24-85 Roll Call
Willa Taber (Fresh Pond), Recording Clerk, for the Permanent Board read the roll.
Bold is present in the room.
Susan Davies (PB Clerk), Willa Taber (PB Recording Clerk), Travis Belcher, Thomas Brenner, Darcy Drayton, Martin Forsythe, Elizabeth Hansen, Newell Isbell Shinn, Carolyne Lamar Jordan, Meg Klepack, Frances Lightsom, Edward Mair, Bob O’Connor, Allison Randall, Carole Rein, Martha Schwope, Liesa Stamm, Diane Weinholtz, Donn Weinholtz, Morgan Wilson, Kathleen Wooten, Mary Zwirner.
Ex-officio members
Marian Dalton (Treasurer), Scot Drysdale (Finance Clerk), Sarah Gant (Clerk, Meeting Accompaniment Group), Rebecca Leuchak (Presiding Clerk), Noah Merrill (YM Secretary), Jackie Stillwell (YM Secretary Supervisor, Clerk of Nominating Committee), Carl Williams (Clerk of Ministry and Counsel).
Absent
Kimberly Allen, Deana Chase, Anna Radocchia, John Reuthe, Eleanor Warnock,
Visitors
Elizabeth Hacala, Anna Hopkins, Kara Price, Kristina Keefe-Perry, Janet Hough, Becky Jones, Ed Mair, Bob Watt, Kurt Hansen, LouAnne McDonald, Phil Veatch, Maille Wooten, Frederick Martin, Nia Thomas
24-86 Permanent Board Clerk’s Comments
Susan Davies (Vassalboro), the clerk of the Permanent Board, welcomed us with gratitude for the technology of Zoom which allows people to attend at a distance. In particular she is grateful that it allows her to clerk this meeting while she is recovering from Covid. Her full comments are attached.
On January 18, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. there will be a joint memorial service for Jan and Ken Hoffman at Wesley United Methodist Church, 98 North Maple St., Hadley, MA.
Much of this morning will be dedicated to listening and discernment about our financial condition. We will also be hearing about progress about the reduction of the administrative overhead of the Legacy Gift Committee.
While the nominated membership of the Permanent Board is the body charged by Sessions with acting for the whole of NEYM between Sessions, the Treasurer, the Yearly Meeting Secretary, the Finance Committee Clerk, the Accounts Manager, and others are charged with significant responsibility to pay proactive attention to Yearly Meeting finances. The clerk said she asked Noah to summarize these responsibilities so that Friends understand they are bringing recommendations in fulfillment of responsibilities they have been given by the Yearly Meeting.
In response to a charge from Sessions, Noah Merrill (Putney) and Sara Hubner (Gonic) met with Mary Link (Mt Toby), clerk of the Legacy Gift Committee in advance of the consultative process, to establish administrative support for management of the funds and provide for the administrative needs of the Legacy Gift Committee.
The consultation consisted of two separate two-hour meetings. 23 people attended one or both of them.
Themes expressed were:
- Concern to strengthen, sustain, and nourish the spiritual vitality of our tradition and our community, so that Friends might continue to offer our ministry to the world
- In relation to the Legacy Gift, be mindful of the current YM-wide initiative to consider reparations
- There was broad recognition and support for the immediate need to strengthen YM financial sustainability
- Concern that a careful, deliberative process be followed and that we do not rush to identify all uses of all the undesignated funds
As a culmination of this consultative process, representatives of the Legacy Review committee requested that their work be acknowledged as complete and the committee be now laid down.
The work of the Legacy Gift Evaluation has been laid down and the Yearly Meeting expresses its appreciation for its work.
Susan Davies expressed appreciation for the informal meeting of the Permanent Board for orientation and conversations, held over Zoom on October 17, which allowed people to share. In that sharing Susan heard a concern to understand more deeply our spiritual tradition and the way it underlies our practice of corporate discernment.
There have been two meetings for consultation on the condition of quarterly meetings. The Meeting Accompaniment clerk will be working with the clerks of quarters to address some of the administrative issues raised.
As Friends are aware, a concern to address conflict at the Yearly Meeting level has been raised repeatedly over the last two years. In 2023 Sessions charged the Presiding Clerk to establish a working group to develop a charge for a group that could “respond to conflict at the Yearly Meeting level.” The Permanent Board approved the draft charge in May 2024 (PB 24-52), but it was not approved by Sessions due to last-minute, but valuable, requests for changes. Rebecca will bring a progress update in her Presiding Clerk’s report.
