Permanent Board minutes | May 12, 2012

12-36 Opening Worship: We opened in waiting worship.

12-37 Roll Call: The Recording Clerk called the roll.

Present: Edward Baker, Holly Baldwin, Travis Belcher, Deana Chase, Jeremiah Dickinson, Sarah Gant, Ben Guaraldi, John Humphries, Nancy Isaacs, Sandy Isaacs, Mary Knowlton, Allan Kohrman, Dwight Lopes, Christopher McCandless, Robert Murray, Bruce Neumann, Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Elias Sanchez-Eppler, Carolyn Stone, Jane Van Landingham, Donn Weinholtz, Fritz Weiss, Carl Williams, Rosemary Zimmermann

Regrets: Jennifer Baily (Personnel Committee, Clerk), Debbie Block, Susan Davies, Galen Hamann, Jan Hoffman, Rebecca Leuchak, Donald Mick, Sara Sue Pennell, Suzanna Schell, Patricia Shotwell, Jacqueline Stillwell (YM Presiding Clerk), Philip Stone, Ruah Swennerfelt

Ex-Officio: Maria Lamberto (Finance Committee, Clerk), Ed Mair (Treasurer), Jonathan Vogel-Borne (YM Secretary)

Staff: Nat Shed

Guests: Charlotte Fardelman, Nancy Moore, Luisa Facciolo, Kathleen Wooten

12-38 Minutes of 5/12/2012 were approved with corrections.

12-39 Memorial Minutes: Friends heard memorial minutes read for James Anthony (Cambridge), Shirley Leslie (Gonic), and Beverly Stamm (Hartford).

Friends approved forwarding these minutes to Sessions. Allan Kohrman and Patricia Shotwell agreed to serve as an ad hoc committee to review and edit all the memorial minutes in preparation for Sessions.

12-40 Report from the Yearly Meeting Secretary: Jonathan Vogel-Borne, YM Secretary, reported on recent and upcoming events:

Sixth World Conference of Friends – With 890 people from 51 countries and more than 100 yearly meetings, this gathering provided a stunning and profound experience of the diversity of the worldwide Quaker movement. More than 400 participants were from Africa and only 170 from North America. Friends who have only experienced one expression of “the Quaker way” were challenged by the interaction and the contrasts. A different Section of Friends World Committee on Consultation led each of the morning sessions. In the small groups where most of the interaction happened, Friends discovered that talking about “spiritual experience” can mean very different things. Jonathan spoke about the Conference epistle and the “Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice” that were distributed to PB with the advance documents. Despite the differences, the gathering provided points of incredible unity, connection and poignancy.

Sessions Planning – Following our jubilee years, we are moving toward putting everything back in, including workshops. Sessions information and registration materials are online. Unfortunately, Richard Frechette will not be able to serve as sessions coordinator as he did last year.

Mid-year Gathering – Good attendance meant that we filled the space at the Episcopal church. The facility worked well. Following the “Awakening the Dreamer” program in the morning, there were 16 breakout groups in the afternoon, with some focus on climate change concerns. This gathering was not intended to make any decisions, but it might lead to things that are brought to Sessions. We still have work to do to figure out where a mid-year gathering fits within the YM governance and structure.

12-41 Report on New England Friends Home Property: Jonathan Vogel-Borne reported on behalf of the ad hoc Friends Home Property Committee (see PB Minute 11-78). Referencing the Progress Report distributed with the advance documents, he reviewed some of the developments since the March meeting.

Discrimination Complaint – The complaint was settled for $4000 in back pay (see PB Minute 12-22), following four hours of mediation. Jonathan and Holly Baldwin represented the YM and Friends Home; Barbara Rugg, former director of the Friends Home who was named in the complaint, also participated.

CPA’s Report – Steve Snow has all the documents needed to file IRS Form 990 by the May 15 deadline. Then he will begin work on a final, closing 990.

Caretaker and Missing Items – The buyer asked Barry Corbin, whom the YM had hired as a live-in caretaker, to leave the premises on very short notice, following the discovery that several items were missing from the Home on the day of the closing. This has been one more challenging situation for Jonathan to deal with, and it is not yet fully resolved.

​​​​​​​12-42 Sale of New England Friends Home Property: Ed Mair, YM Treasurer, reviewed the financial report distributed with the advance documents, providing a detailed accounting of the allocation of funds received from the sale of the New England Friends Home. The sale price was $1.625 million. After covering all fees, mortgages, operating expenses, and settlements, the net proceeds, totaling $1.125 million, was placed on deposit into a new, separate account of the NEYM Pooled Funds.

