NORTHERN YEARLY MEETING
RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
APPROVED MAY, 2006

“Recognizing the joy and celebration experienced each time we gather together for fellowship and as a worshiping community, individual Friends and Friends within several monthly meetings in the Wisconsin-Minnesota area announce the birth of a new entity within the Religious Society of Friends: NORTHERN YEARLY MEETING.

In drawing together, we subscribe to what earlier Friends wrote about the nature of a yearly meeting: it “shall be a free association of Monthly Meetings for mutual support and consultation and for furthering such concerns as its members have in common. Its relation to a Monthly Meeting is consultative and not authoritative.’ “

This is from the Minute establishing Northern Yearly Meeting, September 14, 1975, Frontenac, Minnesota.

“When ye are met in the Light…hearken to it, that ye may feel the Power of God in every one of you…” George Fox, Epistle 130,1656

“Yearly Meeting is a place in the rocks where the Spirit bursts forth…and we can come and drink of it.” Rosalie Wahl Oct. 4, 2002

Northern Yearly Meeting meets in an annual session to worship in the manner of Friends, to practice corporate discernment under the guidance of the Spirit as we conduct our business, to celebrate and to share our lives and work as a community of Friends. Through Meetings for Worship for Business we aspire to model Friendly decision making, seeking clarity, unity, and obedience to the One who guides us. We share news of and participate in the lives of Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups, and our regional and national Quaker organizations. We learn the many ways in which our brothers and sisters in the Society of Friends give life to their faith, and we rededicate ourselves to the task of giving legs to our own faith and making it walk upon the earth. We celebrate our time together with song, enjoyment of nature, play, and by breaking bread together. We share our spiritual journeys and Friendly concerns with worship sharing, workshops, interest groups, and plenary sessions.

We live in community for a few days with children and adults of all ages. We struggle together with difficult and sometimes painful issues. We sometimes disagree but often see the Spirit at work as we unite in a sense of the meeting over those disagreements. We sense the dedication and hard work of many people to live our Quaker testimonies, to make the Yearly Meeting run, and to care for our children and youth. At times we truly feel the Power of God at work and the Spirit bursting forth. Those are precious and inspiring moments. We seek to find a balance between the varied manifestations of our faith and the numerous creative activities to which they give rise, and at the same time maintain simplicity in our schedule. We come away with our faith challenged, deepened, inspired, and renewed.

Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) is now made up of Monthly Meetings, Preparative Meetings, and Worship Groups, mainly from Wisconsin and Minnesota, with some from North and South Dakota, upper Michigan, and Iowa.

Within Northern Yearly Meeting, the Monthly Meeting is the fundamental unit of the religious Society of Friends. These meetings carry the primary responsibility of membership, oversight of marriages, and sustaining the ongoing life of the worship community. NYM also includes many small groups of Friends who gather as Worship Groups. They may seek affiliation with a larger meeting to support and assist them. A Worship group may become a Preparative Meeting when appropriate under the care of a Monthly Meeting. There are also a number of isolated Friends in our region who worship with us at Yearly Meeting. NYM also includes a variety of regional gatherings outside of Yearly Meeting for worship and fellowship.

The Executive Committee of NYM is made up of officers, committee clerks or conveners, and representatives from each Monthly Meeting, Preparative Meeting, and Worship Group in NYM. The Executive Committee meets once in the fall and once in the spring. These sessions are mainly to conduct business but also have some of the elements found in the Yearly Meeting session. All interested Friends are invited.

Friends are encouraged to attend the activities of the Yearly Meeting and become active in the work of the Yearly Meeting.

Northern Yearly Meeting has previously, approved the following statement on New Gatherings of Friends.

New Gatherings of Friends in Northern Yearly Meeting

We are concerned that all who are moved to worship after the manner of Friends may be able to do so. In areas where no Friends meetings exist, we encourage individual Friends and those drawn to Friends’ ways to meet together and seek Divine guidance.

An established Meeting may find that it has grown so large or that some of its members live at such a distance from the meeting place that it becomes desirable to form a Meeting in a new place. Such a gathering may start as a Worship Group or Preparative Meeting.

Worship Groups

A worship group is a gathering of persons which meets regularly for worship after the manner of Friends and desires to be identified with the principles and practices of the Religious Society of Friends. Such a group may originate independently or be formed by a Monthly Meeting for the convenience of its members living in a certain area. A Worship Group usually names one person to serve as a convener and correspondent of the group. Such a group may wish to relate itself to an established Monthly Meeting and come under its regular counsel and care. Worship Groups do not receive members, hold weddings, or otherwise act formally as an established Monthly Meeting. Such actions are done through a Monthly Meeting, to which appropriate application may be made. If a Worship Group feels that it is ready to organize and conduct its own business in the manner of an established meeting, it may consider becoming a Preparative Meeting under the care of a Monthly Meeting, or it may feel ready to apply for Monthly Meeting status in Northern Yearly Meeting without first becoming a Preparative Meeting. Great care and deliberation at this time may prevent complications later.

