Quarterly Gathering | 10/29/22
Eugene Friends Church, Eugene, Oregon
Opening
Yearly Meeting co-clerk Norma Silliman (Camas Friends) opened our meeting for worship for business by acknowledging the indigenous people of this area who cared for this land before today’s majority population arrived and claimed ownership. She invited us into a period of silent prayer.
Welcoming visitors and first-time attenders
We welcomed Valerie Stoehr, attending online from Minnesota. She is a member of Twin Cities Friends Meeting and has been a regular online attender of Camas Friends since November 2021.
Finance Committee Report
The Statement of Financial Activities and Spending Plan is attached via this link. Diane Beebe (West Hills/North Valley), SCYMF treasurer, summarized our current situation:
Income is slightly greater than expenses. (Most spending will occur later in the year, and most income as well.) One item on our spending plan report is an overspend item in our communications line item. Initially we had $500/month in that category for Barclay Press’s Web design and management services, and then hired Erin Zeitsett to handle those services, but at our June sessions the yearly meeting approved continuing our Barclay Press support at the $500/month level.
Dave Cundiff (Direct Member/Olympia Monthly Meeting, Lower Columbia Worship Group), clerk of the Finance Committee, commented: There’s nothing on this report that worries us. Most of our income and expenses relate to annual sessions, which don’t occur in this quarter.
David advised that we may get a recommendation from Equity and Inclusion regarding reparations for stolen land and labor. This recommendation might apply to the reserves of SCYMF, some of which might be applied to reparations. This may bear upon spending decisions over the course of this year.
He noted that the Finance Committee doesn’t govern anything. They are like the mechanics on a bus trip; they don’t decide who goes, or where, but make sure the engine is in good repair, there's enough fuel, and the insurance has been paid.
Dave noted that part of the work of the Finance Committee is to support the treasurer. When someone asks for a check, the treasurer needs to know whether the expenditure is authorized and the requester is authorized to request it. The Finance Committee hopes that everyone who has been asked to head a committee will keep the Finance Committee informed as follows (speaking to the clerks):
Is your committee likely to need money?
If so, what do you think you’ll need in the next spending plan?
After that amount has been specified and approved, could you please keep an eye on what’s been spent, and what remains to be spent?
The more you as clerks can do to monitor your own spending, the better it works. If you as clerk aren’t the best one on your committee to do this, choose someone on your committee who would be able to do that task, so that we can be gathering the information we need for the next proposed spending plan.
Dave recommended the use of the tithely.org website to direct contributions to SCYMF, in order to provide more funds to cover the expanded budget.
Coordinating Committee proposal for new logo (nameplate)
Judy Maurer (Camas Friends), clerk of Coordinating Committee, presented two alternate designs.
Judy said that the Coordinating Committee would like a sense of which image, if either, the community feels would best represent them, the mountain range or the seeds/new growth image. In response to a question, she explained that the descriptive text beside each image was simply Judy’s own explanatory tag, not commentary from the artist or the committee.
Among the responses:
Is it possible to combine them?
Uniqueness of second image; mountains are beautiful but fairly standard.
The “new growth” can refer back to the “New Thing” that was our name for ourselves before we adopted the Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends name. We like the mountains but they're not something about us. Could there be a different arrangement of the two seedling/pinecone elements?
The pinecone is visually appealing. I’m leaning toward the mountains, they’re important to us and they represent rising.
On the Web site, we have a tree line logo that I’ve been using; I simply want to acknowledge the laying down of the earlier logo; but I love the new ideas.
I’m resonating with the description of fire (re)generating new growth.
The cone and seedling feel closer and more personal than the mountains.
The pine cone and seedling image has a narrative in it.
The sprig grows out of the cone only when it’s detached from the branch and falls to the ground; I want the sense of life moving through the branch and the cone.
Approved: Regarding the proposal for a new logo, more Friends prefer the seedling/pinecone logo, but with the branch and cone connected, retaining the sense of life moving through pine cone and branch. We would like the Coordinating Committee to work with the artist to emphasize the sense of life and new growth in the pine cone logo.
A collection was taken before a short break, for people to contribute to SCYMF general fund.
Friends World Committee for Consultation Report
Julie Peyton (West Hills Friends) reported for Friends World Committee for Consultation. She is one of our representatives to FWCC and a member of the Executive Committee of FWCC Section of the Americas.
