Meeting began with silence at 11:00 am. Forty-six (46) members and attenders were present. Clarisse Harton was greeter. Rita Willett from Ministry and Worship sat on the facing bench to hold Meeting in the Light. Govind Narayan was welcomed as a first-time attender to MWB. Linda Whittington read the Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) proposed Queries and Voices on Caring for One Another.
Website Committee: Bob Alexander reported that WiFi (wireless internet) was installed in the building and is now operating. The site ID will appear when you look for WiFi networks with your device. The password is available from Bob or members of the committee, or other members of the Meeting community already using the network. During installation, caller ID was added to our phone service. The Meeting purchased the wireless router ($200), instead of renting it, to save money over time.
Nominating Committee: Don Miller announced the nomination and recommendation by the committee of Michelle Bellows as the Friends General Conference (FGC) Liaison. Don noted that Michelle has extensive experience with FGC, including work planning the upcoming FGC Gathering. Friends approved.
Religious Education: Diane Bowden announced that the Summer RE program calendar still has three dates open and encouraged committees to sign up.
Financial Stewardship: Steve Humphrey reported for the committee. Before Steve gave his report, the Clerk provided this background: On the First Day following the Young Friends’ coffeehouse, a $100 bill was taken from the contribution basket which had been put out during Meeting for Worship to encourage additional contributions to be made. Financial Stewardship was asked to consider this incident and Steve reported they had two responses: (1) The committee felt that the Young Friends should be able to accomplish their goal of raising money to donate to the organizations they had chosen. The committee will transfer $100 from the Meeting contingency fund to cover the missing amount. (2) The committee will develop guidelines for committees that handle cash with the intent of avoiding a similar incident. A Friend commented that although he was in unity with the committee’s decision to replace the missing amount, he wanted to make note of the responsibility of the adults who were charged with safeguarding the money. In response to a question, the Clerk said that money had gone missing from a pocketbook in January (Friends were notified at that time). These are the only two instances we are aware of. A Friend suggested that we all contribute a dollar to make up the missing amount; Steve stated the committee would accept any contributions. During a discussion of a recent period during which the lock on the contribution box was missing, Steve noted that it is best to make contributions by check or by online transfer.
Care and Counsel: Randee Humphrey reported for the committee: (1) Katy Rugg’s application for membership was presented for the second month, again with the recommendation of the committee. Friends approved. (2) Martha Menk is requesting help with meals in early July. Please contact Margaret Edds if you can help.
Ad Hoc Committee for Building Use: Margaret Edds reported for the committee:
(1) After the recent threshing session held to gather input about how the Meeting should respond to issues regarding the use of our building by non-Quaker groups, and what is required of us to be good neighbors, the committee completed a set of guidelines for building use. These guidelines are for the building coordinator to use when considering requests and scheduling, and for groups that use our building. Margaret read the guidelines, which elicited comments. One Friend suggested we plan a way of communicating the essential guidelines to non-Quaker users of our building, perhaps using signage located both inside and outside the building. After some discussion of the phrase “there should be no congregating outside the building for smoking or socializing in the evening,” Friends requested that the guidelines be changed to make it clear that this was intended to apply after 9:00 pm. Friends approved the guidelines, with that change. (2) During the threshing session, suggestions were made for a variety of ways that we might communicate with residents of the neighborhood. After discussion and consideration at several meetings, it was the discernment of the committee that these efforts might create unrealistic expectations. As a result, the committee recommended that Meeting not pursue active engagement with the neighbors. In response to questions, Friends were reminded that we do notify and invite neighbors to join us in some activities, such as the International Day of Peace candlelight walk. (3) The committee is meeting again to consider whether there might be merit in requesting donations of suggested amounts from users of the building instead of our current practice of charging rent.
Peace and Social Concerns: Denna Joy reported that the changes suggested at the second reading of the climate change minute at Fifth Month MWB had been accepted by the committee and incorporated into the minute. The final minute will be published in the newsletter and on the website. In response to suggestions from the Meeting, the committee is looking at ways to disseminate the minute, including sending it to BYM and various newspapers, and sharing it with the Virginia legislature.
BYM Representative Report: Denna Joy reported on her trip to Sixth Month Interim Meeting, held at Patuxent Friends Meeting. Denna informed Friends that there are 55 Meetings in BYM and that Virginia has more than any other state. She also described several highlights of the Interim Meeting: the grant from the Shoemaker Fund to BYM to fund a position to help Meetings grow in diversity and encourage young Friends to stay involved and become leaders; the “one book” chosen to be read next year, “A Sustainable Life,” by Doug Gwyn; the visit to Patuxent Meeting, with its rich history, including a visit by George Fox; the honoring of two Friends (Alison Duncan and Riley Robinson) leaving BYM after serving many years and, a current effort to find someone from Virginia to serve on the BYM nominating committee. Denna emphasized how interesting it is to visit other Meetings.
Adult Spiritual Education: Howard Garner announced the next Bible Workbench will be held July 12, 2015 at 9:30 am.
Fifth Month 2015 MWB Minutes: Approved.
Clerk’s Business: (1) The Clerk announced that she had received a minute from Langley Hill Meeting concerning the use of drones as weapons. She forwarded it to Peace and Social Concerns, who did not feel led to take up the concern at this time. The Clerk read the minute. It will be posted on our bulletin board. (2) Midlothian Meeting invites us to a celebration of completion of work to make their meetinghouse accessible to be held on June 28, 2015. More details are in the RFM Sixth Month newsletter. (3) Several Friends have raised concerns with the Clerk about what it means to do something on behalf of, or in the name of, the Meeting. While it has long been RFM’s practice to have committees season issues affecting the Meeting before bringing them to the entire community, there does not appear to be unity about what issues require the “approval” of Meeting as a whole and what issues can or should be acted on through the discernment of a committee. The Clerk asked whether this was something we needed to have dialogue about and, if so, how we might go about that. After some discussion, Friends agreed to ask Ministry and Worship to take the lead in developing a process for dialogue about these issues. (4) The next potluck lunch will be June 28, 2015, at rise of Meeting. Please bring food to share.
Other Business: A Friend noted that the kitchen faucet was still leaking significantly. She expressed a concern about the amount of water that is being wasted and said that it is urgent to have it fixed as soon as possible. Noting that there was not a report this month from the Hospitality or Building and Grounds committees, the Friend asked if anyone knew when the kitchen renovation work was scheduled. Bob Alexander stated that he understood the renovation work would begin in one to three weeks, as soon as the contractor was available.
All business being concluded for the day, we settled into silence until the rise of meeting was signaled from the facing bench.
Barbara Hulburt, Clerk
James Thoroman, Recording Clerk