Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Richmond, VA

Minutes for Tenth Month 2015 Business Meeting

by WebPost | Oct 21, 2015 | Minutes of Business Meeting

Meeting began with silence at 11:00 am. Fifty-five (55) members and attenders were present. Bob Alexander was greeter. Jan Hampton from Ministry and Worship sat on the facing bench to hold Meeting in the Light. Donna Shields was welcomed as a first-time attender to MWB. Steve Humphrey read the Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) proposed Queries and Voices on Vocal Ministry.

Religious Education: Catherine Roseberry announced upcoming events for the committee: (1) Today, October 18, RE will be making a trip to the Pumpkin Patch at the rise of Meeting. (2) On Sunday, November 1, the classes will be Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF at rise of Meeting. Friends were asked to bring lots of loose change to contribute. (3) The RE Christmas Program will be presented on Sunday, December 13. (4) Handmade Christmas will be held on Sunday, December 20. (5) The Candlelight Christmas will be held on Monday, December 21, 7:00 to 8:00 pm, at the Meetinghouse.

It was noted that the annual Carol Sing and pot luck breakfast (although not sponsored by RE), will be held Sunday, December 6, 9:00 to 10:30 am at the home of Kelly and Paul DiPasquale. Friends were asked to bring breakfast food to share.

Nominating Committee: Brooke Davis reported that the committee is actively engaged in talking with Friends about serving the Meeting. She encouraged Friends to contact her, or the other members of the nominating committee (Bob Alexander, Anne Gray and Don Miller), to express their interest in serving on a committee or in a specific position. Brooke thanked Friends who have already agreed to serve and emphasized that serving on a committee is a good way to get to know other Friends and to deepen ties to our community.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Bronwyn Hughes handed out copies of the Third Quarter 2015 report. She noted that, at 75% into the current fiscal year, the Meeting had received 49% of budgeted contributions, and made 76% of budgeted expenses. She noted several things about the report: the telephone bill is up because our service now includes WiFi; the Clerk’s expenses are up because the Assistant Clerk’s attendance at a Pendle Hill clerking workshop was not budgeted for. A committee member commented that if all families in Meeting were to contribute according to their ability, the budget could be managed. Steve Humphrey repeated that contributions are significantly behind expenditures and asked Friends to begin making the contributions needed for us to meet our budget; there are only two-and-a-half months left to contribute half of the budgeted contribution amount. Finally, Steve reminded the Meeting that the committee was asked to consider how committees doing fundraising for various purposes should be handling cash and checks they receive. The committee has created a set of draft guidelines, copies of which are now available in the Treasurer’s mailbox. As other committees begin to use the guidelines, the committee will accept suggestions for how to improve them.

Care and Counsel: Barbara Myers reported for the committee: (1) For the second month, she brought the committee’s recommendation that Meeting approve the membership application of Allen Lee. Friends approved and welcomed Allen to membership. (2) The Friendly 8’s sign-up sheets will be taken down after Meeting. Barbara requested the original poster or the first person on the list to take the sheet, and then contact everyone on the list and facilitate the start of meetings. (3) Mary Bo Gassman is very ill, but would appreciate visits. Please call ahead to see if she’s up for a visit before you go.

Ministry and Worship: Tracey Cain made announcements for the committee:

(1) Co-sponsored with Peace and Social Concerns, on Friday, November 13, 7:30 to 9:00 pm, John Calvi will present “Quaker Initiative to End Torture.” (2) The Fall Retreat will be held Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the Clearing. John Calvi will lead “The Goodness Workshop.” Registration is not required, but please notify Mary Fran Hughes-McIntyre if you plan to come. Bring a blanket and pillow for the workshop. Lunch will be potluck. Please bring food to share. (3) Sunday, November 15, 9:30 to 10:45 am, John Calvi will present “Journal Reading of a Quaker Healer After 30-plus Years.”

Adult Spiritual Education: Howard Garner announced the following: (1) Today, at 1:00 pm, or soon thereafter, Dr. Alice Rothchild, physician and human rights advocate, will present “Healing the Divide in Israel and Palestine.” (2) Saturday, October 24, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, a “Moral Injury Workshop” will be conducted by Lynn and Steve Newsom, Co-Directors of Quaker House. (3) Sunday, October 25, 9:30 to 10:45 am, Dr. Margaret Fisher, Herndon Friends Meeting, will present “The Spiritual Implications of Our Food Choices.” (4) In coordination with both Care and Counsel, and Ministry and Worship, ASE is planning a winter series on the basic values and fundamentals of Quakerism. Howard encouraged Friends to talk to committee members about questions or topics of interest.

