Ministry, Money, and Miracles: What the Lyman Fund Can Teach Us About Spirit-Led Giving
- windycooler
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
What does your meeting spend money on? Does ministry cost...money?
When Tracy Booth (New England Yearly and Baltimore Yearly) joined me for a conversation about the small ministry grant maker, Lyman Fund, I expected to hear about money and paperwork. What I didn’t expect was to come away feeling like I had just been to meeting for worship—so grounded was her story in spiritual generosity, practical wisdom, and deep trust in the movement of the Spirit.
Tracy’s experience on the board of the Lyman Fund spans decades. But to understand why it matters for all of us—especially those longing to live more faithfully into ministry, or to support others who do—we have to begin at the beginning.
A Loaves and Fishes Kind of Operation
The Lyman Fund began informally in the 1980s, with three Quaker women, two of them from Tracy’s own meeting, who had inherited wealth and felt called to share it.
They were giving out of their own bank accounts at first, not to build an institution, but to spread love. When one of them, Charlotte Fardelmann, inherited a significant sum, Tracy—who was close to Charlotte as a spiritual friend—suggested they create a formal nonprofit. And so, with prayer and purpose, the Lyman Fund was born.
From the beginning, it was clear this would be no ordinary foundation. The Lyman Fund was rooted in Quaker process, committed to spiritual discernment, and open-hearted about what counted as “ministry.” Over the years, they’ve funded an astonishing array of leadings: service trips, theater performances, books-in-progress, AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project) work, acupuncture in trauma-affected regions, and even Buddhist retreats. Tracy described it beautifully: “It’s like a loaves and fishes kind of operation. The cup runs over.” In other words, it is a miracle.
Today, the fund has supported over 660 individuals and given away $1.7 million—without ever fundraising. The original capital, carefully invested in socially responsible funds, has tripled.
But the Lyman Fund isn’t just about money. It’s about faithfulness. About naming and affirming the quiet callings that stir in the hearts of ordinary people, and giving them what they need—spiritually and materially—to follow them through.
If You Have a Leading, You Need Support
One of the things I loved about talking with Tracy was how deeply she gets the experience of being someone with a leading. That quiet but insistent tug toward a piece of work, or a place, or a way of being that just won’t let you go. It can be exhilarating—but also lonely, expensive, and confusing.
That’s where the Lyman Fund shines. Rather than measuring outcomes or checking for degrees or resumes, they focus on the person and the calling. Applicants go through a clearness committee—a beloved Quaker practice where a small group gathers in worship to listen deeply and help the applicant gain clarity. Far from being a formality, this is often what applicants find most meaningful.
“The clearness committee acknowledges, it affirms, it encourages,” Tracy said. “It takes people seriously. It gives them the backing they need to feel confident in what they’re feeling led to do.”
Isn’t that what ministry needs more than anything?
What Quakers Can Learn About Supporting Ministry—Spiritually and Materially
As Friends, we often talk about “not having a paid clergy” and “everyone being a minister.” But when someone in our meeting actually steps forward with a call to public ministry—whether it’s traveling, creating, teaching, healing, or organizing—many of us don’t know what to do.
Tracy’s story invites us to think bigger and act more faithfully. Here are a few of the lessons I heard most clearly:
1. Ministry is Broad—and Beautiful
We don’t have to limit “ministry” to preaching or committee service. If someone is pouring their heart into the world with Spirit at their back, that’s ministry. Let’s get comfortable naming it, celebrating it, and supporting it.
2. Clearness Is a Gift, Not a Gate
The clearness committee isn’t just a hoop to jump through—it’s a profound form of care. Meetings can reclaim this practice as a way to affirm and shepherd emerging ministries in love and truth.
3. Money Can Be Ministry
This is a hard one for many Quakers. But Tracy is clear: giving financially to a leading is itself a ministry. “We gain, we give, we are given gifts,” she said. Supporting someone’s faithfulness isn’t charity—it’s participation in the work of the Spirit.
4. Legacy Matters
The Lyman Fund is an example of how even “little bitty bits” of inherited or saved wealth, when stewarded thoughtfully, can continue to bless others long after we’re gone. It’s worth asking: what could your meeting do with an endowment? What legacy are we leaving?
5. Invest According to Our Values
From the beginning, the Lyman Fund has only invested in socially responsible funds. This is worth considering for individuals and meetings alike—what is your money doing while it’s sitting in the bank?
6. Support Makes Faithfulness Possible
Let’s not romanticize ministry. It’s hard work, and often costly. Many people abandon their leadings because they just can’t afford to follow them. Tracy reminds us that “ministry is never in isolation.” As communities, we are called to make that real.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Maybe you feel that stir in your own heart. Maybe you’re carrying a quiet nudge from Spirit, something that won’t let you go. Or maybe someone in your meeting is carrying a calling, and you’re wondering how to help.
Tracy’s example—and the witness of the Lyman Fund—offers us a way forward. We can listen. We can name ministry when we see it. We can gather around each other with care and clarity. And yes, we can give—trusting that the Spirit that calls is also the Spirit that provides.
Let’s not be afraid to invest in one another. As Tracy said, “If we can fund somebody to follow a leading… we gain. We give. We are given gifts.”
And that, Friends, is a kind of miracle worth believing in.
If you’d like to support or apply for funding through the Lyman Fund, you can find more information through New England Yearly Meeting.
Speaking of material support...do you feel called to support the work of the Friends Incubator for Public Ministry? With free educational content for all Quakers interested in ministry through this thoughtful blog, regular free online events, and an upcoming two-year fellowship for meetings, ministers and elders actively asking how we can work together to create healthy ministry, Friends Incubator is doing an awful lot very efficiently. As a project under the fiscal sponsorship of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting we are intentionally small and nimble in our approach, not creating new non-profit structures or building an institution, but approaching ministry education relationally, planning to work ourselves out of a job as more and more meetings become competent and loving homes for ministry. And we could use your help!! Prayers as well as material support are very welcome! You can donate to us: here.
Born to parents who both had Quaker ancestry, Tracy Booth has been a lifelong Friend. Raised in the Philadelphia area and then living in Maine for her adult years, she was active in Portland Friends and New England Yearly.
Trained as a Registered Nurse and then a Social Worker, doing property management on the side, she and her husband, Don (a medical doctor), raised two children; traveled, sailed, and retired in warm climes. Now a widow, she is a resident at Friends House, Maryland.
About our cover photo: While traveling between yearly meeting sessions this summer, Friends Incubator convener Windy Cooler witnessed a recording of ministry at Sierra-Cascades' annual meeting at Reedwood Friends Church in Portland, Oregon. It was for the co-pastor at Klamath Falls Friends Church, Joe Tolton.
Sierra-Cascades says of recording:
When a person’s ministry sphere is broader than a local area, it may be appropriate for the local Meeting to recommend the person for Recording at the Yearly Meeting level. In addition, a Recording request to the Yearly Meeting may rise from a worship group or anchor committee as they recognize that one of their people has gifts of public ministry.
All Yearly Meeting Recording is under the care of the Committee of Nurture of Ministry of Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends. The purpose of the Committee for Nurture of Ministry is to accompany a person through the process of identifying, empowering, and recommending the person for recording by Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting.
Does your meeting record, embrace or release ministry? How does your meeting make the ministry of all Quakers a reality?
Comentários