March 2024 – Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
GRASS VALLEY FRIENDS MEETING
Of the Religious Society of Friends of the Truth
College Park Quarterly Meeting, Pacific Yearly Meeting
MINUTES & RECORD
Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
March 10, 2024
We met in a hybrid meeting in person at the meetinghouse and on Zoom.
Present: Dorothy Henderson (clerk), Amy Cooke (assistant clerk), Don McCormick, Dean Olson, Dianne Marshall, Judy Hamilton, Pete O’Rourke, Lo Hamm, Gordon Starr (elder to the Clerk), Mary Starr, Nora Cooke, Keith Runyan, Chamba Cooke, Kathy McCreery, fosten wilson, Sharon Davisson, Jennifer Smith (recording clerk), David Bowman, Stuart Smith, & Dean Olson.
The Meeting opened with silent worship.
Clerks’ Remarks and Query
On behalf of Dorothy Henderson, clerk, Amy Cooke shared the following.
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait. I say, on the Lord. (On the Spirit, the Light, the Seed.)
Wait, be of good courage. Help is at hand, Spirit is at hand.
We describe our worship as waiting worship. And we bring our waiting worship into our Meetings for Worship for Business.
This morning the query I bring came to me as I considered our term ‘expectant waiting’. We have two profound examples occuring in our meeting. We have a beloved member of our meeting expectantly waiting with her partner, also beloved, the birth of their child. Indeed we have the grandparents and many of us in our meeting expectantly waiting as well!
There is another expectant waiting that we in our meeting are a part of. There is an ancient village, Yulića, waiting to be reborn on what I used to call Woolman land. A profound, transforming event is happening right in our midst. We are a part of it, expectantly waiting for that as well. In both examples we know that expectant waiting is not passive, but a very alive and active time. For our query we go back to the Psalmist who tells us twice to Wait. Spirit is available to give courage and strengthen hearts.
How do these words come to you as you enter our Meeting for Worship for Business this morning, expectantly waiting?
Friends shared out of the silence.
One Friend shared that the conversation about the land one day returning to the Nisenan was originally never thought about. We don’t know how this transition will go. Expectant waiting.
Another Friend likened expectant waiting to waiting on the birth of a baby. The quality of not knowing is expectant waiting. We know God will move us, but we don’t know how or when.
Expectant waiting is a very active process. Trying to discern a message from the Spirit is like fishing. We expect to get messages from the Spirit, so you need to pay attention and pull out what is truly from the Spirit.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
(see reports appended, committee clerk is noted in bold)
Spirit and Witness: Amy Cooke, Stuart Smith, Reed Hamilton, Sharon Davisson, Dean Olson, Dorothy Henderson (ex-officio, GVFM Clerk).
Amy Cooke gave the report, appended.
Sharon Davisson gave the report on CHIRP (California Heritage Indigenous Research Project) –
Nisenan (appended).
Minute (seasoning until April): Grass Valley Friends Meeting joyfully approves and acknowledges the membership of Mary Starr in the Religious Society of Friends.
Stewardship: Mary Starr, Pat Phillips, Reed Hamilton, Gordon Starr, Doug Hamm, David Bowman. Dianne Marshall (ex-officio, Newsletter editor), Fosten Wilson (ex-officio, Treasurer), Don McCormick (ex-officio, Librarian).
Mary Starr, clerk, gave the report, appended.
Friends asked questions about the maintenance of the website. We could contract WordPress for this service, or we could go with the local company who has helped us with the website. Peter O’Rourke, the website coordinator for Meeting, reported on the research that he has done on this issue. This will now go back to Stewardship for discernment.
One Friend is concerned that we need to explore other options, including Squarespace, as a future option for the website.
A question was raised about who approves expenditures. Stewardship approves expenditures that are in the budget. Any expenditure not budgeted must be approved by the Meeting.
Minute 03.2024.01: The Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the payment of $62.50 for the work on fixing the website, with the stipulation that in the future all payments be pre-approved before the work is done.
A question was raised about the recommendation from Meeting for forming a task force to explore how records are archived in the Meeting, with digital and paper options considered. It was clarified that the new co-Recorder/Archivists are serving in this capacity, as well as clarifying the purpose of the records being stored.