Peace and Social Concerns: (1) Marcia Dickinson reminded Friends that the food drive for the Fan Free Clinic will last through October (including Sunday, November 1). Marcia passed out shopping lists for the most needed items. She is also accepting cash donations. (2) Dave Depp described the October blood drive and announced he was placing an information sheet on the table below the bulletin board. This year blood collection is at the agency facility. If enough Friends participate, another drive at the Meetinghouse will be considered. (3) Mark Skolnick announced that the second case of olive oil from a Palestinian supplier has arrived. Future orders will be placed when another twelve bottles ($20 each) have been requested. Requests should be made to Verna Boos. A Friend suggested that the bottles are a nice holiday gift. After the above announcements, (4) Ben Hebner, the FCNL representative for RFM, announced that Lon Burnam from FCNL will be present next week during potluck. He will have information about the upcoming Public Policy Institute which is held each year before the Lobbying Day (this year the dates are Thursday and Friday, November 12 and 13). Ben described several recent meetings with legislators. A Friend reminded us that FCNL can always use donations. (5) Denna Joy announced the John Calvi presentation on November 13 (see the first item in the Ministry and Worship announcements, above).

Ada Hammer made two announcements: (1) A group is forming to make a trip to help with disaster relief in flood-ravaged South Carolina the week of March 26th. Contact Ada, Frances Stewart, Wendy Wadsworth or Ben Hebner if you are interested. (2) A group from Meeting will be providing a meal for families of prisoners after they return from visiting their family members, on December 12. Ada is accepting donations to cover food costs and will contact Friends about any needed help preparing the meal.

Ninth Month 2015 MWB Minutes: Approved.

Clerk’s Business: (1) The Clerk announced that she will bring forward names for next year’s Nominating Committee at the November MWB when the first list of nominees for all committees and positions is presented for Meeting’s consideration. The Clerk presents these names so that Nominating is not replacing its own members. (2) The next potluck lunch will be October 25, 2015, at rise of Meeting. Please bring food to share.

All business being concluded we settled into silence until the rise of meeting was signaled from the facing bench.

Barbara Hulburt, Clerk

James Thoroman, Recording Clerk

Minutes for Ninth Month 2015 Business Meeting

by WebPost | Sep 26, 2015 | Minutes of Business Meeting

Richmond Friends Meeting

Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Ninth Month 20, 2015

Meeting began with silence at 11:00 AM. Thirty-seven (37) members and attenders were present. Clarisse Harton was greeter. Frances Stewart from Ministry and Worship sat on the facing bench to hold Meeting in the Light. Verónica Corrales Fuentes and Sebastian Wolff were welcomed as first-time attenders to MWB. Tracey Cain read the Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) proposed Queries and Voices on Peace.

Religious Education: Barb Adams updated the meeting on the state of the Religious Education program. There are currently 29 children on the roster, of which about 14 are expected to attend regularly. The high school aged Young Friends (YF) and middle school aged Junior Young Friends (JYF) have typical enrollment numbers, while the elementary aged (ELF) class is quite small. All members of the JYF class will be attending the Our Whole Lives (OWL) program at the First Unitarian Universalist church for the majority of the First Days during the school year, and will only attend the meeting RE program sporadically. In order to accommodate these enrollment changes the K–8 children will be grouped together and have a rotating set of teachers.   Upcoming RE events include the sale of handmade ‘Tz for Pz’ shirts (proceeds to Doctors without Borders), and participation in the International Day of Peace vigil to be held at the meetinghouse on Monday Sept. 21^st at 7pm. Barb announced that there will be a program during Young Friends First Day class on October 4^th on Conscientious Objection by Curt Terrell of Quaker House. Betsy Brinson, longtime QH Board member elaborated on the work of Quaker House.

Nominating Committee: Brooke Davis announced that the nominating committee is looking for members to serve on committees next year, and urged people to consider volunteering both to serve the meeting and to deepen their ties within the community.

Care and Counsel: Clarisse Harton announced that the committee is highly recommending Allen Lee for membership. As is customary his membership will be held over for approval to the October MWB, allowing Friends an opportunity to get to know Allen. Clarisse also urged people to consider joining a ‘Friendly 8s’ group by signing up on the lists on the bulletin board. These groups connect members with shared interests on a monthly basis and are a great way to get to know other meeting members. She highlighted the new group that will read One Year to Live by Steven Levine and discuss how to live meaningfully. Wade Smith announced that the trip sponsored by the birding group at the end of October still has openings.

