September 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
September 8, 2024
We met in a hybrid meeting in person at the meetinghouse and on Zoom.
Present: Dorothy Henderson, clerk; Jennifer Smith, recording clerk; Gordon Starr, elder to the clerk; Mary Starr, Lo Hamm, Dianne Marshall, Reed Hamilton, Judy Hamilton, Doug Hamm, Stuart Smith, Amy Lisette Cooke, Chamba Cooke, fosten wilson, Sharon Davisson, Alan Stahler, Peter ORourke, Keith Runyan.
The Meeting opened with silent worship.
Clerks’ Remarks and Query
Sometimes a split between ideas between two people (arguments) can bring us closer together. We can use this in Meeting for Worship for Business. A Bible story from Acts was told where the disciples are arguing about an issue involving the Gentiles and how to move forward with their involvement. The discussion is heated, and several disciples express different opinions. Eventually they found their way forward. How can we use this in our Meeting for Worship for Business?
Friends spoke out of the silence.
One Friend recalled a reading from a wedding he attended which said “the streams with obstacles are the ones that sing.”
Another Friend expressed a regular prayer for our country that we can find our way to work together again.
Conflict is an opportunity.
Another Friend recalled the long process in the past of discerning an divided issue in Meeting for Worship for Business. The meeting was split and there were very strong opinions. Through the process of silence and going to our hearts, the way opened. It is worship. The “I” disappears and the “We” arises.
Another Friend recalls how her family resolved conflict with a Family Council, including a Kids Council.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
(see reports appended, committee clerk is noted in bold)
Spirit and Witness: Amy Cooke (2024-2027),Stuart Smith (2023-2026), Reed Hamilton (2022-2025), Sharon Davisson (2022-2025), Dean Olson (2023-2026), Dorothy Henderson (ex-officio, GVFM Clerk)
Amy Cooke gave the report, appended.
MINUTE 2024.09.01: Grass Valley Friends Meeting will have a spot on the Meeting for Worship for Business monthly agenda for individuals to share their experiences from the wider Quaker world, in whatever way they are inspired. If possible, please send the message to the Clerk and Recording Clerk in advance of Meeting for Worship for Business. Spirit and Witness will create a reference list of Quaker organizations to be included in the newsletter.
One Friend questioned the phrase “Quaker world” and wondered how that includes non-Quaker activities. It was clarified that this is specifically for the Quaker organizations and how we report on them.
Another Friend wondered if there would be a sign-up, or if it would be an open space for speakers to step forward. Spirit and Witness talked about this, and thought it would be helpful for the Clerk and the Recording Clerk to know in advance who will be speaking and to have something sent in advance to be noted. But, they also acknowledged that sometimes something moves in us during worship and it should be shared.
Another Friend wanted to make sure we keep the focus of sharing the joy of how these organizations are working in the world, and it can include non-quaker organizations.
Another Friend questioned when the list will be sent to the Newsletter. A beginning list will be sent in time to include in the Newsletter this month.
Due to the way the job descriptions for our committees are worded, we will not need to change any of the job descriptions with this Minute.
MINUTE 2024.09.02: Grass Valley Friends Meeting releases Dayton Mason from membership in Grass Valley Friends Meeting. We will send a registered letter notifying him in the next 30 days.
MINUTE 2024.09.03: Grass Valley Friends Meeting releases Coleman Watts from membership in Grass Valley Friends Meeting. We will send a registered letter notifying him in the next 30 days.
Stewardship: Gordon Starr, Pat Phillips, Reed Hamilton, David Bowman. Dianne Marshall (ex-officio, Newsletter editor), Mary Starr (ex-officio, Treasurer), Don McCormick (ex-officio, Librarian), HaileyWilson (ex-officio Tech Support).
Gordon Starr gave the report, appended.
The 2024-2025 Budget was presented. The budget is now being seasoned until the 10th Month.
MINUTE 2024.09.04: Grass Valley Friends Meeting agrees that all financial files older than seven years will be disposed of. Any documents that contain confidential information will be shredded, in accordance with current law.
Welcome: Peter O’Rourke (Website and Facebook coordinator), Kathy McCreery, Don McCormick, Pat Phillips, Cheryl Hendrickson, Cindy Bliss, Lo Hamm, Judy Hamilton (ex-officio email coordinator), Nancy Anderson (ex-officio directory clerk).
Peter O’Rourke gave the report, appended.
Nominating Committee: (terms as noted) Judy Hamilton: 2022-2024, Gordon Starr: 2022-2024, Dean Olson 2023-2025, Sharon Davisson 2023-2024.
