The work of the Care & Counsel Committee involves many different aspects of the life of Mt. Toby. Over the years, the Committee has evolved a number of procedures and structures for carrying out this work. Since the membership on C&C tends to turn over fairly rapidly, though, human memory can’t always be relied upon to tell us what we’ve worked out earlier. To keep us from reinventing the same wheels too often, this Procedures Manual tries to collect in one accessible source the many different insights developed by previous incarnations of C&C. It is obviously not intended to be viewed as immutable scripture, to be carefully handed down unchanged to future Committees. Rather, it simply attempts to capture the current approximations to the best ways for handling the work given to us. Continuing revelation will undoubtedly keep on unfolding, and modifications to, or even wholesale replacements of, various parts will be developed, requiring new editions of this Manual on a regular basis.

By and large, this Manual only deals with the technical aspects of the Committee’s work. Given the often heavy press of business confronting us in our meetings, an ever-present pitfall is to see the work of Care & Counsel as primarily the efficient application of these procedures. Underlying the exercise of these techniques, though, should always be the awareness that we are acting, not as bureaucratic functionaries, but as members of a Spirit-led community, striving at all times to listen patiently and in a spirit of worship for the way to unfold. Our success is not measured by how efficiently we dispatch our agendas, but how rightly we are led.

Queries

Do we take care that each member of our community is held in sensitive awareness, with respect for personal dignity and privacy? Are we tender of one another’s feelings? Do we maintain confidentiality, avoid gossip, and refrain from unnecessary and inappropriate exchange of information?

As we offer pastoral care, do we each maintain awareness of our own needs and motivations and the effect these may have on our own care giving? Are we careful to distinguish personal feelings about individuals — positive or negative — from our charge to care for them? In striving to help others, do we seek the Spirit through prayer and silence?

Are we sensitive to the limits of our capacities and the limits of our responsibilities? Are we prepared to express these limits and recommend professional resources?

[Intermountain YM F&P notes: Adapted from material developed by Strawberry Creek Meeting]

General Structures

Committee Description in Handbook

The Care and Counsel Committee offers pastoral care to the Meeting and has general oversight of the functioning of committees. It meets monthly. The Committee

• holds members and attenders in the Light with particular concern for elderly and children and for those whose names arise or who are known to be dealing with health, aging, conflict, possible leadings, or other life issues;
• receives requests for clearness or support on personal/spiritual matters and for marriage;
• greets members, attenders, and visitors each First Day, initiates contact with visitors living in this area, and tends the guest book in the lobby;
• lends one of the quilts in its care to Friends thought to appreciate a bit of extra nurturing in time of trouble or sorrow. See also Quilts.

Specific duties of Care and Counsel include:

• assisting family members in arranging a memorial meeting. One C&C member is appointed by C&C to be a member of the Burial Committee.
• writing memorial minutes or seeing that they are written.
• planning occasional discussions of Friends’ beliefs and practices for newcomers.
• overseeing jointly with Ministry & Worship: meeting for business, the annual State of Society Report, and other mutual concerns;
• meeting annually with Ministry & Worship, Child Care, First Day School, and Young Friends committees or advisors to reflect on how we are serving our children. See Committee On Care Of The Meeting And Its Children.
• acting on requests for financial aid from the Assistance Fund and the Scholarship Fund. They may solicit contributions for the Assistance Fund if the Fund is running low (7/09).
• overseeing

• bulletin boards with the Clerk. See also Bulletin Boards.
• the hearing amplification system.
• the work of the E-mail Minder and the Web Servant (10/03).

• providing ongoing discernment for how the Meeting will carry forward GLBT issues (1/10).

(Based on duties assigned by meeting for business 1981-2010; reorganized and approved by Care and Counsel 6/12).