Minutes of the Meeting for Business Minutes

Minneapolis Friends Meeting

April 11, 2021

Attendance:   Presiding Clerk—John Kraft  Recording Clerk—Stephen Snyder   Bill Hendricks—Zoom host plus 47 other attenders. [Some names and information have been edited for publishing on the web]

1.  Silent Worship

2.  Approve Agenda —Agenda was approved.

3.  Approve Minutes—Minutes of the March 14, 2021 Meeting for Business were approved. 

4.  Reports  

a.  Liaison and Review (L&R) Annual Report – Jeannette R. The committee serves as the liaison between the Meeting and its staff, conducts performance reviews, makes salary recommendations, and provides general oversight of personnel.  In addition to supervision of the Meeting Coordinator, the committee conducted a performance review in July and arranged for office coverage when she was away.  Maintaining a safe working environment during Covid for the Meeting Coordinator, cleaning staff and others who must enter the meetinghouse has been an additional task this past year.  L&R also worked with other committees to ensure payment of the cleaning staff and childcare coordinator for the first three months of the lockdown.  After some miscommunication, L&R has developed a plan with the Stewardship and Finance Committee to ensure accurate pay rates when making salary recommendations. It has also developed an interim time-card approval process and is considering use of budgeted resources for professional development sabbaticals for the Meeting Coordinator.  L&R continues to work on a standard operating procedure for contacting the coordinator when not in the office.  Opening and closing with worship and deep listening has kept the committee grounded in the Spirit as it does its work. Discussion:  Friend noted that there was actually no payment made for childcare as the person hired decided they would not need it.  The Meeting Coordinator thanked the committee for their wisdom and centered work with her. After other expressions of gratitude, the Clerk suggested Friends make their expressions of appreciation directly to persons rather than at meeting for business.  The report was accepted.

b.  Membership and Attendance Annual Report – Carolyn V.  The Meeting Coordinator explained that it has been a challenge to get accurate attendance numbers at both meetings for worship during Covid.  Over the year there have been 99 adults (63 members and 36 attenders) and 5 children active in meeting.  Meeting welcomed three new members by convincement and two were released—one by death and one by request. There has been good attendance at meetings for worship with an average of 17-25 at early worship and about 53 at second worship.  Discussion:  Clerk of Death and Memorials, in reply to a question about minuting the deaths of members, indicated that the committee does indeed report deaths to meeting for business which are then recorded. Friend wondered how Covid has affected attendance.  It appears average attendance at second worship has gone up from last year. Clerk observed that there has been more attendance and participation in meeting activities than before the pandemic. This is gratifying and suggests the Spirit has been at work among us.

c.  Ministry and Counsel (M&C) Report – Bill H.  The April M&C committee meeting focused on four topics:  the process for selecting speakers, the summer schedule including extending the time for meeting for business, the annual state of society report and follow up on the Opening to the Heart of Worship retreat. With the end of the month-long experiment of asking people to reach out to M&C with their offerings of messages or reading, M&C decided to return to being proactive in inviting and counseling potential speakers.  Friends who have messages on their heart are still invited to talk with committee members about speaking.

The summer schedule will begin on Sunday, May 30, 2021 (Memorial Day Weekend) with an unprogrammed worship and end on September 12, 2021.  At the presiding clerk’s request, M&C considered what the meeting might do to extend the time available for a Spirit-filled meeting for business.  Often the business meeting is cut short due to lack of time. The committee chose to hold off on this concern because of the summer schedule.   With no second hour worship, there will be extended time for meeting for business if needed.  M&C is working with Care and Counsel on ways to continue the work of opening to the heart of worship.  Several handouts from Christopher S. are available from the Meeting Coordinator with suggestions for ongoing preparation for this work. With goal of continuing opening our hearts to the divine, M&C will offer a query for breakout groups to consider on 3^rd Sundays of the month.

5.  Draft State of Society Report – Bill H.  After a reading of the draft report, the Clerk asked if friends were in unity with the general format, tone, and content.  Discussion:  Friend felt the tone did not express how difficult this past year has been.  Perhaps an additional paragraph could be added noting the pain and loss resulting from the pandemic, including the inability to meet in person for worship.  Another person was concerned that there was no reference to Quaker Voluntary Service and the contributions of the local support committee, this being a worthy project of local Friend’s meetings. Friend expressed appreciation for the process used to develop the report.  Inviting people to reflect on the state of meeting during the breakout groups following worship allowed more people to contribute to the report.  Another Friend felt the wording of the section on religious education portrayed a too pessimistic view of the state of the program. There are positive things going that could be included. Clerk invited the persons who prepared the draft report to consider the suggested changes and prepare a revised report for friends to consider before the next meeting for business.

6.  Mid-Morning Program (MMP) Committee  –Ellen S. The committee clerk asked those present to respond to three questions as a way of offering guidance to the committee as it considers future programming.  What programs resonated this year?  What would you like to see next year?  Any other comments for the committee to consider?  Clerk opened discussion.  Several suggestions for programming  included: inviting a Japanese American as guest speaker; offer an occasional coffee hour or social time for meeting in small groups; using the capabilities of Zoom to expand the field from which we draw speakers to those anywhere in the world;   invite representatives of local indigenous communities to speak;   invite speaker from a local Black organization who could speak to issue of white supremacy and race; consider how to use our white privilege in positive way;  create opportunities to be open with and share our spiritual lives with one another; offer a balance of programs on both inner and outer work around our spiritual lives; and check out the Pendle Hill website for possible speakers.  The clerk of MMP noted that the committee had to turn down people this past year so it will not be able honor every suggestion.  Clerk observed that the mid-morning programs illustrate the good work of the committee and the energy friends have put forward to attend and present at these programs.

7.  Brief Update on COVID and our Meeting –Clerk The Ad Hoc committee will be scheduling a meeting in next month to consider opening the meetinghouse to worshipping again in person.  The process may involve a survey to gather the thoughts of members and attenders on this question. Some members are investigating technology needs to provide hybrid meetings. It may require upgrading the internet connection to handle a hybrid system.  The committee is also consulting with the Mayim Rabim congregation on this matter.  Once recommendations are formulated the committee will bring them to meeting for consideration before reopening.  Discussion:  Friend wondered if the question of going to a hybrid form of meeting should be discussed before working on technology? There may be issues of privacy for some persons about appearing on the internet. In response to a concern of getting advice from public health, the Clerk indicated he regularly attends meetings of religious leaders and public health officials about reopening guidelines.  The State of Minnesota currently allows churches to reopen following some guidelines.  Friend noted that vaccines may only last for six months so this needs to be a consideration as meeting considers reopening.  Friends were reminded of the importance of following current safety guidelines if entering the meetinghouse including checking with the Meeting Coordinator before entering.

8.  Correspondence–  Clerk reported a communication from Madison Friends Meeting offering to have a combined first day school program for everyone in NYM.  Clerk also noted an upcoming public hearing on April 20th on a proposal to open a craft brewery and bar near the Turtle Bread restaurant.

9.  Closing Worship

 

[Several attachments have been omitted from these minutes.  Friends in need of seeing these attachments may check with the Meeting Coordinator for assistance.]