Minutes of Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Representative Meeting
Third Month 24, 2001
Nottingham Monthly Meeting
R2001-4 Opening: Baltimore Yearly Meeting's Representative Meeting gathered on
3/24/2001 at the Meeting House of Nottingham Monthly Meeting in Oxford, Pennsylvania.
People from 22 Meetings signed in:
Adelphi: Martha Gay, Mary Lord, Ann Marie Moriarty; Arthur David Olson
(Takoma Park), Pete Schenck (Takoma Park), Sharon Stout, Pam Tyng;
Annapolis: Nan Elsbree; Baltimore, Homewood: Edith Ballard, Miriam Green,
Anne Greene, Dave Greene; Baltimore, Stony Run: J. Michael Boardman, Ronald
Mattson, William O. Miles, Marjorie F. Scott; Bethesda: Marion Ballard, Abbe
Fessenden, Lee N. Foster, Edward Hawkins, Liz Hofmeister, Ralph Hofmeister;
Blacksburg: Jim Shotts, Josie Shotts; Carlisle: Joan Anderson, Stephen Davidson,
Rob Rathfon; Deer Creek: Sarah Buchanan-Wollaston, Betsy Wollaston; Dunnings
Creek: Susan Williams; Frederick: John Darnell; Gettysburg: Margaret Stambaugh;
Herndon: Bonnie Stockslager; Langley Hill: Sheila N. Bach, Thomas Burson, Tom
Fox, Rebecca Rawls, Timothy Yeaney; Little Britain: Linda Coates (Eastland),
Suzanne Lamborn; Maury River: Katherine Smith; Nottingham: Martin Bradley,
Douglas B. Eaby, Jason Eaby, Ellie Hilaman; Sandy Spring: Alan Borst, Jack
Fogarty, Peggy Fogarty, Flossie Fullerton, Howard Fullerton, Betty Hutchinson,
Margo Inglis Lehman, Richard Liversidge, Mary Mallett, Frank Massey, Betsy
Meyer, Trudy Rogers (Seneca Valley), Howard Zuses, Rosalind Zuses; State
College: Ellen Arginteanu, Tom Ryan; Valley: Jeanne Tabscott (Augusta);
Washington: David Etheridge, Errol Hess, Susna Lepper, Harry Massey, Miyo
Moriashi, Riley Robinson, John Salzberg; West Branch: Peggy Fry, Walt Fry,
York: Lamar Matthew, Ed Norton, Fran Norton.
R2001-5 Search Committee of Representative Meeting (Lamar Matthew presiding, Ron
Mattson recording): The Clerk and Recording Clerk of Representative Meeting withdrew from
the sessions. Liz Hofmeister, Clerk of Baltimore Yearly Meeting Search Committee, brought forth
the names of Marjorie Forbush Scott and Arthur David Olson, for a third and final two-year term
as Clerk of Representative Meeting and Recording Clerk of Representative Meeting respectively.
Approval WAS GIVEN to forward these names to Yearly Meeting sessions.
Sheila Bach was recommended for a second two-year term as Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Treasurer and Kevin Caughlin to a second three-year term as Assistant Treasurer. Both
appointments to begin June 1, 2002 APPROVED.
For Supervisory Committee, additions to the names of class of 2003, Rich Liversidge and John
Darnell, were brought forward and APPROVED.
Acting as Yearly Meeting, we APPROVED the naming of Dorothea Musgrave, class of 2003, to
the Yearly Meeting Nominating Committee, to begin immediately.
Marjorie Scott and Arthur David Olson returned to take the chairs.
R2001-6 Criminal and Restorative Justice: Joan Anderson reported on behalf of the Criminal
and Restorative Justice Committee. Joan urged Friends to contact Maryland legislators to support
a moratorium on capital punishment; bills are now being considered by both the House and Senate
of the Maryland Legislature.
R2001-7 Friends World Committee for Consultation: Flossie Fullerton reported on behalf of
the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). Flossie attended FWCC's annual
meeting last week as a Representative of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. The annual meeting was held
in Greensboro, North Carolina, with events translated to English y español.
