Minneapolis Friends Meeting 

Minutes of Monthly

Meeting for Business  November 11, 2018 

[Information has been edited for publication on the web] 

Attendance: John Kraft – presiding clerk,  Stephen Snyder—Recording clerk and 34 others. 

1.  Silent Worship:  Clerk began with an excerpt from Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative Faith and Practice, p.47.  “Friends conduct meeting for worship with attention to business by a process in which the group prayerfully seeks to be guided by the Holy Spirit to a decision or resolution. We approach issues with a commitment to allow the power of Divine Love to work within ourselves, and faith that, held in that power, we will be led together to Truth.”

2.  Approval of Agenda:  Approved with additions of Finance Committee request, QVS Update and Welcoming and Outreach proposal.

3.  Approval of Minutes:  October 14, 2018 Minutes were approved  

4.  Ministry and Counsel (M&C) Report – Sandy   Ministry and Counsel (M & C) oversees and cares for the worship, spiritual life, and membership of the meeting.  At the November meeting M&C considered the recent deaths of two long-time members, Vici Oshiro and Nancy Lichtenstein. Vici became a member of MFM in 1984, served as meeting clerk from 1995 to1998, participated in lunch bunch and remained a member until her death in October.  Her memorial service was held at the Cremation Society of Minnesota on November 10, 2018 with about 12 Minneapolis Friends joining family and other friends to celebrate her life.  Friends were also deeply saddened by news of Nancy Lichtenstein’s death in California on Oct. 30, 2018. Her presence and ministry of music was such a gift to Meeting over the years. She brought much joy to our meetings for worship and will be greatly missed.   Minneapolis Friends will have a memorial service for Nancy here at the Meetinghouse on a date yet to be scheduled.  M&C also reflected on what the Meeting most needs in order for us to care for one another and to grow in Quaker faith and practice as friends seek unity on the future leadership structure of Meeting.  Members agreed that Meeting needs to be patient with each other and with where we are in the discernment process. It takes time to discern how the Spirit is leading us.  M&C wrote and Meeting approved sending a letter of support to the Mayim Rabim congregation  in the wake of the attacks on the Tree of Life Jewish Congregation in Pittsburgh.   Discussion:  Friends noted that there will be a memorial service for Margaret S., Mumia S’s sister, at 3:00 pm, November 11th in the Meetinghouse.  The Death and Memorial Committee is hosting the service.  Margaret S. was a member of the International Friends Church here in Minneapolis which is part of Friends United Meeting. 

5.  Memorial Minutes for Vici Oshiro and Nancy Lichtenstein – Presiding Clerk   Clerk asked for volunteers to write memorial minutes for Vici Oshiro and Nancy Lichtenstein.  Susie K., Sigurd H. and Sandy O. offered to write the minute for Vici.  Friends will be selected at a later date to prepare a memorial minute for Nancy. 

6.  Reports 

          a.  Fall Camp Report – Susie K.  Thirty-two Friends attended Fall Camp held at French Regional Park on Oct. 6.  Although the number was down from last year, attendees enjoyed a workshop on privilege, collage making, campfire singing, a variety show, free time and meals together.  The Mid-Morning Program time at the meetinghouse the next day was a nice ending for the camp experience.   There was concern for the decreased attendance.  The committee wonders if a later date in October might attract more attendance.  The committee invites more friends to share ideas about how to better serve the community next year. Total cost for the camp was $934.  Discussion:  Friend suggested families with children be surveyed to determine how fall camp might better meet their needs.  Susie offered to prepare a questionnaire and distribute it.  Clerk thanked committee members and noted that camp continues to be a valuable experience in the life of the meeting. 

          b.  Audit of Trustees Accounts Report – Bruce B.  The audit of Minneapolis Friends Meeting Trustee’s accounts has three primary objectives:  confirm to donors that resources given to the meeting are used as authorized;  to protect those that handle, record or disburse funds from any suspicion or ill will towards them because of their contact with meeting funds, thus increasing trust in those who oversee these funds; and  to provide assurance that funds are not misappropriated or used fraudulently.  All bank statements for both the Trustees checking and freedom accounts for 2016 and 2017 were reviewed and no problems were found.  The funds are being managed in a prudent manner using good stewardship principles.  (Note that the Trustees accounts do not include the general accounts of the Meeting which are audited in alternate years.) The Auditor recommended that the Trustees update the signatures on the bank account and make sure the Asset Replacement Schedule is kept up to date and reasonably complete.  The “Asset Replacement Schedule is a list of all major assets in the meetinghouse which lists an estimated time table for replacement of these assets.  This schedule helps meeting anticipate and plan for major cash outflows many years in advance of the disbursements.   Clerk thanked Bruce for his work on the audit and for the excellent report. 

          c.  Nursery Committee Report – Emily A.  The nursery provides child care for infants and toddlers beginning at 10 am in the summer and 11 am during the winter schedule.  The committee is grateful for the many volunteers. Background checks have been completed and a current list of approved volunteers and children is available in the nursery.  Two adults are required to be present with the children unless parents agree to have only one adult.  The committee is very grateful for the work of all the volunteers who include:  Betsy S., Stefanie S., Emily A., Sara H. and Mary S. 

