Minneapolis Friends Meeting

Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, 4/13/2014

9:45 AM

Ranae Hanson (presiding clerk), Tom Ward (recording clerk), Pat Jones (director of ministry)  [some names and information have been redacted for publication on the web]

I      Friends Approved the March Minutes

II    Monthly Reports

1. Director of Ministry – Pat Jones    (no report today)
2. Ministry and Counsel – Judith James   The regular M&C meeting was cancelled due to a snowstorm. MFM is making the transition to the new committee members and new clerk assignments as of April 1. There are two agenda items for monthly meeting consideration:    (1)  M&C is asking the Meeting to reinstitute the summer schedule that was tried last summer – a single meeting for worship on First Day at 10 AM that is followed by a time for fellowship. We would switch between semi-programmed and unprogrammed worship on alternating weeks. [May 25^th , Memorial Day Sunday, is the start of the summer schedule of a single worship at 10 AM and we will start alternating Sundays with semi-programmed worship on the 25th.]       Additional discussion: The Meeting supports expanding opportunities for fellowship and seeks ideas for activities. This is an area where the new Outreach and Welcoming Committee is expected to play a role. The Worship Committee continues to have under its care the summer worship schedule and is asked to consider the suggestions from our evaluation of last summer’s trial schedule, with attention to the input from unprogrammed meeting attenders regarding how the placement of music and the process of standing for hymns impacts the worship experience.  Friends Approved the summer schedule of worship.     (2)  Someone from MFM needs to attend Northern Yearly Meeting’s Memorial Minute Service to read and to present memorial minutes of those from our Meeting who have died this past year. The plan is to read the minute from Rusk Anderson, to post the minute from John Campbell on their display board and to note the passing of Nancy Peterson and post her photo. Nancy’s memorial minute will be read next year since it has not been finished and approved. Pat is attending NYM and she will make sure the minutes are brought to be read and displayed at NYM.  – Friend questioned if the reading of the memorial minutes is still practiced by NYM. Yes. And NYM specifically requested minutes from all its meetings to be included in a service this year.

III     Reports

1. Nomination (update) – John Kraft   The position of clerk for Liaison and Review Committee was unfilled at last month’s approval of the Structure of Service and Ministry Report. Suzanne Fergusson and Gayle McJunkin have agreed to be co-clerks of the committee. Monthly Meeting Approved.
2. Liaison and Review (annual) – Gayle McJunkin (postponed due to family emergency)
3. Membership and Attendance (annual) – Carolyn VandenDolder   It is difficult to determine what constitutes active participation. This report is weighted toward recording those who come with some constancy to first day worship / first day school (more than three times a year). College students, on the whole, are considered inactive with the exception of those who live in town and come to worship through the year. This report does not include the membership of Winona Preparative Meeting, which is under MFM care.    Generally stated, there are currently 65 active adult members of Minneapolis Monthly Meeting and no active associate members. There are 35 regular adult attenders and 6 regular attenders who are children.  New associate members: (0)     Losses by death (3): Nancy Peterson, August 14, 2013; John Campbell, February 5, 2014; Rusk Anderson, September 1, 2013   Losses by transfer (3)  Betty Firth (Duluth);   Jon and Angelica Shafer (Eau Claire)  Released members (6)  New members (2): Anne Lawton and Jared Nichols    The marriage of Bill Hendricks and Michael Reid was taken under the care of the Meeting.     Discussion: How many inactive members do we have? We did not count them and it might be good to keep track for next year. Pat: M&C discussed this a few years back and decided not to track inactive members. The list goes back decades.

IV     Follow-up Decisions

1. State of Society Report – Clerk noted that the topic was addressed at last month’s meeting and, while a number ideas and subjects for the report were suggested, no one came forth to help write it. The question was raised if there was any benefit to us in doing the annual state of society report. Northern Yearly Meeting requests it. There was some sentiment that our Meeting does benefit from the process and that other Meetings may appreciate learning about the many changes and experiences we had last year. It was noted that the State of Society Report is recorded in our minutes, providing an on-going historical record of the Meeting. Sandy O. will contribute an overview of Quaker Quest, and Joanne E. agreed to assist Sandy and the presiding clerk in writing it.