Judy Hamilton gave a brief update.
Nominating is aware that the Recorder position will need to be filled but we are waiting until a new nominating committee is brought forth to work on filling this position.
The Naming Committee will meet this week to move forward.
Children’s Program: Keely McDonald, Doug Hamm, Judy Hamilton, Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton, Don McCormick, David Cowan, Lo Hamm.
There was no report.
OFFICER REPORTS and REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS
Treasurer: No report given.
Pacific Yearly Meeting: No report given.
College Park Quarterly Meeting: Doug Hamm gave the report.
Interfaith Nevada County: No report given.
CLERK’S REMARKS:
This Clerk asks for your patience and love as we move forward with a new(ish) Clerk, Recording Clerk, and Treasurer. We appreciate everyone’s input and advice as we continue to learn in these roles.
Thank you to our committees and committee clerks. Our committees are functioning well, which makes our Meeting for Worship for Business run smoothly. Some might call Meeting for Worship for Business boring, or straight forward, but it really shows how well our committees are discerning and bringing their work to the greater meeting.
ITEMS SEASONING or CARRIED OVER
MINUTE (Seasoning until 10th month): Grass Valley Friends meeting approves the 2024-2025 Budget.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
College Park Quarterly Meeting will be October 18-20, 2024 at Ben Lomond Quaker Center.
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 temporarily unavailable while the website redesign is in progress. When available, the Directory is 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 Mary Starr or through Tithely on the website or our newsletter. Our treasurer is asking for additional funds this month in order to fund our year end donation.
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 jenniferjksmith@gmail.com THE WEDNESDAY BEFORE MEETING FOR BUSINESS. Please write reports in 12 point, Times New Roman font. This formatting will match the formatting in our Meeting for Worship for Business Minutes and Record. And, if possible, write reports in Google Docs and share with both Dorothy and Jennifer.
GVFM Newsletter Reminder: Please have items into Dianne Marshall by Tuesday at 10 am.
The Meeting closed with silent worship.
Respectfully recorded by Jennifer Smith, recording clerk.
APPENDICES:
Spirit and Witness Committee report
Stewardship Committee report
Budget Report.
Welcome Committee report
A Conversation with Rashid Darden, the Associate Secretary for Communication and Outreach for Friends General Conference
Children’s Committee report
Treasurer’s Report
Pacific Yearly Meeting Monthly Report
Interfaith Nevada County report
Information: Organization Representatives by Committee
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Spirit and Witness Report
September 2024
Members: Amy Cooke, clerk; Reed Hamilton, Sharon Davisson, Dean Olson, Stuart Smith
Ex officio: Dorothy Henderson, clerk
Present: Amy Cooke, Dorothy Henderson, Stuart Smith, Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton
The Spirit and Witness committee continues to seek how Spirit is moving among us as a Meeting and we welcome your feedback, concerns, and ideas. We are available to meet with members and attenders for support with individual discernment and support. We also welcome your ideas for adult enrichment through after-meeting programs. Please contact Amy Cooke, clerk, at amylisette@gmail.com.
We are convening the Fall Clerks Meeting on Wednesday September 11 at 8 am. This will give the clerks of our committees an opportunity to check in about clerking and committee activities. We will also convene the Naming Committee, which brings forward names for Nominating Committee members. The Nominating Committee identifies, encourages, and nominates Friends with gifts and skills needed to serve on our committees. If you enjoy seeing the gifts in others and connecting them with meaningful work, please let Amy know that this may be work that is calling you.
We have also been engaged in contacting members whom we have not seen in a while. This process has helped us to connect with Friends who remain heart-connected with us, even though we may not see them, and also helps us to know when it is time to release someone from our membership rolls.
We appreciate the discernment that Meeting gave the issue of how we connect with Quaker organizations in the world. We met in worship on this issue, and ministry rose for us with a longing for these connections to be vital and alive, not mere rote recitations. We realized that we have many people in our meeting who are active in the wider Quaker world, and we wanted to hear about their experiences. And, we also wanted to make sure that Friends in our meeting have access to a list of Quaker organizations to give a sense of how Quakers are working across the globe. To those ends, we propose this minute:
Proposed Minute: Spirit and Witness recommends to the Meeting that we have a spot on the Meeting for Worship for Business monthly agenda for individuals to share their experiences from the wider Quaker world, in whatever way they are inspired. Spirit and Witness will create a reference list of Quaker organizations to be included in the newsletter.
We realize that this will necessitate the job descriptions for the Welcome Committee and the Spirit and Witness Committee to be modified by removing the responsibility for reporting on Quaker organizations. We recommend that this new minute would replace MINUTE 07.2021.02: Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the new Representative structure as attached to the June 2021 Minutes of the Meeting for Business.
We met with Dorothy in discernment about the letter that she is in the process of writing to CHIRP on behalf of the Meeting as we all move toward the final stages of the Woolman land (re)becoming Yulića. We plan to bring the letter to the October Meeting for Worship for Business.
We also met in worship on how we are supporting Spirit and Witness programs in the meeting. We recognize that we want our programs to be alive, to come out of Spirit, and to reflect what Friends in the meeting are longing for. We are in discernment about a proposal to establish a sub-committee to help us discern more deeply how we can support programs that meet these goals.
We continue to hold several support committees under our care and work to connect with Friends in the Meeting.
Stewardship Committee
Thursday, August 30, 2024
Participating: Reed Hamilton, Dianne Marshall (newsletter editor), Don McCormick (Librarian), Gordon Starr (Clerk), Mary Starr (Treasurer)
Finance Report:
Donations for the Month of August: $792.00 Expenditures: $620.00
A small, positive cashflow
FY 2024 – 2025 Budget: On June 14, 2024, committee members Reed Hamilton, Fosten Wilson, Mary Starr and Gordon Starr met by Zoom and drafted a budget for FY 2024- 2025.
New Computer: With the approval of Meeting for Business, our Treasurer has purchased a new Samsung laptop and necessary software to maintain Meeting financial records. Cost: $689.53 (computer and necessary software). Funding for this purchase will take $260 from the Meeting’s Tech Fund, $200 from Miscellaneous Unbudgeted Fund and the remainder from the general fund.
Old Financial Records: The Treasurer received permission from Meeting for Business to dispose of all financial records, being careful to shred any files that contain personal information beginning with 2017 and back. We will maintain seven years’ worth of financial records in the future.
Informal Fund-raiser: Mary will present a request for donations to the Meeting to assure our capacity to pay Quarterly Meeting membership fees and to possibly make GVFM’s end of (fiscal) year donations.
Newsletter:
Fund-Raising Appeals: Dianne Marshall, newsletter editor, shared her practice of including in the GVFM newsletter, information from Quaker organizations, but not their fund-raising appeals. Fund-raising appeals for efforts or other organizations are included when approved by Meeting for Business.
Reporting on Quaker organizations under the care of the Meeting as a whole: Dianne requests clarity from Spirit and Witness as to what, if any, role the newsletter will play in this reporting.
Library:
Librarian, Don McCormick, thanks all our book-borrowers for the books that are returned. He hopes to shelve them soon.
Planning for the Future: Should the need arise, Don has been researching what other faith communities without their own churches do to maintain a library. One such church utilizes a milk-crate approach, bringing the library to the space they are using for worship with the help of a dolly.
October, 2024 Stewardship Committee Meeting
The Clerk and Recording Clerk of the Meeting are asking all committees to submit their reports prior to Meeting for Business every month. This generates a challenge for the Stewardship Committee’s established meeting date (the first Thursday of the month). Our next meeting will be scheduled for October 31, 2024 (masks optional). This will be our November committee meeting.
Gordon and Mary will be away for 5 weeks, beginning September 19, 2024, and returning on October 23. It was agreed that the Stewardship Committee will not meet in October unless need arises.
Submitted by Dianne Marshall, occasional recorder!
Budget Report
Proposed Budget 2024-2025.xlsx – Sheet1 (1).pdf
Welcome Committee
September 2, 2024 / 7:00PM / Zoom
Attendees: Judy, Don, Nancy, Pete
Opening Worship
Greeting Checklist
Working well, implemented when needed
Meeting directory
Will be update and emailed in the coming weeks
Monthly potluck
Potluck will be held at Lawren Giles and Dianne Marshall’s home on Saturday, September 21, 4:30pm – 7pm
Dean Olsen support
Will discuss schedule for food drop offs and/or visits at upcoming Worship
Organization Reports
No report due this month from Welcome committee
“Outreach” – Group’s ongoing initiatives:
Conversation with Rashid Darden – Don
See attached paper from Don
Friendly 8’s – Don
Will startup in early 2025
Next Door app – Cindy
Continuing
Figure out how to have GVFM website appear in search – Pete
Email sent to FGC to update our new Website in their reference material
Reach out to friends who have not attended recent Worship – Judy
No responses from past attendees
Next Meeting
Monday, October 7th, 7pm
Closing Worship
A Conversation with Rashid Darden, the Associate Secretary for Communication and Outreach for Friends General Conference
I just had an exciting conversation with Rashid Darden, the Associate Secretary for Communication and Outreach for Friends General Conference. We talked about what our monthly meeting can do in terms of outreach.
