Annual Sessions | June 2022

Jun 20

Saturday, June 18

Opening Minute:

A note of welcome to those at Canby Grove, meeting on the lands of the Kalapuya, and those attending online: We are looking forward to a time of reconnecting. Some of our committees have stayed connected and have been working to help us become the people we are called to become. Two of our committees will be asking local meetings to make new commitments. We anticipate that this will feel heavy for some of us; after two years of COVID, many of us are feeling tired. As clerks, we hope you will consider these new commitments as sources of new energy, not new drains on your existing energy.

We welcomed these visitors from other yearly meetings:
Alicia McBride, Friends Committee on National Legislation and Baltimore Yearly Meeting, with Mandy McBride
Jenny Willoughby, North Pacific Yearly Meeting, with Bethal Willoughby and Judah Willoughby
Lucy Fullerton, North Pacific Yearly Meeting
Earl Smith, Ohio Yearly Meeting, attending Camas Friends Church online
Rhoda Blough, Everence A letter of greeting (attached) from Friends World Committee for Consultation was read.

Comments from the clerks on the state of the Yearly Meeting:

We want to acknowledge our condition. Our Yearly meeting is five years old, and for nearly half of this time we have been living in a pandemic, meeting only online for much of that period. Five of our seven churches have experienced at least one pastoral change. Most of our communities have been grappling with these factors. We have lost loved ones, changed or lost jobs, changed housing. Many of us are still in the midst of these changes.

These realities are reflected in our committees. We are operating on a skeleton crew. Some of our committees are in hibernation, some are finding new life, and some have been working extraordinarily hard. Many of us have more than one role. We just want to acknowledge that in some places we are hurting. That is the simple truth, for us just as for many other organizations and communities in the world. We are excited to see you, we’re going to have a great weekend, but we just wanted to point out the elephant in the room. Thank you—our Yearly Meeting exists because of you.

Coordinating Committee:

Judy Maurer gave the Coordinating Committee’s recommendations for new terms on the Nominating Committee.

Rachel Hampton, a new term to 2025
Matt Boswell, a new term to 2025

She then noted that the Communications Committee has been one of those committees that has been relatively inactive, and reported that the Coordinating Committee had appointed Erin Zysett to a three-month term of paid service as a temporary Yearly Meeting contractor for communications. She will work on redesigning the Web site and work on other communications for us, including the newsletter.

Erin Zysett introduced herself, recommended that we sign up to receive the newsletter if we don’t receive it already, and asked us to watch for an upcoming survey.

Nominating Committee:

In presenting the Nominating Committee’s report, Matt Boswell expressed gratitude for those Friends whose service on committees has ended. These Friends are listed at the beginning of the Committee’s report, which is attached to these minutes.

The committee’s nominations were presented one committee at a time. All committee nominations were approved.

Co-clerk: Norma Silliman to 2025
Co-recording clerk: Johan Maurer to 2025
Treasurer: Diane Beebe to 2025

Continuing in their present offices:

Co-clerk: Mike Huber to 2023
Recording clerk: Keith Barton to 2023

On behalf of the Yearly Meeting, co-clerk Mike Huber welcomed the new officers at the start of their service: Diane Beebe as Treasurer; Norma Silliman as Co-clerk, and Johan Maurer as Co-recording Clerk.

The following nominees were approved as our representatives to the organizations indicated:

Julie Peyton, Londa Rochholz, Cherice Bock, Anna Baker: Friends World Committee for Consultation

Kendra Purcell, Tom Stave, Anna Scott-Hinkle: Friends Committee on National Legislation Norma Silliman: North Pacific Yearly Meeting Dove John and Cherice Bock: Western Yearly Meeting

Nurture of Ministry Committee:

Ruthie Tippin, interim clerk of the committee, presented certificates of recording to those whose gifts in the ministry had been recorded by our Yearly Meeting during the COVID years when our annual sessions were conducted online. The following Friends received their certificates today:

Laura Simmons
Sarah Katreen Hoggatt
Bethany Lee
Jazmin Price-Miller

Nurture of Ministry Committee (group presentation):

All four members of the committee (Ruthie Tippin, Faith Marsalli, Anna Baker, and Johan Maurer) made a panel presentation to the annual session on the theme “The ministry of nurturing a new yearly meeting.”

Summary of concerns presented by the committee:

Early in Quaker history, yearly meetings asked their constituent meetings, “Does Truth prosper among you?” Do we have the capacity to discern needs and share resources when local churches face crises?
Our outer garments look great, but inside we may be more like skeletons. Can we add flesh to the bones and anticipate God writing on our hearts?
COVID has led to reductions in members and attenders. Our churches need grace and healing to build up again.

