Info for Meeting Clerks

18 May 2011

Information for Meeting Clerks and Worship Group Conveners

Contact Information

  • View contact information for other meeting clerks and worship group conveners
  • View contact information for officers and others in LEYM

Documents

LEYM’s web site and publications (except Policies & Procedures) are under the care of the Publications & Archives Committee. Please contact the clerk of the committee if you have questions.

QuakerSpeak Video featuring Arthur Larrabee

Resources for Peace & Justice

18 May 2011

LEYM’s Peace & Justice Committee welcomes interested LEYM Friends to its meetings and its work. We have developed an interactive timeline with some key dates in the Quaker history of a commitment to peace.

New for 2025: Peace and Justice Committee developmental seminar series

Minutes on Peace & Justice

Monthly meetings and worship groups can review these documents and use them as resources in drafting your own letters to Congress and the media, and in taking action.

Minute on the Harms Caused by the Actions of our Current Governments – Kent Friends Meeting June 15, 2025

Minute Concerning Reductions in Federal Workforce – Granville Friends Meeting, March 16, 2025

Akron Friends Minute on Abolition of the Death Penalty – Akron Friends Meeting April 16, 2023

Akron Friends Minute on Ending Police Violence – Akron Friends Meeting July 10, 2022

Akron Friends Minute on Antiracism – Akron Friends Meeting Minute February 14, 2021

PFM Antiracism Minute– Pittsburgh Friends Meeting Minute Aug 9, 2020 (PDF)

Blessed Are Those Who Protest – Detroit Friends Monthly Meeting Minute June 21, 2020 (PDF)

Red Cedar Friends Meeting Updated Statement – Red Cedar Friends June 21, 2020 (PDF)

2020 Minute on Becoming an Anti-Racist Faith Community adopted by Red Cedar Friends Lansing Michigan on June 14, 2020 (PDF).

2020 Minute on Anti-Racism adopted by Broadmead Friends (Toledo and Bluffton) on June 14, 2020 (PDF).

2020 Minute on Responding to Systemic Racism and Police Violence adopted by North Columbus Meeting of Friends on June 14, 2020 (PDF).

2018 Minute Responding to Gun Violence in our Society adopted by Pittsburgh Monthly Meeting November 2018 (DOCX)

LEYM Minute on Banning Nuclear Weapons 2018 (PDF)

LEYM Statement of Religious Concern 1984 (DOCX)

In support of the Standing Rock Sioux vs. the Dakota Access Pipeline
Athens Friends Minute Oct. 9, 2016 (PDF)
Oberlin Friends Minute Oct. 19, 2016 (PDF)

Israel-Palestine
LEYM Minute on not investing in companies complicit with Israel’s occupation of Palestine 2017 (PDF)
Open Letter to Hillary Clinton May 23, 2016 (link) from the Palestine Israel Action Group (PIAG), a subcommittee of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting
LEYM Minute on Israel-Palestine 2013 (DOCX)
LEYM Open Letter to Obama/McCain re: Israel/Palestine 2008 (DOC)

Torture
LEYM Minute Against Torture 2011 (DOCX)
Minute on NRCAT Statement of Conscience 2008 (DOCX) – National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Other

CFSC Toolkit for Responding to Violent Conflicts (PDF)

Quaker Peacemaker Posters Collection (PDF)

LEYM Defense Spending Minute 2010 (PDF)

LEYM Minute on US/Iraqi Security Agreement 2008 (DOC)

LEYM Minute on Abolition of the Death Penalty 2007 (PDF)

Banner reading Quakers are for Peace and Justice

Also: Check out this informative guide from the U.K.: Engaging with Conflict and Challenging Hate Toolkit (PDF)

Quaker Peacemaker Posters

Get Full Peacemaker Posters Set Here

Committee Descriptions

18 May 2011

As an aid to Friends considering a committee position, we have provided the following descriptions of LEYM committees and details about serving on them.

