Annual Sessions minutes | August 9, 2012

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Saturday Evening, August 4

1. Friends gathered on Saturday evening, August 4, 2012, at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, for our 352nd Annual Sessions. Our theme this year is “Choose Integrity: Living with Integrity in a Time of Change.” Out of the opening worship we were welcomed by our presiding clerk Jacqueline Stillwell (Monadnock) who shared some of her reflections on our theme. Living with integrity asks that we bring our whole selves, our faithful and serious selves and our joyful and silly selves. In a time of change, living with integrity requires us to be obedient to God. It requires that we stay in those places that make us uncomfortable and find what God requires of us in that place. As we share meals and visit with each other this week we can ask each other “How is Spirit moving in your life? How are you living with integrity in this time of change?”

2. The presiding clerk introduced those sitting with her at the clerk’s table: Rebecca Leuchak (Providence), Brian Drayton (Weare) and Will Taber (Fresh Pond), recording clerks; Will Jennings (Beacon Hill) and Beth Bussiere-Nichols (Portland), reading clerks. Rebecca Leuchak is unable to perform the full duties of recording clerk because of a hand injury. Friends approved with gratitude the appointment of Will Taber to serve as recording clerk for these Sessions.

3. The reading clerks read the roll of meetings by quarters. Members of each quarter stood and waved when their meeting was named.

4. The clerk acknowledged first-time attenders, asking them to stand. The clerk took a census of the sustainable ways by which people came to Sessions, including walking, bicycling, public transportation and carpool of four or more people.

5. The following welcome visitors have attended our Sessions: Debka Colson (Celo MM, Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting & Association) and Keith Harvey with the American Friends Service Committee; Christine Greenland (Plymouth MM, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting) with the Tract Association of Friends; Laura Dungan (University MM, Great Plains Yearly Meeting) and Aaron Fowler (Heartland MM, Great Plains Yearly Meeting), our Bible Half-Hour Speakers; Bernardo Pereira, an exchange student; Alicia McBride (Sandy Spring MM, Baltimore Yearly Meeting), Cassidy Regan and executive secretary Diane Randall (Hartford) with the Friends Committee on National Legislation; Eden, Jim, Isaiah and Jesse Grace (Beacon Hill MM, NEYM) with Friends United Meeting; Colin Saxton (Newberg MM, Northwest Yearly Meeting), general secretary of Friends United Meeting; Puente visitors Miledys Batista (Holguín MM, Cuba Yearly Meeting) and Dennis Bauta (Banes MM, Cuba Yearly Meeting); Joe Crookston, our Tuesday night performer; former New Englanders Richard and Suzanne Frechette (Ft. Myers MM, Southeastern Yearly Meeting); Jennifer Bowman (Camden MM, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting); Anne Pomeroy (New Paltz MM, New York Yearly Meeting); Liz Yeats (Austin MM, South Central Yearly Meeting), our Yearly Meeting News Editor; and Miranda Garman (Sandy Spring MM, Baltimore Yearly Meeting).

6. The clerk introduced NEYM staff in attendance and thanked them for their work for the Yearly Meeting.

See Staff Roster, p.5

7. The clerk asked the members of the Sessions Committee and the volunteers who work to make Sessions happen to stand. We held these people in grateful prayer. Jean McCandless, Sessions Committee clerk, spoke of the work that the committee has done this year. She said that in doing it, she has borne in mind a quotation from Rosalie Bertell, physician and environmental health advocate: “The continuity of life, the call for making things better for the next generation, blots out all hesitation. We have to be part of something larger than ourselves, because our dreams are often bigger than our lifetimes.” Jean introduced Childcare coordinators Karen Sánchez-Eppler (Northampton) and Sarah Hunter (Northampton), who introduced their staff. Betty Ann Lee (Westport), Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) coordinator introduced the JYM staff. Gretchen Baker-Smith (Westport), Junior High Yearly Meeting (JHYM) coordinator, introduced the JHYM staff. Young Friends/Young Adult Friends coordinator Nia Thomas (Lawrence) introduced the Young Friends (YF) staff.

8. The clerk introduced the Unity Agenda, which had been included in the Advance Documents for prior review. Friends were encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Unity Agenda, read the written information pertaining to each item in the Advance Documents and consult with the Friends listed as resource people about any questions or concerns, in order to be ready to act on the items without the need for discussion on Sunday evening.

This process helps us free additional time for corporate worship and discernment. The following items were initially included on the Unity Agenda:

• Accepting Staff Reports
• Accepting Committee Reports
• Approving Nominating Committee Recommendations
• Approving Clerks’ Table Nomination Recommendations
• Approving Bank Resolutions
• Approving Continued Employment of Nathaniel Shed & Jonathan Vogel-Borne
• Approving Clerks’ Authorization to Make Edits & Corrections
• See Minute 16 for the continuation of this item.

9. We appointed the following people to be representatives to the various parts of our larger body:

• To Childcare: Jacqui Clark (Vassalboro) and Martha McManamy (Amesbury).
• To grades K–2: Skip Schiel (Cambridge) and Mary Gilbert (Cambridge)
• To grades 3–4: Heidi Nortonsmith (Northampton), Daphne Clement (Durham) and Elisabeth Dearborn (Putney).
• To grades 5–6: Allison Randall (Keene) and Charlie Morse (Allen’s Neck).
• To JHYM: Denise Hart (Cambridge) and Carolyn Stone (Wellesley).
• To YFs: Leslie Manning (Durham) and Anna Barnett (Portland)
• To Young Adult Friends (YAFs): Debbie Humphries (Hartford), Minga Claggett-Borne (Cambridge) and Marcia Winters (Keene).

See Minute 64 for the continuation of this item.

