Ministry Committee

The role of the Ministry Committee is to “help foster the spiritual life and good order of the Yearly Meeting, by providing assistance and counsel to the Yearly Meeting clerks and endeavoring to make the annual session a fulfilling experience for all participants.” (PacYM Faith & Practice, 2001)

At the 2020 Annual Session unity was found to drop the word “Oversight” from the traditional name which was “Ministry and Oversight” or “M&O”.  There was not unity as to what word, if any, to replace “Oversight” with, so the name will remain “Ministry Committee” until such time as the issue may be revisited.

Resources

• PYM Child Abuse Prevention Policy [Approved by Yearly Meeting, July 17, 2017]
• Ministry and Leadings Subcommittee booklet Faithfulness In Action (Draft 2.2 1 June 2009)  PDF – 22 pages

Materials for Discernment

Paid Administrative Support Position

In its report to Annual Session 2020, Ministry Committee proposed the following:

Pacific Yearly Meeting begin serious consideration of hiring paid administrative support for its activities. The need is urgent for someone who knows the Yearly Meeting, can integrate efforts across the entire organization, and can access reliable institutional memory. We see a need to relieve the Youth Programs Coordinator and Assistant to the Clerk from having to build infrastructure necessary to do their jobs, and to provide clerical, communication,and other assistance to clerks and committees to prevent volunteer burnout. We recommend the development and circulation of a proposed job description,followed by the holding of one or more threshing sessions in the Fall to consider the matter and produce a proposal in timefor consideration by Representative Committee in the Spring. A seasoned request could then be presented at Annual Sessions 2021.

A proposal has been circulated that includes the tasks that the administrative support person would perform. A threshing session was held on Saturday, February 6, 2021 from 3:00 – 4:30 PM PST to discuss the proposal. Notes from the Threshing Session can be found here.

Current Reports

• 2021 RepCom
  • Ministry-Report-to-RepCom-2021 (but note this
    • Correction: Ministry Committee wishes to correct an error in the Friends of Color Subcommittee section of their report in the Advance Packet.  The worship group in Spanish is not an offshoot of the Friends of Color Subcommittee.  It is an independent worship group that welcomes all who want to worship in the manner of Friends and give their ministry in Spanish.  More information and the link to worship can be found here:https://westernfriend.org/qwfo-reunion-en-espanol.
  • Mexico-City-MM-Report-to-RepCom-2021
  • Indigenous-Peoples-Concerns-Report-to-RepCom-2021.with-Attachment
  • Racial-Justice-Report-to-RepCom-2021

Prior Reports

• 2020 Annual Session
  • Ministry_and_Oversight_Report_to_AS_2020
  • Evaluation of 2019 Annual Session – Summary and Appendix
  • Meeting for Memorials Program 2020 (names to be read)
  • Letter from M&O and Presiding Clerk: In Preparation for Annual Session 2020 on Radical Inclusivity
• 2020 RepCom
  • Ministry and Oversight Report to RepCom 2020
• 2019 Annual Session
  • Ministry and Oversight Report to AS 2019 (pdf posted 7/4/19)
  • Summary of Evaluations of PYM 2018 Annual Session (pdf posted 7/3/19)
• 2019 RepCom
  • Ministry_and_Oversight_Report_to_RepCom_2019
  • Eldering Subcommittee of M&O Report to RepCom 2019.v2
  • Summary of Evaluations of PYM 2018 Annual Session
• 2018 Annual Session
  • Ministry and Oversight Report to Annual Session 2018 (posted 7/2/18)
  • M&O Name Change Reflections June 2018 (posted 7/1/18)
• 2018 RepCom
  • 2018 RepCom M&O Report (PDF). Attachments below:
  • Additional Information about FGC Affiliation and a Request for Monthly Meetings to Season (NOT IN ADVANCE PACKET; NOT IN MINUTES PACKET)
  • Summary of Evaluations of 2017 PYM Annual Session
• 2017 Annual Session
  • 2017 Annual Session M&O Report (PDF) see attachments below
  • Child Abuse Prevention Policy [Approved by Yearly Meeting, July 17, 2017]
  • PYM Restructure Proposal v5 July 2017
  • Summary of Evaluations of  2016 PYM Annual Session 
• 2017 RepCom M&O Report  (PDF)
• (gap to be filled)
• 2012 RepCom M&O Report (PDF)
• 2010 Futures SubCommittee of M&O Report (PDF)

Materials related to FGC Affiliation

At Annual Session 2019 PacYM found unity to affiliate with Friends General Conference (FGC).  Over the preceding several years, M&O shared a number of resources to inform the discernment over whether to affiliate.  Links to those resources are collected here, most recent first:

• • Annual Session 2019 Summary on Affilation with FGC (posted 7/3/19)
  • FGC Affiliation Issue as Recorded in PYM Minutes and Reports 2014-2019 (posted 7/3/19)
  • New Document and Renewed Request for Further Seasoning on FGC Affiliation (posted 5/1/19)
    • [Earlier version: Request for further seasoning by Monthly Meetings re FGC Affiliation 15 March 2019 (posted 4/30/19, text of email sent to monthly meeting Representatives and Clerks on 3/17/19)]
  • 2019 FGC Talking Points (posted 4/30/19, a brief summary of main initiatives of FGC through 2019)
  • History of PYM Discernment on Affiliation with FGC 2014 to 2019 (revised 3/15/19 after RepCom 2019)
    • [Earlier version: M&O Process for Discerning Possible Affiliation with FGC since 2014 (posted 4/19/18)]
  • Financial Implications of FGC Affiliation Revised 1 March 2019 (submitted to RepCom 2019)
  • M&O Summary of Monthly_Meeting_Reflections_on_FGC_Affiliation (posted 7/4/18)
  • FGC Affiliation Consideration Updates (4/19/18)
  • FGC Responses to Pacific YM Questions April 2018 (4/19/18)
  • Additional Information about FGC Affiliation and a Request for Monthly Meetings to Season (2/1/18)
  • PYM-FGC Affiliation Frequently Asked Questions (5/31/17)
  • Benefits of Affiliation with Friends General Conference 2017 (document from FGC)
  • Process and Procedures for a Yearly Meeting to Affiliate with FGC (doc from FGC)
  • FGC programs June 2017 (document from FGC listing “what they are doing”)
  • December 2017 issue of Vital Friends (sample FGC newsletter)

Job Descriptions

See job descriptions page

Subcommittee Job Descriptions

See also: General PYM Job Descriptions web page

• Current
  • Eldering Subcommittee Job Description
  • Friends of Color Subcommittee
  • Indigenous Concerns Subcommittee
  • Racial Justice Subcommittee Job Description
  • Religious Education Subcommittee Job Description (formed 2017)
  • Respectful Relationships Subcommittee
  • Worship Sharing Logistics Subcommittee
• Under Discernment
• Inactive or Laid Down or Superseded
  
  • Electronic Communications Subcommittee Job Description (PDF file) became part of the new Communications Committee as of AS 2017 minute
  • Experimentation and Implementation Subcommittee Job Description (PDF file)
  • Ministry and Leadings Subcommittee Job Description (PDF file)
  • Representative Support Subcommittee – responsibility now undertaken by the full committee
  • Visiting Friend Subcommittee Job Description (PDF file)

Contact Information

Contact us page

See a complete list of PacYM officers, appointees, committee members and delegates on the Roster of PacYM Officeholders page.