CMM 2010-12-12

Minutes of Meeting for Worship for Business

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting

Religious Society of Friends

12^th Month 12, 2010

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting gathered in Meeting for Worship for Business for the first time at the meetinghouse in Canterbury, NH.  Friends present were:  12

The meeting began with a period of silent worship.

12.1  Youth Religious Education Committee:

The YRE committee is moving ahead with the Godly Play curriculum; they will begin presenting the Godly Play lessons about Quakerism in January.

The committee is looking for donations of low bookshelves, a step stool and various arts and crafts materials.  Please contact ReligiousEducation [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org

12.2  Review of the minutes from Meeting for Worship for Business, 11^th month 2010:

The minutes were approved with some changes.

12.3  Property Committee Report:

The property committee continues to work on developing a process for use of the meetinghouse by non-affiliated groups.  They will share their work as it progresses.  They have received a combination key box that will be placed near the front main entrance.  The combination will be shared with the Meeting.  Wood pellets were recently delivered, filling the bin.

12.4  Request for use of the building by the Concord-area Zen Buddhist group:

A small local group of Zen practitioners hopes to meet at the Meetinghouse on Thursday, December 16^th in order to see the space and discuss a potential regular use of the Meetinghouse.  Greg Heath will be in attendance as a member of both groups.  The Meeting approved this use of the meetinghouse.

12.5  Hospitality Committee:

The Hospitality Committee recently met to discuss their charge.  They shared highlights of their discussion and brought to the Meeting some questions for consideration:

1. The need for a refrigerator in the kitchen – who is responsible for this?
2. More regular hospitality (coffee, tea, finger foods) after meeting for worship each week.
3. Seasonal decorations in the meetinghouse.
4. Bulletin board and photo boards are needed.  Where should they go and who make decisions and install?
5. Organization and storage of nametags?
6. Responsibility for the purchase of cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc.?  (Hospitality or Housing Committee?)
7. Responsibility for following up with first-time visitors (Hospitality or Ministry and Council?)

The Meeting agreed that it would be productive to gather together the clerks (or another representative) from each committee early in the New Year in order to begin to flesh out a division of responsibilities.  In advance of this meeting, the clerks will talk with other meetings of similar size for ideas.

12.6  Ministry and Counsel:

Ministry and Counsel joyfully accepted Mark Barker’s transfer of membership from Kingston & Wadsworth Area Meeting in Britain Yearly Meeting [1].

Members of Ministry & Counsel recently met with representatives of a local Muslim prayer group for fellowship and discussion.

Ministry and Counsel agreed that it would be useful to have a clock in the meeting room; the clerks have found one that promises to be silent and may be acceptable for the meeting.  This item will be brought to the next business meeting since some reluctance to have a clock on the wall has been expressed.

Ministry and Counsel established a rotation for covering the responsibilities of the greeter.  They plan to extend this opportunity to others in the future.

During discussion, a concern was raised that we have a system for volunteering to do jobs on Sunday mornings.  The meeting of clerks was asked to consider this.

Ministry and Counsel extended an invitation to Sarah Freeman-Woolpert to speak to the Meeting about her recent experience traveling to India and Nepal.  Members are asked to contact Sara Smith with suggestions for a good date for this event sometime in the next 3 weeks.

12.7  Financial Report:

David Woolpert, Clerk of the Budget Committee, reported that, as of one month ago (50% through the year), the meeting had raised approximately 25% of its anticipated donations for the year.  Friends are reminded to make contributions to the meeting.

A suggestion was made that the Budget Committee explore the possibility of offering the option of donating to the Meeting via Direct Deposit and credit card.

12.8  Housing Committee Report:

The Housing Committee engaged two firms to test and make recommendations regarding the sulfur and high mineral content in the water.  The Housing Committee is exploring possible filter systems and will report back to the meeting.

12.9  Meeting in Central Concord:  Chris Booth suggested we find a way to have meeting within walking distance of the State house.  He was referred to Property Committee.

Minutes accepted when signed,

Greg Heath, Clerk

Alisa Barnard, Recording Clerk