Meeting for Worship With Attention to Business
Eleventh Month, Fourth Day, 2001

Opening thought: [In a Friends Meeting] in fact, there is no majority or minority; there is a group striving to arrive at unity. Everybody's judgment counts for what it is worth and weighs something if it helps to bring the group to clarity and decision. A speaker who obviously speaks without depth or insight, or who is minded to be stubborn and have his own selfish way, will usually carry little weight and will be discounted when "the sense of the meeting" is gathered up. The method is designed to secure a conclusion that is wiser than the judgment of any single man, a conclusion to which all have contributed and which gathers up the corporate wisdom of the body.(Rufus Jones, The Faith and Practice of the Quakers)

REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE, Marc Robinson : The nominations proposed by the committee and the work of the committee were received with great appreciation. The possibility of having an assistant clerk was received well, and a person for that position will be recruited from the Ministry and Oversight committee. A few accidental omissions were corrected. The Finance Committee needed new members, and Cathy Gardner and Amy Zeh-Rommel offered to serve. (See report for the entire slate)

REPORT OF THE TREASURER-Jim Kenney presented the report, which was not complete due to Ginger's absence. October receipts: $435, making a total of $10,725 for the year with expenditures of $11,444.

REPORT OF THE PEACE AND SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE - from David Rommel, read by Jim Kenney: Given that Friends had a variety of creative suggestions for the peace pole, the sense of the Meeting led to referring the issue back to the committee. The date of their next meeting will tentatively be November 11 at 9:00 a.m., and anyone wishing to attend is welcome to do so. They should verify the time and place with David. The Ministry and Oversight Committee is empowered to appoint an Anniversary Celebration Committee.

REPORT OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE , Marc Robinson: All the existing books are cataloged and available, and about half of the books from Donnie Morehouse's collection are also cataloged.

REPORT OF THE MINISTRY AND OVER- SIGHT COMMITTEE , Karin McAdams: The Pastoral Care Newsletter, and an FGC piece on outreach are available to anyone who wants to see them. The committee discussed possible Meeting responses to the terrorist attack and decided to listen carefully to the sense of the Meeting in this regard. Many statements have already been made. The issue concerning the Back Pages has been referred to the Peace and Social Concerns committee. This, however, brought up the wider question of outreach. It was felt that at this point our best outreach effort is being made through our website. Perhaps Friends would also like to create an outreach committee. Concerning Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business: It was noted that some Friends are reluctant to ask questions during committee reports. Since we also want to maintain a worshipful atmosphere during meetings, the question is, how can Friends in general be heard while keeping a calm and focused meeting? It was felt that if committees could tell us inadvance of their agendas, we might be better able to contact them with our concerns. Also, it is a part of the business meeting process to air concerns, some of them difficult. Any Friend is empowered to suggest a moment of silence during such discussion, to help us keep our spiritual focus. Friends asked if we should follow up on our dialogue with the Jewish Chronicle, as had been planned before September 11. Since Jim Kenney and Rick Kaufman are continuing to communicate with Rick Kaplan, we decided to let this issue rest but to stay informed. A discussion took place on the issue of an outreach committee. The decision was referred to the Ministry and Oversight committee. The report was received with appreciation.

REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE -Kevin Chafin : [The committee met and decided to present ten programs in the next year, all under the general theme, "What does it mean to be a Quaker?" There may be programs added to expand on certain of the themes. Topics are: 1) History 2) Quakerism and minorities 3) Worship 4) Quakers and education 5) Quaker process / decision making 6) History of Penn Valley Meeting 7) Testimonies 8) Quakerism and sacred texts 9) Disciplines 10) Young people and Quakerism. GENERAL BUSINESS: Next year is our turn to be the Entertainment Committee for Iowa Yearly Meeting. We need to send a representative to planning meetings for the 2002 gathering. This committee will be in charge of planning programs, food etc. This appointment was referred to the Ministry and Oversight Committee.

The Christian Peacemakers team, composed of traditional peace churches who work in "hot spots" around the world, would like to have their next meeting in Kansas City, in the autumn of 2002. They would like assurances from our Meeting, the Mennonite and the Brethren churches that we will support this effort. Friends were enthusiastic, and Marilee agreed to contact them. Friends agreed to be one of three sponsors for the Christian Peacemakers Team in the fall of 2002.