On Saturday, October 11, 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 week following the meeting.
Each month the council chooses one item from their agenda or conversation to highlight. This month they are highlighting the Minute of Support for the LGBTQIA+ Community and the request for follow-up action.
This month’s Joint Council meeting was the first business meeting of the councils since Annual Sessions, where the Minute of Support was presented to & accepted by the body. In the intervening months, the sprint that created the minute met again to create a version of the minute for public distribution that removes Quaker lingo and steps the yearly meeting will take. In addition they recommended a list of organizations & platforms to send the minute to, and some suggested follow-up actions to further demonstrate support for the LGBTQIA+ community. It was decided that the Presiding Clerk and General Secretary will write a cover letter to accompany the minute when it is sent to third parties.
With Continuing Sessions next month, the next Joint Council meeting will be on December 13.