Preparative Meetings

A preparative meeting is a meeting for worship and business which is under the care of and reports regularly to a Monthly Meeting and that ordinarily looks forward to becoming a Monthly Meeting. It has officers and committees as needed, after the manner of a Monthly Meeting, and should hold a business meeting once a month. It should have the continuing care and counsel of a committee of oversight selected by the sponsoring Monthly Meeting. A Preparative Meeting does not receive members, hold weddings, or otherwise act formally as an established Meeting; such actions, if desired by a Preparative Meeting, are brought to and carried out through an appropriate Monthly Meeting. Memberships in a Preparative Meeting are held by the Monthly Meeting to which it is related.

New Monthly Meetings

When a Worship Group or a Preparative Meeting feels it is ready to become a Monthly Meeting, application shall be made to the Yearly Meeting or one of the Monthly Meetings, requesting aid in the process. If it seems right and timely for this organization to take place, the Yearly or Monthly Meeting shall appoint a Clearness Committee to meet with the applicant meeting. If application is made to the Yearly Meeting, the clerk(s) of NYM in consultation with the clerk(s) of Advancement and Outreach Committee, and the applicant Meeting, shall appoint the Clearness Committee. There shall be from five to eight members. The Clearness Committee should continue oversight of the new Meeting for one year following its recognition. (A Monthly Meeting may form a Clearness Committee according to its good order. It is urged to observe the following process as well as the Yearly Meeting committee.)

Application Process

The functions of the NYM Clearness Committee are to meet with the applicant Meeting at its location to assess its readiness, answer such questions as its members have, provide support and counsel as needed, and make a recommendation at the following Yearly Meeting session. The following points are suggested for consideration:

Application: The meeting should submit in writing to the NYM clerk(s) a statement telling why it wishes to become a Monthly Meeting and why it feels it may be ready for this step. In preparing this statement the applicant meeting should consider the following questions:

History and Experience: How long has it been meeting? What geographical area does it serve? Where and when is its Meeting for Worship? What is the usual attendance? How many Friends, other attenders and children are there in the Meeting? Of those taking responsibility for the Meeting, how many appear well settled in the area? Is there vitality in the Meeting for Worship? What are the Meeting’s social concerns? How are the needs of various populations within the Meeting met?

Evidence of good order: Is the Meeting acquainted with Friends’ principles and practices? Has the Meeting studied various books of Faith and Practice? What officers does it have? Are the functions of the clerk and officers understood? What committees does it have? Are financial matters being handled in an orderly manner? Are plans being made for minuted record keeping of memberships, births, deaths, and marriages?

Obligations to the Yearly Meeting: The Clearness Committee shall discuss with the applicant meeting the obligations of membership in Northern Yearly Meeting. These include serving on committees and contributing financially.

Upon recommendation to and approval of the application by Northern Yearly Meeting the new Meeting is recognized as an independent Monthly Meeting and a member of Northern Yearly Meeting. Then a specific time and place shall be set for the organization of the new Monthly Meeting. Members of the Clearness Committee are encouraged to be present and offer counsel if needed. The new Monthly Meeting shall develop a process for determining membership of those who have been participating and provide a list of members and attenders to the clerk(s) of the Yearly Meeting.

Affiliation Process for Other Friends Meetings

Other Friends Worship Groups or established Monthly Meetings wishing to form ties with Northern Yearly Meeting may do so by submitting a letter of application. The clerks of NYM in consultation with the clerk(s) of the Advancement and Outreach Committee and the applicant Meeting shall appoint a Clearness Committee. The functions of the Clearness Committee shall be to meet with the applicant group at its own location, discuss the meaning and responsibilities of membership in the Yearly Meeting, answer questions and provide support and counsel as needed. A recommendation shall be presented at the following session of the yearly meeting. Upon positive action, the group will become a member of Northern Yearly Meeting.

Friends groups and isolated Friends are welcome to participate in the various functions of Northern Yearly Meeting regardless of formal affiliation.

This is the end of the statement on New Gatherings of Friends already approved. [Note: The original statement, adapted from the Discipline of Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends(Conservtive), 1974 was approved on the 10th of Fifth Month, 1981, amended at Northern Yearly Meeting, Chetek, WI, on the 4th of Ninth Month, 1998, and further amended at a meeting of the Executive Committee of Northern Yearly Meeting at Menomonie, WI, on the 16-17th of Eleventh Month, 1996.]

Northern Yearly Meeting Finances: Friends do not take collections or ask for money during Meeting for Worship but we do feel a grave sense of responsibility for our use of money. This is often reflected in our business deliberations. Each Monthly Meeting, Preparative Meeting, and Worship Group is encouraged to contribute to support the work of the Yearly Meeting. Usually the Yearly Meeting suggests a dollar amount the constituent meetings are asked to give for each regular member and attender. Individuals are also encouraged to contribute separately as led. At the Yearly Meeting annual session and at other times we may be asked to contribute to special causes or Friends organizations. The Yearly Meeting Session has a budget of its own separate from the Yearly Meeting budget.

Officers and Committees

Northern Yearly Meeting has officers and committees that carry out the work of the Yearly Meeting. We depend on the generosity and leadings of volunteers to fill these positions. The Nominating Committee has a detailed job description for each position which includes gifts or qualifications of individuals filling the position along with responsibilities and activities. Since both the officers, committees, and representatives to Friends organizations as well as the job descriptions are changing and dynamic we will not list them. Anyone on the Nominating Committee can provide this information.