R2000-30 Opening: Baltimore Yearly Meeting's Representative Meeting gathered on 10/28/2000 at the Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run Meeting House in Baltimore, Maryland, having moved from our planned Nottingham Meeting House site on the decision of the Presiding Clerk of Representative Meeting.
Adelphi: Martha L. Gay, Ann Marie Moriarty, Arthur David Olson (Takoma Park), Peter Schenck (Takoma Park), Sharon Stout, Pam Tyng; Alexandria: John Mason; Baltimore, Homewood: Edith J. Ballard, Miriam Green, Anne Greene; Baltimore, Stony Run: J. Michael Boardman, Dellie James, Ronald Mattson, Harry S. Scott, Marjorie F. Scott; Bethesda: Ron Akins, Abbe Fessenden, Lee N. Foster, Liz Hofmeister, Katrina R. Mason; Charlottesville: Frances Schutz; Dunnings Creek: Eric Uberseder, Linda Uberseder; Gettysburg: Margaret Stambaugh; Herndon: Bonnie Stockslager; Langley Hill: Sheila N. Bach, Rebecca Rawls; Little Britain: Mark Brabson (Eastland), Charlesie Coates (Eastland), Linda Coates (Eastland); Nottingham: Jason E. Eaby, Ron Stroud; Pipe Creek: C. J. Swet, Emily Swet; Richmond: David Hines; Roanoke: Susie Fetter; Sandy Spring: Maria Bradley, Flossie Fullerton, Howard Fullerton; State College: H. Alan Weisel, Marjorie H. Weisel; Washington: David Etheridge, Joe Izzo, JE McNeil, Carol Phelps, Winifred Walker-Jones; Williamsburg: Cindy Frazier; York: Lamar Matthew;Staff:, Michele Lavasseur (Takoma Park), Frank Massey (Sandy Spring). (not a complete list)R2000-31 Letter of conscientious objection: We heard the following letter:
7/21/00
Being of sound mind and body at the youthful age of 18, I, Edward Maier Bartlett, hereby state for he record that I adhere to the principles of a conscientious objector. At this time of peace and great prosperity, I would like to affirm my beliefs in peaceful conflict mediation. Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII, and I have a great respect for the choices they made. I admire them but do not wish to follow in their footsteps in this aspect. Coming from a Catholic (father) and Quaker (mother) family, I have been taught non-violence for my entire life. I also have relatives who are conscientious objectors, my father and great uncle to name a couple.
signed Edward Maier Bartlett Edward Maier Bartlett
9 St. Johns Road
Baltimore, MD 21210
We learned that the letter was accepted and forwarded by Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run. We DIRECTED our General Secretary to add this letter to our records.
R2000-32 Travel Minute: We heard the following traveling minute:
Established 1792
BALTIMORE MONTHLY MEETING OF FRIENDS, STONY RUN
5116 NORTH CHARLES STREET
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21210
Phone: (410) 435-3773
Fax: (410) 435-3779To Friends Everywhere:
This Traveling Minute is being written to introduce to you a well-known Friend,
Donald S. Gann,
a beloved member of this Meeting and Clerk of the American Friends Service Committee of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
We share his vision of working toward a peaceful and just world and we believe his travels in behalf of this vision are indeed a special ministry, and one to which he has been called.
While he travels world-wide among you, and worships with you, we have asked him to carry our love and to share with you the vision he holds for the American Friends Service Committee and for Friends around the world.
For Baltimore Monthly Meeting of Friends, Stony Run
signed Eleanor R. Mann
Eleanor R. Mann, Clerk
On behalf of the Yearly Meeting, we ENDORSED this traveling minute.
R2000-33Task Group on Committee and Staff Structure: Howard Fullerton, Clerk of the Task Group on Committee and Staff Structure, handed out this written report:
The Task Group members are Miriam Green, Lamar Matthew, Marjorie Scott, Katherine Smith, Winifred Walker-Jones, and Frank Massey. We have met twice since being established. In an effort to benefit from other Yearly Meetings' deliberations, we have read information from Philadelphia and New York Yearly Meetings' newsletters. We requested reports from re-structuring committees in Philadelphia, New York, and New England Yearly Meetings.
