Minutes of Meeting for Business

Minneapolis Friends Meeting

December 11, 2022

 [Names and some material edited for posting on the web.] Attendance:  John K.—Presiding Clerk. Stephen S.-Recording Clerk Nick P.—Zoom Host and 53 others attending in person or on zoom.

1.  Silent Worship: 

2.  Approve Agenda:   Approved. 

3.  Approve Minutes:  Minutes of the November 13, 2022 Meeting for Business were approved.

4.  Welcoming and Outreach – Thee Quaker Project – Jane D.  Thee Quaker Project, headed by Jon Watts (founder of the Quaker Speak project), is an Outreach project intended to help bring Quakerism into the 21st Century.  It will use online media with the goal of reaching younger generations of Quakers.  After showing a video on the proposed project Welcoming and Outreach offered a proposal for how Meeting might support this initiative.  The committee suggested that the Trustees make available up to $1,000 from their Advancement and Outreach Fund to match Friends’ individual contributions with a goal of raising $2,000 by January 30, 2023.  Friends would need to make contributions before January 30 to have the funds matched by the Trustees.  Checks could be written to Minneapolis Friends Meeting with a designation in the check memo for Thee Quaker Project from the Trustees’ Advancement and Outreach Fund. Discussion:  Friend wondered how much money the Thee Quaker Project needed to raise and whether the proposal from Welcoming and Outreach was brought to the Trustees first.  Jane noted that $50,000 in start-up funds was needed followed by ongoing operating expenses.  Keitha H. reported she had talked with Linda C. about the proposal, but the Committee had not had conversations with other Trustees. Carolyn V. wondered if Meeting needed to set up a special designated fund to receive contributions.  Keitha H. indicated the money would be given to the Trustees Advancement and Outreach Fund which already exists.  Bill H. noted that Friends around the world have diverse beliefs and practices with the largest number living in Africa.  He wondered which groups the project will represent.  Following this discussion Meeting approved recommending that Trustees allocate up to $1,000 from their Advancement and Outreach Fund to match contributions to the Thee Quaker Project from individual Friends. 

5.  Nominating Report—Carolyn V.  The committee recommended and Meeting approved the nomination of Lin B. for a three-year term on the Death and Memorials Committee. 

6.  Ministry and Counsel (M&C) Report – John C.

John reported that members of Ministry and Counsel were very grateful for the enthusiastic response to the committee’s requests for Friends to serve as speakers, closers, and musicians at meetings for worship.  These gifts of service are a blessing to the meeting community.  Friends are invited to contact John if they would like to offer these gifts in the future. Ministry and Counsel plans to offer three programs on sharing our faith as Friends to deepen our spiritual life together.  In November over 70 people participated in the first of these mid-morning programs.  It was a time of rich sharing.  There will be a second program on sharing our faith in February.  Ministry and Counsel would also like Friends to consider whether Meeting should adopt the summer worship schedule the whole year round.  This would involve having a single meeting for worship each Sunday alternating between unprogrammed and semi-programmed worship.  During the next month, M&C will be considering how such a change might affect the mid-morning and religious education programs. The committee hopes to bring a proposal to meeting for business in January for consideration by Friends.  Finally, M&C recommends that there be just one unprogrammed hour of worship on Christmas day which falls on a Sunday this year.  Discussion:  Clerk wondered if there were any concerns about having just one worship service on Christmas day.  Friends expressed support noting that this would ease the task of finding Zoom hosts on Christmas day.  Others noted that planning is underway to have a time of caroling and a social hour with finger food prior to worship.    Meeting approved holding only one meeting for worship (unprogrammed) on Christmas Day. 

7.  Alice Bell Memorial Minute – Lin B.  Lin worked with Jane F. and Diane B. in preparing the following minute. Clerk thanked Lin and others who prepared the minute.  Friends approved the following memorial minute. 