Ministry and Worship: Tracey Cain announced the following upcoming events: (1) She extended an invitation to the Fall Retreat that is being held on November 14 from 9 am to 3 pm at The Clearing.   John Calvi, a licensed massage therapist who has worked extensively with survivors of traumatic events, will lead The Goodness Workshop. This slow quiet time will include sharing by choice, simple clothes-on massage, an energy work form for deep relaxation, and John’s stories to keep us laughing. (2) John Calvi will lead two other events at the meetinghouse during the retreat weekend. On Friday evening he will give a presentation about QUIT, (the Quaker Initiative to End Torture,) and on Sunday at 9:30 am he will present ‘Journal Reading of a Quaker Healer After 30+ years’. (3) On November 1st, after meeting, VCCW (Virginia Correctional Center for Women) volunteers will gather for a light lunch and discussion, and invite people to learn more about their prison ministry (R.S.V.P. Rita Willett). The Quaker group at the women’s prison has been meeting for almost one year and plans to use the “spiritual state” process to develop a report to be shared with our meeting.

Website Committee: Don Miller updated members on changes to the meeting website, richmondfriendsmeeting.org, which has been available for more than a year. The committee has recently completed a significant revision to make it more convenient to use and make navigation more intuitive. Archives of meeting documents and the current directory are available in a password protected area. The committee would like to add more photographs once there is a clear privacy policy for publishing pictures. Don encouraged people to explore and use the website. Don also read a letter from Tom Illmensee, the primary architect of the website, who has moved to Hungary with his family. In his letter he talked about his family taking food and supplies to Syrian refugees who were at the Budapest train station and visiting the protest zone.

Peace and Social Concerns: (1) Mark Skolnick reported that PSC is selling Palestinian olive oil. Orders may be placed through Verna Boos.   (2) Marcia Dickinson reminded members of the annual food drive we sponsor in October to collect food for the Fan Free Clinic. Leave donations of nonperishable foods, dog food, and paper bags in the collection box at the meetinghouse. (3) Ada Hammer announced that she is coordinating a dinner our meeting is sponsoring on 12/12/15 for families returning from a visiting day at distant prisons through Assisting Families of Inmates. Donations of time and food will be needed. (4) At its annual session in August, BYM approved a Climate Change Minute which had been created by Quaker Earthcare Witness, Quaker United Nations Office and Friends Committee on National Legislation. BYM asked individual meetings to consider the minute. The Climate Change minute was read and approved. This minute is separate from the one drafted and approved by RFM.

Adult Spiritual Education: Monica Shaw announced the following events, for which details are found on our website and in the newsletter: (1) Sunday, October 4th at 9:30 and 11 am in the Community Room: Workshops on Conscientious Objection and the Peace Testimony. There will be a session on Being an Advocate at rise of meeting, (2) Sunday, October 18th at 1 pm in the Community Room: Healing the Divide in Israel and Palestine. Dr. Alice Rothchild, Boston physician, human rights advocate and Jewish advocate for peace in Israel and Palestine, will present on her recent and ongoing travels to Gaza, (3) Saturday, October 24th from 10-12 noon in the Community Room: Moral Injury Workshop a presentation featuring Lynn and Steve Newsom, co-directors of Quaker House Military Counseling Center, Fayetteville, NC, home of Fort Bragg. Wade Smith, Quaker House Board Member spoke about the work that Quaker House is doing in this area to support veterans.   (4) Sunday, October 25th, 9:30 to 10:45 am in the Community Room: The Spiritual Implications of Our Food Choices with Dr. Margaret Fisher of Herndon Friends Mtg.

Seventh Month 2015 MWB Minutes: Approved.

Clerk’s Business: The next potluck lunch will be September 27th, 2015, at rise of Meeting. Please bring food to share. The clerk announced the scheduled execution of Alfredo R. Prieto on Thursday, October 1^st at 9:00 pm. RFM will hold a vigil beginning at 8:30. Friends are asked to consult the VADP (Virginians Against the Death Penalty) website for further information as the date approaches.

Other Business: Margaret Edds of Care and Counsel reported that Mary Bo Gassman has fallen ill and would appreciate cards and letters. Elizabeth Smith announced a silent retreat at The Clearing on Wednesday September 23^rd from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. The day is co-sponsored with the group Chrysalis, and those interested were reminded to bring a bag lunch.

All business being concluded we settled into silence until the rise of meeting was signaled from the facing bench.

Denna Joy, Acting Clerk

Tina Mello, Acting Recording Clerk