The PB clerk informed the Permanent Board that last month, the three members of the laid-down Permanent Board Visiting Committee to Three Rivers communicated to her that harms done to the Three Rivers community in the process of approving monthly meeting status should be brought to the Permanent Board to seek repair. On their own initiative, the visiting committee prepared a second report, re-stating the recommendations of their February 2024 report to the Permanent Board, with the request that it be posted in the advance documents for this meeting. She declined this request because:
- The Permanent Board is charged by Sessions with an enormous amount of work necessary to the welfare and sustainability of our entire spiritual body. The clerk believes that the Permanent Board is not a suitable body to publicly mediate a conflict when narratives differ about what happened and why.
- In response to last month’s message from the Visiting Committee, she reiterated her offer of last May to meet in dialogue, either with her, or with others they think might be helpful to respond to their concerns. Susan looks forward to hearing their response.
In a similar vein, she has received many messages from individuals and groups expressing distress over perceived and experienced harm caused by actions or inactions of Yearly Meeting leadership. Yearly Meeting leaders have led you imperfectly. The Three Rivers approval process was chaotic and disappointing or deeply painful to many and for that she is sorry. Other committees have expressed that they felt unappreciated or unheard. She and all members of the Coordinating and Advisory Committee hold these concerns tenderly. She acknowledged that her words, actions, and inactions have upset or resulted in distress among some individuals and groups.
The concerns raised are troubling, but they also indicate that there exists a sufficiently robust relationship to say “That’s not good enough. You can do better”—and that is a good thing. Deep, humble, and searching self-examination is a part of the core testimony of integrity for each of us as Friends. The clerk stands ready to hear of any missteps, offences, or neglected responsibilities and to take them into her prayer life, and aspires to improve in sensitivity, wisdom, and action.
In another sign of strength amid differences, she is heartened by the frank, open, and respectful dialogue modeled by Fresh Pond Friends when they invited Rebecca Leuchak, Presiding Clerk; Carl Williams, clerk of Ministry and Counsel; and herself to worship and dialogue with them in October.
24-87 Small Group breakout sessions
The clerk invited Friends to turn to a neighbor and discuss the following query: What practices help to hold space to express truthful critique while also expressing loving acceptance and encouragement?
24-88 September 28 minutes.
Friends approved the minutes from the September 28 meeting here attached.
24-89 Update on NEYM Financial Status.
Marian Dalton (Brunswick), Yearly Meeting Treasurer, presented an overview of our current financial situation here attached. At the end of fiscal year 2023, our operational reserves were down to about $52,000, or about 6% of our annual expenses. The biggest driver of our deficit was lower than expected Sessions fees, because attendance was below what had been expected.
Although our books are not closed yet, it appears that at the end of FY 2024, our reserves were down to $27,000, approximately 3% of our operating budget. We have now received most of the pandemic era Employment Retention Tax Credit funds. This is about $45,000, which brings our reserves at the beginning of the fiscal year to about 9% of our budget. Our Financial Handbook specifies that we have a goal of having reserves at the level of 25% of our budgeted expenses at the beginning of the fiscal year.
We went through a downturn in 2014 which we were able to weather by drawing down our reserves. This is not possible now because we have significantly lower reserves. The major source of our deficits has been reduced attendance at Yearly Meeting Sessions. The most important thing we can do in the short term is to encourage members of our meetings to attend Sessions, even if only part time, so that our fixed costs will be spread out over more people.
24-90 Report from the Contributions working group
Liesa Stamm presented the report of the Contributions working group, here attached. This report makes recommendations for how to decide what organizations to make contributions to.
They have recommended criteria for contributions to outside organizations. All contributions should be made from resources designated as available by the Finance Committee. The first priority is organizations and associations of which we are a member. The report contains queries to be used when considering discretionary contributions.
This report does not address the question of who will be making the decisions about contributions. The Finance Committee continues to be clear that they are not that body (PB 21‑42). We have pressing issues of financial sustainability, so we should take this up at a later date when we have excess funds.
Friends approved putting off further discussion until we have made progress in addressing our current financial problems. Friends accept this report with gratitude for the work of the working group.
Friends were reminded that we are in one of the wealthiest regions of the wealthiest country where there are Quakers, and we are making a decision to prioritize continuing our programs at their current levels while declining to support Friends in less privileged positions.
24-91 Yearly Meeting Secretary’s Report
Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting Secretary, spoke about a meeting he attended once here at the Worcester meetinghouse. People were asked to go around and share what they would like to accomplish in the meeting. Clarence Burley from Worcester Meeting responded, “God, what do you want to do today?”