Friends expressed their deep gratitude for all the Friends who have given so much time and energy to this challenging process, as well as an appreciation for the lessons we have learned about identifying and attending to risks and liabilities - lessons which could inform a periodic review of structures and procedures at the Friends Camp.

12-43 Friends Camp Report: Nat Shed, Friends Camp Director, spoke of traveling with his wife during his five-month sabbatical, often finding opportunity to worship with Friends along the way.

Preparations for this summer’s sessions are going well, with a wonderful group of 25 counselors lined up. Nat is still looking for a part-time nurse and seeking money to install a new set of docks.

He reviewed the report he had prepared, outlining infrastructure investment needs, but he clarified that his greatest worry is related to the potential damage to the camp’s reputation due to an accident or inappropriate conduct by a member of the staff. The Finance Committee has asked whether the YM has sufficient liability insurance to cover a serious injury claim. Jonathan Vogel-Borne reviewed the similar concerns raised by Moses Brown School prior to its separate incorporation, and he noted that the YM is considering a $5 million policy.

Nat addressed a question about the interest being paid on the mortgage for the recently purchased lakefront property, and he noted that the Camp is also currently paying taxes on the property since it is being rented out as an income-generating business.

​​​​​​​12-44 Report from YM Secretary Search Committee: Bruce Neumann, Clerk of the YM Secretary Search Committee, reported for the Committee. With the application deadline three days away, the Committee has received applications from six candidates, including two people from outside the YM. Bruce reported that, although this number was lower than expected, there were some very qualified candidates already and that he is expecting to receive additional applications before the deadline. The Committee will gather later in the month to discuss the applications and identify candidates for initial interviews.

Bruce reviewed the decision, encouraged by Coordinating and Advisory Committee, not to focus the search on an interim appointment. If the current search process does not yield a candidate on which the YM finds unity, then it may be necessary to identify someone to fill an interim position through a process which has not yet been identified.

Bruce reminded Friends that the timeline for the search process was outlined at the March meeting (see PB Minute 12-26). The Clerk suggested that Saturday, July 14, 2012, be reserved as the possible date for a “called meeting” of Permanent board to consider recommendations of the Search Committee.

12-45 Treasurer’s Report: Ed Mair, YM Treasurer, reviewed the report provided with the advance documents, noting that the figures are not fully up to date since both the YM Secretary and the bookkeeper were in Kenya during the latter half of April.

While it is normal for us to have a deficit at this point in the year, Ed noted that the deficit is about $4,000 higher than at this time last year. With sale of the Friends Home, the YM has recovered the $116,500 loan made to the Home to cover operating expenses and Friends Home closing costs, so our working capital is in a good position.

12-46 Finance Committee Report: Maria Lamberto, Clerk of Finance Committee, reported that the Committee met last week to finalize the budget proposal.

Only one YM committee clerk had provided comments on committee budget needs in the draft budget, prompting the Finance Committee to recommend a reduction in the overall budget line item for committee expenses. Friends discussed the dilemma of maintaining a line item for committee expenses when most of it is never spent.

How can we encourage committee members to track in-kind donations and to make use of allocated funds if they will help ensure the committee’s vitality?

Maria noted that anticipated income from individual contributions has been reduced in this budget, but the Committee included a $38,000 “Funding Challenge,” highlighting the need for additional contributions to balance the budget.

Jonathan clarified that the reduction in the line item for minute book expenses reflects the decision to publish the Yearly Meeting minutes online, and to no longer print the minutes from Sessions. However, the YM will continue to print meeting and committee directories.

Funding Our Vision Day – Maria reported that the recent gathering at Winthrop Center Friends Church included 23 people at one point during the day. Two other meetings were scheduled for the same day, and those Friends participated in the “Funding Our Vision” discussion during the morning. Maria found it very useful to listen to different experiences of meetings facing similar challenges. Jeff Perkins of Friends Fiduciary presented information to the participants about the services available from his organization.

​​​​​​​12-47 Discernment Regarding the Polly Starr Legacy Gift: The Clerk reminded Friends that Sessions has asked PB to bring recommendations for using the proceeds of the sale of the Friends Home:

The Clerk asked Friends to settle into silence to consider how PB might initiate a process of discernment concerning the use of the funds received from the sale.

