How May I Serve?

Yellow Springs Monthly Meeting is an unprogrammed Friends Meeting that does not have hired clergy. We conduct all business and concerns of the Meeting through our committees and a monthly Meeting for Worship for Business. 

The Meeting regularly assigns a Nominating Committee whose task is to look over the jobs and committees that do our work. This committee confers with other committee clerks about their needs and hopes for the coming year. Then members of the Nominating Committee try to call or reach each member and regular attender to check in on their experience of the Meeting at this time, and ask if they are led to join one of the committees. Terms of service usually begin July 1, but this year we will approve appointments at the September Meeting for Worship for Business.

Committees serve the Monthly Meeting by carrying out delegated tasks and also do the necessary background work to prepare for important decisions at the Monthly Meeting for Worship for Business. They identify issues, gather information and make seasoned recommendations for a decision by the Meeting. (Faith and Practice -- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting)

Clerk (Member) The Clerk takes on the mantle of being both a servant and a leader for a time. The Clerk maintains the spiritual unity of the Meeting in these ways:

• First, the Clerk walks their own Quaker path with integrity

• Second, the Clerk holds shared responsibility for the overall health of the Meeting in partnership with committee clerks, especially Membership and Pastoral Care

• Third and most visibly, the Clerk is responsible for the Meeting for Worship for Business. This demands thoughtful preparation, setting the agenda and carrying it out in an efficient but unhurried manner, and listening intensely to discern the spirit of the Meeting around decisions. The Clerk may decide when to record a decision, or hold it over to another time.

• The Clerk also serves as a point of contact for visitors and outside organizations.

Assistant Clerk (Member)   The Assistant Clerk will:

• Support the Clerk as requested

• Conduct Meeting for Worship for Business if the Clerk is absent

• Carry out responsibilities as they arise

• Prepare to assume Clerking role in a near term

Treasurer (Member)  The Treasurer manages Meeting accounts, deposits checks, pays bills, keeps financial records, and communicates a regular Treasurer’s report to the monthly Meeting for Worship for Business. The Treasurer is a member of the Finance Committee. 

The following opportunities DO NOT require formal membership in Yellow Springs Monthly Meeting. 

Monthly Meeting Recording Clerk   The Recording Clerk records the minutes for our monthly Meeting for Worship for Business and provides copies to the Clerk and to the Communications Committee for the newsletter, and to others as needed. The Recording Clerk puts in writing the actions to be taken by the Meeting and the person(s) responsible. If asked to prepare a minute of substance, others present will settle into silence and supportive prayer. The draft then is read for approval and preserved for permanence.

Archives  The Archives Committee keeps a file of all Meeting for Worship for Business minutes, Quakershaker newsletters and other important documents. Much of the material is sent to the permanent Quaker Collection at Wilmington College. 

Care of the Meeting House   This committee oversees general maintenance including cleaning, building upkeep, lawn care, etc. They maintain communication with the college regarding scheduled maintenance. During this period of COVID-19 (2020) this committee provides guidelines for safety and sanitizing procedures. 

Communications Committee  The committee provides technical support for online meetings as needed. It produces and distributes the Meeting’s monthly newsletter in print and electronically, arrange any notices and advertisements in our local paper, maintains a Meeting directory and email list, and manages the Meeting Website and social media representation.

Finance Committee   Once a year, the Finance Committee collects budget requests from each committee and prepares an overall annual budget that is submitted for discussion in a Meeting for Worship for Business. Fund-raising reports and activities are also led by the committee. The treasurer is an ex-officio member of this committee. 

Hospitality Committee  The committee stocks the kitchen supplies, schedules volunteers, coordinates Quarterly Meeting hospitality when the Meeting is in YS; and organizes hospitality for other events such as retreats, weddings, and other special occasions. During COVID-19 the committee will ensure Meeting guidelines for safety are followed. 

Library Committee The Library Committee catalogs books and keeps the collection orderly. They purchase Pendle Hill pamphlets and other Quaker publications that would be of value to members.

Memorial Committee  The Memorial Committee provides information and assists with registration for simple burial; it arranges cremation and helps with memorial services. The Memorial Committee often attends to the body after death and typically takes on transporting the deceased to a morgue or funeral home. 

Membership and Pastoral Care Committee  This committee provides pastoral care and counseling, taking an interest in the physical and spiritual well-being of members. This includes:

• Receives letters of request for membership and transfer of members

• Offers Clearness Committees when requested by those facing spiritual or personal problems

• Provides paths for reconciliation of differences that arise among members

• Is able to refer individuals to professional help when the person’s needs exceed the abilities of the committee

• Provides for individuals in need of financial assistance when appropriate

• May visit the sick and extend assistance and sympathy in times of serious illness or bereavement

• Helps the Meeting rise above occasional inappropriate conduct and deals firmly with behavior disruptive of corporate worship

• Responds in good order to any requests to be married under the care of the Meeting

The Clerk is considered a member of this committee and meets with them when needed. The statistician, also a member, prepares an annual statistical report. This term is a three-year term with the option to serve a second three-year term

Ministry and Advancement Committee The M & A Committee oversees the spiritual life of the Meeting community:

• Gives appropriate attention to the quality of vocal ministry. Listeners and speakers may occasionally need guidance

• Sponsors special events, an annual retreat, workshops, and forums to encourage spiritual development in the Meeting

• Plans weekly adult education forums for the 10:00 a.m. hour

• Drafts an annual “State of the Meeting” report to be given at OVYM Annual Sessions

• Advances Friends’ principles in the wider community on the Meeting’s behalf

• Pays special attention to newcomers, making them feel welcome and answering any of their questions about Friends’ faith and practice

This committee is a three-year term with the option to serve a second three-year term.

Peace and Social Justice Committee   Meeting members often feel a responsibility to dress a variety of issues in their community, state, nation, or the world. Common ways of giving life to these leadings carried out by this committee may include:

• Planning and carrying out a service project as corporate activity of the entire Meeting

• Encouraging support to participate in the work for social change of larger Quaker groups or bodies like Friends Committee on National Legislation or Friends Earth Care

• Supporting members in a Social Justice Leading that not all share

• Organizing money or services to help free a member to pursue a concern as a “released Friend”

(Faith and Practice -- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting)

This term is a three-year term with the option to serve a second three-year term.

Religious Education Committee This is sometimes known as the First Day Committee and is responsible for all aspects of providing a first Day school program. This includes:

• Teaching and finding other teachers as needed

• Providing teaching materials

• Organizing childcare for infants and toddlers who may be present

• Scheduling and planning special events like the annual multi-generational talent show and children’s activities during the annual retreat

• Organizes teen discussion group when needed

Liaison/Representative Roles

Our Monthly Meeting maintains contact with our Yearly Meeting, Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting (OVYM), and our National Quaker organizations through these roles:

FCNL Contact

OVYM Executive Committee Representatives

OVYM Nominating Committee

"Friends agree that three year terms on Key committees with an option for a second three year terms is healthy and appropriate. Friends will then wait at least one year before starting a new term of service on the same committee."

"If the term of a clerk or a key committee member is to be extended, it will be done by the Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business."    This policy takes effect July 2016.