MINUTES OF CANADIAN YEARLY MEETING OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS Seventh Day afternoon Saturday, August 15, 1998 1. Opening Worship: We opened with a period of worship. During worship the Clerk read from the writings of George Fox and from Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address, 1994. 2. Witness to the Grace of God in the lives of Friends who died in the last year: The names of the following Friends were read: Robert Byrd, Victoria Monthly Meeting R. Murray Cunningham, Halifax Monthly Meeting Stanley Gardiner, Toronto Monthly Meeting Ben Gough-Azmier, Victoria Monthly Meeting Gloria Grasmuck, Ottawa Monthly Meeting Rachel Haight, Ottawa Monthly Meeting Harry Low, Toronto Monthly Meeting Mary MacDonald, New Brunswick Monthly Meeting J.J. Mangalam, Halifax Monthly Meeting Philip Leonard Martin, Ottawa Monthly Meeting Douglas Matheson, Vancouver Monthly Meeting George Pellett, Simcoe-Muskoka Monthly Meeting Nancy Pocock, Toronto Monthly Meeting Barbara Roberts, Edmonton Monthly Meeting Bernice Sadler, Toronto Monthly Meeting Reg Smith, Toronto Monthly Meeting Marguerite Wells, Argenta Monthly Meeting Robert Willis, Victoria Monthly Meeting Jack Wilson, Toronto Monthly Meeting 3. Welcome to children new to the Yearly Meeting: We welcome with joy the following children born or adopted in the last year: Aidan Conor Harkness, son to Colin Harkness (Ottawa Monthly Meeting) and Christie LeBlanc. Amelia Katherine Poland, daughter of Ellie Perkins and Jess Poland (Toronto Monthly Meeting). Harris Williamson, son of Daisy and Jason Williamson (Calgary Monthly Meeting). Laura Naomi, daughter to Nancy Mucklow (Thousand Islands Monthly Meeting) and Shane Dunn. Patrick, son of Charlotte Beer (Thousand Islands Monthly Meeting) and Richard Belshaw. Zenon, son to Lidia Pankiw and Morgan Jones-Phillips (Toronto Monthly Meeting). 4. Opening Minute: Gale Wills read the opening minute: We are gathered at King’s-Edgehill School in Windsor, Nova Scotia, for the 165th Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in Canada, our 43rd as a united Yearly Meeting. We meet together in worship knowing that God’s guidance is present within and among us. We ask for the openness to hear our Guide through our own inner promptings, through each other’s words and through our love and respect for each other. George Fox’s advice is as important today as in 1658: “Keep your meetings in the power of God... And when Friends have finished their business, sit down and wait a while quietly and wait upon the Lord to feel him. And go not beyond the Power, but keep in the Power by which God almighty may be felt among you... For the power of the Lord will work through all, if... you follow it.” (Britain Yearly Meeting Quaker Faith and Practice, 3.30). 5. Welcome to all present: Members and attenders of Canadian Yearly Meeting were asked to stand as the names of their Monthly Meetings were read. We will welcome Visitors from other Meetings and groups on Monday. Some present now will not be at that session and are welcomed now. We welcome the Leaveners, the Quaker Youth Theatre from Britain Yearly Meeting: Charlee Bewsher, Gavin Clarke, Kate Coole, Klayre Hearne, Tina Helfrich and Andy Wilkins. We welcome Vanessa Julye from Friends World Committee for Consultation. We welcome Liz Kamphausen from Pendle Hill. 6. Clerks: At this Yearly Meeting Gale Wills will serve as Clerk and John Calder as Associate Clerk. Helen Thomas and Jo Vellacott are Recording Clerks. 7. Naming Committee: Dana Mullen reported that Sylvia Mangalam has been appointed to the Naming Committee by Representative Meeting. We approve the addition of Carol Dixon to the Naming Committee. 8. Arrangements for the week: Programme and site arrangements: Gianne Broughton spoke to these. Quaker study sessions will immediately precede Meeting for Worship for Business. Worship Fellowship and Worship Study will follow Business Meeting. There will be a daily newsletter. Children’s programme: Paige Kennedy introduced the age-group leaders: Anne-Marie Zilliacus and Jane Orion Smith Teens Signy Fridriksson 12-14 Marilyn Church 9-11 Ellen Helmuth 5-8 Meg and Jill Payne Infant Care Group The theme is Racial Diversity and we will have the benefit of the participation of the Leaveners. Ministry and Counsel: Sara avMaat spoke of the role of Ministry and Counsel at this Yearly Meeting. Ministry and Counsel will appoint Listeners and the names will be posted. Sara drew attention to the following: On Sunday from 9-10:30 a.m. there will be a training session for Listeners (not exclusively those serving at these CYM sessions) facilitated by Jon Karsemeyer and Rose Marie Cipryk. Also on Sunday a Memorial Meeting for those Friends who have died in the last year will be held from 2:30 - 4:00. The