10. We concluded the evening with a moment of worship and adjourned to our Anchor Groups.

Sunday Morning & Afternoon, August 5

11. During this morning’s worship, intergenerational worship was led by the travellers from NEYM to the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) Sixth World Conference of Friends held in Kenya this April. They were joined by Ernest Cooper and Mathilde Ndayizeye (originally from Burundi, now in Portland) and our visitors from Cuba. We were called to worship by drumming and sang hymns in numerous languages, thus giving us a flavor of the diversity at the conference. Readers offered Bible verses in different languages. Dorothy Grannell told two stories about salt and light for the children. Following a period of open, waiting worship, we heard extended reflections from Nancy Shippen (Fresh Pond), Minga Claggett-Borne (Cambridge), Frederick Martin (Monadnock) and Rosemary Zimmerman (Burlington). We heard how Friends in East Africa have brought forth ministries of healing, reconciliation and non-violence training out of the darkness of genocide and violence. We were challenged to break our stereotypes of other branches of Quakerism. We were asked to see where we are narrow-minded, proud and self-righteous. We need to be faithful to God’s promptings in humility and love. The morning session concluded with the reading of the epistle from the conference.

12. On Sunday afternoon, Steven Curwood (Dover) spoke to us about “Sustainable Abundance,” into which we were invited by singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” Climate change is a present and intensifying challenge. What resources do we have with which to respond? The Inward Light is an essential foundation. Friends traditionally have seen this Inward Light as meaning Christ, a messiah bringing the word of God to all of us. Each of us has that of Christ within us, and it’s when we reflect this Light out into the world that cool stuff happens.

But there is another resource available to us. We are placed in an exquisitely beautiful Creation. We speak about getting out into nature to get close to God, but another name for God is nature. A harmonious relationship with Nature and Nature’s God is envisioned even in the Genesis creation story. The phrases about “subduing the earth” and “having dominion” have been taken to mean that humans have license to exploit nature heedlessly. On deeper reading, however, it is clear that dominion as outright oppression isn’t what was meant, but rather stewardship. The Scripture is very clear that the abuse of nature is not to be condoned. This responsibility is part of our human dignity — we are made in part in God’s image. With Christ within us, there’s something about our shape that is about God. We have more power, and therefore more responsibility, to uplift, care for, nurture.

The same sentiment is found in the Qur’an, which says that Allah “honored Man to be his agent, purified his affections, gave him understanding and special insight so that he could understand nature and know God through His wondrous signs.” We were also given free will so that we can experience the joy of being in harmony with the Infinite. Free will can be seen as part of the creativity of God, so that we could try things out in a world that changes, sometimes in response to our own actions. In this context, we have the responsibility to live in a way that respects nature and nature’s processes. Sustainable abundance is one way to describe that approach. It’s entirely possible — the best example is Nature itself.

Energy abundance is not a problem, even though we need to switch away from fossil fuels. The sun provides us energy in plenty. We don’t have to “do without” if we deploy our resources with sustainability in mind. We have plenty of room for consumption that resonates with the spirit.

But climate change poses problems that cannot be solved by individual actions alone. We have a system that is not designed to make the changes we need possible, sharing the abundance effectively. An argument based on political and technical processes won’t mobilize the societal response that’s needed.

Here is where we can return to our foundation, the Inward Light, and see that our response must be framed as a moral cause. Such figures as Lucretia Mott, Gandhi and Desmond Tutu confronted the ills of their time by working from a moral place — as Friends would say, working from the Christ within. This is what we need to do if we want to move forward and have any hope of affecting change. We need to rise up and follow what God has in mind for us. We have a loving and powerful Creator who gave us Nature, and we can pattern our living on Nature’s example of sustainable abundance. As with the revolution in South Africa, truth and reconciliation — truth and forgiveness — are needed, since we are all part of the system that must change. We must also be mindful of the sacrifice and labor of the many people who built the current system.

The only way we can do this is if we tap our faith. So many of our moral stories are about hopeless challenges, overwhelming odds, from David and Goliath, to Jesus and the Romans and the entrenched powers of his time. It was the power of love that Jesus tapped into, and it is available now.

Steve said we don’t need an Earthcare testimony because our peace testimony addresses the war we are making on God and God’s creation. Are we ready to stop, love, forgive and move forward? The time is rapidly coming when climate disruption will break the system. The politics of hate and the entrenched powers controlling our political system will tend to push towards a fortress response. We can build the infrastructure to work on the huge task of adaptation in love rather than hate. Steve encouraged us to “Get your hands in the dirt, and you can feel the love — the miracle of seeds — whether the seed of Christ within us or the seeds waiting in the ground to spring into life.” We shall overcome!

Sunday Evening, August 5

13. Friends gathered in worship on Sunday evening, and out of the silence a reading clerk read the 2012 epistle from Intermountain Yearly Meeting.

14. The clerk asked our representatives to American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Friends Peace Teams, William Penn House, Quaker Earthcare Witness and the various councils of churches to stand and we held them in prayer.

15. The members of the Faith and Practice Revision Committee were called forward to stand on stage while we held them in prayer and gratitude for their many years of faithful service. Janet Hoffman (Mt. Toby), committee clerk, reviewed the process of revising Faith and Practice, upon which they have been working for 10 years so far and spoke of the joy they have found in the work. She noted that the original 16 members of the committee are now down to 11. Any Friends led to this work are encouraged to contact the Nominating Committee.

Janet then presented the draft of Chapter 1: “Illustrative Experiences of Friends.” This chapter will be brought forward for preliminary approval later in this Yearly Meeting.

The introduction was read aloud. We then settled into worship. Several Friends offered comments out of the silence. As always, Friends with comments and concerns on this or any chapter are encouraged to seek out the members of the committee.

See Minutes 21 and 57 for the continuation of this item.

16. The clerk again explained the Unity Agenda (See minute 8), which comprises items that need to be approved by the body but which we anticipate will not require discussion before being approved.

• Friends accepted the staff reports. (See p.58.)
• Friends accepted the committee reports. (See p.64.)
• Friends approved the clerks for 2013: Yearly Meeting presiding clerk, Jaqueline Stillwell (Monadnock); recording clerks Karen Sánchez-Eppler (Northampton) and Will Taber (Fresh Pond); reading clerks Susan Davies (Vassalboro) and Will Jennings (Beacon Hill).
• Friends approved the Bank Resolution minute. (See p.41.)
• Friends approved the continuing employment of Jonathan Vogel-Borne as Yearly Meeting secretary through January 2013 and Nathaniel Shed, Friends Camp director, for the year 2012–13.
• Friends approved the minute authorizing the clerks to make edits and corrections to the minutes. (See p.41.)