The committee presented these queries in anticipation of a follow-up time on tomorrow’s agenda:

Why do we organize ourselves and gather as a yearly meeting? (Why do we do what we do? Does it have value?)
How do you want to be nurtured?
How do you want our yearly meeting to be nurtured?
How do you feel led to contribute to the nurture of the yearly meeting?

Equity and Inclusion Committee:

Jen Seamans presented the first reading of a proposed Minute on Right Relationship with Indigenous People, and an introductory statement that presents a context for both this new minute and our previously-adopted minute on Black Lives Matter.

Friends made several suggestions and asked questions. These documents will be presented again tomorrow for final decision.

Safeguarding Committee and Abuse Prevention Policy:

Kendra Purcell and Mark Pratt-Russum of the Safeguarding Committee (formerly known as the Abuse Prevention Committee) presented the committee’s proposed Abuse Prevention Policy for first reading.

They described the process of developing this policy in collaboration with Safe Communities. Jade Rockwell was able to devote her internship term at Earlham School of Religion to write the text of this policy. The arrangements proposed by this policy include a company that would do background checks for local churches and the Yearly Meeting.

The draft policy had been posted among the advance documents on the Yearly Meeting’s Web site, along with a form to provide feedback to the committee.

The proposed policy is attached.

Jade Rockwell pointed out that some parts of the policy will be mandatory for local churches and will require changes in current practice, and therefore there are grace periods provided for churches to implement the policy locally. The committee will provide advice and assistance for any church that encounters difficulties in implementation.

Finance Committee:

Dave Cundiff presented the financial report. He expressed gratitude for Robert Wade’s service as treasurer. Diane Beebe’s service as our new treasurer was approved during the Nominating Committee report.

Dave Cundiff also presented a proposed change to the SCYMF Bylaws regarding our fiscal year, to bring the Bylaws into conformity with our actual practice of a July 1-June 30 fiscal year. The Spending Plan and Bylaws change will be on Sunday’s agenda for decisions.

Robert Wade, Treasurer, reviewed the 2022-23 Spending Plan for Friends’ consideration before tomorrow’s decision. He pointed out four numbers:

This year’s $1,200 positive balance
An estimated $5,064 deficit in next year’s plan
The total amount of allocations collected in the 2020-21 fiscal year from Northwest Yearly Meeting: $238,000
Total assets: $406,000 in total assets, which constitute our reserves.

The Finance Committee reminds us that the Spending Plan is not an instrument of control but an instrument of discussion, reflecting input from committees, plus conservative estimates of income and outgo. The proposed 2022-23 plan implies a $5000 deficit, which is a change: each year up to now we have ended the year with a positive contribution to the reserves.

Sunday June 19

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt read an excerpt from an article by Julie Peyton in Western Friend.

We need these to hear what Friends are doing that is life-giving and inspiring and bringing the Kingdom here and now. Again, these can be an easy way to step into speaking to our communities. When I listen to a Friend reporting on work being done, I feel like I am participating in that effort. When the one bringing a report is met with a listening and attentive audience, the speaker is encouraged and the community is edified. Something more than mere communication of information happens.

[From: “Needed Words, Needed Silence.” https://westernfriend.org/article/needed-words-needed-silence]

Juneteenth:

Anna Scott-Hinkle presented the following remembrance:

Juneteenth is celebrated every year on June 19, also known as National Independence Day. It celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the US. US Army troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in June 1865 to enforce Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of more than two years prior. Texas was the last confederate state to abolish chattel slavery. The 13th amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, abolishing slavery or involuntary servitude in the US or any places under US jurisdiction, except as punishment for a crime. Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday in 2021. Juneteenth is also a day celebrating African American culture.

Anna invited Friends to view a video from the YouTube channel The Root on Juneteenth that will be made available at the end of this session. The video is at this URL: https://youtu.be/iu6ntwHws5g

In Memoriam:

The clerks presented a slide show prepared by Meg Rice as a memorial to those who have died since our last Yearly Meeting annual sessions. We recognize the love that goes beyond death—a love we’ve been experiencing this weekend.

Here are the Friends included in today’s memorial:

Greg Enns, Silverton Friends, February 25, 1953 - October 10, 2021
Annie Belle Johnson, Eugene Friends, March 11, 1937 - August 23, 2021
Nina Hess, Eugene Friends, June 15, 1949 - September 3, 2021
Pat Dickover, Eugene Friends, January 17, 1935 - February 28, 2022
June Denham, Reedwood Friends, June 23, 1941 - December 29, 2021
Bernie Bosnjak, Hillsboro Friends, March 15, 1945 - November 28, 2021
Carolann Palmer, North Seattle and North Valley Friends, January 16, 1936 - January 26, 2022
Carol Whorton, Klamath Falls Friends, September 27, 1947 - May 16, 2022

Nominating Committee:

Matt Boswell presented the following additional nominations:

Coordinating Committee Ruba Byrd to 2025. Approved.
Youth Committee Willow Githens to 2025. Approved.
Finance Committee (All were approved.)
- Tim Rochholz to 2025
- Lynette Cortez to 2025
- Willow Githens to 2025

People Care Committee

Norma Silliman presented the report of the People Care Committee, summarizing the recommendations (attached) that were submitted to us among the documents in advance.

