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Minutes of Monthly Meeting for Business April 9, 2023

Minneapolis Friends Meeting Posted on by

Minneapolis Friends Meeting

Minutes of Monthly Meeting for Business

April 9, 2023

[Names and some information have been edited for publication on the web]

In attendance: John K – Presiding Clerk, Tom W – recording clerk, Mary B – Zoom host, with 45 others participating

  1. Worship
  2. Agenda – APPROVED
  3. March Minutes were APPROVED
  4. Mary Jean Port Memorial Minute – Barb Z / Lin B   Mary Jean’s daughter, Jean, helped create the memorial minute with Barb and Lin editing.  The Memorial Minute was read.  Friends joined in APPROVING the Minute.  [See 1st attachment for full document]
  5. Ministry and Counsel Committee (M&C) Report – Jane F.   Ministry and Counsel wants to recognize the service of their members who are rotating off and welcomes Joanne E and Kate W-J, who are joining the committee. Lolly L. is assuming the position of clerk of Ministry and Counsel while John C. is remaining on the committee, but no longer as clerk. Special thanks to John K. for his guidance as an ex-officio member of M&C. M&C is conducting a third mid-morning session on April 16, examining how we can take what we learned from the prior sessions and integrate it into the life and health of the Meeting. They also discussed how to maintain documentation of its business minutes for historic and future purpose.  Mary Bosserman is keeping a file of past minutes. In honoring and caring for the desires of those who seek to participate in silent unprogrammed worship, M&C believes a threshing session on the proposed change to the worship schedule will be useful. Additionally, Bill H. has offered to host an early silent meeting for worship over Zoom when the meeting transitions to the summer schedule. The service would be every Sunday at 8:30 AM with the link posted in the bulletin. This Zoom service would not use the technical support of the Meeting AV tech.
    • A clearness committee has met with Benton R. to consider his request for membership. M&C is recommending Meeting accept Benton into membership.  Friends APPROVED the membership of Benton R. in Minneapolis Friends Meeting and heartily welcome him into our fellowship.
    • M&C wants to begin discussions on some membership issues. Should there be a waiting period before receiving a new attender into membership if they have not been attending for more than just a few months? It is felt that we need to trust the clearness committees and the clearness process, but they will reach out to other meetings to see how they handle this issue.  Also, M&C believes there is a need to explore how Meeting can better support new members through education on Quakerism.   Discussion: Friend had questions about the proposed 8:30 unprogrammed worship on Zoom, wanting to know more about how this proposal came about, and isn’t this a public session and, thus, a monthly meeting decision. Presiding clerk said this appears to be an initiative of Bill’s and is not part of our public worship schedule.  Friends Accepted the report.
  6. FCNL Request to Reconsider Its Reproductive Rights Position – Jim H., Doug H.   Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a powerful, well regarded Quaker lobby in Washington DC. They are asking for feedback by May 1 on their current non-position on abortion and reproductive health, which represents the lack of unity on the subject within the broader Quaker community.  Since first asking for our feedback last month, Doug and Jim have received approximately twelve elegant and passionate recommendations. Those responses focus on it being a case of individual rights and not something the government should be taking a stand on.  There has not been time for a threshing session on the topic and they recognize it may be impossible to get a true sense of the Meeting, but there is value in forwarding our impressions on the topic to FCNL, for them to factor into their decision on what to say in their public statement. Presiding clerk encouraged us to continue to forward our thoughts to Doug and Jim.  There was question about exactly what FCNL was asking of each Meeting.  Linda C., who had been on the FCNL policy committee in the 1980’s when the current non-policy was crafted, said that it helps to view this request as a national threshing session – a chance for FCNL to receive feedback on how we feel about it now, not so much asking for each Meeting to come to unity on a position. There was some support for having Meeting undertake the process of seeking unity on abortion and reproductive rights, but the time constraints make that unlikely. It was noted that our discussions, today, focused exclusively on process and not our actual positions. Others noted that one of the themes of the discussion is the separation of church and state.  Another Friend asked if Quakers could make a statement about life without forcing our decisions on someone else.  Since it is unlikely that we can get a sense of our meeting and if FCNL is unable to find unity in all the responses they receive, they should not change their non-position on abortion and reproductive rights. But, if they can find unity, then FCNL should act right away.
  7. Nominating Committee Update – Carolyn V.  The term for committee assignments runs April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. Thanks to those who are leaving leadership positions. And thanks to all the gifts of time, so many have offered Meeting.  Special thanks to John K. for his extended service as presiding clerk and to Stephen S. for his time as co-recording clerk.   Nominating will reach out to all clerks to confirm the recent appointments and to make sure they have current contact information.  Also, Friends are encouraged to contact Nominating Committee if they would like to become active in the committee life of Meeting.  Presiding clerk acknowledged Carolyn V. for her dedication and service to Meeting as clerk of Nominating Committee. The other committee members are Jim L., Connie A. and Bill H.
    • Nominations for consideration:
      • Stephen S has agreed to be presiding clerk until 2024 – wanting to consider his appointment on a year-to-year basis.
      • Jeannette R. – co-recording clerk until 2026,
      • Suzanne F. – auditor until 2025,
      • Roger M. – Mid-Morning Committee until 2024,
      • Mary L. – Mid-Morning Committee until 2026,
      • Renae B. – Mid-Morning Committee until 2026,
      • Jim B. – Death and Memorial Committee until 2026 and Social Committee until 2026,
      • Lolly L. – clerk of Ministry and Counsel,
