Clerk of the Meeting
Term:
- Three years with a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Qualifications:
- Should be a member or long-term attender of the Meeting.
- Should be sensitive to spiritual leadings so that corporate guidance may be found through the leading of the spirit.
- Should have the ability to comprehend readily, evaluate rightly, and restate clearly and concisely any item coming before business meeting.
- Should have the ability to listen receptively and gather the sense of the meeting at the proper time.
- Should have prior experience as Clerk or agree to attend the Pendle Hill Clerking Workshop or similar training.
- Should be knowledgeable of North Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice, especially concerning the qualifications and responsibilities of the clerk.
Responsibilities:
- Understand and be able to implement Quaker process.
- Serve as primary contact person for Meeting.
- Schedule meetings and ensure that meetings take place.
- Ensure that an agenda for committee meetings is organized.
- Ensure a report is generated to be presented to the Meeting for Business.
- Ensure that committee meeting minutes and notes, which may include background discussions, concerns, planning, proposals, actions and possibly confidential material, be written and kept as an organized file.
- Ensure that action items that arise during committee meetings are assigned.
- Arrange for the new committee’s first meeting and at that meeting ensure that the committee chooses its clerk, unless the clerk has been specified by the Nominating Committee.
Additional Responsibilities:
- Attends Meeting for Worship.
- Presides at all business meetings.
- May use a Business Meeting outline or prepare an agenda prior to business meeting, encourages committees and others to provide any reports, concerns, proposals, and other data needed for the agenda ahead of time.
- As actions are taken, ensures they are minuted, sees that assignments are clear and recorded, and notifies the responsible persons or committees if they are not present at the meeting.
- Attends to Meeting correspondence by referring items to appropriate committees or by responding personally as appropriate.
- Signs all official papers and minutes; prepares and endorses certificates of transfer, minutes of sojourn, travel minutes, and letters of introduction presented by visiting Friends.
- Coordinates with Half-Yearly and Yearly Meeting and attends if possible.
- Encourages newcomers and all members to attend business meeting.
- Serves as ex-officio member of all standing committees of the Meeting and visits each at least once a year.
- Ensures a smooth transition and transfer of information to the next office holder.
