24-61 Roll Call
Willa Taber (Fresh Pond), Recording Clerk of the Permanent Board read the roll.
Permanent Board Members Present
Susan Davies (PB Clerk), Willa Taber (PB Recording Clerk), Kimberly Allen, Thomas Brenner, Christopher Gant, Elizabeth Hansen, Newell Isbell Shinn, Roger Jasaitis, Carolyne Lamar Jordan, Frances Lightsom, Edward Mair, Leslie Manning, Allison Randall, Carole Rein, Liesa Stamm, Eleanor Warnock, Donn Weinholtz, Morgan Wilson, Kathleen Wooten, Mary Zwirner
Ex-officio members
Marian Dalton (Treasurer), Scot Drysdale (Finance Clerk), Sarah Gant (Clerk, Meeting Accompaniment Committee), Noah Merrill (YM Secretary), Jackie Stillwell (Clerk of Nominating Committee), Carl Williams (Clerk of Ministry and Counsel).
Regrets/Absent
Rebecca Leuchak (Presiding Clerk), Deana Chase, Darcy Drayton, Martin Forsythe, Meg Klepack, Anna Radocchia, Bob O’Connor, John Reuthe, Martha Schwope, Diane Weinholtz.
Visitors
Nia Thomas, Fran Brokaw, Janet Hough, Kara Price, Kristina Keefe-Perry, Phil Veatch, Polly Attwood, Sara Smith, Alison Levie, Becky Jones, Frederick Martin, Mary Link.
24-62 Permanent Board Clerk comments
Susan Davies (Vassalboro), clerk of the Permanent Board, reported on items that will be coming to us for consideration in the fall: We will also consider recommendations to strengthen the nominating process; the PB clerk said we will be looking at ways that we can lift up, support and strengthen the quarterly meetings in the coming year and emphasized the important work done by quarterly meetings. Since our last meeting, we have received 4 memorial minutes directly from meetings in Salem Quarter. We have also received reports on the ministry of Marian Baker and Phil Fitz, discerned through their quarterly meetings. Our recent experience with the Permanent Board handling the work of Salem Quarterly Meeting while it was on hiatus has shown us that the work of the quarters is handled better when handled locally. The stipends working group has completed its report, to be brought for our consideration at a later date.
The Coordinating and Advisory Committee has warmly accepted an invitation from Fresh Pond for the Presiding Clerk, the Clerk of Permanent Board, the Clerk of Ministry and Counsel, and the Yearly Meeting Secretary to visit with them, worship with them and to discuss issues concerning the setting off of Three Rivers Meeting.
24-63 Approval of Minutes
Friends approved the minutes from the May 11 Permanent Board Meeting here attached.
24-64 Bodine-Rustin disbursement proposals
The report of the Bodine-Rustin Distribution Subcommittee of the Legacy Gift Committee is attached to these minutes. Full details of their recommendations are included in that report.
The subcommittee recommends the following disbursements:
Ugandan Safe Transport: $114.46
South Coast LGBTQ Network: $500.00
An individual Ugandan Friend: $2,250.00
Trans Asylum Seekers Support Network: $650.00
Community Asylum Seekers Project: $500.00
J-FLAG: $200.00
Total: $4,214.46
Friends approved these recommendations.
Friends expressed gratitude and appreciation for the diligent work of this subcommittee.
24-65 YM Secretary’s Report
Noah Merrill (Putney), Yearly Meeting Secretary presented his report, here attached,
Consistent with NEYM policy the Secretary is requesting Permanent Board approval for NEYM to apply for the following grants:
1) A grant of approximately $10,000 to allow further incremental steps to engage Collabyrinth, the equity and diversity consultant identified through recent discernment.
2) An application for renewal of our existing funding from the Friends Foundation for the Aging (FFA), for continued support of extending the ARCH (Aging Resources, Consultation, and Help) grant to support New England Friends. This is simply a routine reapplication for continued support; the relationship with FFA has been a positive experience for all involved.
Friends approved applying for both of these grants.
There is a significant administrative load to support the work of the Legacy Gift Committee. Noah has been having conversations with the committee and others about providing greater staff support for them. After Sessions he intends to meet with the Coordinating & Advisory Committee, staff, and the Legacy Gift Committee to explore options to provide more staff support for the Legacy Gift Committee. He will report back to this body as this work progresses.