The clerk stated that, following a conversation with the Nominating Committee, the nominating slate would be removed from the Unity Agenda for separate consideration Wednesday.

See Minute 56 for the continuation of this item.

17. The clerk asked members of the Puente de Amigos Committee to stand, as well as those members of the Yearly Meeting who have visited Cuba this year. Friends honored them and held them in prayer. Jennifer Baily (Fresh Pond) spoke of her visit to Cuba this year. She described an experience of walking up 465 steps to a shrine in Holguín. Friends helped each other and encouraged each other on the climb. She told how, after a brief time of unprogrammed worship, a Cuban Friend told her that usually he talks to God, but this time he listened to God. She felt that she was embraced by the love of Cuban Friends throughout the trip.

18. Friends heard memorial minutes for Arthur J. Pennell and Katherine Perry.

See Memorial Minutes, p.24.

Monday Morning, Hiroshima Day, August 6

19. We heard the epistle from Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative), which spoke of the need in our loneliness for a community in which we can know each other in that which is eternal. The yearly meeting session focused on the testimonies as living expressions of God’s love and our gifts and callings as responses, testimonies, to that love. They wrote with joy that, after 15 years, they had concluded their revision of their book of discipline.

20. We held in prayer and appreciation the Committee on Aging. Eleanor Cappa (Monadnock), clerk, spoke of the joy of this committee’s work and its exploration of the integrity that is called for as we age. She invited Friends to participate in the work of this committee and encouraged all committees to seek members who bring the wisdom of age.

21. Janet Hoffman (Mt. Toby), clerk for the Faith and Practice Revision Committee, presented the draft of Chapter 11: “General Advices and Queries,” which we will consider for preliminary approval later in this Session. She spoke briefly of the process out of which this chapter emerged. In 2002–2003, the committee compiled advices and queries from various sources that had life for the committee at that time and then let that compilation rest. In 2007, they began work on a working paper for this chapter and distributed it in 2009. Janet noted that the Christian Education Committee (now Quaker Youth Education) at that time had developed children’s queries, and it is expected that some of these will find their way into the final discipline in other chapters. Still, Friends are asked to consider the usefulness of these proposed advices and queries for children.

Janet reminded Friends that the committee has been led to write a Faith and Practice in a different form from earlier editions, no longer keeping “faith” and “practice” in separate sections. This has meant that Friends (on the committee and in the Yearly Meeting at large) are asked to rethink their presuppositions about how a Faith and Practice should look. In line with this thinking, there are advices and queries on specific topics, as well as theology, description and history integrated within most chapters of the book. In the chapter on “General Advices and Queries,” the committee sought to address fundamental aspects of a faithful life, lived under the guidance of an Inward Teacher. The “General Advices and Queries” are therefore intended to be basic challenges which can help Friends and meetings move the next step forward in their spiritual growth and thus are closely tied to the chapters on “Testimonies” and the “Illustrative Experiences of Friends.”

Janet further said that this new edition will be an adventure in language. The committee has wrestled with a creative tension: Many of us find the “Faith and Practice language” of the past evocative. Some of this remains, of course, but the committee has also sought opportunities to use language that is as accessible and contemporary as possible.

Members of the committee read the introduction to the chapter, and Friends spoke to the chapter out of worship. All comments will be gratefully received and carefully considered, both during this Yearly Meeting and in the coming year.

See Minute 57 for the continuation of this item.

22. Friends recognized the members of the Permanent Board and held them in prayer with appreciation for their work. Edward Baker (Westerly), clerk of Permanent Board, articulated his understanding that the Board is the continuation of this body between Sessions. All are welcome to attend. Members are appointed to assure continuity of attention and knowledge about the business before the meeting.

23. Edward then reported on the Board’s action in selling the New England Friends Home property as authorized in NEYM minute 2011-31. The Friends Home property has been sold to the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association, and it will be used to turn the Thayer House into the first residential hospice care facility on the South Shore. The final price was $1.625 million. The Yearly Meeting secretary’s report (See p.36) details the way the transaction has been conducted. The proceeds have been placed in a separate fund within our Pooled Funds.

He expressed warm thanks to the Friends Home Committee for their care in closing the home; to the Ad Hoc Committee for its work in overseeing and managing the sale and to Yearly Meeting secretary Jonathan Vogel-Borne, who was required to undertake a large amount of unexpected work in connection with the closing and sale of the Home.

24. Edward then reported on the Board’s action in exploring possible use of the proceeds of the sale as requested in NEYM minute 2011-32. Permanent Board appointed an ad hoc committee to develop a process by which the Yearly Meeting could seek a godly use of the resources represented by the proceeds from this fund. Holly Baldwin (Fresh Pond), clerk of this ad hoc committee, recommended that the process be broadly participatory, be seasoned through the monthly, quarterly and finally Yearly meetings, and include a deep consideration by individuals, committees and meetings about how we understand, use and manage money. In discussion, Friends asked that this process be framed so that it benefits the way we understand and care for all our resources and assets. When we have engaged deeply and broadly in this conversation, we will be prepared to consider how to use the money in our care. The ad hoc committee purposed to hold several sessions at Yearly Meeting to start this process.

Monthly meetings will be asked to carry the conversation forward during the year. This consideration will be shepherded by a new committee appointed to develop and oversee this process. Friends were invited to nominate themselves or others to join that committee by contacting Holly Baldwin. The decision about how we choose to dispose of these funds will be brought back to a future Yearly Meeting session.

Friends acknowledge with sorrow that in the process of the Friends Home closing and sale, we have become aware of serious deficiencies in the management and oversight of the Home in recent years. Acknowledging these failings, we take seriously the necessity for careful and transparent stewardship moving forward.

See Minute 46 for the continuation of this item.

25. Edward Baker reported on the search for a Yearly Meeting secretary and brought forward the Permanent Board’s recommendation that Noah Baker Merrill (Putney) be hired for this position, his employment to begin January 1, 2013. After a time of prayer, Friends gladly accepted this recommendation.

