FMW Newsletter, June 2015

Monthly Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business

May 2015

 

Queries

Do you live in accordance with your spiritual convictions? Do you seek employment consistent with your beliefs and in service to society? Do you practice simplicity in speech, dress and manner of living, avoiding wasteful consumption? Are you watchful that your possessions do not rule you? Do you strive to be truthful at all times, avoiding judicial oaths?

 

Do you strive to develop your physical, emotional and mental capacities toward reaching your Divinely given potential? Do you cultivate healthful and moderate habits, avoiding the hazards of drugs, intoxicants, and over-indulgence generally? Do you try to direct such emotions as anger and fear in creative ways?

 

Advices

The individual Friend should lead a life rooted in an awareness of God's presence in all times and places. Although special times and locations may provide helpful reminders of the need for spiritual communion, they cannot take the place of turning daily to God for guidance. The foundation for all our personal life and social relations should be the consciousness of the Holy Spirit.

 

Sincerity, simplicity and moderation are vital to all the dealings of life. We advise the observance of care in speech and the use of only such statements as convey truth without exaggeration or omission of essential fact. Taking legal oaths implies a double standard of truthfulness and is contrary to the teaching of Jesus.

 

Self-indulgent habits and luxurious living dull our awareness and make us insensitive to the needs of others and the leading of the Spirit. Ostentation and extravagant expenditure should not be a part of Friends' lives. Friends should be particularly aware of this in planning marriages, funerals, social gatherings or public occasions. True simplicity does not consist of particular forms or the absence of grace, symmetry and beauty, but of avoiding over-indulgence, maintaining humility of spirit, and keeping material surroundings in proportion to human needs.

- BYM Faith and Practice, “Personal Life”

 

Voices

I ask for daily bread, but not for wealth, lest I forget the poor.
I ask for strength, but not for power, lest I despise the meek.
I ask for wisdom, but not for learning, lest I scorn the simple.
I ask for a clean name, but not for fame, lest I condemn the lowly.
I ask for peace of mind, but not for idle hours, lest I fail to hearken to the call of duty.

- Inazo Nitobe, 1909

 

 

2015/5-1 Welcome of Visitors

Meeting for Business opened at 12:20 pm with 20 persons present.

 

2015/5-2 Clerk’s Report

• The intergenerational spring festival organized by the First Day School was a huge success and blessed by beautiful weather.
• Greyson Acquaviva was inducted as an Eagle Scout in a ceremony here at FMW yesterday.
• Thanks were received from the BYM Unity With Nature committee for our sustainability discussions. These discussions are continuing–updates forthcoming from Peace and Social Concerns
• Ken Orvis’ mother Shirley Hastings died. We will hold Ken and his family in the Light.
• Interim meeting will be June 13^th at Patuxent Friends Meeting. If you attend please consider volunteering to report back for the Meeting.
• Sunday May 31 is the fifth Sunday of the Month and there will be a meeting of the Committee of Clerks on that date.

 

Major items

 

2015/5-2 Safety and Welcoming Guidelines and process.

 

Dan Dozier was convener of a joint meeting of the Small Group and the Support Group which was open to all, to discern the next steps in this process as directed by the Meeting for Business in February. This joint group came to clearness over a tentative agreement: when an issue arises the Committee of Clerks will create an ad hoc Discernment Committee to move forward with the individual involved. Dan is accepting suggested inputs into draft guidelines until Friday, May 15^th.

 

Dan Dozier felt the concern was less about the substance and more about the process coming to clearness on the discernment for an individual. The draft guidelines will be sent to committees with a particular interest including the Child Safety Committee, Religious Education Committee, Healing and Reconciliation, and others as the way opens.

 

A visitor asked how outside organizations get involved with our child safety issues. It was pointed out that the Meeting has many outside activities but this is an internal process.

 

A Friend asked the role of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee may advise but will not be responsible to populate the ad hoc Discernment Committees. The Child Safety Committee is a standing committee of the Meeting and, therefore, Nominating Committee will be nominating members to that committee.

 

Harry Massey, clerk of the Nominating Committee, noted that it has been very difficult to find committee members, especially for the Child Safety Committee, and asks the Meeting for help.

 

2015/5-3 Membership Committee

Marcia Reecer, co-clerk of Membership Committee presented a request for membership by Bertrand Rossert. Bertrand Rossert is already a member of ministry and worship committee and played an important role in the spiritual state of the meeting report. He first attended FMW in 2014. His study of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice gave him a sense of relief that he no longer was accountable to pastors and priests with rules and admonitions. He worked in the European Union civil service for peace. He noted that “Peace is evolution towards freedom. . . Peace is not a negative concept.”

 

This request for membership will be held over a month as is our custom.

 

2015/5-4 Finance and Stewardship Committee

Jim Bell presented the draft 2016 Fiscal Year Budget with the help of our bookkeeper Laurie Wilner. The Finance & Stewardship Committee is to support the committees of the Meeting to do their work, keep accurate and up to date records, and to be responsible to all of the Meeting. The budget represents the shoe box project, tenants, BYM camps, the MaryJane Simpson scholarship and to many other programs of the meeting. The contributions are still not where we would wish. Forty-six per cent of those who responded to the Spiritual State of the Meeting survey stated that they do not contribute financially.

 

With construction we anticipate that our income will go down next year by $63,000.

 

Thanks were offered from the committee to Ed Hustead and Laurie Wilner for putting the budget together. A more detailed budget will be available on the webpage for Friends to review.

