LEYM’s Ministry & Nurture Committee supports monthly meetings and worship groups as they seek to strengthen their meetings for worship and the spiritual vitality of Friends. The committee is available all year long. If there is a way we can help your meeting, please reach out.

• Contact Ministry & Nurture
• Clerks’ Chats
• The annual query and State of the Meeting reports
• Vocal ministry and worship
• Spiritual formation and companioning
• Supporting Friends’ ministries
• For local care and ministry committees

Contact Ministry & Nurture

You can reach the committee’s co-clerks through the Contact Information page. Committee members are listed in the current Nominations Slate, and each monthly meeting is invited to appoint a member to the committee. You can read the committee’s full charge on the Committee Descriptions page.

Connect via Clerks’ Chats

Ministry & Nurture hosts two series of informal Zoom conversations, each held several times a year:

• Monthly Meeting Clerks’ Chats for clerks, assistant clerks, and worship group conveners of our monthly meetings.
• Ministry & Care Clerks’ Chats for clerks of monthly meetings’ Ministry & Nurture, Worship & Ministry, or Care committees.

Each 90-minute session is a time of fellowship and conversation on topics of interest and concern to those attending. You don’t need to be a clerk to join, and you’re welcome to bring a concern from your meeting. Dates are on the LEYM Calendar with Zoom links shared via the Clerk’s email list or via email to Ministry and Nurture clerks. For questions, contact Dennis Gregg, co-clerk of Ministry & Nurture (see Contact Information).

The Annual Query and State of the Meeting Reports

Since 1985, Ministry & Nurture has prepared a query each year for meetings to consider together. The query and supporting readings are sent to meeting clerks and worship group conveners each fall, and are posted on the LEYM Queries & Advices page. Each spring, meetings are also asked to prepare a State of the Meeting Report on their spiritual condition.

What comes of your responses? The committee reads every response and report, and each year it publishes summaries of the query responses and of the State of the Meeting reports in the Annual Records. In the 2025 Annual Records, see “Responses to 2024/25 LEYM Query” and “Review of LEYM State of the Meeting Reports 2024–2025” (pages 58–64). They are a good way to learn what other meetings are experiencing.

The 2025–26 query asked how meetings help Friends build a foundation in Quaker thought, experience, discernment, and history.

Vocal Ministry and Worship

Ministry & Nurture knows how much it matters that messages in meeting for worship come from the place that feeds and strengthens the spiritual life of the meeting. The committee recommends sharing Welcome to Meeting for Worship (PDF, 2025), which offers gentle guidance on vocal ministry, with newcomers and longtime Friends alike.

Spiritual Formation and Companioning

• Spiritual Formation Program. A year in a local spiritual formation group, with personal spiritual practices and shared readings, opening with an autumn retreat and closing with one in the spring. It is planned by its participants under the care of Ministry & Nurture.
• Spiritual Companioning. A related, independent project within LEYM that shares the same hope of deepening Friends’ spiritual lives.

Supporting Friends’ Ministries

• Travel minutes. When a monthly meeting recognizes a Friend’s leading to travel in the ministry, Ministry & Nurture can help it seek LEYM’s endorsement. See “Travel Minute” (section II.E) in Policies & Procedures.
• Traveling Ministries Fund. Helps with the travel costs of LEYM Friends whose ministry has been recognized through a travel minute.
• Ministry Scholarships. Help monthly meetings send a member or attender to training related to ministry among Friends, such as the School of the Spirit, Earlham School of Religion, or a clerking workshop. Requests come from the meeting, which also contributes support.
• Cooper Scholarships at Earlham School of Religion. On request, Ministry & Nurture can recommend an LEYM Friend for this full-tuition award.

Details are on the Scholarships & Financial Aid page. To apply or ask questions, contact the Ministry & Nurture co-clerks.

For Local Care and Ministry Committees

• When a meeting is struggling. See “When Conflict Arises” on the Resources for Meetings & Worship Groups page, including LEYM’s Navigating Conflict in Quaker Meetings guide. Ministry & Nurture is also glad to listen and help you find support.
• Pastoral Care resources from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for care committees: welcoming new members, supporting Friends in need, memorial meetings, and more.
• The LEYM Clerks Book List (PDF) includes several titles for care and ministry committees, such as Fostering Vital Friends Meetings by Jan Greene and Marty Walton.

Updated September 2026.