Friends World Committee is working on a capital campaign, which will be gaining steam in the new year. Watch for it.
The Section of the Americas continues to work on being thoroughly bilingual in its operations and program. Julie gave several examples.
The next meeting of the Section of the Americas will take place in March in North Carolina, a state which is a hub of North American Quakers, with Quakers from Evangelical, Conservative, and Friends United Meeting constituencies all represented. Our yearly meeting appoints representatives, but everyone is welcome to attend.
A current representative, Anna Baker (Direct Member/North Valley Friends, Newberg), commented that she wishes more young adults were involved in FWCC, and she would be willing to give up her representative role if that would make this more possible.
A question from the floor: As a queer person, how would I be received at this FWCC event in March by yearly meetings who are not welcoming and affirming? Julie responded that she would be more than welcome at FWCC events. There may be Friends present from non-affirming yearly meetings, but Friends who are personally unsupportive of LGBTQ+ people are generally uninterested in participating in FWCC; and Julie has never heard a word of condemnation at FWCC events.
Another question: Is the organization healthy in your opinion? Julie: Yes.
Nominating Committee
Matt Boswell, clerk of Nominating Committee, presented the following two nominations:
For the Coordinating Committee: Erin Wilson (Direct Member), 3 yr term.
Friends spoke to affirm Erin’s nomination based on their experiences of Erin’s valuable participation on committees.
Erin’s appointment to the Coordinating Committee was approved.
For the Nurture of Ministry: Leann Williams (Direct Member/Spokane), 3 yr term.
Friends spoke to affirm Leann’s nomination, pointing out that “nurture of ministry” is something that she already does; it comes naturally to her.
Leann’s appointment to the Nurture of Ministry Committee was approved.
Matt encouraged us to think about the possible ways we (and Friends we know) might want to contribute to Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends through committee work. He drew specific attention to the Youth Committee, Equity and Inclusion, and service as a representative to Friends World Committee for Consultation.
Barclay Press Recommendations
Julie Peyton, a member of the Working Group for Barclay Press Support, read the Working Group’s advance report. The group had been formed at the June 2022 annual gathering to develop recommendations to present today. The report is attached via this link. Co-clerk Mike Huber invited clarifying questions. As discussion began, and it became clear that the financial recommendation was generating the most comment, Mike proposed that we go through the report’s recommendations in reverse order, leaving the finance question for the end. At one point we paused the discussion to allow some other agenda items to be addressed before returning to the Barclay Press recommendations, but for convenience the full discussion and approved recommendations are summarized here.
We approved Recommendation 5: We encourage individuals to become monthly donors to Barclay Press.
We approved Recommendation 4. We encourage SCYMF Friends to join in activities sponsored by Barclay Press, including “book launch events.” The next one is for a well-received book titled Invitation to Quaker Eldering: On Being Faithful to the Ministry of Spiritual Nurture Among Friends by Elaine Emily and Mary Kay Glazer. … (See the advance report for more details and examples provided by the Working Group for some of these recommendations.)
We edited and approved Recommendation 3, as follows:
We encourage each meeting to designate an advocate for Barclay Press. This person would take on the job of giving announcements about new publications, reminding us about their existing booklist and curricula, and generally keeping our local meetings up to date.
One Friend suggested that our yearly meeting’s newsletter feature regular news about Barclay Press and its materials, book launches, and so on—perhaps taking the form of a Barclay Press column or “corner.” Another Friend suggested that Barclay Press publish more information about its finances and vision. At the clerk’s suggestion, this point was deferred to the discussion about the first recommendation.
We approved Recommendation 2: Affirm the appointment of Jazmin Miller-Price to the board of Barclay Press. There is no legal tie between Barclay Press and our YM, but having a member on the board gives us closer ties. The Barclay Press board has already approved Jazmin (Camas Friends) to the board.
We discussed Recommendation 1 at length. The original recommendation reads as follows: “Increase our (SCYMF’s) monthly donation to Barclay Press to $1,000.” The discussion centered around Friends’ desire to know more about Barclay Press finances and vision for long-term sustainability, while at the same time recognizing that (a) Barclay Press is a ministry and will always depend in part on contributions as well as revenue from its books and other publications; and (b) we do not claim a right to control or participate directly in management. Barclay Press is not a business in the capitalist sense, said one Friend, while another said that there is no conflict between being a ministry and observing good business practices. We know that donations will always be needed, but donors are entitled to know how their donations are being used. We want to invite Barclay Press to help us make good decisions about our support, but we do not want that invitation to be interpreted as undue interference. Friends considered the word “partnership” but preferred simply to refer to our “relationship” with Barclay Press. Some Friends pointed out that having Jazmin on the board will facilitate a good relationship and appropriate information-sharing.
