AGATE PASSAGE FRIENDS MEETING FOR BUSINESS

MINUTES, MAY 20, 2007

 

OPENING:  Our Clerk, Judy Brown, opened the Meeting for Business this Sunday morning at 11:25 a.m. with a brief period of silence and a short reading from Matthew.

 

ATTENDING:  Judy Brown, Eric Hoyte, Virginia Hoyte, Lucy Johnson, Kathryn Keve, Judith Larsen, Paul Larsen, Bob Major, Michael Moore, Dorothy Rana-Meadows, Jim Rana-Meadows, Ed Sheridan, Leyla Welkin, Barbara Wolf.

 

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING:  Minutes of the April 15, 2007 Meeting for Business were passed out and approved.

 

OLD BUSINESS:  Our Clerk announced that the “Final Affairs Reports” were arriving   and that they and subsequent ones would be put into a safe deposit box.  The form can be downloaded from our website for those who have yet to fill it out and send it to Judy.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT:  A detailed financial report was passed out indicating that expenses and commitments were keeping abreast of incoming monies, (just), and that the number of contributors, (16,) who have pitched in already this year was not matched until November of 2006, with several new givers added.  Our Treasurer told the group that he felt this was a very positive sign, and we all thanked him enthusiastically for his thorough and diligent reporting each month.

 

SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE:  The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will meet with Diane and Harry Carle on May 31^st to offer a listening session on their concerns about their daughter and two nephews, two of whom are now in the military in Iraq.   Since the Committee had talked about sending packages to soldiers, they decided to start with a family they know from our Agate Passage Meeting and perhaps expand from there. Kathryn Keve, the Chairman of the Committee also reported that over the summer they would like to work on a plan to hold one or more community meetings on alternatives to violence

 

NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT:    

Kathryn Keve spoke for the Nominating Committee, saying that, “The theme for the next year is “Shared Responsibility.”   The Nominators came up with a slate of folks willing to serve for the next two years in all positions except that of Clerk.  A Clerk Committee is proposed that will share the responsibilities of Clerk for the next year (the balance of ’07 and half of ’08).  The Nominating Committee’s proposal was agreed on by the Meeting.  It is as follows:

 

 

Report of the Agate Passage Friends Meeting Nominating Committee
May 20, 2007

Theme: Sharing Responsibility, delegate issues to our standing committees

Recording Clerk: Patty Damento

Treasurer: Michael Moore

Ministry & Counsel: Judy Brown, Lucy Johnson, Virginia Hoyte, Judith Larsen,
Peter Damento

Peace & Social Concerns: Clerk-Kathryn Keve, Craig Jacobrown, Lisa Down, 
Bob & Millie Royce, Norman Keegel, Bob Fermanis

Intergenerational Education: Roberta Wilson, Lisa Down, Barbara Morrison,
Millie Royce, Dorothy Rana-Meadows.  This Committee will select their own clerk.

Friends Bulletin liaison: Lisa Down

Seattle and BI/NK Interfaith Council: Leyla Welkin

Website: Bob Royce

Poetry Sunday: Judy Brown (also Friends Journal Poetry Editor)

 

Clerk Proposal

At this time we have no one willing or prepared to serve as Clerk of the Meeting.  As a result we offer a general proposal for sharing this responsibility for the next 12 months.  During this time, we plan to prepare members to understand the role of Clerk, expand our understanding of Quaker practice, and hope to identify one individual who will be willing to serve as Clerk for the 2008-2010 term and also develop other potential clerks for the future.

To this end we recommend the following:

The Clerk’s duties be divided under the guidance of a “Clerk Committee". Michael Moore, and Ed Sheridan will serve as experienced advisors on the Committee along with several other volunteers who are willing to assume some of the Clerk’s responsibilities such as conducting Meetings for Business, providing overall continuity and schedule planning, and relationships with other Quaker entities such as the Quarterly and Yearly Meetings and FCWPP (Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy)  The Recording Clerk can help with correspondence.

·         The member(s) or attender(s) who open the Meeting hall, will serve as the “riser” of the Meeting in the absence of any otherwise designated “Clerk” being present.

Submitted by: Kathryn Keve & Lucy Johnson, 5/19/07

 

DISCUSSION OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT:  In the ensuing discussion of this report and the fact that there seem to be fewer members/attenders able or willing to serve in positions of leadership,  the question of whether the group should reconsider returning to a simpler status, that of, “ Worship Group,” rather than remaining a full-fledged Meeting for Worship was raised.  Our present Clerk did point out that the differences were not great, however.

      Those present agreed to initially approve the Nominating Committee’s recommendations, but with the expectation that next month the Meeting for Business would return to consider the major issues brought up by their report and the discussion that followed. It would be hoped that in the interim as many as possible from our community would have a chance to reflect on the implications and choices set before us, and then be able to offer their input.

 

NORTH PACIFIC YEARLY MEETING:   North Pacific Yearly Meeting has appointed a Structure committee to recommend changes in the way it is organized when the Annual Yearly Meeting is not in session.  The structure committee's report recommends that the Steering Committee which met several times a year and consisted of representatives from each Meeting, Preparative Meeting, and Worship Group, be laid down.   In its place a Coordinating Committee consisting of the officers of the Yearly Meeting plus a representative from each of the ten standing committees and some at large members would be organized to consider policy matters and make other necessary decisions.  Coordinating Committee would meet twice a year, once at Annual Session and once mid-year.  In addition three additional standing committees would be formed: Peace and Social Concerns, Ministry and Oversight, and Youth Programming to make a total of ten.

 

Since Agate Passage Friends Meeting has not had persons interested in going to Annual Session or a Steering Committee representative for some years, we found we know little about Yearly Meeting activities.  We did express ourselves as trusting that the work of the Structure committee was helpful and valuable and should be implemented so that it be given a chance.  We liked the fact that there would be fewer people having to travel long distances to committee Meetings, and  more decisions could be made using conference calls on the telephone.Our Clerk will forward these comments to the Vision--Structure Committee.

 

AVERY WELKIN’S REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE METTA MENTORS NONVIOLENCE INTEGRATION PROGRAM:  Leyla Welkin read an informative and moving  letter to the Meeting from her son, Avery, now a junior at Lewis and Clark University in Portland, Oregon who is seeking a degree in Sociology and Anthropology.  He asked the group for moral and financial support to help him participate in a select program of 15 individuals this summer run by the Metta Mentors Center for Nonviolence Education.  This internship would hope to train students to effectively apply nonviolence principles to many of the most urgent needs of our communities throughout the country. …….  

 

            After a short discussion, the group agreed to send $100. to Avery from Agate Passage Meeting and also to encourage individuals to send contributions to him through our Treasurer at Agate Passage Friends Meeting, P.O. Box 1821, Poulsbo, WA 98379 with a notation that the money is intended for Avery Welkin’s Internship.