Fourth Month 2024

Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Fourth Month 6, 2023
Hosted by Miami Monthly Meeting (Waynesville, OH)

1. Opening Worship: The meeting opened with centering worship at 12:08 pm.

2. Roll Call: The Recording Clerk reviewed the roll of Yearly Meeting officers and administrators, Committee Clerks, Quarterly and Monthly Meeting Representatives, and Yearly Meeting staff.

Yearly Meeting officers:
Presiding Clerk: Barry Zalph
Assistant Presiding Clerk: Rachel Ernst Stahlhut
Recording Clerk: Cecilia Shore
Assistant Recording Clerk: Lisa Cayard
Treasurer: Wilson Palmer
Assistant Treasurer: Cathy Habschmidt

Committee Representatives:
Ad Hoc Restructuring Committee: Paul Buckley
Auditing Committee: Cathy Habschmidt
Budget and Finance Committee: David Garman
Children’s Program Committee: Susan Hyde
Earthcare Committee: David Duvall
Nominating Committee: Rick Boyce
Personnel Committee: Stephen Angell and Dinah Duvall
Religious Nurture and Education Committee: Rex Sprouse
Task Force on Sexual Misconduct Policy: Gail Koehler
Yearly Meeting Planning Committee: Martha Viehmann and Ben Griffith
Youth Services Committee: David Hyde
Braddock Fund Committee: Steve Angell

Quarterly Meeting Clerks:
Miami: Nikki Coffey Tousley
Whitewater: absent

Monthly Meeting representatives:
Bloomington MM: Rex Sprouse
Clear Creek MM: Cathy Habschmidt
Community MM: Eric Wolff
Dayton MM: Nikki Coffey Tousley
Eastern Hills MM: Wilson Palmer
Eastern Hills MM: Martha Viehmann
Fall Creek MM: Ellen Hodge
Fort Wayne MM: Mary Anna Feitler
Lafayette MM: absent
Lexington MM: Peter Hardy and Ben Griffith
Louisville MM: Cindi Goslee
Miami MM: Jeanette Rockwell
North Meadow Circle of Friends Dinah Duvall
Oxford MM: Cecilia Shore
White Rose MM: absent
Yellow Springs MM Carol Simmons

Yearly Meeting staff:
Administrative Assistant: absent
Youth Secretary: Adam Funck

Administrators:
Statistician: Peter Hardy
Website Administrator: absent
Records Coordinator: Susan Hyde
Quaker Quill Editor: Cecilia Shore
Publications Coordinator: absent
Registrar: Eric Wolff

3. Introductions: There were no additional Friends present.

4. Agenda Review: The clerk corrected the entry for the report on the Zoom support for Annual Sessions position. An update from the Braddock Fund Committee was added.

5. Ad hoc Restructuring Committee: report and proposals: Paul Buckley
Please see the attached proposal for an OVYM Gatherings Committee. The committee received one suggestion to develop a handbook—Paul believes that is covered in point 5 of the report. One Friend raised the concern that we may have trouble finding members for this committee. The clerk reminded us that this is an experiment. Paul reminded us that this is a committee to assist meetings in being hosts for such gatherings. Nominating committee is optimistic about finding people to serve. One Friend expressed strong reservations about the top-down nature of this arrangement. $500 was suggested as an amount to be budgeted for this work. It was noted that for quarterly meetings, monthly meetings absorb the cost, and that the yearly meeting does have funding that can be used to address unusual costs. Friends agreed to submit the proposal to Annual Sessions, along with a suggested budget amount to be determined in consultation with the Treasurer and Budget and Finance.

Please see attached proposal for a Social Action Coordinator. Paul pointed out that this proposal does not have the expectation that in the first year the coordinator will be proactive in reaching out to monthly meetings. Paul pointed out that this person would report to Executive Committee with a subcommittee of individuals to provide supervision. The committee did check with the nominating committee regarding finding a person to fill this role. They suggested that this be a paid position. We would need to be very specific about their duties and number of hours for which we need to contract. One Friend pointed out that we are not very good about supervising our employees, and need to be able to trust them. The clerk pointed out that it is important for employees to be in close contact with at least one key volunteer from the yearly meeting. Paul indicated that he would be willing to serve as a consultative/supervisory role to assist this person during the year-long experiment. The clerk asked if anyone felt led to make this a volunteer position. At least two Friends pointed out that the yearly meeting has many needs and we may need to discern the importance of various needs. Paul reminded us that the committee heard from various monthly meetings that social activists felt isolated and that there was a need to help connect and support the initiatives across meetings. One Friend suggested that this be a volunteer position to test whether Friends in our yearly meeting actually feel led to engage in peace and social concerns work. Another Friend pointed out that there are young individuals who would like to do work for Yearly Meeting, but who are not in a financial position to do so without compensation. The clerk pointed out that a similar point was made by the Friends General Conference clerk. Friends agreed to submit the proposal for a Social Action Coordinator to Annual Sessions as a paid position for one year including an estimate of the proposed costs for a year. The report from the committee will include a question as to whether we need to require that the Social Action Coordinator come from within our yearly meeting.