Committees (general description)
Advancement & Outreach
Ministry & Nurture
Arrangements & Site
Earthcare
Finance
High School Teen Retreat Program
Nominating
Peace & Justice
Program
Publications & Archives
Youth & Children


Committees

Committees are appointed by Lake Erie Yearly Meeting to perform functions more easily carried out by a small group than the entire body. Charges to committees are defined by the yearly meeting when they are created or when their roles change. Committees may perform specific tasks, think through issues, or bring proposals or recommendations to the full body for consideration and a decision. Committees with budgets may spend them within the guidelines established by the yearly meeting. Some committees oversee funds.

Clerks of committees are responsible for convening meetings and keeping them on task and for seeing that appropriate records are kept, that reports are made to the larger body, and that the work is carried out.


The Advancement & Outreach Committee supports meetings and worship groups in attracting and welcoming new members and attenders. It works with worship groups ready to become monthly meetings and with meetings wanting to become worship groups or be laid down.

6 members, 3-year terms, renewable once

1. Nurture and encourage small meetings, new meetings and worship groups within LEYM
2. Support meetings in attracting and welcoming new members and attenders
3. Keep an up-to-date list of the monthly meetings, preparative meetings, and worship groups within LEYM along with contact information for clerks and conveners
4. Work with groups interested in forming new monthly meetings or with meetings that are being laid down
5. With the Publications & Archives Committee, oversee the LEYM web site

Meets: prior to Representative and Annual Meetings and a Saturday meeting in the fall.


The Arrangements & Site Committee is responsible for all aspects of the Annual Meeting that have to do with the site as well as registration.

6 members, 3-year terms, renewable once

1. Set time and place for Annual Meeting two years in advance & notify YM
2. Registration materials to LEYM Bulletin Editor in time for spring issue
3. Conduct registration and ensure that physical needs are met
4. Pass list of attenders on to Nominating Committee for use during Annual Meeting sessions

Meets: as required and called by committee clerk.


The Earthcare Committee helps Friends understand and move toward better stewardship of the earth.

6 members, 3-year terms, renewable once

1. Educate selves and Yearly Meeting about environmental issues
2. Generate, collect and disseminate informational materials concerning earthcare
3. Liaise with MM Earthcare committees and with national Quaker Earthcare Witness

Meets: prior to Representative and Annual Meetings for business and at other times as arranged.


The Finance Committee plans and manages the yearly meeting’s finances, proposes an annual budget, and advises on the yearly meeting’s investments.

3 members, 3-year terms, renewable once, plus Treasurer ex officio

1. Consult with Treasurer on financial policies
2. Recommend annual budget for following fiscal year to Representative Meeting
3. Determine recommended share per reported member
4. Evaluate any unusual requests for expenditures and make recommendations to YM
5. Consult with Arrangements, Program and Youth & Children cmttees to set registration fee for Annual Meetings

Meets: prior to Representative and Annual Meetings and at other times as arranged.


The High School Teen Retreat Program Committee holds in concern the spiritual life of LEYM high schoolers. The committee hires, supports, and oversees the work of a paid coordinator of teen retreats.

3 adults with 3-year terms, renewable once, plus 2 high-schoolers with 2-year terms, plus High School Youth Program Coordinator ex officio

1. Search for, hire and oversee the work of a High School Program Coordinator
2. Set remuneration in consultation with Finance & Budget Committee
3. Assist the Coordinator in keeping an updated database of eligible youth for the High School Youth Program
4. Identify and nurture Friends in monthly meetings who are interesting in working with high school youth

Meets: as required and as called by committee clerk.


The Ministry & Nurture Committee offers meetings and worship groups support as they seek to strengthen and enrich their meetings for worship and the spiritual vitality of Friends. The committee encourages meetings and worship groups to undertake an annual assessment of their spiritual condition. The committee oversees LEYM’s Spiritual Formation Program and traveling ministers from the yearly meeting.

6 members, 3-year terms, renewable once, plus one member appointed from each monthly meeting as meetings are led

1. Work with and assist committees on Ministry & Nurture in local meetings at their request
2. Arrange workshops for Ministry & Nurture Committee members
3. Care for the spiritual life of the Yearly Meeting (Note: in carrying out this charge, M&N Committee has discerned and disseminated a YM query each year since 1985, encouraging each meeting to respond.)
4. Recommend a nominee for a Cooper Scholarship at the Earlham School of Religion

Meets: prior to Representative and Annual Meetings and at other times as arranged.


