Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious
Society of Friends
Pacific Yearly Meeting
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Reports from Quarterly and Monthly Meetings
John Helding reported that San Francisco Monthly Meeting has reaffirmed the Meeting’s support of marriage for all, a commitment first made by the Meeting in 1971.
Nominating Committee
Marilee Euseubio reported for the Committee. Three actions were requested. Two members – Roy Allen (Berkeley) and Jo Tyler (Orange County)- have resigned from the Committee, and the Committee asks that the Naming Committee nominate replacements.
The Committee proposes the following nominations:
We held consideration of these nominations over until later in the session, as is our custom.
The Committee recommends that a group picture be taken at the annual session so that we can remind ourselves of who we are. This would be done on Tuesday during the Yearly Meeting session. The approximate cost for copies would be $12.00. We would have to guarantee that 50 copies would be purchased. Some Friends had concerns about the usefulness of such a photograph. Others had experiences that suggested that such a photograph would be useful.
RepCom 2004-1 Friends approved experimenting with the taking of a photograph of the attenders of this coming Yearly Meeting session and to guarantee the $600 minimum purchase requirement. The Clerk and Assistant Clerk will make appropriate arrangements.
It was noted that there is a need to nominate a person to serve as Clerk of the Unity of Nature Committee.
Committee to Name the Nominating Committee
The Presiding Clerk asked for nominations to a Committee to Name the Nominating Committee (the “Naming Committee”). At the 2004 Yearly Meeting session, these Friends will bring names of prospects to fill vacancies on the Yearly Meeting Nominating Committee and will propose one Nominating Committee member as Clerk of that Committee for the coming year. A number of names were suggested and efforts were to be made during the day to contact these persons.
Junior Yearly Meeting Committee
Paul Harris (Redwood Forest) noted that there are several technical issues regarding Junior Yearly Meeting requiring the attention of the Registrar, the Arrangements Clerk and the Assistant Clerk.
Peace and Social Order Committee
Sarah House (Orange Grove) reported that Peace and Social Order Committee members are attempting to visit all Meetings this year.
Tom Farley (Palo Alto) reminded us of the Yearly Meeting’s earlier approval of same gender marriages and asked whether it would be appropriate to ask our Clerk to again make public our Yearly Meeting’s position. It was noted that this earlier Minute dealt with the rights and privileges of marriage and not with marriage per se. (Faith and Practice, pages 155 and 248.) The Presiding Clerk suggested that we not have a full discussion of this issue today, but that Friends who have concerns should speak with the Peace and Social Order Committee and that further work at the Yearly Meeting session may be appropriate. Friends appeared comfortable with this suggestion.
Sarah House reported that at its next meeting the Committee will consider the Alternatives to Violence Program, the universal health care bill, the Patriot Act, the role of the military in our schools, the process of recovering our testimonies as Friends - including the peace testimony-, the care of our interns, the United Nations, Colombia, and Friends Peace Teams.
Friends brought a number of social concerns to our attention including additional participation in Friends Peace Teams, Native American affairs, faith based initiatives, and military recruitment on high school campuses.
Site Committee
Pat Smith (Claremont) reported for the Committee. (See Attachment 1.) The Committee does not discern unity on a site for the 2006 Pacific Yearly Meeting gathering. The Pacific Friends Outreach Society has proposed that the 2006 Yearly Meeting session be held at the Visalia site. There are logistical issues still needing resolution in order to make this proposal viable. In addition, Friends General Conference will be held in Tacoma, Washington, from July 1 to 8 of that year. The Committee asks three questions:
Friends raised concerns about the Mount Madonna site (especially accessibility), shortening or rescheduling the Yearly Meeting session (which, among other problems, could have a negative impact on the Junior Yearly Meeting Community and our ability to do the business of the Yearly Meeting), the benefits of attending the General Conference gathering, and the lack of clarity regarding the relationship between the Pacific Friends Outreach Society and the Yearly Meeting. Jim Anderson noted that the Site Committee would take these and other concerns into consideration, and that the Committee will consult with Ministry and Oversight, Junior Yearly Meeting and others, when making plans for the 2006 Yearly Meeting sessions.
Ministry and Oversight Committee
Tom Farley (Palo Alto) reported for the Committee. (See Attachment 2.) The Committee has held two weekend meetings since the last Yearly Meeting session. Tom Farley reviewed the work of several of the Committee subcommittees.
Brinton Visitor: Eric Moon has visited 21 meetings in Washington and Oregon as Brinton Visitor. He was accompanied by Nancy Yarnall, the Friends World Committee for Consultation Western Field Staff person. He will visit eastern Oregon and Montana in the future.
Electronic Communications: This subcommittee intends to make our Faith and Practice available on the Internet in a secure format. The subcommittee is also working on developing proposed policy for the Yearly Meeting to consider regarding an official Yearly Meeting web site.
