Monthly Meeting for Business

Minneapolis Friends Meeting

April 14, 2024

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

In attendance: Jane F. – acting presiding clerk, Tom W. – recording clerk, 16 in person and 24 on Zoom

1. Silent Worship
2. Agenda—  APPROVED
3. Minutes of March 10, 2024 Monthly Meeting for Business – APPROVED
4. Children and Families Program Update—Cathy N.  A youth retreat is taking place here at the meeting house next Saturday, April 10. They will participate in a project for Feed My Starving Children and have lots of games and activities scheduled. The retreat will involve high schoolers, including Friends from Twin Cities Meeting and the International Friends Church. The Children and Families Program is growing. We are asking for adult volunteers to help in the nursery and the elementary program during 11:15 worship. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the front entry. Friends are asked to consider volunteering twice in a two-month period, for 45 minutes downstairs. We now have programming every Sunday. Volunteers will need to pass a screening coordinated by Ray C.  Four children have been active in religious education with five new younger people becoming involved, now.  Discussion: Friend suggested attending a show at the Walker Art Center that would be good for our youth, as well as for the Welcoming and Outreach program. Friend asked for a minute of appreciation to recognize all the work Cathy has done to grow the youth program, to the point we are now asking for volunteers to help out.  Presiding clerk asked if coaching would be available for the volunteers.  Yes, especially for those interested in being lead teachers. Our youth are also very interested in just hearing from Quakers, about their experiences as Quakers and how being Quaker has affected our lives. Cathy reported that attendance at First Day School varies from week to week. We can’t control who shows up. She is trying to contact parents by Friday to work out who will be attending on Sunday.
5. Stewardship and Finance 2023-24 Year End Budget Report—Mike F.  Mike explained that no transfer had been made to the Building Fund in 2022-23, so two transfers were made to the Building Fund in 2023-24. The funds allotted to cover the 2022-23 transfer were carried over as a surplus and used in one of the 2023-24 transfers, so there was minimal impact on the budget. Our offering box contributions to Meeting expenses have been consistent all through COVID – about $100K per year, and our actual expenses have been running about $25K less than budgeted. However, with inflation, our budget has been expanding. In budget year 2023-24, contributions were a little over $98K, while expenses, factoring in the two Building Fund transfers, came to $126K. Since $20 K had been carried over from the previous year to cover one of the Building Fund transfers, our actual deficit for the budget year 2023-24 was $7,490. Inflation, building insurance and utility costs account for most of that deficit. Salaries are mostly under budget for 2023-24. Taking into account the outstanding expenses that still need to be paid, we will have a reserve of $125K remaining in our bank account.   Discussion: Friend noted that while the figures are plain, it is still hard to reconcile that our income was $100K, our expenses were$125K, and yet we have a deficit of $7,500 for the budget year. Mike – we have a deficit of $7,500 for the past budget year (2023-24) and anticipate that the budget for 2024-25 will need to be $10K higher to cover inflationary increases. Stewardship anticipates spending $115K this next year (2024-25), so they plan to ask everyone to pay a little more – say, $110 K. That would provide a small surplus.  John K. remarked that if we are running a deficit for the entire year, we should reconsider how we pay our end-of-year contributions.  In the past we have pro-rated any deficit across all our contributions. It is too late to do that for 2023-24, but we should agree on how to reduce our contributions when we are running a deficit. Last month monthly meeting declined a request for $3K to be added to the 2024-25 budget to fund three organizations recommended by Peace and Social Concerns Committee. He believes we are giving a very significant percentage of our budget to discretionary contributions compared to many other churches.   Stephen S. asked if there are any more contributions to be paid out of the $125K of the 2023-24 budget — No, they have been covered already.   Friend inquired about a significant overrun in phone payments.  A question was raised about the purpose of the Building Fund — It is a Trustee fund that is used to cover long-term capital building expenses: rebuilding the porch, replacing the furnace, re-roofing, etc. A few years ago, the yearly transfer from the budget to the Building Fund was increased from $11K to $20K to cover some large anticipated capital expenses.  Regular maintenance expenses fall within the budget of the Property Committee. Friends were asked if they accepted the 2023-24 End of Year Report. FRIENDS ACCEPTED the report.  The Meeting extends its thanks to Mike and the Stewardship Committee for all the work they do.
