↓
 

Meeting for Business Minutes, April 9, 2017

Minneapolis Friends Meeting Posted on by

April 9, 2017 MFM Monthly Meeting for Business

  1. 9:00 Unprogrammed Meeting for Worship
  2. 9:45 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business-  Ranae Hanson – presiding clerk (filling-in for David Woolley), Tom Ward – recording clerk
  3. Gathering Worship
  4. March Minutes APPROVED Suggestion was made that we make sure everyone signs-in on the attendance log
  5. Reports
    1. Director of Ministry Report – ­ Pat Jones is absent today
    2. Ministry and Counsel Report – Keitha Herron reported for committee clerk, John Kraft    The charge of Ministry and Counsel (M&C) is to oversee and care for the worship, spiritual life and care of membership of the meeting. New members are Bill H., Keitha H., and Annette S.  They join the other members: Heidi F., Nancy H., Terry K., John K. (clerk), Sandy O., Steve S., Carolyn V.  Ex Officio: Barbara C., Pat Jones, Gayle M., David Woolley.  They are focused, currently, on the care of the meeting during the transition, as we prepare for Pat’s retirement, and on intergenerational integration within the meeting – considering a possible end of the school year special meeting for worship.   There was no discussion.
    3. Liaison & Review Committee annual report- Barbara Ziegenhagen (Annual committee report) The committee’s charge is to serve as liaison between the Director of Ministry, the Trustees, and the Meeting. They provide general personnel oversight, report annually to Monthly Meeting, and make salary recommendations to Stewardship Committee.  They have been focused on the retirement of the director of ministry on September 30, 2017 and are working to identify the tasks and qualities needed for leadership in the Meeting. These fall into four main categories: pastoral care, coordination, resource person/teacher, and administrator.  The committee sponsored two mid-morning sessions to consider leadership tasks needed for our Meeting, whether handled by the director of ministry or by the meeting community. 
      1. On November 6, 2016, Linda Coffin presented a brief history of Quakers in the U.S. and an in-depth look at the history of Minneapolis Friends Meeting since its’ inception. Pat reviewed the many tasks and qualities of meeting leadership that she has experienced over her 38 years as director of ministry.
      2. On November 20, we had a panel of people who have experienced different forms of meeting organization and leadership.  This was followed by questions and answers.
      3. On January 7, the Meeting held a threshing session to explore ways that we would like to shape the future of the Meeting.  About 50 people participated, and they shared both fears, their grief about Pat’s leaving, and excitement about contemplating the new beginning.
      4. At the February 12, 2017 monthly meeting for business the committee presented a progress report and proposed that, now, the task could be turned over to a transition committee that would provide ways for the community to come to decisions about how to proceed.  The Meeting asked the clerk of Liaison and Review, the clerk of Ministry and Counsel, and the clerk of Monthly Meeting to select the Transition Committee. An equally important role of the committee has been to serve as a sounding board and to support Pat as she transitions out of her role as director of ministry. The committee is encouraging Pat to take some small sabbaticals as we all prepare for the transition.   They also have discussed Carolyn’s role as she assists Pat in the months ahead. They have tried to provide support to Carolyn as the process has unfolded, knowing that the Meeting, with guidance from the transition committee, will determine the administrative needs after September 30th.   Discussion:  Friend wanted to know if we are considering eliminating the office administrative position.  Response: While that is up to the transition committee and Meeting, the Presiding Clerk affirmed that the support for Carolyn, that the committee has been providing, is for her, personally, and is separate from the role of office manager.
  6. New Business
    1. Proposal to buy Northern Yearly Meeting Faith & Practice books – Ministry & Counsel The newly finished Faith and Practice Books, created by Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM), are being published for the first time, and we received late notice that the reduced pricing for the books ends on April 23. If we want to enjoy the reduced rate, we have to act promptly.  The reduced price is $6.00 for paperback cover and $15.00 for hard cover.  (Full price is $12.00 soft cover, $25.00 hard cover) Ministry and Counsel proposes that we purchase 25 paperbacks and 25 hard cover books for a total of $525.  There have been some voluntary offers to help purchase these books in advance, but the Meeting would have to create a designated fund to manage those donations.  Discussion:  There was a lot of discussion about paying for the books and how the books would be distributed in the meeting.    Since most copies of the Faith and Practice would be individually purchased, it became clear that the money required to make the initial purchase would be mostly recovered through sales of the books and would not adversely affect our budget. Thus, the Meeting could pay for the initial order out of general funds and expect to recover those costs.  This would reduce the need to raise money in a designated fund before we could purchase the books. Some Friends wanted to know if those who contribute to the designated fund would still have to purchase their own books.  This was a detail that had not been considered. There was question about using library funds to purchase the Faith and Practices – they have insufficient money to make very many purchases.  Also, there is a special line item in the budget to pay for the Faith and Practices that are given to new members.  Friends APPROVED establishing a designated fund to purchase the NYM Faith and Practice books, with the understanding that this was not the first course of action, but is a contingency to manage donations, if that becomes necessary, since the initial purchase will be from general funds.   Stewardship was asked to consider some of the issues raised regarding contributions to the designated fund and how book sales will relate to the fund – Will the fund zero out?  How will the sales of books be managed? Will book sales be added back into the fund? Will contributors to the fund still have to pay additional money for their own copies? Will the fund be used for future purchases of the books? Friends were asked for comments on the number of books M&C was recommending – 25 soft cover and 25 hard cover. There was discussion about the need for a sufficient number of hard cover books to give to new members, but the final decision was to keep the number of hard covers to 25 while increasing the number of soft cover books to 40.  Friends APPROVED ordering 40 soft cover and 25 hard cover NYM Faith and Practice books using general funds.