Bruce Neumann (Fresh Pond), clerk, introduced the rest of the Search Committee and briefly described their process, detailed in their report (See p.37.)

Friends made clear their intent to provide Noah the support he will need as he takes up his work for and with us. As a formal part of this care, Personnel and Coordinating & Advisory Committees will create a transition and support plan.

Several New England Friends applied for this position, but were not chosen. As we reflected on the search itself, Friends voiced concern that the committee had in some cases not communicated clearly with some applicants from the Yearly Meeting and had interviewed only a small number of them. The applicants made an important offering of their gifts to the community; we are thankful for this act of generosity and for their continued exercise of their gifts among us. Friends expressed a further recognition that we must improve how we tenderly and wisely acknowledge and encourage all gifts among us, which are precious resources to our community and through us to the world. As George Fox reminded us, “each hath a gift and is serviceable.”

Monday Afternoon, August 6

26. The Monday afternoon plenary session was a panel presentation on “Living a Life of Integrity.” Jeremiah Dickinson (Wellesley) introduced the panel with a disclaimer that each one of them, when asked, responded, “Why are you asking me?” None of them wanted to be held up as paragons of virtue. We have asked these Friends to put their lamps on the table, not because they are exceptional, but so that their stories might illuminate our own attempts at integrity.

Caleb Smith (Concord) is a student at Scattergood Friends School. When he was first learning about the Quaker testimonies, integrity was the one that he didn’t quite get. He came to understand that integrity means living your values and what you believe to be true even if it is not popular. Integrity is not easy. He told of his decision to bike to the Friends General Conference Gathering and to Yearly Meeting Sessions. This was much harder than getting in the car, turning on the air conditioning and following the GPS. Because he is clerk of his school’s business meeting, he took Arthur Larabee’s workshop on clerking at the Gathering. This was hard because spending time with friends was an important part of the Gathering and none of them were taking the workshop. Integrity might require us to make hard choices but it is better than compromising and taking the easy way out.

Katherine Fisher (Beacon Hill) thought first about talking about her war tax resistance story because it is neat and easily contained, but instead felt she needed to talk about her dealing with issues of climate change, even though it was a messier story. Integrity is living as if the truth is really true. Climate change is scary and sad, and if we really believe it is true, it will make us scared and sad. At first she tried to live the purest life she could but she found that she became harsh and strict with herself. She came to see that she could not stop climate change by herself. What brought her back to hope was working with the Young Adult Friends Climate Working Group. She could get hope, strength and community from working together. The Friends traditions of community, simplicity and raising a ruckus provide a good background for this work. There are many things we can do. We can change our relationship to transportation. We can grow our own food or use our meetinghouses as a drop-off point for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) distributions. Our quarterly meetings can create revolving funds to allow people to install solar panels and other renewable energy sources. We can also participate in non-violent direct action. All of these things build community and deepen our faith.

Jim Giddings (Monadnock) made a commitment in the fall of 2001 to stand in front of the Town House in Peterborough, NH, every Saturday to witness that there was way other than war, but the burden of his presentation was about the integrity of his friend, Allison Kaufhold, who joined his vigil and continued it until she was 90 years old. Her life and death was a witness to ingrained simplicity. Integrity implies predictability and consistency. This has to come from deep within and not from a desire to appear better than we are. We can build up an integrity in community that is greater than our individual integrity.

Nancy Shippen (Fresh Pond) moved to the suburbs 30 years ago. One day as she was driving by Concord Prison, she heard a voice ask, “Who is your neighbor?” In answering this question, she was led into prison work. She used to enjoy traveling, but her prison work killed her wanderlust. Yet now her prison work leads her to travel all over the world. She has been blessed to have found the Alternatives to Violence (AVP) Program. It has provided a deep experience of coming into community. In the AVP program, participants are asked to give themselves nicknames that express some positive aspect of themselves that they value. After trying various options, she found her AVP name: Natural Nancy: what you see is what you get. Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. This has grown to include the realization that we are all connected. My neighbor is everyone. My family is everyone. How do I walk lightly on the earth with those who do not share my privilege?

Monday Evening. August 6

27. We heard the 2012 epistle from Australia Yearly Meeting. The epistle begins with gratitude to the indigenous community on whose land they met and in recognition of the long history of that people and the injustices visited upon them through many generations. We heard also how indigenous communities may be empowered through a “whole of life” approach. Friends pondered the question, “What does love require of us?” as they acknowledged the challenges of opportunity and busyness. How shall we live so that time is not what keeps the Light from reaching us? Friends reflected with humble gratitude on the many things that a small, faithful Quaker community has been able to accomplish, while seeking to live a more Light-filled, flourishing life, practicing the gospel of hope, leaving despair and complacency behind and getting down to work.

28. The Racial, Social & Economic Justice Committee gave a presentation to begin educating Friends about the “Doctrine of Discovery” and its onerous impact on First Nation peoples and African-Americans. A broad coalition of religious organizations, including the World Council of Churches and several other yearly meetings are working to motivate nations to repudiate this exploitative ideology.

The committee has proposed a comprehensive minute on this issue (See p.38) to be brought forward in 2013. In order to prepare Friends to act on this minute, the committee is beginning a year-long effort to distribute information and stimulate discussion in all our meetings about this issue.

Jamie Bissonette Lewey from the Maine American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) Healing Justice program, herself Abenaki, began her presentation with a prayer in Abenaki. She gave an overview of the history of this “doctrine,” implemented through many church and government acts during the “age of discovery.” This doctrine essentially negated the human status of indigenous peoples and justified the institution of slavery and the practice of genocide. This was done in order to legitimize Europeans’ territorial claims in the western hemisphere and delegitimize the cultures, rights, languages and religions of native peoples.

The negative consequences of past abuses continue to this day for the victimized peoples and for all of us. Moreover, the ideas of this doctrine, long established in Western culture, continue to legitimize U.S. military interventions abroad and the abrogation of native peoples’ rights in the US, Canada and other former colonies in many different ways. Indeed, colonization has not stopped.

James Varner (Orono) spoke to this issue from the perspective of the slave trade, with which Friends among others have a long involvement and urged Friends to respond to the committee’s request to participate in the repudiation of the doctrine of discovery.