6. Approval of the 2024-25 Meeting Budget—Mike F.  There are some changes from last year: $1,000 has been included to replenish the Trustee Travel Fund; $2,400 has been added to Utilities to cover the loan on the solar installation; and we reduced the electrical line-item, since we should have solar power for part of the year; and some adjustments have been made to salaries.  John K. questioned the amount budgeted for Religious Education Coordinator, since the contract specifies payment for 15 hours/week, which would be $12K more than the $6K that the budget shows, making the total budget $148K, not the $136K as shown. Judith J. concurred, saying that the contract stipulates 10-15 hours/week at $25 / hour. We need to budget for what the contract states. It is not clear why this was missed. The contract information is maintained by Liaison and Review Committee. There was further discussion about the correct amount that should be in the budget, with the observation that the correct annual figure for the Religious Education Coordinator is closer to $20K. It was suggested that we may need to delay accepting the budget another month. Friend remarked that it would be better if John K. and others had received copies of the report in advance of monthly meeting for business – it is unfair to everyone to have to address these changes at the last minute. Stephen S. – There are two issues. The budget needs to cover our contracts, so we need to change the $6K to $18K. The other issue – where is the money coming from? If our income does not go up and we run a deficit, then we must draw down our checking account to cover the difference. This prompted a broad discussion: Carolyn V. – The $6K that was entered in the proposed 2024-25 budget was a carry-over from last year’s line-item amount, that represented only a partial year salary for the Religious Education Coordinator and did not reflect a full year’s salary. Liaison and Review is responsible for setting the salary amounts in the budget … Friend believes the budget needs to show what our contributions are expected to be …  Another Friend remarked that over the years our total donations are about the same each year, but wondered if the breakdown of how the burden is shared has changed … Last month, Marilyn J. gave a report analyzing the contributions made to Meeting, but it was by calendar year, not budget year, and it was for last year, only. [the report was displayed on the Zoom, prompting additional discussion]. The report shows that 62 households contributed to Meeting …  That is helpful to know, but Friend asked what the trend line is – are we losing or gaining contributors?  Linda C. – she has no numbers, but about 15 years ago a similar report was done and it showed a consistent pattern to how we give, with Meeting being very dependent on a few large contributors. That is the long-term trend … Friend – one result of hiring a Religious Education Coordinator is there is an increase in the number of children coming to Meeting and an increase in the number of adults involved in meeting activities – that benefits Meeting … Another Friend asked for clarification to understand which of the various committees were responsible for determining the salaries of all our employees.                                                                                               Clerk of Stewardship asked if Stewardship amended the budget to include the increased salary for the Religious Education Coordinator, would Meeting be able to approve. When asked by presiding clerk, Friends did not have unity to approve the amended budget of $154K.   A wide-ranging discussion followed. The question was raised if we could delay approving the budget a month, but Friend wanted to know what that would accomplish … Another Friend asked Meeting to continue talking about the request for $3K to go to the three groups that had been excluded from the budget … Lolly L. reported that Liaison and Review sets the amount for salaries, but the committee responsible for reviewing the position has options when going with the salary recommendations … There was a question about the value in not approving the budget … Stewardship needs to know what to cut to keep the budget at a level we can accept … There is not a good way to review the budget prior to approving it. If we delay it a month, there will still be no way to review it ahead of business meeting  … Can the proposed budget be sent out in a written letter to everyone, not just those in the Google Group, so we can review it in advance? … Stephen S. worked on a new minute – to approve the budget as is, with the addition of an increase for the Religious Education Coordinator, and to send out a letter asking Friends for additional contributions.  