greetings friends

Please forward this note to Friends who will be attending Interim Meeting on October 22 and share it widely within your monthly meeting.

As we announced last month, Frank Massey is leaving his position as General Secretary of Baltimore Yearly Meeting after seventeen years of service.  His last day as General Secretary will be October 28, 2005. 

The wisdom of the past suggests this is an important time to re-evaluate the needs of the Yearly Meeting.  In 1988, before the search for a General Secretary that brought us Frank Massey, BYM Friends spent time together in worship to consider queries about the future of the Yearly Meeting and the role of staff and volunteers in that future.  As a result of this discernment, Friends decided on a changed job description and a job title change from Executive Secretary to General Secretary to signal the changes.  As we face the future together, we believe we are called once again to listen carefully to one another and to the Spirit to discern the needs of the Yearly Meeting and the relative role of staff and volunteers in meeting those needs.   

We hope Friends can come to Fall Interim Meeting, October 22, 2005, at Penn Hill Meeting in Nottingham Quarter, prepared to begin this discernment process. 

The purposes of this note are:

• to share with Friends the Supervisory Committee’s plans for an Interim General Secretary;

• to  provide information to Friends about Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s history and current staffing arrangements;

• to suggest queries to consider in preparation for October 22 and for the future.

a part-time interim general secretary

It may be several months before a new General Secretary or other staff person is hired.  We have foreseen the urgent need to select someone to serve on an interim basis part-time in the coming months -- to assure continuity in the YM office and to provide continued support for the BYM staff. 

At its meeting October 6, 2005, Supervisory Committee discussed criteria for selecting an Interim General Secretary.  We sought someone with deep experience in the Yearly Meeting, excellent administrative skills, and a respect for Quaker process.  We also sought someone who would not be a candidate for a permanent position and agreed that travel would not be a requirement of the interim position, apart from travel to Interim Meeting.  We further agreed to ask members of the Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee to assume the pastoral care activities of the current General Secretary during this interim period.

Supervisory Committee concluded that Howard Fullerton, former Interim Meeting Clerk, was an excellent choice to serve as an Interim General Secretary.  On Monday, October 10, 2005, Presiding Clerk Lauri Perman and Interim Meeting Clerk Michael Cronin met with Howard to ask him to consider serving as a part-time Interim General Secretary.  After asking for and reviewing a written job description for the position of Interim General Secretary, Howard agreed to accept this part-time position.  His first day in the office will be Wednesday October 19.  He will be able to meet with and learn from Frank Massey before Frank leaves his position.

Members of the Supervisory Committee feel that the Yearly Meeting is extremely fortunate to have someone of Howard Fullerton’s experience willing to assist the Yearly Meeting at this pivotal time.  Howard, a long-time member of Sandy Spring meeting, served as Clerk of Representative Meeting for six years in the 1990s.  The timing of this opportunity coincides with Howard’s having just rotated off the Friends United Meeting Board and being available to take on another challenging assignment.  Friends will be interested to know that Howard and Flossie Fullerton expect to move to Friends House in mid-November so that Howard will be living down the street from the Yearly Meeting office.  Howard is clerk of the Yearly Meeting’s Manual of Procedure Committee and has a deep understanding of our committees, cycles of decision-making, and the role of staff. 

Howard will be in the office about one day a week until mid-November when he will be available up to 20 hours a week.  Supervisory Committee has granted Howard flexibility to take the month of December off for previously scheduled trips to Palestine and Ramallah, and to visit family.  This is usually a very light time in the Yearly Meeting office.  Staff members have been consulted throughout this process and are happy that someone of Howard’s experience and talents will be available to assist them.  During the interim period, Michael Cronin, Clerk of Interim Meeting, will also spend one-half day a week in the office, something he has been doing since mid-September.

Howard has graciously waived compensation for his service to the Yearly Meeting, though he reserves the right to reconsider this decision should the work be more demanding or time-consuming than we have agreed upon. 

Undoubtedly, these part-time arrangements mean that some tasks may take longer for the Yearly Meeting office staff to perform.  We trust that our Yearly Meeting community will be patient and kind to each other and to our staff during this time of transition.  Copies of the part-time Interim General Secretary’s job description are available upon request from the Yearly Meeting office.

bym history and its current staffing

The Religious Society of Friends began not as a structured organization, but as a fellowship of Friends of Truth.  As the need arose for service to members or others, Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly Meetings were established.  Today, Baltimore Yearly Meeting includes 40 Monthly Meetings and 12 Preparative and Indulged Meetings, and Worship Groups in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.

The purpose and functions of Yearly Meeting are many, but above all, Yearly Meeting represents an extension and expansion of Friends’ basic community, the Monthly Meeting.  Yearly Meeting offers opportunities for worship, business, social, spiritual, educational and service activities and events that bring us closer together in bonds of love and understanding.  To serve this wider community, Baltimore Yearly Meeting employs a small staff and maintains a central office inSandy Spring, Maryland.