Website
He was very complimentary about our website. He said it:
Was up to date
Had a nice banner
Had pictures of people in the meeting
Had subtle rainbow colors in the color scheme that communicated that our is an affirming meeting, without being too on the nose
He suggested that it would benefit from more pictures of people—the more, the better. People don’t want to join an abstract idea, they want to join with other people. Even if the pictures are of the same 12 people over and over again, it’s OK. The pictures can be portraits, even; they don’t all have to be action shots.
“Be Prepared”
He said that to be a welcoming meeting, we need to prepare for the variety of new people who may show up, and we should prepare in advance for the moment they arrive, so they feel welcome. Working on anti-racism, for example, is one way to prepare.
Also, we shouldn’t panic if the new people who show up aren’t young people. I agreed, pointing out that the average age of a new person in British meetings is 43. We can still grow, even if the typical person who joins us is middle-aged.
World Quaker Day
A World Quaker Day event can be a good way to get new people to show up. We should encourage people to invite their friends and family to worship on World Quaker Day—the first Sunday of October. We can invite them in person and through our social media. Typically, meetings do something simple for World Quaker Day—like worship and a potluck. But here are some other ideas https://www.worldquakerday.org/resources/
It’s a good idea to send out a Media Advisory (what used to be called a Press Release). Or we could write a column for our local newspaper. It could
explain that we are hosting a World Quaker Day celebration,
include some quotes from our clerk
include some quotes from Rashid
I found some newspaper articles about World Quaker Day. They could provide models for us.
https://www.thereporteronline.com/2023/10/15/newtown-quakers-celebrate-world-quaker-day/
https://goodmorningwilton.com/wilton-quaker-meeting-invites-people-to-world-quaker-day-oct-1/
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/newtown-pa/newtown-quakers-celebrate-world-quaker-day-sunday-october-6
https://www.buckscountyherald.com/community/spiritual/newtown-quakers-plan-to-celebrate-world-quaker-day/article_dec55a81-a24a-5d80-af58-f940849a0e49.html
TO DO: Plan to do something for World Quaker Day, even if it’s only an after-worship potluck.
Events
World Quaker Day is a good example of the kind of thing that can be used as an event. For other events, we might invite a speaker someone from FGC. They could talk about anything that would interest the general public. We would invite friends and family, and issue a media advisory.
For example, we might ask:
the president of FGC, Barry Crossno, to give a talk,
Rashid,
the FGC Bookstore person,
someone from the FGC anti-racism task force,
authors of Quaker books, or
authors of Pendle Hill Pamphlets.
They would probably give talks on Zoom. The person doesn’t have to be a Quaker. (Tanya Luhrmann, a Stanford anthropologist who does research on the experience of people who talk to God and to whom God speaks would be interesting.)
Gordon’s “Birthing the Christ Within” might also be an event that would interest the general public.
The meeting could be a hub for spiritual conversations about things that interest us (for example, like environmentalism-we could ask Keith) and other people as well. We could ask family and friends to attend.
Write for the Local Newspaper
If our meeting writes a minute of conscience, a minute is nothing but an op-ed written by a religious group. But if we submit it to the local paper, it’s important that it be clear that it comes from a Quaker viewpoint (“As a Quaker…”).
Create a Mailing List
We could create a mailing list; it could be for people who don’t necessarily want to be Quakers. We could send out something once a month.
Regular Activities
It’s best if we have a robust bunch of activities that happen on a regular basis. Like a Thanksgiving lunch every year. Or Gordon’s “Birthing the Christ Within” presentation.
Describing Our Meeting in Positive Ways
Rashid asked me to describe our meeting and he made some suggestions for describing it in more positive ways. When I mentioned that the meeting was small, he said I could emphasize that it’s a meeting where people knew each other well, and where people want to get to know other spiritual seekers. I said that I thought our meeting had a real spiritual focus, and he said that we could emphasize how spiritually enriching our meeting is. When I mentioned that our meeting was out in the boonies, was a 12 mile / 20 minute drive from the nearest city (Grass Valley), and there was no bus service, he suggested that we describe it as “worth the drive” to be involved in such a spiritually enriching community.
Don McCormick, August 20, 2024
Children’s Committee Report
No report was given.
Treasurer’s Report
No report was given.
InterFaith Nevada County Report
No report was given.