There was no sense of unity to proceed with that suggestion … Friend suggested we could best manage our donations by using the previous year as a guide for the next year, comparing the new budget to prior donations, and reviewing all discretionary spending before making end-of-year contributions  …  Friend indicated his unwillingness to proceed with the current budget proposal. It would be irresponsible to approve a budget that is $50K greater than our previous budget, creating a $50K deficit, especially since we have not been able to completely meet the previous year’s budget … Carolyn – if our income is less than expected, then we have always prorated our discretionary contributions to 10% of the budget … Allen – Stewardship Committee should meet with John K. and bring back a retooled budget for 2024-25. In the past we have always been able to meet our obligations … Friend liked that idea, but they had a concern that there still needs to be a broader discussion about the budget, with more people involved.  Presiding Clerk proposed that John K. and others meet with Stewardship and return to May business meeting with a new budget.  FRIENDS were in Unity with that proposal.
7. Financial Request from Friends School of MN—Clerk     Action on this request will be postponed
8. Approval of Nominating Committee Report—Carolyn V.  Carolyn reviewed the changes Nominating Committee has made to their final report and commented on what an ambitious undertaking it is to get so many individuals to participate in the committee activities of Meeting. Nominating is tasked with trying to balance what individuals are willing and interested in doing with what Meeting is asking of us all.   Discussion: Clifford G. saw he was not included on the Fall Together committee and assumed he was still on it. He would like to be back on it. His offer was accepted. Friends APPROVED the amended roster, with much gratitude.
9. Request to Co-Sponsor Quaker Speaker—Roger M.   The Southwest Alliance for Equity is asking Minneapolis Friends Meeting to assist them in co-hosting a Quaker author, Garrett Bucks, at a book selling event to be held in the meeting house. This would be similar to the George Lakey event that we recently sponsored.  Roger M. will be the responsible individual representing Meeting and the event would feature Bucks’ book, ”The Right Kind of White”. The event is scheduled for Thursday evening, May 23. Friends APPROVED cohosting a book-selling event sponsored by the Southwest Alliance for Equity, featuring author Garrett Bucks.
10. Membership and Attendance Report—Carolyn V.  This report is weighted toward recording those who come with some regularity to first day worship / first day school. The majority of those considered active come to meeting, on average, at least six times a year.  Number of active adults – 99 (95 last year). Members who regularly attended worship – 64 (65). Regular attenders at worship – 35 (30)  New members – 1. New associate members – 0. Released members – 4.   Number of children- 4 (5). Under age 2 – 0. Preschool (ages 2-5) – 2. Grades 1 thru 5 – 0. Grades 6 thru 8 – 1. High school – 1.  Average attendance at unprogrammed worship: 18 (19 last year): in-person – 10; zoom – 8.  Average attendance at semi-programmed worship: 53 (48 last year); in-person  – 35; zoom – 18. Average summer attendance was: 60 (48); in-person – 41; zoom – 19.
11. Ministry and Counsel Report— [no committee report – refer to State of Society Report, instead]
12. State of Society Report—Jane F.    The State of Society Report is submitted to Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) every year. A written report has been drafted and clerk was going to read it, but Stephen S. suggested there was insufficient time to complete this reading. The report could be sent out for review via the Google group and we could discuss it at May’s business meeting, although that would occur after the report is sent to NYM, since NYM requested it be submitted by April 22.  Discussion: Could we review it on the Google group before it is sent to NYM? Or it could go out to the bulletin mailing list, since not everyone is on the Google group? Carolyn said she could send it out to the bulletin group today.  Friends APPROVED sending out the State of Society Report via the bulletin mailing group and the Google group, so comments could be made to Ministry and Counsel before it is sent to NYM.
13. Communications and Announcements—Clerk    Minneapolis Friends Meeting wants to acknowledge and honor Scott W. for his years of service shoveling our walks, keeping us safe when we navigate our way to the meeting house in winter. He is retiring.
14. Worship and Transition to 2^nd Hour Worship