Noah reported that at this time, contributions received or committed from meetings are at 98% of the budget. A group of Friends have already committed to a $28,000+ challenge gift for contributions made at Sessions this year. Sessions registrations are about 20% ahead of where they were last year at this time. He will provide a more complete report on fundraising and plans for development in the fall. He also hopes to bring a proposal to begin considering endowments in the fall.
Sara Hubner, NEYM Office Manager, is receiving treatment for cancer, as she continues in her dedicated service to NEYM. She will not be at Sessions and has had to reduce her level of work for the Yearly Meeting. This will require between $10,000 and $20,000 to provide replacement services. Further details about funding options will be brought to the Permanent Board in the fall.
The Friends Camp Visioning Report update is here attached. Friends affirmed this visioning process continuing at a slower pace than originally anticipated.
24-66 Report from Ministry and Counsel Clerk
Carl Williams (Plainfield), clerk of Ministry and Counsel, submitted his written report here attached. One direction we seem to be called into is to convene opportunities for people to hold the YM in prayer. We would encourage people involved in local Committees of Ministry and Counsel to be active in this. He hopes that we appoint an assistant clerk of Ministry and Counsel who would be a rising clerk. He will make a visual presentation at Sessions.
A Friend expressed his appreciation of the increased amount of support that has been given to local meetings. And hopes that a presentation can be made to make this work visible to the yearly meeting as a whole.
24-67 Treasurer’s report
Marian Dalton (Brunswick), Yearly Meeting Treasurer, requested that PB approve redirecting $7000 from the Witness and Ministry fund to allow its use in the Yearly Meeting General Fund. This use was recommended by Coordinating and Advisory and approved by the Legacy Gift Committee, which administers that fund, to cover additional staff costs relating to the bereavement leave for the YM Secretary this spring.
The Permanent Board approved releasing these funds.
Marian also reported that at the end of May, with an anticipated need for cash in mind, the Yearly Meeting Treasurer transferred the remaining funds from the Quasi-Endowment to the NEYM checking account. This was done in accordance with precedent and with the approval of the Yearly Meeting Secretary and Finance Committee Clerk. At the time of the transfer there was $88,114.89 in the Quasi-Endowment Fund. The treasurer requests Permanent Board approval to redesignate the transferred funds to the general fund in accordance with our Financial Handbook.
The Permanent Board approved releasing these funds to the general fund.
Scot Drysdale, (Hanover), Clerk of the Finance Committee expects to bring a minute in the fall to clarify the process of moving funds into and out of the Quasi-endowment. It was also suggested that we might try to better anticipate our larger cash needs, such as when the Legacy Gift Committee issues their grant approvals.
24-68 Coordinating & Advisory report
Susan Davies reported that Rebecca Leuchak is not able to be with us because of illness.
Rebecca Leuchak’s written report is attached. She wanted to lift up for us the reports of the Legacy Gift Review Committee and the research findings and recommendations from the Quaker Indian Boarding School Research Group which are also attached. All three of these documents will be presented at Sessions for action.
24-68.1 NEYM involvement in Quaker Indian Boarding Schools
The Permanent Board has received the Quaker Indian Boarding Schools Research Findings and hears the troubling depth of the involvement of NEYM in the work of the Indian Boarding Schools. Friends receive these findings with sorrow for the misguided practices, and with deep gratitude for the amount of work and care that went into researching NEYM involvement. We pass this report, and the recommendations it contains, to Sessions with the hope and expectation that the Yearly Meeting will engage deeply with the troubling issues raised by them. Friends are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these reports so that we can participate on an informed basis when they come to Sessions.
24-69 Program Director’s Report
Nia Thomas (Northampton), NEYM Program Director, provided an update on recruitment for Sessions. She is appreciative of the work of the youth program coordinators in recruitment. Although there are still some unfilled positions, all of the programs will run in the forms we have come to expect. If anyone knows someone who might want to fill individual slots in the Youth Program schedule, please ask them to contact Nia.
Castleton University will not be available to us for Sessions next year. We are actively considering three sites: Wheaton College; University of Vermont, Burlington: and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
The report of the Sessions Visioning Working Group is attached. A more detailed version will be presented at sessions. The working group expects to prepare for their work in the fall by providing background information and recruiting facilitators. In the winter they plan to have opportunities for Friends to meet and brainstorm and thresh options and priorities for sessions. In the Spring they hope to begin the process of discernment on a proposal to bring to Sessions next year.