Welcome Committee: Peter O’Rourke, clerk (ex-officio, Website and Facebook coordinator), Kathy McCreery, Don McCormick, Pat Phillips, Cheryl Hendrickson, Cindy Bliss, Lo Hamm, CJ Patterson, Hailey Wilson (ex-officio, tech support), Judy Hamilton (ex-officio, email coordinator).
Peter O’Rourke, clerk, gave the report, appended.
A question was raised about the discernment on how to choose who will attend events put on by the Meeting. Amy Cooke, clerk of Spirit and Witness, suggested that this be given to Spirit and Witness, since most programs are under their care.
Another Friend asked for guidance on how to send out information on events to different groups, after Spirit and Witness has discerned – the local newspaper, Facebook, the email tree, Interfaith Nevada County, etc.
Another Friend wanted Spirit and Witness to remember that this subject came up because of Zoom. In the past, events were open to all, but with Zoom we may want to reconsider so events do not become cumbersome. She asked us to consider the query, “In the spirit of inclusion, don’t we want our events to be open to all?”
This discussion will go back to Spirit and Witness.
One Friend wanted to change the wording in one of the job descriptions in Welcome Committee.
Nominating Committee: (terms as noted) Judy Hamilton: 2022-2024, Gordon Starr: 2022-2024, Dean Olson 2023-2025, Sharon Davisson 2023-2025.
Judy Hamilton gave the report, appended.
Minute 03.2024.02: Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves staggered three-year terms for members of Spirit and Witness Committee, beginning with the 2024-2025 slate.
Minute 03.2024.03: Grass Valley Friends Meeting accepts the nomination of Gordon Starr and Don McCormick for the positions of co-Recorder/Archivist to serve for the remaining portion the 2023-2024 year.
Minute 03.2024.04: Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves making the Directory Clerk an ex-officio member of the Welcome Committee.
Children’s Program: Keely McDonald and Doug Hamm, co-clerks, Dorothy Henderson, Gordon Bishop, Judy Hamilton, Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton, Don McCormick, David Cowan, Lo Hamm.
There was no report.
OFFICER REPORTS and REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS
- Pacific Yearly Meeting: Don McCormick gave excerpts from the Representative Committee (RepComm) report, appended.
- College Park Quarterly Meeting: No report.
- Treasurer: fosten wilson. No report.
- Interfaith Nevada County: No report.
CLERK’S REMARKS
- From “The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People Called Quakers” by William Sewel: in the past, a group of Quakers were not supposed to assemble, but William Sewel knew they had assembled because ‘those Quakers communicate without speaking.’ I hope you received that same communication through our silence.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Sunday, March 17: After Meeting Worship Sharing on the state of our Meeting (GVFM only)
- Sunday March 24: Spirit and Witness program. Don McCormick: Safe Meetings Don’t Avoid Conflict (open to everyone)
- April 17: Spirit and Witness program. Seekers Meeting. Questions and sharing about what it means to be a Quaker. Open to all.
- April 28: Spirit and Witness program. Dorothy Henderson will report on her work at Pendle Hill
- Facebook: please follow the Grass Valley Friends Meeting page, or join the Facebook Grass Valley Friends Meeting group. If you share a post from the page, your friends will see it, and it helps our visibility. Follow this link.
- The 2023-2024 PacYM General Directory is available. It can be found on the Yearly Meeting Website at: pacificyearlymeeting.org > Resources > PacYM General Directory and Database > Obtaining the Directory
The Directory is available for use by members and attenders of monthly meetings and worship groups within Pacific Yearly Meeting and by Friends serving on Pacific Yearly Meeting committees. It is not to be shared beyond this community. Dorothy, Doug, and Don have the new password for the PacYM Directory.
- Carl Magruder: You can follow Carl’s healing journey on the CaringBridge.org website HERE. Friends have also set up a daily Meeting for Healing from 7:30 to 8 am (Pacific) on Zoom here or contact Amy Cooke at amylisette@gmail.com for the link.
- Contributions to Grass Valley Friends Meeting are gratefully accepted. You can give by mailing a check to fosten wilson or through Tithely on the website or our newsletter. Our treasurer is asking for additional funds this month as our expenditures exceeded our income.
- We held the last words of Aaron Bushnell in the Light, “Stop the genocide in Gaza.”
ITEMS SEASONING or CARRIED OVER
- Minute (seasoning until April): Grass Valley Friends Meeting joyfully approves and acknowledges the membership of Mary Starr in the Religious Society of Friends.