evening Meeting will be The Experience of the Spirit in My Life. On Thursday evening there will be a presentation by Robert Wright on the theme of Diversity. The Chapel is open for silent individual worship at most times. Daily from 1:15-1:45 p.m. there will be a Meeting for Worship for healing in the Chapel. Second Day morning Monday, August 17, 1998 9. We welcomed the following visitors: Jan Hoffman, our Sunderland P. Gardner lecturer Phyllis Hull, Friends General Conference Clarence Perisho, Iowa Yearly Meeting Deborah Fisch, Friends General Conference Curt Ankeny, Friends United Meeting, who brought special greetings from Johan Maurer Ruah Swennerfelt and Louis Cox, Friends Committee on Unity with Nature The Leaveners, the Quaker Youth Theatre Group from Britain: Charlee Bewsher, Kate Coole, Tina Helfrich, Gavin Clarke Klayre HearneAndy Wilkins Elizabeth Moger, New York Yearly Meeting Visitors are given the freedom of the meeting. 10. The delegates are named and welcomed: Argenta: Pauline Hughes Calgary: Heidi Dick, Nathan Dick Coldstream: Regrets Edmonton: Gordon Hirabayashi Halifax: Betty Peterson Hamilton: No delegates named Kitchener Area: Gianne Broughton Montreal: B. Maureen White New Brunswick: Michael Miller Ottawa: Edward Bell, Signy Fridriksson, Galen Fick Pelham Barbara Bucknall, Rose Marie Cipryk Prairie: Tom Findley, Jane Dimnik, Bill Curry Simcoe-Muskoka: Edward Abbott, Vivien Abbott, Dorothy Burwell Thousand Islands: Bert Horwood, Karne Kozolanka Toronto: Jane MacKay Wright, Helen Melbourne, Joan Benz, Kathleen Hertzberg, Anne Mitchell Vancouver: Alan Patola, Chris Hitchcock Vernon: No Delegates Named Victoria: Paul van Goozen, Jane Orion Smith Wolfville: Barbara Aikman, Marilyn Manzer Wooler: No Delegates Named Yarmouth: Jane Zavitz-Bond Yonge Street: Barbara Horvath, Marilyn Church We ask the Correspondence Committee to send our warm greetings and concern to Friends of Vernon Monthly Meeting where forest fires are threatening communities. 11. Regrets have been received from the following Friends: Ellen Pye, Vancouver Monthly Meeting; Donald and Barbara Laitin, Yonge Street Monthly Meeting; Isabel Showler, Toronto Monthly Meeting; Betty Polster, Victoria Monthly Meeting; Frank Miles, Argenta Monthly Meeting; Nola Landucci, Victoria Monthly Meeting; Arnold Ranneris, Victoria Monthly Meeting; Tony and Fran McQuail, Kitchener Area Monthly Meeting; Muriel Summers, Thousand Islands Monthly Meeting; Fred and Ursula Franklin, Toronto Monthly Meeting; and Gini Smith, Yonge Street Monthly Meeting. A letter of greetings and blessings was received from Donald and Barbara Laitin and was read. A letter from the World Office of Friends World Committee for Consultation was also read. David Penaloona, Headmaster of King’s-Edgehill School welcomed us to the campus, and told us something of the school’s history and present activities. 12. Naming Committee: Carol Dixon reported from the Naming Committee: Agenda Committee: Jon Karsemeyer, Tom Findley Clerk’s Assistants: Michael Miller, Marilyn Manzer Correspondence Committee:Edith Miller, Joan Benz, Paul van Goozen, Henny Nixon, Alan Patola Doorkeepers: John Dixon, Tom Findley, Daphne Harker, Betty Anne Hurst, Gordon McClure, Jane MacKay Wright Epistle Committee: Rose Marie Cipryk, Steve Fick, Vivien Zelazny, Bert Horwood Gleanings Committee: Maida Follini, Chris Nancarrow, Louis Cox, Elizabeth Moger Meeting Room Preparation: Logan Kennedy, Laurel Gugler, Gordon Hirabayashi, Carl Stieren, Clarence Perisho, Bill and Elizabeth Curry, Anne Mitchell. Minute Review Committee: Heidi Dick, Chris Hitchcock, Elaine Bishop Periodical Reporters: Pauline Hughes, Alan Patola, Ed Bell We approve these names. Ministry and Counsel has appointed the following as Listeners: Jon Karsemeyer, Anne Thomas, Rose Marie Cipryk, Rose Mae Harkness, Peter Harkness, Jane Dimnik and Chris Hitchcock. 13. CFSC: Carol Dixon, Clerk of Canadian Friends Service Committee, spoke about the Quaker International Affairs Seminar to be held October 22-24, 1998, in Ottawa, co-sponsored by Canadian Friends Service Committee and Ottawa Monthly Meeting. The seminar will bring Friends working in international offices and centres together with Canadian Friends with a special interest in this area. The purpose is to explore the possibility of establishing a Quaker presence in Ottawa with a concern to bring the influence of Friends’ testimonies to bear on international issues, as way opens. Friends welcomed the initiative and spoke of some of the ways in which service might develop. 14. Representative Meeting: Dana Mullen, Clerk of Representative Meeting, reported. Our attention was drawn to a typographical error. The first sentences of 97-11-05, [b] Minute 49: Future holding of Yearly Meeting should read as follows: “On Friday evening