The Nominating Committee identifies Friends who are competent and willing to carry out the many tasks that enable the yearly meeting to act as we are led. It proposes a slate of nominees at Annual Meeting and individual nominations throughout the year as necessary.

6 members from different MMs, 3-year terms, renewable once
(Named by Yearly Meeting through a “Naming Committee”)

1. Discern and secure acceptance of nominations for officers, committee members and representatives to Friends organizations and visitors to nearby YMs
2. Nominate clerks for standing committees, after consulting with current committee clerk by rise of YM
3. Fill vacancies as they occur throughout year
4. Advise YM when a committee may need to be laid down
5. Choose which FWCC representatives may attend the Triennial
6. Provide to officers, Bulletin editor a complete list of all approved appointments promptly at the close of YM Annual sessions
7. Keep accurate records of each individual’s initial year of appointment to a committee so that the limit of six years is not exceeded

Meets: at Representative and Annual Meetings, conference calls and e-mail as called by committee clerk.


The Peace & Justice Committee helps Friends understand matters of peace and justice and work toward a more peaceful and just world.

6 members, 3-year terms, renewable once; MMs are also encouraged to appoint one representative.

1. Exchange information about peace and justice actions & concerns in MMs and communicate to YM and own meetings
2. Receive reports from representatives to various Friends organizations (AFSC, FCNL, FWCC, etc.)
3. Initiate minutes or suggestions and transmit to MMs and YM

Meets: during Representative and Annual Meetings and at other times as called by committee clerk.


The Program Committee is responsible for planning activities except for conducting business. This includes developing a theme, setting a schedule, and publicizing Annual Meeting to LEYM Friends.

6 members, 3-year terms, renewable once

1. Establish a theme for the Annual Sessions
2. Arrange for speaker(s), workshops, worship sharing, recreational activities which encourage spiritual growth, nurture and fellowship
3. Consult with YM Clerk the times for YM business sessions
4. Communicate necessary information to Arrangements & Site committee and Bulletin Editor

Meets: As called by clerk, mostly by e-mail and conference call.


The Publications & Archives Committee oversees printed and web publications of the yearly meeting. The committee sends yearly meeting materials to a Quaker archive and encourages meetings to do the same.

4 members, 3-year terms, renewable once, plus editor of Annual Records, editor of Bulletin and Webmaster.

1. Supervise the webmaster, consulting with him/her about the content, presentation, and maintenance of the Yearly Meeting website.

2. Supervise the Bulletin editor, consulting with him/her about the publication and distribution of the LEYM Bulletin.
3. Supervise the work of the database manager.
4. Select each year, from within or beyond the committee, an Annual Records editor, and supervise that editor, consulting with him/her about the publication and distribution of the Annual Records.
5. Help provide materials for the Annual Records, especially summaries of the plenary address and the workshops presented at Annual Meeting.
6. Name, when needed, from within or beyond the committee, an LEYM Directory editor, and supervise that editor, consulting with him/her and the database manager about the publication and distribution of an updated LEYM Directory.
7. Oversee the publication and distribution of any other print publications of the Yearly Meeting.
8. Submit LEYM records to the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College. Items to be submitted include the Annual Records, LEYM Bulletins, and other print publications of the Yearly Meeting.

Tasks done by various members of the committee include proofreading the Bulletin and the Annual Records, and attending and writing up a summary of one of the workshops and/or the plenary at Annual Sessions, which are printed in the Annual Records. As needed, a member of the committee takes on compiling the Annual Records. This committee does not require much work outside of Rep. Mtg. and Annual Sessions except for those who prepare the Bulletin three times a year and put together the Annual Records.

Meets: during committee times at Representative and YM sessions. Communication also occurs via e-mail during the year.


The Youth & Children Committee nurtures children and teens at Annual Meeting as well as at a fall retreat.

Clerk, Assistant Clerk, Leader & Assistant Leader for each of the following groups:
Pre-school, Early elementary (grades 1-3), Upper elementary (4-6), Middle school (7-8), High school (9-12). Each to serve 2 years.
Also Fall Retreat Clerk & Assistant Clerk. Each to serve 2 years.

