Meeting for Worship With Attention to Business
Third Month, Fourth Day, 2001
The meeting was opened by Clerk Jim Kenney. Karin McAdams read a reflection, which was followed by a period of silence:
[Dr. Luther Gulick had this to say about the Camp Fire Law. We may be able to apply these thoughts to our own guidelines and process]:
The power of the Law is within you. It is not law that other people can demand you obey; that is, it is not law from without – it is law from the heart. It commands only those who seek to follow. It is opportunity, not obligation. It is an open road leading to the beautiful country where you live, rather than chains which would bind or limit your freedom.
There were 13 members and attenders present.
REPORT OF THE PEACE AND SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE
– read by David Rommel
The Peace and Social Concerns Committee met on Sunday February 11th at 9:00
AM; present were Rachel, Marge, Amy and David. We will meet again one week
from today at 9:00 AM.
Our committee discussed guidelines for considering charitable donations by
our meeting. We assumed the following: all requests will be presented to
the meeting for approval during the Meeting for Worship with Attention to
Business; where questions or lack of familiarity are involved, it is
incumbent on the individual presenting the request to provide additional
information; and it is preferable that requests precede the event or
activity to be funded.
Organizations or individuals being considered for charitable donations
should be associated with activities consistent with Quaker values. They
should also conduct their activities in a manner consistent with Quaker
beliefs on non-violence, tolerance, respect for differing views and building
positive relationships with proponents of those views.
We recognize three options for responding to requests for donations,
- V.O.P.S. Fund - Peace and social justice requests approved by the meeting
and provided in the name of Penn Valley Monthly Meeting.
- Personal/Individual through P.V.M.M. requests approved by the meeting for other matters and provided in the name of Penn Valley Monthly Meeting.
- Personal/Individual requests that individual members are encouraged to
support.
We will submit these recommendations to Ministry and Oversight in accordance with the procedure agreed upon during the February Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business.
The program on March 25th will be an open format discussion on capital punishment. Documents will be available stating it is your wish, that the
perpetrator of a violent act where you are the victim should be exempt from
the death penalty. We express our gratitude to Rachel for acquiring these
documents. We are also grateful to her for making possible the opportunity
to take personal responsibility for opposition to the death penalty. Rachel
is a notary and will be on hand to notarize signed documents.
The budget submitted by Mayor Barnes to the city council includes cuts in
funding to urban pre-school and head start programs. We drafted a letter to
the mayor for Jim Doebbel Exec. Dir. of Westport Cooperative Services,
urging the mayor to secure alternate funding for these programs prior to the
expiration of the current budget. If you are similarly moved, please
contact the mayor's Chief of Staff Mr. Joe Service and your City Council
person. Several copies of the Westport Cooperative Services annual report
are available for those who wish to read it.
A letter was sent to Ian Fritz denying his request for legal aid support.
Our sense is that his throwing snow balls at police officers violated the
spirit of non-violent protest. A copy of the letter is available for those
who wish to read it. We encouraged him to submit a letter on his behalf
from the clerk of the Milwaukee Monthly Meeting if he felt his actions were
misinterpreted.
A letter read at last month's Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
addressing inequities in public school funding was submitted to the As I See
It column of the Kansas City Star. it will appear in an upcoming issue. Our
meeting's minute on the U.N. sanctions against Iraq has been re-written for
the As I See It section of the K.C. Star and will be submitted this month.
A thank you e-mail was sent to the Adventure Fitness Club of the Kansas City Campfire boys & girls for their participation in our earthquake victims
relief effort. A copy of the e-mail is available for those who wish to read it.
We have a request of the meeting. We would like the meeting to donate
$25.00 from the V.O.P.S. fund to the My Lai Revolving Loan Fund sponsored by the Madison Wisconsin Monthly Meeting.
The fund provides loans to
Vietnamese women for start-up business expenses. The money helps the recipients to become self sufficient and the pay
back rate is nearly perfect.
