October 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
October 13, 2024
We met in a hybrid meeting in person at the meetinghouse and on Zoom.
Present: Dorothy Henderson, clerk; Jennifer Smith, recording clerk; Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton, Judy Hamilton, Dianne Marshall, Amy Cooke, Chamba Cooke, Mary Starr, Gordon Starr, Marilyn Guida, Sharon Davisson (elder to the clerk), Stuart Smith, Doug Hamm, Lo Hamm
The Meeting opened with silent worship.
Clerks’ Remarks and Query
- The reports we give in Meeting for Worship for Business are the expressions of the work our people do – their acts of love toward our Meeting.
- Can you think of an example of an act of love, or a person, that has shown love toward you and/or our Meeting, and share about it?
- Friends spoke out of the silence.
- One Friend spoke of Meeting for Worship for Business as the place where love is made visible in our relationships with one another. We are not just accomplishing a task, we are finding unity.
- Another Friend was appreciative of the many examples, not just one, of love that came to mind for her from our community.
- Someone else expressed appreciation for the Board members and recognized a feeling of inclusion and belonging in the community. This is transferring to the new relationships with the Nisenan who are returning to the land. It is a community of caring, love, and belonging.
- Another Friend spoke of finding a balance in her personal life and being a part of this community is a huge part of that balance.
- Someone else spoke of serving on the Spirit and Witness committee and getting to be a part of that group of loving, committed people who are concerned for the welfare of the meeting.
- Another Friend appreciated the love expressed through the effort to connect through Zoom. It is a demonstration of love, inclusion, and a produces a feeling of belonging.
- A simple act of love, extended to one, can spread and bring in new members to our community.
MINUTE 2024.09.29: In a specially called meeting for worship on the occasion of business, Grass Valley Friends Meeting approved sending on our behalf the attached letter to Shelly Covert and the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe acknowledging our celebration at the return of their land.
October 2, 2024
Dear Shelly and the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe,
I am writing as the Clerk of Grass Valley Friends Meeting to tell you how much we celebrate this historic moment with you. We have been holding in our prayers the lengthy, and at times, difficult process that you have gone through. We honor you and look forward to you being back in this place that is finally returned to you.
As a Meeting, we offer our support and allyship. At the same time, we do not want to impose on you in any way. We recognize the need for careful attention to what you will be experiencing as we go forward.
We understand that CHIRP is willing to have us continue to rent the structure (formerly the barn) that we use as our Meeting house on Sunday mornings. We are very appreciative of the possibility of continuing with this arrangement.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns that arise as we transition to
this new beginning. It is strange to say welcome to what has been yours all along, but
that is what is in our hearts.
Welcome home.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Henderson
Clerk, Grass Valley Friends Meeting
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.
- There was a clarification on the term “Toward Right Relations” and not “Relationships.”
PROPOSED MINUTE (seasoning until the 11th month): Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the nomination of fosten wilson to the Nominating Committee, for a term of 2024-2026.
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).
There was no meeting in October and no report given.
MINUTE 2024.10.01: Grass Valley Friends meeting approves the 2024-2025 Budget.
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).
Judy Hamilton gave the report, appended.
- There was a question about Friendly Eights with the small size of our meeting. Maybe we should use the monthly potlucks to reach out to members who are not attending, rather than add another social event.
Nominating Committee: (terms as noted) Judy Hamilton: 2022-2024, Gordon Starr: 2022-2024, Dean Olson 2023-2025, Sharon Davisson 2023-2024.
There was no report.
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 a summary of the clerk, Eric Sabelman’s, theme:
What do Friends Have to Offer? Friends can see more on the website.
Interfaith Nevada County: No report given.
Sharings from the wider Quaker world:
- Dianne Marshall shared from Quaker Call to Action. There is a national Zoom call to worship Sunday, Nov 3, 7-8:00 PM EASTERN TIME. This is a call to worship for our democracy before the election.
- Amy Cooke reported on Britain Yearly Meeting laying down the Meeting for Sufferings, which had been a long-held tradition.
CLERK’S REMARKS:
- I would like my remarks to focus on love, and the ways we express our love, and bring joy to others.
ITEMS SEASONING or CARRIED OVER
PROPOSED MINUTE (seasoning until the 11th month): Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the nomination of fosten wilson to the Nominating Committee, for a term of 2024-2026.
