Coordinating Committee

COMMITTEE: COORDINATING COMMITTEE

Approved at Annual Session, July 19, 2008, Revised October 2008

Job description re-approved: NPYM Steering Committee, January 2009

The Coordinating Committee (CC) is composed of:

• One member from each monthly meeting

• One member from each Preparative Meeting (if the PM wishes and after consultation with their overseeing Monthly Meeting and the CC Clerk)

• One member from Jr. Friends and Young Friends (if the group wishes, after consultation with the CC Clerk)

• One member from each standing committee

• CC Clerk

• CC Recording clerk

• CC Associate Clerk

• NPYM Presiding Clerk

• NPYM Treasurer

As of January 26, 2008, we have 20 Monthly Meetings and 2 Preparative Meetings. There are 10 standing committees: Annual Session Planning, Discipline (Faith and Practice); Finance and Legal; InformationTechnology; Ministry and Oversight; Nominating; Outreach and Visitation; Peace and Social Concerns; Site; Youth. Therefore, the Coordinating Committee would consist of 35 - 39 people.

CHARGE: The Coordinating Committee supports and enriches the life of NPYM. It is the venue where Standing Committees and Monthly Meetings share about their work and inspiration. The committee identifies and links converging and emerging issues, and offers support to groups within NPYM. In addition, the committee provides support and oversight to NPYM Standing Committees. CC meetings are meetings for worship with a concern for business, and members participate in discernment and decision-making according to the good order of Friends, under the leading of the Spirit.All members of CC bring their experience from their committees andMonthly Meetings as they share together in the work on behalf of NPYM.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Identify issues in the yearly meeting, paying particular attention to emerging and converging concerns. Refer issues and concerns to appropriate standing committees and/or to Meetings and Worship Groups and/or Annual Session after appropriate seasoning.

(Emerging issues are ones that may arise from a Monthly Meeting, Preparative Meeting, Worship Group, Isolated Friend, Quarterly Meeting, Annual Session or Standing Committee. Converging issues are ones that are being dealt with by more than one committee, Meeting, etc., particularly when Friends do not know that others are working on this and that there might be valuable connections.)

2. Facilitate networking and communication among Standing Committees, among Meetings and Worship Groups and between all groups.

3. Ensure ongoing contact with Isolated Friends and Worship Groups not under the care of a Meeting, recognizing that the Outreach and Visitation Committee will do much of this work.

4. Nurture standing committees and hold them accountable to their charges.

5. Ensure that newly identified tasks are assigned appropriately and equitably.

6. Report to annual session.

7. Support the presiding clerk in making sure that matters for annual session consideration have been seasoned.

8. Encourage, facilitate, and help publicize YM-wide activities.

9. Oversee relationships with the wider family of Friends. This includes:

a) receive reports from our representatives to Quaker Organizations annually:

b) set up ad hoc committees on affiliations as needed using the policy approved by Steering committee in July 2008.

10. Appoint Pre-Nominating Committee at spring CC meeting.

11. Approve nominations of NPYM officers and committee members as necessary between Annual Sessions.

12. Approve expenditures from within the framework of the budget.

13. Ask committees and officers to review their job descriptions and report back to CC. If changes are suggested, CC shall decide who will approve the job description, or, refer it to annual session for approval, if it involves major changes. All descriptions shall be reviewed on a 3-year cycle.

14. Handle other decisions that do not involve changes to policy that are necessary to carry out the work of the yearly meeting and that do not require full NPYM attention at Annual Session. The first job will be to determine if the decision should be referred elsewhere. Discernment will be necessary to identify which decisions can be handled at Coordinating Committee and which rightly belong at AS, in a Standing Committee, Monthly or Quarterly Meeting.

15. Ensure evaluation of NPYM structure.

16. Ask standing committees, including CC, to regularly self-evaluate, and follow up on any issues identified.

CC WORKS PRIMARILY WITH: Meetings and worship groups and NPYM Standing Committees. May also work closely with Quarterly Meeting, NPYM ad hoc committees, Junior Friends, Young Friends, worship groups not under the care of a meeting, isolated Friends.

MEMBERS: All members of the CC should be members of the Religious Society of Friends or long time attenders, well grounded in Quaker practice and experienced in Quaker discernment and decision-making.

If a member cannot attend a meeting of CC, s/he should send regrets to the CC Clerk and discuss whether someone else should come in their place.

A member may wear two hats at CC, e.g. as an NPYM officer and as a member appointed by his or her Monthly Meeting. A person considering this should use a careful discernment process to determine whether s/he can fulfill both roles effectively, not only in CC meetings but also in relation to being the communication link between CC and either a Standing Committee or Monthly Meeting.

CC IS APPOINTED BY:

MM appointed – Each MM in NPYM names one member of the Coordinating Committee

Preparative Meeting appointed: PMs may name one member, after consultation with their overseeing Monthly Meeting and the CC Clerk.

Standing Committee appointed – Standing Committee Clerks are on Coordinating committee by default; if a clerk wishes to have another committee member serve in his or her place on CC, s/he should consult with his or her committee to select a CC member.

NPYM appointed: CC Clerk, CC Recording clerk, CC Associate Clerk, NPYM Presiding Clerk (The NPYM Officers), Treasurer

Junior Friends appointed: by Junior Friends in consultation with CC Clerk.

Young Adult Friends appointed by Young Adult Friends in consultation with CC Clerk.

CC MEMBERS APPOINTED WHEN:

Monthly Meeting appointed members: when the Monthly Meeting wants, but member does not start his/her term until October 1.

Preparative Meeting appointed members: when the Preparative Meeting wants, but member does not start his/her term until October 1.

Jr. Friends and Young Adult Friends members: when the group wants, but member does not start his/her term until October 1.

STANDING COMMITTEE: clerks are appointed at NPYM Annual Session. They are on Coordinating committee by default; if they wish to have another member serve on CC in their place (for a one year term) they should consult with their committee to select a CC member prior to October 1, which is when the term starts.

NPYM Officers and committees: NPYM Annual Session

TERMS BEGIN: October 1 (All terms begin at the same time, regardless of when a member is appointed. For example, if Meeting x appoints their new person June 1, that person would not start on CC until October. That person would serve until September 30 of the year in which her/his term ended, even thought their replacement had been approved in June.)

TERM LENGTHS:

Monthly and Preparative Meeting appointed members: 2 years, with a recommendation for no more than 2 consecutive terms (4 years total)

Jr. and Young Friends appointed for one year.

Standing Committee appointed members: 1 year, reappointment possible while on the committee.

NPYM OFFICERS: for duration of term of office

MEETINGS OF CC: The committee will meet once in the fall and once in the spring and at least once at Annual Session. Meetings other than the one(s) at Annual Session will take place in either Portland or Seattle. Recommendation is that when CC meets between AS the meetings be multi day. This allows for more time for business. More importantly this allows for networking and community building, and worship both within the CC and with Friends in the area.

CC REPORTS TO: NPYM at annual session.

MM, PM, Jr. and Young Friends Appointed Members: communicate between CC and their community. Monthly Meetings also report to all groups under their care.

Standing Committee Appointed Members: communicate between CC and the standing committee

EXPENSES:

Reimbursement is provided for office expenses. Travel expense is reimbursed according to the NPYM travel reimbursement policy. Submit expenses to the NPYM Treasurer in a timely fashion.

Nominated By:

Nominating Committee

Committee Type:

Standing