Keith Harvey, director of the northeast region of AFSC, told us that Friends’ engagement with this issue is important because it touches on many of our testimonies, including peace and integrity — the focus of our Session’s teaching this year. Quakers’ thoughtful and committed participation has more wide-reaching effects than we know.

The RSEJ Committee offers a year of listening and learning circles and invites all Friends and meetings to participate in this important ally work with aboriginal communities and others involved in this effort. Friends considered this invitation in silent prayer, with thanks to the committee for bringing this issue to us.

29. We were glad to hold the Quaker Youth Education Committee and its clerk Ginna Schonwald (Dover) in appreciative prayer. Amid the good news about the committee’s work, Ginna explained that the committee does not have enough members. How do we support a living Quaker faith in our young people in our meetings and homes? This is vital work, and more Friends are needed to help it forward. Friends who wish to join this committee should speak to the Nominating Committee.

30. We held the Board of Managers of Investments and Permanent Funds in prayer, with thanks for their work on our behalf. We held the Finance Committee in prayer, with thanks for their work on our behalf.

31. Treasurer Edward Mair (Amesbury) spoke to his report, starting with his thanks for the strong collaboration of the Finance Committee and the work of our accounts manager, Frederick Martin (Monadnock). He pointed out that our revenues are down and our expenses are up. The budget being presented is balanced, but this is because it includes a “funding challenge” of $38,000. This will require Friends to contribute at a higher level than achieved this year so far. Friends noted that as we have become accustomed to incorporating individual contributions into our budget projections, we have thereby built in more uncertainty about our revenues, and we should consider the implications of this carefully.

32. Maria Lamberto (New Haven), clerk of Finance Committee, presented the proposed 2013 budget for our first consideration. Individual contributions to the Yearly Meeting are less than expected both last year and this year. Monthly meetings have been making more consistent and larger contributions, but not enough to make up the decline in individual contributions. Proposed salaries and wages for 2013 are about $25,000 higher than last year. This increase has four components: a) an increase to four days a week for the religious education coordinator; b) an increase in the time for office staff; c) an increase in the Yearly Meeting secretary’s salary to make it somewhat closer to the targeted range; and d) a one-month overlap between Jonathan Vogel-Borne and Noah Baker Merrill in January 2013. The increase from these factors is partly balanced by cuts across many other budget categories. Friends are urged to study the budget carefully, ask questions and consider how much they can contribute to the Yearly Meeting as individuals.

See Minute 38 for the continuation of this item.

33. We heard the memorial minute for Donald Booth (Concord).

See Memorial Minutes, p.24.

Tuesday Morning, August 7

34. We heard the epistle from Lake Erie Yearly Meeting. They considered queries about our consumption of time, money and resources. They were challenged by two Bible passages, in which Jesus told us to consider the lilies of the field and said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. We need to recognize when we have enough. Seeking the Kingdom of God is a community process.

35. Our New England Yearly Meeting staff members, Nia Thomas (Lawrence), Beth Collea (Wellesley), Kevin Lee (Westport), Gretchen Baker-Smith (Westport), Frederick Martin (Monadnock), Jeff Hipp (Amesbury), Nat Shed (Vassalboro), Jodi Goodman and Jonathan Vogel-Borne (Cambridge), as well as treasurer Ed Mair (Amesbury), were asked to stand so that we could honor them and hold them in prayer. Each one shared reflections from their work.

• Nat Shed, Friends Camp director, spoke about the opportunities to comfort homesick campers. The keys are to stop and breathe, to get to know each other, to walk together, plan how to make this a better time and to give blessings to other people.

• Kevin Lee, Junior Yearly Meeting retreat coordinator, noted that this is the 25th anniversary of the JYM retreats. This has been a tremendous opportunity to nurture our young people and their parents and thus the entire the entire Yearly Meeting. Some of the children that came to those retreats are now active in the Yearly Meeting as adults. He thanked Friends for all the support they have received.

• Jeff Hipp, communications director/office manager, told of the phone calls he receives from the Biblical strangers. What do Quakers believe? How can I find a Quaker meeting? How do I prepare a recorders report? How does our small meeting write a memorial minute? These are people who are circling our tent and he gets to welcome them in.

• Nia Thomas, YF/YAF coordinator, shared some responses to the query, What did you learn at this retreat? from both YFs and YAFs. They ranged from learnings about racism, the importance of communication in relationships and the importance of welcoming new people into their group, to that there are can be strange noises in a room full of 40 sleeping people.

• Beth Collea, religious education coordinator, told about being a “prayerful holder” at the Friends General Conference Gathering last year in Grinell, Iowa, and how a kindergarten teacher from Washington, D.C., asked her to mentor her in being a “prayerful holder” of her kindergarten class. After an exercise in stillness in her class, the teacher reported one child who said, “I felt like I loved everybody and everybody loved me.” Our children are having deep spiritual experiences even if their vocabulary is simple.

• Frederick Martin, accounts manager, spoke of how the cut-and-dried work of keeping the accounts can be seen as channeling resources for God’s work. Divinity shines through even small transactions.

• Jodi Goodman, archivist, does her work as archivist in silence and this is refreshing to her. She spoke of her delight at finding a copy of a rare book by Roger Williams in the back of a drawer of her desk at the archives. Friends have compiled a remarkable documentation history of what we have done. It is important for us to continue to be careful with our record keeping.

• Jonathan Vogel-Borne, Yearly Meeting secretary, expressed gratitude for the 21 years he has spent in service to the Yearly Meeting. He said that an important thing that he has done in his work has been to mentor and get out of the way. He observed that once Noah Baker Merrill becomes our Yearly Meeting secretary, we will have the youngest yearly meeting staff in the world. He asked, Where do we live our lives from? Can we identify Quakers by the way they live their lives?

• Ed Mair, treasurer, noted with appreciation the last members of the Friends Home Committee, because they had the integrity to acknowledge that they had problems and needed help, and that Permanent Board was able to hear their need and to provide that help.

36. Friends took time to worship and reflect on the service of Jonathan Vogel-Borne. Friends expressed their affection for him and gratitude for the many ways in which he has served and the way he has walked with us, not only as a Yearly Meeting secretary, but as a friend. We closed by singing together:

“Listen, listen, listen to my heart song:

I will always love you I will always serve you.”

