Our Organization Today

Ministry Committee
Ministry Committee holds broad responsibility for the spiritual and pastoral life of the Yearly Meeting. It provides care and discernment on matters affecting the life of the community, gathers State of the Meeting reports and prepares the State of the Society Report, supports important aspects of Annual Session, and carries the Yearly Meeting’s care for Meetings not affiliated with a Quarterly Meeting.

Ministry also provides an organizational home for several subcommittees carrying pastoral, spiritual, or emerging concerns, including Eldering, Indigenous Concerns, Racial Justice, and Transformation.

Youth Programs Coordinating Committee
YPCC works closely with the Youth Programs Coordinator and helps develop PacYM’s year-round youth and intergenerational programs. It also administers youth-program funding from the Bob Vogel Endowment and John Woolman School Fund.

Youth Programs Coordinator
The Youth Programs Coordinator connects and supports PacYM’s work with children, teens, young adults, and families throughout the year. The Coordinator works across programs and committees, develops activities in response to the needs and interests of young Friends, and serves as a resource and point of connection for youth work across the Yearly Meeting.

The Assistant to the Clerk carries a wide range of year-round administrative and coordinating work, particularly work requiring discernment or close connection with the Presiding Clerk. Responsibilities include Friendly News, Annual Session interest groups, post-session feedback, committee workshops, and preparation for reports and sessions.

Communications Committee provides policy direction and care for PacYM’s communications systems, including the website, General Directory, social media, privacy and information-use policies, and broader questions about how information moves through the Yearly Meeting.

Nominating Committee listens for the gifts and interests of Friends and brings nominations for many officers, committee members, representatives, and other forms of service. It also maintains PacYM’s collection of service descriptions.

The Transformation Subcommittee explores ways Pacific Yearly Meeting may need to change its practices, formats, expectations, and long-standing ways of being in order to serve members, attenders, and potential newcomers better.

Finance Committee develops PacYM’s budgets and financial policies, recommends the annual per-member contribution and Annual Session fee schedule for approval by the body, considers investments, and works with Meetings seeking 501(c)(3) status under PacYM’s umbrella.

The Treasurer maintains PacYM’s financial records, processes transactions, and prepares financial reports. PacYM is currently reviewing how treasury responsibilities should be divided, so the specific arrangement of these roles may change.

The Pacific Yearly Meeting Holding Corporation provides custodial and fiduciary care for certain property and assets held on behalf of the Yearly Meeting or its constituent Meetings. This can include receiving and managing assets from a laid-down Meeting while the Yearly Meeting discerns their appropriate future use.

The Administrative Assistant carries much of PacYM’s day-to-day administration, communications, website and systems work, and practical coordination. The Administrative Assistant works closely with the Presiding Clerk and Assistant to the Clerk throughout the year.

The Archivist cares for PacYM’s historical records and assists Meetings with the preservation and organization of their own archival materials.

The Historian helps PacYM understand its history, previous practice, and organizational precedent and is a resource when questions arise about how the Yearly Meeting has addressed similar matters in the past.

Recording Clerks prepare the minutes of Mid-Year Sessions and Annual Session.

The Statistical Clerks work with Monthly Meetings each year to collect membership and related information and prepare PacYM’s annual statistical report.

The Eldering Subcommittee nurtures the spiritual grounding of PacYM sessions and events. It arranges spiritual accompaniment for Friends carrying demanding roles, helps hold worship and other sessions in prayer, and offers opportunities for Friends to learn about and practice eldering.

Faith & Practice Committee cares for PacYM’s Faith & Practice. Rather than undertaking only occasional full revisions, the committee now works with particular sections as concerns and needs arise and invites the wider community into that discernment.

Latin American Concerns Committee raises awareness within PacYM of selected Friends programs and related concerns, and shares information about their work through reports and Annual Session programs.

The Indigenous Concerns Subcommittee supports PacYM in understanding the history and continuing effects of colonization, learning about the experiences and concerns of Indigenous Peoples, and seeking just and equitable relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Its work includes supporting Meetings, sharing resources, building relationships, and connecting with Indigenous and Quaker organizations engaged in similar concerns.

Peace & Social Action Committee supports Friends’ witness and social concerns, shares resources, and receives and circulates Minutes of Social Concern from Monthly Meetings.

The Racial Justice Subcommittee encourages candid and loving dialogue and transformative activity around racial justice and racial healing within PacYM. It offers education, resources, workshops, opportunities for dialogue, and programming that supports Friends and Meetings in this work throughout the year and at Annual Session.

Unity with Nature Committee nurtures Friends’ spiritual relationship with the natural world and supports Earthcare, climate concerns, environmental justice, and ecological resilience. Its Annual Session activities include Walking Worship, creative activities, and attention to the environmental impact of the gathering.

Representatives to outside organizations are appointed to maintain ongoing relationships with Quaker organizations. They participate in that organization’s work as appropriate, report back to PacYM on its activities and concerns, and help keep its work visible within the Yearly Meeting. Observers have a more limited role. They attend a gathering or event of another Friends body on PacYM’s behalf and report back on their experience there.

Arrangements Committee creates the practical container for Annual Session, coordinating the site, facilities, online participation, accessibility, rooms, equipment, and the many logistical details that allow other programs and activities to take place.

Children’s Program Committee is primarily responsible for the children’s program at Annual Session, including recruiting and supporting program coordinators and staff and helping discern when a young person is ready to move from the children’s program into Junior Yearly Meeting.

The Junior Yearly Meeting (Adult) Committee supports the teen community at Annual Session. The teens plan and lead their own Junior Yearly Meeting program, while the adult committee provides guidance, supervision, and appropriate adult presence.

The Reading Clerk selects excerpts from epistles prepared by other yearly meetings to be read at the beginning of plenary sessions during Annual Session. These readings bring news of what’s alive among Friends elsewhere, offer material for reflection, and help place PacYM’s experiences and concerns within the wider Quaker world — sometimes revealing common ground and sometimes illuminating differences.

The Registrar manages Annual Session registration, including the registration process and forms, participant records, payments, and onsite check-in and check-out. The Registrar works closely with Arrangements on the practical details that affect participants’ arrival and stay.