The administration of the Yearly Meeting is managed by the Yearly Meeting Clerk (clerk@ym.quakers.nz). The body of Yearly Meeting comprises all the members of the Society who meet annually to conduct business; its Monthly Meetings, which contribute to joint decision making throughout the year; and its committees who do the work of the Society.
The current Yearly Meeting Co-Clerks are Anne and Alistair Hall, contactable at the above email address.
Yearly Meetings in Session
Yearly Meeting in session is the formal business Meeting held each year at different venues around New Zealand. Friends from all over Aotearoa/New Zealand gather for several days to deal with business not covered during the year. An Epistle is written, summarising the feelings and accomplishments of the Yearly Meeting.
The business of Yearly Meeting is facilitated by the Yearly Meeting Clerk appointed to an unpaid three-year term by the Yearly Meeting. The Yearly Meeting Clerk manages the process of discernment and national decision-making both at the annual meeting and during the year.
During the year between the annual gatherings, business is conducted via the Yearly Meeting Clerk's Letter (Friends Access required) sent monthly, except for January, to every Monthly Meeting. Matters for decision, consideration, action and information are covered in the letter and each Monthly Meeting responds. If there is common agreement, a Yearly Meeting minute is recorded. If agreement is not reached, the different views may be circulated in the next Yearly Meeting Clerk's Letter and the matters reconsidered by the Monthly Meetings.
If no agreement can be reached, the matter can go into the Documents in Advance of Yearly Meeting along with the annual reports of the Monthly Meetings and Yearly Meeting Committees. Matters still unresolved are circulated again in the White Papers or can be referred to the annual Yearly Meeting in session. The papers for consideration at the Yearly Meeting in session are collated into the Gold Papers.
At the conclusion of the Yearly Meeting in session, the Yearly Meeting minutes for the year are published in one document.
Email contact for the Yearly Meeting Clerk is clerk@ym.quakers.nz
Related documents (Friends Access required):
- Yearly Meeting Clerk's Letters
- Documents in Advance
- White Papers
- Gold Papers
- Yearly Meeting Minutes
- Yearly Meeting Minutes (full pdf)
Yearly Meeting Events:
- Yearly Meetings
- Register for the next Yearly Meeting: A link to the event description and registration form for the next Yearly Meeting. Also gives a record of past YMs from 2019.
- Summer Gatherings: a link to the Summer Gathering page