    2. Proposal for voluntary carbon tax donations – Peace & Social Concerns Committee, Roland Barrett Since the $400 that was designated for a meeting rain garden last year was not spent, Peace and Social Concerns (P&SC) is proposing that the $400 be added to the 2017-18 voluntary carbon tax of $1450, increasing this year’s voluntary carbon tax fund to $1850.  Discussion:  There was much discussion about how the $400 played into the shortfall in last year’s budget but it was confirmed that the $400 had already been taken out of last year’s budget and applied to the 2017-18 budget.  Friends APPROVED the addition of $400 to the voluntary carbon tax donation for 2017-18, increasing the amount to $1850. Next, we were asked to consider three options for distributing the voluntary carbon tax donation in 2017-18.
      1. Option #1:  Land Stewardship – $300,  Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light – $325,  Cycles for Change  – $160,  Green Garden Bakery – $160,  Quaker Earthcare Witness – $325,  MN350  – $300,  sponsor trip to Washington DC Climate March in April – $280.   Total: $1850
      2. Option #2:  The same organizations as option #1, but with no trip to Washington Climate March, and the amounts adjusted up for each organization so the total is still $1850.
      3. Option #3:  Use the entire $1850 to improve the attic insulation in the meeting house. The main difference between options #1 and #2 is that option #2 does not provide money to send someone to Washington DC for the Climate March in April.  Instead, Option #2 divides the money for the Washington trip ($280) between the other five organizations. Committee clerk provided a brief summary on each of the organizations selected to receive the voluntary carbon tax fund. It was noted that Cycles for Change and the Green Garden Bakery are both minority-run organizations.  Discussion:  Friends spoke in favor of the specific organizations and of doing something to support those in our community who are doing good work, and of the urgency to address climate change issues and to do something significant.  Solar gardens were mentioned as a possibility, but another Friend stated that solar has been checked on for the meeting house and not found to be feasible.  Concern was expressed that no one from meeting has decided to go to the Washington DC Climate March and time is short.  Suggestion was made that we could advertise this within the broader twin cities Quaker community.  Friend supported this notion, saying how significant the social experience had been for them when they had participated in protest activities.   Jim Haefemeyer spoke to the issue of insulating the meeting house attic, and that, overall, we were doing pretty well with the building in regard to energy conservation and he is not sure how much more needs to be done in the attic.  He believes it makes more sense to support other groups who are doing good work. Presiding Clerk suggested Property Committee could evaluate the status of the meeting house roof insulation and make a report to monthly meeting by April, next year.   Friends APPROVED Option # 1 which includes funds to send someone to Washington DC Climate March.
    3. Transition Committee – Tom Wells The committee will meet today at 12:30PM.  He clarified that the committee is focused on the transition period – not the grief process, the retirement celebration, or the responsibilities given to Liaison and Review.  The Transition Committee is asking for agreement on the assumption, going forward, that when Pat retires on September 30th a permanent replacement will not have been chosen.  There may be a temporary person in place, just not a permanent position. The time is getting short and the committee wants to move ahead, deliberatively, and not feel rushed.  Discussion: Friends expressed some impatience with the apparent lack of progress, so far, and felt a lot had been accomplished a while ago in the threshing sessions orchestrated by Liaison and Review (L&R).  Tom replied that L&R had done as much as they felt they could do and had turned the process over to Monthly Meeting for any additional action.  Monthly Meeting had created the Transition Committee which is working with the ideas generated in the threshing sessions. Monthly Meeting needs to decide on the direction we are going as a Meeting.  Part of that decision is whether to have a long-term permanent position, but there are a multitude of other possibilities to consider.  Some suggest the process is just too slow while others said we need to take as much time as necessary to decide.  Friend offered that it would be reasonable to hire someone on a temporary basis by Oct 1 while still taking more input and considering other options.   After additional discussion, including the role of Monthly Meeting in the process and what authority the Transition Committee has in this process, Friends agreed with the assumption that we are not expecting to have a permanent hire in place on October 1, 2017.       Then the discussion turned to the next steps the Transition Committee should take. What does Meeting want from the Transition Committee at next month’s business meeting? There was interest to have the committee bring back some options for moving forward on October 1, but not recommendations, since the committee believes it is not positioned to make recommendations without more time to gather information and to thresh ideas. The committee is trying to be objective and unbiased in their process and is reluctant to make recommendations; but committee members expressed confidence in being able to provide a number of options to Monthly Meeting and they felt they could move forward on that mission in a timely fashion.   Discussion:  Again, Friends expressed concern over the pace of the process – one Friend had been away 5 months and felt we had scarcely made any progress.  Others spoke in support of a cautious, prudent approach; and some asked us to be sensitive to those whose limitations make it hard to actively participate in the process.  There was support for the committee not imposing limits on themselves, right now, but to continue to gather new information and to remain open to the Spirit moving their process forward.   Friends were in agreement to have the Transition Committee bring back to Monthly Meeting some short-term interim options for moving forward on October 1, 2017.
    4. Nominating committee Doug Herron.  He highlighted some additional changes to the Structure of Service and Ministry Report that Nominating is asking Meeting to approve, since it approved the full report last month. These changes include some additional committee assignments and committee clerk appointments.  They expect to make a few final additions in May.  Friends APPROVED the suggestions.
    5. Proposal for Pat Jones’ retirement celebration – Rae Cornelius, Sandy Olson There is a recommendation to postpone the September 10th monthly meeting one month to facilitate the retirement celebration.  Presiding Clerk observed that after all of today’s discussions it would be difficult to properly act on this request.  Friends agreed to postpone this discussion until next monthly meeting for business in May.
  7. Business Meeting was adjourned 11:15 Meeting for Worship

Comments are closed.

↑