37. We held the Development Committee in prayer as they came to the stage. The Development Committee chorus sang to us from the gospel of Rodgers and Hammerstein to encourage our giving to the Yearly Meeting. The first began:

“Oh what a beautiful evening,

Oh what a beautiful night,

We’ve got a beautiful feeling

that our budget will come out all right!”

See full lyrics to the Development Committee’s musical ministry, p.40.

38. The Finance Committee brought the budget forward for final approval. It was approved. The presiding clerk reminded Friends that this is a “stretch” budget and that we need to live into it, because we all will need to make whatever contribution we can to make it work.

The budget will be published on neym.org and in the printed directory by the beginning of December.

39. The members of the Friends Camp Committee stood so that we could honor them and hold them in prayer, remembering that some of these members are working with the youth right now.

We held the members of the Youth Programs Committee in prayer and gratitude for the work they do.

40. We held the Committee for Nurturing Friends Education at Moses Brown School in prayer. Friends were reminded that in a spiritual way the school is still part of the Yearly Meeting.

41. We held in prayer those Quaker organizations that do the work of Friends in New England and are not part of the Yearly Meeting. These include the American Friends Service Committee, Friends School of Portland, Moses Brown School, Lincoln School, Cambridge Friends School, The Meeting School, Beacon Hill Friends House, Woolman Hill, Kendall at Hanover and Farm and Wilderness Camp.

42. We heard memorial minutes for David Douglas (Sandwich) and Shirley Leslie (Gonic).

See Memorial Minutes, p.24.

Wednesday Morning, August 8

43. We heard the epistle from Cuba Yearly Meeting’s 2012 gathering. It was read in English by the reading clerk and in Spanish by our Cuban visitor Miledys Batista. Cuban Friends celebrated the challenges that have come with the establishment of the Cuban Institute for Peace and their participation in the FWCC Sixth World Conference of Friends in Kenya in April. At home and across the world, we hear the call to participate in the work of peace and love among all human beings.

See Cuban Epistle, p.57.

44. After a period of worship, our clerk read warm greetings from the new presiding clerk of Cuba Yearly Meeting.

“Greetings of peace and love to all our brothers and sisters of the New England Yearly Meeting, now gathered in Sessions. The different monthly meetings will be gathering for our Summer Camps, and soon the Young Adult Friends from New England will be among us. Our theme is “Care for the Flock,” and we are filled with joy and emotion in anticipation of the learning and experiences we will have together. In the Light, Odalys Hernandez, President of the Yearly Meeting.”

We held the Young Adult Friends traveling to Cuba this week in the Light: Noah Baker Merrill (Putney), Ben Guaraldi (Beacon Hill), Will Jennings (Beacon Hill), Alma Sánchez-Eppler (Northampton), Andrew Thompson (Smithfield) and Honor Woodrow (Framingham). We send them with prayers for their safe journey, blessings on their visit and loving greetings to our Cuban brothers and sisters.

45. We held the FWCC Committee in prayer, with appreciation for their work this year. Then clerk Dorothy Grannell (Portland) introduced a report by several Friends about their attendance at the Sixth World Conference in Nakuru, Kenya. She reminded us that Africa is home to the majority of Friends in the world today. Twenty New England Friends travelled to this conference, joining 830 other Friends from 112 Yearly Meetings and associations from six continents, under the theme “Being Salt and Light.” There was an attempt to achieve a balance of gender among the attenders and to have one third of the delegates under age 35, ensuring the most diverse world gathering of Friends in history. This diversity brought richness and opportunities of many kinds, including the opportunities that come from struggle. Dorothy offered warmest thanks to the many Friends who helped make our attenders’ participation possible. A video about the conference will be freely available from FWCC this fall.

Several delegates shared their experiences.

Betsy Cazden (Providence), incoming clerk of the FWCC’s Central Executive Committee, was part of the team drafting the Minute of Exercise, now on the FWCC Salt and Light web site. Betsy commented that in her understanding, the “Consultation” in FWCC means “conversations”: conversations of integrity that can connect Friends, cross borders and change lives — and such conversations are particularly challenging in so diverse a gathering. As an example, she spoke of some interesting and subtle ways that issues of homosexuality and same-sex marriage appeared in conversations and home groups and the ways that Friends of many points of view expressed their own integrity.

Noah Baker Merrill (Putney) spoke of how travel abroad can open our eyes in such a way that we can see ourselves in new ways. At this conference, the gifts of New England Friends were called out and well used. New England Friends have much to share with world Quakerism and the world in these times because of our diversity. New England Friends have deep roots in the Wilburite tradition and in the Gurneyite pastoral tradition; and we are an early crucible, in our founding independent meetings and associations, of the convergent Friends movement. We are a confluence of these and many other streams of Quaker expression, and our living with this richness has been a source of deep learning. Can you, will you, open your heart to God’s still, small voice, to God’s guidance? What work does God have for us as Friends in the 21st century? How can we change?

The Friends who went to Kenya will be sharing insights gathered at the conference around the Yearly Meeting this coming year. Friends are invited to meet and talk with them and read the many documents that have been developed to further Friends’ world conversations. The meeting was infused with concern for justice and for the issues of climate change. Out of the months of preparatory study and discussions and the movement of the meeting, the conference approved the Kabarak “Call for Peace and EcoJustice.” Roland Stern (Wellesley) and Cynthia Ganung (Wellesley) read this Call, which Friends received prayerfully and with Alleluyah!

See Call for Peace and EcoJustice, p.39.

46. Edward Baker (Westerly), for the Permanent Board, read a minute in which the Permanent Board approved the request of the Friends Home Committee to be laid down. Friends approved this action.

47. For the Permanent Board, Edward Baker read the following minute sent to Permanent Board by the Nominating Committee:

We believe there is a better structure to serve the life of New England Yearly Meeting in doing God’s work. We envision a structure that enables our Yearly Meeting committees to better know each others’ missions and to work more closely together.

