Peace and Concerns Standing Committee made a few brief announcements.
Heeding God’s Call – Gun Violence Prevention asked people to contact their representatives about a potential gun law that would put into law permission for anyone who feels threatened and that they could shoot first and ask questions later;
P & C SC co-sponsored an interfaith conference on Peace in the Holy Land that would be held the following week;
Introduced Rich Dow (Lehigh Valley MM) who spoke of the Annual Peace march from Nazareth to Bethlehem that will be held in December and would feature the Reverend James Forbes.
Introduced Steve Loughin who reported on the progress of the Panel on a visit to Obama regarding the interaction of economics and ecology on Global Warming.
11. Closing Worship and Adjournment
After a period of silent worship, we adjourned at 1:00 p.m. to reconvene on January 7, 2010.
Thomas Swain, Clerk
David Rose, Recording Clerk