R2001-8 Peace and Social Concerns: Betty Hutchinson, Clerk of Peace and Social
Concerns, introduced John Salzberg who provided information on a draft minute concerning
conditions in the West Bank and Gaza. On behalf of the Yearly Meeting, we APPROVED the
following minute, with copies to be sent to Ramallah Monthly Meeting and Friends United
Meeting:
The Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends has received
disturbing reports from Palestinian Quakers in Ramallah about what has happened
to them and their neighbors in the West Bank and Gaza: since Israel began.
military occupation there in 1967. We recognize the suffering of both the Israeli
and Palestinian people in the complex conflict in the Middle East, and abhor the
violence that has victimized innocent civilians on both sides. Our purpose is to
present information on conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, which are not
widely reported in the American press.
Jean Zaru, the Clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting, has told us that in the West
Bank and Gaza the Israeli Government provides the people in the Jewish
settlements with much more water than it provides to the Palestinian people. The
Clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting reports that Palestinian lands continue to be
appropriated by settlers. There are now nearly 200 Jewish settlements in the West
Bank and Gaza. She tells us that untreated sewage from the settlements often runs
into the valleys below and endangers the agriculture and health of neighboring
Palestinian communities.
Jean Zaru also tells us of many limitations imposed on the personal freedoms. of
Palestinians. Many Palestinians, especially in East Jerusalem, are denied the right
to build homes on their own land. The Israeli Government demolishes houses of
persons accused of wrong-doing even though those houses are occupied by many
family members who have not been accused of any offense. Those family members
are also denied the right to continue living in East Jerusalem and lose social
services to which they would otherwise be entitled. Palestinians without residency
permits are not allowed even to visit without first obtaining the permission of
Israeli military authorities. She tells us her homeland everyday feels more and more
like a prison.
In a more recent letter, Jean Zaru speaks of devastating effects of closures, not
only between Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, but also of blockades between
Palestinian villages and cities. Curfews are imposed as well. These blockades have
caused unemployment, impeded commerce including shipment of food and
commodities, and prevent timely access to medicine and hospitals. People have
died and expectant mothers have given birth waiting to clear checkpoints. Jean
Zaru says Palestinians are being subjected to "collective punishment" and being
made prisoners in their own country.
Rich Meyer of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (a Mennonite, Brethren and
Quaker organization) reports that because four settlement compounds in Hebron
house about 300. Israelis, about 30,000 Palestinians live under direct military
control. Palestinians must show papers at numerous checkpoints in the town and
comply with a military curfew.
Jim Matlack of the American Friends Service Committee recently returned from
the area and reported that Palestinians he met had suffered from and were
extremely vulnerable to violence inflicted by Israeli military forces. He noted that
new hotels in Bethlehem that were built for an expected increase in Christian
tourists to mark the new millennium were, in fact, filled with Palestinians who had
fled their homes because those homes are the targets of Israeli missiles. He was
part of a delegation that visited some of those homes where empty shells were
found with labels indicating they were made in the United States. The Christian
Peacemaker Team in Beit Jala reported that the windows of an apartment it had
rented were shot out by the Israeli military even though no one suspected the
Christian Peacemaker Team of committing any acts of violence. Damage to the
apartment, however, was minor compared to that to neighboring homes that were
reduced to rubble.
We are aware that many of the current practices are influenced in part by the fear
caused by repeated acts of violence committed against Israelis in the West Bank
and Gaza. It is in the nature of acts of violence, even in the pursuit of justice, that
they result in still more injustice. We urge those struggling for justice to adhere to
the principles of nonviolence in that struggle. We welcome media reports, that
Palestinian officials intend to change the Intifada tactics and adopt nonviolent
activities.
The Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends appeals to the
U.S. President and the Secretary of State
- to urge the Government of Israel to change those discriminatory and unjust
rules that have resulted in so many Palestinians losing their property, their
freedom and their safety in the land where they have lived for generations
and to cease the imposition of closures and curfews.
- to urge the Palestinian and Israeli authorities to reach an agreement that
will assure that Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza decide for
themselves the laws that will govern them and to agree to an international
monitoring presence in the West Bank and Gaza.
- to work with the Congress to suspend the sale to Israel of attack
helicopters, laser guided missiles and all other US weapons that have
resulted in the death or injury of Palestinians or damage to homes and other
civilian property.
We ask the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting to communicate this appeal to the
President, the Secretary of State, to the Members of the House of Representatives
who represent the congressional districts where members of Baltimore Yearly
Meeting worship, and to Senators from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. We
also encourage Monthly Meetings that have voting representation in the U.S.