We have responses from all three Yearly Meetings. New York Yearly Meeting sent a sizeable report and their Manual of Procedure. New England Yearly Meeting sent a letter indicating that their experiences did not seem comparable and, like New York Yearly Meeting, have not come to completion. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting sent some explanatory material about their restructuring and a note that their situation was not comparable to Baltimore's situation.
Our Committee consists of all but the two most senior past Yearly Meeting Clerks, as well as the current Clerk. Two of them served as Clerks of Representative Meeting. All but one of the living past Clerks of Representative Meeting, as well as the current Clerk, are on the Committee. We also have our General Secretary, the most senior of such people in either FGC or FUM. These good people are frustrated by the poor functioning of most of our committees. Too many committees are not functioning at all. We believe there are too many committees. We exercise little self-discipline when establishing committees.
We have three proposals:
Possible names for these broad committees: Worship and Ministry, Education, Peace and Social Concerns, Meeting Support and Outreach, Administrative Services.
Howard noted that the Task Group is frustrated by the poor functioning of many (rather than most) of our committees. The Task Group's sense is that a name other than Representative Meeting (their suggestion being Interim Meeting) would encourage attendance by people other than Representatives. Howard noted that while administrative committees such as Publications Committee have clear tasks such as proofreading, other committees such as Religious Education and Peace and Social Concerns exist in areas where most action is at the Monthly Meeting level; these committees would be best off focusing on supporting the Monthly Meetings.
We heard of the value of Yearly Meeting Committees sharing information with Monthly Meetings about what other Monthly Meetings are doing. We heard of the possibility of Yearly Meeting Committees sharing information electronically; Howard noted that little such sharing has happened to date. Howard shared the Task Group's sense that large committees could co-opt people from outside their ranks to work on subcommittees. Howard asked that Friends consider the proposal before we revisit it either at our next Representative Meeting or at a called Meeting.
We heard a concern that our camping programs might not fit within this structure; we heard the possibility that existing groups might decide on their own where they best fit within a new structure. We heard a sense that the Yearly Meeting is more than a consortium of Monthly Meetings, with our own ministries (such as our camping programs), and a concern that our structure embrace and support such ministry. Howard shared some history of Quaker ministries being carried out through non-Yearly-Meeting groups such as the American Friends Service committee. We heard a reminder that the Manual of Procedure describing our current structure appears in its entirety in our new Yearbook.
R2000-34 Potomac Half-Yearly Meeting: We heard from Miriam Green of our Listeners. The group has received responses from Potomac Half-Yearly Meeting constituents on the matter of laying it down. On behalf of the Yearly Meeting we LAID DOWN Potomac Half-Yearly Meeting. We heard of fellowship meetings of the Blue Ridge Regional Gathering, which includes some former attenders of Potomac Half-Yearly Meeting.
R2000-35 Work of Pat Kutzner: Pete Schenck reported on behalf of the Subcommittee overseeing the work of Pat Kutzner. The Subcommittee has drafted a fund-raising letter; it is increasing Pat's stipend from $1,800 to $2,000 a month. The Subcommittee is planning travel by Baltimore Yearly Meeting youth to the Torreon/Star Lake Chapter, and is investigating having Torreon/Star Lake youth serve on our camps' staffs and as campers.
R2000-36 Revision of Faith and Practice: Howard Fullerton, Clerk of Publications Committee, presented this report:
The Publications Committee was asked to function as a "Faith and Practice Revision Committee" for the proposed changes in the Faith and Practice section "Questions to be Considered by the Couple before Application to the Monthly Meeting for Marriage under its Care" (Appendix F, Part 1).
Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting and Goose Creek Monthly Meeting proposed revisions to Appendix F and Representative Meeting circulated them to all the Monthly Meetings of the Yearly Meeting. Part I of Appendix F has queries "a" through "m." Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting proposed revising query "d," which is about sex, children, and parenthood, and adding to query "g," which is about earning, spending and saving money, a phrase about right sharing of world resources. Goose Creek Monthly Meeting's proposed changes were also to query "d."
