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_post-hoc_ catch-up for two meetings
author Henry Thompson <ht@markup.co.uk>
date Sat, 02 Feb 2019 11:40:39 +0000
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1 *Meeting for Sufferings*
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3 7 July and 6 October 2018
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5 Henry S. Thompson, SE Scotland AM representative
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7 All the papers for the meetings are available online at
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9 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-july-2018-agenda--papers-package
10 http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-october-2018-calling-letter-agenda--papers-package2
11
12 The minutes and other follow-up material are available from
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14 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-july-2018-follow-up-package
15 http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-october-2018-follow-up-package
16
17 *7 July*
18
19 This was the first meeting of a new triennium, lots of new appointees,
20 somewhere between one-third to one-half, I would guess.
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22 As a result, not much actual business was done.
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24 One fact mentioned almost in passing that was a surprise to me, at
25 least: Britain Yearly Meeting has 179 paid employees at last count
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27 In an otherwise business-as-usual report from BYM Trustees, the
28 process of strategic planning I reported on from the April meeting has
29 continued, and its goal has been distilled to a remarkable one-liner:
30
31 "a vision of a simple church supported by a simple charity to
32 reinvigorate Quakerism"
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34 BYM is now _three_ things: 1) a body of members, organised into local,
35 area, (general) and yearly meetings (a church);
36 2) a registered charity;
37 3) an event.
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39 There is a "Quaker Youth Worker" pilot project just launched in
40 Bristol and Sheffield ...
41
42 *Revising our Book of Discipline*
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44 Meeting for Sufferings has asked Central Nominations Committee to
45 bring forward names to serve on a Book of Discipline Revision Committee
46
47 It's too late to put your name forward for consideration to serve on
48 on this, but you _can_ submit material for consideration, via
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50 https://forms.quaker.org.uk/qfp-idea/
51
52 *AM Trustees asked to report on sustainability*
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54 Minute 17 records our agreement that Area Meeting trustees be
55 encouraged to report on sustainability actions in their annual report.
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57 Guidelines for this have been prepared by Quaker Stewardship Committee
58 and members of BYM Sustainability Group have indicated they would be
59 happy to supply help and support on request.
60
61 ---------------
62
63 *6 October*
64
65 *Sufferings place in the governance of the Society*
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67 Exactly what does Sufferings _do_?
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69 At what level do we exercise "the general care of matters affecting
70 Britain Yearly Meeting and, in the intervals between Yearly Meetings,
71 the making of decisions and the issuing of statements in the name of
72 Britain Yearly Meeting" (QF&P 7.02)
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74 That view _predates_ the creation of BYM Trustees:
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76 "The law may assume that authority for determining action passes to
77 the trustees and the meeting may choose to do this. However, under
78 Gospel Order, the ultimate authority will still lie with the
79 gathered meeting.
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81 Yearly Meeting, 2005 (QF&P 15.03)
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83 Is it only "discernment in the religious sense" which comes to
84 Sufferings?
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86 Trustees _are_ individually and as a group legally obliged to see that
87 all our work conforms to our "charitable object": "furtherance of the
88 religious and charitable purposes of the Religious Society of
89 Friends". (QF&P 15.13)
90
91 There are four "aspects of the charitable object" (i.e. the
92 "charitable purposes"), listed in 8.03 of QF&P:
93 https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/passage/8-03/
94
95
96 *Trustees report*
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98 Simplifying and removing some restrictions on the process of launching
99 and managing legacy-funded projects.
100
101 Three strategic priorities, to bridge the planning gap between _Our
102 Faith in the Future_ and the Operational Plan: "thriving Quaker
103 communities, a sustainable peaceful world and simple structure and
104 practice"
105
106 *Diversity*
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108 We (BYM) now have a Inclusion and Diversity Co-ordinator, her name is
109 Edwina Peart.
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111 Responses to the request for input from Area Meetings:
112 * Doing well on age (but see immediately below), gender and sexual orientation
113 * Not so well on race, class and <18 ages
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115 What questions are good to ask a newcomer after meeting?
116 * Don't ask questions, say a little about yourself, and then leave some space...
117 * Asking questions often unintentionally reveals mistaken assumptions
118 which can lead to awkward silences...
119
120 *BYM investments and occupied Palestine*
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122 We do not currently have any investments in any companies known to be
123 "profiting from the occupation of Palestine".
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125 Trustees have asked MfS to advise on whether we should explicitly make
126 divestment a policy.
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128 There is an excellent review of the background to this in the papers.
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130 Recognising the difficulties in identifying such companies...
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132 MfS advised Trustees to go ahead and "exclude from its investments
133 companies profiting from the occupation of Palestine, and to amend the
134 BYM Investment Policy accordingly."
135
136 *Sustainability*
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138 After the non-closure of the Sustainability Working Group (see my
139 notes from 2018-04-07, a plan of action on supporting
140 Sustainability in BYM has come back to MfS.
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142 Short summary: It's complicated :-(
143 Longer summary: see the minutes linked above
144
145 *Young Adult Friends*
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147 MfS have agreed an experiment to appoint 4 YAFs to MfS for the
148 remainder of this triennium. Interested YAFs should contact the
149 Engaging Young Adult Quakers project Steering Group:
150
151 Haifa Rashed
152 Co-clerk
153 Kellie Turner
154 Co-clerk
155 Naomi Major
156 Secretary to EYAF SG
157 youngadults@quaker.org.uk
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159