      • Eleni A-W – Welcoming and Outreach Committee until 2026.
    • Friends APPROVED the committee nominations.
  8. Masking Protocol for Renters – presiding clerk   This request does not affect what we do for meeting for worship or other Meeting activities in the meeting house. It would apply to our two current renters and to any future renters. Both our rentals are requesting the option to make masking optional. They have been gracious living with the mask requirements, but both would greatly appreciate having the wearing of masks optional.  The choir could sing much better if masks are not worn. The community choir rehearses on Thursday evenings and Mayim Rabim usually meets on Friday and sometimes on Saturday. For the most part there is a 24-hour gap before Sunday morning services, which should be more than adequate to ensure a safe environment. The two individuals who frequent the building throughout the week, Carolyn and Susan, are comfortable with mask-optional option for the renters. While the property committee says the building air is mostly exchanged in 8 hours with the new ventilation system, air exchange is completely accomplished within 16 hours. Friend raised concern that on Saturdays Mayim Rabim may conclude their activities closer to 1PM which is less than 24 hours. Mayim Rabin is encouraged to open the windows to improve ventilation on Saturdays when it is feasible. It was requested that we consider alterations to the new policy if conditions change. Friends APPROVED having renters in the meeting house go mask-optional and ask them to open the windows for better ventilation when possible.
  9. Committee Reports
    1. Liaison and Review Committee Annual Report (L&R) –  Rae Beth (for Jeannette R) Friends accepted the report.  Discussion: proceeded on L&R’s request for $3,000 to hire a consultant to assess and propose solutions to the technical problems with the Meeting’s email system and other technical communication issues in the office. Presently, Carolyn can only send 100 e-mails per hour. Each week she has to send three separate e-mails to distribute the weekly bulletin – taking over two + hours. Sometimes, for reasons unknown, the office is stopped from sending e-mails because we are “over our limit”- even when we cannot find them in our sent mail. And sometimes our e-mails are getting blocked by receivers account – not sure why.
    2. This $3,000 is not in this year’s budget and would have to come from outside the budget, from the general funds. Clerk of Stewardship says there is sufficient cushion in the general fund to cover the request. Friends were concerned about what we would get for this $3,000, what the bidding process would be, and if minority owned businesses would be considered. Rae Beth said the committee is seeking approval of the money before they get into the bidding process. Presiding Clerk affirmed that we would want a specific request on hiring a consultant to be brought to Monthly Meeting.  There was discussion about other avenues to obtain guidance on the technical challenges facing the office, such as the Minnesota Counsel on Non-Profits, the Friends School or personal contacts within Meeting. Friend remarked that this is a big challenge and that it has been hard to find a solution.  The Tech Committee feels this is outside their scope of operations; and it has been difficult to find someone willing to do the necessary research to resolve the issue. Another Friend encouraged us to trust the work of Liaison and Review and their good judgement. Friends are asked to provide L&R with any ideas that would help them in this process.  Friends APPROVED spending up to $3,000 to hire a consultant and to have Liaison and Review look for ideas and solutions through contacts within Meeting and at MN Counsel on Non-Profits.
    3. Membership and Attendance Census – Carolyn V  The recording of this information is fairly subjective – it is hard to get exact numbers. There have been 95 active members and attenders this past year. Four new members have joined Meeting this year and three have been released through death – Alice B., Caitlyn W., Mary Jean P.  It has been difficult to determine the number of children taking part in Meeting activities.  There are about five individuals from pre-school age to high school.  Discussion: there have been up to five households attending mid-week worship on a regular basis.  Northern Yearly Meeting asks us for this information each year. It is important to see historical trends in Meeting attendance.   Friends APPROVED the report.
  10. Solar Panel Update – Roger M. and Rick V.   They are part of an ad hoc committee that has been meeting since November to consider installing solar panels on the roof of the meeting house. This is in response to Property Committee’s charge to reduce energy use in the meeting house and is inline with Meeting’s position on caring for the future and honoring the earth. This would entail a significant upfront cost that would need to be raised outside our regular budget, similar to how we secured money for the cameras and electronic equipment for broadcasting Zoom services from the meeting room. They have received assistance in planning for a solar installation from All Energy Solar and from Ralph J., from Twin Cities Meeting. It is important to remember that there is a cost for doing nothing – $93K over 30 [?] years would go to Xcel Energy to pay for our electricity. An image of the meeting house roof was displayed showing where panels might be installed. We could sell back to Xcel the excess energy produced which is estimated to be 120% of what we would use over the next 30 years. During that same time, electricity production would require 350 metric tons of natural gas. If we install solar panels, no C02 would be produced.  The cost is estimated to be $76,700 for us to install a solar system. This would become an asset and would increase the value of the meeting house.  Presiding clerk – This will require cash and we would be asking for capital donations into a designated Trustee fund. Installing solar would facilitate our moving into a more electric building. Friend asked about community solar and if this might not be a better solution. Friend commented that this is a large amount of money and we should consider minority businesses in the process. Clerk requested that the ad hoc committee address the questions of minority owned business and participation in community solar.
  11. Correspondence –A number of thank you notes have been received acknowledging our donations. They will be placed on the table for review.
  12. Closing Worship

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