Job Description: Epistle Committee
Approved by: NPYM Steering Committee, January 2009
Appointed by: NPYM at Annual session
Nominated by: NPYM Nominating Committee
Term length: one year with one member holding over to the following year. (reappointment possible)
Term Begins: October 1
Members: 3 or 4 all of whom are planning to attend Annual Session
Reports to: Presiding Clerk of the Yearly Meeting
Works Primarily with: Presiding Clerk, General Arrangements clerk, and Secretary.
Definition: Connects NPYM with the wider world of Friends through the use of Epistles. Writes an Epistle describing the spirit of our annual session which will be sent to Friends around the world. Receives Epistles from other YM’s and shares these with NPYM friends.
Tasks and Timelines
Prior to Annual Session
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Works with the Secretary and presiding clerk to obtain copies of Epistles sent to NPYM from other YM’s
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Review these and in consultation with presiding clerk develop a plan for presentation of epistles at Annual Session.
At Annual Session
- Meetings of the Epistle Committee take priority over other Annual Session activities.
- In consultation with the presiding clerk implement the plan for sharing the epistles with Friends.
- Post the Epistles on a bulletin board so Friends can read them during the Annual Session
- Invite Friends to look at the Epistles from elsewhere and to the give the committee suggestions of what should be included in our epistles which will be sent after annual session.
- The committee prepares an epistle from NPYM to be sent to “Friends Everywhere” that expresses the spirit of our annual session.
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Should be 1-2 pages long
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This should reflect the theme of the Annual session
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Comment on any “Weighty matters” that came up during annual session
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Reflects the overall spirit and state of our Annual Session
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- At the direction of the presiding clerk present a draft of the epistle to the Annual session during a plenary session
- Invite Friends to provide comments and feedback
- Final reading of the epistle will be on the last day of Annual session without additional comment.
- Collects the posted epistles and returns them to the presiding clerk for archiving.
After Annual Session
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Works with the clerk and secretary to arrange for final preparation and distribution of our epistle.
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Prepare an annual report for the Epistle Committee file, and submits a copy to the General Arrangements Clerk by September 21. This report should include information that would be helpful to the next year’s committee including what worked (or didn’t); and any recommendations for changes to the job description. Include information from subgroups.
Expenses and Travel: Reimbursement is provided for office expenses (long distance phone calls, postage copying, etc) Travel expense is reimbursed according to the NPYM travel reimbursement policy. Requests for reimbursement (or reports for “in kind” donations) with receipts should be submitted to the NPYM treasurer prior to August 31.