 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2003 (XXXXI 1) |
Editor’s Note: PYM appoints some 44 members to the Central Committee of Friends General Conference. Our youngest appointee, Andrew Esser-Haines, 17, reports here on the annual meeting held in November.A highlight of Central Committee for me was the relaxed confidence of our clerk, Janice Domanik of Illinois Yearly Meeting. It allowed the group to have a more enjoyable and interactive experience than I’m used to. Instead of breaks, we took “field trips,” because field trips have a definite end, which breaks never appear to have among Quakers. At different points, Janice would reward us by handing out mints or directing us through how to stretch appropriately while still maintaining a silent meeting environment. The last notable action of Central Committee was to approve our new clerk, Marian Beane of Piedmont Friends Fellowship. This came after a day of on-and-off memories and appreciations for outgoing clerk Janice Domanik and her six years of service.
150 Friends were gathered in New Windsor, Maryland, for these meetings of the governing body of FGC held October 31 to November 3. Central Committee operates through nine administrative committees and six program committees, all of which have separate meetings throughout the year to do their business, which they bring back to this annual meeting. (The administrative committees consist of: Nominating, Advisory, Development, Discernment in Long-Term Planning (DiLPT), Financial, Personnel, Property, Blue Book, and the Committee for Ministry on Racism. The program committees consist of: Advancement and Outreach, Christian and Interfaith Relations, Long-range Conference Planning, Ministry and Nurture, Publications and Distribution, Religious Education.)
Overall, FGC is doing well both financially and programmatically. The majority of the meetings were reports back from the committees on actions they’d taken and actions they needed Central Committee’s approval on. Ministry and Nurture reported on the growth of its Traveling Ministries Program that encourages seasoned Friends to visit Meetings and share their knowledge and experience. The major task: matching seasoned Friends with requests for visitors. Long-range Conference Planning brought a report on the possible problems and solutions involving a gathering in western Canada. Central Committee minuted its purpose to hold the 2006 Gathering at a site in British Columbia. We also approved Gathering sites for the next two years: 2004 – University of Massachusetts, Amherst; 2005 – Virginia Tech, Blacksburg.
Twenty of us met as a delegation from PYM on Saturday afternoon for twenty minutes to nominate a representative to the Executive Committee (which includes one person from each affiliated Yearly Meeting and the committee clerks, and makes decisions between meetings). We nominated Robert Shaffer of London Grove Meeting (PA).
Every morning we held small worship sharing groups as a chance for Friends to be spiritual without the necessity to work for the entire time. Another highlight of our time together was Sixth-day morning when the Discernment in Long-Term Planning Committee presented its thoughts for the next five years and asked Friends to share out of the silence what their concerns and ideas were for the years to come. This seemed to be one of the best times for spirit-led discernment, a time for worship without an intended outcome. It allowed people to bring forward issues that had not had a space before and for the group to consider new paths. A few of the most prominent concerns included the concern for our environment, and the way that Central Committee and the committees of FGC take on nurturing our youth. On that same note there were seven younger Friends at the meetings, which I believe is an all-time high.
Andrew Esser-Haines
Central Philadelphia Meeting
PYM appointee to FGC Central Committee since 2000
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM