Minneapolis Friends Meeting

Minutes of Monthly Meeting for Business

May 9, 2021

[Names and some information has been edited for web publication]
John K. – Presiding Clerk,  Tom W. – Recording Clerk, and ~ 45 other attenders

1. Worship
2. Agenda Approved with addition of P&SC carbon tax, time permitting
3. April Minutes APPROVED
4. Religious Education discussion – Presiding Clerk wanted to discuss the status of religious education in the Meeting. This is an issue he has been pondering for some time, prompted by the decline of attendance at First Day School, the reduced involvement of families with children, and the reluctance of members to assist with the education program – only two volunteered when asked by Nominating Committee this year. There has been a change in demographics in the last few years that preceded COVID but has been influenced by it, with a drop in regular attendance of children and families and the core group of education volunteers stepping away, wanting a break. Clerk believes education in Quaker principles and practices is central to the life of our Meeting, to our Quaker faith, and to the world. Quaker practice offers something other religions don’t, and it is vital we educate children and adults in our faith. So, he invites Meeting to begin this discussion, starting with 10 or 15 minutes today.  Discussion:  Friend invited us to broaden the question. There are other ways to support the children and young people in Meeting than through religious education. Maybe, as the Meeting ages, we are no longer able to support a vigorous program. She questions the commitment of Meeting to put in the time to sustain religious education, although she is committed to trying, to teach or to offer other activities with children and families. We all need to ask ourselves if we are willing to commit to re-building the program. —  Another Friend remarked that many of the Quaker Volunteer Service participants say they became active in Quakers through Yearly Meeting programs or camps and through Friends General Conference activities, not so much through their local Meetings. She has been active with First Day School for years and believes the constant change in curriculum based on constant changes in personnel has led to a lack of continuity.  It may be time to hire a religious education coordinator, someone to bring constancy, energy and youthful enthusiasm. Recruit someone from outside the Meeting who could bring those qualities that we seem to lack right now. —  Mary S., who has worked in religious education for over 40 years, says our situation is not such a surprise. Meetings routinely go through phases when there are no, or few children in Meeting. Currently, we have no one in 1-6 grades. Regarding the older children, one family moved away.  Some are in athletics or in theater and have conflicts with Sunday mornings. One has chosen to become Catholic. So the children who might participate in our programs have made other choices regarding their time commitments. Meeting has made a commitment to paying for nursery care during Sunday morning activities, so we have something to build on with the younger children, but the junior and senior high students don’t come any more. —  Clerk: there was a time when there was a solid cohort of that age group that came together with many members helping out. We had an active program that was well attended by 6-10 years old children. There is a social component to attracting and to retaining children and young adults in any program we create. — Friend was appreciative of the analysis but would like to hear more about people volunteering to work with our youth, otherwise we just keep talking. We need this to invigorate our children’s lives and our own lives. — There are many areas we can engage youth in the Meeting, not just in First Day School – serving on committees, participating in planning sessions, working with Ministry and Counsel. Nominating can ask them to become more active in Meeting activities. — Member does not feel qualified to teach, but would be grateful for other ways to serve youth in the Meeting – walks in nature, playing music together. — Support was given to jump starting the approval process for clearing adults to work with youth programs in Meeting. — Sandy O. said she would be willing to go out of her comfort zone to work with older children. We need to be willing to stretch ourselves to explore new contributions we each could make. — Friend mentioned that his grandson has come to Meeting a couple times and was discouraged by being the only youth meeting with an adult he did not know. If we don’t have more youth in our census, it is fruitless pursuing educational program ideas. — Friend likes the idea of hiring someone.  —  There are families who are not active right now, but they have been. It would be useful to discuss their needs with them.  Many are deeply committed to Quaker principles but we are not meeting their needs. In the recent past, when there have been youth sleep-overs, everyone showed up.  Every kid participated, but the last sleep-over was two years ago. — Carolyn V: Religious Education Committee is reaching out to families to ask what has and has not worked for them, and what their goals are for religious education, but they have not completed the process.  We have worked on being welcoming to people – Quaker Quest – but where are we now? Parents have been very involved, in the past, and their kids have been, too. Maybe we need to build occasions for the whole group to do things together, not just directed at children. We might benefit from looking at this as a way to expand our goals for the whole Meeting, to embrace all ages. — Friend agrees and adds that there is an ongoing societal issue, bigger than just our Meeting, where it is becoming harder and harder to make time for all the things we want our kids to do, and Sunday mornings are a particular challenge. We need to get input from our families. —  Clerk asked for clarification on the current makeup of religious education. Paul E. is the only one on Religious Educations Committee, currently. Julia, Lara and Carolyn have been the most involved, recently.  So this is the challenge. Who wants to pick up the ball and carry it forward? Carolyn and the committee are working on it and are working on a job description for a religious education coordinator. Clerk wants to keep religious education on the monthly meeting for business agenda until there is closure, and he wants to receive feedback from parents. He wondered if Meeting should consider hiring a religious education coordinator before beginning the fall 2021 school schedule. Clerk asks us to email him with ideas and desires to do specific things.  We are not giving up on this.  We want to move the discussion forward.