          d.  Child Welfare Committee – Robert R.  The committee is charged with assuring the welfare of all children and youth participating in Meeting sponsored events and activities, including protecting them from all forms of abuse.  The clerk will be stepping down as clerk but will continue as a member.  Nominating Committee has been asked to name a replacement.  In the past year the committee has made great progress in organizing the files, creating a data base of friends cleared to work with children, and clearing new volunteers to work with the children.  Lists of volunteers who have been approved to work with children are available in the classrooms and nursery. The growing number of volunteers has been challenging for the committee to process, but it is also a mark of the health of the meeting.  Going forward the committee hopes to organize an in-service for friends working with children to keep everyone informed on best practices for insuring the safety of children and reducing the liability exposure of the meeting.  Discussion:  Friends were reminded that they should contact the presiding clerk or clerk of Ministry and Counsel if they have concerns about the safety of children.  Clerk suggested the committee check to see if a volunteer’s clearance is permanent or needs to be revisited periodically.  The clerk and several Friends thanked the committee members for their quick attention to requests for clearance and their work on behalf of volunteers and children. 

          e.  Peace and Social Concerns – Winter Envelope Gift – Roland B.  The White Envelope Gift is a tradition of inviting friends to make a special contribution during the Christmas season to assist organizations working for peace and social justice.  The Peace and Social Concerns Committee is recommending that this year’s gift be divided among three organizations.  Half the gift would go to Doctors without Borders for the Rohingha refugees from Myanmar.  One fourth of the money would go to Honor the Earth which uses indigenous wisdom to promote sustainable communities.  The remaining fourth would go to Better Angels, a bipartisan citizen’s movement to unify our divided nation.  Donations should be put in an envelope marked for the Winter Envelope Gift and left in the donation boxes near the doors of the meeting room before the end of the year.  Friends approved the recommendation for distribution of the Winter Envelope Gift for 2018 and thanked the committee for its excellent and balanced choices.  

7.   Finance Committee—Marilyn J.  All committee clerks will soon be receiving an e-mail from the Stewardship and Finance Committee asking them to start figuring out budget requests for next fiscal year.  In the e-mail the committee will try to include information from last year’s budget for each committee. 

8.  Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) update–Tom W.  When the local QVS program was initiated by Minneapolis, Twin Cities and Prospect Hill Friends, these meetings collectively agreed to contribute $10,000 to the national QVS program to support its work.  Minneapolis Friends agreed to contribute $4,000 toward this amount.  The local support group is now recommending Minneapolis Friends split this money up and send only $3000 to the national organization and give $1,000 to Twin Cities Friends Meeting to help support the QVS house locally.  Discussion:   Friends asked what kinds of needs the local QVS might have.  Tom noted that unexpected expenses arise like need to rent space for an event too large for the QVS house.  The recent fundraiser did raise over $1,000 which was sent to the national organization.  Friends approved sending $3,000 to the national QVS organization and $1,000 to Twin Cities Friends Meeting to support the local QVS organization.

9.  Nursery Child Care Proposal – Sarah A.  Meeting has a lovely nursery committee but is not providing care for young children during unprogrammed worship or mid-morning program. If meeting wants to support young families, it should consider providing child care with a paid provider until 12:30 pm each Sunday.  There needs to be a consistent presence each week whether children show up or not.  This person would not totally replace current volunteers who help out in the nursery.  Clerk noted that meeting has had a paid child care provider in the past and perhaps it is time to revisit this matter.  Discussion:  Meeting should consider this proposal and pay $15 per hour for 4 hours each week. It is time to put energy into caring for our families and children.  A paid provider would allow parents with young children to participate in additional meeting activities.  Clerk heard general approval for the proposal.  He suggested the Nursery Committee develop a job description for the position, consult with the Liaison and Review Committee about how to supervise the position, consult with Stewardship and Finance about the budget for such a position and bring back a recommendation next month. 

10.  Welcoming and Outreach Committee “Coffee with a Quaker” Proposal–Ed S.  The committee would like to offer new attenders an opportunity to meet and connect with experienced Friends over coffee (or other beverage of choice) in a personal way to share questions or concerns about meeting or Quakers.  To accomplish this, the committee proposes creating a list of meeting volunteers who are willing to meet with newcomers or others.  Once a roster has been developed, the committee will post notices in the bulletin and elsewhere inviting newcomers to contact the Welcoming and Outreach Committee to arrange Coffee with a Quaker.  When Welcoming and Outreach receives such a request it will then contact a volunteer and ask them to contact the newcomer making the request to set up a meeting.  Discussion:  Friend suggested the invitation be posted on the website and wondered who would pay for coffee.  Friend noted that there is still $586 in the Welcoming and Outreach budget—plenty to purchase coffee if needed–which brought smiles and chuckles from many present.  Friend liked the idea but questioned the use of “concerns” feeling that many concerns should probably be addressed to the appropriate committees.  Friend wondered if newcomers would be able to request coffee with a particular person on the list.  Clerk noted that there seemed to be general agreement for the proposal and asked Welcoming and Outreach to work on details for implementing the proposal and bring a more complete proposal to a future meeting for business. Clerk noted that this would not be a dating service.  

11.  Transition Next Step(s) – Presiding Clerk   Clerk noted that this question has been before meeting for business several times without any unity being reached.  Lots of ideas and concerns have been expressed but no specific proposals for how to address these ideas or concerns have been brought forward.  John encouraged the meeting committees to identify and bring forth any gaps in service that may need attention and to consider how such gaps may be filled.  Perhaps the leadership or committee structure needs to be changed.  Or perhaps there is a need for a staff position to help close the gap.  Committees are invited to bring their specific proposals to meeting for business for consideration.  The clerks are available to assist committees who request help with this process.  

12.  Meeting for Business transitioned to semi-programmed worship at 11:15