Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Records: Meeting for Sufferings (1756-1910), Representative Committee (1828-1995), Interim Meeting (1996-2014), and Continuing Sessions (2015- )

A “Meeting for Sufferings” was established by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1756. This representative body consisted of approximately 25 Quakers appointed by the Yearly Meeting. The group was specifically charged with acting for the Society of Friends in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland (after 1790) during the time when the Yearly Meeting was not in session. Duties included oversight of Quaker publications, recording annual accounts of sufferings (primarily as a result of the Peace Testimony) and assistance to any affected individuals, collecting memorials concerning deceased Friends, and correspondence with the Meeting for Sufferings in London.

At the time of the Separation of 1827/28, the Orthodox branch of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting maintained a Meeting for Sufferings, and the Hicksites appointed a General or Representative Committee to attend to the affairs of their Yearly Meeting during its recess. In 1910, the Orthodox renamed the Meeting for Sufferings as Representative Meeting. The name of Representative Meeting was continued at the time of the reunification of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting with the merger of the Representative Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Hicksite) and Representative Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox) in 1955. In 1996, Representative Meeting was renamed Interim Meeting as a result of the recommendation of the PYM Structure and Workings Committee.

Interim Meeting (1996-2014) acts on behalf of Yearly Meeting between annual sessions. Its responsibilities include: appointing officers and committee members; making policy recommendations to the Yearly Meeting; overseeing the work of its subcommittees and coordinating committees, and the financial affairs of the Yearly Meeting; sponsoring conferences and gatherings; and authorizing minutes of travel and religious service for Friends. Representative Meeting also appoints, releases, and oversees the work of numerous small ad hoc committees and working parties to consider specific issues which eventually may require the attention of standing committees. Continuing Sessions began in 2015, as part of the PYM restructure recommended by the Long-Range Planning Committee and approved in 2014. Interim Meeting transitioned to Continuing Sessions, which meet (at least) twice a year for one-day sessions for worship, business, and fellowship and hold the same authority to make organizational decisions as the body during Annual Sessions.