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Minutes of Monthly Meeting for Business, June 11, 2023

Minneapolis Friends Meeting Posted on by

Minneapolis Friend Meeting

Monthly Meeting Agenda

June 11, 2023

[Names and some content modified for publication on the web]

In attendance: Stephen S. – presiding clerk, Tom W. – recording clerk, plus 31 in person / 13 on zoom

  1. Silent Worship
  2. Agenda – APPROVED
  3. Minutes of the May 14, 2023 Meeting for Business – APPROVED
  4. Introduction of Children and Family Coordinator—Tom W.    Cathy N. has accepted the position of Children and Family Coordinator. Creating this new position has been a lengthy process with lots of input from Meeting; and the coordinator will head up a new committee, the Children and Family Committee.  Cathy is a life-long Quaker and has extensive experience in both the United Kingdom and the US and she has been a member of Minneapolis Friends Meeting for two years. Her background is in change management, and she will be driven by our children’s leadings – what is important to them – and by the strengths of our members. We are asked to think of ways each of us might contribute to this effort in traditional and in non-traditional ways – curriculum development, provide refreshments, go bike riding, assist with field trips.  Cathy briefly introduced herself to Meeting. She has experience with change events throughout Minnesota and is skilled in soliciting direction and feedback. She invited us to imagine the Meeting filled with all kinds of children and youth – representing a range of abilities, colors, shapes, disabilities – and the challenges and joys they will bring.  Presiding clerk thanked the key people responsible for setting up the new committee and hiring the new coordinator – specially Evelyn R. and John K. – and those who have maintained our children’s program the last few years. We need to create space for children in the meeting, bring them in and make them feel welcome. Clerk is delighted to have Cathy here as the new coordinator.
  5. Ministry and Counsel (M&C) Report—Lolly L.
    • Clerks of Care and Counsel and Ministry and Counsel attended each other’s committees. They will continue to share minutes but will not regularly attend each other’s committees.
    • Deborah F., of Des Moines Meeting, has been identified as a source for guidance to help strengthen Meeting, vocal ministry and other topics. M&C is considering having her visit in the fall.
    • M&C has found recent first worship services to be profound, enlightening and amazing and second worship messages have been rich, focused on community and renewal.
    • M&C is planning three mid-morning programs – history of Quakerism, history of our Meeting, and learning the unspoken protocols and principles (or what are Quakers doing in their silence).
    • Kate W-J and M&C clerk will look into the process of how attenders learn about becoming members.
    • M&C has discussed eldering and vocal ministry. Some key points: Encouraging Friends on Zoom to settle into silence before the start of worship. When music precedes worship, Friends seem to settle into silence earlier. Have Zoom hosts display a screen prompt that can help guide Friends into worship. How can we nurture the gifts of those who do not speak or are reluctant to speak.
    • Update on the threshing session— Last week Presiding Clerk had called a threshing session to further explore whether Meeting should combine the two worship services each Sunday into one service, alternating between semi-programmed and unprogrammed. Minutes of the threshing session were taken by Jane Furnas and will be distributed to the Google group
  6. Committee Reports
    1. Property Committee—David D., co-clerk  There are 7 members on the committee and they meet monthly. They are responsible for both the inside and the outside of the meeting house and the yard. Meeting has made it through another year living with the challenges of Covid. Accomplishments: the usual repairs and service to the elevator, tuning the piano, maintenance and service on the furnace, cleaning the building, painting the pergola, a new sign, rebuilding the front porch, energy audit, insulation and air infiltration upgrades, preventing frozen pipes, controlling squirrels. They are also investigating ways to improve the Meetings’ sustainability and the feasibility of installing solar panels on the roof. Future Tasks: continue to improve insulation and air infiltration, paint the building exterior, repair roof trim and roof rafters, add a handicap parking space, and make the entry more welcoming. The porch needs to be painted this summer. Friends are asked to pay attention to when Property Committee posts requests for help in the bulletin. David singled out the contributions of each member of the committee whose combined efforts create a well-run, effective committee.  There was no discussion.
    2. Mid-Morning Program Committee—Ellen S.  [see Attachments for a list of the past year’s programs] The committee plans programs for the time between meetings for worship, 10:15 – 11:00 AM.  They meet every other month during the school year and once in the summer. Accomplishments: They planned and provided 28 programs this past year with topics including spiritual journeys; refugees/war/peace; small group opportunities at MFM; a series on what Quakerism is to you; police and racism; information on technology; reports from FNVW and FCNL; Elders and staying power; self-consciousness with movement and dance; using the AED; and discussion regarding masking policy. Challenges: They have more requests than they have openings. Next fall they will schedule 5 requested programs that could not be slotted this year. This is indicative of a very involved community. Upcoming Points of Attention: Continue to strengthen Meeting through effective programming and involvement of, and personal sharing by, a steadily increasing number of community members and committees. Programs could include the energy of children via the new RE Coordinator on occasion.  Help any new committee members prepare to take over the work of the committee next April.   Discussion: John K. praised Ellen for her contributions to the committee.  Since she joined the committee, the committee has taken off and has contributed, significantly, to the meeting community. Presiding clerk: a number of Friends have expressed their appreciation for the use of small group activities during mid-morning programs. It is good to see that the committee is anticipating involving children in the program this fall.
  7. Northern Yearly Meeting Annual (NYM) Session –Cathy N., our NYM Representative  On May 30, 2023, one hundred eighty-five Friends from five states, including Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, gathered over Memorial Day weekend at Lions Camp near Rosholt, Wisconsin to participate in Northern Yearly Meeting 2023.  The theme of the gathering prompted Friends to reflect on pruning back for new growth.  Highlights of the weekend included increased community time such as singing and campfires; business meeting reports from Hiring, Finance, and Nomination committees; and spiritual activities such as small worship groups and Friends’ anti-racism work.  Thirty-five children played and learned together in respectful, safe community groups in the NYM Children and Youth program.  Discussion: Friend thought the annual session was terrific and encourages us to put it on the calendar for next year.  Also, we are encouraged to seek out the Northern Yearly Meeting Journal and their monthly email news to be informed about the broader community of NYM.  Contact information for the Journal will be put in the Google group.  Presiding clerk: it is exciting to see all the children having such a good time at NYM, and this was largely due to the contributions of Cathy N. [our new Children and Family Coordinator].
  8. Update from Technology Committee—Marilyn J.    Patch, our A/V Tech, is leaving for college in mid-August so we need to find someone to fill that position. Mayim Rabim is looking, also. One applicant is interested in working for Mayim Rabim on Fridays and Saturdays, but not on Sunday mornings. For Sundays, we’ve had no one indicate interest, yet. We’ve contacted local high schools, community colleges, technical training programs and others.  We have gotten some helpful suggestions, but no applicants. A/V Training is available. If we can’t hire someone by August, we might have a time when we need to use volunteers.  Roger M. and Terry K. operated our A/V system for 6 months before we hired Patch, but we can’t ask them to cover all our services. A few other people in the Meeting have been trained on operating the system, and have had some experience doing it. We’d love it if more of us could get the refresher training offered this summer. The best time for training is on Sundays after Meeting, on these dates: 6/18, 7/2, 7/23, and 7/30. Other times are available on request. Please RSVP to Roger or Terry K (info in bulletin).  While the job description is intimidating, it looks harder on paper than it is. Once you have been shown what controls to use, it is not too complicated.  Pleased consider serving Meeting as an occasional A/V tech.  Discussion:  Friend has been on both sides of the camera on Zoom, as host and as participant. He is asking that we not spotlight, or show the speaker in full screen view. He finds it distracting. Remark was made that we still need more Zoom hosts and that there has been a real team effort to make Zoom work since the beginning of Covid. The training is not hard to become a host – most need little training.   Bill H’s. contributions in hosting Zoom meetings was noted. He did much of the hosting when we began using Zoom for our worship services. A visitor, Jennifer, announced that they have had extensive audio technical experience in the theater and might be interested in the position.
  9. Update on Linden Hills Outreach—Jane D.    Jane spoke for the Welcoming and Outreach Committee.  The committee sponsored muffins and coffee at a table during a recent Linden Hills neighborhood celebration. This generated numerous interactions with neighbors and many pleasant conversations while raising $204 for Northpoint Clinic.   They thought the event was very successful.  There was no discussion.
  10. During Closing Worship we were asked to hold in our care the new family and child coordinator.