Friends General Conference and other Yearly Meetings are all encountering significant deficits. We are in perilous financial times, but all winds and the waves favor the skilled sailor. We have been in difficult situations before. What do we have control over? What is possible for us to do?
There are four proposals that we are being asked to consider today. They are contained in the Proposed Actions Relating to the Financial Sustainability and Stewardship of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, here attached.
24-92 Create a fund for Present and Future Uses of NEYM
The first proposal is that we create a Board-designated fund for the present and future use of the Yearly Meeting. This fund would be initially funded with the residue of the former Witness & Ministry Fund after the Yearly Meeting redesignated $750,000 of this fund. That residue is currently approximately $280,000 and fluctuates with market conditions.
Friends approved designating for “Present and Future Uses of NEYM”—including such timely uses as financial sustainability, development (fundraising), Sessions, staff capacity and resilience, and ensuring appropriate reserve levels—the remaining funds deriving from Sessions’ decision to set aside the remainder of funds formerly designated for the Witness & Ministry Fund, after redesignating $750,000 to the Witness & Ministry Fund (Sessions Minute 2024-62).
24-93 Initial use of the Present and Future Uses Fund.
Noah Merrill proposed use of up to $50,000 from these “Present & Future Uses” funds to support immediate next steps to strengthen NEYM development work overall, including a feasibility study, fundraising consulting hours, and possible temporary increases in hourly staff time prior to the meeting of the Permanent Board on March 1, 2025. He does not expect to use the entire $50,000 before March. Some of the expenses are expected to be incurred later.
He also indicated that any increases in hourly staff time prior to March 1 would be temporary and provisional, pending further discernment and approval by the Permanent Board. There have been initial explorations of the feasibility study and development consulting, and they could proceed in early 2025. At the March 1 Permanent Board meeting, following further consultation and seasoning with Friends with financial management, fundraising, and organizational leadership roles and experience, further recommendations for uses of the “Present & Future Uses” funds to strengthen development and financial sustainability, as well as other possible coordinated uses, would be brought to the Permanent Board for discernment and approval.
Friends approved the use of $50,000 from the Present and Future Uses Fund as described above.
Friends were reminded that we also need to address our declining membership. Along with our financial development, we need to strengthen our spiritual development. We need to have a message that will encourage people to join us to walk with us.
24-94 Establishing a small number of Board-designated Funds
Noah Merrill recommended that we create four board-designated funds as described in the report referenced above in minute 24-91. These funds would be a Thriving Meetings Fund, a Spiritual Formation Fund, a Youth Ministries Acorn Fund, and a Stewardship Fund.
This was a complicated proposal and there were a number of logistical questions about the administration of these funds. There was also a lack of clarity among the members of the Permanent Board as to where the contributions to these funds would come from and the impact of this on our other fundraising. The Treasurer said that, if we approved creating these funds, they would exist only on paper until someone actually made a contribution to them.
Friends took no action on this proposal today, but it may be brought back to us at a later date.
24-95 Fund for Friends Camp Camperships
Anna Buller, Friends Camp Director, presented the Friends Camp Proposed Endowment Fund for Camperships, here attached. It is important to the ministry of Friends Camp to be able to provide camperships to families in need. Having a dedicated endowment fund to fund camperships will help alleviate the financial stress on both the camp and the Yearly Meeting. There are still issues that will need to be worked out such as what to do if the need for camperships no longer exists or if the camp itself no longer exists. These issues will be brought back to the Permanent Board at a later time.
Friends approved the creation of a permanent endowment fund for camperships to Friends Camp as described in the attached proposal.
24-96 Sessions 2025
Noah Merrill referred people to the Sessions 2025 Financial Report here attached. Elizabeth Hacala and others have looked at a variety of options for holding an in-person Yearly Meeting in the summer of 2025. The only option appears to be to have Sessions at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. All of the options were significantly more expensive than Castleton had been. Some of them lacked significant facilities. UMass Amherst has a room suitable for business meetings that has all of the infrastructure in place to host hybrid sessions. It has the best value for room costs. Even so, Sessions in 2025 could incur a deficit of up to $75,000. There are more than sufficient funds in the Present and Future Needs Fund that we just established to cover this deficit.
The Yearly Meeting is starting a visioning process for Yearly Meeting Sessions, but that work will not be completed before 2025 Sessions. This is a stop-gap measure to allow us to continue to meet while we consider a new structure for Yearly Meeting Sessions that would be better adapted to our resources and supportive of the life of Friends. Consideration was given to having an online-only meeting. Youth Programs in particular are still recovering from having online-only meetings during the pandemic and it was feared that another year of having an online-only meeting would be a significant blow to the programs. There is also a hope that, since Amherst is more centrally located, attendance might increase, reducing the potential deficit. The best thing we can do is to encourage widespread attendance at Yearly Meeting Sessions.