Released Friends: The subcommittee is addressing questions such as “How do we discern,” “What is ministry,” and “How might an individual leading become a leading for a meeting?” The subcommittee is also examining the use of clearness committees by monthly meetings and how meetings recognize and support Friends called to serve as chaplains or in similar positions where formal recognition by one's religious denomination may be one of the qualifications.
Adult Religious Education: This subcommittee proposes to offer interest groups at the 2004 Yearly Meeting session including ones on the resources available to meetings dealing with difficult issues; spiritual issues such as Rex Ambler’s exploration of early Friends practices; the Yearly Meeting’s role in supporting individual and organization projects; liability, safety, insurance and the care of the community; and the work of Casa de los Amigos.
The Committee urges Friends to consider spending periods of several months or longer in Mexico City so that they might participate in the life of the Mexico City Monthly Meeting as well as in the work of Casa de los Amigos.
Unity with Nature Committee
Kristina Perry (Humboldt) reported for the Committee. The Committee has had one residential meeting and has another scheduled. The Committee is developing inter-visitation to allow the sharing of voices regarding creation care. A subcommittee is working to help us take the ecological footprint approach to the external costs of attending Yearly Meeting sessions. This will especially look at the energy costs of our transportation to Yearly Meeting. The Committee has specific recommendations regarding this year’s Yearly Meeting session. These include asking all committees to use paper with minimum of 30% post consumer content, the secretariat to buy paper with 100% post consumer waste content (or tree free paper), the secretariat to find ways to reduce the number of Daily Miracles printed, and the Arrangements Clerks to work with Mt. Madonna to reduce the number of food miles involved in our food consumption. (See Attachment 3.)
We closed with a time of quiet worship and broke for lunch (and a group photograph) at 12:40 p.m.
Discernment Session
We gathered again at 1:45, beginning our work with a time of quiet worship.
Jim Anderson introduced us to our next work as a Representative Committee. This discernment session will be a chance for all of us to reflect on, and respond to, recurring questions. What is the role of Friends in the current turmoil? What do we have to offer to the world? What do we have to teach our children about living? George Fox spoke of the covenant of the light, the promise that we are to be something together. Do we desire a permanent site? Do we need staff? What do we desire for our young people? Should we affiliate with Friends General Conference, with other Friends organizations? Are our social testimonies alive or dormant? How should we spend time at the annual session? What do we really want from one another? Is our footprint too large, our vision too small? What is the Yearly Meeting – a conference, an institution, a network?
We broke into small groups considering two questions during worship sharing:
What is the experience you treasure and seek in Yearly Meeting? What settings and structures allow and nurture that experience?
Two issues that are rising among us concern the permanent site project, and the place of youth in our Yearly Meeting. How might we approach these issues this summer? What structures and activities would serve us?
We returned to our general session at 3:20 p.m. and entered into a time of quiet worship. It is a blessing when our process is a ladder and not a cage. We have not honestly addressed our relationship with the Pacific Friends Outreach Society. We desire to build an intergenerational society. Is it time to make space in our yearly meeting to make structures to talk about our vision, for people of different generations and beliefs to find each other? We are one body. Who shall be our hands? There is deep longing among us about these complex issues. We will need to change what we are doing to thrive as a spiritual community. We will need to devote time to these deep questions. Filling our lives with reports and presentations will fill our time, but it will not lead us to the living Christ. What connections can and should we be making with other groups who share many of our beliefs, although their practices might be quite different? Our charge is to be in the world, but not of it. We have to get our hands into the nitty gritty – balancing being in the present and our simplicity. For any action, we need to ask: Will this help us to do our work better? Will this help us to listen to God? What are we about and what is our work?
Concern for Junior Friends Transition
Zachary Moon (Strawberry Creek) spoke to us concerning the need for a change in our relationship with our young people that could fundamentally change us as a faith community. We live in a world where our beliefs in peace, simplicity, integrity are being called into question every day. Our children feel the power of our testimonies. How do we realize that power? We need the voice of the young to know who we are. He plans to expand this conversation by traveling to monthly meetings to ask this question and to hear answers he can’t anticipate. This conversation may move us closer to realizing the beloved community. (See Attachment 4.)
One Friend suggested that we are a Quaker Club Med. We drop our children in a safe place. Pick them up quickly for lunch, and drop them back. But what it says to our children is that we are afraid to share what is important to us with them.
Finance Committee
Stratton Jaquette (Palo Alto) reported that the Finance Committee agrees that the material on Pacific Yearly Meeting expense reimbursement policy and forms distributed electronically are correct as of this Representative Committee meeting.
The Committee requests technical corrections to Minute 2003-3. The intent of the minute was to allow committees to fund travel among Yearly Meeting Friends.