1. Develop and carry out program for groups (childcare providers may be hired in consultation with the treasurer).
2. Organize the LEYM Youth and Children Fall Retreat.

Meets: before rise of YM to assess this year and to plan for the next.

Updated September 5, 2016

Resources for Earthcare

18 May 2011

The materials on this page are provided by LEYM’s Earthcare Committee.

July 2019.  This update  was provided in preparation for the 2019 annual sessions and Lake Erie Yearly Meeting’s action on climate change.  At the April 2019 Representatives’ Meeting held at Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, the yearly meeting discerned taking action about the climate crisis. That is why vegetarian meal service was the default for the 2019 sessions. The full minute was to be finalized by the Executive Committee.  In brief, the action’s aim was:

“this year to commit as much as possible to a vegetarian food service as a response to the dire circumstances of our planet.”

In preparing LEYM’s action, Monthly Meetings were invited to “host” topics about climate crisis. Topics explore environmental cycles alongside human impact — from harmful to helpful. Select topics were readied for small displays for viewing during meals.

At sessions, Friends are encouraged to respond to displays among table-mates and also to rotate tables across mealtimes for a “tour” of topics. This process is hoped to deepen Friends’ exploration too of LEYM’s recent annual query about Earthcare.

Toward readying ourselves for 2019’s default vegetarian meal service, Earthcare committee member Ken Lawrence shared a reflection for us. We hope as many Friends as possible will take time to sit with Ken’s reflection, inclusive all choices that have been made individually about meal service.

From this reflection, “Reducing meat consumption to reduce contribution to the Climate Crisis”, several resources are offered for further reading:

The LEYM Earthcare Committee encourages constituent monthly meetings and members, committees, and staff to actions based on awareness that current rapid destruction of our planet and its fragile ecosystems is diametrically opposed to Quaker beliefs and values, and that the Religious Society of Friends must take an active stand against these trends and practices, inseparable from our other activities.

“The produce of the earth is a gift from our gracious creator to the inhabitants, and to impoverish the earth now to support outward greatness appears to be an injury to the succeeding age.” — John Woolman, 1700s

A Shared Quaker Statement on Climate Change

At our yearly meeting sessions in 2016, LEYM minuted support of a shared statement on climate change supported by many Quaker organizations and yearly meetings around the world. You can read the text here.

Quaker Environmental Resources

Other Earthcare resources:

Can We Plan Ahead? Video discussing the reasons to plan for sustainability

Ubuntu Planet; creating a community of abundance

The Interfaith Power and Light movement is made up of many different faith communities and offers a range of resources and programs. There are chapters in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Earthcare actions by LEYM monthly meetings

Oberlin: In March of 2021 Oberlin Friends Meeting released a minute “We Seek An Earth Restored.” It is available here as a PDF, and presented below in full-text.

Oberlin Friends Meeting joins a broad spectrum of Quaker and other spiritual fellowships in affirming the ecological integrity and sacredness of the Earth and all of Creation.  We testify that its bounty should be equitably shared by all humans in this and succeeding generations.

We accept the judgment and urgency expressed by nearly all climate scientists that our individual and collective life styles, our economies, and our public policies threaten our health and our well-being, even the very existence of life on Earth.

We recognize that Black, indigenous, people of color, and low-income people are most impacted by planet destruction and climate change and that the links between racial and environmental injustice must be addressed.

Reversing the threats from “Climate Change” or “Global Warming” calls for dramatic changes in our personal and collective behavior and policies. This will involve:

    • Changing community and societal economic and social rules and practices to ensure that every person’s and family’s basic needs are met.
    • Assuring that the burden of environmental destruction and damage does not fall upon the poorest and must vulnerable.
    • Examining and simplifying our life styles as individuals and as a society, particularly as they draw on scarce resources.
    • Reducing energy use, particularly from fossil fuels.

 Restoring the Earth will require the active cooperation among all people, communities, and nations, with the greatest contribution from those groups that have both accumulated the greatest resources and contributed the most to our present crisis.

We pledge our support for such leadership, even as we continually examine our own lives for ways we can live in harmony with the earth.