 

A Friend suggested that there be a revolving fund for our involvement in DC Pride Day. This would mean that the Peace and Social Concerns Committee would not have to request every year that the Meeting put forward the money and then get reimbursed by its very reliable partners.

 

A Friend noted the increase of usage of the buildings both for the income and the welcoming nature of the building. Thank you to the administrative secretary and the property manager and the property committee for making that happen. But he noted that rent is not meant to replace our donations.

 

Dan Dozier, alternate clerk, suggested that at the next meeting for business that we go through the budget in some detail. He noted that we rely on rents and on investments because we do not have enough contributions. Friends should look carefully at the budget and consider the weakness of that situation. The committee should ask in the listserve for questions about the budget. Margaret Greene, clerk, suggested that analytic observations should be included in the budget posting to provide a narrative introduction to it.

 

A Friend noted that there are incomes and expenses. Personnel is the key expense. Good pay tends to make for good personnel.

 

Several Friends noted that we are very reliant on investments, which seems risky. Laurie Wilner noted that Friends Fiduciary Corporation with which we invest is very stable. A bigger concern should be selling shares to pay for a mortgage.

 

The FY2015 budget will be held over to the next month as is our custom.

 

2015/5-5 Nominating Committee

 

Harry Massey clerk of Nominating Committee presented the following names for approval:

 

Ann Herzog (Attender) - Capital Campaign Committee for the duration of the committee

Bill Strein (Attender) - Membership Committee for the 2015 vacancy

Blair Forlaw (Member) - BYM Pastoral Care Committee for the 2015 vacancy

Gray Handley (Member) – Membership Committee for the 2015 vacancy

Carl Johnson (Attender) – Religious Education for the 2015 vacancy

 

A Friend asked if the attenders have been asked to become members. The nominating committee does this.

 

A Friend noted that there was more than irony for the appointment of an attender to determine who could become a member of the Meeting. Marcia Reecer noted that the membership committee had talked with the nominated individual about this and is hopeful.

 

The appointments of

 

Ann Herzog (Attender) - Capital Campaign Committee for the duration of the committee

Blair Forlaw (Member) - BYM Pastoral Care Committee until 2016

Gray Handley (Member) – Membership Committee until 2017

Carl Johnson (Attender) – Religious Education until 2017 pending child safety screening.

 

were APPROVED.

 

Harry Massey clerk of Nominating Committee presented the following resignation.

 

Resignations:

Greg Robb – Library Committee

 

The resignation was accepted.

 

Friends were encouraged to wear name tags so we know who everyone is.

 

2015/5-6 Other business

 

Grant Thompson gave an update of the Capital Campaign. He reported that the total amount raised so far is $663,943 which represents 33% of our $2 million goal. This consists of $446,563 in cash and $217,380 in outstanding pledges. Only 15% of the members of the meeting have made a contribution. Approximately 40% of our donors are attenders and others. The committee is hopeful that Friends will think of it as not another approach for money, but about the stories such as the neighbor who wanted to attend a meeting in the meeting room for social justice who was in tears of pain climbing the stairs to the meeting room and ultimately unable to participate fully. While we are properly modest about our wealth, this is not the place.

 

Gray Handley, from Healing and Reconciliation Committee and part of a clearness committee of the Property Committee created at the request of Ministry and Worship, gave an update on the Property Committee clearness process. We are blessed as a Meeting with talented and eager members of the Property Committee. The clearness committee produced a report of what they had heard which it shared with the Committee. The Property Committee felt that they should have a meeting and to try to sort out their own challenges. Some members of the committee met in May and decided to meet with a rotating clerkship going forward. The clearness committee waits in abeyance holding the property committee in the Light.

 

Mary Campbell of the Interim Property Committee gave an update. They have approved the H-Vac units for the carriage house and Quaker house. The surplus A/C units were donated to Community Forklift. There was asbestos removal work done and will continue. Now that radiators have been removed there is repair needed and roof repair from the H-VAC work. We accepted a low bid custodian group and it is clear that is not working so there will be an increase in the custodian budget in the coming year. Some work is being delayed until after construction so the work is not done twice. We have added new LED lights to great savings. In our future is work on increasing the electrical capacity of the Meeting. There will also be mold abatement in the Decatur Place Room and a glass wall for the children’s library.

 

The Byth-Templeton Academy had shown interest in renting space during the construction.  A joint committee met to consider that request and decided that the Meeting would continue to explore the possibility with several conditions. A Friend suggested that as much as the Blyth-Templeton Academy gave May 10, 2015 as an absolute deadline, the potential deal should be considered ended.

 

The Meeting APPROVED the committee of Mary Campbell, Steve Coleman, John Scales, Neil Froemming, Dan Dozier, Ken Orvis, and J. E. McNeil to go forward with negotiations with Blyth-Templeton Academy.

 

Debby Churchman reported on her attendance at a Pendle Hill five day conference on ending mass incarceration. There are 2.1 million people incarcerated in this country. Eight out of ten persons arrested in DC are people of color. Many of the people in prison provide cheap labor for the industries of the United States. There were many moving moments in the conference with several former inmates in attendance. We are encouraged not to try to find our own solutions, but to support those already working in this area. Debby hopes to bring a presentation to the Meeting at a later date.

 

Friends APPROVED the minutes as improved.

 

After a period of silence the meeting closed at 12:46 pm with 13 persons in attendance to reconvene on June 14, 2015.