Congress to meet with their Member of Congress using this minute as a focus for
the discussion. We urge members in the District of Columbia to meet with their
nonvoting Delegate.
Betty reported that Peace and Social Concerns Committee has approved a recommendation of the
Trustees that our unused Fund for Conscience of $5,870.91 be transferred to the Fund for
Education and Training, administered by the Center for Conscience and War. On behalf of the
Yearly Meeting, we APPROVED this transfer.
R2001-9 Friends United Meeting: Howard Fullerton reported on behalf of Friends United
Meeting (FUM). Howard stated that FUM's financial house is in order, and that Ben Richmond
has been hired to oversee outreach in North America.
R2001-10 Web Publishing Subcommittee: Howard Fullerton reported on behalf of the Web
Publishing Subcommittee. The subcommittee is asking groups within the Yearly Meeting to
provide it with registration forms for events so that electronic versions can be made available by
way of the Internet.
R2001-11 Task Group on the Structure of the Yearly Meeting's Committees and the Role of
Staff: Howard Fullerton, on behalf of the Task Group on the Structure of the Yearly Meeting's
Committees and the role of staff, presented a report:
Introduction
We last studied committee structure in 1994-95. Trudy Rogers clerked the ad hoc
Task Group on Committees. She shared some reports and files, I selected some
paragraphs from them:
Special session of business, 8/6/94, to consider role of committees; (see pp 55-59,
1994 Yearbook) excerpts of interest follow:
"Our present purpose is to help the YM adjust its structure and activities so that
they better nurture the Light among our members and in the world. Efforts that
serve this purpose well and clearly should be supported; others should be reduced
or laid down."
"The burdens (time and cost) of travel to committee meetings are a real barrier to
greater participation for some. New ways to do things, (conference calls,
electronic communications, regional/quarterly meeting working groups) should be
explored. Some Friends asked that committee meetings be geographically rotated
or closer, others said try to meet only on Yearly Meeting Days and at Yearly
Meeting. We received several suggestions for encouraging wider individual
participation in Yearly Meeting work. In general, these involve Monthly Meeting's
having more information about opportunities for service and Yearly Meeting
committees being much clearer about their work and needs for service."
"In considering different general structures for committees, we seemed to agree
that some changes may be necessary, and that the same changes probably won't
work well for all committees or areas of committees. All committees may wish to
consider:
More flexibility of committee size,
Clearer definition of general and specific tasks,
Periodic reviews of activities, needs, energy and calling."
"Adding nurture and social testimonies oversight committees may just be adding
another layer of bureaucracy. However, if we encourage more work to be done by
less formal ad hoc or working groups, more flexible budget processes will be
needed. (At present, concerns can directed to standing committees which have a
budget that might be able to support the activity.)"
In laying that Ad Hoc Group down, the Yearly Meeting said:
"We sense that this particular consideration of the work of committees may be
drawing to a close and it may be time to lay this Task Group down. There is still
much to consider about our structure and how best to discern and carry out that
which we are called to do as meetings and as individuals. We feel the fresh insights
of others should be brought to bear on the issues before us and those which may
arise as we move into the new century."
As the membership of Baltimore Yearly Meeting has grown; so have the number of
those active in the Yearly Meeting. We need to support and encourage this.
Currently, the additional activity takes the form of establishing new committees,
with members to be nominated by the Nominating Committee and approved by the
Yearly Meeting in session or by Representative Meeting. Thus, the Nominating
Committee must be stretched to nominate more and more people. To increase the
numbers on the Nominating Committee, we need to increase the size of the Search
Committee, which nominates the Nominating Committee. To do that, we would
need to increase the size of the ad hoc search committee, which nominates the
Search Committee. We are facing infinite regression and none of us want to do
that. The current task group believes it is possible to be active and be recognized
as active without having to make so many nominations.
Junior Yearly Meeting has been an exception to this practice. The members are
self-recruited; it is the almost same group year after year, with a few new faces
each year. They do what they are called to do well. The Web Subcommittee also
functions without being nominated. The names of those who are active are
recorded in the Yearbook each year. We believe that these practices will work for
many other committees. We suggest combining some committees.