David Snyder, Presiding Clerk
David Finke, Clerk of Peace Building and Justice Committee

Adopted by Oberlin Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends     March 20, 2021

Broadmead: Our Earthcare Interest Group meets on a periodic basis to discuss concerns and interests of our members. Since we don’t have a meeting house, we don’t have building issues to address. When possible, most of us carpool to meeting activities when they are held out of town. We try to minimize use of disposables at our potlucks.

Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor Meeting is actively considering the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. We also have a Carbon Footprint Group of members who work together to reduce our individual carbon consumption, and a Voluntary Carbon Tax. The Earthcare Committee distributed the voluntary tax contribution fund for 2019 to three organizations: Michigan Interfaith Power and Light (MIPL), Mayan Power and Light, and the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT). All of these three emphasize support for racially and economically disadvantaged communities.
For political action, we center our efforts through managing Michigan Quakers for Environmental Action (MQEA), which this year focuses on lobbying in support of bills on clean energy and clean water in the Michigan legislature.
The committee places major emphasis on issues of environmental and climate injustice. Our page on the AAFM website includes a set of readings and film resources, as well as links to climate action organizations, including those that are led by young people. The list emphasizes the spiritual foundations of Quaker environmental action. See our Resources on Earthcare and Environment.

North Columbus Monthly Meeting (NCMM): Our Peace and Social Action Committee meets monthly as is shown on our Columbus Meetup site (Peace & Social Action: NCMM). One current project is work on a proposed video called, “Planning Worlds Without War.” This explores Western inability to population plan consistent with earth care and peace care. It does so while addressing powerful questions raised by Eli Weisel and Oprah about genocide in their Youtube on Auschwitz. Some of us ponder whether earth care is possible as long as “population” remains a “flat earth” taboo?

Bioregional Awareness Booklet

Getting Started! Growing Our Sense of Spirit Home the Bioregional Way is a 29-page booklet prepared by the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting Earthcare Committee for attendees of Lake Erie Yearly Meeting in June, 2008. All are encouraged to read and be inspired by this friendly introduction to our local environment.

Download the booklet here (3.9 MB pdf)

Contacting Government Representatives

Friends are encouraged to contact your government representatives with your concerns about environmental issues.

  • To find your US senators and representatives click here.
  • To find your state legislators in Ohio click here.
  • To find your Michigan state representative click here.
  • To find your Michigan state senator click here.
  • To find your state legislators in Pennsylvania click here.

Arrangements & Site

18 May 2011

Clerk

Jon Sommer
Email sommerjs at bluffton.edu
419 358-0950

LEYM Bookstore
Valerie Groszmann
Email valerie.groszmann at gmail.com

 

Resources for Outreach

18 May 2011

The materials on this page are provided by LEYM’s Advancement & Outreach Committee

What do Quakers Say

Ready to Print Business Cards: What Do Quakers Say? You can print meeting information on the back. Never out of date.

Website of Quaker Communications & Outreach (lots of great ideas here, but less updates since 2020) – Quakeroutreach.com

Materials from New England Yearly Meeting – Good ideas and materials here: Quaker Outreach

Materials from Friends General Conference

Outreach web page
Newcomers Cards: a series of free cards available for print by meetings. These simple cards are good, brief introductions suitable to hand out to newcomers. They can also be purchased from the FGC Bookstore. Topics include: You are Welcome Here, Quaker Worship, What Do Quakers Believe, Quakers and Prayer, How Quaker Meetings Work, and Quaker Testimonies.
Grow Our Meetings toolkit: Inreach, Outreach, and Integrating Newcomers. Guidance and tools for Friends who want to deepen their own spiritual life, welcome new life into their meetings, consider what it’s like to be new in a meeting, and do outreach.
Build It: A Toolkit for Nurturing Intergenerational Spiritual Community: The Youth Ministries Program of FGC collects here their best practices for nurturing intergenerational spiritual community. The toolkit includes resources, activities, games, advice, and the skit, “A Short History of Quakerism in 10 Easy Points.” Both practical and fun, it is useful for nurturing spiritual community among all ages.

Understanding Quaker Practice

(from “Info” section of website)

Brief on Quaker Worship (PDF)
Brief on How Quakers Conduct Business (PDF)
Brief on Quaker Beliefs in Action (PDF)

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