Ohio Valley Executive Committee Meeting, 2-7-26, 12:00-4:00 PM, Bloomington, IN
33. We gathered in centering worship at 12:00 pm at Bloomington Friends meeting. The Clerk welcomed Friends to
34. Roll Call of Representatives. The assistant recording clerk read the roll call.
Yearly Meeting Officers:
Presiding Clerk: Diann Herzog
Assistant Presiding Clerk: Barry Zalph
Recording Clerk: Terre Holada sent regrets
Assistant Recording Clerk: Cecilia Shore
Treasurer: Wilson Palmer
Assistant Treasurer: Rick Boyce
Committee Clerks:
Budget and Finance Committee: David Garman and Rick Boyce
Children’s Program Committee: Diann Herzog
Earthcare Committee: David Duvall
Gatherings Committee: Lisa Cayard
Nominating Committee: Peggy Spohr and Peter Hardy
Personnel Committee: Dinah Duvall
YM Planning Committee: Martha Viehmann
Religious Nurture and Education Committee: Rex Sprouse
Youth Services Committee: David Hyde
Quarterly Meeting Clerks:
Miami: Nikki Coffey Tousley
Whitewater: Ellen Hodge
Monthly Meeting Representatives:
Bloomington: Rex Sprouse
Campus: absent
Clear Creek: David Garman
Community: Lisa Cayard
Dayton: Nikki Coffey Tousley
Eastern Hills: Martha Viehmann and Wilson Palmer
Fall Creek: Ellen Hodge
Fort Wayne: absent
Lafayette: Jill Hutchcroft
Lexington: Ben Griffith
Louisville: Perry Thomas
Miami: Travis Cook
Mississinewa/White Rose: absent
North Meadow: Dinah Duvall
Oxford: Cecilia Shore
Yellow Springs: Annie Blanchard and Carol Simmons
Yearly Meeting Staff:
Administrative Assistant: Susan Lee Barton
Youth Secretary: vacant
Social Action Coordinator: Sandy Felt
Administrators:
Quaker Quill Editor: Cecilia Shore
Records Coordinator: Susan Hyde
Others present: Peter Burkholder, audio-visual equipment host
35. Agenda Review. A few changes were presented and approved.
36. Nominating Committee (Peggy Spohr). Religious Nurture and Education is in search of members. Nominating Committee submits the name of Peggy Spohr to serve through Annual Sessions. This nomination was approved.
37. Planning Committee Report (Martha Viehmann). The committee is in talks with Wittenberg University in Springfield OH for June 17-21. The theme is Faithfulness in the Storm. Two speakers have been confirmed: Joyce Ajlouny from American Friends Service Committee will do a plenary, and send another staff person from AFSC to do the workshop; and Keith Runyan from Quaker Earthcare Witness will be the other plenary speaker. The committee recommends raising the registration fee to $60 without a Pay-as-Led option, but with widely available in- formation about financial aid. The other change is that plenary talks will not be recorded. The call for workshops will be in the Quill, and Friends may submit them to Andy Garrison by Second Month 28. Ellen Hodge pointed out
38. Children’s Committee Report. Diann Herzog reports that the committee will be meeting soon to start planning for Annual Sessions. They encourage new members. The report was accepted. that funds are available in Whitewater Quarterly Meeting to support attendance. The report was accepted with joy.
39. Youth Services Committee Report (David Hyde and Carol Simmons). Please see attached report. The com- mittee is discerning how to proceed with programming for youth and families. They may have a recommendation about hiring in time for Joint Quarterly Meeting. Carol has been in conversation with a Midwest Quaker Collective to collaborate with Western, Wilmington, and Illinois YMs. There will be a youth program at Annual Sessions, with leadership by the committee and help from hired young adults. The committee needs additional members. Friends accepted the report.
40. Religious Nurture & Education (RNE) Report (Rex Sprouse). The committee hosted a Survivor-Focused Sexual Misconduct Training in 11th Month. Attendees thank the yearly meeting for its financial support and are carrying information from the training back to their meetings. There is a move toward rethinking the OVYM policy about responding to incidents in light of the training. We approved the RNE committee to name a response team and a support team to serve through the next annual sessions. The Spring Retreat on “Caring for Each Other” will be led by Ellen Hodge March 27-28 at Quaker Hill with generous support from the yearly meeting. There will be child care; parents need to register in advance. An update to the Sexual Misconduct Resources webpage on OVYM.org is in progress and will be published soon. We accepted the report and approved this amended minute.
41. Whitewater Quarterly Meeting Report. Ellen Hodge reports that the quarterly meeting meets regularly at the appointed time. We accepted the report.
42. Miami Quarterly Meeting Report. See the written report attached. They are planning a Joint Quarterly Meeting for 10/17-18 in the Dayton/Yellow Springs area. We accepted the report.
43. Annual Review for Susan Lee Barton. Barry Zalph. The review is appended. Susan Lee’s performance was highly positively regarded. Barry emphasized that Susan Lee is already working as much as she can for us, and when we ask, “Why don’t we have staff do that task?” we are asking, “Why don’t we have more staff?” We accepted the report.
44. Personnel Committee Report (Dinah Duvall). The report is appended. We approved renewal of Susan Lee’s contract and extension of the agreement to 3 years, with annual reviews. Clarity will be sought on the timing of these reviews by the next Executive Committee meeting. Sandy’s appointment began in 11 th month 2024; it is un- clear when the 3-year term will end. This was referred back to Personnel Committee.
45. Correspondence from Stephen Snyder, Clerk of Minneapolis Friends Meeting. Susan Lee read the letter. He indicated that they felt blessed by the well-wishes that they have received, but shocked and angered by the impact that the federal administration is having on the residents of Minnesota. He cited George Fox’s image of the ocean of light that overwhelms the ocean of darkness and rejoiced in all the concrete ways that people have pro- vided support to the people of Minneapolis. He provided a list of non-profit organizations that are doing good work and could use financial contributions. The clerk noted that several yearly meetings have made public statements about their convictions. The letter from Friend Stephen Snyder will be distributed to representatives, who were were invited to raise with their meetings the question of “where we stand” and consider a possible statement for consideration at next executive committee meeting. The clerk read a statement from Grady Walker Lights in 2021 on the undermining of democracy and the necessity of relying on spiritual forces in an environment hostile to truth and civility.
46. Monthly meeting news was shared.
47. Social Action Coordinator Report (Sandy Felt). The report is attached. The bi-weekly worship sharing group has grown in recent weeks. The Signal chat group is active. Some people have registered as a Courage Collec- tive with Indivisible. Sandy is continuing to make visits to meetings. Her hours over the past several months have averaged about 20 hours per month. We accepted the report.
48. Announcements: Registration is open for Friends Music Camp in July in Goshen IN. Committees, please get your budget requests to Rick Boyce. Meetings, please be aware of the announcements page on OVYM.org as a way of communicating events at your meeting. Please hold Terre and Bob Holada in prayers; her surgery went well yesterday. The Gatherings Committee warmly encourages meetings to host spring Gatherings; the committee stands ready to help.
49. The Treasurer’s report is appended.
50. We minuted appreciation to Bloomington for hospitality.
51. Minutes were approved after corrections.
52. Closing Worship. The meeting closed in silent worship at 3 pm.
The next Executive Committee meeting will be 4-4-26 in Lexington.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cecilia Shore, Assistant Recording Clerk