DRAFT: Proposed Committee Structure for BYM
Bold: New Committees
Regular: current committees-responsibilities for new committees
- Ministry & Worship
Ministry & Counsel Committee (current)
Committee for the Nurture & Recognition of Ministry (current)
Advancement & Outreach Committee (current)
Religious Education (current)
- Peace & Social Concerns Committee (current)
Criminal & Restorative Justice Committee (current)
Indian Affairs Committee (current)
Right Sharing of World Resources Committee (current)
Unity with Nature Committee (current)
- Youth Programs Committee (current)
Young Friends (program)
Junior Young Friends (program)
- Camping Program Committee (current)
- Trustees (current)
Educational Funding Resources Committee (current)
E. Reynolds Committee (current)
Sue Thomas Turner Committee (current)
- Publications (current)
Manual of Procedure (current)
Records (current)
Web Publishing (current sub-committee)
Faith & Practice (current)
- Finance & Property
Stewardship & Finance (current)
Camp Property Management (current)
(Catoctin Site and Shiloh Site Committee)
- Nominating (current)
- Search (current)
- Program Committee (current)
Ad Hoc
Epistle (current) [to be appointed by the Clerk at YM Sessions]
Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Concerns (current)
Friends in Education (current)
The task group's draft proposal focuses on consolidating committees rather than on laying
committees down. The proposal does not address the matter of what the Yearly Meeting's
purpose is or should be.
We heard a sense that a group with our current Peace and Social Concern Committee's focus
would be needed under the proposed group that would oversee both that work and other
concerns such as Indian Affairs. We heard a sense that people with interests in camp property
management might not be willing to work on a committee with more general responsibilities. We
heard a sense that it is premature to work on committee structure before we have considered our
mission and ministry, since only by knowing what our ministry is can we know what structure will
serve it best. We heard a sense of a member of the Indian Affairs Committee that the Committee
should continue as a stand-alone group to help ensure a continuing relationship with indigenous
people. We heard a sense that the proposed structure with broad-interest committees might give
us flexibility as interest in particular concerns waxes and wanes. We heard a sense that there may
be ways other than restructuring to address our difficulties in finding people to serve on
committees. We were asked how the proposed reorganization would encourage new people to
serve the Yearly Meeting. We heard a sense that we need a structure that serves to bring
individuals together with work they can enthusiastically carry out, rather than one that simply
encourages us to fill slots in Nominating Committee reports. We heard a sense that the proposed
structure, with our current committees overseen by new umbrella committees, would be more
complex than what we have now. We heard a sense that informing more Friends about the Yearly
Meeting and its work is more important than restructuring. We heard a sense that our effort to
define our purpose and ministry needs to be ongoing.
We DIRECTED the Task Group to provide opportunity in the next year for all within the Yearly
Meeting to help discern the mission and purpose of the Yearly Meeting and determine the
structure to serve that mission and purpose.
R2001-12 Friends Peace Team Project: Mary Lord reported on the Friends Peace Team
Project. Mary distributed a newsletter and a year-end report on the African Great Lakes Initiative.
Fourteen Yearly Meetings are now affiliated with the Peace Team Project. The Project raised over
$100,000 last year and is on budget for this year. Susan Rose now serves as the Project's
Treasurer. Ten people are now serving in Africa (four on a Burundi project and six on a Rwanda
project). The Friends Peace Team Project is working in support of Peace Brigades International
and Christian Peacemaker Teams in the country of Columbia. The Friends Peace Team Project is
also working on increasing skills, training, and awareness of Meetings in North America.
R2001-13 Youth Programs: Tom Fox, on behalf of Youth Programs Committee, asked to
hear from those interested in representing Baltimore Yearly Meeting in planning the 2003
YouthQuake.
R2001-14 General Secretary: Frank Massey, Baltimore Yearly Meeting General Secretary,
reported. Frank announced the availability of a letter from Pat Kutzner and fliers on upcoming
camp work days, a Ministry and Counsel retreat, and a World Council of Churches initiative to
end violence. Frank provided information on our 7/25-29/2001 annual session at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. Frank noted a 4/9/2001 hearing on a proposal to pave Mink
Farm Road at Camp Catoctin. Frank asked Friends to contact him for information on obtaining
Monthly Meeting insurance from the Yearly Meeting's new insurance provider, Guide One.
Frank, Supervisory Committee, Trustees, and Stewardship and Finance are investigating ways to
provide more work space at the Yearly Meeting Office; options costing up to $150,000 are being
investigated. Frank reported that at the end of this month Margo Lehman is to end her service as
Religious Education Secretary.
