Permanent Board minutes | August 5, 2017

Note: These minutes have not been corrected.

17-36: Opening Worship: Friends gathered in worship at Castleton University, in a mood of anticipation and grateful for the hard work of many Friends to prepare for the gathering of Friends at Annual Sessions. PB Clerk Sarah Gant thanked Friends for their labors during the previous year. Knowing that PB has weighed issues throughout the year that some Friends may be seeing for the first time at Sessions, she urged PB Friends to make themselves open during Sessions to answering questions, explaining context, and sharing the ministry that has come to PB during the year since Sessions 2016.

17-37: Roll Call: Present: Sarah Gant, Clerk; Becky Steele, Recording Clerk; Kimberly Allen, Travis Belcher, Susan Davies, Jeremiah Dickinson, Hannah Zwirner Forsythe, Christopher Gant, Ben Guaraldi, Ian Harrington, Rebecca Leuchak, Christopher McCandless, Carole Rein, Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Suzanna Schell, Sara Smith, Philip Stone, Bill Walkauskas, Donn Weinholtz, Rosemary Zimmerman, Mary Zwirner

Regrets: Holly Baldwin, Deana Chase, Justice Erikson, Leana Kantt, Jean McCandless, Anna Radocchia

Absent: Galen Hamann, Tom Jackson, Elizabeth Szatkowski

Ex Officio: Noah Merrill (YM Secretary), Elizabeth Reuthe (Supervisor, YM Secretary), Elias Sanchez-Eppler (Clerk, Finance Committee), Shearman Taber (Treasurer), Fritz Weiss (Presiding Clerk)

Visitors: Darcy Drayton (Skowhegan Preparative), Edward Baker (Westerly)), John Reuthe (Vassalboro), Emily Provance (Fifteenth Street, New York), Holly Weidner (Vassalboro)

17-38: Minutes of the May 13, 2017 PB meeting were approved, with minor revisions.

17-39: Presiding Clerk Report: Referring Friends to his written report (attached), Presiding Clerk Fritz Weiss shared words from Thomas Kelly’s Eternal Promise that had come to him during opening worship: “hasten to God and hasten to the World.” He noted that during the upcoming Sessions, Friends will be addressing many weighty concerns—climate change, white supremacy, money, sanctuary, among others. We must “hasten to God” so that an otherwise heavy burden is light. The root of our concern is love for this world and creation, and a desire to be a people who will act from that love to save the world.

17-40: YM Secretary Report: YM Secretary Noah Merrill welcomed Friends to Sessions.

• As of last night, there were 611 registrations for Sessions, quite a few higher than last year. Over 10% of us will be first-time attenders (some of whom signed up for Sessions after going to one of the Living Faith gatherings). We are excited to welcome those who are here for the first time, and to look for ways to help them feel welcome and up to speed on what’s happening. The Secretary also shared his joy that there will be 14 children in the child care program, and more children and Friends under the age of 18 than in the past five years -- a sign of life bubbling up in the Meeting. Thanking all the Friends who make Sessions happen, the Secretary noted in particular the abundant service of Durham Friends.
• SquashBusters/Moses Brown update: SquashBusters is considering a sizeable investment to build a new squash facility on the grounds of the Moses Brown School (MBS). The school leases its grounds from NEYM, which owns the land. In light of the squash facility’s possible effect on the ground lease, the YM Secretary consulted with Moses Brown and NEYM’s counsel to draft language that supports MBS while clarifying that NEYM has no direct relationship with SquashBusters and no implied relationship with SquashBusters. The clerk of PB is authorized to sign a Letter Agreement to that effect. Any change to the existing lease structure would require discernment at Sessions, prior to approval.

17-41: Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Shearman Taber referred Friends to his written report in the Sessions Advance Docs.

1. Friends approved the resolutions on the corporate account certification (attached) authorizing Shearman Taber to engage with Scotttrade to handle stock transactions on behalf of the YM:
2. The Treasurer informed Friends about ongoing work to determine and allocate Permanent Fund gains properly. In the past, income from the Permanent Funds has been made available for operating funds, but gains were not captured. Much has been done, and there is some more to do, to make sure the gains are properly allocated to operating accounts for both restricted funds and non-restricted funds. Friends appreciated the hard work of the Treasurer, the Finance Committee, and staff.

17-42: Development Committee: Rising Clerk Christopher Gant presented the Development Committee report:

• The Committee has committed to raising, before the end of the fiscal year, not just its budgeted fundraising goal, but also an additional $40,000 to cover the increased payroll costs of voluntarily complying with proposed federal overtime regulations. A group of generous donors has given $50,000, $20,000 of which will serve as seed money for a challenge grant matching new or increased gifts to the YM before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2017. To hit this goal, the Development Committee plans to approach five groups in particular:
  • PB—reminding PB Friends of their November 2016 pledge to increase their giving by 5%
  • People who are involved in NEYM (whether on committees or in other ways), but not yet donors
  • Reliable givers—asking if they could slightly increase giving and convert to sustained monthly giving
  • Young Adult Friends involved with NEYM
  • Major prospects -- asking leadership donors to give toward the FY 17 fundraising goal and also tackle the YM’s deficits.