People Care requests our discernment and approval, first of all, to make changes to the descriptions of membership, to the application form and to the process for gaining membership, as described in the advance document.

Secondly, the names of new direct members of SCYMF (those wishing membership in SCYMF who are not already members in a SCYMF meeting and who wish, by virtue of location or other reason, to apply directly to our Yearly Meeting) will be reported by People Care rather than be approved in a plenary SCYMF session.

Thirdly, People Care proposes that agreement with our Abuse Prevention Policy (when adopted) be part of the expectation of meetings applying for membership in SCYMF.

People Care is continuing to work on proposed changes to our Yearly Meeting’s Bylaws to reflect a wider understanding of where the applicant is located, rather than the limited radius that was discussed when the Yearly Meeting first considered direct membership. The exact description of the location factor is still being discussed within People Care.

Barclay Press

Mike Huber presented a proposal for our Yearly Meeting’s relationship with Barclay Press. He prefaced his proposal with some context, as follows:

I think our yearly meeting should support Barclay Press as a Quaker ministry in our neighborhood; Barclay Press has a shared legacy of 9 being disowned by NWYM and is a current resource to SCYMF voices. Currently, we pay Barclay Press $500/month for various services that Eric [Muhr] provides our YM. Since we’ve hired someone else to oversee our website, newsletter, etc. I want to make sure this transition doesn’t cause financial hardship to Barclay Press.

Here’s what I propose:

(1)We establish a task force to recommend an ongoing level of support. The expectation is that we would receive this recommendation at our October quarterly gathering. I worked with Matt Boswell (clerk of the Nominating Committee) to develop a list of names. These Friends have agreed to serve on the task force, if the meeting approves its formation:

Jo Boswell (Camas)
Julie Peyton (West Hills)
Londa Rochholz (Eugene)

(2)Barclay Press has invited Sierra-Cascades to appoint someone to their Board, so we have a structural connection for ongoing communication and mutual support. We ask the task force to work with the Nominating Committee so we can bring a nominee to the October quarterly gathering.

(3)We continue to pay Barclay Press $500/month until we’ve discerned a different level of support.

This proposal was approved with this additional point: We would like the task force to make a report, or interim report, to our October quarterly sessions.

Nurture of Ministry Committee:

Referring to the panel presentation on Saturday, the committee invited comments and ideas for next steps, asking “How do you feel led to contribute to our yearly meeting? What does it look like to nurture this young yearly meeting? What does nurture of ministry look like?” 10 We on the committee have noted that we sometimes scramble to respond to problems among our churches. We have not observed any enthusiasm for having a superintendent for our yearly meeting, but would it help to have a pastor at large, perhaps for a season? What about convening a yearly meeting of elders, drawing together the elders (or equivalents) from our local meetings? The Nurture of Ministry Committee invites everyone to consider our challenges and send us your ideas to any member of the committee or by e-mail to Clerk.NurtureOfMinistry@scymf.org.

Safeguarding Committee and Abuse Prevention Policy:

During the discussion of the draft policy that was presented on Saturday, the Safeguarding Committee emphasized that the policy would be adopted with the understanding that not every aspect can be implemented immediately, that different meetings will have different requirements, and the Safeguarding Committee will walk alongside local meetings as they work to meet the policy’s requirements.

For example, an element of the policy that will be challenging for Hillsboro Friends is the requirement that offenders must be accompanied by chaperones, requiring extra volunteer hours that would be hard to find among the handful of people presently involved in the church. It is important for the rest of the yearly meeting to hear about this need. We could ask ourselves, “Maybe I can go there once a month to be present to be a chaperone.”

We have work still to do as a committee to help people participate and make this policy part of our heart, not a new layer of bureaucracy. We are specific because guidance is needed for specific situations, but not for the sake of increasing burdens.

We approved the proposed Abuse Prevention Policy, to take effect with our October 2022 quarterly meeting, and expressed our deep appreciation for the work of the Safeguarding Committee. Our children will be safer because of the work of this committee.

Equity and Inclusion Committee (continued):

The committee presented the most recent draft of the proposed Minute on Right Relationship with Indigenous People. The full document proposed by the committee includes an Introduction that precedes the Minute itself, and provides context for both that Minute and our June 2020 Minute for Black Lives. The full three-part document, with Introduction and both Minutes, is attached.

