Minutes of Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Representative Meeting
Tenth Month 28, 2000
Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run
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) 435-3779
To 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:
- To increase attendance at these sessions, rename
Representative Meeting (formerly Executive Committee) as
"Interim Meeting."
- We recommend focusing Yearly Meeting committees on Monthly Meeting needs.
- We recommend grouping our committees into five committees
broad scope with many subcommittees. The subcommittees do not
need to be described in the Manual of Procedure and
their members do not need to be nominated by the Nominating
Committee and appointed by the Yearly Meeting. The members of the
broader committees would be nominated by the Nominating
Committee.
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
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