READING OF THE RECORD AND MINUTES
The record and the minutes were read, corrected and approved.
If you are giving a report to GVFM, please send the actual report to the recording clerk at grassvalleyfriends@gmail.com THE FRIDAY BEFORE MEETING FOR BUSINESS.
GVFM Newsletter Reminder: Please have items into Diane Marshall by Tuesday at 10 am.
The Meeting closed with silent worship.
Respectfully recorded by Amy Cooke, recording clerk (outgoing) and Jennifer Smith, recording clerk (incoming).
APPENDICES:
- Spirit and Witness Committee report
- Organization Report: California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project
- Stewardship Committee report
- Welcome Committee report
- Nominating Committee report
- Pacific Yearly Meeting Monthly Report
- Interfaith Nevada County report
- Information: Organization Representatives by Committee
- Recorder/Archivist job description
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Spirit and Witness Report
Our committee has spent time this month holding the transition of the Woolman land being restored to the settlement of Yulića. We recognize that there are those in our community who are struggling with the transition as well as those who are working to address concerns. We remain dedicated to bring a worshipful orientation to the transition with deep listening.
The Toward Right Relationship witness committee under our care has met. Reed Hamilton is clerk of the committee. They are working on their job description, which will help to focus the rather broad mandate they received from our committee! There is clarity that their work right now is focused on the Nisenan.
We are grateful for our hybrid meeting that allows and supports our community connections with those who are at distance or who are unable to be in the meetinghouse in person. The work that so many people in our meeting have done and continue to do is very meaningful and continues to weave into our vibrant community. We also recognize the challenges that come with being a hybrid meeting, including the need to support our meeting’s clerk as she holds that role at a physical distance. We are prepared to step in when she needs on-the-ground support.
We are joyfully bringing forward the name of Mary Starr for membership in the Religious Society of Friends upon the recommendation of her clearness committee for membership.
We are readying ourselves for the annual State of the Meeting report, with the first worship sharing on the 17th of March.
We received the recommendation from the Nominating Committee for transitioning to termed appointments on our committee. We agree that this will provide consistency and have passed our approval onto the Nominating Committee.
Our upcoming Spirit and Witness programs are:
- Sunday March 24: Spirit and Witness program. Don McCormick: Safe Meetings Don’t Avoid Conflict
- April 17: Spirit and Witness program. Seekers Meeting. Questions and sharing about what it means to be a Quaker
- April 28: Spirit and Witness program. Dorothy Henderson will report on her work at Pendle Hill
- Future: Stuart Smith’s report
We continue to be available to support clearness committees in the face of life transitions, support committees, anchor committees for leadings, and witness committees. We have several committees and individuals under our care and welcome anyone’s request for support. Please contact a member of the committee if you would like to explore the options for support in our Meeting!
As Friends know, Spirit and Witness Committee and Welcome Committee alternate months in giving the organizational reports that connect us to the wider world of Friends and other organizations. The reports are structured around the following queries:
- What is this organization’s mission statement?
- What are their current activities or plans?
- What is exciting?
- Are there any concerns?
- How can Friends get involved if they feel inspired?
- Is anyone in our meeting particularly involved? How?
Spirit and Witness holds the “Faith and Practice” organizations: American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Committee for Legislation (FCNL/FCL-CA), Interfaith of Nevada County, Quaker United Nations Organization (QUNO), and Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) The Nisenan are also reported on as an organization by Spirit and Witness.
We are presenting the organizational report this month on the Nisenan. Sharon is giving the report.
Respectively submitted,
Amy Cooke, clerk
Organization Report: California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project
Mission: To Preserve, Protect, and Perpetuate Nisenan Culture
California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization originally founded to research, document and preserve the history and culture of the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe.
CHIRP is guided by the Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council. Over the years, the organization has grown in focus and capacity to better serve the Tribe’s goals and needs. Because the Nevada City Rancheria is no longer recognized by the United States, Tribal members are denied access to the federal Indian programs created to support their health, education, housing and economic stability. With financial and community support, CHIRP seeks to “creatively mimic” programs that will support the preservation, protection and perpetuation of the Nisenan people and their culture into
the future, while advocating for the restoration of the Nevada City Rancheria’s federal recognition.
