In a moment of spontaneous celebration, Administrative Council (AC) members interrupted their meeting in January to march over to the next room and inform a meeting of the Quaker Life Committee (QLC) of the exciting news that they had just allocated $75,000 to create a Strategic Project Reserve for Fiscal Year 20016. This allocation was possible because PYM’s auditors had submitted an unqualified (“clean”) report—no discrepancies or looming threats were uncovered. So after applying $225,000 to the yearly meeting’s reserves, the AC was confident that this amount could be spent on behalf of strategic directions in the long range plan, including programming under the QLC. AC Clerk Bruce Haines writes, “We are hopeful that this reserve will allow PYM to engage in . . . the tested leadings shared by our members and that members of PYM will be pleased to see their financial gifts to PYM making a difference in what we can collectively fund and do as PYM!”
The AC is focusing its energies on PYM’s long range strategic goal “to simplify and focus governance and administration.” Other recent achievements of the AC include completion and approval of a job description for PYM’s treasurer and a conflict of interest policy for all councils. These documents, and the work of the AC’s committees on finance, governance, and property, are pursued with careful attention to concerns of stewardship, accountability, and integrity.