V       New Business

1. Memorial Minute for John Campbell was read and APPROVED it will be presented at NYM (NYM requests that the minutes be one page in length) Friends thank Steve S. for writing the minute. (entire text is in attachments)
2. Peace and Social Concerns – Nancy Helfrich  Three proposals:  (1)  P&SC is bringing forth a Minute in support of Duluth-Superior Meeting: “Minneapolis Friends Meeting stands with Duluth-Superior Friends Meeting and others in opposition to the Gegobic Taconite Mine in Wisconsin”.   (2) Discussion – Duluth Superior Meeting (DSMM) had sent out a longer minute detailing the issues involving the Gegobic Taconite Mine, but we cannot locate it and they have misplaced it. The New York Times recently published a detailed report on the mine, focusing on the challenges and affirming the issues discussed in DSMM’s minute. A Friend expressed desire to read more on the issue before deciding. It was felt there is no real urgency in approving the minute today, so links to the information will be posted on the web site and in the bulletin, and we will decide this next month.  (3) Recommendation to have a Meeting representative to our local AFSC office [Friends for a Non-Violent World?]. Nancy Helfrich is one of the members of P&SC and is willing to be that representative if no one else steps forward.Jeannette reports that this initiative – to establish links with local meetings – comes from the national AFSC office and is intended to help the national office in deciding how best to involve local meetings with a few of the program initiatives, out of a larger list, that AFSC is pursuing this year. She believes there is only this one national initiative, and not a second one focusing on the local office, as described in this recommendation. The national AFSC office suggests there are four program areas where local Friends might become more involved, and their desire is to have liaisons to work with local meetings to decide on one or two of these areas to expand locally, such as waging international peace or resolving the Arab/Israeli conflict. Nancy is not interested in being a liaison to the national AFSC office. Clerk stated that we need to be real clear about the role of this liaison and that once this is clarified we can post the request for a volunteer in the bulletin.  Discussion: The intent of this request is to provide a liaison from local meetings to the local AFSC affiliate. Our Meeting already has a liaison (Jeannette Raymond) to the regional AFSC office in Chicago.    “Years of living dangerously” is being presented at MFM tonight at 7PM. 38 people have signed up so far – most from outside the meeting. This is the first of 9 TV shows produced by 350.org highlighting climate change and threats to the environment. After tonight’s streaming internet broadcast, the shows will only be available on Showtime. This will be an opportunity to introduce outsiders to the Meeting and Quakers, and it seems that people are gravitating to our meeting house for this event rather than going to other public locations.

VI     Communications

1. Thank you from Right Sharing of the World’s Resources for $690 donation in 2013.
2. Thank you from RECLAIM for our contribution of $536. Reclaim offers financially and culturally accessible mental and integrative health support to LGBT youth.
3. Thank you from Madison Quakers, Inc. for our generous $500 contribution in 2014 to support their projects in Vietnam.
4. Thank you from Joanne E. and Mike H., on behalf of Light of Hope School in Kenya, for our White Envelope gift of $200 this past December.       Mike and Joanne will hand deliver supplies purchased with the money (wall maps, math materials and books) to Light of Hope School this summer. The school supports 73 amazing girls.
5. Friend added an announcement about the Metro Friends Square Dance taking place on Saturday night April 26. The dance is a great activity for adults and children. Demi M. will do the calling and there will be live music by the Quaker Band. Parents and children from Friends School have been invited.

Adjourn

Attachments:

Memorial Minute for John Campbell.

Campbell, John age 71, passed away peacefully Feb 5, 2014, with his wife, Sydney, at his side. John was born in 1942 in Denver, Colorado but moved to California when he was six months old.  John’s mother died when he was just 8 years old and he was then raised by a Quaker foster grandmother who attended the Fresno Friends Meeting.  Growing up in this Quaker family, John became interested in social issues, and as a teenager lobbied the state legislature on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee’s peace and justice work.  In later years he continued to work for social justice and environmental issues and was active in efforts to save the Redwoods in California.

John was educated in the public schools of Fresno and studied at the University of California-Berkeley, UCLA and Fresno State University.  He met his future wife, Sydney, in 1966 when she was visiting relatives in Fresno and they were married under the care of Buckingham Friends Meeting in Pennsylvania the following year. After their marriage, he continued his academic study at the University of Iowa where he completed the coursework for the PhD program in geography with special focus on urban economic issues.  John and Sydney returned to California where he taught for two years at the University of California at Berkeley.  Although John did not continue in teaching, he remained involved in research and helped start a journal in geography.

John loved maps and studied them for pleasure and knowledge.  He surrounded himself with maps in his home by tacking them to the walls and even ceilings and floors.  Perhaps because of his passion for geography and learning, John loved to visit and explore new places and languages. He traveled from Berkeley to Mexico by bus and learned enough Spanish so that people he met could understand him.  He visited the Northwest Territories in Canada and several Indian reservations in Canada and the United States where he became acquainted with the social injustices experienced by Native Americans.  Later, other travels with Sydney took him around Lake Superior, to Prince Edward Island and to Quebec where he could use his knowledge of French

John and Sydney moved to Minneapolis in 1988 where John attended the Friends Meeting until his death.  John especially enjoyed Friends camping weekends at People Camp and Fall Camp.   He was an avid reader and loved to meet and engage in serious conversations with other people. Many Friends have fond memories of conversing with John in the dining hall at camp.  Being somewhat shy, Sydney remembers John’s interest in people and places as a wonderful complement in their marriage introducing her to new and interesting friends, places and ideas.

John also enjoyed watching movies, listening to music and occasionally playing the piano at Quaker Meeting.  While not active in committees at the Minneapolis Friends Meeting, he graced the Meeting community with his quiet presence and regular attendance.

In recent years John had been in rather poor health, but he approached life with great courage and with the loving assistance of his wife, Sydney.

His memorial service was held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, February 16, 2014 at the Minneapolis Friends (Quaker) Meeting, 4401 York Ave South in Minneapolis, Minnesota.