Meeting for Worship With Attention to Business
Fourth month, First day, 2001
The meeting was opened by Clerk Jim Kenney. There were fourteen members and attenders present.
Before a period of silence, Recording Clerk Karin McAdams read the following story:
In 1948, there were 750,000 refugees on the Gaza Strip; the new state of Israel had just been established. The UN asked AFSC to take responsibility for feeding, housing, etc. At the meeting of the AFSC Board of Directors, all speakers said the work needed doing, but all agreed it was just too big for the Service Committee. They counselled that we should say no, with regrets. Then the chairman called for a period of silence, prayer, meditation. Ten or fifteen minutes went by in which no one spoke. The chairman opened the discussion once again. The view around the table was completely changed: "Of course, we have to do it." There was complete unity.
- a former AFSC staff member, quoted in
Beyond Majority Rule, by Michael J. Sheeran
TREASURER'S REPORT
[The Treasurer's report was given by Ginger Kenney. It is available on request from the clerk of the Meeting.]
MINUTE
After asking for clarification, Friends accepted the Treasurer’s report with gratitude.
REPORT OF THE PEACE AND SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE
The Peace and Social Concerns Committee met on Sunday, March 11th at 9:00 a.m.; present were Amy, Rachel, Marge and David. Our next meeting is Sunday, April 8, at 9:00 a.m.
We would like to express our gratitude to those who participated in the capital punishment program. Friends’ comments on the subject were thoughtful and revealing. Our clerk will submit a minute on capital punishment at next week’s committee meeting. We hope to present the minute during next month’s Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business.
Westport Cooperative Services has recently lost several volunteers from its Senior Companions program. If you know a senior citizen who is inclined to volunteer as a companion to a fellow senior please see David. Several positions are open; the need is urgent and compensation is available.
On May 13th, Mother’s Day, we as a meeting have elected to donate material aide to the Advice and Aide Pregnancy Center. We are developing a shopping list and will accept donations at next month’s Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. We need volunteers to do the shopping; if you are interested, please see Rachel, Marge, Amy or David.
We have learned that Rep. Richard Hall of Ohio is sponsoring legislation aimed at controlling the flow of "dirty diamonds" in the U.S. marketplace. Talking points and an address for contacting Rep. Hall and national retailers are forthcoming.
Last month we started an urgent action contact list in an effort to determine how Friends would like to be notified of upcoming events. If you haven’t indicated your preference for handouts or e-mail, please see David.
A submission on the Iraq sanctions was made to the "As I See It" column of the Kansas City Star; it has not yet been printed.
MINUTE
Friends heard with great interest David Rommel’s report from the Peace and Social Concerns Committee, including a report on Michael Luick-Thramms’ upcoming lecture tour to share his book on the Scattergood Hostel, Out of Hitler’s Reach. David will contact the Jewish community regarding Michael’s program, and if a great deal of time is requited to organize the presentations, we will recruit extra help for David.
Friends expressed concerns over emerging national environmental policies and would like to have a collective letter on this subject to be sent to the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency, and local Missouri and Kansas representatives and senators as well as talking points for individual letters.
REPORT FROM THE MINISTRY AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE - Second Month
The Ministry and Oversight Committee has set the second Monday after Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business as the standing date for meetings, so members can plan other responsibilities around a specific day each month.
Individuals have expressed gratitude for caring outreach from the Meeting when in a time of stress or pain. Consideration will be given to finding someone on the committee with a leading toward contacting those who may on occasion need a friendly phone call or note.
Several people have expressed a desire to better understand the various accounts and funds allocated for different needs. It was determined that line-item budgeted amounts and VOPS interest are available for requests for whole-meeting giving, and Friends are encouraged to make their own donations to charities of interest beyond the scope of our budget, directly or through the Sufferings Fund.
It was the sense of the committee that each year one third of the committee should drop off to attain the recommended limit of three-year terms, while providing continuity of involvement and experience of committee membership.
Ministry and Oversight continues to search for clearness in the selection of a clerk for the committee, with consideration to be given to M & O Committee experience, freedom from conflict with other obligations, and ability to attend regularly.
The committee will approach the Nominating Committee to find out if job descriptions are on file for each committee that outlines specific responsibilities for each position, and, if not, what can be done to accomplish it.
MINUTE
The minutes of the February Ministry and Oversight Committee meeting were read and approved.
An item of business from the March meeting was presented and discussed. Shanna Smith had requested scholarship assistance for a Doula training to help her with her midwifery training. After laboring over this issue, it was decided to offer her a $50.00 grant from the VOPS fund and to offer a loan of $225, also from the VOPS fund. She will be requested to meet with the Ministry and Oversight committee to work out a payment plan. Friends approved this decision.
REPORT FROM THE HOUSE SEARCH COMMITTEE
The House Search Committee convened a program on the 11th of 3rd month 2001, seeking direction and guidance from the meeting about the likelihood of a new Meetinghouse. Pat Miller and Rick Yarnell were conveners.
In years past, members and attenders had expressed their Meeting house facility wants and needs. We reviewed those wants and determined that they were still valid. We then focused on goals of the Meeting, and how any facility could help the Meeting reach its goals.
Many Friends expressed a desire to keep the Meeting small in numbers, and that growth of the Meeting itself should not be a goal. Friends expressed concern over the major drawback of the current Meetinghouse - that we do not have good First Day School facilities, and expressed that this lack was a hindrance to attendance by members, or future members, with children. Several ideas for improving First Day School facilities were voiced.
Friends expressed a desire to stay in the current house, noting that the building had been "prayed up" after many years of our religious use. Friends also believed that the cost of building a new Meetinghouse would be substantial, and likely to be beyond the ability of members and attenders to bear.
Accordingly, the House Search Committee will focus future efforts on expansion or reconfiguration of our current Meetinghouse and on improvements to First Day School facilities.
MINUTE
Friends heard and approved the well-considered report of the House Search Committee. There was an expressed need for more complete discussion of the major issues raised; this can take place at the next Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT
A reminder of the 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.
Programs for May:
May 6: Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
May 13: Barb and Hannah Luetke-Stahlman present a program on the
School of the Americas
May 20: Query and potluck
May 27: Please join us for a discussion on the history of Quaker youth and
protest. Barb returns to share her book ideas that focus on
seventeenth-century Quaker youth.
MINUTE
Terry Matz presented the report of the Program Committee with some additions. It was gratefully heard and accepted.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT
The Ministry and Oversight Committee asked to increase the membership on their committee. Mark Robinson has agreed to serve. Terry Matz is considering it.
MINUTE
The report from the Nominating Committee was read and approved.
This concluded our Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, planning to meet the Sixth day of the Fifth month, 2001. The meeting ended with a period of silence.
Respectfully submitted,
Karin McAdams
Recording Clerk
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