5. Ministry and Counsel Committee (M&C) Report – Bill H.   In May, Lolly L. arranged speakers and closers for semi-programmed meeting, Bill H. arranged closers for unprogrammed worship. For the summer schedule in June, Keitha H. will arrange closers for unprogrammed worship and Bill H. manages speakers and closers for semi-programmed.  Stephen S will continue to host mid-week Wednesday evening worship with assistance from Bill H. — Quaker Volunteer Service is seeking spiritual nurturers for their participants. A job description and application form will be forthcoming.  Watch for updates. —  M&C has requested four dates, two in the fall and two in the spring, in the mid-morning program to explore nurturing the spiritual life of the Meeting and to foster better understanding of how our Meeting functions within the Religious Society of Friends. — There are breakout groups following every Sunday’s worship service, except for business meeting Sunday. —  Carolyn V. and Sandy O. have agreed to investigate how Meeting might form spiritual nurturer groups and what that would look like.   Report was accepted.
6. State of Society Report – Bill H.    The report was first presented last month and edits have been made.  [See Attachment #1 for the most recent version] Keitha read the report.  Discussion:  Friend had immediate response to some of the wording regarding the impact of George Floyd’s death. There was discussion on how to modify the wording to be more inclusive of the broader society, not just our more limited, predominately white Quaker community. Clerk suggested adding the word “predominately” to one of the sentences; and there was a request to include mention of the mid-week worship services on Zoom. Friends APPROVED the State of Society Report with these modifications.
7. Nominating Committee Update – Carolyn V.   There are three recommendations for consideration.  Linda H.  will serve for 3 years on Stewardship Committee.   Tom W. and Barb Z. will co-clerk Death and Memorial Committee. Carolyn V. will serve as clerk of Nominating Committee.   Members approved the recommendations. Bill H. added that nominating is still seeking more members for Ministry and Counsel Committee.
8. Reports:
   1. Stewardship and Finance Committee Annual Report – Mike F.  Year ending March 31, 2021. This has been a most unusual year for contributions with the meeting house being closed to worshipers for most of the year.  The report was shared via Zoom. Overall, our budgeted income fell short by $22,586; but total expenses were less, too, at $74,094, so we ended up banking $20,993.  The report shows the Meeting’s income by quarters and details each expense category by what was budgeted, what was actually spent and what remains after the expense.  The contingency category for ministry staff has remained in the budget even though nothing was paid out this year.  This was agreed to by Meeting and will remain in place until further guidance is provided. Other highlights of the budget: the COVID hardship fund is not listed as an expense category in the budget, but as of 3/21/2021 $12,000 has been distributed.  Utility expenses are generally down. Budgeted contributions to other organizations are usually paid near the end of the budget year, in March. Overall, for the year 2020-2021, we had a budget of $117K, $74K was spent and the remainder of the offerings went into our checking account.  Discussion: Friend asked if the $22K contingency money was considered spent. No. The actual expense was zero.  It is a place holder without being subtracted from anything. If it is not spent, it is banked. Presiding Clerk requested the Stewardship report include the members of the committee and follow the format of the annual committee report form. Friends thanked the committee for all the work they have done.  The books were kept. Bills were paid, and money was collected during the COVID-19 shutdown of the meeting house. The Stewardship and Finance Report for 2020-2021 was APPROVED by monthly meeting.
   2. Peace and Social Concerns Committee (P&SC) – Carbon Tax – Roland B.   There is $1,000 from last year’s budget intended for the carbon tax that has not been spent.  P&SC is tasked with proposing to monthly meeting possible recipients of the carbon tax line item. There are two proposed recipients this year, each receiving $500.   1. Hope Community – this is a non-profit located just outside downtown Minneapolis that promotes quality housing for low income families.  They have developed three urban gardens, all within easy walking distance of low income housing.  2. The other recipient would be Honor the Earth, founded by Winona LaDuke. Honor the Earth promotes indigenous environmental justice and supports networking within tribal groups.  They have been involved with pipeline protests.   Discussion: the winter gift tries to not donate to the same group more than once.  Is that the case with the carbon tax? The carbon tax is a new process for us and Roland believes the practice has been to limit giving to the same group more than once, but there is no specific guidance. Honor the Earth is an environmental and a justice movement.  Friends APPROVED splitting the carbon tax between Hope Community ($500) and Honor the Earth ($500).  
9. COVID Planning and MFM Update – Presiding Clerk   The adhoc committee has not met recently, but will meet in the next few weeks.  He is thinking about setting a target of July 1, 2021, as a time to get back together in person.  We will all need to participate in the decision.  Roger M. and Terry K. are working to define what we need to do to facilitate a hybrid meeting process, where people can attend worship in person at the meeting house while others, who cannot or chose not to attend in person, can participate remotely via Zoom. This involves upgrading the internet to the meeting house and doing a lot of rewiring of the building to provide internet access everywhere. There will be a significant rebuild of the audio system, upgrading the outdated and failing audio equipment while enabling the new video equipment to work effectively with the audio. We will need approval of the time-line for reopening and of the significant expenses to make it possible to conduct a hybrid service at the meeting house.  Prepare for this to be decided in the next couple months. Please contact Presiding Clerk with any thoughts and concerns.  There is a committee working on this, but it will be up to all of us to decide.
10. Correspondence – none
11. Closing Worship

 

Attachment #1

Minneapolis Meeting, State of Society Report   April 2021

(Original draft revised to reflect feedback from meeting for business)

This year of upheaval and tragedy and the responses to it have given new meaning to George Fox’s vision.  “I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.  . . .[and] in that also I saw the infinite love of God.”

The emergence of the Covid virus caused fear and anxiety, disrupted the education of our children, isolated the elderly and other at-risk members of our community, caused unemployment, and created risks and challenges for those working on the front lines of the pandemic.  The killing of George Floyd and the resulting violence and destruction in our neighborhoods rocked any sense of security and safety many have enjoyed from our place of white privilege.  The continued polarization in our larger society and seeming inability to address the serious problems facing our society undermine our sense of optimism.  We weep with God at the brokenness of our world.  But flowing over this ocean of darkness has been an outpouring of energy, caring, and love as we struggle together to address these problems.

Though the transition to gathering virtually was difficult, meetings for worship at Minneapolis Meeting have become more gathered over the course of the year. The silence in early worship has grown richer and the later worship has become less chatty with the silence and vocal ministry becoming deeper and more grounded. We are grateful for this growth and acknowledge the strong leadership and ministry from the Care and Counsel Committee, the Mid-Morning Program Committee, the Ministry and Counsel Committee, and the Peace and Social Concerns Committee, along with the grace of God, which have played a part in it. Attendance at meetings for worship has been robust through the year.

The Care and Counsel Committee, new this year, has worked hard and well to help us feel connected and to encourage and support us as we care for one another. Their nurturing initiatives included: developing the Covid relief fund; creating a bank of people for the lonely or discouraged or disheartened to connect with in different ways; a nurturing evening with Carl Magruder; mid-morning programs on giving and receiving care; and initiating break-out groups after worship.

The Ministry and Counsel Committee-sponsored workshop, “Opening to the Heart of Worship,” with Christopher Sammond, was a powerful experience of being drawn together and drawn to God. Ministry and Counsel is exploring ways to build on that groundwork of openness and connection. The mid-morning programs and mid-week worship offered by M&C have also nurtured the spiritual life of the meeting.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee has shaped the Meeting’s response to the killing of George Floyd from anguish to individual deepening and action. Under that committee’s care, My Grandmother’s Hands was read, and reactions and experiences shared, cultivating the inward soil to allow grounded outer anti-racism work to grow. A group has also met with City Council Representatives as well as lawyers and State Representatives to better understand how to engage effectively and knowledgably in calling for police reform. We are grateful for the energy and initiative of individuals, the support of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee, and God’s prompts to step into the opening this tragedy created.

Our sense of community and our lives have been enriched by the service of the many other committees and small groups in meeting.  The Mid-Morning Program Committee offered rich and varied programs over the year. Experiment with Light and Lectio groups continue to deepen our connections with one another.   The Welcoming and Outreach Committee organized an intro to Quakerism series and a successful experiment with Friendly Meals on Zoom.  We are grateful for Friends who have helped sustain the local Quaker Voluntary Service program and for the fellows who have contributed to our worship.

Meeting virtually during Covid has made us aware of barriers to participation which we had not recognized before, as well as creating new ones. We are only just starting to see ableism in the Meeting and are working toward having worship accessible virtually, even after we begin to gather for worship in person once more. We struggle with staying connected to those who are not worshiping via Zoom and to nurture those for whom the Zoom worship experience underscores a feeling of being severed from the life of the Meeting and distant from Spirit.

Business meetings are well-attended and well-clerked. We are addressing big questions together with tenderness and patience. The constraints of time make progress slow. We are searching for inclusive ways to hold some of these issues, such as a flagging Religious Education program for youth and creating a hardship fund, in the presence of God, outside the limitations of the regular schedule. But we know attendance will suffer if meeting for business occurs at a time other than Sunday morning.

We are grateful for friends in the meeting who have attempted to continue a religious education during the pandemic.  But the program for youth has suffered from lack of consistent energy by the Religious Education Committee and difficulty in maintaining regular engagement with youth and families of the Meeting.  We know that multi-generations bring vitality, freshness of perspectives, and a greater connection to the world around us.  We are challenged to find the energy and number of people needed to offer nurture, support, and a meaningful religious education experience to youth and families.

We give thanks that so many of us have journeyed successfully through this time of Covid. We do so miss the love and faithful witness of two dear Friends, one died of Covid, the other in isolation. May we care for those God has put in community with us and be mindful that our time with each other is precious, even as we are drawn to care more proactively for those in the greater society.