The February 28th Permanent Board (PB) meeting opened in the wake of the news of the U.S.-Israeli bombing of multiple sites in Iran, as well as the recently sharpened focus in our hearts of the dire humanitarian impacts to Cuba and our Cuban Friends, due to the U.S. embargoes and oil blockade. The agenda of the PB meeting included a request for approval of Benigno Sanchez-Eppler’s clearness to travel among Cuban Friends in March to, in some measure, share in their hardships and uplift their spirits. The Israel-Palestine Resource Group also brought further discernment on their mission to support Friends wishing to travel in solidarity and in witness to the tragic conditions in Gaza. Where an opening had been hoped for to support Friends’ travel to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the morning’s news threw that possibility into infinitely greater uncertainty. We also heard news of continued faithfulness and travel towards right relationship. Gordon Bugbee, Mary Zwirner, and Susannah Schell will be traveling in their ministry of presence and outreach to Oklahoma, to the thirteen Indigenous Tribes and Nations most directly affected by the Yearly Meeting’s involvement in the Indigenous Boarding Schools of the late nineteenth century.
The Permanent Board meets 4 to 5 times per year and as needed and is the primary body in NEYM charged with holding Friends’ overall work and ministry, both in service to the Yearly Meeting, and to the world we live in. The stated purpose of Permanent Board is:
The Permanent Board acts with the authority of the Yearly Meeting between Annual Sessions. It implements decisions and policy made by Sessions. It acts upon matters where, in the opinion of the Board, a decision cannot await Sessions. It seasons issues which come to its attention, presenting recommendations to Sessions if appropriate. On the recommendation of the Coordinating and Advisory Committee, it considers the work of Yearly Meeting committees.
https://neym.org/committees/permanent-board
Permanent Board has been charged by YM Sessions to attend to the condition of our eight quarterly meetings. To that end we have sponsored several “evening conversations”—informal, lightly programmed opportunities—for those involved in their quarterly meetings, to hear from other quarters about both their Life, growth and activities, and their challenges. In January the PB Clerk and the Presiding Clerk sent a letter of invitation to monthly and quarterly meetings to participate in the April 11 Quarterly Meeting Visioning Day to be held in Haverhill, MA. We hope you will attend and will share this invitation widely. Regular participation in quarterly meetings flows back to enrich our monthly meetings, helping them to thrive and feel connected as a Body of Friends to other local meetings, and to the wider Quaker community of Yearly Meeting, and beyond.
Permanent Board has been enriched this year by reports from the Living Stream Travel Team, a ministry of outreach and information-sharing, hearing about the Life in monthly meetings, and sharing about the many programs and services that are available from the Yearly Meeting to support that Life. This outreach is a part of the Sessions charge to Permanent Board, Yearly Meeting volunteer leadership, and staff to ensure the long term financial sustainability of the Yearly Meeting so that it can continue to serve and support ministry, witness, and spiritual thriving at all levels.
At the February 28th PB meeting we enthusiastically approved a new rising Permanent Board Clerk, Liesa Stamm (Hartford Friends Meeting), to begin following Sessions 2026, and at the December 13, 2025, meeting we enthusiastically approved and welcomed into immediate service, our new Recording Clerk, Fran Lightsom (Sandwich Monthly Meeting, West Falmouth Preparative Meeting). Permanent Board is grateful for the dedication and wonderful and wise discernment of the NEYM Nominating Committee!
If you are interested in learning more about recent Permanent Board discernments the minutes, and Advance Documents of past PB meetings can be found here: https://neym.org/who/governance/decisions-discernment
And general information and background documents pertaining to Permanent Board can be found here: https://neym.org/committees/permanent-board
Susan Davies, Clerk, NEYM Permanent Board