[Break for lunch and small groups]

Everence

Rhoda Blough, a Stewardship Consultant with Everence, gave a brief introduction to Everence’s financial services, stewardship education resources, Cultivating Generous Congregations programs, Safe Church grants, and Sharing Fund matching grants. (Safe Church grants of $350 go toward a church’s costs incurred in keeping people safe from abuse.) Everence manages part of our Yearly Meeting’s funds. Local churches can appoint Everence Advocates who work with Stewardship Consultants such as Rhoda Blough to relate more effectively to Everence’s resources and programs.

Nominating Committee (additional nominations):

Matt Boswell presented the following additional nominations, which were approved by the Yearly Meeting:

Coordinating Committee: Ruba Byrd to 2025
Youth Committee: Willow Githens to 2025
Finance Committee:
- Willow Githens to 2025
- Tim Rochholz to 2025
- Lynette Cortez to 2025

Faith and Practice Committee:

Derek Lamson, who served as interim clerk through Friday’s meeting of the Faith and Practice Committee, reported that the committee met on Friday afternoon and agreed to solicit testimonies of our experience of the Divine from anyone willing to write their testimony down, with an eye towards the whole SCYMF community as your audience, and send it to the committee. The new committee leadership (as corrected later in today’s session) is: Jade Rockwell and Amy George (co-clerks).

Finance Committee:

Dave Cundiff, clerk of Finance Committee, revisited the proposed change to our fiscal year in the Bylaws, so that the Bylaws will specify the fiscal year that we have been using in practice: July 1 to June 30. This change to the Bylaws was approved.

Robert Wade, outgoing Treasurer, then opened the second reading of the 2022-23 Spending Plan (attached). He drew attention to the fact that, for the first time, this plan projects a small deficit rather than the positive balance that has been projected in previous years. The Spending Plan was approved.

Robert asked us to remember that it always helps to tell the Treasurer ahead of time when an expenditure can be anticipated.

An on-the-spot offering taken up among those present at Canby Grove resulted in approximately $1477 for the Yearly Meeting.

Friends World Committee for Consultation:

Julie Peyton reported on FWCC Section of the Americas. Gil George of our Yearly Meeting is full-time on the staff of the Section, and Julie Peyton is on the Executive Committee. 13 FWCC Section of the Americas has a new working group called the Consultation and Intervisitation Working Group, composed of five members of the Executive Committee (three from Central or South America, two from the US). Julie is the Clerk. Their job is to organize and help others organize Consultations, conversations between Friends of our various branches, on topics of interest. The first three that have been held, or are upcoming, are:

Moving forward with hybrid worship in our meetings.
Spirit-led climate action: what are Friends doing?
"Becoming the Quakers the world needs" -- what does that mean and how will we do it?

Scheduled for later in August and in Spanish will be a Consultation on Missions.

If you could talk to any Friend about any topic, what would you choose and who would you invite? Talk to Julie or Gil, or contact the FWCC office. Watch for more opportunities. You can read reports from the first two Consultations on the FWCC Section of the Americas' website (type in some key words from the titles or explore https://fwccamericas.org/events/).

Epistle Committee:

Julie Peyton presented the proposed Epistle to be sent to Friends World Committee for Consultation; the audience is all Friends worldwide.

The Epistle was approved with the understanding that modifications reflecting the remainder of our agenda would be approved. We approved entrusting these edits to Julie Peyton and Lynette Cortez. The final document is attached.

Equity and Inclusion Committee (continued):

After additional discussion, we approved the full three-part document with one Friend standing aside from the approval. She emphasized her 14 disagreement with one specific sentence but otherwise wanted the minute to go forward. The document is attached.

Closing minutes:

The Yearly Meeting thanks the Quarterly Gathering Committee for their dedicated work to make possible our return to a face-to-face format. We also thank Gil George for his constant work providing videoconference access for participants who were not present at Canby Grove. This minute of appreciation was approved.

We approved a minute of thanks to Sarah Katreen Hoggatt for her years as co-clerk of SCYMF. Her comment: “It made me fall in love with Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting all over again.”

As our annual sessions closed, we read a greeting in Spanish and English from Daniel Lean-Moctezuma, who participated in our sessions from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Hillsboro Friends reminded us that their debt has been retired but their need for volunteers remains.

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt closed our sessions with prayer. We look forward to seeing each other again at our quarterly gathering in October 2022.

Your clerks:

Sarah Katreen Hoggatt, co-clerk
Mike Huber, co-clerk
Norma Silliman, incoming co-clerk
Keith Barton, co-recording clerk
Johan Maurer, co-recording clerk