On Saturday, February 14, the three councils that support Philadelphia Yearly Meeting—Quaker Life Council, Administrative Council, and Nominating Council—held their meeting in the joint format. In this structure, all three councils meet together as one Joint Council to worship, discern, and conduct business collaboratively. Their practice is to share the minutes in a news story with the PYM community in the weeks following the meeting.
Each month, the council selects one item from its agenda or conversation to lift up. This month, the council is lifting up the continued discernment of how the these monthly joint meetings are going.
Friends shared that there is a spiritual aspect that is apparent in this new joint format. Friends shared that the three councils are functioning better because there is unity among them, and there is more assurance in what is presented to the body.
With the experiment continuing, Friends wondered if the councils need to meet every month and how best they can support Friends’ witness in the world. Further discernment by Governance Advisory Committee is needed to reach a timely decision about the council’s long-term structure and functioning.
