Sept. 11, 2015

Dear Friends and Monthly Meeting Clerks,

The coming of the cooler weather signals the time for the annual Clerk's Fall Letter. Here arereports from our recently concluded annual sessions to help your monthly meeting until the 2015 minute books are printed. Each report is a separate Word attachment for ease in printing. I encourage you to forward these reports to your members, and also have printed copies of the Nominating, Representatives, and Scattergood reports available for easy access in your meeting.

Nominating Report: Our Nominating Committee did a great deal of very important work for us. Please look to find those in your meeting who have been recently appointed and help them get connected to the clerk of their committee. You did a wonderful job bringing names forward for us, and it would be helpful if we can all follow up and make sure everyone is welcomed into the work.

*This is also a good reminder that Steven Deatherage has asked to receive the updated Directory information from each monthly meeting by 10/1/16. How is our Directory important for our functioning? Here are just a few examples: Every time a monthly meeting names a new clerk, I need their contact information for my lists. The clerks of the committees also need the same, and you need to be able to reach them as well. One newly appointed member of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee is not listed in the Directory and since we don't know which monthly meeting she belongs to, P&SC clerk Jeff Kisling doesn't know how to contact her. So please go through the Nominating appointments and make we have up to date contact information and e-mail addresses for your members who have been recently appointed.

* We began a discussion during yearly meeting on how we might use the web to maintain a good Directory that also protects privacy. Our Publications Committee will be looking into this issue for us. As you go over the specific contact information your members wish to include in our directory, please pass along any ideas or concerns about convenience and web privacy to Martha Davis (clerk of the Publications Commtitee). We need your help so that our website serves our needs.

Representatives Report: Your Representatives did a great deal of good work on our behalf. In their report you will find your montly meeting apportionment as well as our Budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year. This is a great way for all members to learn exactly how their apportionments are used. Our monthly meetings and yearly meeting are made stronger by connections to the wider world of Friends. This past year, monthly meetings did a wonderful job helping Friends of all ages become involved in Quaker activities outside of our yearly meeting. Whether it be attending Camp Woodbrooke, a youth gathering, a class at Pendle Hill or an annual meeting one of the large Friends organizations, we are all enriched when the people we worship with are able to deepen their experience as Friends.Let's help each other continue to take part in these kind of opportunities in the upcoming year. The guidelines for requesting financial assistance are included in the printed minute books you already have. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me.

You will also read that our Representatives have requested the yearly meeting clerk to name a committee to explore whetherchanges in the scheduling or overall format of our annual gathering would enable more people to participate. Is there anyone in your meeting interested in being part of this group? I am looking forward to getting ideas and feedback from all of you. Please join me inseeking to make our yearly meeting meaningful and accessible to more IYMC Friends.

Scattergood Reports: We heard a letter from a young man in Afghanistan during the evening Scatttergood presentation. He wrote of his joy at receiving his acceptance letter, and hoped he would be able to come to Iowa for school. The Scattergood School and Farm reports share the ongoing work to create a "Quaker education" in the deepest sense. The challenge before us is finding more students, and all of us can help in doing this. Soon after yearly meeting ended, a IYMC member asked for e-copies of the Scattergood reports so that she could forward them on to friends interested in the school. This is a great way to spread the news. Now that you have the reports, feel free to joyfully share them with others outside our community who might like to hear of an alternative to the view of education most commonly put forth in our country today.

Peace & Social Concerns: During our sessions, there was a deeply felt desire to "turn our words into actions." Congress returns to Washington DC this week. Included in the two days of Peace & Social Concern Reports are timely letters your Representatives and Senators have received from us on both the Iran nuclear deal and gun control. Your Congressional Representatives also received a letter asking them to support a bill (the PREPARE Act) regarding preparations for severe weather that is currently in committee. You will find the text of these three letters as well as the minutes we approved in session useful.Each letter and minute offer a simple way for monthly meetings and individuals to turn words in actions. Use any of them for your own actions if you are so moved. You can re-word them or leave them "as is". You can share that they are the result of careful discernment by the religious body that you are a member of, and that they speak for you. Send them to your local paper, to your representatives. or to any venue where they might make a difference.

Willian Penn House Report: We learned that the William Penn House in Washington DC is undergoing a severe financial trial because their religious tax exemption is being challenged. IYMC Friends spoke of their deep fondness and love for the work of the William Penn House and wanted to know what they could do. We have been asked to write letters of support. Their report is included here.

Epistles and Closing Minute: Each year we send three epistles reporting on our sessions to Friends all over the country and the world: One by our Epistle Committee, one from Young Friends, and the other from Junior Yearly Meeting. Shortly after sending them out this year, I got a quick response from the Recording Clerk of Ireland Yearly Meeting telling me how much she enjoyed the "Rapping Epistle" from our Young Friends! It is hoped that reading these epistles and the closing minute will give a good sense of our gathering for Friends who were unable to attend in person this year.

It is always a blessing to be able to gather together. Our next Midyear Meeting has been scheduled and will be held at Bear Creek on 4/9-10, 2016. Next years' annual sessions will be held Seventh Month 26 to Seventh Month 31, 2015. In the meantime, while separated by physical distance, we remain together in faith.

As always, I hope to be available as needed. Please let me know if there are ways I can be of help toyour meetings.

I look forward to seeing you at Bear Creek , Fourth Month, 2016.

love,

Deborah Dakin, clerk,

Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)