The BYM Supervisory Committee provides care and oversight for the General Secretary and staff of the Yearly Meeting.  This committee is composed of the Clerk of Interim Meeting, the Presiding Clerk and the Treasurer of Yearly Meeting, and four additional members of the Yearly Meeting, nominated by Interim Meeting for appointment by Yearly Meeting.  Interim Meeting selects, employs, and defines the responsibilities of the General Secretary.  In turn, the General Secretary, with guidance from the Supervisory Committee, may employ such staff as allowed in the budget approved by Yearly Meeting in session.  Staff selection by the General Secretary is based on possession of appropriate skills and experience and an individual’s recognized commitment to the testimonies, faith and practices of the Religious Society of Friends.  Supervisory Committee meets frequently with the staff, and oversees the work and gives guidance to the General Secretary.

Currently, the Yearly Meeting staff consists of the General Secretary, an Administrative Assistant, a Bookkeeper, a Camp Administrative Secretary, a Camp Property Manager, and a Youth Secretary.  Their duties and responsibilities are varied.  Staff members are often called to help in a variety of ways that have not been anticipated in their written position descriptions.  They daily meet the needs of, and provide loving care to, individuals, constituent Meetings, and programs and committees of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.

initial steps

The Yearly Meeting, through its Supervisory Committee, is committed to working with all Monthly and Quarterly Meetings to undertake a Friendly discernment process regarding staffing needs for the future.  We have consulted with Friends who participated in the last search for a General Secretary, conducted in 1988.  The minutes of Interim and Yearly Meeting in the 1988 Yearbook have been an invaluable resource for us and we commend them to your attention.

We plan to begin our collective discernment at Interim Meeting and to continue with a Listening Project within the Yearly Meeting to draw upon all the voices and collective wisdom within the Yearly Meeting as we move forward.  We seek volunteers to join us in this Listening Project.

On a parallel but separate track, Friends will be asked to discuss in their Monthly Meetings the queries appearing at the end of this letter, and to send via letter, email, or telephone their input about the queries and thoughts about staffing needs and what to include in a job description for a General Secretary.  Monthly Meetings are also invited to suggest prospective names for membership on an ad hoc Search Committee. (See below)

Finally, Supervisory Committee will request that Interim Meeting on October 22 empower Supervisory Committee to appoint an ad hoc Search Committee at its November 14 meeting, recognizing that it will take additional time to contact prospective members and determine their willingness to serve.  Supervisory Committee is requesting the early appointment of a Search Committee to ensure broader input into the search process and first draft of any job description.  We plan a called Interim Meeting to review a draft job description before the Search Committee begins the major part of its work. 

timing

Supervisory Committee asks that names for the Search Committee be submitted to Michael Cronin, Clerk of Interim Meeting, by November 10, so that they can be considered by members of the committee before its next meeting on November 14.

Supervisory Committee asks that monthly meetings submit feedback about their needs, suggestions for a job description, and reflections on the queries on page five by December 15.

We hope that Supervisory Committee and the ad hoc Search Committee can prepare a draft job description for distribution to monthly meetings in January.

We anticipate a called meeting of Interim Meeting on February 11 (snow date February 25) to consider the draft job description. 

suggestions

We are eager to receive your suggestions, guidance, and prayers at this important time of transition for the Yearly Meeting.

Michael Cronin, Interim Meeting Clerk                Laurie Perman, Presiding Clerk

mcronin943@aol.com                                                    ymclerk@bym-rsf.org

2111 Wisconsin Avenue NW #PH6                           1448 West Park Hill Avenue

Washington, DC 20007-2299                                        State College, PA 16803

202/342-5367                                                                814/234-0502

preliminary queries

As noted, an important step in our process is to develop queries to guide us in considering our staffing needs for the future.  Some preliminary queries are presented below.  They may be considered in small groups at Interim Meeting October 22, 2005.

Discerning our calling and our needs:

In the past seventeen years there has been considerable change in the size, character, and programs of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

• In your experience, where is God leading us now as a Yearly Meeting?  What is Baltimore Yearly Meeting called to do now and in the years to come?

• How do you and your monthly meeting envision the role(s) of a General Secretary in helping the Yearly Meeting heed the call?

• What does your Monthly Meeting want and need from the Yearly Meeting?  What are the implications for Yearly Meeting staffing?

• What do you see as the respective roles of staff and volunteers in meeting the administrative and spiritual needs of the Yearly Meeting?  

• What is the Yearly Meeting doing well now?  Where does the Yearly Meeting need to make improvements?

• How do you perceive the relative importance of spiritual, executive, leadership, financial, and administrative skills in a new General Secretary?

Search for a new General Secretary:

• In addition to geographic representation, what guidance do Monthly Meetings want to give to Supervisory Committee and Interim Meeting for selecting members of an Ad Hoc Search Committee for a new General Secretary?

• What suggestions do Monthly Meetings have for the process of searching for a new General Secretary?