RepCom 2004-2 Friends approved amending Minute
Pacific Yearly Meeting 2003-3 to read: Amending Pacific Yearly Meeting
policy covering reimbursement of travel costs, Friends approved
increasing extending allowable travel reimbursements for committees
to include costs of travel to meetings of other Friends’ organizations
for travel by committee members among Pacific Yearly Meeting Friends to
make presentations, participate on panels, and do other similar work on
behalf of their committee.” [Note: deleted language is in strike
out type and added language is in italic type.]
The committee proposes that we allocate $3000 for a service project/retreat to help Junior Yearly Meeting Friends in their transition into the adult Yearly Meeting. The budget for this project would cover the expenses of a week-long service project in the spiritual context of Quaker practice and retreat. Friends had several questions about this proposal. It was noted that Quaker Center has had programs for this age group in the past, but is not doing so this year. There was question regarding the relationship between the Ministry and Oversight Committee and this proposal. After discussion we agreed:
RepCom 2002-3 Friends approved the allocation of $3000 for a transition service project/retreat asking the Clerk, in consultation with the Ministry and Oversight Committee, to appoint an ad hoc committee to oversee this project.
The Finance Committee will have a weekend session in July working with Yearly Meeting financial policies, including policies regarding travel reimbursements.
Sherri Sisson (Orange County) reported on the draft fiscal year 2002-03 financial report. (See Attachment 5.) Because adjustment of our bill with the University of San Diego was a long, complex process, this is not a final report. General Yearly Meeting expenses were lower than expected. As a result, rather than expending money from reserves as anticipated, there was a small transfer (about $1,800) to reserves. It is probable that there also was a similar small transfer (about $1,900) to reserves for the Yearly Meeting session, rather than the expected ($400) transfer from reserves.
Stratton Jaquette presented the proposed budget for the 2004 session. The expected income and expenses for the session are $115,200, with no transfers to or from reserves. This budget is somewhat different than in past years in that we are acknowledging in the budget, expenses that in the past have been hidden in fee waivers.
RepCom 2004-4 Friends approved the proposed budget of $115,200 for the 2004 Yearly Meeting session.
Registrars
Kim Lacey (Central Coast) reported for the registrars. She noted that the fees we will have to pay Mount Madonna will be only slightly more than in 2001. However, our fee schedule will reflect a greater increase because our other session costs have increased. The proposed daily rates (all inclusive) are:
| Own tent JYM tent MMC tent YF Area Economy Dorm (floor) Dorm (4-7) Triple Double Double w/bath Commuter |
$50 $50 $56 $64 $64 $70 $78 $86 $94 $30 (Excluding meals. Meals for commuters: breakfast $5, lunch and dinner $8 each.) |
Children 2 to 12, half of above. Children under 2, no cost.
Friends were concerned that the commuter rates discourage day attenders.
We discussed this extensively, but recognized that we all have to share
the costs of Yearly Meeting attendance.
RepCom 2004-5 Friends approved the proposed fees for
the 2004 Yearly Meeting session.
The Registrars need any material that should go in the registration packet by April 1, 2004. The packets will be sent out on April 15. The early discount (5%) will apply to registrations postmarked after June 5. Late fees will be assessed on registrations postmarked after July 9.
After a time of quiet worship, we adjourned for dinner at 5:45 p.m.
We resumed our work at 7:00 p.m.
Jim Anderson distributed a letter from the Ministry and Oversight Committee to Clerks of Yearly Meeting Committees on the use of plenary time. (See Attachment 6.)
Friends Peace Teams
Friends Peace Teams has written to the Yearly Meeting asking that the Yearly Meeting appoint a second representative to the Friends Peace Teams Board of Directors. In our minutes of Eighth Month 5, 1995, we approved naming a representative to that Board. We noted that the Peace and Social Order Committee should be involved in the oversight of this activity. The financial implications of adding a second Board Member are somewhat uncertain and will need to be addressed by the Finance Committee.
RepCom 2004-6 Friends approved adding a second representative to the Friends Peace Team Board of Directors. We commend this activity to the care of the Peace Committee.
Committee to Name the Nominating Committee
Jim Anderson reported that Ann Bleile-Kratzer (Fresno); Zachary Moon (Strawberry Creek); and Sue Scott (Inland Valley) have agreed to serve on the Committee to Name the Nominating Committee. A review of Faith and Practice indicates that the Committee to Name the Nominating Committee serves from one Representative Committee session to the next year’s Representative Committee session.
RepCom 2004-7 Friends approved Ann Bleile-Kratzer (Fresno); Zachary Moon (Strawberry Creek); Sue Scott (Inland Valley) as members of the Committee to Name the Nominating Committee to serve until the 2005 Representative Committee meeting. Zachary Moon will be the convenor.