Friends approved authorizing the Yearly Meeting Secretary to sign a contract with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, for holding Yearly Meeting Sessions in August of 2025.
24-97 Minute on the Cuba Embargo from Southeast Quarter.
Beth Hansen (Westerly) presented the minute from Providence Meeting concerning the United States embargo on Cuba, here attached.
Friends endorsed this minute.
24-98 Travelers to Cuba
Susan Davies presented the report from the Puente Committee regarding a delegation to travel to visit Cuba Yearly Meeting, here attached. Because an opportunity to offer an Alternatives to Violence program has come up, Robert Watts now wants to leave with the rest of the delegation on February 15. He will be returning on February 26, and the rest of the travelers will return on February 24.
Friends approved the following Friends to travel to visit Friends in Cuba: Maggie Fogarty, Elizabeth Keane, Andrea Groft, Harvin Groft, Francis Groft, Severino Groft, Ananias Groft, Kristna Evans, Mimi Marstaller, Maggie Fiori, and Robert Watts.
24-99 Peter Blood-Patterson to travel in ministry
The clerk read the travel minute for Peter Blood-Patterson here attached.
Friends approved the Travel Minute for Peter Blood-Patterson.
24-100 Kathleen Wooten Travel minute
The clerk read the travel minute for Kathleen Wooten, here attached.
Friends approved the travel minute for Kathleen Wooten.
24-101 Presiding Clerk’s Report
Rebecca Leuchak, Yearly Meeting Presiding Clerk, gave an update on the work she has been doing. As she has worked with the various committees, working groups, and resource groups of our Yearly Meeting she has been grateful for and encouraged by the faithful work that she has seen happening throughout the Yearly Meeting. As the Presiding Clerk, she also serves ex-officio on the Board of the Moses Brown School. She is currently involved in revising the by‑laws of the school to better reflect Quaker values. She is also working with a small group to strengthen the participation of Quakers on the Board. She is hopeful that there will develop a closer relationship between the Yearly Meeting and the school.
She drew our attention to the report that the Quaker Indigenous Boarding School Working Group has prepared and the cover letter that will accompany it, both attached. These will be sent to Deborah Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, on Monday.
Yearly Meeting Sessions this summer also charged the Presiding Clerk and Yearly Meeting Secretary to send a statement to senators and representatives from New England in support of the Truth and Healing Commission Bill on Indian Boarding School Policies (S.1723). Rebecca is grateful to the members of the Quaker Indigenous Boarding School Working Group for drafting that statement and it will be sent out soon.
Rebecca noted that in the beginning of our meetings for business at Sessions in both 2023 and 2024, we as a body approved that the only minutes that would be submitted for approval at Sessions would be minutes of substantial action. Approval would not be sought for minutes concerning the regular activities of Sessions. Since there were some issues raised about that at the last Permanent Board meeting, she has been involved in a deep dive about this matter. We are engaged in an incredible amount of activity during our precious time together. We have been increasingly keen on encouraging people to volunteer for service to our Yearly Meeting who have significant other responsibilities that place demands on their time. This includes people who are working full time and people who are attending Sessions with small children. We are hoping that we can make service to the Yearly Meeting more manageable.
Rebecca will be asking the current Clerks Table, the Rising Presiding Clerk and the clerk of the Faith and Practice Revision Committee to further consider our process for approving minutes. She hopes to bring a further report to our March Permanent Board meeting.
At Sessions last summer, Friends did not approve the charge for the proposed Conflict Response Team.
Rebecca is working on reconstituting the working group to continue work on this charge. She has had three people agree to participate and she is waiting to hear from two more people. Friends intend to hold a called meeting of the Permanent Board to consider these and any other nominations that may be ready at that time.
24-102 Thriving Ministry and Eldership Group report
Carl Williams, (Plainfield), clerk of Ministry and Counsel, based on direction from Sessions 2024, presented the updated charge for the Thriving Ministry and Eldership Group, here attached. Friends approved.
24-103 Memorial Minutes
The memorial minutes for John Preston, Ruth Hawkins, Muriel Farrrar and Karen Cadbury, here attached, were approved for sending on to Sessions 2025.
Respectfully Submitted,
Willa Taber, Recording Clerk
Susan Davies, Permanent Board Clerk