CMM 2023-11-12

Minutes of Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business [1]

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of

the Religious Society of Friends

12^th of Eleventh Month 2023

Ten Friends gathered for meeting for worship with attention to business, in person and by Zoom.  We opened with a period of quiet Worship and our presiding clerk share the following wisdom from the 1985 Faith and Practice.

The Quaker way of conducting business is of central importance.  It is the way Friends have found of living and working together.  It can create and preserve the sense of fellowship in the meeting, and from there it can spread to other groups and decisions in which individual Friends or meetings have a part.  Thus it contributes to the way of peace in the world.  [NEYM Faith and Practice, 1985, p. 114 [2]]

Minutes of Tenth month 2023 [3] were corrected and approved as posted on our website.

11.01  Solar Committee: [The installation of our new geothermal heating system has changed our building’s power usage in ways that were not anticipated when the Meeting and Oxbow Solar LLC signed an agreement some years ago.]

Solar Committee Reported: The Solar Committee has met with Jennifer Smith (Oxbow Solar LLC) twice in the past month.  Oxbow Solar is seeking a battery installer to implement this project at the Meetinghouse.  There are some current difficulties with that so her business is considering options to possibly use the battery on another site that has better prospects.  Oxbow Solar still prefers to install the battery backup at the Meetinghouse to support the solar PV system.  The committee remains interested in the project and will conduct an analysis of the system benefits.  It is very possible that we will come to a retrospective/retroactive agreement to implement before the end of the fiscal year.  Future details will be shared as they develop.

[See also Minute 2017-06-04#6.5 [4]]

11.02  Ministry and Counsel: The committee reported that they are seeking a representative for Greater Concord Interfaith Council.

They also reported a tentative schedule for the upcoming 4^th Sunday programs:

• November 4^th Sunday FGC Materials on deepening spiritual life.
• December – Intergenerational Christmas related activity (to be arranged by Youth Religious Education Committee)
• January – State of Society
• February – to be arranged
• March – Program led by new director of the Beacon Hill Friends House

11.03  Ad hoc Fundraising Committee: The committee reported that they are wrapping up a very successful fundraising campaign.  The Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund granted us $10,000 in addition to the $1,500 mini-grant from Quaker Earthcare Witness.  Individuals have donated $18,485 for a total raised of $29,985.

Our goal was $30,000 which would cover much of the expenses not paid for by the expected federal tax credit (direct payment) of $15,383 (which we will be applying for but is not expected until after June 2024) and the $20,000 of Meeting funds approved for the project.  If we bring in $1,667 more, we will cover all expenses.  If we add the educated guess of $1,000 needed to restore the landscaping (left out of the original project expenses) the amount to be raised to totally cover expenses is $2,667.

A subgroup of the NEYM Legacy Fund committee is meeting with us on Saturday, November 17 at 3 p.m. to discuss our grant.  We have already informed them of our success and provided a revised income/expense statement that shows that our income at this point nearly covers our costs, but that we do still need $2,667.  If they grant us more than that, we told them it would replenish Meeting funds expected to be used in the future for building replacement needs.  We will hear back from them in the first half of December.

It was noted that there will be short-term loans to repay if we receive the expected tax credit.

The Meeting expressed our heartfelt appreciation for the Fundraising Committee’s work.

11.04  Nominating Committee: The committee recommends Juliet Curran to replace Wendy on the YRE committee.  The Meeting approved.

At her request, Anne Saunders stepped down from her role on the AFSC support committee role.  The Nominating Committee will seek a replacement.

11.05  Peace Social and Earth Care Concerns Committee: PSECC is sponsoring a fundraiser for the Asylum Seekers’ Fund on December 2.

11.06  Treasurer’s Report: Contributions are keeping pace with expenses. The Operations Report is attached. Total Income $13,233; Expenses $9,043; Net income $4,190.

The Balance sheet has been revised. Because of our fundraising, the Balance Sheet (attached) is somewhat unorthodox.  The Finance Committee will follow generally accepted accounting principles [5] in our IRS 990 Report [6].  (This is the first time we have filed an IRS 990 Report.  We are required to file this year in order to receive a potential ‘federal direct payment’ for our geothermal installation.)

11.07  Youth Religious Education Committee: YRE is responsible for planning a holiday program on Christmas Eve Sunday.  After our First Day meeting for worship on Christmas morning.  Would Friends like to:

• leave soon after Meeting to be home with family or
• have a multi-generational activity after Meeting or
• do an evening program that will include caroling?

Friends are encouraged to contact a member of YRE with their preferences.

11.08  Property Committee: A written report was submitted and is attached.  The report includes: Facility Use policy, Insurance, and Building/Property maintenance (landscaping, generator, acoustic panels).

We discussed our Meeting's Facility Use Policy [7].  The Meeting discerned that AFSC-NH meets the spirit of Type 1 organizations, and therefore we revised the policy as follows:

Type 1.

Meetings or events sponsored by other Quaker Meetings and committees, groups to which Concord Friends Meeting belongs through membership, or American Friends Service Committee of New Hampshire.

The Meeting looks forward to addressing other questions about issues in the facilities use policy at future Business Meetings.

We closed with a period of grateful worship, purposing to meet again on the second First Day of December.

NB. The Income & Expenses Sheet was created with two decimal points, which were removed for readability, the cents being unimportant to the overall understanding.  This can have the effect of throwing off any given sum by a dollar due to compounded rounding.  —  Prepared by Greg Heath and Chris Haigh.

Property Committee Report for November 2023 [19]

The committee is still adjusting to the momentous changes that came about in the last few years.  The additional use of the building by the preschool program during the week and the change in our heating system (and meeting different fire safety requirements) have absorbed lots of time and energy from committee members and others.  Changes may still need to occur in procedures related to care and use of the Meetinghouse.  The pandemic adjustments have largely faded but are recent in our memory (and contagious viral infections remain a worry at a lower level).  We need our community to remain cautious but aren’t sure whether there are other things we should do that will lower risks more.  The committee plans look into this more in the near future.

Facility Use Policy: An issue recently arose about our facility use policy that the committee cannot readily resolve without discernment from the wider community.  The clerk of the committee and its prior clerk and the clerk of our YRE committee have different understandings of that part of the policy.  A different delineation of what constitutes a use by the Meeting versus different groups that are related or unrelated to our Monthly Meeting itself may be needed.  A clearer definition of what details we expect from groups around plans regarding children being brought to an event may also be needed.  Another option for future facility usage is to have other individuals than the current clerk of property committee doing the approval.  A named individual or group could be tasked with helping discern with outside groups about plans for use of the building when the Meeting itself is not clearly responsible under its child safety policy.

Property Insurance: The committee is in discernment about whether to change the insurer of our property.  We have two quotes from different companies (our current insurer and another that also specializes in insuring religious community buildings).  The valuations for the Meetinghouse and the suggested deductibles are quite different and lead to a several hundred dollars annual savings if we switch to the lower cost premium.  We are seeking more information from the companies and will get input from our Finance committee before deciding on this.

Building/Property Maintenance: We are aware of some maintenance needs, tasks and projects that require some attention in the near future.  Committee members have been doing things that they can and will take more on as their time and energy allow.  Other Friends with skills (or willing to be instructed in a new one) could help out.  This includes repairing our landscaping when weather allows, fixing areas of drywall that were disturbed in the wiring of new fire safety equipment, making sure the generator is tested monthly (insuring that it is working properly so that we can have heat from our system in a prolonged power outage), and doing the installation of acoustic panels in the worship space when we are able to discern that the Meeting’s budget has stabilized and will allow that work to go forward.  When Friends see other facility needs, email us at propertycommittee [at] concordfriendsmeeting [dot] org.

Jennifer Smith, Property committee clerk