Ten Monthly Meetings replied. Four Meetings favored Goose Creek's proposed additions to query d and Chesapeake Quarter's addition to query g. One Monthly Meeting favored Chesapeake Quarter's additions to part "d." One Monthly Meeting favored a mixture of Goose Creek and Chesapeake Quarter text for query "d." One Monthly Meeting feels "that more time is needed for thinking through the basic issues (over population and sharing of resources) and how they relate to marriage of couples under the care of Meetings." Another Monthly Meeting records that they were unable to reach unity on either of the proposed revisions. One Monthly Meeting feels that the queries as they are currently structured are superior to the proposed queries. This Monthly Meeting feels that queries regarding population growth and the right sharing of world resources may be beneficial to all Baltimore Yearly Meeting Friends.
The last three Monthly Meetings raise issues that the Publications Committee is not empowered to resolve. We suggest that the responses from all the Monthly Meetings be returned to Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting and Goose Creek Monthly Meeting. When these bodies feel that the concerns raised by the three Monthly Meetings, Charlottesville, Maury River, and Roanoke, have been addressed, the Yearly Meeting will be able to proceed.
Two Monthly Meetings noted that whereas the discussion of marriage, sexuality, and family were gender-neutral, the queries were not. One of these Monthly Meetings did not comment on query "d" or "g." Publications Committee proposes that it be allowed to change the queries to be gender-neutral and circulate these revisions to Monthly Meetings when other issues have been resolved.
Query d:
Are our attitudes and expectations concerning sex compatible? Do we want children? What is our attitude toward planned parenthood?Goose Creek's proposal:
Have we considered our attitudes and expectations concerning sexuality? Do we want children? Have we explored our attitudes about contraception and other aspects of family planning, and considered how they relate to population growth?What factors have we considered as we envision our family of the future? How do we feel about adoption? Have we considered our attitudes about the sharing of family responsibilities, the availability of family and/or community support, and the impact of family size of earth's limited natural resources?
Query g, as it is now: Do we share each other's attitudes on earning, spending and saving money, and the handling of finances?
Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting would add: "and the right sharing of world resources."
As suggested by the Committee, we DIRECTED the Committee to send the responses that have been received to Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting and Goose Creek Monthly Meeting, trusting those bodies to return to us when led. We also DIRECTED the Publications Committee to develop and send to our Monthly Meetings proposed changes to produce gender-neutral queries on marriage, sexuality, and family.
We heard a sense that our Faith and Practice could focus more on faith.
R2000-37 Epistle: Martha Gay, on behalf of our Epistle Committee, presented our Epistle as revised by the Committee at the direction of the Yearly Meeting:
To Friends Everywhere:
Friends gathered for the 329th annual session of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, held July 31 - August 6, 2000, at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Approximately 445 Friends from 35 monthly meetings were in attendance. Our fellowship was greatly enriched by visiting Friends: Stephen Guloba, clerk of the Africa Section of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) and Joseph Andugu, Executive Secretary of the Africa Section of FWCC. We also welcomed Dave Rico, Joe Lee Cayaditto, Rena Roan, Evie Tachine, Charlene Toledo, and Doreen Beyal from the Torreon/Starlake Chapter of the Navajo Nation.
Our fellowship opened with a retreat gathered around a theme of Walking with God in the Light, in the Dark. Study of the book of Ruth, with its story of trust and building new relationships, underscored the creation and renewal of friendships which characterized our week together.
Our experience with released Friends Mary Lord and Pat Kutzner made it clear that our lack of a formal process for recognizing and embracing the ministry of Friends who are called to serve is a very real impediment to their work. We hope that the process which emerged from our deliberations will enfold, encircle, and uphold Friends as each individual ministry becomes part of the corporate testimony of the Yearly Meeting. We need to share with Friends everywhere the joy we feel as we reflect on the ministry of these Friends.
Mary Lord's work with the Quaker Volunteer Service and Witness Network and the Friends Peace Team Project is bearing fruit as these organizations mature.
This year Pat Kutzner came "home" to the Yearly Meeting accompanied by the entire elected leadership of the Torreon/Starlake Chapter of the Navajo Nation. For the first time these community leaders and Pat's Oversight Committee met together as a united, deliberative body and were able to bring forward to the Yearly Meeting a proposal describing their vision for the next year of this ministry. We approved this proposal and are exploring additional avenues for cooperation between our Yearly Meeting and the Navajo community.
To share with us their experience of dancing with God, Junior Yearly Meeting led us in the Hokey Pokey, which reminds us of our relationship with God: you have to put your "whole self in". On another occasion, a letter brought by Young Friends to our business sessions informed us that they will provide information to Monthly Meetings and to one another at Gatherings about Conscientious Objection to expand our common understanding and awareness of this historic testimony.