A number of concerns and considerations arose in the discussion that followed:

• The Finance Committee recommends that the YM refrain from using any of the funds (possibly not even the interest) during the coming year, instead taking the time for threshing and seeking input from MMs in a focused process of discernment.
• Questions concerning our relationship to money, as well as our relationships with each other, with other MMs and the YM, should be an early focus of the discernment process.
• Recalling the Minute of Sending Forth (YM Minute 10-30), one Friend suggested that the query “What is God calling us to do with this money?” should be central to our discernment. Another Friend, however, cautioned that we must also remember that we can respond to God’s call with or without money; these funds should not become the way for us to be faithful.
• One Friend suggested a strong role for the Quarterly Meetings in this process.
• How can we ensure that the process is structured to lead to an outcome and not “fizzle out” or wrap up inconclusively?
• Responding to a concern that we not forget the ministry to the elderly that the Friends Home embodied, one Friend described the danger of undervaluing the ability of the current generation to discern the vision and guidance of the Spirit: we need to be clear about process before we impose any boundaries on the outcome. Another Friend expressed the opinion that Polly Starr did not have a vision for helping elderly people; rather she inherited a house and wanted it to be useful.​​​​​​​
• One Friend suggested that rather than seeking unity on a single focus or use of the funds, we could consider incorporating a more secular “request for proposals” process that would involve listening for which proposals have Life.

Friends approved the appointment of an ad hoc committee to develop a process proposal to be reported back to PB at its meeting prior to Sessions, with the intent that PB would then be able to propose a process recommendation to Sessions. The ad hoc committee is encouraged to consider the possibility of identifying outside resources (e.g. a nonprofit organization that specializes in such matters) that might be engaged to help guide such a process in the coming year. The following Friends agreed to serve on the ad hoc committee: Holly Baldwin (convener), Jeremiah Dickinson, Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Robert Murray, Ben Guaraldi, Ed Mair, and Travis Belcher.

12-48 Clerks Nominating Committee Report: Allan Kohrman, Clerk of Clerks Nominating Committee, reported the following recommendations for Clerks to serve at Sessions in August 2013:

• Presiding Clerk: Jacqueline Stilwell (Monadnock)
• Recording Clerks: Karen Sanchez-Eppler (Northampton), Will Taber (Fresh Pond)
• Reading Clerks: Susan Davies (Vassalboro), Will Jennings (Beacon Hill)

Friends approved these recommendations.

​​​​​​​12-49 YM Nominating Committee Report: Christopher McCandless, Co-convener of YM Nominating Committee, reported the following minute approved by the Committee at its last meeting:

The Committee welcomes input from PB and other bodies within the YM.

Edward also read a minute of support for these Friends from NEYM Young Adult Friends, approved at their business session in January 2012.

Friends approved these Friends for travel to Cuba.

Edward read a letter of introduction for Alma Sanchez-Eppler. Letters of introduction for the remaining five friends had been provided with the advanced documents.

​​​​​​​12-52 Travel Minutes: Friends attended to the following travel minutes:

The Clerk read a travel minute for Benigno Sanchez-Eppler (Northampton), who will travel in the ministry among MMs in North Pacific YM in July 2012, forwarded by Connecticut Valley Quarter. Friends approved endorsing this travel minute.

The Clerk read travel minute for Gerald Sazama (Storrs), who is traveling among Friends with a concern he has called “Quaker Spirituality: Hope for Troubled Times,” forwarded by Connecticut Valley Quarter. Friends approved endorsing this travel minute.

The Clerk read a travel minute for Virginia Bainbridge (New London), who is engaged in ministry in Liberia, providing support for orphans and Alternatives to Violence Project training, forwarded by Connecticut Valley Quarter. Friends approved endorsing this travel minute.

The Clerk read the endorsements on travel minutes returned to us by Nancy Shippen (Fresh Pond), following her travel to Kenya; Kristna Evans and Elizabeth Cazden, following their travel to Cuba; and Mary Ann and Leonard Cadwallader, following their travel to Cuba. Friends received these endorsements with gratitude for their faithful service.

​​​​​​​12-53 Report on Strengthening Relationships between the YM and MMs: Holly Baldwin reviewed the report, provided with the advance documents, from an ad hoc group that gathered in April to discuss the relationship between the YM and MMs (see PB Minute 11-104 and 12-11). The response to the call for the meeting revealed life for this concern among Friends. PB has an opportunity to give this ongoing conversation some structure.