October 18, 2026, NY Quarterly Meeting Minutes and Reports

New York Quarterly Meeting (NYQM), AKA the NYC Quakers, met for business and worship on Sunday October 18, at Flushing Meetinghouse and online. Those at Flushing shared a potluck/pizza lunch between worship and the business meeting. The minutes from the meeting, including links to all reports, are now available.

Some highlights:

The proposed 2027 budget for the New York Quarter was approved! Take a look at the presentation or, if you like spreadsheets and numbers, the full details. 

Friends approved a proposed change to the NYQM Handbook that lays down the Audit and Budget Committee, creates the Audit Committee, and gives budgeting responsibilities to the Trustees. A few Friends stood aside from the approval, expressing unease about the change and process. In the minutes, the quarter “encourages the Handbook Committee to invite additional guidance and perspective from those who have leadings to further define the role of the new Audit Community.”

The clerk of Trustees, Dan Seeger, reported on the “Earlham Formula” which is used to determine how much of the quarter’s investments are spent each year. He pointed out that financial guidelines are not ethically neutral. “Questions of who gets what, why, how and when are questions of social ethics, not of science, and economic questions should always be considered matters of fundamental morality.” 

We heard how the quarter’s money is being used in alignment with Quaker values: through supporting Quaker students at Friends schools (the Education Fund) and paying for witness projects like schools in Africa, a delegation to Palestine, a peace walk, and a community dinner (the Witness Fund.) 

Read all the minutes online. The next quarterly meeting will be held at Brooklyn Meeting on January 24, 2027. Note this is the fourth Sunday of the month, rather than the third.