Responses from Monthly and Quarterly Meetings to a concern on same-gender marriage demonstrated that much tender seasoning will be required if we are to find unity on this issue. This seasoning may come in our willingness to risk telling our stories. Indeed, several Friends spoke to the hurt which may result when Friends remain silent rather than risk offense by engaging in dialog. We were gently reminded that how we behave toward one another in the midst of conflict provides powerful instruction in the roots of our moral values. As we bear one another's burdens and recognize the Divine in one another, we may find the grace to "be in conflict" and still be loving.
As we considered our responses to the hurts and trials of the world, we were led to unite with a minute on global warming approved by Philadelphia Yearly Interim Meeting and with the American Friends Service Committee and the Fellowship of Reconciliation in urging an end to sanctions against Iraq. We also approved minutes opposing deployment of a missile defense system and endorsing Moratorium 2000, which seeks a nationwide moratorium on executions. In all these deeply felt, but diverse, concerns we found an underlying spirit which requires of us wise use of resources that all may live.
In the Carey Memorial Lecture, Jay Marshall, Dean of Earlham School of Religion, shared a message "Reclaiming the Concept and Practice of Universal Ministry." He broadly defined ministry as "lived faith intentionally exercised toward others." We each have gifts which we are called on to use in ministering to one another. His lecture echoed concerns raised in Bible study by Georgia Fuller, who spoke to the subject of "Biblical Patterns of Ministry in the Gathered Community" and reminded Friends that knowledge of the Bible provides us not only a source of personal inspiration, but also the lingua franca of the wider Christian community.
Often as we embark on new journeys the way is not clear. We were reminded by our opening speaker, Jan Hoffman (New England Yearly Meeting), that sometimes we must be satisfied when we have only enough light to take a single step. As we shared our experiences of how God works in our lives, we ministered to one another and rediscovered the importance of telling our stories. Throughout the week we experienced the fruits of the journeys of trust taken by Friends. We were heartened by stories of just-in-time delivery of resources, of enlightenment, and of openings of the Spirit. Our struggle to write a cohesive epistle mirrored the Yearly Meeting's struggle to find unity among a multitude of tender concerns. Julian of Norwich wrote, "God did not say you shall not be tempest tossed, but He said you shall not be overcome. God wants us to know this so that we will be strong in trust, both in sorrow and in joy." Despite our apparent difficulties, we gathered in joy and it is with the joyful sense of Divine presence that we leave you.
Martha noted that broader participation in epistle writing can help produce an epistle that reflects the full range of experiences of the Yearly Meeting. We DIRECTED that this epistle be attributed to the Epistle Committee when circulated.
R2000-38 Manual of Procedure: Trudy Rogers reported on behalf of the Manual of Procedure Committee. The Committee has considered the matter of describing the Web Publishing Subcommittee of the Publications Committee in the Manual; the Committee senses that it is best to describe the Subcommittee in the Manual, since the Subcommittee draws on other Committees for members.
With the laying down of Potomac Half-Yearly Meeting, the Manual of Procedure Committee seeks guidance on whether changes are needed to the Manual regarding how Trustees and Nominating Committee are constituted. We AGREED that no changes are needed at this time.
We heard a concern that with the laying down of Potomac Half-Yearly Meeting there is an end to naming of a representative to the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. We heard of some lack of enthusiasm within one Monthly Meeting for continued participation.
R2000-39 Peace and Social Concerns Committee: Betty Hutchinson, Clerk of Peace and Social Concerns, reported on a planned 5/19/2001 networking day for Monthly Meeting Peace and Social Concerns Committees. Mary Lord handed out the latest issue of Peace Teams News. Mary noted that the Peace Teams' largest project, the Great Lakes Peace Initiative, has now placed a team in Burundi to build a trauma and reconciliation center; the team includes two Burundi Friends and two Americans, one of whom is a Friend. The Quaker United Nations Office assisted in the training of the team. The team is to spend some time in Capetown, South Africa; this provides South African Friends with a greatly valued re-connection to the world. Friends Peace Teams has received a $10,000 grant from the Chace Fund. Friends Peace Teams seeks to send teams to Rwanda to do Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) training in cooperation with Ugandans. Mary noted that Christian Peacemaker Teams, a partner of Friends Peace Teams, is maintaining a presence in Hebron; this is just one of several places where partners of Friends Peace Teams are active.