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. The directory is now 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 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
- Welcome Committee report
- 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
10.2024
As a committee, we hold the spiritual wellbeing of the Meeting community, the pastoral care of individuals within the community, and the movement of Spirit in Meeting members as they are led to take action in the wider world. We are aware of members in our Meeting holding concerns for the climate and for wars that continue in many parts of the world. We continue to welcome requests for Witness Committees for those who wish to take actions in the wider world.
We heard a report on the Clerks Meeting held in September. The clerks of our committees are supporting the work that fuels our Meeting, and we are deeply grateful for their ongoing work on behalf of the Meeting. We are exploring how to offer them ongoing support.
We are also supporting the work of the Naming Committee, which is made up of the committee clerks. We are ready to bring forward the name of fosten wilson for a 2024-2026 term.
Proposed minute, to be seasoned until 11.2024: Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the nomination of fosten wilson to the Nominating Committee, for a term of 2024-2026.
The committee is aware of the many shifts that are taking place within our Meeting as CHIRP and members of the Nisenan tribe move back onto this land. There have been practical details – the internet, use of the classroom – as well as inner shifts in our own community as we absorb this change. A meeting is proposed with Shelly Covert, Ember Amador, and Dorothy, along with someone from Stewardship to deal with immediate issues. We support Dorothy’s work as Clerk of the Meeting in having regular meetings with Shelly or Ember. She will explore the idea of having a potluck together. Dean has been our ambassador with the tribe. He is welcoming the activity on campus!
The Toward Right Relationship Witness Committee is supporting us as Quakers in our own internal work. How can we be allies while also not centering our own narrative? What is ours to pay attention to? How are we speaking publicly about this change? How are we interfacing with other Quaker organizations who are also supporting this transitions; e.g., Decolonizing Quakers, PYM Indigenous Concerns Committee, and Friends Peace Teams? We advise individuals in our Meeting who want to write publicly to check in with our TRR committee. This is a fragile time and we are reminded to move with care. We are reminded that white people can often speak from an individual perspective while indigenous communities are seen as “we” not “I.” We are touching the heart of what we are moving toward in this moment – we are seeing our whiteness and our colonialist views, and our words moving outward must acknowledge this. We are touching the many levels of this change – internal, external, unseen and seen.
Our committee has been active for many months in working to clarify the membership status of several members whom we have not heard from for some time. The process to release two members recently from membership – Dayton Mason and Coleman Watts – was reviewed in light of the procedure outlined in Faith and Practice. Dorothy reported on the cost for sending registered letters – $25 dollars for each letter. We noted that this process releases the individuals from the Religious Society of Friends, not only from membership in our Meeting. We recommend that the recorder form include emergency contacts so that we can have a better chance of contacting people without going through this process.
Our committee is also holding how we offer our Spiritual Life programs. We have heard a proposal to establish a subcommittee under our care to provide greater support for these programs and we are in discernment about that. We are exploring the possibility of a book group, and also providing time for the TRR subcommittee to offer programs after Meeting. As always, we welcome your ideas!
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Cooke
clerk, Spirit and Witness Committee
Stewardship Committee
No report given.
Budget Report
Proposed Budget 2024-2025.xlsx – Sheet1 (1).pdf
Welcome Committee
October 7, 2024 / 7:00PM / Zoom
Attendees: Cindy, Don and Pete
Opening Worship
1. Greeting Checklist
a. Working well, implemented when needed
2. Meeting directory
a. Has been updated and emailed
3. Monthly potluck
a. Potluck held at Lawren Giles and Dianne Marshall’s home on Saturday, September 21, 4:30pm – 7pm
i. Went well
4. “Outreach” – Group’s ongoing initiatives:
a. Briefly discussed Don’s recent conversation with Rashid Darden
b. Friendly 8’s – Don
i. Will startup in early 2025
c. Figure out how to have GVFM website appear in search – Pete
i. Continue to work with FGC to update our new Website in their reference
material
Next Meeting
1. Monday, November 4th, 7pm
Closing Worship
Children’s Committee Report
No report was given.
Treasurer’s Report
No report was given.
InterFaith Nevada County Report.
No report was given.