 

ATTACHMENTS

MID-MORNING PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT ADDENDUM

June, 2023

  • Outside Speakers:  FNVW (9/25) Future Planning for FNVW by Leah Robinson; D&M (11/27) Green Burials by Angela W.
  • Celebrations:  Christmas (12/25) and end of year (May 21).
  • Police/Racism:  P&SC (11/6) The Quaking of America; P&SC (1/22) Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery.
  • Refugees/Wars/Peace:  FCNL (10/2) The War in Ukraine by Jim H..
  • Requests from past year(s): (10/30 and 3/5) Staying Power by long time attenders who have stayed; (10/16) Comfort with movement and dance; (4/2) Using the AED; (4/23) Discussion on masking policy.
  • Spiritual Journeys: (12/4) Healing into self-compassion by Kate W-J.; (12/18) Where a life of acting, and a life in the Spirit…meet by John C..
  • Experiment with Light and other small group opportunities for spiritual growth (1/1) by Diane B..
  • M&C Committee: (11/20, 2/19, and 4/16) Series on “What does it mean to be a Quaker?”
  • Tech Committee: (10/23) Hybrid Update:  Technology Tips and More by Roger M., Terry K., and Marilyn J.
  • D&M Committee: (11/27) Green Options at the End of Life by Angela Woosley; (2/5) Bequeathing Your Values instead of Your Valuables: Ethical Wills by Ellen S..
  • C&C Committee: (9/18) Spiritual Resilience; (1/29) Helping One Another up with a Tender Hand; (4/30) A Way to Connect by Nettie S. and Judith J.
  • Nominating Committee: (2/26) Meeting Life: what gifts and strengths do you see in each other and yourself and how can participation feed and encourage these?
  • P&SC Committee: (11/6) The Quaking of America book review and confrontation of racism; (1/22) Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery; (3/26) Acts of Kindness with TED Talk “I was almost a school shooter” and discussion.
  • W&O Committee: (1/15) What’s the Difference between a Welcoming and an Inclusive Space?; (3/19) New Member Welcome for Katherine W., Christopher M., Kate W-J., and Jill F.; (5/7) Helping helpfully – what do people with disabilities really want?  By Jane D., Marilyn J., Lolly L., and Kate W-J.

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