R2000-40 Trustees: Ted Hawkins, Clerk of Trustees, reported that the Camper Scholarship Fund has been renamed the Barry Morley Camper Financial Aid Endowment. The Trustees are working on the matter of the Yearly Meeting entering into charitable remainder trusts. The Trustees are establishing a fund into which proceeds from our conservation easement are to be placed pending the Yearly Meeting's decision on how to spend them.
R2000-41 Nominating Committee We heard from Katrina Mason, Co-Clerk of Nominating Committee. We heard of these resignations: Ron Akins from Camp Property Management and John Mason from Stewardship and Finance. At the Committee's recommendation, we ACCEPTED these resignations.
At the Committee's recommendation, we NAMED these people to these Committees and positions through 2003: Ron Akins, Camping Program; Linda Coates, Program; Tom Fox, Youth Programs; David Etheridge, American Friends Service Committee Corporation Representative; Flossie Fullerton, Friends World Committee for Consultation Representative; Tom Horne, Camp Property Management; David Hunter, Camp Property Management.
R2000-42 Search Committee: Liz Hofmeister reported on behalf of the Search Committee of Representative Meeting. At the Committee's recommendation, we NAMED John Darnell to Supervisory Committee through 2001. The Committee reported receiving the resignation of Bob Breyer from Nominating Committee; we ACCEPTED this resignation.
R2000-43 Stewardship and Finance Committee: Marion Ballard, on behalf of Stewardship and Finance, reported that work on the conservation easement is continuing. We learned that an option on the Donnelly property has been offered and has yet to be accepted. We heard of a plan to seek guidance from Monthly Meetings on how to raise funds to finance purchase of the property and on what priority this should have.
R2000-44 Friends General Conference: Katrina Mason, one of our Representatives to the Friends General Conference (FGC) Central Committee, noted that the 6/30-7/7/2001 Gathering, focused on stillness, is to be held at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. We heard of the availability of funds from FGC for first-time attenders. We heard that Joe Volk and Stan Becker of Baltimore Yearly Meeting are to speak. Friends who can help are invited to contact Bob Fetter.
R2000-45 Friends United Meeting: Howard Fullerton, one of our Representatives to the Friends United Meeting (FUM) General Board, reported. We heard that the Ramallah Friends School had to be closed recently in response to violence at an adjacent police station. FUM has named Retha McCutcheon as its General Secretary through its next Triennial. We heard that FUM's financial accounting has been straightened out. Howard reported that the ministries of FUM receive widely varying levels of financial support from different Yearly Meetings. FUM's next Triennial is set for 7/10-14/2002 in Nairobi, Kenya. Howard reported that Friends United Publications is searching for funds to allow recovery of and reprinting of Quaker classics.
R2000-46 Presiding Clerk of Yearly Meeting: Lamar Matthew, Presiding Clerk of Yearly Meeting, reported that he is resting comfortably. We thanked Lamar for his travels within the Yearly Meeting.
R2000-47 General Secretary: Frank Massey, General Secretary, reported plans for the effort to learn from Monthly Meetings what our Yearly Meeting priorities should be within the camping program and as a whole. Frank reported that Evelyn Lowenstein has ended work as the Yearly Meeting's accountant to become a full-time student; office staff is picking up the work. We learned that Roy C. Hoover is ceasing auditing work; a new auditor is being sought. Frank reported on work with Trustees and Stewardship and Finance to secure different Yearly Meeting insurance from the group Guide One; there is the potential for both savings and umbrella coverage of Monthly Meetings with this change. Frank is exploring expansion of the Yearly Meeting Office to provide room for our more numerous staff; we DIRECTED our General Secretary to continue such exploration. We THANKED Frank for his work.
R2000-48 Closing: We THANKED Stony Run Friends for their hospitality. We heard, corrected, and APPROVED these minutes, along with the attachment of written versions of reports given. We adjourned, to gather next on 3/24/2001, eastern standard time, at the Nottingham Meeting House in Oxford, Pennsylvania, or at the call of the Presiding Clerk.
Marjorie F. Scott, presiding Arthur David Olson, recording