We MINUTED our appreciation to Margo Lehman for her service and travels as Religious
Education Secretary. We THANKED Frank for his report.
R2001-15 Advancement and Outreach: Jeanne Tabscott, Co-Clerk of Advancement and Outreach
Committee, read a proposed new description of the committee for the Manual of Procedure:
The Advancement and Outreach Committee consists of approximately nine
members nominated by the Nominating Committee and appointed by the Yearly
Meeting with care to name Friends who are familiar with Monthly Meetings
throughout the Yearly Meeting.
This Committee provides tools and resources to local Meetings looking for new
outreach ideas, for help starting new Meetings, and for ways to help those new to
Friends learn about the Religious Society of Friends. The Committee works with
the Publications Committee to assure that useful information about Baltimore
Yearly Meeting, its local Meetings, and the Religious Society of Friends is
available from the Yearly Meeting web site and other Yearly Meeting publications.
The Committee appoints two persons to serve on the Ethel Reynolds Fund
Committee for one-year terms and names a member to serve on the Sue Thomas
Turner Quaker Education Fund Committee for a two-year term.
We REFERRED the proposed description to the Manual of Procedure Committee.
R2001-16 Fire House: A Friend asked whether there was interest in the Yearly Meeting in
acquiring the fire house near the Yearly Meeting Office in Sandy Spring. We REFERRED this
matter to Trustees.
R2001-17 BYM/Torreon/Star Lake travel: Howard Zuses, on behalf of an ad-hoc group,
reported on plans to have Baltimore Yearly Meeting youth travel to Torreon/Star Lake and to
have their youth travel here, with work camping happening at both places. There are costs for air
fare, staff, and modest structures at Torreon/Star Lake; total funds to be raised from Monthly
Meetings should run between $5,000 and $8,000. A fund-raising letter is being sent to Monthly
Meetings.
R2001-18 Stewardship and Finance: Marion Ballard, Clerk of Stewardship and Finance,
reported that the Committee has been considering our financial support of Friends General
Conference (FGC) and Friends United Meeting (FUM). The Committee has studied participation
in these two groups' events, subscriptions to affiliated periodicals, and use of religious education
materials. The Committee recommends that we give about 20% of combined annual giving to
FUM and 80% to FGC; we now give about 40% to FUM and 60% to FGC. The Committee
would make the change by gradually increasing giving to FGC without reducing giving to FUM.
We were asked what fraction of each group's total membership is represented by our
membership. We heard a sense that the two groups meet different needs for us and that their
differing emphases and geographies help us stay in touch with Friends in different places. We
heard that our financial support of FUM is small relative to other Yearly Meetings. We heard a
sense that renewed effort to serve North American Meetings as well as projects of interest to
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Friends may warrant support of FUM. We heard a hope that the
strengths of each group might be taken on by the other.
Marion reported Stewardship and Finance Committee's recommendation that the General
Secretary be authorized to sign checks for budgeted expenses up to $5,000; this would reduce
travel for the General Secretary. We heard concerns about the exact cut-off amount, questions
about whether dual-signature checks might be prudent, and a suggestion that we have a petty cash
fund. We DIRECTED Stewardship and Finance to further consider this matter and return to us at
our next meeting with a recommendation.
R2001-19 Counseling Service: Miriam Greene, on behalf of the Ministry and Counsel Committee,
read the following:
The Ministry and Counsel Committee wants to clarify whether there is a need for
the BYM Counseling Service or whether to lay it down as a Yearly Meeting
function. It has been without an administrator for several years, which makes
proper oversight difficult for the Committee. The Committee proposes to contact
Monthly Meetings in the Yearly Meeting to determine the need and focus of any
services the Yearly Meeting might provide. In the interim we suggest the General
Secretary use his discretion in making information about the Counseling Service
available to those inquiring.
We ENDORSED the Committee's suggestion.
R2001-20 Closing: We THANKED Nottingham Friends for their hospitality and their arranging
for our use of the senior citizen's center. We heard, corrected, and APPROVED these minutes,
along with the attachment of written versions of reports given. We adjourned, to gather next on
6/16/2001 at Charlottesville Meeting House in Charlottesville, Virginia, or at the call of the
Presiding Clerk.
Marjorie F. Scott, presiding
Lamar Matthew, presiding |
Arthur David Olson, recording
Ron Mattson, recording |
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