Our traditional process asks Nominating Committee to match gifts and leadings to committee service. We are concerned for carrying out this charge with care. We envision broadening the ability of our system to discern emerging gifts and leadings by increasing the involvement of monthly meetings and connections among our committee volunteers.

Nominating Committee recommends the appointment of an ad hoc committee that will thresh the issues of reorganizing the Yearly Meeting committee and volunteer system and make recommendations to the 2013 Sessions.

Edward reported that the Permanent Board was not yet ready to unite with this minute, but it is clear to proceed with an examination of the Yearly Meeting organizational structure, including committees and the Permanent Board. This review must also draw on work of past committees, such as the Procedural Review Committee which began in 2003. The Permanent Board will appoint an ad hoc committee for this purpose and invites Friends who might wish to serve on the committee to speak with the Permanent Board. The basis of this committee’s charge, which remains to be developed, lies in the questions: “What does God want us to do” and “How can we structure ourselves so as not to get in the way?” Friends approved the Permanent Board’s action on this matter.

48. Edward Baker reported that Permanent Board has appointed Holly Baldwin (Fresh Pond) as its clerk and Bruce Neumann (Fresh Pond) as recording clerk for the coming year. Friends expressed thanks for the work of Edward and John Humphries (Hartford), outgoing clerk and recording clerk.

49. We honored the Archives & Historical Records Committee in a time of prayer, with thanks for their work. We also held the New England United Society of Friends Women in prayer and gratitude.

50. Margaret Cooley (Mt. Toby), clerk of Ministry and Counsel Committee, joined by members of the committee, introduced a session to review the Yearly Meeting’s spiritual condition. Faith and Practice says that such reviews “should be a searching self-examination by the meeting and its members of their spiritual strengths and weaknesses and of the efforts made to foster growth in the spiritual life. Reports may cover the full range of interest and concerns but should emphasize those indicative of the spiritual health of the meeting.” Four members of the Committee who have read the monthly meeting reports offered reflections on the State of Society to help us reflect on our spiritual condition.

51. We held the Correspondence Committee in prayer, thankful for the work they do to bring our voice to Friends everywhere, as they brought forward the first draft of our 2012 epistle for comments.

Wednesday Evening, August 8

52. Friends gathered in worship and out of the silence we heard the 2012 epistle from North Pacific Yearly Meeting. They were challenged to “listen in tongues.” They report a feeling of diminishment. Would reorganization help? No reorganization will help if our spiritual life is lacking. Pay attention to the Living Water and not the pipes. We must steer our way through stormy seas with faith we do not always feel we have.

53. The members of the Publications & Communications and Earthcare Ministry Committees stood while we held them in prayer with thanks for their work.

54. We held the members of the Peace & Social Concerns Committee in prayer.

Ian Harrington, clerk, (Cambridge) and Scot Drysdale (Hanover) presented a call to action from the Friends Committee on National Legislation to urge active lobbying and action to reduce the Pentagon budget. Congress is hearing many voices calling for restoration of the Pentagon spending and making reductions elsewhere. Congress needs to hear the voice of peace as well. This is an opportunity for us and our meetings to make a difference, if we act before December 2012.

See FCNL Call to Action, p.39.

55. The members of the Friends General Conference and the Friends United Meeting Committees and Friends who work with these organizations stood as we held them in prayer for their work on our behalf.

56. The members of the Nominating Committee stood as we held them in prayer, in appreciation and support of their work. Christopher McCandless (Burlington) and Patricia Higgins (Hanover), co-clerks of the Nominating Committee, reported that for the past several years the Nominating Committee has been focused on the nurturing and development of committee clerks. This year they are asking to extend the terms of several committee clerks to smooth the transition to new leadership. These committees are Peace & Social Concerns, Puente de Amigos and Sessions.

They presented their report of nominations for Yearly Meeting committees and representatives, here attached. Friends approved these nominations.

The committee did not bring forward any names for the Student Loan Committee. The Nominating Committee asked that responsibility for the work of this committee be transferred to Permanent Board for this year with a request that they bring forward a recommendation whether we should continue with this concern or lay down the committee. Friends approved, noting that there may be further work in completing the work of the Student Loan Committee; for example, the administration of outstanding loans.

Committee Rosters will be included in the NEYM Directory, to be published in early winter.

57. We held the Faith and Practice Revision Committee in prayer, out of which clerk Janet Hoffman (Mt. Toby) spoke of the committee’s gratitude for the opportunity to serve us in this way. She stressed how valuable it is to their work for people and meetings to respond to the working papers that have been distributed. In particular, the committee is grateful for the responses of Friends at these Sessions to Chapter 1: “Illustrative Experiences of Friends” and Chapter 11: “General Advices and Queries,” presented on Sunday and Monday. She read proposed revisions to these chapters based on those responses and offered the chapters with those revisions for preliminary approval. She noted that once preliminary approval is given, we can begin to use these chapters as our Faith and Practice.

Janet reflected on some of the comments received on these drafts. The illustrative experiences do not try to reflect all of the theological expressions in New England Yearly Meeting but to reflect the underlying unity from which all these expressions arise. The committee has heard a desire for the traditional queries and advices. She reminded Friends that the new Faith and Practice does not obviate the value of queries from 1985 or earlier versions. The Faith and Practice Revision Committee will place on the Faith and Practice website all queries and advices starting from the 1700s.

Friends gave preliminary approval to both these chapters.

58. In 2009 NEYM approved Minute 09-54 concerning contributions to FUM. This minute has been extended until 2013 and we will be reconsidering it next year. We reviewed this minute and also heard a minute recently forwarded from Northwest Quarterly Meeting:

Friends are asked to engage with this concern in their monthly and quarterly meetings during this year and to report to the Yearly Meeting on their discernment.

59. We heard memorial minutes for Beverly Stamm, Jim Anthony and Emily Jones Sander.

See Memorial Minutes, p.24.

