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Meeting gathered at the appointed time Sixth-day morning, Third Month 22, 2002, and settled into worship. Clerk was Arlene Kelly, Alternate Clerks Dudley Heath and Richard Bernard and Recording Clerk Stephan de la Veaux.
- Minute 3: Clerk’s Welcome
Clerk welcomed Friends and introduced those on the facing bench. Friends welcomed Lauren Layton of Northern Yearly Meeting. Kenya Casanova Sales introduced herself and Cuba Yearly Meeting. That meeting was created with help from Friends United Meeting. They have about 600 members and have just celebrated their 75th anniversary. Before 1990, Friends were not persecuted per se, but treated with suspicion and some derision. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there has been general improvement in their treatment. She thanked Yearly Meeting for inviting her to speak.
- Minute 4: Approval of Epistle Committee
Proposed Epistle Committee members are Steve Gulick, Janny Sterrett, Dana Kester-McCabe and Thomas Swain. Janny Sterrett read the epistle from Intermountain Yearly Meeting. The epistle spoke of striving with one another while seeking unity.
- Minute 5: Friends Fiduciary Corporation
Connie Brookes of Haddonfield Meeting, Executive Director of Friends Fiduciary Corporation, introduced the members of Friends Fiduciary. Robert Hayden of Swarthmore Meeting and Treasurer of Friends Fiduciary presented the annual report. He discussed the Consolidated Fund, which is based on long-term total return (the sum of capital appreciation and dividends). Their investment horizon is five years or longer. They do not attempt to “time” the market on a short-term basis. The fund distributes income on a three-year rolling average. Fund balance is about 65% stocks, 35% bonds and is composed only of those fiscal entities considered “socially responsible”. During the last 20 to 30 years, the Consolidated Fund has averaged 13% versus 9% benchmark. Robert described the workings of the various committees in deciding what to invest and how. There are currently four stock managers and one bond manager.
During the past three years, a period of major stock retrenchment, the Consolidated Fund has performed well against the benchmark, but below the 6% income distribution goal. He noted that 1998 was a very poor year for the fund. Friends Fiduciary feels their cost structure to be quite frugal (0.5% of assets as against 1.5% average for mutual funds).
Robert finished by reviewing the newly-created “Planned Giving” program and encouraged Friends to look into it. Question and answers followed. Can we support entities already socially responsible rather than just avoid “bad apples”? Friend Fiduciary feels that this a decision for Yearly Meeting to decide, not Friends Fiduciary. He described how Friends Fiduciary decides what constitutes a socially responsible entity, of which environmental considerations are one. How does Friends Fiduciary handle proxy votes? Friends Fiduciary actively vets and votes in proxies based on socially-responsible criteria.
Meeting minuted its appreciation for Friends Fiduciary Corporation development of the Planned Giving program. This could be very helpful for a number of Quaker organizations and is a program far too complex for any one organization to administer. Clerk thanked Friends Fiduciary for their report.
- Minute 6: Nomination Committee
Richard Ailes introduced Friends from Nominating Committee. He asked all Friends so interested to fill out the questionnaire for the Talent and Interest Survey. Nominations will be approved during First-day morning session. Nominating Committee also sends, on occasion, nominations to Interim Meeting. Meeting approved for Interim Meeting to approve the nomination for second alternate clerk.
He then covered the highlights of the Nominating Committee report. He encouraged Yearly Meeting service. There are many places with many foci in which to serve. He outlined Yearly Meeting structure and how it exists to serve the concerns and leadings of Friends throughout Yearly Meeting. Nominating Committee has noted fewer resignations from committees and increasing rates of acceptances for service on Yearly Meeting standing committees. This is very encouraging. Several Quarterly Meetings are un- or under-represented on Nominating Committee. Richard urged Friends to serve on Nominating Committee, the members of which are appointed by the Quarterly Meetings. Clerk thanked Richard Ailes and Nominating Committee for their very hard work on behalf of Yearly Meeting.
- Minute 7: Membership Statistics
Allen Reeder of Abington Meeting reviewed membership statistics. Yearly Meeting membership increased by 26 Friends, including Moorestown Meeting associates members. Some concern was expressed at the accuracy and completeness of the records; some meetings have not sent in their latest statistics. Friends wondered whether, with the dropping of the Quota, there is any incentive to maintain accurate records? How many active members do we have? Other Friends were confused about associate membership. Allen Reeder read from Faith and Practice concerning associate membership. Clerk thanked Allen Reeder.
- Minute 8: Treasurer’s Report
Clerk introduced Dennis O’Brien of Providence Meeting, Treasurer of Yearly Meeting. Yearly Meeting audit was completed successfully and all financial statements are in order. We had a surplus of $50,000. Only concerns were the Annual Fund, which fell short by 10%, and the 7% unrealized loss in investments. Average loss for nonprofits last year was reported as 11%. Dennis thanked PYM staff for increasingly clear financial statements – we have come a long way!
- Minute 9: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Budget
Jacqueline Bowers, Clerk of Financial Stewardship Committee, introduced the members of that committee. Jackie discussed the working of the Financial Stewardship Committee, which is composed of at-large members and representatives of all standing committees. The committee is well placed to receive input from many sources. She asked all Friends to take the Financial Stewardship Committee survey to their meeting, fill it out and send it back. Previous surveys have had about a 50% response. These surveys are valuable as guidance to the Financial Stewardship Committee. She also asked the gathered Friends: How long do we squeeze every program in order to balance the budget? How do we discern what to cut and what to increase?
The proposed budget was then reviewed with comparisons to the current budget and previous year’s actuals noted. Financial Stewardship Committee is glad to provide more detailed versions of the budget to any Friend so interested. Jackie spoke of the seeming “magic” of budget development. What appears to form effortlessly, like magic, is really due to a lot of work to fit income with expenditures. The standing committees had to cut programs to balance the budget. Questions were answered, mainly on the budget process after the Budget Conference and whether staff wages are in line with “living wages” guidelines. Meeting approved the proposed budget as presented. Friends thanked those responsible for developing the budget and the necessary documents for their hard work and professional quality.
Consideration then moved towards discerning where Yearly Meeting should place its resources. Friends noted that “we keep trimming the status quo, while adding very little that is new.” There seems to be a sense of “last hired, first fired” with regard to programs. What have we already cut? Can we at least keep a record of these hoped-for programs for later consideration? Should all Friends be apprised of the Yearly Meeting budget, including income needs, to help Friends decide how much to give? Others noted that, with the large disparity in incomes, this might not be that helpful. Finally, can the survey be on the web? This might encourage meetings to send their surveys in. Clerk reviewed the comments by asking: “What would be the ways that inspire Friends to give? What is needed to make you feel more inclined to give?”
Minutes were read, corrected and approved and announcements given. After a brief period of worship, Meeting adjourned, to reconvene in the afternoon at 1:45 p.m.
Stephan de la Veaux, recording clerk
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM