1. Visitors Welcomed
2. Iowa Yearly Meeting Epistle
3. Reports from Monthly Meetings
4. Committee to Summarize Exercises
5. Committee to Write Epistles
6. Committee to Write Epistle to Absent Friends
7. Committee to Audit the Treasurer's Books
8. Representative Body Minutes
9. Endorsements for Traveling Minutes for Louise Wilson and Deborah Shaw
10. Ohio Yearly Meeting Epistle
11. Deborah Shaw's Travels in the Ministry
12. Southern State Worship Group
13. Friends Historical Collection Report
14. Report From Ministry and Oversight
15. Trust Fund Report
16. Visitors Welcomed
17. Friends Center Report
18. Young Adult Friends Concern
19. Yearly Meeting Web Site
20. FWCC Report
21. Request for Travel Assistance
22. Treasurer's Report and Proposed Budget
23. Quaker House of Fayetteville Report
24. AFSC Report
25. Letter to Absent Friends
26. Nominating Committee Report
27. Report of the Audit Committee
28. Dates of Yearly Meeting 2000 and 2001
29. Advices Read
30. Traveling Minutes Endorsed
31. Pendle Hill Scholarship Fund
32. Epistle to Friends Everywhere, Epistle to Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) and Epistle to Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends
33. Letter to Young Friends Everywhere
34. Hospitality Committee Report
35. Answers to Queries
36. Acknowledgment of the Work of the Planning Committee
37. Traveling Ministries Program
38. Pendle Hill Conference on Nurturing Gifts of Ministry and Eldering
39. Appreciation for New Garden Friends
40. Travel Minute for Nancy Craft
41. State of Society Reports
42. Summary of Exercises
43. Concluding Minute

Appendix

• Yearly Meeting Officers
• Representative Body
• Special Appointments
• Standing Committees

_____________________________________________________________________

Please accept the following members of Durham Friends Meeting named as representatives to North Carolina Yearly Meeting sessions this year:

Karen Stewart, Bob Passmore, Nikki Coffey Tousley, Bev Cowdrick, and Margie Dingman.

Statistics for Durham Monthly Meeting from 7^th month 1998 to 6^th month 1999 are as follows:

Births: 1 to a family with at least one adult member

5 births plus one adoption to other attenders

Deaths: None

Members: 1 new member, Marguerite Dingman

No transfers completed

1 sojourning member from Austin (Texas) Monthly Meeting attended Durham meeting 1^st to 6^th months, 1999

Marriages: 1, Lori Oshrain and member Mary Harwood, 10^th month 17^th, 1998.

Fayetteville Monthly Meeting will be represented at yearly meeting by any members who are able to attend.

The Queries have been read and answered or considered. The Advices have been read. No ministers or elders have been recorded. No births, deaths, marriages, or new members have been recorded.

The meeting has several new attenders, including Phil and Kaushaliya Esmonde, new residents of Quaker House. Our clerk, Earl Evens, and his wife Sandy, moved to Oriental, NC 6^th month.

Jared Roach transferred his membership to University Friends Meeting, Seattle, Washington. The official transfer of Sandy Sweitzer and children Jon William and Madeline from Clear Creek Meeting, Richmond, Indiana, was accepted.

Ann Ashford succeeded Earl Evens as clerk in 5^th month, and Phil Esmonde became recording clerk. Bob Cooper remains as treasurer.

Bob Cooper has agreed to serve on the Representative Body from Fayetteville Monthly Meeting.

Transfers: Claire Koster, from Brooklyn Monthly Meeting, NY to Friendship Meeting

Catherine Langston, from Orange Grove Monthly Meeting, CA to Friendship

There were no births or deaths recorded in the meeting during the past year.

Representatives to Yearly Meeting Business Sessions:

DeWitt Barnett, Becky Barnett, Helen Parker, Clarence Parker, Priscilla Zuck, Mel Zuck, Adrienne Dahlke, Ray Treadway, Carole Treadway, Catherine Langston.

All members who are able to attend represent Greenville meeting. We have had no births, deaths or marriages. Susan Maska has withdrawn her membership and moved out of state. There are no new members.

The Advices were read and the Queries answered.

As extracted from the monthly meeting minutes of Sixth Month 13, 1999: "Barbara Gosney, Edward Pearce, Bruce Pulliam, and William Remmes were named as representatives." "The clerk will serve on the treasurer committee and the nominating committee in the event that another person is not able to serve."

During the past year Rich Square Monthly Meeting has recorded no births, no new members, no transfers into the meeting and no sojourning members.

We have had no deaths in the past year.

Copies of the State of Society Report and Queries are attached.

Edward Pearce may be willing to serve on the summary of exercises committee or the epistles committee.

At Southern Quarterly Meeting of Friends held at West Grove, Alamance County, North Carolina, Fourth month 24, 1999, the general Advices were read. All Queries and their proposed answers were accepted as nearly representing our present condition and the clerks were directed to forward the answers to our approaching yearly meeting to be held at Guilford College Seventh month 7-11, 1999. The following named Friends were appointed to represent us therein: Mike Arnold, David Newlin, and Janell Newlin.

No ministers or elders have been recorded. One overseer deceased, Daphna Allen Newlin, at age 82 on Fourth Month 13, 1999.

On request from that body, the Southern Quarterly Meeting of Ministers, Elders, and Overseers was discontinued.

At the regular meeting for worship with attention to business in Sixth Month, the following were named as representatives to the 1999 Yearly Meeting Sessions: Charles Ansell, Nancy Craft, and Lloyd Lee Wilson.

In response to the your request for Yearly Meeting assistance, Nancy Craft agreed to assist with the epistles.

Throughout the year small sections of the advices were read during the closing minutes of Meeting for Worship. The Queries were considered during our business sessions and the responses are enclosed.

We rejoice with the marriage of Hank Ghittino and Eileen Leonard Fourth Monthly 10 who were married under the care of the meeting.

A new elder was recorded Eighth Month 9, 1998, Stuart Ashman.

We have 93 families/individuals consisting of 115 adults and 24 children for a total of 139 members.

Deaths, 1: Jane Dreifus Smith, 2/9/1998 (recorded minister)

Resignations, 3: Martha Hancock, 8/9/1998

Walter Roberts McIvor, 8/9/1998

Marion Friend, 11/8/1998

New Members, 3: Crystal Waitekus, 9/13/1999

Hubert Glenn Stephens, 4/13/1999

Walter Roberts McIvor, 6/13/1999

The queries have been answered and the advices read.

Laurie Freeman Newlin was welcomed into membership this year. We have had one birth, Jane Olivia Newlin, daughter of Charles and Laurie Newlin.

We were saddened by the death of one member, Daphna Allen Newlin on 4^th month, 13^th, 1999.

No ministers or elders were recorded during the year and no ministers of elders deceased.

David Newlin continues as clerk and Gerald Newlin as treasurer.

All of the Queries were answered in the past year, one each month. Responses to the Queries are enclosed.

The Advices have not been read in the past year.

Changes in membership:

Transferred membership to Wilmington from Green County Monthly Meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma: Kay and Minerva Glidden

New Members:

Michael Byrd, 02/28/1999

William Charles Henderson Dietsche, 07/26/1998

Will Henderson Dietsche, child of Anna and William Charles, 11/22/1998

Julia Henderson Dietsche, child of Anna and William Charles, 11/22/1998

Commended to our care from Mountain View Friends Meeting in Denver, Colorado, in 5/1999: Sandi Adams

Representatives to yearly meeting business sessions: Sam and Jeanne Rose

The Summary of Exercises will be written by Edward Pearce, Jeanne Rose and Robert Cooper.

The minutes from Representative Body in Fourth Month were read.

At a meeting of the Representative Body of North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends at Rich Square Monthly Meeting in Woodland, NC Fourth Month 17, 1999.

Meeting opened as Clerk Robert Gosney prayed that we be attentive to God's word which will bear fruit in us as we attend to the Yearly Meeting's business this day.

Minutes of the Representative Body in Tenth Month were read. Bruce Pearson, Columbia, SC was welcomed. We are mindful of the passing of Daphne Newlin. She will be deeply missed. The Treasurer's Report was read and approved. The current balance is $9,410.80. The Disciplines have been reprinted. Members wishing to order copies should address requests to Bob Gosney.

Carole Treadway reported for the Yearly Meeting Planning Committee. Yearly Meeting will be held at Guilford College, Seventh Month 7-11. Rebecca Mays has been invited to lead Bible Study at Yearly Meeting. Anne Morrison Welsh has been invited to speak. Julia Hebner reported for the Youth Committee that the teens had taken over most of the responsibility for planning. Clerk was asked to approach Chowan College to reserve space for our Yearly Meeting in 2000.

Ray Treadway reported on the annual meeting of Friends World Committee for Consultation, March 19-22, in Whittier, California. Over 200 Friends from all over the Americas were present. FWCC is continuing to focus on its mission of fostering communications among diverse Friends. Much work still needs to be done for the 1999 Fall gathering of FWCC Southeastern Regional gathering to be held in Virginia Beach and hosted by this Yearly Meeting. Friends, particularly those close to Virginia Beach, are encouraged to volunteer.

Nancy Craft brought a concern from Virginia Beach Monthly Meeting concerning events which took place just prior to last year's Yearly Meeting sessions. Clerk Robert Gosney stood aside and Richard Miller presided during discussion of these concerns. Upon hearing something about what took place, this Body expresses its sorrow at the pain that people have suffered and asks that we can be healed and reconciled in God's love. We also ask for a called meeting of Ministry and Oversight to look further into this matter and seek Guidance on how we can maintain love and unity among us when differences like this arise.

We expressed our appreciation for the hospitality of Rich Square Monthly Meeting.

There being no further business, Meeting closed purposing to meet Tenth Month 23, 1999, at West Grove Monthly Meeting, Alamance County, North Carolina.

Robert Gosney, Clerk

Richard Miller, Recording Clerk

The Clerk read endorsements for Travel Minutes for Louise Wilson and Deborah Shaw from other Yearly Meetings.

An Epistle from Ohio Yearly Meeting was read.

Deborah Shaw shared with us the story of her travels in the ministry in England last summer, of the many Friends she stayed with and worshipped with.

"What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. " Hebrews 4:12

My experience at Quaker Meeting is an experience I’ll never forget. I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and since Quakers believe in Jesus, I said to myself—I’m going to the service.

When I walked through the doors, the atmosphere of quietness filled the air, and a little man was sitting in a chair, calm and meek, with his hands folded on his lap. He greeted me with a smile of such warmth and gentleness, I knew he was filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the same spirit that led me to this service.

As the service begins with quietness and meditations, you can feel the Spirit of t

Peace and Blessing,

Desi Best

I thank God and his Spirit for leading me to Quaker worship.

And a selection from a meditation by Richard on the little foxes that spoil the vines Song of Songs 2:15

"An obvious spiritual application is to the subtle danger of so-called ‘little sins’ that undermine a believer’s love and service for his Lord. Even the most ‘separated’ Christian, active in witnessing and Christian service, may easily allow some little sin of habit or attitude to hinder the production of real and lasting fruit in his vineyard. Consider some of the ‘little foxes’ of attitude, for example. We are commanded not to worry about anything (Phil 4:6). Also, "Ye have need of patience" (Hebrews 10:36). Perhaps the most deadly of all sins is that of pride, "for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble" 1 Peter 5:5).

Friends are reminded that letters and pictures from First-Day schools are welcomed:

c/o William Geary

628A West Dr.

W. Cape May, NJ 08204

Gwen Gosney Erickson and Carole Treadway reported on the activities of Friends Historical Collection. The collection continues to grow and is actively used by researchers around the world.

• No deposits of records to the Friends Historical Collection from North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) meetings

• Newsletters received from Friendship, Virginia Beach, and West Grove Meetings

• Financial contributions received from Friendship Meeting and from the Yearly Meeting

• Student workers, Hanna Passmore and Rachel Miller, of Durham and Greenville Meetings, respectively

• Additions to organizational archives from Norfolk and Fayetteville Quaker Houses
• Vietnamese stamp commemorating Norman Morrison (gift of Bruce Pulliam)

• Tilghman Vestal diary recounting his experiences as a conscientious objector during the Civil War (grandfather of Jacqueline Vestal Bywaters)
• Walter Woodard Letters written when he was in France serving with the YMCA in 1918 (father of Friendship Meeting's Edith Mackie)
• Additions to the Sam and Miriam Levering Papers
• Frances Gust Bequest
• Mary Ellen Sarbaugh gift of stock

Office record keeping is now almost entirely in electronic form and a database including donor records, manuscript holdings, and other office information is being created this summer. The database is currently in use and will continue to grow as additional records are converted from older files in the next few months.

The Friends Historical Collection website is currently undergoing a major revision. We hope the new site will be available by the end of summer. The site is being designed in a way that will allow for additional expansion later in the year.

Correspondence and research requests received via e-mail have continued to rise dramatically. The volume of requests for information received by e-mail has almost doubled since last year. There was not a decrease in correspondence received through postal mail, but there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of in-person researchers.

Beginning this past June, Carole Treadway is now one-third time and Gwen Gosney Erickson is now full-time in the Friends Historical Collection.

Lloyd Lee Wilson reported on Ministry and Oversight’s called meeting concerning difficulties which arose just before the last Yearly Meeting and on the structured discussion on confidentiality and communication. Nancy Craft spoke of how we as a community pay dearly when issues that affect our meetings arise that cannot be dealt with promptly and openly.

Minutes of a called meeting of the Yearly Meeting of Ministry and Oversight of the North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) at Cedar Grove Meeting House, Woodland, North Carolina on 5^th Month 1, 1999.

Friends present: Lloyd Lee Wilson (clerk), Mary Miller (recording clerk), Ray Treadway, Louise Rothrock, Charles Ansell, Bruce Pulliam, Esther Wethington, Nancy Craft, David Beckett

Meeting opened with a period of worship.

The clerk read the minute from Representative Body asked for this called meeting and reviewed the background for this request.

We have looked at the events surrounding the 1998 session as best as we are able, holding this issue in the Light. The confidentiality requests involved complicated the matter greatly. We strongly support the decisions made by those acting on behalf of the yearly meeting given the available information. We have the responsibility as members of a faith community to bring issues to the attention of the whole body that affect our ability to live together in love and unity as the spirit leads us.

Friends agreed to hold a structured discussion of the issues of confidentiality and conflict resolution at the beginning of Yearly Meeting sessions on 7^th Month 7, 1999.

The Recording Clerk was asked to distribute a copy of these minutes to each monthly meeting together with a cover letter explaining their contents.

No further business appearing, the meeting concluded with a period of worship.

This meeting concludes purposing to meet, if way opens, on Seventh Month 7, 1999 for worship and reflection on the well being of our yearly meeting.

Lloyd Lee Wilson, Clerk

Mary Miller, Recording Clerk

The Trust Fund Report was read and approved. Friends approved using current income up to $150 from the trust fund to help support Priscilla Makhino, Elgon East Yearly Meeting, Kenya, in her travels in the ministry. Carole Treadway will review past yearly meeting minutes and Robert Gosney and Ray Treadway will discuss the original purpose and operation of the fund as well as the procedures for naming new trustees with the current trustees, George Parker, Walter Brown III and Alfred Newlin.

The Annual Meeting of the Representatives to the Friends World Committee for Consultation -- Section of the Americas (FWCC) -- met in Whittier, California, March 19 through March 22. Ray Treadway, Bob Gosney, and Gwen Gosney Erickson represented North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative).

The meetings were held in the Hilton Hotel and the nearby Whittier Friends Church. Evening meetings centered around the theme, "I have set before you an open door" (Rev. 3:8). We heard of a wide variety of Quaker activities in California, sponsored by three different yearly meetings, including the International Friends Fellowship in Long Beach, the Friends Committee on Unity in Nature, the Friends House in Moscow, and missionary work in Cambodia and support locally among the Cambodian community.

About thirty Friends from South and Central America attended the session, and all reports and discussions from the floor were translated to or from Spanish, giving a sense of careful deliberation. Support by individual monthly or yearly meetings for most of the projects of International Quaker Aid has been found. Right Sharing of World Resources has been spun off into a separate but affiliated organization. Friends are urged to contribute directly to RSWR, Community Friends Meeting, 3960 Winding Way, Cincinnati, OH 45229. Visitation among Quakers from different yearly meetings remains the main goal of FWCC. Reports about plans for visitation at yearly meeting sessions this summer and before and after the Triennial in New England in 2000, about the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage, and about the Friends Peace Teams told of a variety of activities. FWCC continues to send out publications of the Wider Quaker Fellowship, the calendar of yearly meetings throughout the world, and the Meeting Directory, which lists times of worship and addresses of all monthly meetings. The representatives of the Southeastern Region (including North Carolina) met to discuss common concerns and important activities. We talked about the upcoming gathering of the SE Region in Virginia Beach on October 29-31, with the theme "Unity and Diversity in Action and Faith." North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) is in charge of planning.

Contributions to FWCC have dropped over the past two years and budget cuts were approved. The field offices will no longer be funded after May1 and some other activities of the World Office of FWCC as well as those of the Sections of Americas. Contributions to FWCC, 1506 Race St., Philadelphia, PA 19102 are encouraged.

Friends approved up to $600 travel expenses for Gwen Gosney Erickson for attendance at the annual meeting of the FWCC Section of the Americas.

Ann Ashford presented the report from Quaker House of Fayetteville. Friends were asked to consider volunteering for Prison Visitation and Support, a program to provide visitors for long-term inmates far from home, who otherwise would go for years without any visitors.

Greetings to North Carolina Yearly Meeting Friends from the Board and staff of Quaker House.

Quaker House has now turned 30!

It used to be said-- if you remember -- that "you can't trust anyone over 30." Well, not only does Quaker House continue to receive trust of numerous members of the military who seek confidential counseling and support to help them get out of the military, but we also continue to receive an increasing number of calls. It is expected that this trend will continue.

Much of the tempo of calls relates to the level of awareness of Quaker House's service, and indeed that of the other organizations in the GI Rights Network. Currently ads appear in papers serving Ft. Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, Ft. Jackson, and Ft. Benning. It is hoped to place an ad in the paper serving Camp Lejeune this coming year. Quaker House of Fayetteville's position as the group receiving the most calls on the GI Rights Hotline (an 800 number that can be accessed anywhere in the USA) continued during the last year, with Quaker House taking approximately 43% of all calls during 1998. Queries over email are also increasing. New clients currently average between 45-60 per month.

With one staff person, the major focus of the work continues to be responding to these calls, and sending out information packets. It is planned to have a training of volunteers interested in doing some part-time phone counseling, and Quaker House would welcome hearing from Friends interested in this opportunity. You do not have to be located near Quaker House, as calls can be routed to your home phone. The training will likely be in November in Fayetteville.

This last year we bid farewell to the Sweitzers, with Sandy having served us very well and ably as director for over five years. In October, 1998, we welcomed Phil Esmonde and his wife Kaushaliya. Phil has given a three year commitment to Quaker House, and we have been blessed with a very smooth staff transition, causing no disruption to the Quaker House service. Phil and Kaushaliya have made their way to most of the NCYM (C) Meetings, and many of you have had the chance to hear them and meet them. They plan further visitations, and welcome invitations.

As part of their community introduction and to help their understanding, Phil and Kaushaliya hosted and facilitated one of thirty study circles studying race relations in Fayetteville. A small inter-racial group met over five weeks at Quaker House, coming up with positive suggestions for improvements in the community. Phil and Kaushaliya also assist once per month at a breakfast for the homeless at a local church, and every five weeks they visit prisoners at the Camp Lejeune Brig under auspices of Prison Visitation and Support.

Given the occasion of our 30^th birthday, the Quaker House Board of Overseers felt it would be timely to try to capture the unique peace witness of Quaker House on video. We are concerned that some of our "corporate memory" will soon be lost, along with the richness of description and stories that reside with older Friends. Quaker House will soon be sending out a special fundraising appeal to help us make this video a reality, as well as giving Friends other suggestions to help us celebrate these past 30 years.

We are extremely grateful for all the financial support received from both individual Friends and from the numerous Meetings represented in NCYM (C). With this continued financial support and -- most importantly-- with your continued prayers, we feel confident that we will continue to be celebrating anniversaries with you for many more years!

We are excited at the potential to spread knowledge of our efforts to far-flung Meetings through the proposed video history of Quaker House. Many here know that this witness, though sustained predominantly by North Carolina Friends, reaches out nationally in its service. We want others to appreciate that too.

Thank you again, Friends, for keeping us in your prayers. Please contact Quaker House for more information or to invite Quaker House to your Meeting.

John Kepchar, Clerk

I beseech you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

To Friends Everywhere,

Greetings to you in the power and spirit of the living God as we gather for the 302^nd session of North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative, on the campus of Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, from the 7^th through 11^th of the Seventh Month 1999.

We opened our meeting with the reading of a letter from an absent Friend who was not able to attend our yearly meeting for the first time in her 78 years. Prayers were offered that Friends would come together with each other in things that are eternal, for then and only then can God have His way with us.

Daily morning Bible study directed us to instructions in Luke 4:1-12 on being "non-Egyptian in the Land of Pharaoh". Through Jesus’ own report of the devil’s temptation during forty days in the desert in comparison to the chosen peoples’ departure from Egypt, we are directed not to lay up reserves but to rely on the Lord for our daily bread. Declining the temptation to rule the world, Jesus instructs us by example to maintain our allegiance to God’s kingdom rather than any government power system of this world. The government of grace rules over the government of debt, which requires more and more power for the king at the expense of the kingdom. Biblical accounts show us that by exercising our gift of free will, God will allow us to step away from this grace. Being compassionate, God does not release us without warning. Friends are called to be a peculiar people who reject the power of this world, as Jesus did, and to submit to divine authority. Our desire is therefore to sharpen the edges of our awareness of the divine kingdom – edges that have been worn smooth by the world.

Our hearts were brought to the surface as we gathered with Anne Morrison Welsh to share in the memory and meaning of the death in 1965 by self-immolation of Norman Morrison. Recently returning from a trip to Viet Nam with her two daughters, Anne told of her experiences. Encounter after encounter revealed how important and meaningful Norman’s action was to the people of Viet Nam. Repeatedly they asked, who else in the world loved us so much to die for us? The recollections that she shared revealed the anguish inherent in war. She shared with us how in Norman’s dedication to Friends testimonies, the seeds of peace were nurtured and spread. We never really know the consequences of our actions. We must do the highest and the best we can, and leave the rest to God. In doing so we will be able to dwell in this world without being part of it.

We were enriched by the full participation of our young Friends – in Bible study, worship, intergenerational singing, and Collection at the end of each evening.

We share with you the joy of our time together and of the guiding spirit arising out of all the events. We have the hope that we will join face to face if keeping with divine will.

Your Friends in Christ,

On behalf of North Carolina Yearly Meeting,

Robert Gosney

Clerk

I beseech you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

Dear Iowa Yearly Meeting Friends,

Greetings to you in the power and spirit of the living God as we gather for the 302^nd session of North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative, on the campus of Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, from the seventh through eleventh of the Seventh Month 1999.

We opened our meeting with the reading of a letter from an absent Friend who was not able to attend our yearly meeting for the first time in her seventy-eight years. Prayers were offered that Friends would come together with each other in things that are eternal, for then and only then can God have His way with us.

Daily morning Bible study directed us to instructions in Luke 4:1-12 on being "non-Egyptian in the Land of Pharaoh". Through Jesus’ own report of the devil’s temptation during forty days in the desert in comparison to the chosen peoples’ departure from Egypt, we are directed not to lay up reserves but to rely on the Lord for our daily bread. Declining the temptation to rule the world, Jesus instructs us by example to maintain our allegiance to God’s kingdom rather than any government power system of this world. The government of grace rules over the government of debt, which requires more and more power for the king at the expense of the kingdom. Biblical accounts show us that by exercising our gift of free will, God will allow us to step away from this grace. Being compassionate, God does not release us without warning. Friends are called to be a peculiar people who reject the power of this world, as Jesus did, and to submit to divine authority. Our desire is therefore to sharpen the edges of our awareness of the divine kingdom – edges that have been worn smooth by the world.

Our hearts were brought to the surface as we gathered with Anne Morrison Welsh to share in the memory and meaning of the death in 1965 by self-immolation of Norman Morrison. Recently returning from a trip to Viet Nam with her two daughters, Anne told of her experiences. Encounter after encounter revealed how important and meaningful Norman’s action was to the people of Viet Nam. Repeatedly they asked, who else in the world loved us so much to die for us? The recollections that she shared revealed the anguish inherent in war. She shared with us how in Norman’s dedication to Friends testimonies, the seeds of peace were nurtured and spread. We never really know the consequences of our actions. We must do the highest and the best we can, and leave the rest to God. In doing so we will be able to dwell in this world without being part of it.

We were enriched by the full participation of our young Friends – in Bible study, worship, intergenerational singing, and Collection at the end of each evening.

Some of us in our yearly meeting remember worshiping at your yearly meeting sessions in meetinghouses at Paullina or Scattergood School, but those times were regretfully in the past. Why is it that Friends today, with airplanes and comfortable cars, find it so difficult to travel to other yearly meetings – between North Carolina and Iowa – to share in fellowship, worship, careful deliberations, and the enriching power of Christ in the midst? We hope that soon we may visit with one another.

Your Friends in Christ,

On behalf of North Carolina Yearly Meeting,

Robert Gosney

Clerk

I beseech you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

Dear Ohio Yearly Meeting Friends,

Greetings to you in the power and spirit of the living God as we gather for the 302^nd session of North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative, on the campus of Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, from the seventh through eleventh of the Seventh Month 1999.

We opened our meeting with the reading of a letter from an absent Friend who was not able to attend our yearly meeting for the first time in her seventy-eight years. Prayers were offered that Friends would come together with each other in things that are eternal, for then and only then can God have His way with us.

Daily morning Bible study directed us to instructions in Luke 4:1-12 on being "non-Egyptian in the Land of Pharaoh". Through Jesus’ own report of the devil’s temptation during forty days in the desert in comparison to the chosen peoples’ departure from Egypt, we are directed not to lay up reserves but to rely on the Lord for our daily bread. Declining the temptation to rule the world, Jesus instructs us by example to maintain our allegiance to God’s kingdom rather than any government power system of this world. The government of grace rules over the government of debt, which requires more and more power for the king at the expense of the kingdom. Biblical accounts show us that by exercising our gift of free will, God will allow us to step away from this grace. Being compassionate, God does not release us without warning. Friends are called to be a peculiar people who reject the power of this world, as Jesus did, and to submit to divine authority. Our desire is therefore to sharpen the edges of our awareness of the divine kingdom – edges that have been worn smooth by the world.

Our hearts were brought to the surface as we gathered with Anne Morrison Welsh to share in the memory and meaning of the death in 1965 by self-immolation of Norman Morrison. Recently returning from a trip to Viet Nam with her two daughters, Anne told of her experiences. Encounter after encounter revealed how important and meaningful Norman’s action was to the people of Viet Nam. Repeatedly they asked, who else in the world loved us so much to die for us? The recollections that she shared revealed the anguish inherent in war. She shared with us how in Norman’s dedication to Friends testimonies, the seeds of peace were nurtured and spread. We never really know the consequences of our actions. We must do the highest and the best we can, and leave the rest to God. In doing so we will be able to dwell in this world without being part of it.

We missed the presence of Ohio Friends but did hear from Friends who visited with you recently. The love and support shown by Ohio Yearly Meeting in sponsoring the Gathering of Conservative Friends bring our meetings closer together, and closer to other like-minded Friends. We thank our Heavenly Father for this outreach among Friends.

Some of us gathered to share our experiences at the Gathering of Conservative Friends in Sixth Month. Several attending our yearly meeting session expressed interest in having closer contact with conservative Friends. We felt much encouraged as we recognized the common bond among us, "for as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one member one of another". (Romans 12:4-5)

We were encouraged with the large number of youth participating in our yearly meeting and rejoiced in their epistle. We have shared all the events of this session, trusting that we will gather again, and ask that you hold us in prayer as we hold you.

Your Friends in Christ,

On behalf of North Carolina Yearly Meeting,

Robert Gosney

Clerk

The letter from our Young Friends to Young Friends Everywhere was read.

To Young Friends Everywhere:

The 1999 NCYM-C Young Friends have had a joyous gathering at Guilford College, where new and old Friends came together for the largest attendance in recent memory. Each day we attended Bible study, meeting for worship and intergenerational singing with the adults, held our own business sessions, and organized Collection (the daily closing activity of the whole yearly meeting).

Our knowledge of things Quaker was greatly augmented by trips to the Greensboro Historical Museum, where we learned Dolley Madison was born into New Garden Meeting, and to the Friends Historical Collection at Guilford College, which is one of the five largest in the world.

During free time, we enjoyed singing, games, origami, swimming, swinging and visiting the "Loch Ness Monster". In times both structured and unstructured, we expanded our theological vocabulary and discussed social issues.

Above all we enjoyed increasing our circle of F(f)riends. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Thy Friends,

NCYM-C Young Friends,

Hannah Jones, Clerk

Asa Wilson, Recording Clerk

David Brown presented the Hospitality Committee Report. Friends thanked David and Mae Brown for their hard work and Friendship Meeting for their hospitality.

Over one hundred Friends attended one or more meetings and programs. Thirty-five adults stayed in the dormitory. Twenty-one young Friends stayed in the dormitory. Forty day visitors attended plus guests at New Garden Meetinghouse for Anne Welsh’s talk.

Over $4000 in receipts should cover all or nearly all of the cost of Yearly Meeting. Over $500 was donated by attenders to assist those who needed help to attend. Plus, two meetings underwrote the costs of three persons to attend Yearly Meeting. The committee appreciates the help given by many volunteers to lighten our load.

On behalf of the committee,

Mae and David Brown

Answers to the Queries were read Fifth Day morning and afternoon, Sixth Day morning and afternoon, and Seventh Day morning.

The State of Society Reports were given informally as a panel discussion Seventh Day evening. The formal reports submitted by each monthly meeting are given below.

42. Summary of Exercises

The Summary of Exercises follows:

North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative) met for its 302nd session from Seventh month 7-11, 1999,on the campus of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. The campus was beautiful as always; the grass thick and deep, the trees wide and far-reaching, and the outdoor temperature in the nineties. We had about 100 Friends in attendance: 21 children and 35 adults stayed in the dormitory. Our clerk, Robert Gosney, opened the sessions by reading a letter from an absent Friend who wrote to say she was sorry to miss yearly meeting this year after attending sessions faithfully for seventy-eight years. The clerk noted that as Quakers, we are on the edge of a long past, poised to move into the future.

We were enriched by the presence of visiting Friends, including seven Friends from South Carolina and one Friend from Texas. Priscilla Makhino of Elgon Yearly Meeting in Kenya also visited with us. She is traveling in the ministry and visited us previously in 1992. Frances and Edward Norton of London Grove Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, graciously provided flute and piano music which was the perfect prelude to Anne Welsh’s presentation on Sixth day evening.

The daily program followed a format we have grown accustomed to over the years. While the daily schedule is routine, the spirit of the activities is dependent on Friends in attendance and their response to the moving of the spirit among us. Each day began with an informal early bird group, followed in order by Bible study, business sessions, interest groups, singing, an evening program, and an intergenerational collection time at the end of the day.

The informal early bird group began years ago with coffee on the front porch of Mary Hobbs Hall at Guilford College. The small group of early risers also gathers when we are at Chowan, and continued the tradition this year, in spite of not having access to the porch of Mary Hobbs Hall while it was closed for renovations. Having no agenda in particular, the Friends sip coffee and with soft voices converse on matters ranging from light and of little consequence to matters close to the heart.

After breakfast we were led in Bible study which focused on Luke 4:1-12 and the temptations of Jesus by Satan. Through these sessions we were challenged to live our lives as "non-Egyptians in the land of Pharoah" using three rules: no silos, no kings, and no idols.

At the business sessions, committees were appointed for writing epistles and letters, the summary of the exercises and the auditing of financial records. Epistles were heard from Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative and Ohio Yearly Meeting. Reports were heard about various Quaker organizations and committees. The responses to the Queries by the monthly meetings were read aloud.

Friends discussed continuing the trial period of yearly meeting Web pages. Friends support the potential outreach a Web page provides and were in unity that it be continued. The address of the Web page is: http://home.interpath.net/ma/ncymc/ymindex.html.

