Long Range Property Planning Subcommittee
Annual Report 2004
At Annual Session in 2002, there was a joint meeting of four
committees: Stewardship and Finance, Camping Program, Camp Property
Management, and Trustees. The purpose of the meeting was to consider
the current and future needs of the camp properties including
planning and funding, and effective and responsible stewardship
and the creation of long-term plans for their development. This
group minuted the need for a Camp Property Manager who was hired
in 2003. This joint meeting also created the Long Range Property
Planning Subcommittee (LRPP). The LRPP was established as a subcommittee
of the Stewardship and Finance Committee and is comprised of members
from each of the four committees.
The Long Range Property Planning Subcommittee (LRPP) began meeting
in April 2003 and has met ten times. As we began our work we realized
that in order to effectively assess the property and facilities
needs, we needed to broaden the scope of our concern to include
all facilities within BYM, not just the camp properties. This
broader concern opened even more questions to us.
Some of the broad questions we asked as we began our task were:
What do Monthly Meetings need? What do they have to share? How
can our resources and facilities support the spiritual work of
the Yearly Meeting? We need the programs to drive the facilities,
not the other way around. What dreams do committees have that
they can’t fulfill because of property limitations? What is BYM
for? Do Monthly Meetings and individuals understand what BYM does?
How can we help them understand? How do we reach people at Monthly
Meetings who aren’t involved at the Yearly Meeting level?
As we focused in on the physical facilities within BYM, a new
set of queries emerged: What is the current composition of BYM?
Could we complete a more accurate census of BYM? What are the
attendance and membership patterns like today and how have they
changed? Do we want a retreat center or Quaker study center? Are
we meeting the needs of older friends? The camps can’t be all
things to all people—what do they want to be? Who wants to use
them, who do we want to use them, and for what? Do we have the
human capital to invest in these properties and projects? Could
we/should we have a camp in Pennsylvania? How can we support and
nurture the rest of the Yearly Meeting with the camp properties
in the same way that we support and nurture the youth at camp?
As the LRPP sat with these questions (and many others!) the direction
of our charge emerged. The committee has completed four main tasks:
- We conducted a survey of existing facilities within BYM.
We focused primarily on Monthly Meetings and the camp properties
but also examined the facilities at Friends schools under our
care, and the Friends House retirement community. We completed
a booklet of information about the facilities and accommodations
available at each Meeting House within BYM. This will be made
available at Annual Session.
- As part of the Yearly Meeting facilities inventory, we conducted
a demographic survey of individuals within BYM. This census
helped us glean information about age distribution, especially
the camper-aged population. We developed population distribution
maps. These will be displayed at Annual Session.
- We began a facilities inventory of Catoctin, Shiloh and Opequon,
including inventories of square footage, appliances, construction
and renovation histories and replacement schedules. This work
is on-going.
- We examined other property and facilities issues within BYM
including: the interest in and need for a year-round retreat
facility, site options for Annual Session, BYM administrative
office space needs, the issue of affordable housing for staff,
long-term visions for the camp properties, and more.
As we conducted these tasks, our discernment on some issues deepened
and clarified, some of our questions were answered. We will be
bringing a comprehensive written report of our work to Annual
Session. This comprehensive report will include our charge, vision,
and methods of gathering our data; our general committee process
and findings, and our minuted recommendations. Appendices will
present the census data and the camp property facilities inventory.
The report will also explore the work we haven’t done: questions
we haven’t answered, issues beyond the scope of our work that
we haven’t explored, data we haven’t collected, and a vision for
how this work can proceed. We are clear that the LRPP, as it was
originally established, has come to the end of its original charge.
We look forward to sharing our work with the Yearly Meeting.
Members of the LRPP included: Sheila Bach (S&F and Trustees),
Clerk; Arlene Rodenbeck (S&F); Ron Akins (Camping Program and
Camp Property Management); Howard Zuses (Trustees); Tom Horne
(Camp Property Management); Kevin Caughlan (S&F and Trustees);
Patti Nesbitt (Camp Property Management); Betsy Meyer (ex officio,
Spiritual Formation); Marion Ballard (ex officio, Stewardship
& Finance, Clerk); David Hunter (Staff); and Josh Riley (Staff)
Sheila Bach, Clerk
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