his
year’s Summer Sessions of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM),
"Living Up to the Light," promised
to be a powerful, transformational time in community-rooted in
unprogrammed worship and with a focus on Earthcare. And those who
attended realized the fulfillment of that promise.Friends from
Meetings throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware presented many important
questions and concerns, including the
PYM priorities process, the budget for 2010, and the particulars of
the Governance Report.
The most popular part of PYM’s residential Summer Sessions is the
opportunity for fellowship with Friends from all over Yearly Meeting,
providing those who attended from our Meeting a chance to get to know other Friends.
During the Summer Sessions, speakers such as Pat McBee, Melanie Douty-Snipes of Snipes Farm, Peter Brown of the Moral
Economy Project, Keith Helmuth of the Quaker Institute for the Future,
a panel of Hollister Knowlton of the
Earthcare Working Group, Carl Magruder of the National Council of
Churches Eco-Justice Program , and George Lakey of Swarthmore College
provided some powerful voices for peace, justice, and a restored
earth.
Joe Volk of the Friends Committee on National Legislation presented the keynote address.
Those in attendance approved the following
Governance Implementation Recommendations:
1. Interim Meeting meeting time changed to weekend.
2. Consideration to change number of sessions to no more than
six a year, including Annual Sessions.
3. One clerk presides over both Annual Sessions and Interim
Meeting.
4. Clerk be supported by Alternate Clerks.
5. Clerk and General Secretary work together in partnership.
6. Agenda Committee comprised of Clerk, Alternate Clerks, and
General Secretary.
7. Designated appointees to Interim Meeting serve a defined
term.
8. Yearly Meeting provide training and orientation to provide
clarity
and unity of purpose to those serving.
9. A body of elders be available to provide correction and
discipline.
10. A small committee be created to evaluate the performance
of
the General Secretary on an annual basis.
11. Yearly review of process to improve communication.
In addition, attendees also approved three new
Governance Implementation Proposals:
1. A Faith and Practice Revision committee needs to be formed
to
deal with these changes.
2. New job descriptions for Clerk and Alternate clerk need to
be
entered into the Nominating Committee Handbook.
3. The clerk should appoint a committee to develop job
descriptions
for
elders which also need to be entered into the Nominating
Committee handbook.
Attendees additionally approved recommendations
from the Priorities Process Standing Committee.
The Priorities Document is a tool to help us reflect on our
priorities and aid in the allocation of spiritual, human, and material
resources to achieve the goals of those priorities.
The hope is that the Priorities Document will not only help us
to hear God’s call but to follow it with faithful vibrant
ministries. Unfortunately, the
first consideration of this item ran over time, so a special threshing
session had to be added to discuss concerns that had arisen. However,
after the threshing session, Friends approved the recommendations
unanimously. This is a new
process which will be growing and changing over time.
In addition, PYM introduced a booklet entitled The
Work of PYM, which describes what groups are available
within it, such as standing committees and working groups, with which
we can further our interests and passions.
It presents in a comprehensive and comprehendible way the
structure that manifests our priorities.