Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
First Month 21, 2018
Draft Minutes
Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business (WMB) began with silence at 11:00 am with 56 in attendance. Sylvia and Arthur Shurcliff and Cameron and Victoria (did not catch last name) were welcomed as first-time attenders. The greeter was Wendy Wadsworth of Care and Counsel Committee; Roni Kingsley of Ministry and Worship Committee held Meeting in the Light from the facing bench. Janett Forte read the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Proposed Queries and Voices on stewardship of the earth.
New Clerk of Meeting Tracey Cain introduced herself and Catherine Roseberry, new Recording Clerk.
Consent Agenda: Care and Counsel Committee asks for other committees or interested persons to continue the practice of hosting Rise-of-Meeting coffees during 2018; the sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board. The Meeting approved the continuation of this welcoming event. Monica Shaw is the contact for questions.
Ministry & Worship: Brooke Davis reported on the committee’s efforts to make worship more welcoming to those attending, especially newcomers. An experiment over the past six months involved the wording of signage next to the Meeting room doors, flexibility regarding entrance times, and testing the feasibility of having doors left open. The result, for now, will have the doors closed during Meeting; however, the sign at the Kensington Avenue door asks people to enter quietly (regardless of the time) and sit near the back; the sign in the foyer directs late comers to wait until 11:20 to enter when the children leave for RE, or enter Meeting from the Kensington Avenue door. This plan has been in operation since October, and Ministry and Worship feels this adjustment has helped the meeting be more settled as well as solving noise issues resulting from open doors. Ministry & Worship continues to invite comments.
On behalf of Ministry & Worship, Jim Thoroman encouraged everyone to attend the annual gathering to consider the Spiritual State of the Meeting, Saturday, February 17, beginning at 9 am.
Nominating: Clarisse Harton noted that since approval of the 2018 Roster of Committees and Positions at the 12th Month MWB, Ted Heck has come forward to serve as Assistant Treasurer. Nominating asked for consent in order for Ted to hold this position; Meeting approved.
Old Clerks/New Clerks will be held Sunday, February 4, at 9:30 am in the Community Room; This meeting gathers incoming and outgoing clerks to review Quaker process and RFM details necessaryV in committee work.
Spring Retreat Committee will shift their work year to September through May beginning this fall, and has asked Nominating to work on staffing its positions during the summer.
Financial Stewardship: Scott Morrison presented the Treasurer’s Final Report for 2017; he pointed out income was in excess of expenses, making the committee feel confident to raise the 2018 budget in anticipation of known increasing expenses. Scott mentioned that once again, Meeting took in fifty percent of its income during the last months of the calendar year. Meeting accepted the report with appreciation.
Laura Goren announced the Meeting’s contingency fund contains a surplus of $3,300; at its February meeting Financial Stewardship will be considering what its recommendation to Meeting should be. Comments or suggestions to any member of the committee are welcome.
Care & Counsel: Monica Shaw reminded Meeting of the new “open enrollment” policy for Friendly 8s; interested folks can join up at any time during the year. A list of the groups is posted on the bulletin board.
Adult Spiritual Education: Dan Shaw urged attendance to the upcoming all-new “Living the Quaker Life” series, generally second and fourth Sundays, February through June, at 9:30 am in the Community Room. Attendees (and anyone interested) will receive a free copy of the current (2013) draft of Faith and Practice. A Friend, on behalf of newcomers, asked why the book is meaningful, and Clerk rose to explain its purpose, and why it is considered a draft. As Quakers believe in continuing revelation, Baltimore Yearly Meeting has established an ongoing committee to continually revise Faith and Practice guidelines. The last approved version of Faith and Practice occurred in 1988.
Peace & Social Concerns: Representing the Ad Hoc Sanctuary Committee, Ellen Arginteanu briefly updated Meeting on the group’s progress in clarifying issues. They met with Alina Kilpatrick, an immigration lawyer, and continue to investigate other practical matters. They believe they will be clear to come to Meeting with a recommendation within a few months. Ellen also requested financial contributions, if Friends are so led, to the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy Sanctuary Fund, for assistance with legal fees. Three bills working through the General Assembly affect immigrants: Driver’s Privilege Bill, Extended In-State Tuition, and a detrimental bill that would require localities to enforce Federal immigration laws to the full extent.
Sally Gudas, who with Sylvia Clute are our representatives in a coalition with other Virginia Quaker meetings within the VICPP, also mentioned several topics, including the VICPP’s top priority, Medicaid expansion. Other priority issues include sanctuary, raising the felony threshold and wage theft. Sally invited Friends to join her at VICPP’s annual “Day for All People,” a time of advocacy at the General Assembly on January 23, beginning at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Ben Hebner, our FCNL representative, presented the issues Peace & Social Concerns discern to be the most important to our Meeting. P&SC asked for approval to submit the following to FCNL as our ranking concerns; FCNL will use feedback from monthly meetings to develop their agenda of lobby issues for the 2019 Congress. The topics, in order of concern, are:
- universal health care
- climate concerns
- net neutrality
- immigration reform
- criminal justice reform
- discrimination issues, especially concerning LGBTQ
- the use of diplomacy over war
Meeting approved submitting these topics to FCNL as our most important legislative issues. A Friend suggested informing the press of our concerns, via a letter to the editor of the newspaper; Ben agreed to do so with another Friend’s assistance. Meeting thanked P&SC and work done with the FCNL.
Tracey Cain made an announcement on behalf of Peace &Social Concerns: they are considering doing a monthly fund-raising lunch for contributions to Puerto Rico aid and Sanctuary legal fees, and ask for input from Meeting. Would the first Sunday of the month work? What are other concerns? Contact Rhonda Ligon at rligon@gmail.com.
A Friend asked if Circles RVA will meet in the Community Room next Sunday; P&SC agreed to find out and send a notice on the listserv.
Spring Retreat: Ron Lee announced the theme for this year’s Spring Retreat, May 25-27: “Rooting Down, Branching Out.” Details to be announced.
Approval of Twelfth Month MWB Minutes: As Twelfth Month minutes were inadvertently omitted from the agenda packet, approval will be held over to Second Month’s MWB.
Clerk’s Business: Clerk Tracey Cain read touching notes of thanks from two incarcerated people who received holiday cards from RFM. Al Simmons annually distributes address labels from Virginia-CURE so incarcerated people in Virginia prisons might receive a kind word at Christmas.
Clerk reminded Meeting of our willingness to host the Long Range Conference Planning Committee (LRCP) of Friends General Conference February 23-24. This event will need coordinators for arranging lodging, meals at RFM, and transportation from RIC and Amtrak. Contact Tracey Cain or Michelle Bellows if you can help with this need.
Other business: Patricia Stansbury of Hospitality invited everyone to the Community Room at Rise of Meeting for a light repast courtesy of Linda Whittington.
There being no other business, Meeting settled into silence before adjournment at 12:35 pm.
Catherine Roseberry, Recording Clerk
Tracey Cain, Clerk