Memorial Minute for Alice Bell – Minneapolis Friends Meeting. Alice Bell passed peacefully from this world on August 5, 2022. She lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota in community at the cooperative of Becketwood in the final stretch of her 99 years. Her calling card at this time in her life read simply: “Scholar, Grandmother, Stickler,” which spoke volumes to her own sense of self. Alice’s early years were busy with chores on her family’s farm outside of Sheridan, Indiana. Then and evermore, reading was her passion. Funded by earnings from her mother’s chickens and the campus laundry and dining room, Alice attended Earlham College. A Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin, and a PhD from the University of Minnesota followed, as Alice gathered the expertise and built the foundation for a scholarly life – writing, editing, and teaching at Heidelberg College in Ohio (English), at the U. of M. (technical writing), and as a substitute teacher in the Edina Public Schools (English). Along this academic journey, she studied the work of regional writer Willa Cather, leading Alice to write her thesis on the narrative technique used in Cather’s The Professor’s House.  While at the U. of M., Alice met and married Melvin Salo. Family life began with their three children: Timothy, Cindy, and Jonathan, who attended Minneapolis Friends Meeting (MFM), where Alice had become a member. For over 50 years, she was a steadfast presence. On Sunday mornings she would arrive promptly, drop money in the offering box, and take her usual seat. In addition to supporting the annual budget, Alice was a generous contributor to the Roland and Zephyra Shepherd Scholarship Fund to aid applicants in the cost of a college, university, or trade / vocational school education. She taught First Day School, and some of her former students, still active in the Meeting at the time of her passing, recounted how she shared stories of her forbearers’ leaving North Carolina because of slavery and moving to Indiana to practice their Quaker faith and live in harmony with it. She took meditation seriously and valued the silence in worship. Alice actively pursued her spiritual life through reading, conferences, and application of philosophies to life’s biggest questions. After her first marriage ended, she met Jim Meyer at an Elderhostel event in Pocatello Idaho. They married in 1996 and returned to live near the University of California Davis, where Jim was a Chancellor Emeritus. Alice was active in campus life at the University, including serving as a tour guide at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.  Engaged and engaging, Alice possessed a seeker’s heart, and a zeal for good writing (inclusive of a stickler’s command of good grammar). Through her life and by her example, we the members and attenders of Minneapolis Friends Meeting learned how discipline and curiosity, service and the “ministry of showing up,” are central components, perhaps overlooked at times, of our Quaker faith and practice.

8.  Request for Volunteer for Mary Jean Port’s Memorial Minute – Clerk asked someone was willing to facilitate the preparation of a memorial minute for Mary Jean Port.  No one came forward.  Clerk asked Friends to take this request under discernment and contact him or the office if drawn to take on this ministry.

9.  COVID Fund Conversation – Nettie S. Clerk noted that much research was done during the past month to clarify the status and activity around the Covid relief fund.  Meeting established a fund to support folks with financial need due to the pandemic in May 2020 and approved an initial budget of $10,000 which was later increased in October of 2020.  Total expenditures from the Covid relief fund in 2020-21 were $12,500.   In 2021-22 Meeting spent $13,500 which was $3,500 over the budgeted amount.  This overage was approved by meeting.   In 2022-23 Meeting budgeted another $10,000 of which $6,000 has been spent.  There have been ongoing requests for assistance from the fund.  Rather than simply granting additional requests, Care and Counsel has proposed setting up a clearness committee to meet with the individual making the request about how ongoing financial needs might best be met.  Discussion:  Clerk wondered if Care and Counsel is proposing to lay the Covid relief fund down.  Jeannette R. suggested the committee bring a response to meeting for business in January.  Marilyn J. saw the Covid relief fund as an experiment in responding to sufferings and hardship experienced by people in the meeting and wondered if the committee would like to address how best to meet these needs going forward.  Jim H. observed that it can be hard for people to engage with budget matters, but this experience with the Covid relief funds reminds us we need to be attentive to such matters. Nettie S. indicated that Care and Counsel is discussing safeguards to ensure greater attention to finances.  Clerk thanked everyone who helped work through the question of expenditures from the Covid fund.

10.  Peace and Social Concerns (P&SC) – Winter Gift – Deborah J.  Each year Minneapolis Friends have an opportunity to make a Winter Gift contribution to two charitable organizations.  The Peace and Social Concerns Committee is tasked with recommending two organizations to receive the Winter Gift.  This year, the P&SC recommended the gifts be given to the Minnesota Council of Churches Refugee Services for assistance to Ukrainian refugees and Reclaim which offers mental health care for queer and trans youth.  Deborah noted the recent death of Caitlyn W., a former attender at Minneapolis Friends, who could have used compassionate guidance on her journey dealing with transgender issues as a consideration in choosing Reclaim for a gift.  Discussion:  One friend objected to funding an organization that only supports transgender and queer youth noting that there are also many gays and lesbians who could benefit from mental health services but who don’t identify as queer or trans.  Others indicated they understood this concern but urged acceptance of the recommendations noting that only a small amount of money is involved and there are young people who will be blessed by these gifts. Clerk indicated he did not sense unity on the proposed gift to Reclaim and suggested Meeting move forward with a gift to the Minnesota Council of Churches Refugee Services designated for Ukrainian refugees.  Another friend objected indicating he could not agree to give a gift designated for Ukrainian refugees while refusing to do so for a one designated for queer and trans youth.  Clerk indicated he did not sense unity and invited people to make gifts to the Winter Envelope Gift with the understanding that P&SC will bring recommendations forward at a future meeting for business.  

