Pacific Yearly Meeting
69th Annual Session Minutes and Reports
OPENING PLENARY
July 13, 2015
The plenary began with worship.
Clerk’s Welcome. Steven Smith, Presiding Clerk, welcomed all the attendees. He reminded attendees that all these meetings will begin and end on time. The theme is “Love and Justice” values at the heart of what it means to be a Friend. Gospel Order has to do with how we behave with each other the entire week.
Thanks to the Miwok People. The Presiding Clerk took a moment to regard the peoples who were here first, the Miwok people. This gathering takes place on the land of those people and we acknowledge them as the custodians of this land. A few moments of worship ensued to consider those First Peoples.
Walker Creek Ranch Welcome. George Stratman, Ranch Manager of Walker Creek Ranch, welcomed all here again. He mentioned a few housekeeping items, described the purpose of the Ranch and noted activities during the school year.
Roll Call. Roll call of meetings and worship groups was completed and is attached.
Visitors introducing themselves were the following:
Lloyd Lee Olson, Keynote address speaker (Friendship Meeting, North Carolina Conservative Yearly Meeting), Greensboro, NC
Paula Palmer (Boulder Monthly Meeting, IMYM), workshop presenter.
Miguel Angel Costop Bara, Director, Guatemala Friends Scholarship Program
Hailey Hathaway (Mexico City), Casa de Los Amigos
Yasmen Mercer of Berkeley, attending with a JYM Friend
Mary Klein (Palo Alto), Western Friend, announced that anyone interested in writing for Western Friend please contact her.
Melissa Weis (Central Coast Friends Meeting)
Katie Aburizik (Cambridge Meeting)
Arrangements. Eric Moon (Berkeley), one of two arrangements clerks, encouraged all to be understanding with and take care of each other. He reminded us of some respectful and kind ways we might do that. Jan Turner (Humboldt) noted that those with special dietary needs who have not already been cared for in registration, should please contact her. She will be wearing her special hat so she can be easily identified. She also described the signs in the cafeteria indicating the classification of the food.
Naming Committee. Sarah Tyrell (Berkeley) of the Naming Committee gave the first report. There are four spots to fill on Nominating Committee. Three of these are proposed to be filled by those who have accepted nomination for three year terms. One spot has not yet had anyone volunteer for that one year term. The three who have offered to serve three year terms are: David Mackenzie (Orange Grove), Delcy Steffy (Sacramento) and Juanita Mora-Malerva (Santa Cruz).
If anyone is interested in serving on Nominating Committee, please see Sarah Tyrell or another member of the Naming Committee. The other members of the Naming Committee are: Pat Smith (Claremont), Linda Rowell (Chico) and Alvaro Alvarado (Sacramento).
Children’s Program (CP). Keenan Lorenzato (Davis), point person for the Children’s Program, reported that those with questions or concerns regarding the CP should come to a person wearing an orange T-shirt. Sign-ins for Children’s Program are from 8:00 to 8:10 a.m. Children’s Program starts at 8:30 a.m. All are welcome to join CP activities or volunteer. They have had much trouble finding help for the Children’s Program and encourage those who might be interested in serving on the committee or in the program to please contact them.
Ministry and Oversight Committee (M&O) Briefing. Bronwen Hillman, Clerk of M&O introduced the members of M&O. If you have a concern or issue please come to a member of M&O. Bobcat Cabin is their location, with two members there each morning. She described how to sign up for worship sharing and how to change your choice. She encouraged buddies and newbies to find each other and noted how to do it. The safety of the children is of paramount importance. There is no childcare outside of the Children’s Program so all children must be under the care of an adult at all times.
Listening Session Briefing. The Presiding Clerk described the purpose and nature of the listening sessions and encouraged those with something to say on a topic to come to the relevant listening session.
Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM). Co-clerks Nathasha Herrera (Mexico City)and Maya Price (Berkeley), and M&O members, David Shaw (Santa Monica), Rose Nadis (Santa Barbara and Nina Shaw (Santa Monica) reported. JYM has many fun activities planned. There will be a mini workshop on AVP and another on creativity. Others are encouraged to join in worship sharing with them. JYM will also have worship each morning from 8 to 8:30 a.m.
Young Adult Friends (YAF). Co-clerks, Kylin Navarro (Berkeley) and Elena Anderson-Williams (San Jose) reported. YAFs will be meeting in the evenings starting at 8:30 p.m. They just completed a YAF retreat this morning.
Epistle Committee. David Lederman (Orange County), Ministry and Oversight Committee, reported that two persons, Jim Anderson (Chico) and Kate Connell (Santa Barbara), have agreed to serve on the Epistle Committee for Annual Session 2015. He described the duties of this committee and indicated that one more member is needed.
Secretariat. Raph Levien (Berkeley) reported for the Secretariat. During free time after breakfast there will be someone there for questions/requests. He and Tom Yamaguchi can be emailed also.
Registrar. Sarah Tyrell (Berkeley) and Joyce Samati (Strawberry Creek), those present who have not yet registered to do so.
Minutes. The minutes were read, corrected and approved.
The plenary closed with worship.