IMYM Faith & Practice, 2009, pp 66-68
Membership in the Religious Society of Friends by individuals is obtained through the monthly meeting. Such membership also constitutes membership in the regional meeting and the yearly meeting with which the monthly meeting is affiliated. Because Intermountain Yearly Meeting was created directly from a fellowship of monthly meetings, the role of regional meetings within this yearly meeting is still developing. Currently, there are four smaller bodies within Intermountain Yearly Meeting: Arizona Half-Yearly Meeting, Colorado Regional Meeting, New Mexico Regional Meeting, and Utah Friends Fellowship.
Traditionally among Friends, a regional meeting which met twice a year was called a “half-yearly meeting.” In this yearly meeting, some regional meetings call themselves “half-yearly meetings” or “Friends fellowships.” For simplicity in reference within the purpose of this document, the term regional meeting will be used inclusively.
A regional meeting is a cooperative association of two or more monthly meetings in a particular geographical area and is composed of all the members of its constituent monthly meetings, preparative meetings, and worship groups as well as interested persons within its area who are isolated from any established Friends group.
Purpose
The purpose of a regional meeting is to strengthen the life and fellowship of monthly meetings and other Friends groups in the area and to provide a link in transmitting business and other information to and from Intermountain Yearly Meeting. Regional meetings contribute in various ways to the growth of the spiritual life and fellowship of its constituent monthly meetings and other Friends groups, including children and young Friends. Sessions of the regional meeting provide religious fellowship, a wider variety of ministry during worship than individual meetings usually experience, and programs that address the varied interests of the Religious Society of Friends. Outside its regular sessions, the regional meeting may develop programs for its young people, arrange for retreats and other gatherings, and encourage and coordinate inter-meeting visitation.
A regional meeting also provides a forum for broader seasoning of and acting upon concerns from individuals and meetings and forwarding approved minutes to the Executive Committee or annual session of the yearly meeting. It also may provide services or address issues that pertain to all Friends but for which there may not be sufficient concern or energy in any one individual meeting. A regional meeting is concerned for the condition of its constituent groups, strengthening and supporting them. With the overseeing monthly meetings, it is responsible for the nurture of new gatherings of Friends. The regional meeting would also be the appropriate body to consider a request from the members of a monthly meeting that their meeting be laid down or united with another meeting.
Formation
Each regional meeting was separately created by, and may be laid down by, its participating monthly meetings and worship groups without application to the yearly meeting. The organization and appointments of the regional meetings generally follow those of the monthly meeting.
Currently a regional meeting may be established upon yearly meeting approval of a request from two or more monthly meetings or a request from a regional meeting that wishes to be divided into two such meetings. A regional meeting also may be set up upon the initiative of the yearly meeting. In any such instance, the yearly meeting appoints a committee to assist in the organization and receives the recommendation of that committee before recognizing the regional meeting.
Responsibilities
To carry out its responsibilities, a regional meeting meets regularly, selects necessary officers and committees, and conducts its business in the usual manner of Friends. It collects and administers funds as needed. It may appoint an Interim, Planning or Continuing Committee to help plan its sessions and to act for it between sessions, within agreed-upon limits. Specific procedures vary among regional meetings, and the manuals of procedures or handbooks of regional meetings should be consulted. Information regarding the appointment of yearly meeting positions by the regional meeting is found in the “Guide to Procedures of Intermountain Yearly Meeting.”
Each regional meeting prepares an annual budget, which is presented to business sessions of the regional meeting once a year. Customarily, the budget is based on an annual assessment, contributed by each of its constituent monthly meetings, of a per-capita amount based on the number of adult members reported by the monthly meeting in its most recent census. The per capita assessment rate is considered and approved by the regional meeting in its annual sessions as part of the review of the budget. Out of these funds, the regional meeting pays for items agreed upon as necessary to its operations. The adult members include both resident and nonresident members. Members sojourning by minute to other monthly meetings are counted by their home monthly meeting. Members of other monthly meetings and attenders are not included.