11.  Committee Reports.

a.  Loaves and Fishes Annual Report – (Postponed to January).

b.  Fall Together Annual Report – Ed S.  Fall Together, formerly known as Fall Camp, was again held at Fish Lake Regional Park.  The camp committee was uncertain if concern for Covid would affect attendance and decided if 20 people registered in advance the gathering would go forward.  Thirty-five people responded and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather, colorful leaves, planned activities and fellowship with each other.  Friends brought bag lunches and later enjoyed snacks provided by the camp committee.  News that Mary Jean Port had died during the night brought an added dimension to the gathering as friends shared their grief, love, and appreciation for her life among us.  Susie K. invited those present to write memories of Mary Jean on slips of paper and tie them to a “memory tree.”  Meeting for Worship centered around joys and concerns and concluded with an activity called “The Healing Power of Nature” that included poetry from members of the meeting and an introduction to the stars that are found on cottonwood twigs.  Camp has taken many forms over the years always bringing fellowship, food, and fun to all that have participated.  The committee looks forward to planning for another Fall Together in 2023.  Friend accepted the report with gratitude for the spirit-filled work of the Camp Committee. 

c.  Library Committee – Dave B.  The three meeting librarians work to develop and maintain the library collection with the goal of enhancing the spiritual life of the meeting.  This includes inventorying, cataloging, and updating the collection database.  The committee also selects and purchases new materials with their budget of $125 per year, evaluates the many donated books for possible addition to the collection, and weeds out unneeded items. Books added in recent years cover such topics as racial justice, the climate crisis, Quakerism, spirituality and faithful living, nonviolence, speaking across the political divide and more. There are books of poetry and fiction as well.   At least three of the recently added books had a MFM connection: Watershed by Ranae Hanson; Quakers, creation care, and sustainability co-edited by Stephen Pothoff; and Abundance by Jakob Guanzon.  The latest library catalog includes about 2000 items listed by title, author, and category.  The 2019 printed copy is available on the library table in the meetinghouse.  A user-friendly updated version of the catalog is available on the meeting website with books listed by title, author, or category.  Because of its length, the committee has not printed the updated version since it is unclear whether many people make use of it. Challenges include limited shelf space, so ongoing weeding of the collection is needed.  It can be hard choosing which books to retire from the collection.  Additionally, the library space is not easily accessible to someone using a wheelchair.  The round table is nice for displaying books but is also a barrier to accessing books on the shelves.  However, the new floor lamp donated by the VandenDolders has made the space more welcoming.  Finally, many books are checked out for a very long time, and some will never come back as borrowers sometimes die, move away, or forget they still have these books. Friends are encouraged to return books within one month so others can benefit from them, too.  Discussion:  If friends have suggestions for additions to the library collection or would like an updated printed copy of the 265-page catalog to be displayed on the library table they are invited to talk with Dave B.  Clerk observed that the service of the library committee is a much-valued ministry to meeting.  Friends accepted the report with gratitude. 

d.  Friends for a Nonviolent World (FNVW) Holiday Fair – Rae Beth C. reported that the holiday craft fair held at Friends School of Minnesota raised $12,500 for FNVW.  Minneapolis Meeting has not hosted the event for the last two years.  FNVW will soon decide whether to continue holding the craft fair at the school or return to the meetinghouse.  Rae asked Minneapolis Friends to consider three questions in preparation for deciding about the craft fair.   Do we want to invite FNVW to return to meetinghouse next year?  Will we volunteer?  Will we attend the fair?  Are we ok with opening the kitchen and loosening masking requirements to facilitate the craft fair.  A decision about inviting FNVW to hold the fair at the meetinghouse needs to be made at the January meeting for business.

12.  Closing Worship