Healing and Revitalization through Homeland Return
The purchase and rematriation of Yulića provides a tremendous potential for stability and healing for the Nisenan people, the environment, and the fabric of the Nevada City community.
In addition to the momentous opportunity of returning Ancestral Homelands to the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, acquisition of the Woolman property allows the Tribe to reclaim their ceremonial and cultural practices, provide much needed Elder housing, and to renew their relationship with the land and its more than human-kin.
TheToward Right Relations Committee’s immediate vision is to raise visibility and awareness of the Nisenan so all who work and live in the Bear and Yuba River watersheds can come together to honor the original peoples of this land. By contributing to the stability and restoration of the Nisenan we can begin to transform our community and our culture into one based on integrity and respect for the rights of all beings.
Stewardship Committee
Present: Mary Starr, clerk, Gordon Starr, recorder, Fosten Wilson, treasurer, Reed Hamilton, Dianne Marshall,vnewsletter, Don McCormick, librarian, Pat Phillips
Finance. Fosten reported expenses in February totaled $1,820, with donations totaling $376.
Expenses included a reimbursement of $ 1,200 to Amy Cooke for her payment to have the
Meeting website rebuilt. This was directed by Meeting for Business in February. For more on
this, see below.
The remainder was for rent of the Meeting House.
Tithely. Fosten also said he had been contacted by Thithe.ly asking for more information on the
“owner” of the account. This seems to be a request for either a Social Security number or a tax
number. Currently, Fosten uses PYM’s tax number , and now they seem to be asking for the
“owner’s” SS number. This seems particularly confusing since Tithe.ly is a service set up
primarily for churches and it would seem they know that small churches don’t have owners.
Fosten will follow up with them.
Recorder/Archivist. Don and Gordon have been going through, cleaning up and organizing the
clerks and recorder files. They acquired (free) a 5-drawer filing cabinet to hold the archives.
They have puzzled over the wording in the current job description and have decided to write a
new clearer version. It was noted that at the last Meeting for Business, Stewardship was asked to
create a “task force” (ad hoc?) group to explore various archival storage systems. There is
concern that any digital storage system will, at some point, be outdated and therefore hard to
retrieve files. They are inclined to keep paper records even if digital storage is also used. More
study of what is required to be saved is needed. It was asked what is the goal of saving particular
files to archives, and are they already being saved elsewhere. The importance of having shared
protocols in order to access files were noted.
Website problems. Peter O’Rourke emailed Mary saying the website wasn’t working due to
software upgrades. He and Amy contacted Ethan, who recently rebuilt the website, to ask for
guidance on what to do. However, as they were trying to address the problem, Ethan, on his own,
went out and fixed the problem and asked to be paid $62.50 for the half hour he spent working
on it. After some discussion, we decided to recommend that Meeting approve the charge but with
the stipulation that, without prior clearance, no further charges would be paid.
Newsletter. Dianne reported that she and Judy Hamilton, after multiple efforts at contacting
people on the list have trimmed the newsletter mailing from 152 down to 60 people.
Next meeting: April 4, 2024
Welcome Committee
Attendees – Judy Hamilton, Don McCormick, Kathy McCreery , Cindy Bliss, Nancy
Anderson, Pete O’Rourke
New Business
1. Greeting Checklist – All
a. Change requested completed by Don and Greeting materials updated
2. Monthly potluck discussion
a. Target every other month
b. Announce at Worship
3. How to select attendees for events
a. Have a signup at Worship for specific event participation (similar to Potluck and
“Friendly 8” sign up process)
4. Intro to Quakerism
a. Don updated us on Intro to Quakerism
i. Ben Lomond Meeting is holding an online reading and discussion group of Ben Pink Dandelion’s book with Bob Runyan and Jim Anderson
ii. Course may be too focused on Quaker history and less on how Quakerism improves our lives
iii. Go to quakercenter.org for more information
5. Reviewed Newsletter (and Announcements if needed) Contact lists on GVFM Google
site– Dianne, Judy, Nancy and Pete
a. Lists are updated in Contacts
Next Meeting will be Monday, April 8 th , 2024, 7pm PST
Nominating Committee Report
We met February 28th, 2024. Present were: Judy Hamilton, Sharon Davisson, Dean Olson and Gordon Starr.