6. Task Force on Sexual Misconduct & Abuse report and draft policy: Gail Koehler. Pease see the attached report from the Task Force. The Task Force understands its role to be updating and filling in gaps on the policy posted on the website. The Task Force has identified external consultants with whom they will review the draft. They emphasize the need for resources for a network within the yearly meeting for support, training and ethical review for this work. The committee lists a number of items which remain to be addressed. The policy is specifically addressed to OVYM events, but is meant as a model to be considered by monthly meetings, and as a measure to build up capacity within the yearly meeting for dealing with such events. The policy does not yet address the attendance of the accused at Yearly Meeting events. A Friend reminded us that the support offered by the yearly meeting may be referral to qualified professionals. We thank the Task Force for their work and agree that in principle the yearly meeting can provide financial resources.

7. Youth Services Committee: report and draft Child Safety policy: David Hyde. Please see the attached revised Child Safety policy. Friends approved this revised policy.

8. Executive Committee: proposal to reschedule 11/2024 meeting: Barry Zalph. Friends agreed to move the meeting to the 9th of Eleventh Month.

9. Annual Sessions Zoom & A/V support report: Ben Griffith. Please see the attached job description for someone to run technical support for Annual Sessions. Please circulate the job description broadly. Friends accepted the report with gratitude.

10. Planning Committee report: Martha Viehmann. Please see the attached report. The committee shared some highlights of the plans. There will be a pre-conference with the General Secretary of Quaker Earthcare Witness. Please announce to your monthly meetings that the registration deadline will be Memorial Day—this is a hard deadline. Please encourage families to come. We received the report with excitement and gratitude.

11. Budget & Finance Committee: initial budget proposal for 2024-2025: David Garman.
Please see attached proposal from Budget Committee. Budget Committee notes some changes from last year based on anticipated increases in spending. They also note that, “This is the 7th year in a row that we have proposed a deficit budget but for various reasons, we only realized a negative balance in one of those years.” The Ad-hoc Restructuring Committee will be in conversation with the Budget and Finance committee regarding estimated costs of the proposals to be discussed at Annual Sessions. We received the report with gratitude.

12. Treasurer’s Report: Wilson Palmer. Please see the attached Treasurer’s report. The Treasurer is confident that we will be able to cover our expenses. The treasurer reports that the Religious Nurture and Education committee reported that the spring retreat cost approximately $4,000, about half of which was defrayed by registrations and gifts received. The remainder was covered by the Spiritual Nurture Fund and the General Fund. Friends accepted the report.

13. Religious Nurture & Education (RNE) Committee: report – Rex Sprouse. RNE offered a Spring Retreat at Quaker Hill Third Month 15-16. The retreat was fully subscribed, with 36 Friends who attended and found it spiritually beneficial. The committee thanks the attendees and others who made this possible. The committee looks forward to receiving State of Meeting reports. Friends accepted the report.

14. Nominating Committee: report, with nominations – Rick Boyce. Please see attached report which lists names brought forward for officers, administrators and Annual Sessions positions. Friends are encouraged to give Nominating Committee names for the two Assistant Clerk roles. Friends approved the slate of nominees for Annual Sessions roles. The committee recommends that the position of Publications Coordinator be laid down. Before any action, the committee will consult with Susan Lee Barton and her current job description.

15. Braddock Fund Committee: Steve Angell noted that the Braddock Fund oversees about $82,000. The grants are to support valuable work in prisons and other criminal justice settings in Southwest Ohio and Indiana. Examples include Cathy Roma’s work with music and theater in prisons. The committee has received a suggestion that we inquire with Wilmington College as to whether they would like to administer the fund, as they are currently increasing their prison education efforts. Friends accepted the report.

16. Monthly Meeting Updates

  • Bloomington Meeting had a weekend workshop with Chris Sammond. Ten Friends attended and found it very spiritually enriching.
  • Please hold Yellow Springs Meeting in the Light. They are struggling with Antioch College regarding their meetinghouse.

17. Announcements

  • Barry has archival copies of the Friends Historical Society journal.
  • Quarterly meetings are coming up: Whitewater meets 4-21-24 at Lafayette, Miami on 4/28 at Miami. There will be Joint Quarter in the fall at Happy Hollow.

18. Announcements from your Administrative Assistant:

  1. Availability of Reports in Advance: As usual, they will be posted online. For those who want a paper copy, we need your orders in advance to have an idea of how many to print this year. Please request by May 15th. Our printing order is based on requests for paper copies.
    There is an online form to request any OVYM publications, or you can e-mail Susan Lee. OVYM publications include:
  2. 15 April deadline is in 9 days!!
    • Reports from reps. to other organizations
    • Committee reports
    • Memorial minutes (any 2023-2024 minutes that did not appear in the 2023 minute book)
    • State-of-the-meeting reports
      Please don’t wait until the last minute to start on these. Our OVYM clerk, the Religious Nurture and Education Committee, your Publications Coordinators, and your Administrative Assistant all have work depending on the information you turn in by the 15th.
  3. Some meetings have already gotten your information to me for the OVYM Directory. THANK YOU!! It was a big help to get a start on that project. Monthly meeting directory information is welcome any time this month. The deadline is Tuesday the 30th of April.

19. The meeting closed with worship, near 4 p.m.

The next meeting will be held August 24, 2024, hosted by Dayton Meeting.
Minutes recorded by Cecilia Shore

Attachments

Download a copy of these minutes, including any attachments.