The yearly meeting Meeting of Ministry and Oversight completed the task assigned to them at Fourth month Representative Body meeting and reported back to the yearly meeting, giving guidance for handling confidential matters affecting monthly meetings and the yearly meeting.

Between business sessions, groups met over lunch to learn of the work of American Friends Service Committee, Friends World Committee for Consultation, and Friends Committee for National Legislation. Charles Zoeller, the interim regional director of the Southeastern Regional Office of American Friends Service Committee and Ann Lennon, Program Director of Orita, an AFSC outreach program to young people at risk in public schools of Guilford County, brought us information about AFSC programs in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Their reports reminded us that Quaker work can change lives.

Vicki Poorman brought us news on the restructuring of Friends World Committee for Consultation. In order to better fulfill its core mission of facilitating communication among Friends, FWCC spun off the Right Sharing of World Resources program into a separate agency and is finding other Quaker organizations to do the work of the International Quaker Aid Program.

Sara Bradbury, a member of Indiana Yearly Meeting, is an intern with Friends Committee on National Legislation. Her report reminded us of the tremendous patience and faith that is required to be a Quaker lobbyist in the nation’s capital. She and Joe Volk focus their work on arms control.

After business sessions in the afternoon, Friends were invited to attend various interest groups led by Friends in the yearly meeting.

Activities continued into the evenings. On Fifth day evening a panel representing the four Quaker schools related to the yearly meeting answered questions posed by a moderator. The school panel was informative and interesting. Friends learned new information about the issues related to running a school.

On Sixth day evening our dear Friend Anne Morrison Welsh shared an account of her recent trip to Vietnam, a trip of healing. She learned that the sacrificial death of her husband, Norman Morrison, in 1965, had meaning for more than her, her family, the American peace community, and Quakers. His memory is still very much alive in Vietnam. Vietnamese people came to understand that although the war the United States government was waging against them was an unspeakable evil, the American people could not be considered all evil if one of them, Norman Morrison, loved them enough to immolate himself for them.

On Seventh day evening a panel of monthly meeting clerks responded to questions posed by a moderator and provided us with a picture of life in the monthly meetings.

Only one baby and a few elementary age children were with us at yearly meeting this year. On the other hand, twenty-one teenagers participated in the youth program at various times. The large teen group looked forward to yearly meeting and were happy to be together. They were responsible for planning their activities, with guidance from the adults. They used their leisure time for singing, swinging, and swimming, origami and games. They visited the Greensboro Historical Museum and the Friends Historical Collection at Guilford College. They had discussion sessions about social issues and time for deepening their friendships. On Seventh day afternoon young Friends mowed, painted, and sweated as they did service at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Memorial in Greensboro. The collection activities in the evenings were planned and conducted by the teens and were fun for all ages. The young Friends were the force behind the intergenerational singing each evening with their good spirits and high energy.

The yearly meeting is aware that young Friends who had been active in yearly meeting sessions in years past, no longer participate. In efforts to continue the close ties with the teens as they mature into young adults, two of our young Friends received approval of the yearly meeting to coordinate a Young Adult Friends group of North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative. The goal of the group is to achieve the active participation of Friends age 18-35. Once again, we are reminded of the long past of Quakers, and want our witness to Quaker testimonies to continue in the future.

We have enjoyed our few days visiting with Friends. We missed Friends who have been with us in the past and could not join us this year. We come to yearly meeting in anticipation of the fellowship, shared meals, conversations, and worship and have not been disappointed. As we leave yearly meeting today, we will hold in our hearts the words of Anne Welsh reminding us that because we never really know the full effect of our actions, we must always do the best we can and be the best we can be.

We have concluded our business for Yearly Meeting session 1999. We propose to meet again, if God is willing, at Chowan College, Murfreesboro, NC the twelfth through the sixteenth of Seventh Month in the year 2000. Together we have experienced more closely than usual our common life. We are discovering, as it is being revealed to us, more fully who we are as a Yearly Meeting. We express our desire and commitment to being led by God in this pursuit.

Appendix

Clerk

Robert E. Gosney, Rich Square

Assistant Clerk

Nancy Craft, Virginia Beach

Recording Clerk

Richard Miller, Greenville

Treasurer

Robert Cooper, Fayettville

Clerk of Ministry and Oversight

Lloyd Lee Wilson, Virginia Beach, llwilson@alum.mit.edu

Recording Clerk of Ministry and Oversight

Mary Miller, Greenville

Clerk of Young Friends

Hannah Jones, Rich Square

Recording Clerk of Young Friends

Asa Wilson, Virginia Beach, Gorj14@aol.com

AFSC Corporation
(Represent YM at annual board meeting in 11th month)