The above paragraph is a summary of our discussion, not an approved minute. At the end of this discussion, we still felt the need to say more about how Barclay Press could help us discern our longer-term support, but it was clear that we had not arrived at an adequate wording for this “need to say more,” and we agreed to defer this item of business to our February meeting. In the meantime:
We edited and approved the Working Group’s Recommendation 1: Increase our (SCYMF’s) monthly donation to Barclay Press to $1,000, starting November 1. At our February gathering, we will finalize the information we would like to see in June to evaluate our ongoing commitment.
Remaining on the cutting room floor is the last version of a second paragraph, noted here simply to mark where we were, more or less, when we decided to continue the discussion in February:
[Archive only; could be presented again in February, but may need further editing (by clerks, Working Group?). We value our relationship with Barclay Press, and we would like to have a better understanding of Barclay Press’s plans for long-term sustainability. This information would help us discern the future of our support as we return to this concern at our June 2023 annual gathering.]
People Care Committee
Norma Silliman (Camas Friends), clerk of People Care, reported that her committee is feeling unclear about its own ministry, especially in light of the fact that Nurture of Ministry has begun doing more to support the ministry of meetings as well as of individuals. There may still be ways that People Care should be serving, but they are not identified at this point. The committee is raising the question of whether it is still needed, and for what specific purposes, or should be laid down.
People Care does have a specific concern for the needs of direct members—that is, members of Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends who are not members of any of our member meetings and churches, and who want to be members of SCYMF because of our values. What are the particular needs of these direct members and what are the structures and processes by which we honor those needs? To help us understand these questions and others relating to People Care, we intend to conduct a survey.
Right Sharing of World Resources
Ruthie Tippin (Camas Friends) serves on the Board of Right Sharing of World Resources, and has just returned from a board meeting in Richmond, Indiana. She described (and with the help of other Friends who acted out the roles involved) demonstrated how Right Sharing uses donations: women’s groups in Sierra Leone, Kenya, India, and (soon) Guatemala are identified by Right Sharing field representatives in those countries as potential grant recipients for income-generating projects. Once approved by the board of Right Sharing, they receive grants that can be used by the women’s groups to make loans to the individual participants, and once repaid, the money remains in the community to cycle to new participants. The field representatives offer training in the organizational and business skills that might be needed. For more information, see rswr.org.
Ruthie hopes that our meetings might choose to participate in Right Sharing, but her first concern is to make the program better known.
Next Gathering
We will gather again on February 25 at Camas Friends Church, Camas, Oregon.
Faith and Practice Committee
Derek Lamson (Eugene Friends, member of the committee) said that the committee is experiencing a revitalization under the clerkship of co-clerks Jade Rockwell and Amy George. The committee will be building channels to hear the faith stories of Friends in SCYMF.
Get Away Give Away (Eugene Friends Church)
John Donathan (Eugene Friends) briefly explained Eugene Friends Church’s house-building ministry in Mexico, known as Get Away Give Away. Former Eugene Friends pastor Clyde Parker continues to oversee this volunteer ministry whose teams spend the week of spring break building “houses and friendship.” Participants are not necessarily members of Eugene Friends Church—and membership in any church is not a requirement. John invited questions about the program and the upcoming trip, March 23-April 1.
Equity and Inclusion Committee
Jen Seamans (West Hills Friends), clerk of Equity and Inclusion, summarized her committee’s current work on issues relating to our values as a yearly meeting—building active pathways; creating a cohort space with representatives from all of our meetings as well as individuals who would meet together at our gatherings, and in between as well, in order to work on our action steps, and then bring that work back to the YM. Concerning participation in these cohorts, the committee envisions that, instead of creating new obligations, these efforts would dovetail with existing work in our meetings—for example peace and social concerns committees. Be on the lookout for the survey that the committee will conduct to make these tools more responsive to the work Friends want to do together.
Closing
Co-clerk Mike Huber brought our meeting to a prayerful close, anticipating our being together again at Camas Friends Church on February 25, 2023.
