The late winter meeting of NEYM Permanent Board was held at Monadnock Friends Meeting in Jaffrey, NH, on March 1, 2025. In these troubled times it was a joy to be with Friends from across New England, both face-to-face and virtually (thanks to Zoom connections). Monadnock welcomed us warmly with baked goods, fruit, and delicious soups to supplement our lunches. We opened the meeting with an update from Yearly Meeting Secretary Noah Merrill and Presiding Clerk Rebecca Leuchak about Friends' witness for religious freedom, the lawsuit regarding indiscriminate intrusions by ICE into houses of worship in pursuit of undocumented individuals. The Permanent Board also heard from or about those traveling, writing, or carrying a ministry of art on behalf of all Yearly Meeting Friends. A partial listing of the business before Permanent Board on Saturday includes:
- Marian Baker shared her deep and faithful understanding of the challenges and joys of East African women leaders, gleaned over decades of intervisitation
- We recognized the latest fruit of Puente de Amigos Committee’s long relationship with Cuba Yearly Meeting, hearing of the safe return of a large February 2025 NEYM delegation to Cuba Yearly Meeting Sessions in Gibara, with visits also in Holguin, Velasco and Floro Perez. As one NEYM traveler noted, "shared witness, being in community, being in each others' company, was the most important part of the minimally programmed days." Permanent Board approved another delegation to travel back to Cuba later this spring.
- Permanent Board also approved a travel minute for Mary Zwirner and Gordon Bugbee to travel to Oklahoma with a concern to establish good and right relationship between Quakers of New England Yearly Meeting and the tribes most directly affected by our forebears who participated in the federal Indian boarding school assimilation project.
- Permanent Board approved use of the Mosher Book and Tract fund in support of speedier publication of a timely book by Brian Drayton, and publication of an art pamphlet by Maggie Fiori that invites reflections on worship.
- We also approved an award from the Bodine-Rustin fund in support of an LGBTQ+ organization or individual.
- PB approved actions to resume the ability to use Salem Quarterly Meeting (SQM) funds for witness and ministry, with administrative and discernment oversight by the Legacy Gift Committee. (PB carries responsibility for quarterly meeting concerns when a quarterly meeting is unable to fulfill its functions.)
- Our Board of Managers received approval to join a coalition of faith-and-values-based investors to facilitate responsible, values-based influence in investment decisions.
Yearly Meeting Secretary Noah Merrill reported on progress envisioning and planning for a focus on Development, and reported on ongoing work of our staff, and Jackie Stillwell facilitated a “deep dive” about the spiritual underpinnings that guide the faith and practice of the Nominating Committee. Jackie’s presentation was followed by rich conversation and sharing about our perceptions of gifts in ourselves and in others.
We closed the meeting with a period of sharing heartfelt reflections at the loss of beloved Friends whose memorial minutes were before us: Eden Grace, Rud Ham, Christopher McCandless, Jean McCandless, Rose Miller, and James Ramsey.