Nominating Committee
Marilee Euseubio (Davis) presented for the Committee. In addition to
the nominations presented earlier in the day, she presented the name of
Kristina Perry (Humboldt) as Clerk of the Unity With Nature Committee.
RepCom 2004-8 Friends approved the following nominations:
Children’s Program: Ernest Bicknell (2004), Berkeley
Finance Committee: Karen Lawrance (2004) (La Jolla) and Kitty Bergel (2004) (Orange County)
Unity With Nature: Kristina Perry (Humboldt) as Clerk to 2004
Arrangements Clerks
Frances Forster (Redwood Forest) reported that planning for this summer’s session is underway. Some coordinators for specific functions have been identified and others still are needed. It is important for us to remember that all of us will need to do a substantial amount of volunteer work during the Yearly Meeting session.
Discipline Committee
Steve Birdlebough (Sacramento) reported for the Committee. (See Attachment 7.) Highlights include the establishment of two subcommittees. One addresses the preparation of a Spanish (Mexican) version of Faith and Practice. The members are Elsa Glines and Jane Peers. The other advises the archivist/historian, particularly in developing guidelines for the retention and destruction of materials. The members are Langdon Elsbree, Jan Tappan and Julia Bazar.
The Committee has recommendations for our consideration concerning our storage of archives at Whittier College. We note that storage space at the Whittier College library is severely limited (13 file cabinets) and that it will not be possible for this space to accommodate all monthly meeting materials that should be preserved. Monthly Meeting material should not be sent to Whittier College at this time. The Discipline Committee should inform Monthly Meetings of the current status of archive storage at Whittier College.
RepCom 2004-9 Friends approved the following priorities for the placement of achieves in Whittier College Library, and for the organization and preservation of materials: 1) Pacific Yearly Meeting records, 2) Records of meetings that have been laid down, 3) Records of meetings without meeting houses, 4) Membership records of meetings that do have a meeting house, and 5) other materials of monthly meetings.
Religious Education for Children Committee
Jim Anderson read the report on the Committee’s work. (See Attachment 8.) The Committee is interested in visiting Meetings and has made a pilot visit to Central Coast Meeting.
Children’s Program Committee
David Lederman (Orange County) reported. Last year there was a separate middle school group at the Yearly Meeting session. This will be done again this year. The Committee will begin its planning work for this year’s session in the near future.
Wider Fellowship Among Friends
Tom Davis (Santa Cruz) reported that, in response to interest in Friends General Conference, he visited the Friends General Conference gathering this past summer. The Committee is interested in furthering our understanding of Friends General Conference and is not suggesting that we take action to join Friends General Conference at this time. It was observed that this matter has been studied in the past.
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Ruth Fraser (San Francisco) reported that Friends Committee on National Legislation encourages Friends to take an active part in the democratic process during the coming months. She noted that participation in the electoral process by members of other activist organizations is low (e.g., only half of the members of the Sierra Club vote). Besides voting, we can register others, write letters to editors, get candidates to publicly address issues of concern to Friends (“bird dogging”), and so forth.
East-West Relations Committee
Carl Anderson (Strawberry Creek) reported for the Committee. (See Attachment 9.) Julie Harlow has increased her work in Russia and is available to speak to Monthly Meetings about that work. A full written report is attached.
Pacific Friends Outreach Society
Gary Wolff (Orange Grove) reported. (See Attachment 10.) Pacific Friends Outreach Society is working on obtaining a conditional use permit, relationships with the larger Visalia community, and organizational governance.
Friends World Committee for Consultation
Five Friends from Pacific Yearly Meeting attended the Friends World Committee for Consultation gathering in New Zealand. Yearly Meetings are asked to name delegates to a World Gathering of Young Friends (age 18 to 35 in 2005) to be held in 2005. Our Yearly Meeting may name two delegates. The Friends World Committee for Consultation is having financial difficulties because of heavy dependence on contributions from the Americas, which are in devalued dollars against the British pound. Both of these issues have financial implications for the Yearly Meeting. Perhaps because of the hour, we were unable to reach unity on the proposal to name Young Friends to participate in the World Gathering of Young Friends. However, we expect that the Nominating Committee will identify people who might attend this gathering and the Finance Committee will consider this matter, which we expect to be brought to us in August.
Latin American Concerns Committee
The Committee presented its written report. (See Attachment 11.)
Minutes
The minutes of the Representative Committee session were read and corrected
RepCom 2004-10 Friends approved the Minutes of this Representative Committee session..
Our business having been completed, we adjourned after a time of quiet worship, at 9:50 p.m..
Faithfully submitted
Jim Anderson, Presiding Clerk
Joseph Magruder, Recording Clerk