We have a request of the meeting. There is a declaration available for
friends to sign denouncing the hate mail recently received by local black
churches. We ask, if you find this type of racially motivated intolerance
abhorrent, that you set your name to the declaration. Additionally, we ask
that friends financially support a full-page ad appearing in Feb. 7th's
Kansas City Star denouncing racial intolerance. If the meeting approves,
donations should be made to Penn Valley Monthly Meeting and the treasurer would write a check on our behalf.
David
MINUTE
Friends strongly commend the work of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee and approve the report as corrected.
Campaign of Conscience has asked for a donation to help with their effort to moderate the sanctions in Iraq. Friends
approved sending $100.00 to the Campaign of Conscience as well as $25.00 for the My Lai Revolving Loan Fund and
$50.00 for the black churches' advertisement in the Kansas City Star.
[The minutes for the Ministry and Oversight committee were not available. However, Karin McAdams presented the
following report]:
REPORT ON CLEARNESS COMMITTEE
A Clearness Committee consisting of Jim Kenney, Cathy Gardner, Nancy Blair Moon, David Rommel and Karin
McAdams met with Marc Robinson to consider Marc's request for membership in Penn Valley Meeting. The committee
heartily recommends that the Meeting approve membership for Marc.
MINUTE
Friends approved with pleasure Marc Robinson's membership in Penn Valley Meeting.
TREASURER'S REPORT
[The Treasurer's report was given by Ginger Kenney. It is available on request from the clerk of the Meeting.]
MINUTE
Friends appreciate the well-thought-out treasurer's report format and approve the report.
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT – given by Rachel MacNair
I have examined the treasurer's documents as provided by Kent Luetke-Stahlman for the calendar year 2000.
This includes bank statements, canceled checks and check tallies, deposit slips and income tallies. I had two questions
which were cleared up. Comparisons between these documents and the monthly treasurer's reports to Meeting were not
made. I find the official financial documents to be in order. Kent has clearly done an exemplary job as Treasurer.
Respectfully submitted,
Rachel M. MacNair
MINUTE
Rachel's work on the audit was thorough and well received. Friends approved the audit report.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT – given by Amy Zeh Rommel
A reminder of the programs for March:
March 4: Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
March 11: The House Search Committee would like to hear your thoughts
concerning our meeting house. Share your thoughts, in advance, and
write down any ideas you have on the sheet provided. This will help the
committee in organizing the program, "Quest for House."
March 18: -- Query and Potluck
March 25: An open forum concerning capital punishment. Due to bad weather, this program was canceled in February. Please take this opportunity to voice your concerns on this issue. The Social Concerns Committee would appreciate your input.
Programs for April:
April 1: Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
April 8: Rachel MacNair presents a program on this Palm Sunday: The Lost
Religion of Jesus; Non-Violence and Simplicity in Early Christianity,
by Keith Akers. The book was published last fall, 2000. Rachel along with other members of the Penn Valley
Meeting were involved in getting this
book published. Please join us for the discussion.
April 15: Query and potluck
April 22: Spring Fling is a' flinging this very weekend. For those not
participating in the event, please join us for a day of conversation and
fellowship. Take the opportunity to catch up with friends.
April 29: Midyear Meeting is occurring this weekend. Those not attending are welcome to join us in a worship-sharing
program.
Respectfully submitted,
Terry Matz and Amy Zeh-Rommel
MINUTE
Friends heard the report of the Program Committee and asked pertinent questions. They approved the report with thanks.
MINUTE
Shanna Smith presented her plans for training and long-term goals as a midwife. At present she needs help funding a three-day
workshop for Doula birth-coach training, which will help her support her next step.
The request was referred to the Ministry and Oversight Committee, which will look at the nature of the several funds available.
The Meeting expects to make a decision at the April meeting.
The meeting for Third Month closed with a few moments of silence.
Respectfully submitted,
Karin McAdams
Recording Clerk
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