Thursday Morning, August 9

60. We heard the 2011 epistle of Ohio Yearly Meeting. They write: “Our business sessions have been full of reminders that we are called to be bound together in our common love of God and our shared desire to see his kingdom come. We have been reminded of the value of being truthful and genuine with each other, knowing that while we may be different members, we are part of one body, with Christ as our head. Our desire is that you too feel his constant hand of encouragement and love in your lives. Because 2012 is the 200th anniversary of our Yearly Meeting, we encourage your Yearly Meeting to send a group of Friends to join us at our 2012 and 2013 Annual Sessions. Our desire is to know one another as brothers and sisters. Please come and worship with us, rest in the Spirit and let us recognize those things we share and those things where we have been called to different places.”

61. We heard and approved the General Epistle.

See Epistles, p.51.

62. We accepted the memorial minutes read this week.

See Memorial Minutes, p.24.

63. During this week, our Bible Half-Hour speakers have been Laura Dungan and Aaron Fowler from Great Plains Yearly Meeting. These Friends addressed our theme, “Choose Integrity: Living with Integrity in a Time of Change,” with a rich fabric of song and story, weaving together Biblical material with modern stories of struggle for justice and freedom. The refrain that linked them all was “If you know who you are, you will know what to do. If we know who we are, we will know what to do.”

64. Friends enjoyed hearing reports from Friends visiting the other business meetings here this week:

To Childcare, Jacqui Clark (Vassalboro) and Martha McManamy (Amesbury). The staff feel that the volunteers have been “coming through” for the childcare program and that the program is in a good place generally. Although more thought may need to go into the storage and management of our equipment, we are managing to do what needs to be done.  One of us learned that the smaller bubble wand makes stronger bubbles. One us learned that it is hard to say good-bye to your family at the beginning of the program and hard to say goodbye to staff at the end of the day. There is a gentle joyfulness that we both sensed in the program.

To Grades 3–4, Heidi Nortonsmith (Northampton), Daphne Clement (Durham) and Elisabeth Dearborn (Putney). The third and fourth graders were working on scrolls answering the question “Who am I?” Parable of the washing machine: It was an upside-down parachute, three children sitting inside, 20 children and adults walking clockwise, wrapping the children in the washing machine. Keep your hands up! Keep your backs next to each other! Keep your eyes open! When it was entirely wrapped around the people inside, we began to unwrap them very fast, so that they tumbled. When you tumble in your washing machine, look up — your friends are everywhere. Some in this group felt that in order to know ourselves, we need to know what we don’t like or even hate, as well as what we like.

To Grades 5–6, Allison Randall (Keene) and Charlie Morse (Allen’s Neck) listed their observations: Worship sharing, some integrity queries and games. Good healthy noise and wild exuberance. Vespers, story-telling. Do the right thing even if no one is looking. They closed their epistle: “We hope you are doing as awesome things as we are.” Mutual caring, loving staff, even the visitors felt cared for.

To JHYM, Denise Hart (Cambridge) and Carolyn Stone (Wellesley). What do you remember about junior high school? There’s so many things changing at that time of life. They were impressed with the skill with which these young Friends were taught to speak, listen and be true to themselves while seeking commonality with others. We are also blessed that the programs provide excellent support for the parents and families.

To Young Friends, Leslie Manning (Durham) and Anna Barnett (Portland). 

We were touched by a sense of exuberant community among Young Friends. We saw them taking care to engage those who might have been sidelined and alienated and to recognize and raise up one another’s gifts. At the dance, Young Friends who hung hesitantly around the edges of the room were joyfully pulled into the center. At Coffeehouse, when one Young Friend was stumped for an encore, others knew what song she should sing. Small everyday actions suggested the extent to which this fellowship included the entire Yearly Meeting: the way Young Friends greeted older adult Friends in the halls, for example, and a frisbee game involving Young Friends and children of many ages.

In adult business meetings, a concern has risen repeatedly about how to call out one another’s gifts, and in particular how to foster courage among those Friends whose gifts are not, at the moment, being specifically and formally acknowledged by the community.  In their business meeting, Young Friends grappled with this same concern. Young Friends Nominating Committee had the task of selecting eight to ten Friends for the Ministry and Council slate. There are many Young Friends with a desire and calling to serve the body in this way, and the committee had received 27 nominations. Ministry during the meeting stressed that the gifts of every Young Friend are important and valued and that all can minister and counsel, regardless of committee rosters. Nominating also named the particular talents of those on the final slate. These gifts are part of the wealth of the Yearly Meeting. They included: empathy, approachability, cheer, silliness, groundedness, straightforwardness, knowledge of Young Friends and Quakerism, role modeling, leadership and a welcoming presence.

To Young Adult Friends, Debbie Humphries (Hartford), Minga Claggett-Borne (Cambridge) and Marcia Winters (Putney). The Spirit is strong among our YAFs. Their work and faithfulness is visible in the youth programs and in the older adult Friend programs, where they serve with joy. They conduct their business in good order, even scheduling an extra business meeting when the work they had been given overflowed the time allotted. In the words of our Bible Half-Hours, they are living who they know themselves to be. Their faith-in-practice takes a lot of different forms. One that caught our attention was what is called the “Northfield Project” — with a group of YAFs moving into a rental agreement for 40 acres of the Campbells’ farm. They plan to use this site to practice sustainability and as an opportunity for all of the Yearly Meeting to find experimentally the path to faithfulness in a challenging future.

65. We heard a minute from JHYM on library use.

See Minute, p.49.

66. We heard the report of the Sessions coordinator, Kathleen Wooten (Lawrence), who thanked the many Friends and Bryant staff who made our Sessions possible in many ways. Our total registrants were 623, including 95 commuters and 80 first-timers. Total staff count was 87. Total youth attendance was 140. Ten were in childcare, JYM 48, Junior High 28, YFs 50 and YAFs at least 54.

67. Friends expressed appreciation for the service of our outgoing Yearly Meeting reading and recording clerks: Brian Drayton (Weare), Rebecca Leuchak (Providence) and Beth Bussiere-Nichols (Portland). We are glad to welcome new recording clerks Will Taber (Fresh Pond), Karen Sánchez-Eppler (Northampton) and reading clerk Susan Davies (Vassalboro).

68. We heard the epistles from the other Yearly Meetings who have been meeting here during this week.

See Epistles, p.51.

69. With no further business before us, we concluded in worship, purposing to meet, God willing, at Bryant University on the 3rd of Eighth month, 2013.