We have almost finalized the slate for the 2024-2025 year. We are looking for an additional
person to serve on the Children’s committee if someone feels so moved. We have 2 key positions
open that we hope to have filled soon.
We discussed the terms of service which are 1 year terms with the exception of Nominating which is a 2 year term. We feel that the term for people who serve on Spirit and Witness should
be more than 1 year but how many more years? We also wonder if there should be a term limit
for this committee or any of the others. We bring these questions to the Meeting for Business.
Children’s Committee Report
Pacific Yearly Meeting Monthly Report
Report from Pacific Yearly Meeting RepCom March 1, 2024
Don McCormick
Morning Session
The upcoming PYM session will be held at Whittier College.
A budget for the upcoming PYM session was passed.
Last year, PYM had a pay-as-led approach to the annual gathering. This approach led
people to donate very little money.
Session II (1:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.)
o Nominating Committee (names were brought for approval)
o Ministry Committee (Gail Eastwood)
o Children’s Program Committee (Molly Bishop)
o Communications Committee (Lynn Gazis) They were supposed to present their
minutes, but they didn’t. Either that, or I slept through the minutes.
o Report from College Park Quarterly Meeting (Eric Sabelman)
o Report from Mexico City Monthly Meeting (Jonathan Woolley)
I learned something from the report from Mexico City Monthly Meeting. For the last 6
years, the Quaker house/hostel in Mexico City, Casa los Amigos, has been illegally
occupied. The current occupants are falsely presenting themselves as representatives
and workers of the Casa. The local Quaker meeting said that they wanted to hold
Sunday meeting for worship in Casa los Amigos, but the people who control the building
said they had to provide a list of people who would attend three days in advance. The
Quaker meeting found this unacceptable and possibly impossible.
PYM tries to help people to attend its annual session. There is a $12,000 fund. If you’re
interested, apply to Ministry Committee. Children 18 and under attend for free. Young
Adult Friend’s (YAF’s) are Quakers under 35. They get a discount of twenty or twenty-
five percent.
The full report is available upon request and is stored in the GVFM Drive.
InterFaith Nevada County Report
Information: Organization Representatives by Committee
Welcome Committee holds the “connect with Quakers” organizations: Ben Lomond Quaker Center (BLQC), College Park Quarterly Meeting (CPQM), Friends General Conference (FGC), Friends World Committee on Consultation (FWCC), Pacific Yearly Meeting (Pac YM), and Sierra Friends Center (SFC).
Spirit and Witness holds the “Faith and Practice” organizations: American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Committee for Legislation (FCNL/FCL-CA), Interfaith of Nevada County, Quaker United Nations Organization (QUNO), and Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) The Nisenan have been added to Spirit and Witness.
Each month, a member of one of the two committees prepares a report on one of their committee’s organizations based on the queries below. The committees alternate months, with odd months going to one committee and even months the other one. That gives many people the opportunity to “discover” Quaker organizations, and to hear from different people so that we all get to hear from each other. The reports are structured around the following queries:
- What is this organization’s mission statement?
- What are their current activities or plans?
- What is exciting?
- Are there any concerns?
- How can Friends get involved if they feel inspired?
- Is anyone in our meeting particularly involved? How?
Four organizations continue to have a representative (PYM, CPQM, SFC, and Interfaith) who will report to the meeting as needed. However, these organizations will also be included in the once-a-year report to business meeting from either Welcome (PYM, CPQM, SFC) or Spirit and Witness (Interfaith).
Job Description: Recorder (or Recorder/Archivist)
The Recorder (or Recorder/Archivist) keeps faithful and accurate membership records on forms provided by the Yearly Meeting. Such records include vital statistics pertaining to the member and his or her immediate family, whether or not they are all members of the Monthly Meeting. The Recorder promptly notes any changes relating to the membership, such as births, deaths, transfers, releases, or marriages. At the request of the Yearly Meeting Statistical Clerk, the Recorder completes a questionnaire regarding the Monthly Meeting and files a copy of this report in the permanent records of the Monthly Meeting.
The Recorder/Archivist also takes proper care of other important records of the Monthly Meeting. The officer responsible for current minutes and record books may retain them. All others should be preserved, together with important correspondence and legal papers, such as deeds, conveyances, and trusts, in a durable and legible form, and in a permanent repository protected from fire and loss.
The Recorder may also retain final wishes, emergency phone numbers, and important moments in the member’s life.