Presiding Clerk’s Report for Arrangements Committee

January 12-13, 2017 at Boulder Meeting

1.  First, I want to thank Boulder Meeting for hosting us in their lovely and gracious space. The work to arrange for our well-being is deeply appreciated.

2.  I want to thank Pelican Lee for bringing together our business this weekend and for clerking Arrangements Committee for the past three years. This Arrangements Committee meeting is the last one under her watch and our relations with Ghost Ranch have improved, our way of working is getting smoother, and she got to put into place many of the structural changes envisioned by her long-time partner, Rebecca Henderson. Thank you, thank you, Pelican.

3.  I am excited for you to hear what the Program Working Group has in mind. It is a particular pleasure for me that Eileen Flanagan will be our keynote. I have admired her faith, practice, and writing for a number of years. And, well, we share an “Irish” sense of humor.

4.  On the more mundane and businessy side of things, I can report that we have made great progress in assuring the safety of our youth by having background checks in place for the leaders of each age group, a Youth Safety Policy, and insurance for our gathering.

5.  We have made progress on incorporating IMYM as a non-profit corporation in the State of Colorado. Not all the work is finished, but I can assure you that many people have worked to pursue incorporation as a minute from the annual gathering requested. With incorporation, we will provide a layer of protection for members’ assets and more easily be able to enter into contracts for services, such as getting background checks. Next month, Representatives Committee will consider the work thus far.

6.  Our 2018 Annual Gathering will have a new way of being funded: Pay as Led. Friends will no longer have to ask anyone for financial support to attend the yearly gathering. We hope this will increase participation in the annual gathering, for fellowship and for the business of the Yearly Meeting. Friends will be provided with plenty of information about actual costs and how this new plan will work, and the registration materials will look a bit different. After much seasoning and discerning, we are stepping into a new financial world with faith and enthusiasm.

7.  This year, we have our first emailing list of members and attenders of the entire yearly meeting. This means that the clerk can share information with many more people and, with luck, engage more Friends in the Yearly Meeting. I want to thank Ed Kearns for accomplishing the feat of creating our first directory from which I have extracted email addresses. I have removed people who do not wish to receive emails, and I am working with the webclerk to add a way for people to sign up for newsletters, if they wish.

8.  Speaking of the webclerks, I celebrate our new website. The transition from the former site to our 21st century site is ongoing. Our new site is much more flexible and can be harnessed for many more purposes. The page Pelican set up for this meeting is an example of what can be accomplished. Soon, all of the IMYM archives will be accessible. As you run into questions or have suggestions for materials you wish to have posted, don’t hesitate to contact the webclerks. Their contact information is at IMYM.org.

9.  As always, I welcome conversation with you about the yearly meeting. Probably the easiest way to reach me is through the presiding clerk’s permanent email: .

Yours in peace and light,

Molly Wingate

IMYM, Presiding Clerk