Dear Kelly,
We know that you are familiar with New England Yearly Meeting’s long internal struggle with the nature of our relationship with Friends United Meeting.
For more than 10 years we had in place a mechanism which allowed monthly meetings to withhold, from their contribution to NEYM, the amount which would otherwise have gone to FUM. The minute which established that policy also created a fund whereby Friends who believed deeply in the work of FUM could make up that discrepancy. I believe through much of this period, FUM received most if not all of the budgeted annual amount.
At our 2019 sessions the clerk found that we did not have unity to continue the existing policy, naming a sunset of October 2020. That sunset was extended to 2021 because of the pandemic and the sense that the concern was too big to address during our first business sessions on Zoom. This summer we again wrestled with how to balance the concerns of those Friends with a long-standing belief in the value and the work of FUM, and those whose conscience does not allow them to give money to an organization that effectively discriminates against some of the most beloved members of our Yearly Meeting.
The resolution this summer was two-fold: we established a new fund to which individuals and monthly meetings can contribute, whose collected monies with be given annually to organizations working for LGBTQIA+ safety and well-being. We will also allow monthly meetings to redirect the portion of their NEYM contribution which would have gone to FUM to this fund. While the policy does not include a fund to make up the discrepancy, Friends who believe in the work of, and our membership in, FUM are encouraged to give directly to FUM.
This solution remains imperfect. Some Friends have noted the lack of integrity of stating (in our budget) an intention of giving one amount, then giving less. Others feel that that withholding money in this way is a tool of empire. And while we found unity to approve this new policy, it is a unity founded on our desire to remain together (as NEYM) rather than a unity of commitment to membership (or disaffiliation) in FUM.
The establishing minute for this policy does clarify, as the original 2009 minute did not, that the withholding of funds is not intended as financial leverage. This new policy is, as one Friend noted, a pastoral care gesture for monthly meetings.
The enclosed check in the amount $4,478.86 reflects the second installment of the budgeted amount coming from our regular operating budget in our normal practice. The remaining $2,058.64 was withheld by our monthly meetings as a matter of conscience. This latter amount is being partially made up by a second check for $711.81, the final payment from the old “discrepancy” fund I mention in the second paragraph.
Yours in peace,
Robert Murray
Treasurer
Bruce Neuman
Presiding Clerk